「Ladies and gentlemen! The semi-finals are drawing near! Only one more bout before the victorious combatants return! The crowd vying for gold is thinning, and the matches are only becoming deadlier! And the last match of the quarter-finals, is…」

The announcer lifts his arms up, swinging them about as he riles the audience up for the next match. He pulls out a slip of paper from his breast pocket and reads it.

「Sand Shark Aziz! Versus! Bob! …Oh!」

The announcer exclaims in surprise, as both men appear right on time out of their respective entrances. Straf's brows furrow.

「…Bob? Fucking Bob!? How'd I miss this guy- Ah. I tuned out.」

Straf asks in utter disbelief, pointing his palm at Bob as he makes his entrance. He squints, and his hand drops when he realizes he saw him fight yesterday, discounting his fight as one of the unremarkable ones.

「Ladies and gentlemen! This bout will be truly interesting! And for the reasons you may not expect! Right here is Sand Shark Aziz! He hails from a distant and harsh land, and Aziz claims to have been a part of its elite spy group!」

The announcer points his palm at the man in a white shawl wrapped around his head, which flows onto his shoulders. His loose and thin garments flap around in the wind, as he walks to meet his opponent in the center of the arena. The announcer floats his palm over to the other man.

「And here is Bob! We had a lot of questions for Bob, but we have received only a few answers! Bob has admitted to being a spy, although he has also said, that he's here only in passing! What kingdom does he serve!? 「None of your business.」 he said! Is Bob his real name!? 「Who knows.」 was the answer!」

The announcer says as he introduces the cloth-masked, shaved man. Aziz appears to have no armor on, dressed in loose and thin robes, and armed with a dagger that zigzags like a lightning bolt. His opponent, Bob, is also wielding a dagger.

Although, it perhaps would be more apt to call it a bastard child of a short sword and a dagger, as it fits neither category sufficiently. Bob's dark leather armor gives off an impression of a generic adventurer's starting armor, enough to keep the beasts' claws away, and not much else.

「…Okay. Bob is kind of badass, actually.」

Straf reconsiders his opinion of Bob.

「I think he'll win. But…」

Cycelia chimes in, looking intensely at the shaved man below.

「But?」

Straf turns his head at her, his eyebrows slowly rising.

「…But it seems to me like he's not out there to win? It's more like he has another goal in mind.」

「Like what?」

「I don't know. It's hard to tell.」

「Well, want to bet on Bob, then?」

「…Sure.」

Cycelia nods. They get out of their seats, and walk up the stairs to the betting tables. The crowd disperses to let Straf in.

「Straf! Who are you betting on!?」

「Bob.」

Straf shrugs in response to someone in the crowd.

「Why!?」

「Dunno.」

He shrugs again. Straf opens his [Portable Storage], and the crowd circles around the rip in space.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

「…Can I put my hand in there?」

A man next to Straf asks as he's pulling gold coins out by the handfuls. Straf shrugs.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

「Sure can. I just don't guarantee you'll pull it back out.」

The man stops his hand just short sinking into the [Portable Storage], as Straf adds the disclaimer.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

A few moments pass, the crowd quietly whispers theories to each other, on the hole's nature. The bald man behind the iron-grated counter finishes counting the gold coins, and wipes the sweat off his brows.

「Phew… Straf, are you sure about this? Forget living like a king, you could raise an army with that kind of money.」

The bald man asks, bringing the mostly empty gold box beneath the counter as he waits for Straf's reply.

「Meh. I don't feel like doing kingdom and war stuff yet.」

Straf shrugs. The bald man anxiously scoops the coins into the box, and writes something into the ledger on another desk in his office. The [Portable Storage] closes, forcing a panicked cry out of someone in the crowd, who was about to dip a finger in it.

「…Gambling addicts, I tell you… What about you, miss? Who are you betting on?」

「Bob.」

Cycelia says, shoving a pile of gold coins closer to the bald bookie.

「You too!? Most of the gold in the box is Straf's and yours now. Are you rigging the matches or something!?」

「Wha-!? No!」

Cycelia is shocked by the accusation. Straf scoffs, and smirks at the bookie.

「Why, I would never.」

He looks down on his bald head with his hands in his pockets. The bookie shakes his baldness.

「I was just joking. But I did notice a peculiar thing about you, lady…」

「W- What?」

Cycelia fidgets with her silver medallion nervously.

「You never bet on Straf. Ever. It's easy money. Why?」

The bald man rubs his chin with squinted eyes, looking up into Cycelia's big eyes.

「'Cause I told her not to. Can I get my tokens?」

Straf defends Cycelia, and the bookie sighs.

「Yeah, yeah, yeah…」

Clink. Clank.

「Here's yours. And here's yours, lady. Most of the gambling addicts come for the final match, Straf. That's the time to be betting.」

「I'll keep that in mind.」

Straf says, as he pockets his black metal tokens with Cycelia. They leave the crowd behind and head back to their seats.

「Ladies and gentlemen! Make your bets now, if you still haven't done so! The bets will be closing momentarily!」

The announcer cautions, and the men below in the arena seem to be casually conversing before their battle.

「Combatants! Prepare yourselves! Sand Shark Aziz! Versus! Bob!」

A few short moments pass. The announcer raises his arms, signaling the match is about to begin.

「If Bob's here to job, and not kill Aziz for his intelligence agency, I'm gonna be pissed off.」

「Huh!? Straf, my instinct isn't flawless-!」

「No, what I mean is, it's fine if he loses. It's not fine if he loses, because he's just a guy named Bob. I'd be embarrassed explaining myself why I bet on a guy named fucking Bob, if there wasn't something more to it.」

「Fight!」

Gonnnnnnnngggg…

The announcer throws his arms down, and the gong reverberates throughout the arena. The men take hasty steps towards each other in very similar, almost mirrored stances. Both of them keep their off-hand forward, to perhaps grasp at the enemy, and they keep their weapon concealed behind them, holding their daggers in an inverted grip.

Aziz tries circling around Bob with a paced jog. Bob doesn't allow Aziz to get behind his back, and keeps his open hand extended at him. Bob gets in Aziz's path by leaping in, and he replies with a thrust of his warping dagger at Bob's neck. Bob moves his arm, clashing forearms together, and stopping the blade.

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Bob flips the dagger around in his hand to an orthodox grip, and thrusts it right in the center of his opponent's torso. Aziz recoils backwards from the impact, but the dagger only leaves a tiny cut in his loosely hanging white robes. Bob jumps backwards, and inverts the dagger in his hand again.

The Sand Shark rubs the spot the dagger was driven into, and pats it a little. Both of the combatants attempt to circle around each other, to the benefit of neither of them.

「Ladies and gentlemen! It looks like contestant Aziz is a little more armored than contestant Bob has expected! Or was his attack just going for the low-hanging fruit!?」

Aziz gets frustrated by the lack of progress, and takes a few steps forward. Bob responds by swiping his leg at his opponent's knees as soon as he gets in range. Aziz seems to have anticipated this move, as he jumps over his sweep.

The Sand Shark slashes with his unusual dagger at his enemy's eyes, but instead of straightening out as he expected him to, Aziz receives a rough kick in his stomach that sends him reeling backwards. Both of the fighters are two steps ahead of each other, and neither can gain the upper hand.

「Ladies and gentlemen! Neither Sand Shark Aziz nor Bob wants to run from this fight! This may just be the closest-quarters battle this year's tournament has seen so far! Is it personal!? Both of the contestants were happily chatting away like old friends, just moments ago!」

The announcer flails his arms about, shouting into the circle. Straf stares at him with a tight-lipped grimace.

「Yeah. Because Bob is obviously here to whack his spy friend. Is he trying to not spoil it, or something?」

「Huh? Did you figure something out, Straf?」

「Figure what out? The obvious spy plot hook?」

Straf looks at Cycelia, who is slightly confused Straf has deciphered the undertones of the battle. Their attention is drawn back to the arena, as Bob appears to have gained an advantage. Aziz is on the back foot, narrowly blocking slashes with his unique dagger.

He hops back and leans away, Bob's blade carves through the white scarf on the Sand Shark's head. After one of the slashes, Aziz hooks his leg behind Bob's knee, and viciously slices through the air at his throat with the dagger. However, Bob appears to have a riposte already prepared.

Bob grasps onto his clothes and jumps backwards. Aziz flies over his opponent, with both of them losing balance and rolling across the arena's dirt. His white scarf is now stained with arena's dirt, and a small spot of red blood around his covered cheek. Neither of the fighters back away when they're back on their feet.

「What makes me wonder is, why would that Aziz guy do this? Didn't he know there would be a fantasy SMERSH after him? I guess he was desperate for the gold. Really makes you think, doesn't it? You have two spies here, I wonder how many more are around?」

Straf rubs his chin as he watches the two men slash wildly at each other, grappling, hooking, leveraging and throwing each other with no clear winner in the struggle.

「Sme- What?」

Cycelia tilts her head and squints, with her attention split between the action below, and Straf's confusing spoilers.

「Spies that hunt spies. Forget it, it's not that important anyway. Aren't spies kind of like spiders? You eat 5 every time you sleep, or something?」

Straf asks, and Cycelia covers her mouth as her eyes widen.

「…Is that true!?」

「Nah, it's probably bullshit. But this whole spy thing gave me an idea for something to try down the line…」

Straf looks to the side, rubbing his chin again as he thinks.

Clank!

「Oh…」

She sighs with relief, and the men below clash their daggers again.

「Ladies and gentlemen! It seems contestant Bob is really out for the Sand Shark's blood! Surely one of them has to be tired from this non-stop jumping and slashing!?」

The announcer points both of his palms at each of the fighters, stuck locked together with their daggers and forearms. Without a warning, Bob headbutts Aziz, sending him staggering backwards. Bob takes a martial arts approach, kicking and punching more than stabbing or slashing. This has a lot more effect on Aziz, as he's sent stumbling with each impact.

Aziz lifts his dagger up to deliver a stab, and Bob lunges in, slashing at his exposed wrist. Blood sprays across the sandy dirt, and Aziz drops his jagged dagger. The Sand Shark hops back, his eyes narrowed in pain, and clutching onto his wounded arm.

「Ladies and gentlemen! Contestant Bob has finally gained an upper hand! Is this it for contestant Aziz!?」

The announcer barely has a chance to shout out, before Bob lunges in again. Aziz keeps hopping backwards and lifts his arms up, palms open. Bob ignores the blatant surrender, he steps in and thrusts his dagger at his opponent's throat.

Gonnnnnnnnnnnnggggg…

The gong sounds out. Both of the fighters hold their poses from just before the end of the battle. Bob's dagger is only a fingernail's length away from piercing the Sand Shark's throat, and that is with Aziz leaning backwards heavily.

Bob slowly lowers his arm, and gestures Aziz with his head towards the arena's exit. His scarf-covered head nods, and he runs to the dark hallway, only stopping to let healers fix the worst of his bleeding, before taking off onward.

「Ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner! Contestant Bob moves onto the semi-finals! It looks like Sand Shark Aziz had no time to waste!」

The announcer points his hand to the exit the shawled man took on his way out. Bob sheathes his dagger and casually leaves, ignoring the cheers from the audience.

「Aziz is done for.」

Straf comments nonchalantly.

「Huh? But the healers tended to him-」

Cycelia tilts her head in confusion, pointing towards one of the dark hallways below.

「No, I mean he's done for. He probably told him something along the lines of, there's more of us outside, go, and let him be. I think he had orders to do him in, and make it look like an accident.」

「…How do you know this, Straf?」

She asks with a serious expression. Straf raises his brows and locks his eyes with her.

「I'm just making wild assumptions. When you're on the throne, you should form a secret police to deal with spies, and the people who read too much.」

「Huh?」

「That's still a little way off, don't worry about it for now.」

Straf waves his hand dismissively, and turns his head away to the announcer.

「Ladies and gentlemen! And with the end of this match, we move onto the semi-finals! Only four more matches remain, before tomorrow at noon, the strongest warriors of the tournament clash for the last time! Only one winner will remain! However!」

The announcer lifts his index finger high up, pausing for a second.

「This does not mean the one who loses to the tournament's winner will walk away empty-handed! There is value in giving it your all, win or lose! The first match of the semi-final will be…」

The announcer pulls his trusty paper out and reads it.

「Bob! Versus! Sturm! The contestants are requested to appear at the arena!」

The announcer declares the next battle, and the crowd goes wild.

「Figure Sturm's gonna win?」

「Yes. Handily, too.」

Cycelia nods, with certainty in her voice.

「Let's go bet then, Lia.」

「Yeah.」

Straf gets up and nods to Cycelia as he walks up the stairs. She follows close behind him, squeezing past the crowd.

「Hey, Straf! Who do you think will win!?」

A man in the crowd asks Straf, who now has a minor celebrity status among the gamblers.

「Sturm.」

「How do you know!?」

「Dunno. Hey! Baldie! All of this, and my other winnings on Sturm!」

Straf shrugs and places all of his tokens down on the table. The bald bookie rubs his face, no longer arguing with Straf, simply shaking his head in disbelief as he takes the tokens and writes something in the ledger. He returns even more rectangular tokens to Straf, with a few square ones.

「The lady too?」

「Mhm.」

Cycelia nods, placing her tokens on the table as well. She receives a similar reaction, and gets more rectangular tokens back.

「Uhh, go take a seat, Lia. I'm just going to take a leak real quick.」

Straf points his thumb towards a doorway on the higher levels over his shoulder. Cycelia pouts.

「Straf…」

「What? Do you want me to piss my pants from all the excitement?」

Straf asks, spreading his hands. Cycelia sighs and yields.

「Fine, but hurry back, okay?」

She says with crossed arms, and leaves for the stairs, looking over her shoulder at Straf…

…

A few moments later, Sturm arrives to the arena. His cloak is damaged by stabs from the previous match, but he otherwise stands in the center as usual. Although relatively sparse and quiet, he receives some cheers and clapping.

「Ladies and gentlemen, and here is contestant Sturm! Perhaps it is because the choices for a favorite are narrowing, or perhaps he has redeemed himself in the eyes of the audience in the latest matches, but it seems the quiet and mysterious combatant now has some fans!」

Sturm stands in the center, watching the other entrance like a statue.

「We are still awaiting contestant Bob! His last bout was certainly impressive, and I am sure we all want to see more of him!」

A few moments pass. The audience starts getting impatient.

「Uh… Contestant Bob! You are to face contestant Sturm in the first match of the semi-finals! We are anxiously waiting!」

The announcer appears a little surprised by the delay, considering Bob's previous early arrival. A man walks up to the announcer from behind, and whispers something into his ear. The announcer gets disconcerted, and lifts his hands up.

「Ahem. Contestant Bob! If you do not show yourself in the arena, you will be disqualified! Contestant Sturm will move to the finals by a forfeit! In the event of a forfeit, all bets are anulled!」

The announcer becomes increasingly uncomfortable as he watches the empty arena entrance, with Bob still missing. He shrugs, visibly disappointed.

「Well, ladies and gentlemen. I regret to announce that contestant Bob has forfeited the match. Please collect your bets, or await the next match to bet again. Contestant Sturm is the winner by forfeit, and moves onto the finals… Making either contestant Straf, or contestant Roland the third place runner-up.」

The announcer says, clearly dispirited by the no-show from Bob. The crowd jeers at Bob, who is still missing as they flow upwards to the betting tables. Sturm leaves the arena, disappearing in the darkness below.

「Ladies and gentlemen, please do not lose heart! These things happen! This is a very lethal tournament after all, and contestant Sturm has proven himself to be quite the terrifying enemy!」

The announcer desperately tries to rationalize Bob's disappearance and soothe the crowd…