Rithargus was seated in the arena when Claire was originally dragged there to prove her strength.

He was not concerned in the least about Claire, and it was an odd situation for him. Just a few days before, the lizardmen had been threatening the slime people.

Rithargus was the only person who had stood up to Arlo, and he received a hell of a beating as a result of that.

He didn't regret standing up to someone stronger than him. He only regretted not being strong enough to protect his people. Even so, they had submitted to the lizardmen after he put up a fight, and while the lizards had used force to scare the slime people, and even killed a few of them through the forced overproduction of gel, Rithargus right now did not feel anger towards them for that.

The reason was simple. Rithargus was now in a better position than before.

He was now backed by those antiheroes- that monstrous spirit girl who beat him senseless and seemed to be furious with him, yet for one reason or another, she had spared him.

The elf had made a statement that day to Rithargus. One that he would never forget.

"What kind of rulers would we be if we did not do what is best for our own people? Come into our flock, and we will show you what it means to be our allies. Stay outside of our influence, and we will show you why you were wrong to make enemies of us."

Rithargus had then witnessed a scene that blew his imagination- the same girl who he had seen harming Helen playing along with her as if they were lifelong friends.

Was she being deceived? No. Rithargus could tell that the ghost girl would not go out of her way to deceive others. After all, she didn't hold back against him. She may have been a monster who's rage could destroy many if left unchecked, but she didn't hide her emotions one bit or try to deceive others.

It was a strange feeling, but Rithargus felt like the antiheroes could become something of a mafia for the village. They would not exactly be benevolent rulers, but their existence would surely deter others from messing with the slimes.

So, Rithargus sat in the seats, watching Claire with peace, knowing that these lizards were nothing compared to the ones who were currently in charge of his village.

Lizardmen had been flowing into the seats quickly, and Rithargus looked over at Claire. She seemed to be ready to fight. A group of lizardmen- three of them, sat near Rithargus.

They seemed to be teenagers.

"What's a slime doing here? Don't tell me that you were allowed in the gate? Did you sneak in?"

Rithargus simply smirked at the lizardmen, who was giving him a nasty eye.

"No, I'm with that woman who is fighting up there."

"That human who's about to get killed!! HAHA!! Oi, guys, get a load of this loser here! He thinks he can just stroll into our village and act like he owns the place! What do you say we give him a lesson!?"

"I have no problems with that, Rar."

"Sounds good to me. Lets take him out back after the fight... perhaps we should let him watch that human get killed first!"

The three sat down on either side of Rithargus and one had put his arm around him to ensure he wouldn't escape.

However....

"Ack! What's this!? Poison!? Get this off me!!"

Rithargus was a purple slime- literally a ball of acidic poison wandering about. Regular warriors could not touch him, and ones swordsmanship would have to be top notch in order to harm Rithargus, as he would have to completely slice off a semi fluid piece of him and prevent him from reconnecting it in order to cause any actual damage using physical attacks. While magical attacks were different, it was rare for a warrior race such as the lizardmen to use such things.

The other lizardmen quickly got some water from a nearby bucket for drinking- it was their form of a water fountain- and splashed it on the arm of Rar to clean the poison off.

It was still eating at the lizardman's hard scales, but it did not pierce to the inner flesh since they had acted quickly.

While Rithargus was a low level statistically, he was actually quite a formidable enemy due to his particular abilities.

"Why you..."

"You were the one who put your arm around me. I haven't made an attack on you. Why don't you calm down a bit and watch the fight?"

"Where do you think you're getting off making cocky comments like that... you lowly slime.... your race only exists to produce potions for races like ours, the great lizardmen! It looks like I will have to teach you a real lesson after this..."

"Why don't we make a bet?"

"Hah!? A bet!? On what!?"

"Why don't we bet on what will happen during this arena match. You all seem to be quite confident in your warrior up there. However, I don't think he will be able to put a single scratch on the woman. What do you say? If the woman gets wounded even once, I will become your slave and do whatever you all want for the rest of my life."

Rar was completely taken aback by this proposal.

"Are you an idiot!? Or perhaps you've realized that you're in a losing scenario, and have offered your servitude to pay for your arrogance? Fine then. I will accept that bet. Hey boys, it looks like we've obtained a new errand boy! Anything you want from now on is on him!"

"Thanks, Rar! You sure know how to negotiate!"

"We'll make sure to make good use of this slime!"

"Oi oi, what do you all think you're doing, writing the bet off as if it has already been completed? Don't you think you're being a little optimistic?"

"Optimistic? What are you talking about? It's obvious that that human will be scratched, as a matter of fact her death is almost a given! Even if by some miracle she manages to win, there's 0% chance that she will escape unharmed."

The other two lizardmen nodded at Rar's words, however Rithargus simply waited patiently.

"Then, let's see what happens."

It was after that that the king, followed by Arlo entered the stage.

Applause, cheering, stomping, and the whole ordeal followed.

However, something completely unpredictable occurred then and there.

Arlo ran off into the arena before the battle began.

"Ah. Speaking of which, don't you three think that it would be a little unfair to have a bet where the losing conditions aren't the same. If your warrior doesn't put a scratch on that woman there... lets see... well, I'll make it easy on you. How about you three simply serve me for the time while I'm here in this village. You don't even have to become my slaves for life. What do you say?"

"Whatever. There's no way that you'll win this bet anyways. I agree."

Arlo was running down the stairs, and now in the arena running towards the two standing in the center.

"Oi, isn't that Arlo?", one of the lizardmen asked.

"What's he doing?"

"Something must be wrong with this fight... for even Arlo, the greatest warrior to look so distressed... could it be that he doesn't want to see a helpless woman get killed? I never knew that Arlo was such a chivalrous warrior..."

Arlo punched the guard, sending him flying towards the wall, and the three lizardmen near Rithargus dropped their jaws.

"Ah..."

And then, Arlo kneeled to the woman.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The three shouted in unison.

"Well, it seems that the Determined doesn't have a scratch on her, and the fight is long over. It didn't play out how I expected it to, but I think you three owe me your services for now..."

"As if we would agree to a conclusion like that! You can't force us to accept this! You're nothing more than a lowly slime."

Arlo then made his announcement about who the woman was.

Rithargus held up his arms, made of purple goo in a shrugging manner. they was dripping, and the seat which the drop's landed on dissolved in seconds.

"Ah... I see. You lizardmen are nothing more than cowards who break their promises as soon as they lose their confidence... always claiming that the outcome was out of your control or that some interference occurred when you lose... it isn't very warrior like to back out of a bet just because of an unpredictable event... and how shameful it would be for a warrior to not be able to admit his defeat because the person they lost to is weaker than them... You people don't know what it's like to be on the losing side, so I have sympathy for you in this situation. It really is tough- especially when you win all the time, to all of a sudden be the loser. You feel like everything you have been building up all your life has crumbled, just like that... but we slimes, we have always been the losers... and boy oh boy, does it feel good to be in the winning spot for once."

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