Chapter 73 Ball Chasing
"How about—let's make a bet?"
"Waaaaaa, why is there a curve—"
With a thud, Melia bumped into the coffee table, covering her head and falling off the bed.
Damn, it’s okay to see a turning arrow in the game. If you slightly deflect the angle, you can comfort yourself by saying, “It’s magic, it’s expected.”
Unfortunately, the arrow spun 360 degrees without a single blind spot. She was so scared that she dropped the pillar and ran everywhere, but she was still caught and shot right at the target.
Damn... How can I win this?
Melia pursed her lips in frustration: She did have the ability of "prophecy", but if every future would be hit in the stomach by an automatic tracking arrow, then the resurrection cheat would become a hell of infinite death.
Phew~ Don’t despair yet, let’s see where the game has been rolled back to.
She took a deep breath and looked around. Her heartbeat, which had just stabilized, showed signs of accelerating again: the resurrection time was delayed again. This was a small room on the second floor of the clothing store.
If I die again, will time be pushed back again and again? Until... I can no longer change the future.
Gulp, she swallowed, walked back to the bed and sat down.
"ha--"
Calm down, calm down first. We must find a solution. That arrow that automatically searches for enemies must be some kind of magic item. It's impossible for it to be flawless.
The assassin finally stepped out of the shadows and pulled the bowstring at Caesar.
First, the arrow must be triggered before it can take effect.
Secondly, he probably didn't know I was hiding in the corner. Even if he did, Caesar would definitely be his first target, but the arrow was pointed at the wrong direction for unknown reasons.
[Were the arrows that shot me twice really the same one? ]
The same question came to my mind: Although every time I was shot in the stomach by an arrow near dusk or just after dusk, I subconsciously thought, "There is an assassin killing me! Using the same method!" But this might be some kind of illusion.
Compared to the speculation that "there is only one assassin, and he will stay in place and kill me no matter how I respawn", the speculation that "there is more than one assassin, they have weapons with similar functions, their first target is Caesar, and he just happens to kill me first" seems to make more sense.
From this perspective, what happened to the first and second deaths? Do they have anything in common? Yes!
Melia's eyes flashed: Both deaths took place near the temple area, after dusk, and Elena was by her side.
Since the assassin's target during the third death was Caesar, the targets of the first and second assassinations were most likely Elena.
This should be an assassination attempt on the Roman royal family.
Could it be a struggle for the throne? Possibly. Marcus was now first in line, and he had reason to hope that Caesar, who was in good health and looked like he could live to 90, would die sooner.
What about Elena? There are more "high-value" targets than killing Elena, right?
Sura
If it was Sulla, a conspirator with a personal vendetta, the whole thing would make sense. Since there were no other clues, let's just assume Sulla was the mastermind behind the plot.
Phew! Thankfully, no matter how many times I've been assassinated, I've never considered killing Sura solo. While using Shadow Rome and cat-transfiguration might allow me to bypass Sura's personal bodyguards and take down Sura, Sura's death would undoubtedly significantly alter the established plot of "Rose Princess."
Rather than bringing out a new stranger to replace Sura, it is better to keep Sura and deal with him carefully according to the original plot.
What should I do next? Should I tell Elena like last time and let her figure out how to save Caesar?
You can, but it's not necessary. It would be a waste to live your life again and follow the same path exactly.
Melia gradually relaxed her shoulders.
The biggest problem last time was Caesar's own failure to bring a personal guard. If he had brought a few more, with Elena's combat power, all the assassins might have been killed instantly, without a chance to fire.
The second problem...is with me.
Melia raised her finger and traced her navel. She had been hit there all three times. In fact, she should have noticed it the second time, and found something blocking it.
But the bow and arrow may be a magical item. What can be used to block it?
"Meliya, are you awake? Are you feeling better?"
"Huh?"
Elena pushed open the door and was about to unfold the pale blue veil in her hands when she was swept into his arms. After a brief moment of surprise, her eyes softened and she gently patted the warm hair in her arms. "You look much better."
"Hmm~ Much better!"
Melia shook her head and rubbed it repeatedly, then reluctantly separated: "I don't need to go home now, let's go first-"
The riot in the Colosseum suddenly flashed through my mind.
Caesar was unwilling to take anyone in, and it would be difficult to persuade him in one day. But what if we did the opposite? The star gladiators in the arena were also very powerful.
"By the way, Elena, besides the Moon Maiden and Caesar, who else can enter the temple?"
Elena walked out holding Melia's hand, and thought carefully: "Priests, priests, if it's the day of the Moon Goddess Festival, even the elders will have to wait outside the temple... Well, but the Moon Goddess Maid can bring a few followers. She is the first maid, so she must have followers behind her."
A few days ago, some nobles had been whispering bitter words about Ophelia in her ears. One of them said:
"Really? I was a maid of the Moon Goddess two years ago too. What's so great about that? Caesar even praised me for my good taste in selecting followers!"
"Really? That's great~" Melia shook her arm vigorously: "Let's go to the arena first!"
"Okay, you want to see a gladiatorial show?"
"Hey, there's something urgent. If only there was a way to run faster than a horse, it would be great. It's urgent—"
Melia just said it casually, but she didn't expect that the next second her feet would be off the ground and she would be picked up by Elena.
“Wow… no need—wow—”
The window was pushed open with force, and Elena stepped on the windowsill and jumped out lightly.
The feeling of being suspended in mid-air lasted only a moment, and the wings behind her began to glide through the air. Most of the buildings were not tall, so she moved quickly along the flat roofs, leaping through any gaps she encountered.
The brief panic quickly disappeared. Melia put her arms around Elena's neck and looked down curiously: the festive city of Rome was dyed colorful by the crowds and ribbons. Even the nobles' floats could hardly disperse the bustling pedestrians, and they could only obediently follow the crowd and move forward or backward.
She rose and fell with Elena's leaps, jumping from one room to another. Everyone was immersed in the festive atmosphere, and there were magicians who made money by blowing out blazing flames with their mouths, and the sound of bells was everywhere.
No one looked up, they were enjoying the spaciousness and breeze at the top.
Snap, snap, click!
"pay close attention!"
Using the momentum of the ascent, Elena stepped onto the stone pillars and climbed up to the archway of the arena. The two of them stood on the high ground, overlooking the lively gambling below.
People are happily waving their coins, trying to make a fortune on their favorite stars.
Melia shook her head helplessly: Don't count on today's performance, someone must have tampered with it.
"Meliya, do you want to reserve a high stand? There are cushions there to lean on."
"Hmm? No need~ I'm here to borrow the gladiator from uncle."
There were too many people below, so Elena jumped a few times and quickly moved forward using the roof, and soon arrived right above the training area.
She jumped down from the house holding Melia and put her on the ground: "Okay, didn't you buy a lot of people? Do you want to borrow more?"
It was just a casual question, and I didn't expect to get a reliable answer. With Melia's lively personality, she would have believed anyone who could act in her own drama.
Unexpectedly, Melia suddenly stopped smiling and nodded seriously, "I must borrow the best fighter here, such as Ronnie. After all, I have received a tip-off that someone is planning to assassinate Your Majesty in the temple."
Even though it's me who dies every time.
"...What?" Elena was stunned for a moment: "Then shouldn't we go find the palace guards now?"
"Of course we can. Do you think His Majesty will accept their protection?"
There was a spoiler about the previous death, and she shook her head confidently: "Given His Majesty's personality, he will probably not take it seriously. Let them wait outside."
Elena was silent for a moment. Thinking about the previous conversation, she thought of a very outrageous possibility: "You are not planning to bring the gladiators to rescue the emperor, but in order for them to successfully enter the temple, you have to compete with Ophelia for the Moon Goddess's Handmaiden first?"
"Yes, that's it~"
What the hell are you proud of!
Elena almost wanted to pull her ears and take her home: Someone else wants to assassinate His Majesty, your plan is more suspicious than anyone else's!
If my father had not encountered an assassination attempt, this whole process would have been even more clownish than a clown. If my father had encountered an assassination attempt, he might have been locked up as the murderer.
As she thought about it, her hands also brought out her emotions. She unconsciously grabbed Melia's face, making her scream: "Gentle~Gentle, I didn't stop you from telling the guards--"
"I will."
Elena felt a stomachache. No matter how unreliable the words just now sounded, she would still choose to believe Melia and run to warn her father.
[Have I been assimilated by Melia...?]
Boom, boom, boom, boom. Their little dispute was drowned out by the louder noise.
"Mario, are you crazy? We invested so much money to buy this giant beast, and you just say you won't show it?!" A man in a gray robe kicked open the door and walked out.
"I'm telling you, everything's ready down there, hurry up and rush them!"
"Asros, listen to me...there's really something wrong with those beasts...Meliya? Why are you here?" Mario wiped his cheek tiredly, with a group of people following behind him.
Judging from their extravagant attire of gold and silver, they must be the investors of the Colosseum, a group of slave owners who control a large number of gladiator resources.
Some of these people were quite kind, blocking the shoves for Mario, but the ones walking in front were very rude, almost pointing at Mario and cursing: "Are you crazy! There are so many people coming to the Luna Festival, how are you going to make money if you don't please these people!"
"Uncle, is there something wrong with the beast?"
Those people didn't want to bother with Melia, but she and Elena were holding hands, and the two of them blocked everyone's way to the arena.
Mario shielded the angry man behind him and smiled apologetically at Melia: "Hey, hey, yes, there really is a problem. Some slaves disappeared this morning, and the behemoth is still so irritable after dinner..."
"Mario, stop talking nonsense!"
His call was a little late, and Melia raised an eyebrow. "Oh~? A slave escaped from the arena, on such an important day? Were they armed?"
Everyone fell silent. Gladiators armed with weapons rushed into the streets during the lively festival. If anything went wrong and attacked citizens, they would be killed or compensated.
Mario lowered his head and nodded vigorously. "Yes, that's why I advised everyone to cancel the previous performances, lock up the behemoths, send some newcomers to perform martial arts, and let the old people follow us to the streets to find people..."
Asros got furious when he heard this: "Bah! Are you crazy?! Ha, so many people went out together, afraid that others would not know that there was a problem in the arena, right?"
Someone immediately chimed in, "Yeah, Mario, don't be so stubborn. If the monsters are upset, let them be. We can send our strongest gladiators to deal with them. As for those outside...it's not too late to look for them after the show. Didn't we just talk to the guards? Maybe they'll find them by now."
A bunch of people were arguing, but the core message was: Don't stop us from making money. Just a mere risk? That hasn't happened yet, hasn't it? If it hasn't happened, it's zero!
Melia didn't care how much money they made. She interrupted Asroth's clamor with a deft gesture: "Wait a minute, so all we need is an interesting alternative to the beast fights, right?"
"That's easy to say!" Asros spitted out a retort, "Unless we are all willing to invite the star gladiators, but that would affect the lineup for several days..."
"No, no, no, for the competition~ ordinary gladiators will be enough~" Melia smiled and looked at Mario: "Uncle, do you remember the ball I gave you a while ago? Do you like it?"
When she mentioned Mario, she nodded vigorously: "I love it. They want to kick it as long as they have the energy!"
Melia brought a ball and introduced some sort of "football rules," hoping to popularize them among the gladiators and see if they could develop into a popular sport.
"Even if you don't succeed, it's still nice to play football occasionally for fun. I'll sponsor the prize money for the first game."
I originally thought that the gladiators were very tired from training and would not be willing to play this thing on their days off. It all depended on the ball game bonus provided by Melia.
There are 1,000 gold coins in total, including 600 for the champion team, 300 for the runner-up, and 100 for the third place. And it is a gladiator for all slave owners.
According to the rules, a team consists of 11 players, with several substitutes. The mobility of gladiators is low, but the mortality rate is high. On a daily basis, approximately 20 teams can be maintained, and completing all of them requires nearly 40 matches.
According to his original idea, more than half of the teams would give up after a few games because of wasting time, but he didn't expect that even the last team gave up.
Even if there are fewer people, newcomers will quickly replace them and get along well with the old ones, and even the tradition of bullying the newcomers will be lost.
Sometimes at night the sound of football being kicked could be heard, and the gladiators would run around happily in the moonlight, and only run back to sleep after being scolded by the instructors.
Even so, Mario didn't think football would attract many spectators, but in order to cancel this dangerous beast show, he waved his hands exaggeratedly: "What a great idea! The competition, just in time for the semi-finals!"
Not only Mario, Asros also knows what this football is. Kick, kick, kick. Those gladiators are kicking their grandpa for 1,000 gold coins!
He objected with a grin. "No way! No way! You don't really think anyone likes watching a bunch of people running around chasing a small ball on the field?"
"Oh~ You don't believe it?" Melia clapped her hands with a smile: "How about - let's make a bet?"
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