Chapter 311 – That was Truly a Magnificent Battle, Wasn’t it? (2)
“Chief Overseer, it’s time,” Wendy said, prompting Claude to nod.
“Alright, let’s go.”
The day of reckoning had finally arrived. Today was the day of the mock battle.
By now, the experimental participants would be starved and weakened. After all, they had only been given water and that strange powder to eat for every meal.
Claude moved with a confident expression.
The destination he headed toward was a large gladiatorial arena located in the Desmond estate.
A gladiatorial arena where gladiator slaves fought was a facility rarely seen outside of great estates like that of Count Desmond.
As soon as Claude arrived, Ghislain, who had already been waiting, waved his hand.
“What’s with that expression? You seem incredibly relaxed.”
“Heh, why would I feel tense in a game where victory is certain?”
“Weren’t you beaten before for saying the same thing?”
“Then it doesn’t count.”
“…”
It was true… For someone like Claude, who had nothing left to lose, such composure was inevitable.
In the spectator seats, the estate’s key figures began to gather one by one. Once a sizable crowd had assembled, Claude raised his hand.
Boom!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
One of the gladiatorial arena’s doors swung open, and 200 soldiers marched out in an orderly formation.
Each soldier carried a wooden shield and a club made of bundled straw. These non-lethal weapons had been prepared to avoid any casualties. However, even though the clubs were made of straw, they were still capable of inflicting considerable pain.
These were soldiers Claude had personally trained over the past month.
Ghislain smirked subtly as he observed the soldiers.
“What’s this? You’ve done quite a good job preparing the troops, haven’t you?”
“Of course, I’ve personally supervised everything.”
The soldiers were meticulously selected for their size and strength. They had been given the best possible diet, trained rigorously, and allowed ample rest to ensure peak physical condition.
Furthermore, Claude had pressured Piote to use divine powers on them, maintaining their bodies in optimal condition at all times.
Claude wasn’t someone who relied solely on mental fortitude and perseverance. He used all the knowledge at his disposal to forge an elite unit in the shortest time possible.
Ghislain nodded in acknowledgment as he assessed the soldiers.
“Indeed, the guy’s capable… though he’s an idiot when it comes to everything else.”
Raising troops like that in just one month while juggling the responsibilities of running an estate? It was clear that Claude’s determination to win this bet was unwavering.
Claude himself couldn’t suppress a satisfied smile as he looked over the soldiers he had prepared.
“Heh, this wager is nothing like before.”
In previous bets, he could only sit back and watch the results. There was nothing he could do.
But now, with the soldiers he had trained himself, he could change the tide of the game. The wager this time was simple: whoever emerged victorious would win.
He didn’t expect those who had been starved for a month to have much strength left. Nonetheless, he had meticulously prepared, leaving nothing to chance.
He had even emphasized to his soldiers to mercilessly pummel the opposing side into submission.
Once Claude’s soldiers had fully assembled and formed their formation, Ghislain gestured.
Creeeeak…
The opposite door began to open slowly.
Even after a long pause, no one emerged. The audience craned their necks, trying to peer into the dark interior, but the thick shadows obscured everything within.
“Uuuurrgh…”
It was only after another long moment that the sound of guttural groans echoed, and the starved participants began to emerge.
Ten knights, twenty elves, and twenty soldiers just fifty individuals in total. They were far fewer in number compared to Claude’s soldiers, as the inclusion of knights had resulted in a reduced headcount.
They shuffled forward awkwardly, wielding nothing but straw clubs. Even their shields had been discarded as too heavy to carry.
Claude smirked with confidence, convinced of his impending victory.
“Heh, they’ve completely turned into zombies. As expected, there’s no way they’d be fine after starving for a month.”
Compared to before, they were visibly emaciated. Their eyes were sunken, and their movements seemed sluggish and weak.
Even Gordon, who had once boasted grotesquely large muscles, now appeared so diminished that his figure looked almost refined.
While Claude smiled smugly, Belinda’s eyes gleamed with a hint of surprise.
“Their muscles haven’t diminished as much as I thought… and their eyes are still alive.”
True to her assassin instincts, her keen observation quickly discerned the state of the participants.
Though they appeared fatigued and weakened, their bodies had shed all excess fat, giving them a lean and wiry appearance. It was the kind of physique one might expect from someone who had purposefully lost weight through controlled dieting and exercise.
And their eyes… their eyes still burned with a fierce, smoldering intensity that seemed fueled by rage.
Ghislain gestured once more, and Gillian’s booming voice echoed across the arena.
“Begin!”
Boom!
Claude’s soldiers raised their shields to the front. All they had to do was hold the line and prevent the experimental participants from breaking through.
The participants, on the other hand, had one goal: to get past the soldiers and eat the delicious food set up behind them.
“Ugh-hahaha…”
At the forefront, Gordon and Lucas staggered forward. Behind them, the elves and soldiers shuffled awkwardly in their wake.
They truly looked no different from zombies shambling toward their prey.
Thud. Thud. Thud…
Their slow steps gradually picked up speed. Before long, they broke into a crazed sprint.
“They’re coming!”
The soldiers braced their shields tightly. They were told to hold the line and simply delay until the participants wore themselves out. Even with knights among their opponents, the soldiers believed they could hold since their adversaries hadn’t eaten properly for a month.
But they were sorely mistaken.
“Out of my wayyyy!”
Gordon roared as he swung his straw club with all his might.
Boom!
“Gah?!”
The soldier blocking his path was struck and sent flying backward.
Lucas and the knights stormed in behind him, flailing their clubs without restraint.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds they made weren’t what one would expect from hitting with straw clubs. To everyone’s shock, the knights’ straw weapons were glowing with a faint blue light.
Claude shot up from his seat in alarm.
“What the…? Why are they still this energetic? How are they even using mana?”
It was true that those who could wield mana lasted longer under extreme conditions than those who couldn’t, as mana could help sustain their vitality.
However, after a month of near-starvation, even knights should have been severely depleted of mana reserves. Yet these participants didn’t look starved at all.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
With ten knights running amok, even Claude’s well-trained and physically robust soldiers struggled to hold their ground.
Though the soldiers were elite and retaliated with their own swings, the knights weren’t their only opponents.
“Get over here, you bastards!”
Ascon lunged at the soldiers with a face full of fury. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked completely unhinged.
“You piece of crap, your mom, your whole damn family fuck all of you!”
A stream of vile curses poured from his mouth. Enraged by the verbal abuse, the soldiers retaliated with heavy strikes of their clubs.
“Die, damn it!”
“Give me food!”
“Raaaargh!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Both sides were now completely consumed by the chaos, swinging their weapons wildly at each other.
Though the knights’ skills were vastly superior, the soldiers’ physical strength and numbers made up for it. Their larger, heavily muscled frames and sheer numbers prevented the knights from easily overpowering them.
Had the fight involved real swords, the soldiers wouldn’t have stood a chance against the knights wielding mana-infused weapons. But at the end of the day, straw clubs infused with mana were still just hardened sticks.
Moreover, the soldiers were outfitted with heavy armor, making it difficult for the knights to deal any decisive blows even with all their strength.
Thus, the battle devolved into an intense melee.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Arrrgh!”
Cries of pain echoed throughout the gladiatorial arena, now a complete warzone.
Although the soldiers outnumbered the knights and their allies, the knights systematically took them down one by one, steadily advancing. The elves and soldiers trailing behind the knights also contributed by distracting and engaging the soldiers.
Claude watched the unfolding chaos with an expressionless face.
“…”
While the knights hadn’t completely broken through the formation yet, their prowess was undeniable. If they had been fully armed and used mana freely, at least half of the soldiers would have been incapacitated already.
Ghislain glanced at Claude and grinned slyly.
“Looks like this should be enough to prove the point, don’t you think?”
“…”
After a moment of silence, Claude suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted.
“Hey! Hold the line! Don’t let them through! Stop them!”
If the participants could fight like this, then all Claude could do now was deny the outcome. No matter how well they fought, if they failed to break through the soldiers and reach the food, it would still mean their combat capability was insufficient.
After all, the wager wasn’t about whether they could fight but whether they could break through the soldiers and eat the food.
With ten knights and a total of forty participants, they should have been able to break through 200 soldiers.
Claude’s soldiers gritted their teeth and held firm. They were promised hefty rewards if they managed to stop the participants.
Meanwhile, Alfoi, the mages, Max, and the problem-solvers watched the fight with bated breath, their faces pale and drenched in sweat. No matter how they looked at it, the participants seemed likely to break through.
Eventually, Alfoi, the so-called Man Who Defied God, closed his eyes tightly, clasped his hands together, and prayed aloud.
“Goddess, please! I beg you! Help us!”
* * *
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Raaaaah!”
Gordon and Lucas were powerhouses in their own right, unleashing their pent-up stress with abandon.
After all, they could endure being hit by straw clubs.
“Damn it! You piece of crap! Your mom! Screw you all!”
Ascon had long since collapsed to the ground after being thoroughly beaten. Yet even as he lay there clutching his head, he didn’t stop hurling curses at the soldiers’ parents.
The elves and soldiers had mostly been defeated. Regardless of their hunger, they were never a match for 200 elite soldiers to begin with.
However, thanks to their efforts in grabbing the soldiers’ attention and slowing them down, the knights had managed to take down more than half of Claude’s forces.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The knights pressed on, relentlessly battering the soldiers with their straw clubs. Having followed Ghislain through countless real battles, this mock skirmish was nothing more than child’s play to them.
Eventually, they began surrounding themselves with mana and charging forward recklessly. Since the soldiers were only armed with straw weapons, the knights didn’t mind enduring a bit of pain.
Boom!
While wildly swinging his club and enduring blows, Lucas suddenly realized that there was no one left standing in front of him.
“We broke through.”
All of the surrounding soldiers had been defeated. Though a few still remained, once the formation was breached, the mock battle was effectively over.
The knights who followed Lucas threw down their clubs and shouted triumphantly.
“We won!”
“Hahaha!”
“That food is ours!”
The knights dashed toward the table laden with food. Meat, fruit, and even alcohol had been prepared as a reward, offering solace after their ordeal.
Watching the knights devour the food with abandon, Claude muttered under his breath.
“This… this doesn’t make sense. When I tried it, I still felt hungry!”
Even after just one day of eating the experimental rations, he had been hungry. How had these people survived an entire month on that alone, and still managed to fight like this?
Ghislain chuckled silently as he observed Claude’s confusion.
In his previous life, scholars and mages had focused solely on creating portable food with a long shelf life that could sustain energy for extended periods. Feeling a bit hungry after eating it was inevitable.
Without the act of chewing or tasting, eating the same thing repeatedly would inevitably become tiresome. However, on the battlefield, it was an excellent source of nutrition.
On the front lines, the goal wasn’t to feel full but to maintain constant energy and mobility under extreme stress.
Having never experienced the battlefield himself, Claude judged the rations by the standards of ordinary life, committing a fundamental error.
Even if he had known the benefits, it was doubtful he could have lasted a month eating only that.
Ghislain patted Claude on the shoulder and said with a sly grin,
“So? I think it’s clear who won.”
Claude glanced around nervously. All eyes were on him, waiting for him to admit defeat.
“Ha…”
Looking up at the sky, Claude let out a deep sigh, followed by a self-deprecating laugh.
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it. I should’ve known the lord would succeed again. Where on earth do you even learn these things?”
Whatever the reason, he had no choice but to accept his loss.
After all… that’s what it meant to be a gambler.
“Alright. I lost.”
Surprisingly, Claude felt a sense of relief. Since he hadn’t bet anything this time, he could take the loss with a light heart.
“Ah, ahh, ugh…”
In contrast, Alfoi, the mages, Max, and the problem-solvers were trembling uncontrollably, making incoherent noises.
Max and the problem-solvers had staked 30 years of their lives. The mages, including their losses in the previous wagers, were now facing 60 years of servitude. Retirement plans were out of the question surviving another 60 years would be a miracle.
All of them stood frozen, mouths agape, staring at Claude.
When their eyes met, Claude gave a resigned smile and shook his head.
He extended his fist toward Alfoi and said, “You fought well, even in defeat. That was truly a magnificent battle, wasn’t it, bro?”
“A-ah…”
Alfoi raised his trembling hand. He wanted to cast a spell any spell but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and he couldn’t concentrate.
“I-I’ll…”
He wanted to blast Claude with a fireball, just once, across that smugly smiling face.
“You… damn…”
Thud.
Before he could finish his words, Alfoi collapsed unconscious.
* * *
The new combat rations were deemed highly effective.
Having a means of survival when supplies were delayed or cut off was an invaluable advantage during wartime.
Everyone praised Ghislain endlessly.
“This is amazing! Truly incredible, my lord!”
“Our operational range in wartime will increase dramatically!”
“These rations will serve as excellent emergency provisions!”
Ghislain nodded and issued his orders.
“Establish facilities to produce combat rations throughout the estate. Once we’ve secured enough supply, distribute small portions to the estate’s residents as emergency provisions. Also, research methods to extend their shelf life and improve storage. They should last a few years as is, but preservation methods can always make a difference.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Though it was a demanding task, the retainers had no objections. It was a necessary step forward.
Even Claude clapped in approval.
“As expected of our lord! A truly remarkable leader!”
“…Right.”
Claude appeared genuinely at ease, without a trace of personal ambition.
Ghislain shook his head slightly at Claude’s attitude before addressing everyone.
“Now, all of you… it’s time to help me with my training.”
At this unexpected remark, everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment.