Chapter 184: Heracles (9)
After the refreshments prepared by the hotel were set out, Poseidon looked at the man sitting across from him.
The man had neatly styled pomade hair, wore a fashionable red suit that was currently trending, and possessed striking red eyes. His overall cleanliness felt completely out of place in this black market.
He looked exactly like a close aide to some noble from the outside world.
“So I still can’t figure out why someone like you would come all the way here to meet me.”
“Yes, I’m aware this visit may be rude, but I’m acting under orders. Please understand.”
“Hmm. If you know it’s rude, shouldn’t you be even more cautious? In that sense, asking for understanding feels a bit greedy.”
The man in the red suit, as if he had expected this reaction, calmly slid a small box he had brought with him across the table toward Poseidon.
“I figured you might say that, so we prepared a modest gift as an apology.”
Trying to apologize for rudeness with money…
Poseidon genuinely liked people like this.
If the world were full of people like him, why would disputes or emotional conflicts ever arise?
Just as he was subtly reaching for the box in front of him with that thought—
“Ugh! He looks like some gigolo pretty boy, so why’s he acting all prim and proper?”
If Aresia had just stayed quiet, everyone could have remained happy.
“…Aresia.”
“Hm? Master agrees too, right? The smell, the look—everything screams bad news. He’s got the face of someone who’d stab you in the back any second.”
“Haha… Your evaluation is quite harsh… haha.”
“…….”
No matter how suspicious the other party was, openly insulting someone to their face without any provocation was simply inexcusable.
The man hadn’t shown any hostility or caused any trouble yet.
“…Sorry about that. I’ll accept the gift. Please overlook my slave’s rudeness.”
So Poseidon’s neck turning slightly red from embarrassment was simply an unavoidable physical reaction.
Because of Aresia’s behavior, he had become a shameless master who failed to properly educate his slave.
No matter how wild and free-spirited he might seem, as both a mage and a god, he still tried to maintain at least a minimum level of dignity.
Of course, in this black market, “slaves” were essentially just hired workers under contract—but whether it was a slave or an employee being rude, it still damaged his reputation all the same.
Poseidon glared fiercely at Aresia, channeling all those feelings.
Naturally, he was already contemplating how to properly discipline this uncontrollable beast later.
“Ah, no, no. We’re the ones at fault for showing up without a prior appointment… So please accept the gift.”
“…See, Master? So maybe I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“…….”
Poseidon felt like he had swallowed dozens of sweet potatoes whole—his throat was completely blocked. He had no immediate way to deal with Aresia, who didn’t even understand why he was glaring at her.
For now, dealing with the man in front of him took priority.
“Sigh… I’ll gratefully accept it. Just ignore what this wild girl says. It’s better for everyone that way. Or would you prefer to talk somewhere without her?”
Yes—what was the point of talking to an idiot?
With that resolve to give her a proper education later, Poseidon suggested moving locations.
“No, it’s fine. To begin with, we came here specifically because we have a request for Lady Aresia, the legend of the coliseum. And everyone who knows anything already understands her… unique behavior, so it’s not really considered rude.”
“Hm?”
But unexpectedly, the man in the red suit made a baffling statement—he had come with a request for Aresia.
Considering how famous she was in this black market, and how little surprise people felt at her outrageous actions…
“Why? She’s broke and the only thing she’s good at is using her body—and even then it’s more like a walking disaster. Plus she’s nearly impossible to control.”
“Ah, well… what we want is for Lady Aresia to drop out of the tournament early…”
“…I see.”
Poseidon found the man’s words absurd at first, but quickly understood.
Honestly, that was probably the only kind of request someone would make of her. If you gave her a proper job, she’d likely cause so many accidents it would ruin everything.
Still, because the request was so completely different from what he had expected, Poseidon couldn’t help but make a slightly sour face.
He had assumed this man was from one of the annoying factions currently bothering them…
And in response to Poseidon’s reaction, Aresia grinned proudly, patted him on the shoulder, and boasted:
“Hmph! See? That’s me!”
***
The request from the man in the red suit was quite reasonable. If Poseidon and Aresia took the prize for winning this tournament, they would gain the grand reward, while the other side would receive a massive sum of money and increased influence inside the coliseum.
“Hmm… both this merchant and the last one—does this kind of match-fixing happen often in the coliseum?”
At Poseidon’s question, Aresia—who had buried her face in a 12-scoop ice cream sundae—nodded while chewing.
“Mmm. Nom. Yeah, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Depends on the day. This coliseum never really had rules to begin with.”
Poseidon nodded in understanding at Aresia’s casual reply. “Yeah… that makes sense.”
“Since we suddenly showed up and messed with their plans, they must have a real headache now.”
In the end, whether he won the [Belt of the Amazon Queen] through victory or through this deal, the result was the same.
Money and influence inside the coliseum were completely useless to him. Unless it was gold, of course.
‘Above all, the goblins said it’s the real thing. In that case, it’s better to quietly obtain it from behind the scenes than to win publicly and cause a fuss.’
Of course, neither the coliseum operators nor the goblins who appraised it seemed to understand the belt’s true nature. If they had, they never would have let something like that become an official tournament prize so easily.
Because of that, Poseidon felt quite satisfied—he had achieved his goal, avoided unnecessary trouble, and obtained a valuable item.
“More importantly, Aresia, what other people have you gotten tangled up wi—”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Before he could finish, another knock sounded—this time with a different presence behind the door.
And so.
Poseidon now found himself face-to-face with a woman with sea-green hair.
“Hmm… So you’re saying you’re the captain of the merfolk pirate crew?”
“That’s right. I’m the owner of this place—and on the outside, they call me the Pirate King.”
What was interesting was that the sea-green-haired woman who introduced herself as the captain of the merfolk pirate crew was, in fact, a mermaid.
This was so unexpected that even Poseidon hadn’t anticipated it.
(‘Huh. A mermaid being the captain was completely outside my expectations.’)
It was truly astonishing that a mermaid—most of whom lived solitary lives or only mingled with their own kind—had become the leader of the merfolk pirate crew.
Powerful mermaids were already beings comparable to witches or fantastical species, fundamentally on a different scale from other races.
They were few in number, extremely arrogant, and most of them didn’t even acknowledge other races as fellow living beings.
(‘But… does it really matter? As Njord, I just take what I need and discard what I don’t.’)
In that sense…
As expected! As a human mage, his prediction had been spot on. He had already anticipated(?) that someone of such high standing would eventually step in.
(‘Heh heh, my predictions never miss.’)
“So. What exactly did you come here to talk about?”
Poseidon inwardly praised himself while also letting a satisfied smile slip across his face.
He felt proud that his children had built such a formidable force. And it seemed even the mermaids were finally developing something resembling social skills.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was automatically going to help the merfolk pirate crew!
His mind was constantly flicking through an abacus, calculating gains.
A mercenary never helps for free.
So he was busy tallying the numbers when…
“Fine. I appreciate the lack of flowery words. It’s nothing big. Just take Aresia and that brat Alcides and leave this place.”
“Sure, I can help. So how much…?”
…Huh? Exile?
“Yeah. Don’t cause any more trouble—just get out.”
***
“Kuhehehe, Master. All that posturing and swagger, and in the end you got exiled. Legs crossed, acting all cool and mighty.”
“…….”
“Seriously, this is why smart people always lose. If you were straightforward and bold like us warriors, you wouldn’t get kicked out. All that calculating and scheming is exactly why you got exiled.”
“…….”
Poseidon could only remain silent in the face of Aresia’s teasing. Being mocked by an idiot was so humiliating his fragile heart could barely endure it—but he had no comeback…
He never imagined they’d exile him just because he was an inconvenience.
Poseidon recalled the cold smile of Vitanasa, the mermaid captain of the pirate crew.
At first, of course, he had frowned and refused outright. He loudly declared that no one could infringe on a mage’s freedom.
‘Oh? You can still talk about freedom after seeing this?’
But his pride and right not to be exiled were shattered into pieces by the irresistible power of gold.
“Still… it was quite a lot of gold.”
“Tsk tsk tsk. Master, this is exactly why people don’t trust you. How can anyone trust someone who flips completely for money? No trust means they just want you gone before you cause trouble.”
Guhk!
Aresia’s sharp jab pierced straight through his heart. Why was she only razor-sharp when it hurt the most—when normally she just spouted nonsense?!
“But Aresia—you got exiled too! Why are you acting so smug about it?!”
“Master. That’s because I’m your slave, obviously.”
Ugh!
Poseidon sank under the weight of Aresia’s flawless logic.
Well… yeah. A slave naturally follows their master.
“Argh, damn it! If only people outside knew my reputation, this wouldn’t have happened! Bunch of frogs stuck in a well!!”
The five stages of grief? Poseidon seemed to have moved past denial straight into anger.
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
Watching the spectacle, Aresia simply clicked her tongue with a pitiful look.
This is exactly why mages are hopeless. So weak-hearted.
(‘We warriors would never look this pathetic.’)
Still—what could be done? Even with such a soft heart, this master was one of the rare genuinely good humans in this black market.
“Yeah, yeah, Master. Maybe that captain is just a perfectionist. Some people hate when plans go off track, you know.”
(‘Though how many people like that even exist in a black market?’)
For once, Aresia found herself in the rare position of comforting someone else—an entirely new experience for her.
***
Meanwhile, inside the merfolk pirate crew—after deciding to exile Poseidon and Aresia.
“Captain, are you sure it’s okay to let them go? With that level of combat power, they could make our work so much easier.”
The sea-green-haired captain Vitanasa opened her previously closed eyes at her subordinate’s question.
“Hmm… Uncontrollable power is useless. From what I saw—the mage, that infuriating woman, and even the kid we just met—none of them can be controlled.”
“But… if those people hire them and attack us, the damage could be severe.”
One of the executives who had been present during Poseidon and Vitanasa’s meeting shivered as he recalled the mage’s power.
The moment he heard the word “exile,” the mage had briefly lost control—and even the boldest pirate felt a chill run down their spine at the sheer force released.
Perhaps sensing her subordinate’s feelings—
Normally Vitanasa would have berated him for being scared by something like that, but this time she simply shared her thoughts without rebuke.
“That’s true. But… I don’t think those idiots are capable of making rational decisions. They’ll probably stick to their old habits and start doing stupid things right away. So let’s just wait and see—whether my decision was right or wrong.”
***
In the middle of a ruined landscape—buildings collapsed, the surrounding ground cracked from the aftermath—a very small boy stood alone.
In his hand dangled an unconscious human, limp like a ragdoll.
Because the boy was so short, it almost looked like the body had simply been thrown to the ground.
“Hmm… I made a mistake. All the attackers passed out, so…”
The boy in the ruins scratched his head, belatedly realizing his error.
If he had known, he would have left at least one of them conscious.
But the deed was already done. It seemed about time for the boy to leave the coliseum.
“I already snuck out behind Mother’s back, so things were risky anyway. Time to head back.”
Though he’d have to think about compensation for the collapsed building first.
Of course, it wasn’t really his fault. The sudden ambush and the enemies trying to kill him bore most of the responsibility. Still, the boy felt he shared some blame for failing to control his strength properly.
To lose control against such weak opponents…
Besides, he had made a promise long ago with his mother about taking responsibility for the power that came with being special.
“Hmm… So how much compensation should I give the hotel owner? Normally Iolaos would handle the calculations in cases like this. What a shame.”
Just then, a clear, ringing voice called out from somewhere.
“Hey, brat! We got exiled! Time to leave!”
“…Aresia. Don’t shout embarrassing things like that. It’s hard to show my face.”
“The more embarrassing, the prouder you should be, Master. That way everyone else will know we’re just too strong—that’s why they kicked us out.”
“…Is that so? Well… if it makes people think that way, maybe it’s better.”
From afar came the sound of lively chatter. Aresia—with her lion-mane-like hair—was bounding over energetically, waving her hands.
Naturally, her master the mage trailed behind her.
To Alcides, he looked deeply ashamed and couldn’t lift his head.
Regardless—from Alcides’s perspective, this was perfect timing. He had been wondering how to handle the aftermath of the sudden attack, and now more experienced adults had appeared.
“Hmm. Perfect timing. Auntie has way more experience than me. Could you help me judge something?”
“What is it? And I told you not to call me auntie. You lost, remember?”
“I didn’t exactly lose, but… fine. If you help me with this, I’ll consider calling you big sis.”
“Hmph. Fine. I’ll be generous enough to accept that much. Go ahead—tell this experienced big sis.”
“Well… it’s about this…”
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