The next day Ferro, Liz, and Anna meet in a park on the campus. Anna is as usual a little late and lets the other two wait in awkward silence.

Anna: Hey there! I saw your letter late, you could have just talked to me, you know Ferro?

Ferro: When I saw you, you were together with other girls, and I didn’t feel like it. I had the letter written out already anyway so I thought it wouldn’t make a difference.

Anna: So, you don’t think we are friends enough for me to interrupt all these fake friends? That saddens me.

Ferro: Okay, you are taking this way too personally. I believe it would have started some weird rumors and I don’t like to be in the conversation like that.

Anna: While that is true it wouldn’t have bothered me too much, so when you feel comfortable, meet me any time!

Liz: You also left me a letter and I was on my own the entire day. What’s your excuse for that?

Ferro, slightly flustered: Atmosphere?

Anna: Okay, that’s fair.

Liz: At least we didn’t suddenly start to smell after we read the letter.

The three start to laugh but soon they settle down with the small talk.

Ferro: My mother gave me permission to access the arena. She told me that I would only have to tell Ben who is the supervisor for it.

Anna: Sounds good, you want to go meet him now?

Ferro: Yeah, we should go as soon as possible.

Liz: I also can’t wait. Should we grab something to eat along the way?

Anna: Sure, I haven’t had anything for two hours, I am starving!

Ferro: Your stomach is a mystery to me.

Anna: I am still growing! My brain is ever-expanding!

Liz: Maybe you would expand differently if you had something else on your mind than food.

The three walk through the busy street that is next to their campus, passing a lot of food stalls that have all kinds of fancy food.

Anna: I can’t decide it all looks so delicious!

Liz: Every time I walk through this street it has completely changed. I swear this morning there was a shop that was selling live cut yellow birds, but now it is gone, and in its place, there is a food place that sells noodles with sweets on top.

Anna: And this one might just be a fluke as well, but it sure is beautiful we get to try all these new foods!

Ferro: These people sure don’t live easy. They always have to be on top of the current trends. It wouldn’t be a life for me if you can even call it life in some cases.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Liz: I believe it is only this bad right next to the academy because so many people come from different republics with different tastes. The rent is also incredibly high so opening a shop is a high-risk, high-reward thing.

Ferro: If I remember correctly your father owns a lot of places on the street and rents them out? So he is also responsible for this situation?

Liz: He is a businessman through and through, a lot of people owe him favors because they couldn’t pay in time, so he has a lot of power which he likes to abuse sometimes.

Anna: So, the stall that had to close recently which I liked so much was partially his fault?

Liz: Partially, yes but the owner also wouldn’t pay so it’s also their fault.

The three reach their destination after a while and because they couldn’t decide they reach the arena with an empty stomach.

From a distance, they spotted the manager Ben who was dealing with a couple armed to the teeth. The relatively small old man was really loud so they could hear what he was talking about even though the weapons market in front of the arena was quite busy.

Ben: I told you numerous times by now. We are booked out for the day, there is nothing I can do, so if you want to schedule something you need to talk to my assistant, and she might find a date for you.

Spearmen: We already talked to her, but she told us the arena was booked out until next year! We are leaving the city in a month and the arena is the only place you can legally train. Is there nothing you can do? We desperately need a place to get better, we will head to explore the desert west of the Nima Republic and we weren’t allowed to train anywhere!

Ben: I know, the arena has the reserved right to training, this is why it is booked out in the first place, but the others are in similar positions as you two, so I can’t reschedule anyone.

Rambling the two head off and the trio approaches Ben. From far away they could already see his face turn sour as he saw them.

Ferro: Hi Ben! We wanted to ge…

Ben: Not going to happen! You heard what I told those two guys just now, right? I also told your mother! She wouldn’t even listen to me.

Ferro: Yes, we heard it but my mother told me it could just tell you when we want to get in and you would arrange everything.

Ben: That old hag really is something! This premise that there are no exceptions is the only thing keeping this business together! Without it, the people would start complaining even more than the other guys were just now and the worst would be that they are right!

Ferro: Surely there is something you can do? There have to be some people that cancel out of the blue, right?

Ben: There is a waiting list for that, let me see. There! Spot 136 on here. Maybe you will even get a date before the end of the year!

Ferro: That won’t do.

Ben: Then tell me what will, because as I said I am not making exceptions!

Liz: How about at night?

Ben: We can’t do events in the night, because the last time we did we got a lot of noise complaints from the neighbors, and apparently the lights we use are too bright, so we stopped giving out dates for that a while ago.

Liz: We aren’t planning anything big; it is just us three, it wouldn’t be loud at all.

Ben: I will give it some thought. You will have to bring your own light and sign a waiver that excludes the arena from any responsibility for injuries because we won’t have healers standing by. That should be all, to be honest. Please ask your mother if she is okay with the time Ferro.

Ferro: No, I won’t. Otherwise, she will come to bother you again and it seems like you have enough people doing that already.

Ben: That is very considerate of you. If you want to come in at night just tell me which night, it is and I will gladly open the arena for you.

Anna: Would today be fine?

Ben: Sure, just come in after sunset when everyone else is finishing up. The door locks on its own after I have locked it from the outside, but you will still be able to open it from the inside, so you won’t have to come to wake me up in the night. Just make sure to close it behind you.

Ferro: Thank you so much!

Ferro [Tonight we would be calling on Memento again. I wonder if he has done his job for now or if he has just been lazy today. None of us got attacked but that could also be luck. We weren’t expecting to get attacked outright but it felt a bit better today. A bit safer than these last few weeks. Maybe there is a light on the horizon.]