「I'm back. What'd I miss?」

Straf returns to Cycelia from the top of the stairs, rubbing his hand into his pants.

「Straf! A lot! A lot!」

Cycelia repeats herself, frantically pointing at the arena.

「Oh yeah? Now that's a first.」

Straf says, and smells his hand. His brows furrow, and one of his eyes narrow.

「Klaw the Head-taker fought that masked man! And he was running around the arena again! And then the announcer told him that he'll be disqualified if he doesn't fight back!」

「Isn't running around the arena what you do?」

「No!- Well, yes, but… Not like that Sturm person did! He kept running and running from fighting! And-」

Cycelia pauses. She sniffs, then leans in towards Straf and sniffs more. She leans in further, and further while sniffing harder and harder. Straf recoils away.

「Woooah! Lia! Do you have a thing for smell, or something?」

Straf asks, leaning away from her with his eyes open wide.

「Huh? Ah-! No! It's just- You kind of smell like butter…」

She realizes how it looks like, and leans away from Straf.

「Fine. I'll take a bath when we're back-」

Straf says, smelling his hand again.

「Ah, no, I didn't mean it like that! It's not a bad smell, you kind of smell like… Popcorn. A lot.」

「Huh? So you don't mind?」

Straf glances at Cycelia with his eyebrow raised. She shakes her head.

「Nuh-uh. It makes you smell kind of… Festive.」

Cycelia taps her fingers together, looking away with a little pout of her lips.

「Anyway! You actually missed a lot, Straf! Sturm killed Klaw in that fight!」

She turns her head back to Straf, raising her excited voice.

「Oh yeah? What a bastard.」

「Well… I'm not going to celebrate somebody dying, but… He knew what he signed up for. And he killed someone himself. I won a lot of gold from that fight, but…」

She grimaces and uncomfortably wobbles around a bit, as she thinks about the last match.

「But? You don't like blood money?」

「…I would feel a lot better about that last win if nobody died. It was an exciting fight though, it kind of makes me feel bad to even think that.」

She sighs. Straf rolls his eyes.

「Well, don't feel bad. The fights in this arena are pretty tame compared to what I know.」

Straf shrugs with his hands and slouches again as the announcer introduces the fighters down below.

「Huh? They are?」

Cycelia looks in surprise at Straf, blinking a few times.

「Yeah. No lions ripping defenseless people apart. No slave duels. Death is an unintentional consequence, rather than part of the show… It's pretty family-friendly, I would say, other than the infrequent dismemberment and death.」

Straf looks at the arena with bored eyes, lazily supporting his head with his hand. Cycelia blinks, looking at Straf with a shocked face.

《…Just how brutal is Straf's home?》

「Fight!」

Gonnnnnnnnngggggggggg…

The fighters below are once again at it, clashing their swords and providing the audience with an entertaining fight. The spectators cheer. Cycelia is watching closely, while Straf is yawning and barely paying attention.

「Uh, Straf, are you bored?」

She takes a quick glance at Straf. He looks at the fight below with a slanted mouth and half-open eyes.

「Well… Honestly, I've just seen this so many times that it's not that exciting. I don't mind staying here until it's over if you're having fun. But I've come here to fight, not watch some random nobodies that are only fighting to pad the runtime.」

「If you'd like, we could go back…」

「Nah. I'll just put up with it for your sake. Get your fill of the tournament arc, so next time you can be bored as well, Lia.」

Ba-dump.

「Uh-huh… Since I wasn't paying attention and forgot to bet, who do you think will win, Straf?」

She fingers the medallion hanging off her neck, blushing a little.

「Whoever wins, the plot loses… Man, this sun is killing me. Want an ice cream?」

Straf looks up, squinting as he shields his eyes from the sun with his hand, and turns his head to Cycelia, completely ignoring the fight…

Meanwhile, in the private booth…

「Tsk. So, how about that theory of yours, old man? Did it pan out?」

Falcon asks with his arms crossed, slightly displeased as he and Willow watch the next fight.

「No… It was a reach on my part. Perhaps even an excessive one. But…」

Willow shakes his head, watching the fighters below take swings at one another.

「But? Just tell me what were you thinking.」

「No. If I would, I wouldn't hear the last of it from you. All I can tell you is, I expected Sturm to win in a more… Extravagant manner, which would confirm my theory.」

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「…And instead that bastard just threw his sword in Klaw's throat when he least expected it.」

Falcon sighs. Willow nods.

Clang! Clank! Clink!

The audience cheers as the fighters' blades meet, showering them both with orange sparks.

「That is right. Still, you have to give it to him, Falcon. That would have surprised you as well.」

「Hmpf. I would have cut down that cowardly weakling before he'd even have a chance to draw it. Ahh… I want to fight that Straf guy.」

Falcon grips at his sword's long, cord-wrapped hilt.

「Falcon…」

Mildly annoyed, Willow calls out the young man's name.

「I know, I know. No interfering more than we have to. I know. Can you blame me?」

「Indeed… Now that the Head-taker is dead, and Sturm is… Not as impressive as I thought, Straf placed himself as my favorite.」

Willow nods, leaning a little onto his staff.

「So what you're saying is, Willow, that I might actually get a chance to fight him?」

Falcon grins, glancing from the side at the old man.

「Might. Not will. And you know I prefer an indirect approach to this.」

「Oh, I know. But dead men tell no tales, right?」

「Hu hu hu… I would be careful if I were you, Falcon. One day you may fight someone really good, and you'll be quiet about it.」

Willow chuckles softly, smirking at his younger companion as he returns the side glance.

…

Elsewhere, a few hours later…

Greaves and his party squeeze past the thick trees growing right next to each other. Despite the sun being high up in the sky, the grove is rather dim.

「Right here. We're heading in the right direction.」

Lian announces as she dexterously slinks past the wall of trees, looking down at the dirt.

「Huh? What makes you say that?」

Will asks, freeing his robe from an obstructive branch. Gloved by her brilliant blue bodysuit, Lian points her hand at the ground.

「There. It's faint, but you can see it if you look closely. Paw print.」

She walks up to the spot she was pointing at, and rests the rear end of her spear on the forest floor. Greaves squats down to take a better look at the imprint.

「Wow. That's massive. If you're so smart Will, why don't you tell us what could have left it?」

Greaves looks up at Will, sneering.

「…There's a lot of things. It doesn't look like a bear, though. It's a lot bigger.」

Will glares back and adjusts his glasses.

「Mhm. Something closer in size to the beasts found at my home. Let's not waste time, it's better if we find it before the sun goes down.」

Lian nods, and follows the paw impression tracks. Alicia stares at the indent in the dirt nervously, as she trails behind the group. The tracks become more pronounced and fresh as the party follows it for a little over an hour, through a winding path between the trees.

「We're getting close.」

Lian looks at the many smaller paw tracks left in the softer muddy ground surrounding the massive paws. The little prints are absolutely everywhere, and heading in all directions.

「For now let's just continue. It's the big thing that must be causing the disturbance around here.」

Will nods and follows the biggest tracks with his eyes as the party pauses for a moment.

「Yes… That's usually how it was back on the islands. A large beast came, and the smaller ones were displaced. I don't suppose that's much different here.」

「Uhuhuhu! You're getting along well, aren't you Will!?」

Greaves puts his fists on his hips and cackles with a huge grin on his face, as he stands behind Will and Lian.

「Shut up, Greaves!」

Will glares with a grimace over his shoulder. Alicia sighs.

「While I don't mind the banter… Could I ask you to focus, so nothing bites your head off, Greaves?」

Lian looks with a calm, but serious face over her shoulder as well, her silky black ponytail rests on her shoulder, contrasting heavily against the brighter bodysuit.

「Tsk. I am focused. Who made you the leader?…」

Greaves clicks his tongue, crosses his arms and looks away as he grumbles under his breath. The party continues onward. Not too long after, they hear intense growling echo off the trees. Alicia draws closer to the party, nervously looking around behind them.

「Relax Alicia, I've got your back. And Will's girlfriend got his. Exactly as I planned.」

「U-Uhuh… I'm not concerned at all…」

Greaves rubs his nose with his finger and sniffles, confidently reassuring Alicia. She nods, gripping onto her silver wand tighter. Though almost inaudible, Will clicks his tongue.

Just a few paces later, Lian's calm demeanor shifts to a very serious one. She kicks her spear into a whirl with a dull clank. Its shaft flies into both of her hands in a very visually impressive, flourished manner.

「Get ready. We have company.」

Lian warns the party, her voice is devoid of her smug or jesting tone, now completely serious as she points the tip of her spear towards the dim woods ahead.

「Huh? What are you talking abou-」

Greaves asks with his arms crossed, then he notices a horndog slink out from amidst the trees in front of them. Then another. And another. And another… He draws his sword.

Shwwwwwing.

「Uh oh. That's a lot of them.」

Greaves grimaces a little as his eyes dart across the large pack of horndogs ahead of them.

「Nothing we can't handle… But let me deal with that thing by myself.」

「W- What thing?」

Will stammers while adjusting his glasses. His previous demeanor also went missing somewhere. The rest of the party can now feel the earth rumble beneath their feet, just as Lian did a few moments ago.

Trees are broken and uprooted as a massive, hairy, wolf-like beast brushes past the trees and out into the clearing. Its giant, twisting, spiral horns snap many branches above, and rustle the green leaves up high. Everyone except Lian takes one or two steps back behind her as the beast reveals itself.

「Oh. Shit.」

Greaves utters out with shocked, wide-open eyes and a nervous face.

「T- T- T- To- Th-」

Will points at the huge furry beast, trying to say something. He takes another breath.

「That- That's a topdog!」

Will shouts, finally managing calm himself enough to speak.