Chapter 817: Farewell
After Zhang Heng packed his things, he brought the slave girl to Varo’s residence.
In the negotiation between him and Mark Reuss—in addition to a fifth of the profit of each performance, the freedom of the slave girl and Varro would be added in too. Now that he had solved the slave girl’s problem, only Varo’s problem remained.
Presently, Varo was not at home. Zhang Heng heard his roommate saying that he was at the training ground, so he grabbed the slave girl who was standing behind him and said to her, “I have something to talk with Varo. Can you please leave us and wait at the door?”
“Okay,” the slave girl nodded her head obediently. She knew that Zhang Heng did not want her to listen to his conversation with Varo, and this time, she would not complain about it anymore. That was because she remembered what Zhang Heng had said to her. Sometimes, there were certain things that her master did not want her to eavesdrop on be It was because he was concerned about her safety. With that knowledge in mind, she walked away happily.
After she was gone, Zhang Heng went to the training ground alone. Unlike the slave girl, Mark Reuss seemed hesitant when Zhang Heng asked him to grant Varo his freedom. However, after considering the amount of money Zhang Heng could bring him from the monthly performance, Mark Reuss gritted his teeth and agreed to let Varo become free again.
This was also something that Zhang Heng expected.
With the help of street thugs, Zhang Heng managed to track down the person that turned Varo from an antique dealer to a slave. The person had probably thought that Varo could no longer walk out of the gladiator school alive and wasn’t bothered to cover his tracks. An investigation with a bit of effort would suffice in bringing out the whole truth.
However, after learning the truth, Zhang Heng was a little surprised.
Varo was training hard on the training ground. He did not even know that Zhang Heng had won the championship. Right now, he had only one goal in his mind, and that was to train, train, and train. Varo knew that his talent was below average among all the other gladiators. There was nothing special about him. A couple of times, he had to rely on Zhang Heng’s help to overcome his threats. At the same time, he realized that he could not rely on Zhang Heng forever. Besides, the two were separated now. If he wanted to leave this place and get his revenge, he had to work harder than any other gladiator in this school. Zhang Heng did not wish to disturb Varo when he saw that he was training hard. So he stood at the side and silently watched Varo carry on with his training.
It was not until a quarter of an hour later that Varo’s practice came to an end. He then saw Zhang Heng standing at the side of the training ground. And he put away the wooden sword and walked over to him. “The performance is over?”
“Hmm.” Zhang Heng nodded.
“Who won the final championship?”
“That person is standing in front of you now.”
“I knew it!” Varo felt happy for Zhang Heng from the bottom of his heart. “No one can beat you, my friend from the East. Now, Mark Reuss has to think of what kind of reward he should give you. You brought Victor Arena fame and glory!”
“Actually… Mark Reuss and I are no longer master and slave.”
“What do you mean?” Varo was startled when he heard what Zhang Heng said. “Did he sell you to another school? I don’t think he will do such a thing. He’s always been thinking about looking for Sethnets’s successor.”
“No, I am free now. After the performance, the emperor gave me the training sword.”
“Are you serious?!” Varo’s face was full of surprise, “But you have only completed a few performances. Was there ever a newcomer who gained his freedom as fast as you did?”
“Who knows, but I guess everything has its firsts.” For now, Zhang Heng would not tell Varo his previous conjectures. He said to him, “After I regain my freedom, Mark Reuss and I came up with a new agreement. I will come back here every month to perform in a gladiatorial performance once. In exchange, he agrees to let you be free.”
“You remembered me?” Varo blushed when he heard that Zhang Heng fought for his freedom. He remembered that when the two had just met, he euphemistically told Zhang Heng that he could not bring him together to conduct his business.
However, Zhang Heng seemed unbothered. “You don’t have to think about what you’ve said to me before. We were not close at that time. Hence, I can understand why you would say something like that. I want to remind you that another person is responsible for putting you here other than your wife and good friend. Do you know this person named Pellegrino?”
Varo frowned, “This name sounds familiar. Oh, I remember now. He is one of the senators in the senate. His servant once came to me with two expensive antique vases and said Pellegrino wanted to sell them off for money.”
“What happened after that?”
“Then I did a thorough inspection on the vases and told the servant that someone might have deceived his master because the two vases were not antiques. However, the servant accused me of lying, and he framed me for replacing the vases with fakes when I was appraising them. But he was by my side all the time when I inspected them,” Varo said. “Later, a few old customers came forward to prove my credibility. After this problem was solved, I didn’t take it too seriously anymore. Why did you mention Pellegrino? Wait, do you mean that he is involved in framing me?”
“To be more precise, he is the mastermind behind this whole thing. As for your best friend and your wife, the relationship between them… has lasted for quite some time. They were worried that you would catch them red-handed. With their capabilities, though, they couldn’t come with such a well-devised plan.”
“This is something I don’t understand too,” Varo smiled bitterly. “I mentioned before that I never thought that my best friend would lie to me. With the friendship between us, I know that he is not capable of doing something like this. So, you are saying that Pellegrino wanted me gone, and he bribed my best friend and wife? But why? Why did Pellegrino want me gone? I’m just an ordinary antique dealer. Was it because I refused to buy his fake vases?”
“It’s probably because the property your family has accumulated made him jealous.”
“Huh?”
“I had someone investigate Pellegrino for me. Turns out this isn’t the first time that old bastard has done something like this. Many people have been targeted by him before. Some chose to pay him, while some would end up like you because they disobeyed him,” Zhang Heng said.
“So I was targeted at by a senator?” After Varo knew the truth, a look of fear flashed in his eyes. After all, the Roman Empire’s senate was extremely powerful. For ordinary people, they were someone that they could not afford to offend. Initially, Varo thought that his enemies were just his friend and wife. He never thought that his real enemy was a senator. However, after experiencing the dramatic change in his life, Varo’s mental state had become a lot stronger than it was. His expression quickly returned to normal, and he said to Zhang Heng, “I have a favor to ask.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t want to regain my freedom.”
“Oh, why? Haven’t you been working hard to regain it?”
Varo clenched his fists, “That’s because I didn’t know who my true enemy was back then. Since Pellegrino is the mastermind, he must have talked to Mark Reuss about it. That was why Mark Reuss ignored me when I told him that I used to be a businessman. If I leave the gladiator school now, Pellegrino would know about it pretty soon. No, Mark Reuss will likely tell Pellegrino personally. He doesn’t want to offend Pellegrino as well. Yes, I want to be a free man again. I want to breathe the air of freedom again. But this is not the time yet. Before I become stronger and find a way to deal with Pellegrino, I will not leave this place.”
Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows in surprise, “It seems that you have indeed grown a lot during this period. That’s right. This is indeed your best option now.”
“You have helped me a lot since we met,” Varo looked into Zhang Heng’s eyes and said sincerely, “I don’t know how to repay your kindness, but this is, after all, my business. So next, I hope that I can find a way and solve it by myself.”