By Zephyria 
“Kyaaaa!”
“Jeez, you scared me―”
“That’s right!”
The second row from the very back of the audience, the left edge that was relatively less noticeable. Three people sitting side by side were boisterous with shouts. Actually, it was the two on either side who were making noise, and the woman sandwiched in the middle had only flinched.
“Did you see that? What did I tell you? I told you Orca would save him, right?”
The woman who had raised both arms and shouted first grabbed the shoulder of the person next to her and shook her wildly. Woman 2, who had glared at her in surprise, crossed her arms and swayed as the other pushed her. She seemed annoyed, but she only made a face that said, ‘Here we go again,’ and didn’t shake her off.
“Not a dolphin, but an Orca. And I don’t like that bastard. He keeps sticking to Ryan.”
“Ooh, our leader♡, I knew he wasn’t dead yet? If I were there, I would have kissed him―”
Woman 1, making a nasal sound, hugged her reluctant companion tightly. Even so, her gaze was directed at Ryan, the prisoner of Team Joker, who had just won. The figure looked as small as a dot, but to them, it was a silhouette clearer than anyone else.
“Why don’t you go kiss somewhere else and get off me? How much perfume did you spray?”
Woman 2, sitting in the middle, wrinkled her nose, blocking it with her index finger and thumb. It was faint, but the smell of rusty iron and rotten blood was mixed with the strong fragrance. Because she was wearing a hat, it wasn’t openly revealed, but the ends of her crumpled eyebrows, ears, nose, lips, and even her tongue. The fancy piercings, enough to give the impression that she was in pain, wriggled along with her facial muscles.
Not a short cut, but a cool two-block hairstyle, and loose-fitting clothes. She often heard that she was handsome because of her rough, calloused hands and solid physique. However, she only had a neutral appearance and voice, and was clearly a biological woman.
“Well, I have to do this much to see our leader. What’s with your appearance, even if it’s a disguise?”
In contrast, Woman 1, wearing a tight two-piece suit, shook the pearl decoration on her hat and retorted. Her eyes were hidden behind dark-colored glasses, but it was clear that she was very excited. The plump lips, filled with purple-colored makeup, curved pleasantly.
“I don’t think your appearance is appropriate either.”
“Yeah― shut up.”
“Yes.”
The man sitting on the right butted in for no reason, only to be told off and shrink back. The thick leather jumper and fingerless gloves were shiny with oil stains from the lubricant. On the other hand, the loose balaclava that came up to his eyes was unusually clean, as if he had obtained it in a hurry. The overall attire was discordant.
All three of them looked a little suspicious, but they didn’t stand out much when mixed in with the crowd. More than half of the people around them had painted their faces to enjoy the festive atmosphere. The arena was packed with people wearing various masks, costumes, and matching dress codes. In that gap, fly-colored glasses worn as camouflage were just a hot woman’s deviation, according to Woman 1, Taylor.
“Ah―, I want to see him a little closer. It’s been too long since I’ve seen our leader.”
“We’re going to meet him soon. And if our leader knows that the four of us came here, he’ll grab the back of his neck again.”
Pierce, next to her, moderately soothed his grumbling companion. Her haughty eyes drooped, and Taylor gripped the back of the empty seat in front of her as if she would pull it out.
“A person who used to be carefree is now worrying too much.”
She muttered, unable to take her eyes off her leader, as she fiddled with the nail decorations she had done after a long time.
“We’ll take care of it well enough.”
<Orca is responding to the cheers of the audience!>
Waaaaaaah―
The heated atmosphere became even more intense. Praise poured out for Team Joker, who had shown a wonderful game. Orca, standing on the Floating Stone at the top of the stadium, waved his hand, then grabbed the hand of his teammate Ryan and raised his arm together.
Pierce’s face grew colder and colder as he watched the scene.
“I really don’t like that bastard.”
“But thanks to him, our leader won. Okay, we’ve seen the result, so let’s get ready to go. If we keep dawdling, we’ll all lose our heads―.”
Finder checked the pocket watch attached to his pants and urged them in a languid voice. It was a relaxed attitude that didn’t match the terrifying remark. He then opened the back of the watch and took out a portable electric shocker that he had smuggled in.
“Just in case, one more time.”
When he brought the electrified tip to the side of his neck, a small spark popped, pibit. He rubbed his tingling neck and handed the shocker to Pierce, who was sitting next to him.
Pierce, who received it, lowered his head halfway, stuck out his tongue, and brought the shocker to the end of his piercing. His expression distorted for a moment, but he licked the tip of his tongue as if nothing had happened and raised his head with an indifferent face. Then he handed the shocker to Taylor, who was disgusted next to him.
“Ugh, disgusting. You should have given it to me first.”
“Then why don’t you sit here?”
“It’s already been 30 minutes? Why isn’t Nero here yet?”
Taylor, who looked around, took the shocker with a sulky expression and tucked her hair behind her ear. Then, she lightly pricked two sharp needles behind her left ear. It was a trick to make the trackers implanted in her skin useless for a certain period of time.
Of course, it couldn’t be used often, and it was useful for avoiding surveillance for less than two hours about once or twice a month. Leonardo had told them not to use it unless it was really necessary, as there could be potential dangers. But now that they could see their leader from afar, who they couldn’t meet easily, it was the very necessary timing for Team Joker.
Around that time, Man 2, who was carrying hot dogs and snacks in both hands, came running in a hurry. He didn’t cover his face separately, but his impression was very ordinary, and unlike his bland features, his physique revealed over his clothes gave the feeling that he used his body a bit.
He hurriedly approached the three people, looked back and forth between his colleagues and the center of the stadium, and then asked in a hollow tone.
“What? Is it already over?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? But why did you take so long? Did you make it yourself?”
“It’s because the senior ordered so much! I was standing there for a long time by myself, and this is the fastest I could get here!”
“Okay, take this. We have to go now.”
Taylor, who got up from her seat, threw the paper bags that had been lined up at her feet at Nero’s chest. Nero, who lowered his posture in a hurry, barely held her belongings in his arms.
“I hope they release a Ryan winning commemorative pendant next time―.”
“Ah, senior! Wait a minute!”
“Let’s go, kid. Lower your voice.”
At Nero’s annoyed voice, Taylor smiled brightly, tapped his cheek, and passed by. She crossed the aisle behind the seats and headed towards the exit with an elegant gait. It may have been buried in the shouts, but her footsteps were not heard even though the heels were quite high. Pierce, who got up lazily, nudged Nero’s back, who was panting.
“I’ll hold a few, so hurry up and follow her.”
“Agh, I didn’t even get to see much! Did our leader win?”
“Then would he have lost? Who is our leader?”
Pierce took two paper bags disguised as shopping items instead. Inside were Taylor’s combat clothes, soaked in an unknown liquid. Pierce, who roughly closed the entrance with a foul smell, soothed Nero, saying that he would tell him in detail later.
Nero, who kept peeking at the stadium with regret, imprinted Leonardo’s shadow in his eyes for the last time and busily followed Taylor.
Finder, who got up last, put his hands in his pockets and walked out leisurely. Pierce, who was naturally waiting, hid his body behind a pillar in the back of the audience and opened his mouth.
“Senior.”
Pierce, who called him tentatively, pointed to one place with his eyes.
“Over there.”
Finder, who had no reaction, looked back at the same place.
He prides himself on being better than birds of prey when it comes to finding targets. Three men and women dressed in black came into view.
Like them, they were standing in the corner, looking at the center of the stadium and whispering something.
“Over there too.”
Pierce rolled his eyes and gestured again. This time, there were two white uniforms with gold thread tassels dangling from them. It was a slightly different form from the Council’s uniform, and it meant the Imperial Knights. Wearing the uniform meant that infiltration was not the purpose. However, it was a somewhat unsettling presence for Dark Silver who had infiltrated the crowd in plain clothes.
Finder asked.
“Why are they there?”
“I think they’re high-ranking officials. They usually don’t go out much.”
“Many high-ranking officials come to the league to scout participants.”
“They’ve been hanging around since the preliminaries?”
“They must have a lot of time left. Unlike us.”
Finder shrugged and answered nonchalantly. Pierce, who twitched his eyebrows, added.
“Ha, don’t joke around. Should I share it with our leader, or not?”
“If we tell him, it’s like admitting that we came here, isn’t it? Let’s leave it for now.”
There was no seriousness in Finder’s answer as he yawned. He stretched his stiff arms to the sides, then rubbed his teary eyes with his palms.
“I know you’re uneasy, but I want our leader to enjoy this moment. Standing in front of people and listening to the cheers. Getting some fresh air.”
“…….”
“Our leader likes that kind of thing. Pretending not to care.”
Pierce did not answer the clear answer. It was a reaction that he didn’t like it somewhere, so Finder put his arm around his junior’s shoulder in a friendly manner.
He chuckled nonchalantly and led his colleague with a relaxed gait.
“If anything happens, we can just get rid of them.”