Laura sprawled on her bed, eyes closed, thoroughly bored after hours of idleness when a knock roused her from her stupor.
"Enter," she said wearily.
The door creaked open, and Marie entered with a rigid expression. Laura, puzzled, asked, "What's up?"
Marie lowered her head, deepening Laura's confusion. "Lady Laura, would you consider losing your match?"
"Huh?"
"Please consider it. If you do, I promise I won't treat you badly anymore."
Laura frowned. "Why would I do that? What are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that... your opponent is my brother. If he loses, he's going to be kicked out and thrown onto the streets due to his inability to win."
"So what? Is he really that bad?"
Marie nodded. "Yes."
Laura contemplated for a moment. "I refuse."
Marie's desperate plea couldn't change Laura's mind. "You must be joking. I just said that if he loses to you, he'll be thrown out onto the street with no job and little money. As much as I appreciate the attempt to lighten the mood, now is not the time."
"I'm not joking," Laura affirmed.
Marie, shocked, stammered, "Listen here, Laura. You're going to let my brother win his match, got it? This isn't up for debate. If he gets thrown out, I'm going to leave with him."
"That's perfectly fine with me."
"Huh?"
"Where do you get off telling me what I'm going to do?"
Marie shrunk back. "Do you honestly think that telling me you're going to treat me better and threatening to leave is a good idea? To be perfectly honest, I hate you, and if your brother is as bad as you say, then I want to beat him even harder."
Marie's eyes widened in shock, and she glared at Laura.
"How dare you speak to me like that. You're just a demon; know your place."
"Ha ha ha," Laura curled over, clutching her stomach in a fit of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Marie asked, her tone angry.
"Nothing. It's just that you remind me of how the people in my village treated me when I was taken back there. You look at me with the most angry and unsympathetic expression, trying to lord your superiority over me. Just like how you're projecting your hatred for the demon who killed your family onto me, I'm going to project my hatred for people like you onto your brother."
Marie looked shocked. "You...you really are a demon."
"Nice observation, genius. Did my horns tip you off?" Laura said while pointing to her horns.
"But..."
"Are we done here?" Laura asked.
"No, we're not. I'm not leaving until you say you're going to let my brother win."
Suddenly, the air in the room seemed to get a lot heavier. Laura stared coldly at Marie, radiating hostility, causing Marie to back away in fear. "Leave," Laura growled. "I won't ask you again."
Marie turned and left the room, leaving Laura alone. Laura heaved a sigh. "Great. Just great," she said to herself.
Marie all but sprinted down the hallway away from Laura's room. She stopped outside of Roderick's office and knocked on his door.
"Come in," he called out.
She entered the room and saw him sitting behind his desk looking through some reports.
"Marie, what is it this time?"
"Is there any way you can choose another opponent for Laura? Please?"
"I'm afraid not. The matchups for the tournament are set, and your brother was the odd man out. Bets are already being taken, so there's nothing I can do. Besides, I don't see why you need to make such a big deal about it."
Marie sighed dejectedly.
"Even if I could change the matchup, I'm afraid I see no reason to. Just because you're afraid your brother might lose isn't a good enough reason to change the matchup. Plus, that man has never won a single fight, and if I were to take another fighter out and place your brother in, that would stir up some controversy."
"He's not weak!" Marie exclaimed.
"Really? How many fights has he had?"
"F...fourteen."
"How many fights has he lost?"
Marie looked down. "Fourteen."
"Good. Now tell me why I should place him in the tournament."
"Because...because I don't want him to fight that monster."
"Hm," Roderick nodded. "I'm sorry, but there's just no way. He can either fight or run away. Those are his two options at this point. There's nothing else I can do."
"But...but..."
"No buts, Marie. I've made up my mind, and there's no changing it. Now go away, I'm very busy."
"Yes, sir." Marie bowed her head and left the room.
Roderick shook his head in disbelief. "That girl is just a spoiled brat," he muttered to himself.
Marie walked through the hallways dejectedly. Her heart was heavy with sorrow as she thought about her brother.
"I'm not going to let this happen," she muttered to herself.
"Oh, Marie!" a voice called out.
Marie turned around and saw a familiar young woman with long red hair in a maid uniform walking towards her.
"Oh, hello, Avery. What brings you here?" Marie asked.
"Uhm...well...I was given a shopping list, and I was wondering if you could help me go grocery shopping. Would you come with me?"
"Sure, I'll accompany you."
Avery was a new maid at the colosseum and didn't know much about the surrounding area yet. Marie was a capable maid in the eyes of her peers, so Avery latched onto her for help whenever she needed it.
"Ok, so we need to buy a lot of food for all the fighters since they're all getting ready for the tournament in a few days. Do you know where a good place to go shopping is?"
"Well, we always buy all our food from the shopping district near the colosseum."
"Alright, then let's go there."
They walked together down the street and entered the shopping district. The shopping district was the biggest and most crowded district in the whole city. It was lined with numerous shops selling anything from food to clothes. They passed by various stores until Marie spotted the usual store they bought their food at.
"This is it. Here's the store."
The store was a two-story building with wide windows and bright lights shining through them. Marie walked inside and found herself in an expansive store filled with food. There was a long line of people buying groceries, and Marie joined the queue behind them.
"Now, Avery, when we shop here, an employee will take our list and go procure all the food on it. Then, when we get to the front of the line, all our food will be ready for us. Since our workplace is a regular customer, they'll put all our food on carts and haul them back, so there's no need to make multiple trips or use multiple maids."
"Oh, ok."
An employee came over to them, and Marie handed them the list of food they needed to buy.
"You see, now we just wait for everyone else in front of us to buy their food, no need to walk around or carry any of it ourselves."
"But how do they keep the meat fresh?"
"With ice magic, of course."
Marie smiled and pointed at something.
"They have employees working around the clock to keep the meat and vegetables fresh and cold."
"Wow."
"Yeah, that store is really nice. We only buy our food from here."
Marie and Avery waited for another twenty minutes before paying for all the food. They bought so much that the store had to stash it all on four separate carts.
"Avery, usually we only need two carts, sometimes three, but we did buy twice the usual amount, so there's no helping it. Now I need to do some personal shopping, so you go ahead and ride the carts back to the colosseum, and I'll see you back there. Ok?"
"Ok."
The four carts set off with Avery riding on one, and Marie headed toward a different shop.
Marie wandered through the shopping district until she came across an inconspicuous alleyway. She entered the alleyway and walked until she was in front of a door. She knocked on it once, paused, then knocked three more times in succession.
"Come in."
Marie opened the door and walked inside. Inside the room was a dirty living space. There was a single bed with a few pieces of clothing scattered around it. Piles of garbage and filth were everywhere, with only a single light source on the table. Marie looked at the person sitting at the table in the center of the room.
"How are you, Gil?" she asked.
Gil was the man who took her and her brother in before they both got jobs at the colosseum. Gil was known as a decent drug dealer in the capital. He sported an anemic appearance with little muscle and a slicked-back hairstyle.
"Not so great, actually."
"Well, I might just be able to make your day a little better. I need a drug."
"Like what kind of drug?"
"I need a drug that will cause a person to feel woozy and off their game. It's for Anton's fight. Can you hook me up?"
Gil looked at Marie. "Are you trying to cheat for that little failure of a fighter?"
"It's not cheating if the odds were stacked against him in the first place. He's fighting a monster, and I need to even the playing field."
"You think that will work? I'm of the opinion that he should be working somewhere that makes more use of his brains rather than his nonexistent brawn."
Marie shrugged. "I'm going to prove to the world that my brother can win, that he's not a failure."
"By cheating?"
"It's not cheating; it's leveling the playing field. I already told you."
"Goodness gracious, alright."
Gil picked up a vial and poured some white powder into it. After shaking it up, he set it next to Marie.
"Here, this will do the trick. If your brother fights against someone who's got this in their system, even he could probably one-shot them. I'll be at the tournament, so hopefully, I can see him win."
"Thank you, Gil."
Marie handed Gil some gold coins and headed back to the colosseum, clutching the vial to her chest.
"Anton is going to win. Everyone will see that he's not a failure, and Anton will get some closure. Laura, you're going to regret everything your kind has done to my brother and me."
Laura sprawled on her bed, eyes closed, thoroughly bored after hours of idleness when a knock roused her from her stupor.
"Enter," she said wearily.
The door creaked open, and Marie entered with a rigid expression. Laura, puzzled, asked, "What's up?"
Marie lowered her head, deepening Laura's confusion. "Lady Laura, would you consider losing your match?"
"Huh?"
"Please consider it. If you do, I promise I won't treat you badly anymore."
Laura frowned. "Why would I do that? What are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that... your opponent is my brother. If he loses, he's going to be kicked out and thrown onto the streets due to his inability to win."
"So what? Is he really that bad?"
Marie nodded. "Yes."
Laura contemplated for a moment. "I refuse."
Marie's desperate plea couldn't change Laura's mind. "You must be joking. I just said that if he loses to you, he'll be thrown out onto the street with no job and little money. As much as I appreciate the attempt to lighten the mood, now is not the time."
"I'm not joking," Laura affirmed.
Marie, shocked, stammered, "Listen here, Laura. You're going to let my brother win his match, got it? This isn't up for debate. If he gets thrown out, I'm going to leave with him."
"That's perfectly fine with me."
"Huh?"
"Where do you get off telling me what I'm going to do?"
Marie shrunk back. "Do you honestly think that telling me you're going to treat me better and threatening to leave is a good idea? To be perfectly honest, I hate you, and if your brother is as bad as you say, then I want to beat him even harder."
Marie's eyes widened in shock, and she glared at Laura.
"How dare you speak to me like that. You're just a demon; know your place."
"Ha ha ha," Laura curled over, clutching her stomach in a fit of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Marie asked, her tone angry.
"Nothing. It's just that you remind me of how the people in my village treated me when I was taken back there. You look at me with the most angry and unsympathetic expression, trying to lord your superiority over me. Just like how you're projecting your hatred for the demon who killed your family onto me, I'm going to project my hatred for people like you onto your brother."
Marie looked shocked. "You...you really are a demon."
"Nice observation, genius. Did my horns tip you off?" Laura said while pointing to her horns.
"But..."
"Are we done here?" Laura asked.
"No, we're not. I'm not leaving until you say you're going to let my brother win."
Suddenly, the air in the room seemed to get a lot heavier. Laura stared coldly at Marie, radiating hostility, causing Marie to back away in fear. "Leave," Laura growled. "I won't ask you again."
Marie turned and left the room, leaving Laura alone. Laura heaved a sigh. "Great. Just great," she said to herself.
Marie all but sprinted down the hallway away from Laura's room. She stopped outside of Roderick's office and knocked on his door.
"Come in," he called out.
She entered the room and saw him sitting behind his desk looking through some reports.
"Marie, what is it this time?"
"Is there any way you can choose another opponent for Laura? Please?"
"I'm afraid not. The matchups for the tournament are set, and your brother was the odd man out. Bets are already being taken, so there's nothing I can do. Besides, I don't see why you need to make such a big deal about it."
Marie sighed dejectedly.
"Even if I could change the matchup, I'm afraid I see no reason to. Just because you're afraid your brother might lose isn't a good enough reason to change the matchup. Plus, that man has never won a single fight, and if I were to take another fighter out and place your brother in, that would stir up some controversy."
"He's not weak!" Marie exclaimed.
"Really? How many fights has he had?"
"F...fourteen."
"How many fights has he lost?"
Marie looked down. "Fourteen."
"Good. Now tell me why I should place him in the tournament."
"Because...because I don't want him to fight that monster."
"Hm," Roderick nodded. "I'm sorry, but there's just no way. He can either fight or run away. Those are his two options at this point. There's nothing else I can do."
"But...but..."
"No buts, Marie. I've made up my mind, and there's no changing it. Now go away, I'm very busy."
"Yes, sir." Marie bowed her head and left the room.
Roderick shook his head in disbelief. "That girl is just a spoiled brat," he muttered to himself.
Marie walked through the hallways dejectedly. Her heart was heavy with sorrow as she thought about her brother.
"I'm not going to let this happen," she muttered to herself.
"Oh, Marie!" a voice called out.
Marie turned around and saw a familiar young woman with long red hair in a maid uniform walking towards her.
"Oh, hello, Avery. What brings you here?" Marie asked.
"Uhm...well...I was given a shopping list, and I was wondering if you could help me go grocery shopping. Would you come with me?"
"Sure, I'll accompany you."
Avery was a new maid at the colosseum and didn't know much about the surrounding area yet. Marie was a capable maid in the eyes of her peers, so Avery latched onto her for help whenever she needed it.
"Ok, so we need to buy a lot of food for all the fighters since they're all getting ready for the tournament in a few days. Do you know where a good place to go shopping is?"
"Well, we always buy all our food from the shopping district near the colosseum."
"Alright, then let's go there."
They walked together down the street and entered the shopping district. The shopping district was the biggest and most crowded district in the whole city. It was lined with numerous shops selling anything from food to clothes. They passed by various stores until Marie spotted the usual store they bought their food at.
"This is it. Here's the store."
The store was a two-story building with wide windows and bright lights shining through them. Marie walked inside and found herself in an expansive store filled with food. There was a long line of people buying groceries, and Marie joined the queue behind them.
"Now, Avery, when we shop here, an employee will take our list and go procure all the food on it. Then, when we get to the front of the line, all our food will be ready for us. Since our workplace is a regular customer, they'll put all our food on carts and haul them back, so there's no need to make multiple trips or use multiple maids."
"Oh, ok."
An employee came over to them, and Marie handed them the list of food they needed to buy.
"You see, now we just wait for everyone else in front of us to buy their food, no need to walk around or carry any of it ourselves."
"But how do they keep the meat fresh?"
"With ice magic, of course."
Marie smiled and pointed at something.
"They have employees working around the clock to keep the meat and vegetables fresh and cold."
"Wow."
"Yeah, that store is really nice. We only buy our food from here."
Marie and Avery waited for another twenty minutes before paying for all the food. They bought so much that the store had to stash it all on four separate carts.
"Avery, usually we only need two carts, sometimes three, but we did buy twice the usual amount, so there's no helping it. Now I need to do some personal shopping, so you go ahead and ride the carts back to the colosseum, and I'll see you back there. Ok?"
"Ok."
The four carts set off with Avery riding on one, and Marie headed toward a different shop.
Marie wandered through the shopping district until she came across an inconspicuous alleyway. She entered the alleyway and walked until she was in front of a door. She knocked on it once, paused, then knocked three more times in succession.
"Come in."
Marie opened the door and walked inside. Inside the room was a dirty living space. There was a single bed with a few pieces of clothing scattered around it. Piles of garbage and filth were everywhere, with only a single light source on the table. Marie looked at the person sitting at the table in the center of the room.
"How are you, Gil?" she asked.
Gil was the man who took her and her brother in before they both got jobs at the colosseum. Gil was known as a decent drug dealer in the capital. He sported an anemic appearance with little muscle and a slicked-back hairstyle.
"Not so great, actually."
"Well, I might just be able to make your day a little better. I need a drug."
"Like what kind of drug?"
"I need a drug that will cause a person to feel woozy and off their game. It's for Anton's fight. Can you hook me up?"
Gil looked at Marie. "Are you trying to cheat for that little failure of a fighter?"
"It's not cheating if the odds were stacked against him in the first place. He's fighting a monster, and I need to even the playing field."
"You think that will work? I'm of the opinion that he should be working somewhere that makes more use of his brains rather than his nonexistent brawn."
Marie shrugged. "I'm going to prove to the world that my brother can win, that he's not a failure."
"By cheating?"
"It's not cheating; it's leveling the playing field. I already told you."
"Goodness gracious, alright."
Gil picked up a vial and poured some white powder into it. After shaking it up, he set it next to Marie.
"Here, this will do the trick. If your brother fights against someone who's got this in their system, even he could probably one-shot them. I'll be at the tournament, so hopefully, I can see him win."
"Thank you, Gil."
Marie handed Gil some gold coins and headed back to the colosseum, clutching the vial to her chest.
"Anton is going to win. Everyone will see that he's not a failure, and Anton will get some closure. Laura, you're going to regret everything your kind has done to my brother and me."
