Chapter 68
“Ignisia!”
Titus, standing near the Colosseum’s east gate, was surrounded by kids clinging to him like on the very first day we met.
“What brings you here? Want to watch the match together? I’m not particularly interested in gladiators, though.”
“Really? I thought you’d like it. Kids, go buy yourselves something tasty with this.”
I said nonchalantly, shooing Titus’s little followers away.
“Actually, I do like it. But sitting quietly to watch isn’t my thing. I’m more interested in the other side, not the match itself.”
Titus said that as he pointed toward the tents lining the Colosseum entrance.
“Look at those crazed expressions. Fascinating phenomenon, isn’t it?”
I pretended not to understand and pulled him toward the stone tablets showing the match results.
“So these must be the results of the matches held so far.”
Barbaros — Pompo
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
“What? They called him a genius gladiator, but losing all the time—how is that genius?”
Titus frowned after looking at Barbaros’s record, clearly unimpressed.
But that was an unfair assessment of Barbaros. His opponent, Pompo, had also suddenly appeared this year like a comet, quickly rising as a genius rival for Barbaros.
“The last match of this season is happening right now.”
“I know. It’s written at the entrance,” Titus said gruffly, as if asking why he needed to be told something obvious.
I smiled and handed him a small tablet with a certificate engraved on it.
“You bet on it? Huh… I thought someone like you wouldn’t know these things. Surprising… huh?”
Realizing what the symbols on it meant, Titus went pale, speechless.
Because my tablet matched the actual match results perfectly.
Barbaros — Pompo
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
Only one match remained.
If Pompo won the ongoing final match, it would mean my huge bet had succeeded.
“Crazy.”
Titus muttered a curse and focused intently on the sounds of the match echoing beyond the wall.
Amid the chaos of cheering and jeering, he didn’t speak a word.
Finally, the trumpet signaling the end sounded, and people poured out like ants, all shouting one name.
Pompo! Pompo!
“How… how did you do this? Just tell me. You and your family colluded with the gladiators, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about? It was my first time, I just wrote it randomly. See, I marked it one, two, three, four in order.”
“Impossible! …Well, if you had connections with the gladiators, Ignitius wouldn’t be so poor. Who are you really? Is the goddess of fortune favoring you?”
“Maybe.”
I shrugged. Maybe so. If the numbers hadn’t been easy, I wouldn’t have been able to memorize them either.
“Wow, I didn’t know the soldiers could dance so well.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I want to learn too! What kind of dance is that?”
“It’s a military dance, milady. It represents the fight between the ancient gladiators Barbaros and Pompo.”
“I’ll be on the left!”
“You’re Barbaros. I’ll be Pompo.”
“Ugh, it’s harder than it looks.”
“If you memorize it like this, it’s not so difficult. Once on that side, twice on this side. Three times there, four times back here.”
“One, two, three, four?”
“Yes. That’s how the first match’s outcome was decided.”
And if my memory serves, the one who taught me this was… Valronius, the traitor who destroyed Ignitius.
Suddenly, I felt uneasy and stopped thinking about the past.
Anyway, our family was poor.
“…Patience. The opponent is Tellus, rolling in money.”
Titus took it upon himself to do the complicated payout calculations I hadn’t even asked for.
“One and a half. One and a quarter… The last two matches are double each. Forty-three and about one-sixth. How much did you bet on the two matches?”
“25 dena. I bet all the money I borrowed from you.”
“You asked me for money to do this? And then went all in? Are you crazy or what?”
“Well, it worked out in the end. I was surprised too,” I said nonchalantly.
“One coin’s worth. Easy. Betting 25 dena gives a payout of 1,025 dena. In coins, forty-three. 43 aure.”
‘He did all that in his head…!’
I was in awe and a little scared, but Titus shouted at me as if it were nothing.
“This is amazing!”
I moved the tablet away from the approaching Titus.
“What did I tell you? I said I could pay it all back.”
Suddenly, as if he’d thought of something, Titus looked slightly excited and said to me,
“Hey, so if you’re wondering what to do with all that money…”
“That’s exactly why I called you here.”
I knew he’d show interest. I needed Titus and the kids’ help.
“I’m going to get the money now. Help me see it through, and we’ll strike another deal! Deal?”
I pointed to the excited crowd.
“Deal.”
Titus smiled knowingly.
Boom.
With a massive tremor, the ground lifted upward.
“Ahhh!”
The already chaotic square fell into confusion.
“Protect the client,” Tellus said, seated atop the rising ground like a wall.
Following the path he created, I safely retrieved the coins. The overwhelmed exchange clerk treated me with exceptional care.
“Here’s the repayment, and here’s the rest for you to manage.”
I handed Titus one coin in my left hand and a sack containing thirty-eight coins in my right.
Yet Titus’s reaction was underwhelming.
“Sorry, but the debt you owe is one coin and one dena. A month has passed, so interest is due, right?”
Even when I offered thirty-eight coins, he brought up interest? Meticulous or stingy?
I had no extra money since I had spent it chasing the kids away earlier.
I thought about what I could offer instead and took out some baked goods.
“I don’t have change. How about some pastries from my house?”
“Ridiculous. I only deal in money…”
Growl.
Before he finished speaking, his stomach made a sound.
“…Give it here.”
He reluctantly put a pastry in his mouth, and after tasting it, his serious expression softened.
“Wow, why does our cook even get paid?”
Padia’s skill was no joke. I smiled proudly.
We went back to Titus’s small forest and drafted a new agreement.
He took the original parchment, giving me a copy.
“Now we can be at ease, right?”
“Not bad.”
“Commerce is all about trust. Nothing beats a formal contract. Your parents may call it vulgar, but… we’ll see. I’ll prove I’m right.”
Titus seemed slightly emotional, though I didn’t understand his point yet.
‘“That”? Could he mean Tertia?’
“By the way, why did you leave four coins? Betting on the next match?”
“No. I don’t plan to spend any more at the Colosseum.”
I shook my head firmly.
“Interesting. Usually, people can’t stop after a big win.”
“Well, it wasn’t as fun as expected… and I have other plans for it. Since it’s money gained by chance, I might donate some.”
“Donate? To where?”
“Still deciding. Maybe to the commoners. Last year’s wheat harvest was poor, so everyone’s burden is heavy.”
