“What are you talking about?”(Sandra)

“As I said, you’re going to fight in the second round of this tournament.”(Me)

“I already understood that much. But before you tell me the stupid reason of this sudden decision, you know that it won’t be possible.”(Sandra)

“I want you to fight that green haired guy, Ryan lost against.”(Me)

“Against the guy, Arthur’s son; the son of the king of humans lost against?”(Sandra)

I clearly heard sarcasm in her words.

“Yes.”(Me)

Hiro found our conversation amusing. Sometimes I got the feeling he was laughing about us under that hood.

“Ok. Ok. Let’s assume I’d be willing to go on stage and lose in front of a crowd of thousands of people; would you even be able to bear that humiliation?”(Sandra)

“No, obviously not.”(Me)

That was the truth. If the crowd got to know that my only retainer lost to a challenger, a mere participant of a tournament, I’d become a laughing stock.

“So you will be participating as someone else.”(Me)

“Huh?! As someone else?”(Sandra)

“You’ll participate for someone who made it to…”(Me)

“I understood that already. I wanted to know, for whom should I be a substitute?”(Sandra)

“Luckily, ah I mean unfortunately, even though a friend of mine, made it to the next round, she got handicapped and won’t be able to fight.”(Me)

“Haha. I see where this is going. Really, Hikaru you’re the worst.”(Hiro)

Hiro couldn’t handle himself any longer and said what’s on his mind.

“I take that as a compliment.”(Me)

“Stop! Wait a moment, how am I going to act like I’m someone else, even worse, someone injured?”(Sandra)

The answer was obvious, but she didn’t give up on resisting.

“You’re wearing a hood, no? No one will see your injury.”(Hiro)

“But, but… what if I lose in the second round. I won’t even be able to face off against that guy.”(Sandra)

“If you lose in the second round, even if it’s not on purpose, I’ll kick you out of the Dark Continent.”(Me)

A simple and direct answer.

“See you later.”(Me)

“Good luck.”(Hiro)

Sandra didn’t move anymore, so we just left her standing and Hiro and me headed back to the back entrance of the arena.

“Did you have to be so mean to a girl? You clearly hurt her pride and ego.”(Hiro)

“It’s none of your concern.”(Me)

“Still. It looked like the one you have your eyes on, is someone she won’t be able to win against.”(Hiro)

“Yes. It’s exactly as you said. I’m sending her into a fight she’ll probably lose. And the only reason for that is, because I want to see, what he is capable of.”(Me)

“And what do you expect?”(Hiro)

“If I’m not wrong, he’s probably the fourth.”(Me)

“How can you say that so calmly? I already said this, but you’re definitely the worst.”(Hiro)

When I thought about it he was somehow right, but it didn’t matter.

“Sigh. When will the second round even start?”(Hiro)

“In about 2 and a half hour.”(Me)

“What?! What do you plan to do in the meantime?”(Hiro)

I knew what awaited me, once I go back to the colosseum.

“I’ll probably have to explain a lot of things to Arthur and you will quietly stand beside me.”(Me)

We didn’t hurry back, quite the opposite, I wanted to stall some time, so we would come back at the same time as Arthur would. We were a little bit early though, so we had to wait a few minutes, until he finally came back.

“I was wondering.”(Hiro)

“About what?”(Me)

“Well, as far as I saw, there are only 2 heavily guarded entrances, how is she going to enter?”(Hiro)

“You mean Sandra?”(Me)

“Yes.”(Hiro)

“She’ll find a way in. Hopefully.”(Me)

I haven’t thought about that one bit, so I gave the most suited answer. Hiro just shook his head and we continued to wait for Arthur to arrive.

“You have a lot to explain.”(Arthur)

“Obviously.”(Me)

Our greeting was as short as that. More words weren’t needed between the two of us. Afterwards we went to the lounge and had quite a long talk and exhausting talk.

I was relieved when I finished my explanation. The one I thought of worked out perfectly and Arthur was more or less satisfied. I told him that Hiro was a retainer of mine, but because of a mission I gave him beforehand, he arrived a bit late and is currently resting in my room.

To begin with, no one was allowed to enter my room and with no way to check what I said; he could only believe me for the time being. We used the rest of the time to tell some boring stories of the past. In the end, I was somehow able to better his mood.

Sam Lionheart, the king of the beastmen arrived shortly before the first match of the second round was announced and with him, the whole crowd found their seats. He didn’t say anything. I wondered when I’d get my answer.

“Who is fighting the first match?”(Arthur)

“A beastman against someone from Sonya Academy. Unfortunately she somehow got injured in the first round.”(Shadow)

“Sigh.”(Arthur)

The two of them were whispering and I could barely listen to their conversation. Sandra was the first fight. Once the match was officially announced, the ones who remembered Sakura’s last match and the outcome of it, made a depressed or concerned face.

No one was expecting an opponent to show up for the beastman. I could only think about the faces everyone would make, once they see Sandra step onto the stage. As long as she somehow made it in.

“Participants come forward and join me on stage!”(Announcer)

A well build beastman and the hooded Sandra went on stage. The crowd was quite surprised. While everyone was confused, as to why there was an opponent, I couldn’t hold back my excitement and laughed as silent as possible.

Luckily, Arthur was the only one who noticed. He probably realized my plan, but that didn’t matter. It was actually better like that, because it was also in his interest to shorten the number of beastman that would advance.

All I had to do, was to lean back and enjoy the show.