Chapter 55

Esdeath's arrival held no surprise; Broly had already told his companions about this beforehand.

He wouldn't hold back in the semifinals; he would defeat Esdeath and bring her back, and Nahashu and the others held a welcome party for this newly joined companion.

Since her village was destroyed and she set out on her journey, this was the first time Esdeath had been accepted by a group; of course, she hadn't lacked opportunities to integrate into some groups before, she simply hadn't accepted them, traveling ceaselessly solely to become stronger.

Only now, after being defeated by Broly and formally becoming his property, did she stop.

But even so, Esdeath still found herself somewhat unaccustomed to this kind of group enthusiasm.

"Thank you." Accepting the juice Akame handed over, Esdeath said thanks, then leaned close to Broly's ear and asked, "Are your companions all as strong as you?"

This was the question she cared about most.

"Haha, Broly-san is the strongest; how could we possibly possess strength equal to Big Bro's?"

Before Broly could answer, the chubby Luosang answered the question.

"Then how did you end up together with him?"

Esdeath curiously pursued the question.

"We were children sold off by slave traders; we met Big Bro by chance in the Gifnora Sea Tree Forest, and after being rescued by him, we just followed along with Big Bro."

Nahashu explained; since Esdeath was a companion personally brought back by Broly-san, there was no need to hide anything.

"They were the ones following him before; I was the one helped to join later. I was a wandering child before, named Main. Nice to meet you."

"I am Akame, this is my younger sister Kurome. We are the same as you and Main; we are all people who will become Wings."

"Wings are?"

"Another name for wife."

Esdeath: "..."

Just then, Broly was gnawing on a chicken wing nearby.

"This is Pony, I am Cornelia."

"Are you Wings too?"

"No, only Akame, Kurome, Main, and you are."

Speaking of this, Cornelia became somewhat dejected; although they all followed behind Broly-san, the ones closest to Big Bro from the start were still Akame and Kurome; even the later arrival Main was a role Big Bro actively took care of.

"Right, if this guy Pony gives you mushrooms, you absolutely must not eat them."

Beside them, Chikushi gave a reminder.

"Mushrooms?"

Esdeath looked at the girl having her head pressed down.

"I've said it, this time the mushrooms were bought at a street stall, they absolutely have no poison."

Pony admitted the mushrooms she picked in the past had issues, but this time they were dried goods bought from a street stall inside the city; surely other people's mushrooms wouldn't have problems too.

Speaking, she fished out the mushrooms from her pocket; Esdeath glanced at them, then pointed at the one in the middle and said, "This one has a mild hallucinogenic toxin, but when injured, it can be used as a painkiller."

"Eh?"

Everyone looked at Esdeath in surprise.

"You know mushrooms?"

Cornelia asked.

"I traveled outside for three years; I've eaten quite a few fungi, including many poisonous ones."

Esdeath said quite calmly.

She originated from the Northern Region; after her clan was massacred, she came out to travel alone, circling the Empire's outer perimeter.

"First I went to the Eastern Region, then the Southern Region; the border between these two places abounds in various fungi and mushrooms. I've been poisoned quite a few times, but survived them all, so I came to know these things..."

Esdeath spoke of her past journey; she described it lightly, but everyone listened with great interest.

"Esdeath-neesan, you're amazing."

Akame, Kurome, and the others exclaimed in admiration; if Broly was the combat power ceiling they had seen, then Esdeath was a wilderness survival + hunting expert.

Even falling into a swamp, suffering bites from poisonous insects, or being chased by dangerous species beast herds in the wilds, she could rely on wisdom, experience, and courage/strength to pass through, overcoming all unfavorable factors brought by the environment.

Compared to Esdeath, they who fell into danger just from being thrown into the Gifnora Sea Tree Forest were really somewhat weak.

"I am indeed amazing, but you all aren't bad either."

Esdeath had originally thought Akame's group of children were a burden, but after hearing they had also stayed in a forest teeming with dangerous species.

And had even fought some bandits who blocked roads and robbed travelers; considering their average age was around six or seven, she changed her opinion.

After all, at six or seven years old, she could only solo hunt some medium-sized dangerous species, like Frost Lizards, Red-crowned Giant Eagles, and the like.

This group of children before her truly could not be treated as weak; with this realization, Esdeath quickly accepted the matter of being companions together with this group of children younger than herself from now on.

She thought that with proper training, these children could also grow up to become strong.

In the time of a meal, Esdeath successfully integrated into this small group.

And while Broly's side was enjoying a harmonious welcome party, Samba-san, who had made a victory declaration for tomorrow's match on the field, arrived at a gambling den in disguise carrying a grey cloth bag.

"Eight million, all-in on tomorrow's Martial Arts Tournament final."

He put the money on the counter and said, "Buying who wins?"

A voice came from inside.

"That would naturally be Competitor Broly."

Samba-san said without hesitation.

"Competitor Broly's odds are very low, only 1 to 1.3; would the customer not consider Competitor Samba-san? His odds reach as high as 7.6."

The staff inside the counter, following the proprietor's instructions before the market opened this afternoon, recommended the other competitor who had made it into tomorrow's final.

"No need. Today Competitor Broly's might, even the ring was dismantled; so many people in the main venue saw it. Who would still think Samba-san can win tomorrow?"

The staff kept persuading, even specially citing Samba-san's analysis and judgment of Broly's condition on the damaged ring this afternoon, as well as his confident victory declaration, seemingly wanting to persuade this high roller to change his mind and bet on Competitor Samba-san with the higher odds.

But the disguised Samba-san was completely unmoved; after all, whether he could beat Broly or not, as tomorrow's finalist himself, how could he not know?

As for that analysis and victory declaration he made on the ring this afternoon, it was entirely nonsense to deceive others into betting on him to win, meant to raise Broly's odds so he could then bet on Broly himself.

Sometimes, win or loss isn't necessarily reflected on the surface ring; it might also be reflected in the gambling game outside the ring.

For instance, right now, Samba-san has put most of his capital on Broly to win; although Broly's odds are a bit low, if he loses tomorrow, he will still harvest 2.4 million in gambling winnings.

"Keep the ticket safe; we only recognize the ticket, not the person."

The gambling house boss handed the ticket to Samba-san with a black face; Broly's sudden rise had made many gambling houses suffer, because most gamblers were relentlessly buying Broly to win.

Fortunately, there was still the official gambling game to back them up; the bets on Broly winning placed at their gambling houses could be transferred to the official gambling side to reduce losses.

"Thanks, I'll have someone come collect the money tomorrow."

After saying this, Samba-san ignored the gambling house boss's even blacker face and left directly.

Clutching the betting ticket on Broly to win, Samba-san was already looking forward to his glorious retirement tomorrow; although this would damage his reputation, since that monster kid Broly was so strong, his judgment error and defeat couldn't be his fault.

Haha, what's this called? This is called losing the match, yet winning the prize money.

Tomorrow, I'm sure to win.

Samba-san returned to the inn in a good mood, coincidentally encountering Broly and the others in the dining hall where the welcome party hadn't finished yet.

"Broly, tomorrow, we have to cheer together."

The cheerful Samba-san walked over and said this with a laugh.

"Uncle Samba-san, is the championship really that important to you?"

Broly asked curiously.

"Of course, literature has no first, martial arts has no second; I came to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament to win the championship, and there's even more prize money after winning, isn't there?"

Samba-san said with a hearty laugh; he still looked full of confidence, but in front of everyone, he didn't dare have a deep chat with Broly.

If this monster boy suddenly said he hadn't actually used the body-harming secret technique he fabricated offhand, then the mutual-betting tickets he just spent money on — wouldn't Broly's odds drop even further?

So, before the win/loss is decided tomorrow, he must maintain enough confidence to make more people confident in him and bet on him; only then can he win even more money after losing.

"Unexpected, winning the championship is actually this important to Uncle Samba-san."

After Samba-san left, Broly was moved.

"Broly-san, you want to concede the championship?"

Nahashu saw through his thoughts and couldn't help but ask.

"Mm, Uncle Samba-san was the only one in the Round of 16 who spoke up for me (Participant) when I was being beaten by that deceitful bastard."

"Although it was because I foolishly trusted that liar that I cooperated and got beaten, I still remember Uncle Samba-san speaking up for me."

"The prize money difference between second place and first place is 800,000; plus the Jitu Chamber of Commerce's reward for first place, that's a difference of 1.6 million in prize money."

"Mm..."

Broly became a bit troubled; the championship seemed very important to Samba-san, and he also wanted to repay the favor of him speaking up for him.

"However, Broly-san, you forgot your performance today; I went to check when I just came back, Big Brother your odds are super low, while Uncle Samba-san's odds are super high."

A cunning glint flashed in Nahashu's eyes at this moment.

"Originally I thought Big Brother you would care about the championship, but since Big Brother you don't care about the championship, we can actually win another sum."

"Eh, really?"

"Of course, not only will we not lose, we might even make a big profit!"

"Great."

Broly became happy; he could both concede the championship to Samba-san to repay the favor, and his group could win another big sum of money — this was simply a win-win.

"However, Big Brother, even if you're going to lose tomorrow, you still have to put on an act."

Main reminded him; openly match-fixing would definitely cause problems.

"But I'm already like this today, how should I act?"

Broly became troubled again; today, to raise Esdeath's Happiness Value, he had displayed quite a bit of power beyond this world's common sense.

One punch, a deep pit; one kick, cracked ground — this isn't normal strength that a normal martial artist in this world could obtain through hard training.

"Very simple; didn't that Uncle Samba-san say you used a body-harming secret technique to display this kind of powerful force? Then we'll just follow that plan..."

(Chapter End)