The Colosseum
And so preparation began under Eve"s supervision. But it was likely due to the brilliant dwarven chief, who led the workers, that it all finished within three days.
Gottlieb was the chief of the earth dwarves, and he gathered together his architects and worked on the colosseum until it looked completely new.
He used the s.h.i.+ft system that I had introduced, which meant that it was worked on day and night.
I told him how thankful I was, and he replied with a dark joke.
"What? I am a ghost. Working for three days and nights without rest is nothing."
Gottlieb was no longer a resident of this world, he had died.
But I had brought him back to life after his death so that he could protect his people.
He had been such a powerful warrior in life and a good chief. Currently, he was an administrator and technician that had accomplished much for me.
His talents had been especially useful in the planning of the town, and almost all of his suggestions were implemented immediately.
Once Eve made a complaint to me about this very thing.
"Master. Lord Gottlieb"s plans are indeed brilliant, but why do you leave everything to him?"
She asked.
"Well, I do partic.i.p.ate. But he is so perfect that I usually have nothing to add. Bakers bake and dwarves build. It is an old saying."
"I have never heard of such a saying."
"It is in my dictionary alone."
I summoned a dictionary with magic and flipped through the pages until I found it.
"Yes, I do see it now."
Eve said with a chuckle.
She rarely did that. It was cute.
And so I told her to turn to "M."
She took the dictionary and found the page. A part of it started to glow.
"Maid among maids."
Under the definition, it explained that these words were about Eve, Demon King Ashtaroth"s head maid.
She looked at it with a little embarra.s.sment.
"That is very smooth of you."
She smiled.
It was an honor to make a woman happy, but it did not lead to seduction. And so we stopped playing and returned to work.
"So, it seems that everything is ready with the colosseum. I will call Tos.h.i.+zou and Jeanne now. How about the spectators?"
"They have started to gather from the town."
"Good. They shall be entertained."
"The people should be very pleased."
"It"s partially a service to them as residents. But not only that."
"What do you mean?"
"They will know the power of Tos.h.i.+zou and Jeanne. This is already known to a certain degree, but there are some outsiders who still see Tos.h.i.+zou as just some new eastern mercenary. And some belittle Jeanne for being a woman. I want to give those people something to think about."
"Very good, master. I had no idea you thought that deeply into it."
"Besides, any spies of other demon kings that are hiding here will also spread the word. Demon King Ashtaroth has very strong subordinates."
"Fewer of them will attack you then."
"Yes. Ultimately, that is the best way to maintain peace."
It was just as I said this that Gottlieb entered the room.
As he did not make any noise with his feet, he coughed before entering the room.
"Demon King, the restoration is now complete. As you instructed, "stalls" have been set up. But what will you use them for?"
"It will be a place to sell food. People like to eat lightly while watching a match."
"Is this also a service?"
"Well, we"ll be charging for it. In the country of j.a.pan that I studied, they sold beer and snacks to be consumed as they watched sports."
"That sounds very good."
The dwarven chief said with a gulp.
"It is quite a luxury. Well, it"s unfortunate that you can"t taste it, seeing as you are a ghost, Gottlieb."
"My men will enjoy it for me. Besides, I am looking forward to this fight much more."
"Of course."
"Was there a reason that you wanted us to change the angle of the audience seats?"
"It enhances the illusion of overlooking. Everything seems closer that way."
"I see."
"Aye. You want to feel it as close as possible. The seats should be closer to the action."
Now I just wanted to set up a magic mirror that would allow spectators to see things up close, but that would be going over our budget.
We could consider it once we received more tax money.
"That is good. In any case, I believe your advice has helped us create a great place to fight."
Gottlieb said. Eve chuckled.
He asked her why she was laughing, and she answered.
"Well, I had heard that everything was left to you, but it seems that the Master really did interfere in the important matters. It is amusing to me."
Gottlieb answered,
"Hmm, well, the Demon King is much like myself. We worry and are hard workers. He is also a perfectionist."
That put me in an awkward position, but in any case, things were arranged perfectly for the occasion.
The only thing that remained was for the actors to take the stage. What were they doing now?
I decided to talk to them before the fight.
This seemed to annoy Eve.
"Do you worry for Jeanne so much?"
"Well, yes. And for Tos.h.i.+zou."
"Neither of them like to lose."
"Exactly. I want to remind them that this is a mock fight, for training. It would be no good for things to get heated and for one of them to be injured."
"That is wise."
She bowed and then led me to the room that they were waiting in.