"..."

Kaltrina's silence was almost audible with the sheer disbelief exuded from her arm-crossed frame. Somewhere in the distance, roars from that stupid tournament could be heard.

The Blue Mage really wanted to snark heavily at something, but she was at a bit of a loss. After all, it was tough to disagree that, food it may be, the stuff was difficult to recognise as such. Poke fun at her introduction? Perhaps, but there was a crowd drawing, and she didn't want idiots leaping to defend other idiots. Then she'd be stuck facing off against an Idiot Army. Idiot Armies were, like, the third worst thing she could face in this life filled with mediocre peers. The moogle was already acting up and screaming gibberish at her, after all.

With a 'hmph' and a flourishing motion as she adjusted her glinting glasses, Kaltrina slapped on a condescending smirk, saying, "...I don't care who you are, foolish girl. Just don't dare presume you can feed from my scraps again." The arrogant mage turned to leave.

Meanwhile, a traveling caravan was approaching the festival grounds. The large wagon, covered in a thick cloth, obviously held some kind of beast within. It was scheduled for a gladiatorial battle against the finest soldiers of the four kingdoms, for the citizens to watch. Officially, it was supposed to symbolise unity against adversity, but it was rather rare to find anyone who actually knew this these days. Whatever creature lay within was not exactly weak, and there was great difficulty in capturing it, but it seemed docile enough for now.