Once again, not that many canon deviations… yet.

Annerose watched as the sick middle-aged man scored yet another win… By accident. Previous opponent tripped on his own shoes and fell from arena. Current opponent, Goldy Gilded, also the one who is called Unbeatable Legend (because he never fought against opponents stronger than him), was… sneezed away. No, she's being serious! This guy just sneezed and Goldy's strongest attack (which actually caught her by surprise; she could see Goldy becoming a strong warrior if he ever starts taking fighting seriously and not as means for glory) evaporated!

"But that's bullshit…!" oh, another contender. Quinton.

This is one of the few strong people she found here… Though Quinton was only strong in comparison to everyone else; he would, unfortunately, fall down the moment she draws her sword. Pity. Only princess Iris caught Annerose's eye… and Mundane Mann.

After meeting the gigantic magic sphere that she bravely stood against and emerged victorious, she felt like she surpassed the limits that previously were unreachable for her. That included her perception, reflexes, magic control. And she could see that something was… off about Mundane Mann. Very off.

"…Hey, you hear me?!" oh, Quinton is talking to her.

"No," she quickly replied.

"Ugh! Mark my words, tomorrow I will take away that fraud from the Festival!" he angrily jumped up and went to the exit.

She only blinked at him and focused her attention back on Mundane. If she's not wrong…

She finally found a good opponent.

"Damn it, dammit, dammit!"

Perv Asshat was getting nervous. It was well over a week and he still wasn't contacted by Mordred, the ninth seat in Cult of Diablos. It was as if he disappeared without a trace! Mordred was supposed to get the Ring of Succession, while Perv brings Rose Oriana back to the kingdom. After that they could proceed with their plan; Perv would become the twelfth Seat and support Mordred in faction wars.

The problem was, Mordred still hasn't contacted him! Perv was to meet with Iris Midgar in but a minute!…

Alright, alright. Rose made a mistake, so Perv has the advantage here. He can play this out as he wishes.

The drugged king, Raphael Oriana, is still under his control…

Knock, knock.

"Please, enter."

A beautiful red-haired woman entered the room, her crimson eyes locked onto him.

"Princess Iris, I have been waiting for you," he put on a charming smile.

"Indeed, we have a lot to discuss," Iris merely nodded at him and took a seat across the table.

"Please, do not mind His Majesty," Perv coughed, noticing princess' curious gaze towards the Oriana King, "he's not feeling well with the events that transpired lately…"

"Indeed, I have heard of that. And I must commend your perseverance: even though you clearly were just attacked, you still seem to be in form to hold a meeting. In fact…" Iris squinted, "I would say you seem very healthy."

Huh, trying to probe him? Two can play this game, Iris Midgar.

"Please, princess," he rolled his eyes 'dramatically', "you, of all people, should understand that trusting rumors is… pointless. Today I have fought Rose back, the next day it will turn out that I actually fought a whole armed group of her supporters as she threatened to blow up the capital."

"Indeed," Iris allowed herself a small smile, "Then, what do you think about placing a security for the duration of the Bushin Festival?"

"Hmm…" Perv feigned thinking, "I think we do not need additional security. You may think that with Rose running away we need as many arms as possible, but…" shaking head, "I know her too well to understand what will she do. It's fine, she will return."

"So you say you do not need Midgar's help."

"Actually, we would prefer to deal with this situation by ourselves," quick command for Raphael to nod in agreement, "you should realize how our standing in world arena would be affected should news about this… incident get out. However, we would be able to manage that… But if the word got out that Oriana had to ask for help of other country to get our own princess back…" and shaking head to make situation look more grave.

"I understand your concerns, Chancellor Perv," Iris sighed, "Then, we shall not do anything for the time being. However, we ask you to quicken your attempts at locating Rose Oriana. It would be the best to do so until the end of Bushin Festival; after that it would be us that would be affected by Rose's disappearance."

"Of course, of course," he nodded 'in understanding',"We shall not cause any trouble for Midgar Kingdom. Now, maybe you need some help while we are at it?"

"Hmm… No, thank you, Chancellor Perv. I wish you a good rest," Iris stood up. Perv followed the suit and gave an elegant bow as Iris went out of the room.

Once the door closed, Chancellor fell back into the couch and glanced at Raphael.

"Hmph, if only you weren't so stubborn, maybe the Ring of Succession would already be in my hands…" Perv mumbled hatefully.

But seriously, where is Mordred?

Cid sighed as he walked from the arena.

Today was the fifth round of Bushin Festival. Yesterday he fought some kind of, uh… Victorious-somewhat-dragon, or something… In short, this guy was all show, no power. Cid simply sneezed him away (this time out of his own will).

Today's guy was kinda stronger, and was one of the people who were near Annerose the whole time? Well, Cid played around with him for some time and then just dropped him out of arena with a sudden wind… You know, air currents sometimes just move out of nowhere, right? Yeah, guy just unlucky to be their target…

"Stop right there."

Oh, it's Annerose. And here he was thinking he wouldn't come closer to him… He managed to get second heroine fine and moving, and now it's time for the third!

"Hmm, you are…" pretend that you forgot her, so she will get all emotional!

"Annerose. Just Annerose," alright, she's more stable than he thought.

"Ahh, right… You were the one who tried to stop me from entering," and weak judging look!

"Um-m…" ha, faltered! "W-Well, I only wanted to make sure you won't get hurt after overestimating your prowess!… Though I guess I was mistaken…" she sighed.

"M-m-m, as I said, you have good heart," a little bit of flattery wouldn't hurt, right?

Annerose simply sighed and sent a sharp glance.

"You are clearly strong."

"I said it from the start."

"Yes, and I didn't believe you back then…" she mused, "Tomorrow, we will fight. I expect a good challenge from you!" swordswoman cheerfully added.

"Hmm. Likewise…" he walked past her.

Come on, say something! Anything? Pretty please?…

Damn, she simply smiled at him and nodded. Guess he will need to do it his way…

"Oh, one last thing…" he started.

"Yeah?" Annerose turned around.

Cid silently took the weights on his limbs off and dropped them to the floor. As they fell, the ground beneath them cracked. Swordswoman's eyes widened at the sight as her gaze ran from him to them, then back to him.

"Up until this moment, I fought at disadvantage… But now…" he straightened his posture, "I will fight you without external things holding me back."

Keyword: external. He didn't say anything about holding himself back at will.

"…Hmph!" she simply smiled and… starting stretching her neck?

Wait, isn't it the same way as he did when dodging most attacks in arena?

"Lady…"

"Yeah?!" she increased her speed?!

"I don't think that you're supposed to do that… Out of nowhere…"

"Ugh…" she immediately stopped and blushed, "I just wanted to show you that I can do that, too!"

"Sure, whatever you say…" he waved his hand and went to the exit.

Rose Oriana slowly concentrated on the feeling of magic in her.

The day is coming closer. Soon, she will take that bastard's head… And take her wonderful Cid to herself.

Hmm, she hears something… To the right.

Her sword meets a whip. She slowly turns her head to see a beautiful dark-skinned elf evaluating her.

"Interesting. So you got his blessing," it wasn't a question.

"I did," yet Rose still answered.

"What do you think is his plan?"

"Purge all sights of Cult," princess answered immediately, "and make sure it does not emerge ever again."

"Good," elf nodded, "then, this is yours."

A small black puddle could be seen in glass container that elf took out.

'Pure bullshit…' Cid sighed as walked to the VIP lounge.

It was the next day, and Claire suddenly, out of nowhere, smart demoness only knows why, decided to gift him a VIP ticket. Upon hearing his question she simply coughed and said she wanted to gift this thing to him, because, quote: "Well, I know you're pretty strong and all, but having connections with sister of your girlfriend is good, right?!" Oh, she also said that Iris was already waiting for him. He is beginning to think revealing himself right here and then is a good idea that has many merits…

Hmm? He feels something… interesting…

Cid turned around and saw… Alpha? Since when did she become older-? No, that's not Alpha…

But that woman really looked like Alpha! Blonde, blue eyes, similar body structure, and many, many other small details, especially her sharp ears! Oh, she also was in grey coat with a hood on her head.

Elf slowly walked up to him and frowned.

"Have we… Met somewhere?" she inquired.

"No, I don't think we did."

"Interesting… Do you know where is my niece?" who the hell asks questions like that? You just came up!

"Oh, and who is your niece?" you know, just to be sure.

"Beautiful elf, looks like me, but younger," woman patiently stared at him.

"Hmm, I can't see anything under that hood…" he rubbed his chin.

Elven woman stood for a moment and removed her hood, showing her face… Which totally looked like Alpha. Which means…

"Hmm, no, sorry, I haven't met anyone like that recently."

Keyword: recently. Their last meeting was almost a week ago.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"You're not lying?"

"I am not."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Is that so."

"Indeed."

M-m-m, that felt like a good conversation! Alright, time to-

"Then why can I smell elf's scent on you?"

Oh, fuck, he forgot about their sense of smell- Wait, it's therianthropes who have a keen sense of smell, not elves, right?

"Hmm… Well, I was at Mitsugoshi not so long ago…" he rubbed his chin.

"…Yes?"

"Didn't you know that Mitsugoshi has a lot of elf employees?" he redirected the conversation.

"…Oh."

"Yeah."

"Excuse me, then…" she bowed slightly.

And immediately slashed at him, taking no more than a fraction of second to take the sword out of its sheath.

Now, if it were before, he would convincingly play the weak mob role. Now, however…

"The hell are you doing?!" he barely dodges the blade and angrily stares at her.

"Forgive me, but I had a suspicion you were a strong fighter," she closed her eyes.

"…Huh?"

"The way your body moves, your small face changes… It all said, 'This person is strong'. And I trust my instincts."

'Where the hell did that woman come from?! She will completely ruin my act if it continues!'

"…Now, tell me. Does my niece not wish to see me?" elven woman opened her eyes.

"I tell you, Lady-"

"I would believe you," she nodded, "if not for the fact that I can smell the scent of engaging in carnal acts with elf."

"…Really?" he blankly stared at her.

"No. I just decided to bluff," the corners of her lips went up as she saw his eye twitching, "So, my niece does not wish to see me?"

"…She really didn't want to meet anyone from her family, to be honest… So even if you do beat me up, I am not telling where she is."

"…Hum," woman blinked, "But she is alive and well."

"Yeah, and made a lot of friends," he nodded.

"Good. Then I can wait," with that she went to… VIP lounge?

"Ahem, one thing I want to ask…" he coughed.

"Sure?" she stopped and turned to him.

"Please do not reveal that I am stronger than it looks; I do that for a reason," 'called roleplay'.

"…Sure."

And with that, they went to the VIP lounge together.

"Oh, wanna burger?"

"Yes."

And she was just as hungry for burgers as Alpha. Burger elves, right?

Borgar.