Kino stops off in a country reputed to be wonderful, but she finds that all visitors must participate in battle tournaments in a coliseum to become a first-class citizen in the surface city or be subjected to slavery as a second-class citizen in the sewage city, due to the law laid down by the country's hedonistic king. The eventual winner then has the right to make a new law. Abiding by this custom, Kino wins the first round when her opponent yields. Kino also meets Shizu, another contestant, who tells her that the current king murdered his father seven years ago to take the throne and had his children banished...