After traveling along the road for just a while longer, Straf and Cycelia arrive to the city. The buildings are strongly resembling a generic European town from the past. The architecture is however, a seemingly random mix of time periods, stretching as far back as 1000s, and as little as 1700s.
「Huh. Another city of nonsense. That ought to be where the tournament is happening, right, Lia?」
They walk through the large and open market square, the merchants at their stalls are selling multitudes of different things. Straf points to a towering amphitheater in the distance.
「I think so. I've never been here before. I rarely left the capital, and I tried to avoid big population centers like this. Even then, the coliseum here is pretty famous. If there's any place where the tourney would be in, it would be there, I think.」
Cycelia stares at the massive, round building's exterior as she speaks. She takes her gaze off of it, and looks around with a hint of worry in her eyes.
「I figured. It would be a crime to have a perfectly good ripoff of a Roman coliseum, and not use it for a tournament arc.」
「Straf… Is it really safe to be here? I know you dealt with the manhunters before, but I'm worried-」
「Huh? Relax, they wouldn't dare to interrupt the thing everybody is waiting for. Hobos and goblins don't know the etiquette for these things, but I expect the manhunters do.」
Straf shrugs and spreads his arms, unconcerned by anything as he talks to Cycelia.
「I hope so-」
「If someone gets in our way one more time, it's no more Straf the nice guy. I'll rip their heads off and make an example out of them.」
Ba-dump.
《Seriously, I just want to get to the part where I break the tournament already. My patience is running thin.》
Straf takes his eyes off Cycelia and looks back at the coliseum as they draw near. Straf's nonchalant declaration of hyper-violence relieves Cycelia's worry, she smiles and giggles softly.
「My, Straf… You're really scary after all. You're like my own personal demon.」
She jokes, covering her mouth with a loose fist as she chuckles a little. Straf looks up as he thinks with eyebrows raised.
「Hm… Yeah, I guess I kind of am.」
《Summoned, check. Stupidly powerful, check. Gain strength by killing relatively innocent creatures, check. Well, I guess I'm not bound by any contract, so that's out. Still, is Athea really a goddess in that case?》
Cycelia glances at Straf's face as he's giving her off-hand comment a serious thought, making her giggle even harder. She tries to elbow Straf in the arm lightly while laughing.
《Hm?》
Her eyes widen in surprise, as her elbow made no contact.
《What the fuck was that?》
Straf looks down at Cycelia, wondering why he momentarily felt [Contextual Time Perception] activate. They look each other in the eyes as they walk. Cycelia blushes and breaks the eye contact.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
《Is this an enemy attack? Or am I losing my mind?》
Brief silence occurs as Straf keeps thinking about the possible cause. They near the queue at the entrance to the coliseum.
《Shit, now that I give it some thought… What do I do if I get attacked by an invisible enemy, or something?》
Cycelia takes a peek at Straf's face again while he's deep in thought, then looks down at his hand, swinging back and forth right next to her own as they walk. She tries to grab it, but his hand seemingly speeds away as he pulls it up to his face, to give his chin a good rubbing.
《Wha-!?》
《There it is again! No way, don't tell me this is a reference! Don't tell me this is the reference!》
Cycelia blinks with huge eyes, while Straf is the one nervously swiveling his head around this time. Straf drops his hand down to his side. Cycelia is about to try grabbing it again, but then they arrive to the back of the queue.
「Finally. Hope the registrations are still open.」
《Damn it, damn it, damn it! I wanted to hold his hand for just a moment!》
Cycelia clenches her teeth and fist, shaking it in frustration. The man ahead overhears him, and he peeks over his shoulder at Straf.
「Hm? They're good for an hour longer or so.」
The ahead man informs Straf.
「Yeah? Thanks, man.」
「No problem buddy. You're gonna compete?」
He asks Straf, sizing him up.
「Yup. I'm going to completely destroy the competition without even trying.」
Straf tells the man very matter-of-factly, looking towards the entrance.
「Hah. Good luck with that, friend. I heard some real tough guys came to fight. Probably because the prize this time around is pretty big.」
「There's a prize?」
Straf asks with bored eyes.
「You didn't know, Straf?」
Cycelia chimes into the conversation, asking with a tilted head.
「Oh, I figured the winner gets some money and maybe an item, that's how it usually goes.」
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Straf shrugs, spreading his arms.
「This time it's something ridiculous for the winner. You'd have to ask them for specifics, but I think it was something along the lines of 50 gold for the winner, and 10 gold for the second place. Then there's the bet winnings…」
The man in the queue comments. Straf raises his eyebrows and glances at Cycelia.
「See, Lia? That's how you do bread and circuses. So you can bet on the fighters as a spectator?」
Cycelia furrows her brows as she thinks. Straf asks the man, he chuckles in response.
「As a spectator? Haha. You can bet as a fighter, too. A lot of idiots bankrupt themselves this way, thinking they're invincible and can't lose when betting on themselves.」
「Wait, you can bet as one of the fighters?」
Straf looks down, intensely rubbing his chin with his thumb and finger as he thinks. He grabs Cycelia by the shoulders and bends his knees to match her height.
「Wah-!?」
「Lia, I have to go buy some stuff. Hold the spot in the queue, alright?」
「I- Ah- Okay, okay…」
She nods furiously with red cheeks and ears. Straf runs off in the direction of the market, and disappears into the crowd.
「…Is your boyfriend a braggart, or does he really mean it?」
The man peeks over his shoulder, smirking a little at Cycelia.
「Wha-!? He's not- We- He's not my boyfriend! And he's really strong!」
「He's not? So, you're free? You're pretty cute.」
「I'm taken!」
She shouts, fidgeting with her fingers and looking away to the side. The man shrugs and turns forward again.
「Heh. I see. Too bad. Gonna bet a few coin on him, then.」
Cycelia waits, and waits. The line grows longer behind her, while also moving closer to the entrance. She anxiously peeks down the long queue towards the market, waiting for Straf's return. Eventually…
「Here.」
「Huh?」
Straf abruptly returns, holding a vanilla ice cream cone in front of her. She reflexively takes it from his hands.
「I didn't know what flavor you like, so I took the one that nobody dislikes.」
「Ah… I was getting worried something happened.」
Cycelia says, then takes a lick of her ice cream.
「Nope. I asked the merchant at the stall where does he get his vanilla and cocoa from, and how does he make the ice cream without the help of a mage. He didn't answer, can you believe that cop-out?」
「What?」
「Yeah. And he got really mad about me asking, too. I bought his entire stock, though. That shut him up.」
「Huh? But- Why? Won't it melt?」
「Nope. Let me know if you want an inexplicably frozen treat.」
Straf says, then chomps onto his chocolate ice cream. He glances at Cycelia, licking her ice cream while looking at him.
「…You know, a noble lady like you really shouldn't eat it while looking into someone's eyes.」
「Huh? Why?」
Cycelia asks, with her eyebrows raised a little. She gives the ice cream another lick, across its entire length from the cone to the tip, her tongue curls slightly as it reaches the top. Straf blinks without saying a word, and simply watches her eat. The ice cream, her face, and her expression look like a page ripped straight out of a gravure idol magazine.
《Wow. And here I was, thinking she's an innocent little airhead. And she almost got me. Real hook, line, and sinker.》
「You know what? Do as you like.」
Straf says, and looks towards the coliseum's entrance, eating his snack. Cycelia tilts her head, pouting a little in confusion, then sucks on the tip.
《What did he mean by this?》
Straf tries to lick his ice cream again, but then the sensation of moving like he's underwater returns again.
《Son of a bitch! What is going on-!?》
His [Eyes of Infinity] aid him in seeing his opponent… A mosquito that's about to bite into his arm. Indignant, Straf glares at it with a squint.
《You little fucker… And I was about to pose menacingly! Begone, you misleading pest!》
He moves his hand closer to the mosquito, and flicks it. A supersonic crack startles Cycelia and the man in front of them, along with the rest of the queue.
「Wha-!? Enemy attack!?」 「What the fuck was that sound!? Scared the shit out of me!」
Straf shakes his head. He looks at panicked Cycelia.
「It was just a regular mosquito… I hope.」
「What…? But mosquitoes don't make a sound like that…」