There was a small alley behind the tavern. Lollister gently pushed open the window, and after confirming that there were no movements from the buildings on both sides, he jumped down and appeared in the alley with a flash.
Perhaps it was because of the noise from the customers of the Blaze and Blood tavern every night, but the houses on both sides of the alley had their windows tightly shut. Lollister looked around and saw that there was nothing out of the ordinary. He tidied up his clothes and walked towards the Gladiator Arena in the capital.
The camp of the royal guards was still brightly lit, and one could even hear the screams and laughter of women coming from the camp. The members of the slave-catching group and mercenaries who had been forced to form the Army of Retribution had made the originally orderly camp a mess. People came and went at the entrance of the camp, and even the sentries had given up on their duties. They gathered in groups of two or three to either doze off or drink, allowing people to come and go as they pleased.
Lollister was now dressed like a dissolute mercenary, and his body reeked of alcohol. His hair was disheveled, and he held a bottle of cheap alcohol in his hand. He muttered to himself as he staggered towards the camp.
A sentries saw Lollister, and his eyes lit up as he walked over. Of course, his attention was completely on the bottle in Lollister's hand.
"Hey, brother, you've drunk enough. Are you alright?" The sentries moved to support Lollister, but one of his hands reached for the bottle. He tugged, but Lollister held on tightly, and the bottle was not taken away.
Lollister grunted, "Congratulations to His Majesty. We're going to the battlefield. Give me another bottle, blergh …"
The sentries patted Lollister's back. "Brother, if you want to vomit, go to the alley over there. I'll hold the bottle for you, and I'll give it back to you after you're done vomiting."
This time, Lollister let go, and the bottle was snatched away by the sentries. The sentries looked at the half-empty bottle with satisfaction, and pushed Lollister. "Go quickly …"
He wiped the mouth of the bottle with his hand, and poured the alcohol into his mouth.
Lollister stumbled into the alley beside the military camp while making noises of vomiting.
As soon as he entered the alley, Lollister was shocked. There were a dozen or so drunken people lying on the ground, and the air was filled with a nauseating smell. Vomit and the stench of alcohol were everywhere.
Laurist pinched his nose and quickly passed through the alleyway. In front of him was the colosseum that was like a silent magical beast under the night sky. It was huge, majestic, and emitted the stench of blood. It was the unique smell formed by the blood of tens of thousands of slave gladiators who had lost their lives here over the past few decades.
In the darkness, the faint roars of magic beasts could be heard. Those were the cries of the magic beasts reared in the arena due to hunger.
The main gate of the King's City Arena was locked, and with the help of four torches, Lollister saw two guards dozing off against the stone wall behind the iron gate. Lollister quickly circled around the arena and found that the back door and the four side doors were tightly shut. It seemed that sneaking into the arena from below was not an option.
Lollister spat on his hands, rubbed his hands, and climbed up the uneven stone wall. His whole body was like a gecko, and he quickly reached the top of the arched decorative wall above. With a flip, he entered the arena.
The audience seats on both sides of the arena were very high. There were more than ten levels, and each level was one meter high. There were also rows of stone seats. The middle and the end were the lowest, but there was a tall tower at the entrance. It was both a sentry tower and an alarm clock tower. Opposite the tower was a rostrum and box. Those were places for nobles and people of status to watch the gladiatorial performances.
In the middle of the arena was a large piece of flat ground that had sunk in. It was five to six meters away from the surrounding spectator stands. Unlike the stone walls outside the arena that Lollister had climbed, the stone walls inside the arena that surrounded the spectator stands were all covered with green clay, making them very smooth. This was to prevent the despairing slave gladiators from climbing the stone walls and causing harm to the spectators in the spectator stands.
Under the illumination of the silver moon, there was no hazy silver moonlight on the flat ground in the middle of the arena. Instead, it was dark black. The smell of blood that Lollister smelled came from this flat ground. The night wind swept through the empty arena, bringing with it the faint sound of swords clashing, the wails of the dying, and the roars of despair …
Fatty Shi, Jim, and the brave family soldiers were forced to pick up their swords and guns and fight with other slave gladiators to please the nobles and commoners of the Slave Kingdom and Hamidas. Although these pirates had built a kingdom, their cruel character was inherited by their descendants. They had never treated slaves as human beings. In this arena, the blood and lives of slave gladiators were treated as an impromptu performance by the descendants of these pirates …
In that case, they did not need to be treated as human beings …
Lollister's eyes were bloodshot, and he could not help but feel a murderous intent when he saw this scene. He looked around, and there was no one on the tower. On a night like this, no one would be willing to stand on the tower and feel the wind in the empty arena. Lollister hurried up the tower. His sword flashed, and the rope tied to the alarm clock fell down.
After going down the tower, Lollister threw the rope on the flat ground of the arena. Without the rope, if something happened, the alarm clock would not ring for a while.
Behind the tower was an iron gate that led to the inside of the Colosseum. Lollister had heard from Tagger that the place where the slave gladiators were imprisoned was under the Colosseum. There was a maze-like underground prison, and it was said that at its peak, more than five thousand slave gladiators had been imprisoned there.
There was an iron bolt and a thick iron chain on the iron gate. This was not a problem for Lollister. He pulled out his short sword and used his internal energy. With two "kacha" sounds, the iron bolt and iron chain were cut off. With a creak, the iron gate was pulled open. Lollister listened carefully to his surroundings, and there was no movement around. His figure flashed in, and he closed the iron gate before wrapping the iron chain around it again. This way, even if there were patrolling guards passing by, they would not be able to see him if they did not look carefully.
After walking for more than ten steps, there was a fork in the road ahead. Lollister thought about it and walked to the left passage. After walking for a few dozen meters, there were three more passages in front of him. This time, Lollister was a little dazed. There were already so many passages before he even reached the underground. If he did not make a good turn, he might lose his way.
He leaned against the wall and listened for a while. There were sounds of conversation coming from the left passage, and Lollister felt his way to the left passage in the dark. There was a patch of light in front of him. It was the light from two torches on the wall. Under the light, there were two bare-chested guards wiping their bodies with linen cloths. There was also a large wooden basin filled with water in front of them.
"Alright, there's no need to wipe yourself so clean. Go to bed early. It's our turn to be on duty tomorrow morning …" one of the guards said.
"No, Master Swordmaster Benag tortured that slave gladiator to death tonight. The blood even splashed onto my neck. I feel disgusted. If I don't wipe myself clean, I won't be able to sleep at night and have nightmares …" the other guard said.
The first guard laughed. "Haha, who told you to get so close to Master Swordmaster Benag? I knew it was nothing good, so I watched from afar. You should know that Master Swordmaster Benag has a strange temper. Even if you try to please him, you won't get any benefits. " “
"I'm not thinking of any benefits. I just hope that Master Swordmaster Benag can put in a good word for me. You know that I've been in the Imperial Guard Corps for seven years, and I could have been promoted to the deputy position of squad leader long ago. However, that son of a b * tch has been suppressing me. I know that he wants to push his brother-in-law up. However, not only is his brother-in-law three years less than me, he's still at the Bronze rank. He's not that kind of material. That's why the squadron leader didn't report it, causing me to be unable to get promoted … "the other guard complained.
"Forget it, Stam. Who told you to offend the squadron leader before? He's a petty person, so of course he won't let you have it easy. However, in the evening, I heard from Su Ruide, who was guarding the gate, that there were already people looking for that martial arts fanatic. The squadron leader flatly refused, saying that the kid had gone back. However, Su Ruide said that the people who came might not give up. In a day or two, there might be some great nobles coming to investigate. If you leak the news at that time, I guarantee that the squadron leader won't be able to bear the consequences and will obediently become a scapegoat … "
"That's not a good idea." The guard called Stam flatly refused, "You know that the martial arts fanatic kid was fancied by Great Swordmaster Benag. I just don't understand what Great Swordmaster Benag saw in that kid. Although he's a 3-star Silver rank, his comprehension isn't that good. Furthermore, he's soft-hearted. He couldn't even bear to kill those slave gladiators. This is a common problem of those young masters. If they aren't ruthless, how could they comprehend the true essence of swordsmanship …"
"Haha …" The first guard laughed, "You don't know, but Great Swordmaster Benag saw in that kid's net worth. Behind him is the Peterson Merchant Group, one of the seven giants of the trade union. If Great Swordmaster Benag became his swordsmanship teacher, not to mention anything else, he would have an annual income of two to three thousand gold fords.
Think about it, that kid came to our arena to practice swordsmanship with those slave gladiators. He spent twenty to thirty gold fords a day, and if we include the tips, he spent close to a thousand in a month. That kid's expression didn't even change when he spent so much gold here. That's why Great Swordmaster Benag was moved. "
Lolist was overjoyed. He finally knew where Aire was.
The two soldiers in the distance finished wiping themselves and turned to enter a room in the back. However, the one called Stam quickly came out, complaining about how his snores were too loud and making it hard for him to sleep. He then entered the opposite room.
When the other side quieted down, Lolist quickly went over to take a look. It turned out that the two rows of rooms were the soldiers' dormitories, and there were seventy or so soldiers sleeping peacefully in these rooms. Lolist went to the room that Stam had entered and pushed open the door.
"Who is it?" Stam was lying on the bed and hadn't fallen asleep. When he saw someone enter, he raised his head and asked.
The light in the room was dim, but he could vaguely see that there were ten beds in the room. However, only Stam was lying on one of them. It seemed that Dore's information was accurate. The arena originally had a thousand guards, but there were only two hundred left, and there were so many empty beds.
Lolist silently went to Stam's bed, and with a flash of his sword, he rested his sword on Stam's neck.
Stam was shocked, "You, who are you? What do you want to do … "
Lolist opened his mouth, "Don't worry about who I am. I just want to know where our young master is."
"Your young master? How would I know where your young master is? You, you didn't find the wrong person … "Stam asked doubtfully.
"I recognize you. Our young master went to the arena several times to practice swordsmanship, and you were the one who brought him through the gate. I remember that our young master even rewarded you." Lolist said.
"Oh." Stam immediately understood and let out a sigh of relief, "Brother, are you the guard of the Peterson Merchant Group's young master? The kind that secretly protects him? You were right to bring your young master here, but you found the wrong person. You shouldn't have found me. You can't solve this problem. Have the great nobles of Royal City come forward, or have your merchant group send a Great Swordsman. Your young master is indeed here, but Great Swordsman Benag has taken a fancy to him and wants to take him as a disciple. Your young master is too stubborn and wouldn't agree even if he died. In the end, he angered Great Swordsman Benag and was placed under house arrest. "
"Then why did your squadron leader refuse to admit that our young master was here when our merchant group came to find him in the evening?" Lolist asked in a low voice.
"Hey, brother, that's none of my business. The main thing is that Great Swordsman Benag has an eccentric temper. If he can't control his anger and something happens to your young master, then the squadron leader can shirk his responsibility by saying that. If someone dies here, then all he has to do is throw them into a magic beast cage and there will be no clues left. At that time, there will be no witnesses. "Stam had a deep grudge against the squadron leader and hurriedly poured dirty water on him. He had thought it through very thoroughly. A young master who had a guard protecting him in secret would definitely not have a simple family background. Perhaps the squadron leader would be in trouble because of this matter, and then his chance would come.
"Get up and get dressed. Take me to see our young master. I have to make sure he's safe. " Lolist patted Stam's face with his sword. "If you help us, our merchant group will definitely reward you handsomely. This is the down payment."
With a flash of light, a small torch appeared in Lolist's hand, illuminating the room. As Stam squinted in the light of the fire, a gold yuan certificate flashing with golden light drifted over his face.
"You have two choices. The first is to take me to see our young master. Once our young master leaves, he will reward you handsomely. The second is to refuse my request and be silenced by me. I will then go find someone who is willing to cooperate with me. There are sixty or seventy people here. I trust that someone will cooperate. "Lolist's husky voice rang out in Stam's ear.
Stam clenched his teeth and grabbed the gold yuan certificate at the head of the bed. Using the light of the torch in Lolist's hand to distinguish whether it was real or fake, he kissed it on the lips. "People die for wealth. I'll accompany you, but your attire won't do. You'll be discovered."
Lolist pointed at the bed next to him. On it was the standard equipment of the Imperial Guard that Lolist had taken from the room where the soldiers were sleeping. "I've already prepared it. Once you put on this equipment, you'll be one of your soldiers. This copper helmet also has a visor, so it'll be hard for others to tell us apart. Take me to see our young master and confirm that he's still alive."
… …
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