Adesh dashed into Darin's guard. His two weapons sang in his hands as he swung them with alacrity and speed. It was a dazzling combination. Light gleamed off of the highly polished surface of each blade, creating flashes in the air as Adesh danced to the tune of combat.

Despite the impeccable combination of attacks, none of them hit. Darin moved back, his feet shuffling along the ground, and his blade rotating along the path of each strike, intercepting them with ease. If Adesh hadn't known any better, he would have said that his opponent was predicting his attacks before he even made them.

Sparks flew as his two swords were intercepted by Darin's single blade, which barely seemed to move to block each attack. Indeed, it seemed as if all Darin was doing was changing the angle of his sword instead of the position.

"You are quite stylish," Adesh said with a grin. "I am pleased to be facing an opponent as stylish as you."

Darin said nothing, though he did offer a nod of acknowledgement to the other boy. It was enough.

With a shout of "stylish!" Adesh leapt back into the fray. He and Darin danced across the arena, clashing blades, attacking and counterattacking. His opponent was like water, a ceaseless flow that moved around all of his attacks. A backhand swing was avoided when Darin shuffled backwards. Adesh tried to attack with his other scimitar, but Darin raised his blade, blocked the attack at an angle, and redirected it over his head. Then he launched his own attack, swinging his blade in a horizontal slash that cut into Adesh's clothing.

It's like he can predict the future!

Darin was truly a stylish opponent. Not only were his moves impeccably stylish, but so was his sense of fashion. All Adesh needed to do was look at that stylish hat to know this was a man of stylish taste.

Back and forth they moved, a constant stream of never ending attack combinations were blocked by the ceaseless movements of Adesh's opponent. Adesh realized that he would never win this way. Darin was too quick, too capable, to let himself be hit by such plain attacks. If he wanted to win, then Adesh would need to come up with something more stylish than his foe.

Just what that something was, he didn't know, but Adesh promised himself that he would come up with something, and it would be more stylish than anything he'd ever done.

The sounds of clashing swords echoed across the arena.

***

Caspian had never seen Erica look so frantic before. The woman appeared completely out of sorts. It wasn't just in her messy hair, which looked akin to someone who'd been shocked by lightning. Her entire countenance screamed worry—not that he could blame her.

"Tiffania is... missing? When did this happen?"

"It was during your friend's match." She pointed at Christo. "Tiffa needed to use the restroom, so I took her to the nearest stall. I waited for nearly ten minutes, and when she didn't come out, I grew worried, so I went inside to see if she needed help—except she wasn't there. It's like she completely disappeared."

"Oh, no," Cassidy gasped. "W-what do you think happened to her?"

"Do you think she was kidnapped?" Caspian asked.

"That's the only possible explanation," Erica determined. "She wouldn't have run off on her own. Certainly, I would have noticed if she'd left the restroom. What puzzles me isn't that she was kidnapped, but how the kidnapper took her without me being aware of it. The restroom only has one door."

"What about windows?" Christo suddenly asked. "Does it have any windows?"

Erica blinked. "I... don't know. I was too busy dealing with other issues to check."

Which Caspian took to mean she'd been too frantic to pay attention to small details like that. He didn't necessarily blame her, though. If someone had kidnapped Elincia, he would've likely reacted the same way.

"Let's go to the restroom and take a look," Caspian decided. "We may discover a clue about where Tiffania was taken."

Knight candidates weren't technically supposed to leave the waiting room, but with Erica by their side, no one could oppose them—except another sorceress, but they were too busy watching the fights.

Wandering down the corridors, Erica led them to the restroom where Tiffania had supposedly been kidnapped. As Caspian stepped onto the white marble floor, he glanced around. Lined side by side against one wall were several squat toilets, small troughs made of porcelain that were embedded into the ground. A sink sat on the other side, and an open window was situated into the far wall.

Walking up to the window, Caspian noticed that it wasn't very large. A young girl could probably fit through it, but an adult would have had a hard time entering or exiting. Could someone have really gone through there to kidnap Tiffania?

He leaned his head outside and saw that it led into the streets of Axium. There was a large stretch of cobblestone road, which surrounded the Colosseum like a stone moat. Numerous buildings stood nearly two dozen meters away.

"I don't see anything that could indicate that she was kidnapped," Christo said as he, too, studied around the room.

"What sort of clues are we supposed to be looking for?" asked Cassidy.

"Anything out of the ordinary." Squatting down next to one of the toilets, Christo elucidated. "If Tiffania was kidnapped, there should be some signs of a struggle; a messy floor, dented marbles, a ransom note, something."

"There might not be signs of a struggle if they knocked Tiffania out before she could do anything." Caspian turned from the window and looked at Erica. "Where's Collafloore?"

"He's already looking for Tiffa," Erica said.

That made sense. Tiffania was his sister. Caspian imagined that he would've done the same thing were he in Collafloore's shoes.

"Derek, you were with Erica while this happened. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"Unfortunately not." Derek shook his head. "If Lady Tiffania was kidnapped, then whoever did it is a master of stealth. I didn't hear anything coming from inside of the restroom at all."

That was not good. Without any clues as to what happened, there was no way they could find Tiffania. They didn't know who'd taken her, or indeed if she'd even been kidnapped at all. For all they knew, she could have run off, though Erica was adamant that the half-elf girl would never do that.

"Let's split up," Caspian suggested. "Two of us will check the Colosseum, while the others go into the city. It hasn't been that long since she disappeared, so she couldn't have gotten too far, even if someone did kidnap her."

"Unless they own a MAFT," Erica corrected.

Caspian conceded her point. "Yes, but how many people own a MAFT? Axium doesn't have many nobles, and they're all low-class. They can't afford one. What's more, MAFTs are used for travel within cities, not between cities, so none of high-class nobles who've shown up would have one."

"Unless they brought it with them," Christo said.

"Who would bring a MAFT with them when they can just rent a carriage?"

"Hey," Christo shrugged, "it was only a suggestion."

They split up into three groups. Christo went off on his own, claiming that he could move faster by himself. Erica and Derek formed another team. Cassidy went with Caspian, which he supposed worked well enough. As a simple maid, she lacked the strength to do anything if Tiffania truly had been kidnapped. It was better for her to be with someone who could fight.

"Do you think Ms. Tiffania was really kidnapped?" Cassidy asked.

Caspian thought it strange that Cassidy would call someone half her age "Ms." Still, he answered her, saying, "it's perfectly possible. If someone intended to harm Erica, or maybe even wanted to lure her into a trap, they couldn't have chosen a better person to kidnap."

"I guess that's true," Cassidy agreed.

While Tiffania was a half-elf, and therefore capable of magic, she was too young, too immature, to be capable of harnessing mana. That made her an easy target. Erica also adored her. Anyone watching would realize that she was sweet on the girl. Seeing the way that Erica always held Tiffania's hand, the way she would spoil her, the tender smile that she reserved only for her, anyone would realize that Tiffania was like a daughter to Erica.

As they wandered the Colosseum, a young boy walked up to them. From the threadbare clothing that he wore, Caspian could easily tell that this boy was a peasant. A mop of messy brown hair sat on his head. Being carried within his hands was an envelope.

"Excuse me, sir," the boy said, "are you Caspian Sol?"

"... Yes, I am."

"I've got a letter for you."

"I see... and who gave you this letter?"

"Some short lady in a cloak."

"A short lady in a cloak?" Cassidy asked.

"Mm." The boy nodded.

"Did you see her face?" asked Caspian.

The boy shook his head. "No, sir."

While there was no evidence yet, Caspian was positive that whoever had given the boy this letter was somehow responsible for Tiffania's disappearance. Caspian took the envelope. The boy, his task apparently finished, ran off and disappeared around a corner.

"What's the letter say?" Cassidy asked as Caspian opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. It was written in surprisingly neat cursive.

"Caspian Ignis del Sol. We have taken the half-elf girl. If you wish to see her returned to Erica unharmed, drop out of the tournament. If not, we'll sell the girl as a sex slave on the black market. Do not go to the Sorceress Council with this, or we will sell her off regardless of your decision. You have until tomorrow to announce your resignation from the tournament before we sell her." Caspian looked down at the bottom of the page. "There's no signature."

"This... this is terrible," Cassidy murmured. "W-what should we do?"

Caspian folded up the letter. He felt oddly calm, but it wasn't the kind that came from actually being calm. It was cold. Calmness derived from the knowledge that someone was going to suffer, and that he was going to be the one who made it so.

"Go back to Erica, please," Caspian said.

"Eh? B-but what should I tell her? Where are you going?"

Caspian adjusted the strap holding his sheath. "Tell her that I'm following a lead," he said before walking off. Tiffania wouldn't be in the Colosseum. No, if she'd been kidnapped but was still within the city, as this letter suggested, then there were only a few places that someone could have taken her.

It looked like he wasn't going to be allowed to rest just yet.