Wednesday's event was the most important and most entertaining one: Equestrian Duel. The thirty-six contestants were divided into eighteen pairs, with the winners advancing to the next round until the final victor was decided.
Of course, since one of the contestants had died ahead of time, the first round had lucky ones who received byes. Everyone who heard the news of the death during the drawing hoped they would get one. Even Shade felt it would be best if he could save some effort, but unfortunately, he did not have that kind of luck this time.
Since this was an armored duel, all the contestants arrived early to prepare their armor and horses. With Dorothy absent, Tifa led the maids in helping Shade put on his armor, then watched him ride into the arena.
Shade's first opponent was Mr. Dune Visworth, his "teammate" from the previous two rounds. The gentleman rode a purebred Miltiris Steppe Black Horse. Besides wearing armor himself, he had prepared metal blinkers and a rather handsome horse blanket for his mount.
With their feet in the stirrups, one hand gripping a sword and the other controlling the reins, the two men first made a few simple probing exchanges before clashing for the first time. Then, as he clenched his wooden sword with a numbed hand, Mr. Dune Visworth reached a dreadful conclusion:
"My speed and strength are far inferior to his."
And so, Shade won the first match without any surprise.
The matches among the thirty-five contestants required a total of five rounds. Starting at nine in the morning, the competition continued until sunset, and only then had the third round just concluded. The four contestants who advanced to the semifinals included Shade and Mr. Eric Follen. Eric's younger brother had unfortunately been defeated by his