"This is for our saint, you prying bastard."
Ah, so that was it. I wasn't being targeted randomly after all. But who are they? Cultists? Why are they even after me?
I dangled over the edge, clutching the man's hand which held my neck. I couldn't loosen his grip, and prepared to fall to my untimely death.
My face was tight beneath the mask, and I licked my lips nervously. I stared into the man's crazed eyes. Or perhaps it was my eyes that were crazed.
Unexpectedly, a boot came flying through the air and hit the man square in the temple, causing him to let go of me and stagger.
"Ah—the hell!?"
I quickly grabbed onto the ledge and hoisted myself back up. I grabbed the man by his tunic and pulled, kicking him over me and into the water.
I managed to rip the front of the tunic off, which allowed me to improve my handwraps I was going to climb with.
I looked down at the water, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
He must've been dragged away by the current. But where'd that boot come from...?
I looked around but couldn't find the source, only people still fighting on the net.
It seemed like there hadn't been much progress. In fact, including the man who'd attacked me, it seemed like only three people had fallen.
I grabbed ahold of the rope, swinging under and latching onto the underside.
Slowly, I made my way across the net. I was like an insect, and I felt the sea spray on my back. I couldn't look behind me at the water, or I might've lost my nerve.
"Hey! Look at this kid, he's underneath the net!"
How'd they notice me, but not her!?
"Ha! That's crazy! Aren't his hands getting all cut up!?"
It was true, despite my cloth wrapping, my hands were still getting diced. Mind you, a lot less than they would've without the wraps.
A third of the contestants had stopped their fighting altogether just to observe my tactic.
Don't you people have better things to be doing..?
A few of them tried to stop at my feet, laughing as they crushed my fingers. I nearly lost grip thanks to that, but eventually, I reached the end.
I climbed up onto the finishing platform. Even though I took all that time, I ended in second place. It wasn't a real race, anyway.
I sat on the ground, throwing the bloodied handwraps in front of me.
"Doesn't that hurt?"
The voice surprised me, and I turned to see the masked girl, Miracle.
"No, it's fine."
I hope they don't get infected, though...
"Why was that man targeting you? It's unusual for someone to target such a... unimportant... contestant like that. Especially in the second game."
I looked at her feet. Sure enough, there was only boot remaining.
"I don't know. Power trip? Why'd you save me, anyway?"
"...The longer you stay in, the less opponents I have to face down the line."
"So you don't even count me as an opponent!?"
"No. I don't."
"Tch. Thanks for the help, I won't need it again."
"FIVE MINUTES LEFT, GET TO THE END OR YOU'RE DISQUALIFIED!"
The bloodied contestants started running for the end. Looking at them, I wondered how they'd survive seven more games like that.
It was as if they'd gone to war. There wasn't one person unscathed. Most of them had large gashes and bruises, black eyes and lumps.
Why are they even doing this? For fame? For fun? Why not just run to the other side...?
"Haaaah..." I sighed, laying back on the ground.
"THAT'S IT FOLKS, WHAT A SHOW! CERTAINLY GOT BLOODY OUT THERE, WILL THEY BE ABLE TO HOLD OUT FOR THE FINAL GAME OF THE MORNING!?"
"YEAAAAHHH!!!!!!!" The crowd cheered.
I got up and walked over to the spout for a drink of water. I kicked the spout when I remembered I couldn't remove my mask to drink.
I'm thirsty...
"TWO MINUTES FOLKS! GET BACK OR MISS THE ACTION!"
I looked down at myself. I was still shirtless. I suddenly felt a little insecure, and covered myself up with my hands.
"Pssst! Linnie, here!"
I looked back and saw Liora. She held a large white shirt in her hands.
"Really? Isn't that what you wear to sleep?"
"Sorry, it's all I've got!" she said, tossing it over to me.
"It's good enough!"
"Linnie, wait! I heard about the next game! The audience is going to be involved, trying to get you in the water!"
"...Thanks! Let's get something to eat after this!" I shouted back, running to the other contestants.
Her info was actually correct last time... doesn't hurt to know a few minutes earlier than everyone else.
I slipped into the shirt. It smelled a little...
"ALRIGHT FOLKS, IT'S TIME TO REVEAL THE NEXT GAME! WHO'S READY!?"
"WEEE AAAAREEEEE!" the crowd screamed.
"YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS ONE! DRUMROLL, PLEASE! THAT'S RIGHT, THE LAST GAME OF THE MORNING INVOLVES YOU, THE AUDIENCE!"
The crowd cheered.
"THE ROPE FERRY DASH, FOLKS! FOR THOSE UNFAMILIAR, OUR CONTESTANTS MUST GET THEMSELVES ACROSS A ROPE STRUNG OVER THE WATER BETWEEN THOSE GREAT ROCKS OVER THERE! AND THE BEST PART!? A FEW LUCKY VOLUNTEERS FROM THE AUDIENCE GET TO SHAKE THE ROPES AND KNOCK THE CONTESTANTS OFF!"
This should be pretty simple!
It was not simple.
Immediately, I was off my feet and clinging to the rope like a sloth. I could barely hold on, I was swinging back and forth over the deadly rocks.
I'd stepped up the rope. The plan was simple, I was going to run across the rope like it was a tight rope.
It was doable for me, small and quick. Doable, sure, if there wasn't an ogre-sized behemoth of a man on the other end of the rope.
The wide smile on his face clued me in that he was probably another one of the men who were, for whatever reason, targeting me.
I looked around at the other contestants. Many of them were in similar positions to me, but were slowly crawling across.
The other ones, like the masked girl, were gingerly walking across, trying their best to balance like a tightrope.
How am I going to get across like this...?!
I was crawling across at a comically slow rate. Every time I felt like I was making some ground, the rope would be yanked and I'd nearly go flying into the air.
The ropes were strung quite high above the water. If one of us fell, we'd certainly die. There was no question about it.
But, if I could use the height to my advantage...?
That's it, I've got it!
I looked up at the man on the other end. He had a smug look on his face. He knew he'd won. 'Knew.' He didn't know anything, he was just a cocky bastard.
I warmed my hand with magic and pressed it to the rope. It took a minute or two, since the rope was damp and I wasn't using any sort of incantation.
But sure enough, the rope was burning. And it burned through, cleanly snapping.
I went swinging through the air, clinging to the rope. I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my grip on the rope.
If I lost hold of the rope when I collided with the rock on the opposite end, it'd all be for nothing.
"LOOK AT THAT FOLKS! I DON'T BELIEVE MY EYES! WHINER SOMEHOW MAKES IT THROUGH THE MORNING, WHAT AN UPSET!"
I opened my eyes. I was dangling from the edge. All I had to do was climb up.
"Saint Pischt—"
"That's enough, back to your seat now," the announcer said to the man.
I really made it!
I struggled up the rope and hauled myself over the edge. I looked around to see that I had gotten to the end first, for whatever that was worth.
"Am I free to go?" I asked the announcer from my place on the ground.
"Go ahead! But don't forget, be back here by 1:00 for the afternoon games."
I walked over to where I'd last seen Liora.
"Yo! Pass me my hat!"
She tossed my hat to me, but when I tried to raise my arms to catch them, they failed me. The hat fell into the dirt.
"Huh... that's weird. I can't move my arms at all. Could you get a healing potion from my hat?"
"You can't move your arms? Did you break them when you hit the rock, then?" she poked at my arms, crouched on the ground.
"Just give me a potion..."
"Give me a second, I have no idea where they are in here. What... what's this? Why do I feel something wet? Ow!"
She yanked her hand out of the hat. Lady came out, too.
"Lady! Don't bite!" I scolded.
"Nya..."
"Here," Liora held out a potion.
"...Err, could you..." I coughed. "Could you pour it in my mouth?"
"Hehe, if I must...!"
"Forget it, just give it to me."
"No, I'll do it!"
First, she removed the mask from my face. She then uncorked the vial and lifted it in the air.
"..."
"Open your mouth!"
"Ahhhh." I waited.
She poured the potion into my mouth, and I took deep gulps.
I felt the warmth of the potion rush to my arms. My entire body was pretty damaged, but my hands and arms took the brunt of the beating.
"That's better," I said, flapping my arms.
Even the cuts were all healed.
"Nya!"
"Lady, are you hungry too? Let's go eat!"
The three of us returned to the streets of Corvailles. We walked around looking for a restaurant. We had a while before the games started again.
The smell coming from a random tavern pulled us in, and I asked for a table from the man stationed at the bar.
"Sorry. No slaves allowed."
"What? Neither of us are slaves," I said.
"Don't care. Go somewhere else."
"But—"
"Linnie, just forget about it. The food looks shite anyway!"
Vulgur...!
She dragged Lady and I out of the place. She didn't look all that offended, if a little angry. I didn't mention it. As I've said, I didn't know how to approach the topic.
"We'll find somewhere else," I affirmed.
It didn't take long to find another tavern. It was less rowdy than the previous one, but it seemed good enough.
Curiously, there was a familiar 'face' seated at a table in the corner. She was surrounded by lackeys, speaking about something important. Of course, her mask was still on.
Liora and I took a seat. Lady, a cat, sat on the floor. The waitress brought out a bowl of cat food and a few plates for the table.
"Mmm! This is good!" Liora grinned. "You don't seem to have much of an appetite, though?"
"No actually, I'm starving. I'm just trying to listen in on the conversation behind us."
I could barely make out anything through the sounds of the tavern.
"Isn't that girl one of the contestants in the games?"
"Yeah. I don't think she recognizes me with my mask off."
"That's weird... she's at a tavern and she isn't even eating!"
"...I guess."
I gave up on the eavesdropping and dug into the food.
This is good...!
"NYA!!!"
"What're you doing...?"
"These boots are so tight. I can't stand them!"
"Don't take your boots off in the middle of a tavern!"
"Why? They're not dirty or anything!"
"It doesn't matter! It's rude!"
It was actually an odd feeling to be the one teaching her this. It was a lesson I'd been forced to learn myself a few years ago.
Actually, the boots Alwyn'd bought me were the first pair I'd ever personally owned, so I understood the feeling Liora was describing. Still...
"I don't see how you stay in those things all day. They squish my toes all together...!"
"I know. I wish we didn't have to wear them either, but we do. So put them back on!" I kicked her in the stomach under the table.
"OW! Why'd you do that!?"
"Discipline! While Alwyn isn't here, I'm in charge!"
"Stop kicking me!"
"Put your shoes on!"
"...Would you stop making such a ruckus?"
I froze. I looked behind me, and the masked girl was standing there.
"Aha... sorry, miss."
"You should be preparing for the afternoon games. Instead, you're fooling around. Disappointing."
"Huh? What games?"
"Did you think because you're not wearing a mask I wouldn't recognize you?"
"Yeah...?"
"Tch."
She slammed a silver stub onto the table and left the tavern, her lackeys following behind.
"Well, that was nice of her! She paid for our entire meal!"
"Yeah..."