act12side

In Bolívar, the second-best way to make money is temp jobs, and the best, most profitable one—is serving.

Was your father a soldier too?

The old man sure used to be. I remember he made full colonel.

That's pretty high up.

I guess you want to ask why he'd come here.

I admit I'm curious.

There's nothing much to say. He's majorly stubborn, thinks about nothing but war all day, and doesn't like kissing up to bosses. He got falsely charged, and then driven out of the army.

Sorry.

Save it. I think he's dull enough for a lifetime too.

He doesn't have a big enough fist, and what does he stand up straight all day like that for?

...I suppose.

I thought you'd argue back.

I do want to, but ultimately I don't know this place, or really Bolívar as a whole.

I can say the old man's been pretty good since coming here, or I'd have never been able to work under the Mayor.

Come to think of it, the two of you have been in Dossoles for two days now. Any thoughts on the city so far?

Corrupt.

Stinks to high heaven.

It seems we're of a mind, for once.

Now that's funny. I was sure any guests the Mayor invited here would love it.

What about you?

Me? I love this place, naturally.

You never need to think about the world outside. As long as you have money, you can play, from sun-up to sun-down, and then from sun-down back to sun-up.

I don't know how you live in Lungmen, but I can't imagine there's a better life than here.

Is that so.

Forget that for now... Is this whole competition as heavy on full-contact as the scrimmage just now?

Ah! Yes.

I don't know if you have anything similar over there, but in this competition, the courses are designed for physical contests.

But of course, the people aren't here for a simple stamina match.

Most everyone is chasing a thrill. What they really want to see is the kind of fight you two put on. Stuff that gets their hearts pumping.

So in other words, we go out there to amuse the people.

Hahaha! You could put it that way.

This is utterly senseless.

I'm in agreement with you there, but nothing changes the fact that we're taking part. Let's be prepared.

Sorry, Ernesto, but we'll be asking you to explain more about the format of the competition.

Sure thing.

First things first, do you know of a weapons vendor anywhere?

I do. You're in the market?

If the combat holds up like it just did, I might need a change of arms, at the least.

In that case, come with me. This isn't an open-air kind of topic, anyway.

Come in, please.

You own this shop?

That's right. It's just the place you're looking for.

I've opened a handful of these stores throughout the city. Call it an income stream.

We carry all sorts of weapons, as a matter of course, but can I ask, why are you looking to change, Miss Ch'en?

My sword isn't that suited to competitive stuff like this.

Hm... Honestly, the blade you carry doesn't pose any kind of problem.

There's a mountain of competitors with weapons and tricks a whole lot worse than that up their sleeves. Swords aren't high on the danger scale.

Which is to say: even if you don't use yours, others will use theirs.

Doesn't matter. I'm not good with mercy.

Just give me something that won't do too much damage to a human body.

Well, in that case... try a high-pressure water gun like this.

A water gun?

Oh, it's a fairly specialized weapon. Fires high-pressure water rounds, hits hard, but won't cause major injury.

Do you know how to work a crossbow?

I've never used one in the field, but I didn't do bad on my shooting course.

Let's give it a try.

But before that, I'll explain the competition in detail.

Firstly, its formal name is the 'Dossoles Warrior Champion.'

It takes place across the entire city. The Mayor's purchased a huge number of drones and cams, as well as low-altitude aircraft, so nobody will miss a single moment.

Not even the darkest, dankest corners of the city. Once the competition starts, we'll have drones custom-geared to follow each and every team too.

And once the time hits, the TV station will split up into different main stages, making it convenient for the people to view the teams or content that they want.

A truly loathsome level of consideration.

Ms. Candela's spared no effort in this respect.

Okay. Before the official competition was ten days of prelims, which is what you just took part in.

Every day, there've been two to three prelims held all over the city.

Were they all melees like that?

No. I don't know whether to call you lucky or unlucky, honestly. You crashed the single most dangerous kind.

There's been a huge variety of prelim types, like eating contests, racewalks, sprints, et cetera. The scrimmage topped everything else for risk.

But the reward was just as high?

That's right. No other prelim reward would've ever been as generous as the pure gold statue you got.

And that's why so many people join the scrimmage, even though it's so dangerous.

Hold on, you just said the competition permits contact. Then the people who come in from the other prelims...

Aha, your reactions tell me you two are very astute.

I imagine you're worried that the competition won't be kind to entrants who won the more entertainment-focused prelims.

I'll cut straight to the chase, then. No, it won't be an easy time for them.

Like I said, people want to see more than simple stamina matches. It's a fight to excite. That's why the weaker ones are up against greater threats.

...Hmph.

But you don't need to worry too much, Miss Ch'en. The Mayor's taken that into account. There's an article in the rules on it.

Oh?

Have you noticed another problem?

The competition doesn't restrict Originium Arts. If someone could boost their own speed with it—

—just to exaggerate, if they could reach the goal in an instant, then that'd be tough luck to everyone else, right?

I assume people like that must exist.

How couldn't they? Even without Arts, Kuranta naturally outperform others in a race.

They do exist, of course. To counteract that, the Mayor is giving the viewers the right to choose.

The audience decides who the true winner is?

To be precise, the audience decides who doesn't deserve to be a winner.

After every round of the competition, there'll be a viewer voting segment, and the votes could completely reshape the final rankings.

Using flashy means to gain victory is naturally self-explanatory.

Winning too boring might get you eliminated, but drop enough jaws and you could tip the scales when you'd otherwise fall just short.

Of course, there's no guarantee that's how it goes.

With all of that, no one knows who the winner truly is, until the final moment.

Too boring?

Right. And not just in combat.

Dazzling fights are the most direct way to make eyes boggle, but blindsiding with actions can net you cheers too.

That's the rule that gives contestants a fighting chance, even if they're wipeouts in combat.

A lesson learned from Kazimierz.

Right, true. I remember the Major had similar rules.

You two really have seen it all. The Mayor's visited Kazimierz several times before. Apparently, her trade agreement with Lungmen was signed there too.

So Wei Yenwu went out there as well...