July 27, 363 Gregorian Calendar, Mastar, Shurasa. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The second sword tournament during Empress Sigrani's reign has been getting better, and after the first two days of qualifiers, the main event starts today. A total of 32 players will be selected for the main event, and a single elimination match will be played between them. At the end of today's competition, the top four of the tournament will be decided, with the semi-finals tomorrow morning and the final in the afternoon.

This sword tournament is not only a grand event for the swordsmen, but also a great event for the gambling industry in Shurasa. The dealer of the gambling game, the "bag inquiry" who collects the information of the players, and the ordinary gamblers who carry silver coins are all waiting for the official announcement of the players' battle tables in the Grand Arena.

At 7 a.m., the tournament's organizers drew the battle table on a large white canvas and hung it next to the main entrance on the north side of the arena. The crowd immediately gathered around it. In fact, the dealers already knew the details of the table last night, and at the moment the dealers had set up their betting booths on the opposite side of the street.

The 32 players are divided into four halves and numbered in turn, and if you want to place a bet, simply report the player's number directly to the dealer. The bookmakers set up a large white stone hill behind the stall, on which the serial numbers of the players and their current odds were written in charcoal, and kept them constantly updated.

Because there is still a long time before the start of the competition, many of the contestants are also mixed in the crowd, wanting to see what the outside world thinks of them, and it would be best if they could get some information about their opponents by the way.

Paul and his two retinues were in the top 32, but the three were placed in different halves, as follows: Paul was in the top left half of the No. 1 position; Nesta is in the top right half of the 19th position; Cannavaro is in the bottom right half of the 28th position. After reading the official battle table, the three of them crowded into the area where gamblers gathered, wanting to see what their odds were.

"Ha, look at it, Lord Maldini is the first favorite to win the championship, 1 Dinari pays 1 Denari and 2 As, this odds are really low." Cannavaro saw Paul's odds at a glance. (Denari is silver, ace is copper, 1 dinari = 16 ace)

"Master Lance seems to be the second most popular, 1 Denari to 1 Denary and 10 As." Nesta continued.

"What about me, how am I?" Cannavaro was a little shorter, so he couldn't see his name on the slate.

"1 Denari for 20 Dinaries." Paul answered him immediately, and then added a stab, "Alec is 1 Denari to 12 Denaries." ”

"Ah, are they so dismissive of me?" Cannavaro was dissatisfied, but he immediately became happy again, "Ha, it seems that I am not the least favored, you see, my first opponent, the guy who is ranked 27th, is actually 1 Dinari for 50 Dinaries." I think it's considered the weakest one. So it wasn't a problem for me to win comfortably in the first round. Uh-huh, I'm going to have to buy a few credits to bet on my first round win. ”

"Let's go back quickly, the game is about to start." Paul didn't stop Cannavaro, even if he did.

Paul and Nesta then turned around and were about to leave the betting booth when Nesta collided with a petite figure.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay? Miss Hayes! Nesta was surprised to see Fiona? Hayes appears in such places.

"You're also here to see the game, Michelle will be happy to know about it." Paul lifted the other up.

"Uh...... yes, I'm here to join in the fun, too, and I happened to be separated from my brother and Estella. Fiona replied, seemingly hastily shoving a piece of paper into the lining pocket of her dress.

"Then please let us escort you to Brother Ling and Miss Macmillan." Nesta said first, much to Paul's surprise.

"Won't delay your game?"

"Not at all." Nesta said so firmly.

"Then let's go, anyway, we're going to enter through the west entrance, if you can send me there, there will be no problem." Fiona said.

As it happens, Cannavaro has also returned from placing his bets, and he proudly waved his prize ticket to his companions. Then the four of them came to the west entrance together. The Colosseum has three entrances, the north side of which is the largest and is intended for general spectators. The west entrance is for VIPs. The rest and preparation area for the contestants is on the south side of the arena, so they also enter and exit from the south entrance.

Fiore was waiting at the west entrance, where he was anxiously looking around, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his sister approaching with three knights.

"Don't run around in crowded places next time, I'm really worried about us." Fiona faced her brother's gentle reproach, and had no choice but to stick out her tongue and accept it. Subsequently, Fiore solemnly thanked Paul and the others.

"You go in with your father and mother, I have to go to Estella, she is in a hurry to find you, and I am afraid that she will be in a hurry at this time." Fiore then said.

"Let's go with us." Nesta spoke suddenly.

"It's about to start. You better go to the game in peace, Estella is a fierce woman who can take down three or five big men on her own, and she is not a three-year-old child, just let my brother know. Fiona reminded.

"But......" Nesta hesitated.

"Let's go, let's go, Alec, we're all late." Cannavaro was impatient to drag him away.

"Then we'll take our leave." Paul owes himself to the Hayes siblings and motions for the two attendants to leave with him. Nesta was reluctantly pushed away by Cannavaro.

"Brother, hurry up and find Estella, she won't be able to get to the VIP table without you leading the way." Fiona patted Fiore on the shoulder.

"Okay, you can go in quickly, don't let your mother wait, I'll go."

Fiona had been in and out of the arena many times, and she had found the seat for the Hayes family and snuggled up to Atalanta's side affectionately.

"My miss, where the hell did you go? Suddenly it just disappeared, and it made it easy for us to find it for a while. "Bavar? Hayes asked when he saw his daughter coming over.

"It's a secret."

"What's so mysterious, even we have to hide it, could it be that we went to a tryst with which son?" Atalanta quipped.

"What?! Which bastard kid, isn't that little bastard from Redknapp? Could it be the one from the Lance family? No, I saw Michelle warming up. What the hell is ......" Bavar's nagging behind was glared back by his wife's eyes.

"Isn't that what happened? Okay, let me tell you a little bit, I might be able to make a fortune this time. ”

"Rich?" Bavar was even more surprised.

"You, a girl, how can you do this." Atalanta had already guessed the probable and tapped her daughter's forehead.

While they were talking, Fiore and Estella happened to return. Miss Macmillan graciously greeted the Hayes and sat down next to Fiona. Fiore was a little cramped until his father pulled him to sit down.

The tournament soon began in earnest, with no upsets in the first round of the first three halves, and all the favourites who had been favourites before the tournament successfully defeated their respective opponents. Today's schedule is still relatively tight, according to the past practice, today needs to decide the semi-finals, tomorrow morning for the semi-finals, and in the afternoon for the finals, which is similar to Sogrande many years ago? The tournament where Luce won the championship was the same.

Cannavaro's match was the penultimate of the first round, so he could relax and watch the rest of the game from the rest area. When Nesta was victorious, the trio discussed the situation they had observed so far.

"I don't think it's a problem for Master Maldini and Master Reims to meet in the semi-finals." Nesta said.

"Don't be too optimistic, maybe the opponents still have hidden tricks that haven't been revealed." Paul responded to his subordinates' views.

"Don't worry about Lord Maldini, I think there's a guy in your half of the district that is very difficult to deal with." Cannavaro said, referring to the 17th overall pick in the swordsmanship.

"Viturius? Cato? It's a good guy indeed, Alec, you're probably not his opponent, just do your best, be careful not to get too badly hurt, I still need you. Paul told Nesta.

"My lord, I'll pay attention, but since I've reached the top sixteen, I'm not without the slightest chance." Although Nesta is a calm person, it does not mean that he is willing to admit defeat easily in martial arts.

"Okay, don't be so heavy, it's time for me to play." Cannavaro saw No. 25 pick up No. 26's sword, stretched his waist and said, "Let's see how I win, even if that Viturius can beat Alec, he will eventually lose to me in the semifinals." With that, he picked up his sword and walked over to the pre-commissioner.

Cannavaro appeared with a slouchy sword, but because he was a handsome young man, his swaggering virtue attracted the admiration of many girls, who threw flowers at him and wished him victory. Cannavaro picked one of them up, smiled and kissed it, and tossed it back into the stands. A girl in the stands screamed and fainted, causing a commotion. Cannavaro was very proud of this.

When he saw his opponent, he immediately understood why the opponent's odds were so low. His opponent was small because Cannavaro wasn't tall himself, and he was half a head shorter than him. Although the No. 27 contestant wears a large cloak, judging by her hand pressed against the hilt of her sword, it will not be a strong physique. What's more, he used a thin sword.

It doesn't look like the first round will be too difficult, Cannavaro thought.

"I mean, you're wearing a cloak and a mask on a hot day, even though I know a lot of the contestants are Thorgrande? An admirer of Leus, but there is no need to completely learn what he wore back then. Cannavaro said to his opponent.

However, he ignored him, only nodding when the Templar, who was acting as the referee, asked if he was ready to start. This made the feisty Cannavaro feel a little unhappy, so he decided to start the game with a rush to teach the bastard who didn't give a word to him.

Cannavaro thought so and did the same, and as soon as the opening bell rang, he immediately bullied the previous slash, which was his proud starting move, and it was so fast that most opponents would be caught off guard by him, except for a few people such as Paul. However, the surprise happened, and the No. 27 dodged Cannavaro's attack with a sideways look. The layman saw that he was very reluctant to dodge, but Paul, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, frowned.

"That Udinese man looks like he's going to hit his head, and the 27th dodged so skillfully just now, and there was no superfluous movement at all." Bavar from the stands commented.

"There will be several games in a row, and it is appropriate to save any bit of energy." Atalanta replied to her husband. She noticed that her daughter seemed to be excited when she heard this.

As he spoke, the No. 27 player had already drawn his sword and began to fight back. Cannavaro's sword, known for its dexterity and speed in the West, now dwarfs his opponents. The opponent's moves are not fancy, just a simple triple attack of drawing a sword and backhand slash, forehand slash, and thrust. However, he was so fast that Cannavaro was already in a cold sweat after barely blocking it, and he realized that he had taken several steps back in order to avoid the last lunge, and his center of gravity was unstable, and there was no guarantee that he would be able to respond to the opponent's sword moves in time. At this time, the best way is to turn around and run, re-stabilize the position and then find an opportunity to fight again, because the opponent is short and may not be able to catch up with him. But for the sake of their own image, this approach is quite cheap.

While Cannavaro was still hesitant, his opponent didn't give him much time to think about it. A backhand sweep slashed at him, forcing Cannavaro to jump back to dodge, but in doing so, his center of gravity was completely lost. Player 27 took the pick and turned his sword into a backhand, rushed forward and struck him with the hilt of his sword in the chin, and then stretched out his leg and stumbled, knocking Cannavaro to the ground completely.

Cannavaro, who had been hit in quick succession on the chin and back of his head, was already dizzy and fell to the ground in a daze as his opponent pressed the tip of his sword against the tip of his nose, knowing that he had lost. He let go of the sword in his hand and lay down on his back.

"Great!" Fiona applauded with joy when she saw that the victory had been decided. Then, under the gaze of the whole family and Estella, he shrank back into his seat in embarrassment.

"I was put down by the other party in five moves, and now I am really embarrassed and thrown home in front of the national audience." Nesta covered her eyes and sighed.

"Go and help him down." Paul just gave him a faint command.

"Yes, Lord Maldini." After Nesta said yes, she shook her head and walked to the arena.

An upset is not a good thing for most gamblers, so after the referee announced that the No. 27 player had won, there was a slight commotion throughout the arena, and many people hurriedly got up and prepared to re-bet on the next match. Of course, there are also people who don't care, the players in the lower right half are considered to be weaker before the game, and even if there is a dark horse, it will not affect the final championship. Outside the arena, the top three odds to win the championship have not changed, is it still Paul? Maldini, Michelle? Lance and Viturius? Cato. As for the No. 27, he is still only 13th out of the remaining 16 players after this round, and the next three are the unfortunate players who will face the three title alternates in the second round.

In the preparation area, most of the people had already left for lunch or rest as there were only two games left in the morning, with only Paul and two of his men still remaining.

"Fortunately, the other party was very accurate and didn't kill you." Paolo looked at Cannavaro's injuries.

"My ...... Incisors...... Is it still there? Cannavaro asked with difficulty.

"You still have time to worry about your front teeth, you know, if you don't get it right, you will go straight to the coffin." Nesta said with some exasperation.

"The teeth are there, and you will smile as charming as before in the future." Paul comforted.

"That's good...... She...... It's so fast, even so, but I still feel so shameless. ”

"She?" Paul was surprised that Cannavaro used a female third person.

"I smell it with my nose, how can the aroma of a girl escape my sense of smell at such a close distance." Cannavaro touched his nose, it was a well-born one.

"No wonder you're losing." Nesta decided that she could always use this to mock him in the future.

Just as Paul was about to ask Cannavaro further about the No. 27, a familiar voice barged in.

"In the first round, it looks like you're in a bad shape."

"Lord Lance!" Nesta stood up.

"Michelle, how come you have time to visit us." Paul glanced at Grand Duke Lance.

"Originally, I thought that two of your subordinates would be able to consume some more Viturius for me? Cato's stamina, so that after I finish you in the semi-finals, I can easily win the championship. They weren't as tough as I expected, and it looked like I'd have had to work a little bit harder to beat Cato in the final. Michelle said.

"Sure enough, I've been dealing with the Rednap brothers for a long time, and my mouth is sharper than a sword."

"Ah, each other, who would have thought that the Sixth Legion Commander who looks like Mu Ne is actually a poisonous tongue?"

"Still, I guess you're probably not going to meet Cato." Paul is a pun.

"That's what I think for you, too." Michelle doesn't necessarily understand the second meaning.

"Alright, good luck, I'll have to send this bastard back to his lodgings to rest first, he needs a gentle and affectionate lady to take care of him now, rather than lying here and smelling the sweat of the old man." Paul said so suddenly, motioning for Nesta to lift Cannavaro away, and the other man nodded and went to pick up the wounded.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow morning, and don't let me down like your men did." Michelle gave way to them.