The Truth Of The Matter

Since the warrior gates of the Colosseum were still sealed, I was the only one inside the arena. As a result of being thrown by Miron, my cloak had been torn off and lay crumpled on the ground.

I needed to get back to Rose's area, but it was too high for me to reach and the Colosseum was completely sealed off. The only way in or out was through the gates that would soon open for the warriors to enter.

Even if I was searched and recognized, I didn't think any soldiers would interfere with me until the tournament was over. To do so would risk angering the people. The kings were currently in an urgent meeting and their focus would not be on the battle for the time being.

I also realized that the gates were enchanted. I had thought to throw myself out as the warriors arrived and the gates opened, but a powerful spell held them fast and prevented anyone from passing through. It seemed that no one could enter or leave until the tournament was over.

I knew that my only option was to fight in the tournament, as much as I didn't want to. At least until the kings recognized me and intervened.

As the horns sounded, the gates in front of me slowly began to open. It was time for the tournament to begin. Warriors of all kinds and from different bloodlines would soon be flocking to the arena. I prepared myself, taking up a battle stance and ready to greet them.

As the gates opened, I could hear the sound of many footsteps approaching. It seemed that more people were attending the tournament than I had anticipated. By the time they appeared behind the gates, more than fifty warriors were running towards the coliseum grounds.

In such a dense crowd, any sudden aggression on my part could draw unwanted attention. So I made a quick move and threw myself backwards with a high jump.

In seconds, the empty coliseum had turned into a huge battlefield. Some warriors wielded axes, others swords, while still, others fought with their bare hands, attacking their opponents without mercy.

There were strong fighters among them, but also those who lacked power. While one punch was enough to knock some down, I had to hit others several times before they fell. I tried not to use all my strength since my goal was not to kill anyone, but the opponents kept coming and coming.

I couldn't afford to expend all my energy in a single breath. I continued to avoid fights as much as I could, but it seemed like an endless line of warriors trying to attack me. Perhaps it was because I was a wanted person and had left a bad impression in the eyes of the people due to the king's order.

For the time being, although I had no difficulty with the warriors I was fighting, I could sense that there were stronger fighters among them, and their attack could come at any moment.

........(Lezlie).......

The morning of the tournament day, two hours before the tournament;

The prince and I traveled a long way and arrived in the city just in time for the tournament. We made it without any trouble, without being followed or captured by any paladins along the way.

The city was quite crowded compared to others I had seen. It wouldn't be easy to find Ryuu and the others in such a throng of people. Fortunately, I knew they were at the tournament, so we continued on our way, blending in with the crowd and keeping a low profile.

The festivities in the city seemed to stretch all the way to the Coliseum. There was only one direction that people were excitedly heading towards, as the prince had told me before we arrived. Since we were blending in with the crowd, the soldiers didn't pay us any attention. Instead, they were more focused on guarding the palace.

The palace was so large that I could see it from the farthest side of the city. It wasn't far away, so I leaned over and whispered to the prince, "Do you think your father is in the palace now?"

I continued speaking when the prince didn't respond. "I know you don't want to see your father until after the tournament is over, but if he could help us stop our search…"

"As much as I'd like to," the prince replied, "I can't do that. For security reasons, my father is going straight to the Coliseum."

"So…"

"So they won't be traveling by car. They're already at the coliseum, waiting in the king's chamber for the third king to arrive."

"Wow, that's very secure," I said.

"Yes," the prince agreed. "But there's something I need to tell you."

As he spoke, my attention was focused on him and I didn't notice a large man standing in front of me. I bumped into him and knocked him down before getting up and rubbing my head.

"Hey…" I began.

But before I could say anything else, the large man started apologizing without even turning to face me. "I'm sorry, I…"

I already knew who it was when he spoke. When he turned to face me, a familiar face was smiling at me. Overcome with joy, I hugged him tightly.

"Babu! You made it!" I exclaimed.

The person standing in front of me was Babu. His face lit up with joy when he saw me and he pulled me into a tight hug. In fact, it was such a strong embrace that I felt my bones might break. Finally, Babu released me and began to speak excitedly. "Lezlie, I can't even express how happy I am to see you! Are the others with you?" he asked eagerly.

"Unfortunately, no," I replied. "But we're heading to the tournament to find them."

Babu's expression turned serious. "We'll have to be careful," he warned. "I've heard that the coliseum is crawling with soldiers. If the search continues, we might have to find the others and get out of here quickly or we'll be trapped."

"I thought Ryuu was supposed to be handling the search," I said, confused.

"We haven't heard from him," Babu replied, shaking his head. "And the king isn't in the palace either."

"What about Hiroshi?" I asked.

"No news from him either," Babu said with a sigh. "But knowing him, I'm sure he'll turn up eventually."

I nodded in agreement. "It would be good if this search could be over soon," I said.

"Tell me about it. It's hard enough hiding as a panda."Babu added

As we talked, I couldn't help but notice the stick on Babu's back. It seemed different from before and it piqued my curiosity. "That's a nice stick you have there," I commented.

Babu grinned. "Thanks! It has an interesting story behind it. I'll tell you all about it on the way."

We continued on our way to the coliseum, chatting excitedly about our recent adventures and experiences. As we approached the entrance, however, our excitement turned to apprehension. The number of soldiers stationed there was overwhelming and they were armed with heavy weapons. It was clear that if we tried to enter through the front gate, we would be quickly caught.

"We need to find another way in," I said, turning to Babu.

Babu nodded and slipped away to scout the area. After a few minutes, he returned with a grin on his face. "All right, listen up," he said. "The soldiers have surrounded the coliseum, but for some reason they've left the left side unguarded. I think we can slip in there unnoticed."

We followed Babu's lead and made our way to the left side of the Coliseum. Sure enough, there were no soldiers in sight and we were able to slip inside quickly and easily without being seen.

The prince looked around in surprise. "Interesting," he commented. "They usually station soldiers everywhere."

His words made sense, but as we looked around we realized that we had entered through the registration area for tournament fighters. Perhaps that was why there were no soldiers here. We shrugged it off and continued on our way, relieved that we had managed to avoid detection.

Despite not having found anyone yet, we managed to reach the coliseum for the prince to register and fight. When I turned to him, he seemed hesitant. Curious, I approached him.

"Now you can register and become a knight if you win, which I believe you will," I said.

The prince's expression tensed as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Thank you, Lezlie, but I need to tell you something," he said.

"I'm listening," I replied.

"I don't want to be a knight," he confessed.

"But that's why you wanted to come here," I said, confused.

"I lied. That's not why I wanted to come here," he admitted.

"Then why did you come?"

"We came here because I made a deal with the hunter Miron, to bring you here and change the writing on the letters."

"What are you saying?"

"I used my father's seal to alter the letters to incriminate you and your friends. Hiroshi's friend, the elite soldier, replaced them with the real ones and delivered them to the king. The deal was that Miron would speak to the lineage of the dead and resurrect my friends. I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear, I just..."

"Do you realize what you've put us through? My friends may be dead," I exclaimed.

When he reached for me, I backed away, but he continued to talk.

"I know you're right, but tell me, what kind of prince is a prince who can't protect his friends, a prince who can't protect his paladins, a prince who leaves a couple who are about to get married to die?"

"The dead can never come back," I said, my voice shaky with emotion.

He replied in a high voice, as if in denial. "How do you know?"

"Because I tried. I wanted to bring my mum back. No lineage of death, no lineage of witches, no lineage can bring back the dead."

"Lezlie," he said softly.

With tears in my eyes, I involuntarily slapped him hard without controlling myself.

"I never want to see your face again."

With quick steps and without looking back, I hurried towards Babu. He was oblivious to the commotion in the distance. Together, we made our way through the crowd in search of the others.

As Babu began to question me about what had happened, a figure suddenly plummeted from the heights of the coliseum onto the battlefield below. It was Ryuu. The expression on his face betrayed his confusion; it was clear that he had not intended to be there.

As the doors to the warriors' chambers swung open, several people rushed towards Ryuu. I wanted to reach him as quickly as possible and help him escape, but Babu grabbed my hand and held me back.

"Hey, stop," he said firmly. "Calm down. We can't go down there."

"But we have to help him!" I protested. "Can't you see he's all alone?

"I know," Babu replied, his voice heavy with concern. "But don't forget that we're still wanted. And I've heard that once the doors of the coliseum are closed, they can't be opened until the battle is over. No one can enter or leave until the tournament has ended. Ryuu is on his own now…"