Novels2Search

Getting a semi-final

Meanwhile, around the same time, in one of the arena's private booths…

「Willow, a letter from home just arrived. I'm being recalled to deal with something.」

Falcon says as he hastily enters the room. The old man in the chair looks at him over his shoulder.

「And? Do you want me to come with you?」

Willow asks Falcon with a raised brow, and an unconcerned voice.

「No, the Heavenly Council explicitly said they want you to monitor the tournament and take action if necessary. I'm the only one ordered back.」

「Hmpf. Seems like they have no more use for me…」

Willow grumbles as he stares at the arena.

「Surely you jest, Willow. From where I'm standing, you are the one handling the important task. It's probably more petty revolts, or another malevolent apparition.」

Falcon crosses his arms, leaning onto the wall near the door.

「They didn't say in the letter?」

The old man asks, and glances at Falcon again.

「No. It's something they'll explain when I'm there. Given how secretive they are, it's most likely just a revolt, and they're afraid of spies. Can you handle this alone?」

Falcon lifts his head up, looking at Willow with a serious expression.

「Heh. Falcon, I can handle this alone better. I don't need your big muscles and empty head getting in the way. I already have a few plans ready, for multiple cases.」

Willow smirks, shaking his head dismissively.

「Well, hope you're not saying that to put me at ease, old man.」

Falcon bounces off the wall with his back, and grabs the door's handle.

「…Take good care of the serfs for me, will you?」

The old man requests with a sly grin.

「Tsk. When I have the free time to…」

Falcon says, and throws the door shut with a decently loud slam. The old man cackles quietly as he stares at the empty, bloodied arena, sitting with his staff in hand…

On the city streets, just a short walk away from the arena…

「…I hope the quarter and semi-finals wrap up quick. Do you want to go look around the city for some fun stuff to do when I'm done with my battles today, Lia?」

「Sure!」

Cycelia nods at Straf, smiling as she walks beside him with her hands clasped behind her back. The buttons on her shirt and her large chest are locked in a deadly gladiatorial battle. Straf looks away from Cycelia, and stops dead in his tracks when he spots an unusual sight.

「…What the actual fuck is this?」

「Mr. Straf! Mr. Straf!」

A young man with a bruised face shouts, while pushing a chair on wheels with his little sister on top of it towards Straf, as fast as he possibly can.

「Ahh… I knew I'd run into you here!」

Louche takes a few deep breaths after rolling Millie up. She bows her head at Cycelia and Straf.

「…Good morning.」

Millie greets them politely, a little disconcerted by the situation.

「What's-your-face…」

「Louche, Mr. Straf. Louche Ostris.」

「Right. Louche Sistertouche. Mind telling me what in the ever-loving fuck is this abomination?」

Straf asks as he points his palm to Millie sitting on a dining chair, with two wagon axles mounted to its legs. One of the axles have been shortened, so that the wheels, which are far too large to be reasonable for the chair, can overlap each other without colliding.

Millie sits high up on the wheeled contraption, and while it's not a dangerous height, someone of her constitution would need aid in getting in, or out of the wheeled chair. Louche looks at the chair, and then back at Straf, slightly confused.

「It's a wheelchair? Just like you described.」

「I did not describe this. Do not gaslight me, punk.」

Straf points angrily at the wheeled abomination.

「But- But you said, it's like a wagon without a horse, and it's a chair with wheels…」

Straf's forehead wrinkles as he thinks for a second. He then visibly cringes and sighs.

「Tsk. Ah, for fuck's sake…」

《Okay, my bad. This technically fits the description.》

Straf thinks as he looks up and focuses on the wheeled-chair-bound girl.

Millie Ostris

[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||] Lv. 3

Strength: 3 Perception: 2

Agility: 2 Endurance: 2

Dexterity: 9 Willpower: 10

Luck: 3 Intelligence: 12

Charisma: 14 Wisdom: 12

「Wow. That is actually very sad.」

Straf comments, nodding slightly. Millie looks aside, getting a little flustered from the random pity.

「Well… It may not be exactly what you had in mind, but it helped a lot already! I'll take Millie to the flower garden by the town square next! Mr. Straf, how would you improve this wheelchair?」

Louche clenches his fists and nods, looking at Straf with bright eyes and a bruised face.

「Start by making it an actual wheelchair. Make the wheels and axles smaller. Much smaller.」

Straf puts his hands on his hips as he walks to the side of the wheelchair.

「See, I told you they would have been better smaller, brother…」

Millie says as she looks at Louche orbit Straf. Cycelia is unsure what to do, and she decides to simply stand next to Millie, and shrug her shoulders.

「Oh yeah, here's an important part… The front wheels should be much smaller than the rear ones, and they should swivel around, so you can actually turn this thing around. Add grips on the rear so this thing isn't so awkward to push.」

Straf shakes his head, and Louche drops his fist into his palm, with his mouth agape.

「That's all genius ideas! Thank you, Mr. Straf!」

「…Couldn't you figure this out on your own?」

「Never!」

Louche shakes his head vigorously.

「…Are you refusing, or admitting to having room temperature IQ? Whatever, go stare at flowers with your sister, and don't bother me until you get her a proper wheelchair. Let's go, Lia.」

Straf says, and starts walking towards the arena.

「See you later, Millie.」

「Yes…」

Cycelia leaves a parting nod, and jogs up to Straf. Louche waves both of them off as they leave. Just as Straf and Cycelia are about to enter the arena's lobby area, a peculiar man catches Straf's attention.

「Oh, cool. Look at this guy, Lia. Katana, and everything. I guess I gotta visit fantasy Japan sometime.」

With his fists on his hips, Straf looks at the man in red lamellar armor, and the man locks gaze with him. The man smirks, holding his hands on the long hilt of his curved sword as he walks away.

「…Someone from the Eastern Kingdoms? That's not something you see every day. I guess the tournament draws in people from all around the world.」

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Cycelia says as she looks at the man's unusual sword in his sheath. The unusual man disappears in the crowd. Straf shrugs and motions his head for Cycelia to follow. They enter the arena.

Straf takes a look at the tournament bracket wall, which is now intensely glowing with magic light emanating from its carved channels. He smirks as he walks up the stairs to the auditorium with Cycelia.

They seek out two empty seats, and manage to find some after just a moment of Straf looking around. They sit down, and just as they do, the announcer walks onto his platform again. He lifts his hands up at the audience, and speaks into the magic circle spinning slowly in front of his mouth.

「Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the quadrennial summer martial tournament! We have seen some truly exciting bouts yesterday, and we are bound to see even more unbelievable shows of power, skill, dexterity and speed!」

The announcer continues his new, but old and tired daily intro. Straf turns to Cycelia.

「Does he really need to do this every day? Can't they just say who's fighting who and let them go at it?」

Straf asks as the fancy man drones on in the background.

「I think the anticipation kind of adds to the experience…」

Cycelia shrugs, meekly disagreeing as she twiddles her thumbs and looks down.

「Yeah, it really does. It's just it doesn't mean it's a good experience.」

Straf crosses his arms and sighs, ignoring the announcer until he hears his name crop up.

「…Straf Katastrof Vindict! Versus! Cobalt the Contractor!」

The announcer exclaims with a gusto, and the crowd cheers. Straf sighs and gets out of his seat, then heads up the stairs.

「Good luck, Straf!」

Cycelia holds her thumbs in fists as she looks at him with an excited smile on her face. Straf shakes his head.

「I don't think I need any more luck. Thanks anyway.」

He leaves towards the betting tables, holding his hands in his pockets.

「Oh! There he is!」

One of the men in the back of the crowd at the betting table looks over his shoulder and exclaims when he sees Straf, who rolls his eyes.

「Yeah… Morning, howdy, hello…」

Straf sighs, and opens his [Portable Storage]. He starts placing entire handfuls of gold coins on the table, and the crowd stares at the hole in space in sheer wide-eyed amazement, murmuring something.

「Do you guys seriously have to do this every day? Haven't you seen enough?」

Straf asks, grimacing as he sorts the gold coins into groups of five. The bald bookie shakes his head in disbelief, grinning like a madman.

「Do you have infinite gold in there!?」

A voice in the crowd asks with a shout.

「If I had infinite gold, why would I be betting?」

「Kick his ass, Straf! I bet my life savings on you!」

Someone in the rear cheers, and Straf looks in the direction of the voice, but can't tell who said it.

「I will, but don't do that, you degenerate!」

He shouts back, frustrated. He finishes placing the coins on the table, and bookie counts them quickly.

「Fuck me… Your odds aren't even that good anymore, Straf. Everyone is betting on you. You could never work a day in your life and live like a king 'til you fuckin' die. Why would you risk all of this?」

The bookie asks as he throws his hands up, utterly perplexed and squinting at Straf.

「What do you mean risk? It's a zero-risk investment. Anything higher than 10% yearly already beats banks, and banks aren't risk-free. Can I get my tokens now?」

Straf shrugs, and the bald man scoops coins in batches into his shirt, and dumps them into the coin box. He writes something down in the ledger, and places multiple rectangular metal plates onto the table, along with a couple smaller, square ones.

「Watch me wipe the floor with that wannabe ninja.」

Straf says to the crowd as he pockets the tokens, and walks away.

「…What's a ninja?」

Straf walks through the arena's bottom floors, heading towards the battlegrounds proper. His footsteps echo across the empty hallway…

「Straf!」

A gruff voice calls out from behind him. Straf looks over his shoulder, hearing heavy footsteps rapidly close in on him.

「Ah. I fucking called it.」

Straf looks at the muscular, shirtless man.

「What's your face again?」

Straf asks, looking him in the eyes.

「I'm Wulf. Wulf the Northerner.」

「Ah. What is it? Want to have a go?」

Straf spreads his hands, and the Northerner shakes his head.

「No. I just have a request… When and if you see that little cowardly, green, masked little shit, lop his fuckin' head off!」

「Who?」

「That little maggot, Sturm! The one with the wolf mask!」

The Northerner screams, and the hallway walls scream his shouts back.

「Ah… Yeah, I'll see what I can do… See you around, or wherever.」

Straf walks away, his hands in his pockets. The large man continues shouting at Straf.

「If I had another chance, I'd kill him! Gutless coward! He only won because that's not how do things in the North! I would have won, you hear!? Kill him!」

He keeps shouting, frantically waving his bulky arms around, even as Straf is long out of his sight…

「Let's get this over with…」

Straf walks into the arena with his hands in his pockets, and a bored expression on his face.

「And there he is! Seems like Straf likes to make a late entrance, ladies and gentlemen! You know him, you love him, you bet on him! Straf! Katastrof! Vindict!」

「Yeah. Woo.」

Straf lifts his arms for under one second as the announcer points his palm at him. His opponent unsheathes his daggers, throws them in the air, and catches them in an inverted grip.

「Oh! Showy! Look, I can do this too!」

Straf shouts at his opponent, poorly imitating kung fu and karate poses. The crowd cheers.

「Wait, seriously? I was making fun of him.」

「It seems contestant Straf is set on not using his sword again! Will he pummel Cobalt the Contractor just like he embarrassed Louche Redlight? Time will tell! Combatants, prepare yourselves!」

The announcer lifts his arms, and the crowd goes silent as they hold onto their breath.

「I didn't say that. Well, whatever, might as well. I'm here to break this fucking tournament anyway.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders as he stands with his hands in his pockets, completely relaxed in the masked face of his enemy.

「Fight!」

Gonnnnnnnngggg!

Even the gong sounds excited, as it signals the start of the fight. Cobalt dashes in and opens up with a dagger throw aimed at Straf's chest.

「So, what do you contract? Do you do constructions, or?…」

Straf snatches the dagger from the air, his arm becoming a blur for a split-second. The Contractor's eyes go wide as he abruptly slides to a stop. The crowd feverishly cheers.

「Ladies and gentlemen, what a day, already! Contestant Straf doesn't feel threatened at all, and caught Cobalt's thrown dagger with ease! But Cobalt still has more weapons to use! Will he force Straf to draw his!?」

The announcer waves his arms about, clearly excited about the battle as well.

「…I don't reveal who I work for, and what work I do.」

Cobalt answers, standing ready to react to anything in a wide-legged, guarded stance.

「How the fuck do you get those contracts then?」

Straf asks, paying more attention to balancing the tip of Cobalt's dagger on his finger than Cobalt himself.

「Through my underworld contacts. I will not reveal more. I have a code, and I will follow it.」

「Man, you're fucking boring. Here, you can have this back, I guess.」

Straf says, and throws the dagger between Cobalt's legs, just short of hitting his groin. The dagger disappears as it digs into the arena's sandy dirt, and a supersonic crack much like a gunshot echoes out throughout the arena grounds.

「Oh. My bad. I actually meant to give it back, I didn't mean to do a one-liner.」

Straf scratches the side of his head, with a hint of embarrassment on his face. Cobalt stares wide eyed at the ground, it slowly dawns on him how close he was to losing his manhood as he peeks over his shoulder, at the relatively massive crater the dagger left behind his feet.

「I still have to beat you, I guess. I'll do that with my fists.」

「What?…」

Cobalt still can't process the difference in strength between him and his opponent. Straf shrugs, and disappears from his sight right in front of him. Cobalt looks left and right, and then hears Straf's voice behind him.

「Karate chop!」

Thud.

Straf very lightly strikes the masked, hooded man in the back of his head with the edge of his open hand. His opponent's arms drop limp, he falls to his knees, and then collapses onto his masked face, dropping the dagger onto the sandy ground.

「Seriously?」

Straf throws the hand that's not in his pocket, that is, the hand he used to chop his enemy with, up in confusion.

Gonnnnnnnnnng!

「Fucking seriously!? That worked!?」

Straf throws up his hands completely as he stares at Cobalt on the floor, laying face-down, unconscious. The crowd goes wild, and even the gong sounds amazed.

「Ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner! Straf Katastrof Vindict wins once again! And once again, it took him no effort at all! Just as he promised, he didn't even draw his sword!」

The announcer points at Straf, then his knocked-out opponent. A healer runs in as Straf walks out, shaking his head and hanging it low.

「Collect your bet winnings, ladies and gentlemen, but don't walk away from the tables just yet! Next up is… Sturm! Versus! Ulrick the Fencer! Place your bets now, ladies and gentlemen! Keep those silvers on the tables!」

The announcer points his palm to the betting tables. A few moments later Sturm walks into the arena, his sword already drawn and just barely sticking out of his green cloak. He stops just off-center of the arena.

「Oh my, what a surprise! Contestant Sturm is early today, ladies and gentlemen! At this blazing pace, we will reach the final bout in no time at all! Will the wolf need a leash, or will he surprise us with a good fight!?」

The announcer points his palm to Sturm in a flashy and energetic manner. Sturm simply stares at the other arena entrance, not moving in the slightest…