Ratnatraya, the capital city of Nirvana. Mira remembered it as being quite a big city, and in the last thirty years it had only grown even more. A population of half a million seemed like a very safe estimate considering its size.
The streets were well taken care of, with plenty of street lights to make them safe even at night. The brick buildings lining the streets were also reminiscent of late nineteenth century London, making it easy to imagine Sherlock Holmes walking around there.
Only the enormous tournament arena stood out in the cityscape, next to which Mira and Bruce landed.
The scenery on the ground was also quite different, resembling the surroundings of a Colosseum. It was also filled with festive crowds, showing just how big of a deal the tournament was.
“Well then, I’ll leave the tournament in your hands. I don’t expect you to win if she takes part, but I hope you can make it up to the finals at least.”
“I’ll try my best…”
There were many reasons why Mira had stayed for a week in Valhalla, but the main one was to get Bruce ready to perform well in the tournament.
It was still too early to tell whether they had accomplished that, but at the very least, Bruce was far stronger than when they first met. At least it was fair to say that he had gotten past his limits.
Mira was hopeful that Bruce would do well, painting summoners in a good light once again. She had been barred from participating in the tournament, so all the responsibility to do that rested on Bruce’s shoulders now.
There was also the likely chance that Meilin would take part, making it much harder for him to win. So Mira was just hoping for an impactful performance from his part to be satisfied.
“I’ll be seeing you around then. Also, here’s a farewell gift from me, and don’t neglect your daily training.”
This was as far as they would travel together, as further ahead was the tournament registration desk. But before leaving, Mira gave Bruce a notebook.
“What…is this?!”
Bruce took the notebook and looked through it, his eyes widening with shock. It contained information on how to further expand the skills he had learned in Valhalla. As Mira explained, his training was not over after that week, and she had thought of a training plan he could follow even while the tournament was ongoing.
“Thank you very much! I promise I’ll make good use of your teachings and study diligently!”
There was still some time before the actual tournament matches would start, so that notebook would allow him to keep training and become even stronger when the time came.
He had suddenly found himself enlisting into the free-for-all division, but now even he was starting to believe that he had a chance. But more importantly, he was delighted to be able to learn even more from one of the Nine Wisemen.
Since Bruce was going to participate in the tournament, he lined up to register. Mira went on a different way, quickly scouting the surroundings. Her main priority now was to find Meilin, assuming she was there.
There was still a week before the preliminaries, so at least Mira had ample time to search for her. Not to mention that with all the strong combatants that already gathered, there already were streetfights on a smaller scale happening nearby.
Knowing her, there was a high likelihood she was already embroiled in some sort of 1 vs. 100 fight somewhere. With that in mind, Mira began looking for the more hot headed crowds.
(It looks like it’s been a while since the last time there was a festival of this scale…)
There were countless stalls serving food or for other activities. Not everything was related to fighting either, there were quiz shows, fashion shows, orchestra performances, and things of the sort.
There was something for everyone to enjoy there, almost like a collection of all sorts of amusement spots.
Surrounded by all of that, it was only a matter of time before Mira got distracted, regardless of how strong her determination to search was.
(Mhmm… There’s no better companion than this when watching!)
Mira stood in front of a platform, holding a plate with various pastries in one hand, and a fruit sour cocktail on the other. She was watching a Magical Knights showcase, as they unveiled their new autumn collection.
On top of that, they also revealed their brand new line of clothing named Magical Lady, aimed at a more mature audience, which was received with thunderous applause. Those designs had a more intellectual and grounded appearance, with only a hint of whimsical flourishes.
(Ah, that looks like something Luminaria would be into.)
Those were Mira’s thoughts as she watched the show all the way to the end.
“Mira! I knew it was you!”
With the show over, Mira recalled she was supposed to be searching for Meilin and stood up, when someone suddenly called to her, someone who seemed to know Mira.
Wondering who that was, Mira turned around and saw a blonde lady, fully clad in Magical Girl style clothes.
“Hmm…you’re…”
She seemed familiar, but with Mira’s usual struggle at remembering faces, she could not pinpoint where she had seen that girl before. All Mira knew was that they had met somewhere.
Seeing Mira stunned in thought trying to remember, the lady decided to give her a hint to jog her memory.
“We sat together on the continental train, remember? I even took a picture of you for Magical Knights.”
She raised a camera and reenacted that moment. That finally made Mira remember, as she loudly exclaimed, “Ahhh! Yes, I remember now!”
But it was not enough for Mira to remember the lady’s name, so she had to Examine the lady before acting like she just recalled the name and said, “Theresa, right?”
“Aww, you remember? I’m so glad!”
Theresa smiled happily, then leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. “By the way…” she began, asking if Mira was the Spirit Queen who had recently been spotted in Sentopolly and Haxthausen.
“Yes, that’s me.”
Seeing no reason to hide the truth, Mira replied confidently. That only made Theresa beam even more as she exclaimed, “I knew it! Can I please take more pictures?!”