Ch 40

It was several minutes before the goblin who was supposed to be guarding the resting room came back, bruised and limping. He entered the room and sat dejectedly on a cot next to the door, probably thinking that he was going to get canned for losing a slave that was put under the arena’s care. It took quite a while before he found the energy to raise his head and look around the room again. When he did, he finally noticed me sleeping in the corner and came closer to investigate.

At this point I had been listening carefully and pretending to be asleep, so I was not taken by surprise when I felt his finger jab me in the side. I took my time, stretching and yawning and making a great show of having been woken from a deep slumber and then after blinking my eyes several times I looked at him slowly and then said “Is it time to wake up already? It is still dark out!” The goblin looked at me confused for a moment and then said “Where did you go? I search and search and you not here.”

I looked at the goblin, carefully plastering a confused look on my face. “I am sure I don’t know what you mean. I have been here in this cot all night. Now if there is nothing else, I want to get some more sleep, I am expecting to see my master tomorrow.

Perplexed the goblin started scratching his head as he walked away. At least he was rather dumb and accepted his own ineptness as a reasonable excuse but in the future, he would likely be more wary if I continued to disappear and then appear again at random.

I rolled over and this time went to sleep for real. I was not awoken the next day as I did not need to fight so I got some breakfast after waking up naturally and then went to the training room. Lilly was waiting for me with an old rusty padlock sitting on a table and some long, thin tools arranged around it. I pulled up a stool and sat down across from her. “Are you ready to learn lockpicking?” she asked quite jovially. I was of course eager to begin so she began by having me handle all of the tools.

As soon as I had picked up and then set down the last of the tools she had placed on the table there was a loud bang behind me as the door was thrust open and faster than I could see Lilly had scooped up the lock and picks from the table and deposited them somewhere out of sight. Looking a bit confused I turned around slowly and understood why she had hidden what we were doing. I somehow doubted Silvan would be pleased at his slave learning to pick locks when they were kept locked up at night.

This time Silvan had Beetle with him, the old man looking more emaciated than before but still strong. He was wearing a cheap looking rusty dagger at his waist that looked more likely to kill someone from tetanus than from any injury inflicted by it but I was well aware that with the strength Beetle had in his arms it would likely be enough to deal with most people. “Come Dung, it is time to speak with the goblin and see how you did.”

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It seemed that Silvan had pushed straight past Gikats and into the facilities of the arena in order to reclaim me before claiming his winnings. I did not know what he had in mind, but I was not liking the way this was looking. If I was separated from the arena trainers, I wouldn’t be able to keep learning the skills I needed to get away from Silvan. Mutely I stood up and walked over to where he stood. I tried making eye contact with Beetle, but he was looking resolutely at the floor. It seemed like he would not look up while in the presence of his master.

Once I had returned to his side Silvan walked out of the training room, through the resting room, down the hallway and into Gikats’s office where the perturbed little goblin sat by his usual book and an angry smile on his face. I knew from looking at him that Silvan’s dismissal of him hurt his pride and that as a business man he would never show it so instead he smiled and waited to see if my master deigned to speak with him this second time going through his office.

“Goblin, how much did my slave earn? Did he win anything at all?” Gikats looked at Silvan with something that looked to be a cross between irritation and resignation before replying. “He won a total of four fights including the one from the day you brought him back, comes to a total of two silver coins.” Silvan eagerly stepped forward with his hand outstretched but Gikats was not done. “He has stayed here a total of seven days including today so you will need to pay seventy coppers for that so you will only receive one silver and thirty coppers.”

Silvan cursed under his breath as he received his payment and then turned to me. “Ten more days you piece of shit, if you can survive that much longer, I will let you have a break.” After saying this he left quickly, Beetle following after him but myself not moving. After he had left the room Gikats turned to look at me, some mirth in his eyes.

“It seems that he wants to hurry up and buy another slave already.” I looked at the goblin who had spoken to me and then replied, “he is probably frustrated since his only female slave is dead and so he can’t get his rocks off.” Gikats looked at me with a strangled look for a moment and then started choking on his laughter. “That will play out in our favor. Once he has the money to purchase a new sex piece, he may be more willing to negotiate your sale since he can replace you immediately.”

I looked at Gikats curiously. “Is that the plan? Offer him enough money to replace me and hope he sells?” The wily goblin kept laughing for a moment and then replied, “No, not exactly. Different slaves have different value based on their skills and abilities. Trained gladiators often go for as much as ten silver coins and pretty women with no other skills for as much as two silver or three silver coins. An untrained slave with no special abilities or magicks can expect to sell for less than a single silver.”

I pondered what Gikats was telling me for a moment. “So, you are going to have this mysterious buyer offer enough for me to let Silvan buy a trained gladiator for the slave he purchased for a pittance? Why would anyone go for that?” I was getting quite worried now as there was no way someone would want to spend that much money for someone like me. “Don’t worry about it Dung,” Gikats said calmly now. “When we approach the buyer, you will be something more valuable than a trained gladiator.