It was a busy day in Ebrilyon. Every street was filled with noise as lots of people walked outside, all moving in the sa direction. They chatted and laughed with their groups, relaxed and with festive smiles on their faces. After all, it was a big day. A day worth celebrating.
The day of Ebrilyon’s yearly tournant.
As always, the winner would win the princess’s hand. That premise alone was enough to leave anyone from the country excited. But those that knew what to expect from the previous editions were even more excited. No matter how things turned out, everyone would be talking and laughing about it for weeks. It was the one unmissable event of the year.
An event like this is always going to attract people from the outside. People from other countries did whatever they could to get seats, and for the first ti, even so guests from another world showed up…
“We’re here…” The colorful decorations outside caught Carol’s eye as soon as she stepped out of the fast-travel station. She and Hecate t Sarasa and Ririna, who were just outside, enjoying the happy mood.
“Welco, welco! You got here just in ti! We should still be able to get so nice seats if we hurry!”
Sarasa was very enthusiastic, rushing them as soon as she spotted them. “We could use so ti to breathe…” But Hecate remained calm. No need to get dragged into her pace. “What’s with all these decorations? I expected sothing more fitting for a tournant. This is far too much.”
“Well… it’s a big deal for us.” Ririna shrugged. “It’s one of the few tis that the whole city cos together to have fun, so of course we go a little over the top!”
“It’s fun and funny. What else can you ask for?” Sarasa grinned. “But seriously, we can’t waste all day standing around here, or we’ll lose our seats.”
“Yeah yeah… We ca all the way here just to watch our Iroha fight, so I’ll be pissed if I can’t see her properly. Lead the way.”
Carol wrapped up the conversation brashly. Their group joined the many around them, and they walked down the street that would take them to the coliseum. Iroha was one of the fighters, so she had to leave earlier and was already there. Why didn’t she wish her luck yesterday? Carol wondered. Missed a good opportunity to show her girlfriend so support. Sigh…
“We need so seats where we can properly cheer for her. Iroha sprung this on us so fast that I didn’t have ti to say anything before she left.” Hecate was in the sa boat as Carol.
“We will! We have to! She’s going to need all our support!” Ririna nodded.
“Is she?” Iroha’s strong. Carol couldn’t really understand. Why was Ririna worried? “I rember hearing that Iroha defeated Galene at so point. Are the people here better than her? Just what kind of monsters do you have here?”
“Hmm… She can probably handle the other contestants…” Head tilted to the side, Ririna mouthed off while in thought. “What I was talking about was more about how-”
“Stop, Ririna!” Sarasa covered her mouth. “No spoilers, rember?” Then turned to the other two. “You’ll just have to see for yourselves how it turns out. I promise you’re going to like it, though.”
“How suspicious…” Carol hit her with an unamused stare.
It wasn’t even just the two of them. From the conversations they overheard, everyone was acting as if they knew how the tournant was going to end. And yet, that sohow made them more excited? Very weird…
“Don’t look at
like that! For what it’s worth, I actually think Iroha can win! I’m rooting for her, but… it would be funny if she lost.” Sarasa chuckled. How could that ever be funny?
“Traitor.”
“Nyoo way!”
“Not bad… Makes
feel like I’m an idol or sothing…”
The coliseum had two changing rooms for fighters. One for n and one for won. The rooms were large since they were ant to fit dozens of people at the sa ti. However, because the prize made this tournant more geared towards n, I got to keep this giant room all to myself!
“Not like I have anything I need to change.” But hey, I appreciate the VIP treatnt…
*knock knock!*
“I’m coming in.” The door was pushed open, and a blonde girl wearing a white formal dress walked in. Not quite a wedding dress, but close enough for soone to make the connection. Must be the the for today. “Good morning, Iroha.”
“Be- Bea?!” Scared the shit out of … Good thing I wasn’t naked… “What are you doing here…? Don’t tell
you’re fighting too!” Is that the secret they kept teasing
about?
“No… Of course not…” She shook her head in disbelief, then walked over with a smile. “I just ca to check up on my favorite contestant… My future fiancée. How are you doing? Ready to fight for my hand?”
“Ahh… Getting carried away again… There was a change of plans, you know? Now I’m fighting to impress my current girlfriends. I’m still not interested in ruling a country.” She cos in here with a smug look on her face. Trying to tease
so more? Too bad for you, you’re not getting
anymore.
“Geez…” She pulled back. “Always playing hard to get. As long as you win, I don’t mind.”
Neither do I. As long as she finds so kind of way for us to get into a relationship that doesn’t involve
shouldering the responsibility of an entire country. She’s pretty… I’ve said it enough tis to get annoying. She now only needs to live up to her promise of coming up with another solution.
“Do you need anything?” Bea leaned against the table where I was sitting. “I’ll have to go to the VIP stands soon, so if you do, let
know now.” Her eyes wandered around, then settled on the door. “Then again… Soone should show up soon to help you out. You can ask her too.”
“Soone…? Who are you-”
*kick!*
The door got kicked open.
“Princess! What have you done!?” The girl known for her serenity barged into the room and rushed straight for Bea. So desperate… It’s like she’s at her wit’s end.
“Good morning, Flanne. Did you have a good vacation?” So naughty… So coy… Then Bea wonders why people get mad at her…
“Don’t try to brush
off like that! What’s the aning of this, Princess?” She almost reached for Bea’s collar, but she can’t… Not with that dress… Reached for mine instead. “And you… Why are you in this tournant?! What were you thinking?” Take it on , will you? Just my luck…
“Isn’t that obvious, Flanne? She’s participating because she wants to marry , right?” Bea winked.
“Haahh… In a very general manner of speaking… Sure…”
“There you have it. And I’d much rather marry her than any of the boorish brutes who join these tournants in hopes of winning
over. Not like my father would ever let them.”
“You can’t marry a girl!” Flanne smacked the table. “The goal of the tournant is to find a man who can protect this country and continue the lineage! Your whims are putting the future of this country at stake!” You think that’s going to work, Flanne? You must have forgotten how smart the girl we’re dealing with is.
“Should have put that in the rules.” Bea smugly shrugged. Like it was none of her business.
Flanne’s jaw dropped. Bea was right… There was nothing in the tournant’s rules that specified participants had to be n… People usually just assud… Bea did most of the paperwork, but she could have stopped this. She could have noticed, and she could have asked for an andnt. But she was too busy enjoying her free ti…
“Anyway, it’s getting late now, and I have to return to my father’s side.” Bea walked past both of us. “Good luck, Iroha. And Flanne, take care of her for , okay?”
“Wait! Princess!” The door closed, and Flanne tragically fell to her knees. Poor girl…
“You got it tough, huh?”
“Shut up. You’re guilty too.”
“Ehhh?!”
Flanne stood up with her shoulders slumped, then let out a sigh. “How could you? After I told you how much I cared about this country, why would you agree to sothing that can lead to its downfall? You’re going to throw, right?”
Finally, soone who actually wants
to do it. Too bad she’s too late. “No. I an, this is your fault too! You sold
out, so now we’re even. You can’t bla everything on !”
“Sold you out? What do you an?”
“You told Bea about my relationship with the others. I don’t know how you found out, but why do you think I didn’t tell you the five of us were sleeping in the sa room? It was supposed to be a secret! You told her and probably put the idea of inviting
to the tournant in her head. That’s on you!”
“I- I was just following orders…” She was happy to bla
before, but that shut her up. “Bea asked
to tell her what I noticed when on the journey with you, but I didn’t tell her the specifics of your situation… It’s not like I know them either…”
“And who did you tell it to? Bea put the pieces together and figured out that I was dating them… You told her enough.” It’s a bit embarrassing to say it like this, but there’s no point in hiding it from her anymore…
“So it was true…” Flanne averted her eyes. A harem… Centered around a girl… What an outrageous thing… “I didn’t think it’d turn out like this… If I knew, I wouldn’t have said anything… I’m sorry.”
“You better be. Now my girlfriends know about the tournant, and I have to win so they don’t break up with !”
Flanne got lost in thought with a complicated look on her face. “You got it tough, huh?”
…
Everything was ready for a great tournant to take place. The audience filled almost all the seats of the coliseum, and now, the fighters were called to the middle of the arena for the opening ceremony. I- I can’t believe I’m actually participating in this… There are way too many people watching… And down here it’s only guys! I’m so out of place here…
We had a clear blue sky today, which made the air in the open arena too hot to be pleasant. The coliseum was made almost entirely out of stone, exposed to direct sunlight, so that was to be expected.
Couldn’t have been much better in the stands, but the people there didn’t seem to mind at all. The announcer hadn’t even said anything yet, and there were already a lot of people cheering… They have too much energy… Happy for them though…
And yes… They have an announcer here.
A guy with an afro, wearing sunglasses. It’s a real tournant with no expenses spared. You can’t get much better than that. Nothing screams “tournant announcer” more than a guy like that. He was the one who called for the fighters to gather, with a voice befitting the best party animals. The kind of guy whose proudest achievent was probably being able to scream “wooooo!” for several minutes before running out of breath.
“Ladies and gentlen… Here we have it… Today’s contestants have finally showed up… What an amazing sight. I can already tell today’s going to be an unforgettable day…”
He started off relatively quiet. A weighty tone ant to create tension. The announcer had a platform for himself on the bottom of the stands. Those of us on the floor were sorted into 6 lines, all facing that side of the arena, where Bea and other important people also were, on the top.
There were around two dozen of us, and for so reason, I was told to stay at the front of one of the lines when the staff guided us to the arena. Not making it any less embarrassing for …
“Now… without further ado, it’s ti to introduce our contestants! Wooooooooohoooooooo!”
The announcer stomped the table while screaming into so kind of magical device. Sothing like a microphone that amplified his voice. This world always finds a way to have everything it needs for these kinds of ridiculous plotlines. Yet, the audience shouted. Much louder than before…
“First up, the undefeated jousting champion that has never ridden a horse. That’s right. It’s the man himself! Unicycle knight Reeeeeeeeaaaaaan!” Another cheer from the crowd…
Wait, unicycle!?
Fuck… It’s true… There was a guy at the front of one of the lines in full body armor riding a unicycle. Isn’t that a vehicle? No one’s gonna say anything?
“Yeaaahhh!” He raised his lance and let out a tallic cheer. The audience loved it.
“Next up… Mack, the ultimate magician! The man who managed to combine all elents into unstable, self-destructive explosions! Wooooohoooooo!”
I- is that good? Everyone’s cheering, and the man himself adjusted his hat with a cool wink for the audience.
Why are you showing off? I’m pretty sure they’re making fun of you!
“And now, Leo Valk. The second prince of the beastn’s country.” Surprisingly normal introduction for the guy next to . A white-haired guy with wolf ears. “Hmmm… Nothing funny about this one. Moving on!”
“Hey! You bastard!” The announcer’s attitude made the poor guy scream at him. Completely ignored.
“The next contestant… a girl.” Oh shit… It’s . Silence. Everyone’s eyes were focused on . “Iroha Shinohara, whose most outstanding trait is sohow not being the weirdest contestant present today!”
Huh?! That’s it? I’m pretty sure you could co up with sothing better!
Didn’t matter. The crowd cheered, and the announcer moved on. I didn’t have ti to react. What have I agreed to?
The announcer continued introducing fighter after fighter until all of them were done. Well… Most of them… A few toward the back didn’t have anything funny going for them, so they got glossed over. But still… Too many weirdoes here… And the other ones were insulted for not being weird enough.
Bea wrapped up the opening ceremony with a little speech, ending on… “I thank all the contestants for gathering here for
today. I wish you all the best of luck in your upcoming fights.”
The people in the stands all looked up at her, stunned by her beautiful appearance, and clapped out of respect. A moving mont on the surface, but…
Seriously… Is this country okay?
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