Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Simon returned to the inn after having a satisfying dinner and was just about to lie down on his bed when suddenly, he felt a presence outside his door. Immediately, he became alerted and prepared his body to act at a moment's notice.

The presence that had approached his door, was unknown to him.

"Who goes there?" Simon asked, since the person decided to reveal their presence, there must be some reason for it.

Indeed, it was as he had guessed. The moment he asked the question, the person behind the door spoke at a volume that only they could hear.

"I come on behalf of lady Cynthia. She has tasked me with relaying you a message".

Cynthia? As Simon wondered what message did she want to give him this late at night, the message that he got, befuddled him.

"Lady Cynthia told me to tell you to be careful and leave the capital as soon as you can. That is all". Right after relaying his message, the person disappeared just like they appeared.

[Stealth], Simon immediately recognised the skill the other party used. However, his mind right now was caught up in something else.

"What did she mean by those words? Be careful and leave the capital?" since she did not provide any context or anything else to explain what she meant by those words, it was difficult for Simon to understand what she meant.

Cynthia didn't strike him as someone who would joke like that, which could only mean that something had happened and she was trying to warn him off.

His relationship with her could be said as cordial which explained her trying to do something like that. Plus Simon had also saved the life of her guard commander/friend and had also sold those elixirs of his to her in time of need.

As much as he appreciated this kind gesture from her, he had his own reason for staying in the capital. It wasn't though he had completely ignored her warnings, he did stay on his guard the whole night and was more cautious than before.

The night of the fourth day of the tournament was particularly noisier than it was the previous other nights further enforcing the fact that something had happened. He could hear the footsteps of the soldiers running everywhere all night.

When the morning of the next day came, the commotion of the people was more apparent. Today was the final day of the Battle of the Finest which will decide who will be the winner of this year's tournament.

The top ten participants contesting in it were the finest of the finest and the battle were sure to be extremely exhilarating.

As Simon walked down the street towards the Coliseum, he noticed that knights and soldiers were stationed everywhere and were on high alert. Even the soldiers near the entry of the coliseum were extremely careful when allowing people in.

Nobody was allowed to wear any mask or cover their appearance, those who did not comply were directly apprehended. Everybody could feel the tension in the air and that something was different today.

Simon who used the VIP entry pass to enter the coliseum, heard bits and pieces of information from the people walking in front of him.

"Why the hell is there such a tight security today? Even if it's the final day of the tournament these many soldiers are clearly too much"

"Did you know my relatives who came today all the way from the other cities to watch the final day of the tournament, weren't allowed inside the capital? The soldiers have barricaded all the entry and exit points of the city. Everywhere around the walls, you can see soldiers stationed"

"What? Is that all true?".

Simon knitted his brows in consternation, something really did happen. However, the general populace had no idea.

'So whatever it was, it was kept a tight secret huh' he thought internally. To be barricading all the entry and exit points and to station guards everywhere, Simon couldn't help but have a foreboding feeling.

The seats inside the coliseum was packed with people who were similarly talking about the unusual activities of the soldiers. Looking around, Simon noticed that other than the royal family, top five guilds and all the other factions were present.

No, it would be wrong to say that it was only the royal family, the delegates from the Sanguine Empire were also absent. Usually, the tournament would have started right after the dawn break; however, for some reason, it was being delayed today.

Simon wasn't the only one who had some inkling that something was going on, the guild leaders of the top five guilds who had their own information network, were furrowing their brows in contemplation.

"Hmm? Isn't that guy…" when Simon was observing them, Simon noticed a familiar face seated beside the guild leader of Sea God's Trident.

The person which looked familiar was none other than Scott Green who he had met in the city of Mountmend. It was also the latter who told him about the Battle of the Finest tournament in the capital.

After an hour-long wait or so, the royal family of Ellesmere along with their guardian beast Fierce Warhawk descended onto the stage of the coliseum. What surprised the audience was that the Warhawk was not only carrying the royal family, but also the officer from the adventurer's association Davis Hall and the delegates of the Sanguine Empire.

'What was going on?' the entire crowd had the same question as they continuously murmured.

After these people got on the stage, they discussed among themselves for a minute or two before Cyrus as the moderator for this event step forward and declared.

"Everyone, we are extremely sorry for delaying the final round of the tournament; however, something extremely important has occurred and until we address this issue, we cannot move on to today's finale. I hope everybody understands and cooperates with us".

The crowd silently listened, this sudden change in situation piqued their interest. they were all dying to know what the Royal Knight captain meant by those words.

"I am ashamed and devastated to say that some of our top ten participants were attacked yesterday".

The moment Cyrus said that, the audience erupted in a loud clamour. It wasn't unusual for the participants to be attacked or targeted by some factions they have had grudges with, but such happenstance only occurred after the tournament when all the participants left the capital.

No matter who it was, nobody dared to do something like that inside the capital, after all, doing so would be slighting the authority of the royal family. Due to the royal family intervening and the soldiers maintaining the law there was never a case of a participant being attacked so openly in the capital.

Though that was only the case as long as they were inside the capital. Once they were out, the royal family did not bother with the personal affairs of the different factions. Because of this, the fact that somebody was attacked inside the capital came as a huge shock to the audience. They couldn't help but wonder who that insane person was to do something like this.

Cyrus locked his brows and seemed a little angry as he said "Unfortunately, participant Ivan from the blackthorn kingdom was injured but the assailant had already left the scene when our soldiers were alerted. Even our third prince was targeted by the very same assailant. Thankfully, the prince wasn't injured that badly and was swiftly healed by our [Priests]".

The crowd was thrown aback, they didn't expect the assailant to go after a delegate from the foreign nation and even their third prince.

The perceptive ones were even more alarmed, a foreign prince being attacked and harmed was no joke. Depending on the situation, this might even become a political issue for a war between their two nations.

Had the assailant gone mad to do something like that? Not to mention hurting the third prince meant that they would have a less chance of winning this tournament against the Sanguine Empire.

"Who is it that dares to commit such a crime within the confines of our capital Cyrus?" Brutus Sarge, the guild leader of the Savannah Beast asked.

Touching a participant inside the capital while they were still there, meant that the assailant was also making light of them, the top five guilds.

Brutus' emotions were shared by all the other guild leaders of the top five guilds and they all had a look that said they were all dying to know who was this intrepid soul that did not fear them.

Fortunately for them, the next set of words that Cyrus said, basically guaranteed that they had found the assailant.

"The assailant that attacked the third prince and participant Ivan had used some peculiar means to evade all the securities and measures we placed for the safety of the participants. However, they forgot that a ranker above level 700 was currently residing in our capital. With their help, we were able to identify who that assailant was" Cyrus declared in a serious tone.

"Sir Vouves, Lord Davis if you will please" King Henry requested to the two people beside him.

Vouves and Davis nodded their head before stepping forward. "I didn't think that a member of their race would become so active despite our presence" Vouves sighed.

"Hmph, they were never a clever bunch and only know how to hide like that. Now that it has come to this, it matters not why it is here, we can first bring it down before questioning it later" Davis said taking out his staff.