‘I hope that I didn’t over do it,’ Yuki thought as he walked toward the entrance of the waiting room.

He kept his ears peeled when he entered the room, wanting to hear what was being said inside. What he heard relieved him somewhat. It seemed that his performance was surprising but his victory was attributed to William Bied being weaker than expected rather than Yuki being strong.

‘Perfect.’

Yuki walked back to his seat and sat down. But this time he didn’t meditate, there was no need. He was going to lose the next round and so didn’t need time to focus his mind. Right now was the time for him to start preparing for the main event.

“It is the start of the third round, the quarter finals!” the male mc announced. “And I think it’s about time that the participants saw what they are fighting to win. Let’s bring out the Blazing Jewel of Fire!”

Yuki couldn’t see what was happening but he could guess. The jewel would be brought out and displayed for everyone to see at the center of the arena. Thought he didn’t expect this to happen, this was quite good news. With the gem being shown off, it was bound to attract the attention of those that wanted to steal it. Just what Yuki wanted.

“Uriel, get me a visual on Nataru,” he said into his ear piece.

“Got it boss,” she replied. “I have him up on the school cams. I’m transmitting it to your smartwatch right now.”

His watch vibrated, notifying him of an incoming message. Yuki tapped on it and brought up a video screen that had the face of Nataru Katem blown up in the center.

“Get me a split screen of the arena.”

“Getting a split,” Uriel said.

A second feed appeared next to the one with Nataru. Now Yuki could watch both the reveal and their primary suspect. And to the rest of the waiting room, it only looked as if he was watching something. They wouldn’t be able to see what was being displayed on his side.

Yuki watched as the jewel was brought out, a scarlet gem that seemed to smolder underneath the sun. It was placed at the center of the arena by some sort of attendant and it laid there on a pedestal for a few minutes. The the attendant pushed the pedestal off to the side where the waiting room entrance was located.

‘So it’s still going to be visible to the entire arena except for the people that are sitting on the side with the jewel. And Nataru just so happens to be sitting at the correct side to have a direct view of the gem.’

Yuki observed Nataru’s expression with an intent gaze. What he found throughout the entire reveal was interesting and expected to some extent. Nataru’s gaze seemed to not be able to leave the jewel. When the scarlet gem had first been displayed, his eyes had widened and narrowed. Then he started to glance around before returning his gaze to the jewel.

‘That’s the expected behavior but there is one thing that is odd.’

“Uriel, rewind two minutes.”

“Rewinding two minutes,” she said as the feed went backwards. “There you go boss. I’m going to do my scheduled rounds.”

“Mmm, have fun,” Yuki replied as he watched the rewound video.

‘Why does he touch his ear?’

In the video, Yuki saw Nataru repeatedly touching his ear and covering his mouth. The only thing that Yuki could think of was that he was communicating to someone or some people. And if that was the case, then these people could only be the Shikaku.

‘Akira,’ Yuki called out, touching the mental connection between them. ‘I expect something is going to happen quite soon.’

[I hope so, actually. I’m getting quite bored just running around the perimeter of the campus,] she replied.

‘And there was nothing to be found it seems,’ he said.

[Nope, nothing. But that only suggests that either they are lying in wait or that they are already inside.]

‘Just keep doing what you are doing. You never know what might happen. If something happens here, do not come back. It may just be a distraction.’

[Understood,] she said. [Good luck. Don’t get hurt.]

‘I’ll try.’

She disconnected and Yuki returned back to his own thoughts. The person that was going to potentially steal the jewel was most likely already in the arena. Whether they were in the audience or the staff, Yuki could not say. But he was certain that the thief or thieves were about to strike soon.

‘And I have the first fight of the third round.’

Yuki got up and walked to the exit where the man in the suit opened the door for him.

“Good luck, young lady,” he said to Yuki as he walked by.

‘I don't need the luck. I’m going to be withdrawing anyway,’ he thought. ‘This “young lady” has better things to do than this.’

Walking to the center of the arena, Yuki saw that his opponent was a beastkin, a tiger to be exact. His ears were orange and striped with black.

‘This makes things even better. I’ll withdraw after I roll my dice. I hope my luck is bad.’

The usual announcements were made, the mc’s voice booming throughout the stadium and the crowd cheering along side it. The dice appeared in their usual puffs of smoke and again Yuki’s enemy was the first one to roll. The beastkin, whose name Yuki didn’t remember since he wasn’t listening to the announcements, was given a staff. Yuki rolled and got a single dagger.

‘Even better.’

Yuki looked at his dagger, nodding his head. Daggers held a disadvantage against longer weapons like a staff since it would be harder for the wielder to get close enough to strike. Though he did want to see how well he could fight when given such a disadvantage, Yuki knew that this was for the best.

“I withdraw,” Yuki announced in a soft yet clear voice, raising his hand.

“Oh, this is shocking!” the mc declared. “Yuki Mayumi has withdrawn from the fight. It seems that the combination of a beastkin opponent and a weapon disadvantage was too much for our human.”

‘Yes, definitely,’ Yuki thought dryly.

He walked toward the stands this time rather than the waiting room. When a person lost, they were not allowed back in there since that room was only for participants. Someone that lost was no longer considered one and given the option of sitting with the audience and watch or go back home. Yuki, of course, took the option of sitting with the audience.

He took a seat that was secluded from other people, located at the edge of the arena. Below him was the Blazing Jewel of Fire in all of its glory as it shined on its pedestal. In front of him, across the entire arena, was Nataru who Yuki couldn’t see but knew was there.

‘Now let’s wait and see.’

While the other people around him cheered and hollered as they enjoyed the fights, Yuki’s eyes continually swept through the entire stadium. There were three other battles after his own and they lasted about ten minutes each. Once the final battle had been fought, the jewel was brought out again.

‘Are they going to bite?’

The attendant pushed the pedestal to the center of the arena and it shined brightly in the afternoon sun. Yuki began to stretch his fingers as he waited.

“Boss, Nataru has disappeared,” Uriel notified him. “Just a little heads up. I thought it seemed important.”

“Perfect.”

BOOM

An explosion rocked the entire stadium and screaming soon followed it as Yuki sat calmly at the front, watching it through unimpressed eyes. At the center of the arena, a dust cloud billowed out from where the sound of the explosion had came from. When it cleared, the figure of a single person was revealed. Clad in a black cloak, the person held a sword in one hand and the scarlet jewel in another.

“I’ll be taking this,” a deep voice said. It came from the man that had just appeared.

‘A voice changer and amplifier,’ Yuki noted. ‘It seems that our friend here doesn’t want their identity discovered.’

Yuki stood up slowly and exited from the stands, the panicking people around him covering him as he did so. Then he snapped his fingers and a black cloak appeared out of his ring along with a metal mask. He put them on and checked his arms, making sure that his daggers were secure. Yelling could be heard from the audience again, notifying Yuki of the thief's departure.

‘Akira, the party just started,’ he said as he connected himself to the earth.

[Have fun. Don’t party too hard, I don’t want you hurting yourself,] she replied as Yuki pinpointed the sprinting body of the thief.

‘I won’t,’ he replied.

Then he kicked the ground and raced toward the fleeing man’s location.