Chapter 19: My Daily Life Two Years Later

Chapter 19: My Daily Life Two Years Later

It has already been two years since I became the rookie king. During these two years, my life has been filled with Georg’s rigorous training and occasional participation in the “Battle beast tournament” as a battle beast.

As the rookie king, I was treated like a star in the “Battle beast tournament”. Perhaps because of the special treatment, the number of matches was relatively low, maybe once a month. However, that meant that my opponents were all fierce beasts who were not easy to defeat.

I have almost died more than once or twice, in fact, I have always suffered major injuries in every battle. It was common for my exoskeleton to be shattered, and I had even lost several limbs such as claws, joints, and tails. I think I suffered more serious injuries during the first year when I was still immature.

Living each day in constant physical and mental pain, always facing the risk of injury and death, was a tough experience. However, my struggles paid off as I became stronger. In fact, I have only survived this far because of my newfound strength.

My exoskeleton had become even harder, and it could now deflect most attacks even without the reinforcement of fighting spirit. The strength of my inner body had also increased, and the venom of my poisonous stinger had grown even more deadly. My fighting spirit and spiritual power also continued to grow through fierce battles, and they had reached several times the level when I first participated in the “rookie’s battle” tournament. I had even surpassed the juvenile rock dragon in strength and could now crush my opponents head-on.

Above all, the experience of fighting enemies who were at or above my level has drastically improved my skills. Through actual combat, I have honed my skills in makeshift combat using pincers, defense utilizing curved surfaces, pinpoint strikes with my tail, efficiently handling spiritual power and fighting spirit, and mimicking techniques used by my opponents. All of these skills, refined through battle, have supported my victories.

As I reflected on these experiences, the door to the room where my cage was located was knocked on. The female slave from the Furu race, who has been taking care of me for over two years and had a connection to me second only to Georg, entered. Carrying a bucket, the slave cleaned my cage before carefully wiping down my exoskeleton. Today, I felt disgusting and sticky all over due to being thrown into a tank filled with strange chemicals by Georg, and my joints felt uncomfortable due to being covered in some kind of neutralizing substance. I was truly grateful for the slave’s help in cleaning me up.

“Mr. Scorpion, it sounds like you had quite a day today.”

Ever since I made it through the “Rookie’s Battle” this slave had been telling me about what happened while taking care of me. Apparently, she felt like she needed to talk about it. I didn’t really understand how children thought.

For me, her stories had become essential. As I was chained in a cage, her tales were one of the few sources of entertainment I had. While I could endure the harsh training, I could not imagine enduring the absence of her stories. For my mental well-being, they had become necessary.

Her stories covered a wide range of topics, such as the structure of the mansion, the number of slaves, the rumors circulating among the servants, and the guests who visited today. Though she may not have been the best storyteller, her content was enjoyable enough as entertainment.

Currently, the slave leader has changed, and she told me about the events happening in the mansion, such as the arrival of the young master’s fiancée. Undoubtedly, she must be a noblewoman, and I would’ve loved to see her at least once.

Apart from her stories, I could obtain outside information through Georg’s muttering. However, he had no intention of sharing the content, and I often struggled to hear him. Nevertheless, I needed to listen carefully since most of the information he provided was significant.

Many of the conversations between my owner, the young master, and his father, the Duke, contained important topics such as complaints, current international affairs, and dissatisfaction with the kingdom’s government. These topics were not suitable for entertainment, and I paid close attention to them, especially their discussions on the kingdom’s successor problem and invaders from other continents.

However, the citizens strongly protested, as the tournament was not just entertainment but also a competition dedicated to the gods. In fact, statues of the “God of War” and the “Goddess of Victory” were said to have been placed all over the arena. Even while knowing this, the Justice Church remained steadfast in their belief to ban it.

If the Battle Beast Tournament were to disappear, would I be liberated? I had hoped so at first, but I couldn’t be more mistaking. The Justice Church claimed that battle beasts like me were distorted existences and that after banning the tournament, they must be disposed of. It seemed that the Justice Church’s intolerance applied to me as well. I refused to be killed simply because I had been forced to fight for the convenience of the nobles. Furthermore, I had to live for a hundred years.

If Prince Ludwig were to become king, the “Battle Beast Tournament” would be banned as the church had said, and I would be killed without even being allowed to resist. I didn’t want to die, so I really wanted Prince Carl to do his best.

As for the other topic that had been bothering Georg, the invaders, it had little to do with the inland kingdom of Harlasia. That was because the invaders came from across the sea toward the north.

Georg didn’t seem to know much about it, but apparently, the invaders had been using a wide variety of weapons that no one had ever seen before to conquer the cities of northern countries with unstoppable force. Their soldiers did not even constitute meat shields, and even those with some fighting spirit and spiritual power were easily killed. Elite forces from various countries were currently dealing with them.

The invaders didn’t respond to any peace negotiations and were said to be massacring the inhabitants of the conquered cities and villages after looting them. They had the momentum to destroy all the countries on the continent. Inland countries also felt the danger and were sending reinforcements.

Harlasia was no exception. On the contrary, they dispatched reinforcements faster than any other country as soon as they received a request from the northern countries. It was clear that they were struggling since they had not been able to drive the invaders out, but they had been winning since the current commander had taken over.

Regarding that commander, it turned out he was Prince Carl. Despite his young age, he seemed to be a skilled swordsman and a cunning strategist as a commander.

If one were to list his military achievements, it would have been certain that he would ascend to the throne. But no, the battle against the fearsome invaders was surely going to be a brutal one. Perhaps someone was scheming to use the pretext of war to assassinate Prince Carl. Although I didn’t even know what Prince Carl looked like, I at least prayed for his success on the battlefield.

“The young master’s fiancée was wearing beautiful clothes,” the slave said.

“They wouldn’t have suited me,” the slave added. Hmm, even though she said they wouldn’t have suited her, she probably wanted them. This slave always wore plain, dirty linen clothes. That’s all she was given.

Clothes... This was an item that I had no means of obtaining. I couldn’t even spin thread, and I had no connections to get clothes. It was distressing that I couldn’t be of help to my benefactor, the girl who always took care of me. Although I had increased my fighting ability, I realized my powerlessness when it came to other things.

As the slave finished her work, she continued to tell me about the events of the day, and I listened quietly. I had thought that this routine would continue indefinitely.

However, I learned that this was not the case ten days later.