They manage to get the same seats as last time, with three bags of meat buns to accompany them. The shop had a very strict one bag per customer rule, but after seeing that they had cooked hundreds of bags with six buns each during the overnight hours and stored them in insulated boxes, the group decided to limit themselves. A half dozen meat buns was still a pretty good meal, and they knew from experience that a vendor would be coming around selling random food products and flat beer all day long.
The true downside to that shop had to be the line though, they were so early but it still took over an hour to get food, which had Laura complaining about hunger, even as she snacked on candies she purchased the day before. Cain suspected that it was the lack of access to the Guild bank getting to her. The Dragon was used to trading and requisitioning snacks from all over the continent using the Guild Bank to make the transfer, but that isn't an option while they are here.
They only just gotten seated in their preferred spots when an event organizer came over with a used car salesman smarmy smile on his face, eager to talk to Cain.
"Greetings, greetings. How are you enjoying your stay in Musashi Duke Cain?" He asks, extending his hand.
Cain gives the man his most polite political smile and shakes the organizer's hand. "It's a wonderful city you have here. I was fortunate enough to find myself an enthusiastic local guide on the first day of my visit and we have been greatly successful in finding the attractions of the city ever since."
"That is wonderful to hear. If you need anything else, just let us know. As I'm sure you have noticed, the visit of foreign Awakened Nobility has caused a bit of a stir here in our humble Port town, and the event organizers were wondering if you would be interested in a bit of an exhibition? We will have an odd number of contestants for the finals you see, and the options are to give someone a bye in the first round or to promote a defeated opponent to even the numbers up again. That is where you would come in. If you are up to a bit of sport, we would like to offer one of them the chance to challenge you for the position with the winner moving forward."
The man is speaking fast, fearful of being interrupted, but Cain is smiling. "I could do that myself, or perhaps they might be more at ease against one of my equally talented Personal Guards?"
The organizer looks a bit startled but quickly realizes that both Vala and Laura are of a suitable quality to compete. He seems to discard the idea of the Dragon Pixie in a second, but the idea of having Vala compete is too tempting for him to pass over. You don't see many pretty women in these competitions, and a victory against a foreign noble's Personal Guard would be a great bragging point for whatever popular but defeated fighter they gave the chance to.
"Your Demonic Guard would be an excellent option. Vala is it? You don't mind terribly much do you?" The organizer practically begs and Aoi gives him a disgusted look.
"Of course not. We are traveling to gain experience, so of course, I will put on a good show for your audience. If the competitor is truly talented but was unlucky in his matchups, he might even have a chance of winning."
The man looks a bit pale at her confidence and produces a copy of the official rules from his inventory, handing it to Vala with shaking hands. "Thank you for your consideration, I will go inform the others of the challenge fight to be scheduled for the end of the day."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Aoi whispers as the spectators around them start gossiping and preparing their bids for the exhibition match.
"Of course it is. The question is if we let Vala pummel them or if we throw the fight." Cain whispers back, making Laura giggle.
With her healing on hit and the incredible bonuses from Cain's equipment and skills even when she is fighting unarmed and unarmored, there is very little chance that she would lose a tournament fight, even if she was currently low on Mythic skills.
The event doesn't even need to officially announce the fight before the entire audience knows, and the stands start getting more and more packed. The semi-finals are a decent fight to start with, but with the chance to see foreign nobility fight, everyone in the city wants a seat. Local pride is on the line if they lose after all.
The crowd is getting rowdier and louder with every fight as the day goes on, and Cain is making out like a bandit at the betting stand. He hasn't lost a single wager yet, and it is annoying the spectators behind him to no end. They are down on the day so far and betting far more than they should be to try to keep up with Cain when the ticket seller comes by between fights. Most of the time you go to the cage to place a bet, but for those who bet larger sums, they will send someone to the section you are seated in for your convenience.
That combination is a dangerous one when they head home at the end of the day and have to explain themselves to their families, but that's not really Cain's problem. He isn't hiding who he is cheering for, if they wanted they could just match his bets.
The last fight of the day seems to be the one everyone is looking forward to, where someone will get a chance to redeem themselves. Almost all of these matches have gone the distance and ended by decision, with more than one poorly received result.
The final regular match ends and the announcer takes the stage with a huge grin. "I know you are all aware now, that one of our local fighters will get a chance to redeem themselves against the Personal Guard of Duke Cain of Skyview. She is an unknown factor, a Blood Dancer, long thought extinct after the great war. But she will be fighting without her armor or weapons today, against the fighter with the highest combined score.
Now, they all have one loss, so scoring was done like this. One Point for a third-round win. Three for the second round and five for a first-round knockout. The scores are coming up on the board now."
As he says that, a group of workers run to write the scores on a board at the end of the arena, showing that the lucky recipient will be Purrseus, a Tiger Kin War Mage, which is a type of close combat magician exclusive to their species.
