Kino did not allow her expression to change. "I understand perfectly. I have one more question: Has everyone who participated been willing? Have they been aware that they would be fighting to the death? Or have there been people like me, ordinary travelers who stumbled in without knowing the rules? Who didn't even want to stay here, let alone become permanent citizens?"
This made all the guards snort and cackle. Finally, Taro collected himself and said, "There are a few, yeah- idiots like you. They usually get killed in the first round. They cry and beg, trying to surrender-as if their opponent is gonna let them. I remember one couple drove in with a horse and cart, and in a beautiful stroke of luck got to fight each other in the first round! The wife surrendered and survived 'cause he let her, but the husband was killed in the next round. It was so romantic!"
Taro doubled over with laughter and the other guards cackled at the memory. None of them noticed that Kino's eyes had narrowed dangerously.
"Lead me to it, then," she said.
"Oh joy," murmured Hermes.
One of the guards stopped laughing long enough to gasp, "Did you say something?" His eyes met Kinds and he swallowed his laughter.
"I said lead me to it." Her gaze, cold and hard as ice, did not waver.
The guards' laughter tapered off. There was a long silence, punctuated by the shuffling of booted feet and the creak of gun belts.
Finally, one of the guards spoke up. "Hey now, little boy-girl, you really want to fight? You think you can win? Do you even have a weapon? Or were you planning on using that cute little face to your advantage? Ain't that many fighters go for your type, you know."
"Yeah," chortled Taro. "It's like with fish: most folk throw 'em back if they're too small."
The guards guffawed, but their laughter was silenced by a deafening and prolonged roar. Six white helmets leapt from their pegs and the narrow access filled with white smoke. It took the startled men several moments to notice the gun in Kino's right hand.
"Will this do?" asked Kino, retuning the Cannon to the holster on her right thigh.
"You little—!" The young gate guard leapt at her, hands going for her throat. He froze when he felt the muzzle of a semiautomatic pressed into his forehead.
"Say 'hello' to the Woodsman. D'you think it qualifies as a weapon... boy?"
Silence.
"I'm entering your contest," Kino said, then turned and walked away.
"What a mess!" exclaimed Hermes, as they moved deeper into the city.
Everywhere they looked there were piles of garbage. But this wasn't the dump; the entire town was filled with trash. The buildings and roads were filthy and had obviously not been maintained for years. A number of citizens were lying in the road, sleeping, dressed in filthy clothes. The town was quiet. A number of fat dogs were picking over the trash heaps. The whole place stank.
"See the town, know the people, right, Kino? Or is it the other way around?" Hermes was hyper-aware of the pair of guards following close behind.
Kino pushed him forward in silence, never glancing back.
After several turns down streets of unremitting squalor, they reached the coliseum. This was the elliptical structure they had seen from a distance. Close up it looked like a broken bowl. Great cracks had opened up in the limestone facing, exposing the rusted metal framework underneath.
"l don't know when this place was built or by whom," Kino said, covering his unease with sarcasm, "but they did a terrible job. The designer had as little talent as the builder had skill. Shoddy, shoddy workmanship."
The guards ignored this, leading Kino and Hermes to a room beneath the coliseum, telling them it was the contestants' "lodgings." It was hardly worthy of that grand title and was only marginally better than a dungeon. There as a tiny window high in the wall, above a bed so worn that the springs protruded here and there. But the sink and toilet had running water, at least.
Hermes couldn't help but note that it was cool, dark, and not too damp. Which only goes to prove the old saying that you should be careful what you ask for.
"What a dump," he complained aloud the moment the guards left them.
Kino took off her coat and rolled it up. "It wasn't always this way. It used to be a great country, one no traveler should miss." She sounded wistful.
"How do you know?" Hermes asked. "You been reading travel brochures or something? I never get to read anything interesting."
Kino sat down on the bed, drew out the Woodsman, and laid it on the blanket next to her. "You remember that couple the guards mentioned?"
"The one with the cart and-Oh! We met them... somewhere... didn't we?"
Kino smiled weakly. "Getting old, Hermes? Yes, that couple. To tell you the truth, l don't remember where or when we met them either, but I do remember what the woman told me about this place. They were looking for it because of what they'd heard. Little or no poverty, wise leadership, work and food for all."
"Sounds nice... Oh, I get it. That's why you were so happy on the way here. You thought this was going to be fun."
"Yeah. Fun. You remember fun?" Kino rose and unloaded the baggage from Hermes' carrier, then pulled out five empty magazines for the Woodsman and laid them out on the bed.
"You serious about this, Kino?"
"About what?" Kino took the Cannon out of its holster and dismantled it, pulling the barrel away from the grip.
"The contest. I know you were insulted, but there's no reason to play along with this city's crazy laws. Maim your first opponent—just a little, of course — and when he's about to give up, surrender to him instead. Then we can leave this place behind."
"I could do that."
Kino removed the Cannon's cylinder, then produced two empty cylinders from one of the pouches.
"But you're not gonna, are you?"
Kino loaded one of the empty cylinders into the Cannon and said, "Only as a last resort."
"Last resort? Good grief, Kino, what's the first resort? You aren't seriously going to participate?"
"Why not? If everything wraps up in three days, l might as well finish it."
Using something that looked like a veterinary hypodermic, Kino proceeded to pour a green liquid explosive into the Cannon's six empty chambers. After this, she put in a piece of felt wadding and a bullet.
Kino reassembled the gun. Then she slid each bullet into its chamber, being careful not to pack them too tightly. She greased the tops of the bullets to prevent sparks reading from one chamber to the next when the gun was d. She used a loader to place a percussion cap on the back of each cylinder so that when the hammer struck it, it would ignite the liquid explosive in the chamber.
Watching Kino's grave expression as she prepared the gun gave Hermes a serious case of the willies. "Once you make up your mind, there's no talking to you, you know that?"
Kino checked to make sure the Cannon's cylinder was rotating smoothly. Then she smiled girlishly. "Well, you know what they always say: 'If you don't test your limits, they get harder to reach."
"You made that up."
"So-o-o," said Kino, exhaling slowly, "that's the king."
Striding toward the center of the field of battle – alone, as she'd left Hermes behind in the underground room to guard their belongings – she gazed up at the man sitting in conspicuous, tawdry luxury in his bulletproof royal box. He wore a crown and ostentatious clothing. The crown, oddly, was of a simple and elegant design, which made it clash all the more with the king's gaudy outfit. On either side of His Highness were young women clad in equally flashy costumes that reflected colorfully in the encompassing glass.
"And these must be the glorious citizens." Kino gazed around at the audience. Young and old, men and women – the seats were filled to the brim with spectators revved up and calling for blood.
She smiled grimly, remembering Hermes' last words to her when she'd been taken from their cell. "Try not to die."
I'll do my best, she thought.
Except for the circular clearing she now approached, the elliptical field was scattered with wrecked vehicles and rubble from demolished buildings, apparently intended to offer "cover" to contestants.