Wadsworth frowned. He had been counting on Julian’s immaturity to bring this matter to an end without offending either party, but Higgins was clearly willing to take extreme measures to restrain his spiraling young master.
He had yet to determine who the young man daring enough to clash with Reinfields was, but seeing the Director of Bank of United Archipelagos and both named partners of Smith & Holts called on his behalf, while Skyonee Island’s hero, Arnar, personally acted as his protector, he didn’t dare underestimate his background based on the information his people had dug up on him.
His identity clearly wasn’t as simple as that of an ordinary library archivist.
Wadsworth nodded at Higgins before turning to me.
"Mr. Chase, do you have anything to say for yourself?"
I smirked at Wadsworth and said, "You know what transpired. I won’t bother going over it. But I will add this: that slimefucker deserved the beating."
I paused and glanced at Julian, who appeared ready to fight at a moment’s notice, before continuing smugly, "He wants to kill me, and I want to teach the spoiled brat a lesson. I say we have a duel. Regardless of who wins, we walk away with a clean slate. Agreed?"
"My young master is in no shape to fight..."
"Agreed!"
Just as Higgins was about to reject my proposal, Julian grudgingly accepted.
Knowing it would be difficult to convince his young master otherwise, Higgins added, "Since you issued the challenge, we get to choose the time and place."
I immediately rejected his terms and made a counterproposal.
"Na-ah. This happened in the club, so the club will be responsible for organizing the duel. But you can choose the time and whether it will be a public or private fight."
I paused, then added with a smug smile, "If you choose a public fight, I suggest the money from ticket sales and TV rights goes to the loser. That should make it easier for him to walk away without any hard feelings."
Before Higgins could respond, Julian weakly agreed, "Works for me."
Then, turning to Wadsworth, he added, "The match will be held tonight. I want the whole nation to watch me kill his ass on national TV."
Wadsworth turned his gaze upon me. Upon receiving the silent affirmation of my nod, he spoke with absolute gravitas.
"As both parties have given their solemn consent, Millennium Acres hereby pledges, upon the sacred honor of our esteemed chairman, Lord Murry Fairfax, to host a fair and definitive duel this very evening. This contest shall be bound by the strictest Hunter’s Code of Honor and conducted without bias. At the stroke of half-past nine, the scales of justice shall be balanced impartially beneath the grand arches of our colosseum."
Watching Wadsworth and his security team saw to it that Julian, Higgins, and their group of friends left without causing any more trouble, Arnar asked, "Does this mean I can command the price now?"
"What makes you think that? The match is tonight, not right now. Mille could arrange an alternative by the afternoon."
I looked at Arnar, wondering if she really was the guild leader of a prestigious guild like Valorant. But I knew if not for Arnar, I would have been the one being led out by security, not them.
"Now that you mention it, I seem to have bought myself a lot more time than I originally thought. So, selling an aircraft worth three-quarters of a billion denars for a quarter billion denars seems like a rather steep price for the services rendered. I bet I can get a better—"
"Maybe, but we already shook on it, so you’re stuck with me."
Arnar cut me off and headed toward the exit without waiting for my response.
I caught up with her as she waited for the valet to bring her car around. A Phoebus Apollo worth a whopping 738 million denars.
It was a bright yellow supercar with golden accents that immediately reminded me of a Lamborghini from my days on Earth. But this thing was so much more than a Lamborghini.
It ran on a seventy-percent mana-blend fuel, allowing it to break Mach 1 barrier at top speed.
Its body was forged from lightweight, highly durable mana-blended alloys and fitted with highly resilient tires made using mana-blended latex and B-rank Rhinox monster hind, giving it an almost absurd level of structural integrity. Combined with an advanced aerodynamic design that practically glued it to the ground like a gecko to a wall, the Apollo didn’t even need a proper asphalt road to operate.
It could tear through rugged terrain, flattening everything in its path as it forged its own road.
It was basically a tank that looked and drove like a supersonic car.
In fact, to prove its brutal off-road capabilities, the Phoebus Motor Company had famously used an Apollo to carve a perfectly level 1.7-mile track through a raw rocky wasteland, earning them a world record.
Honestly, if not for its insane fuel consumption, there was no telling what else that mechanical beast could achieve.
The ridiculous part about this machine was that you couldn’t just buy it, even if you had the money. The company required every prospective buyer to undergo a three-days-long training regime and pass a rigorous practical test just to earn the right to purchase one. Even after surviving that long queue and finally getting their hands on the keys, buyers still needed special permits and a restricted license from the local authorities to drive it on public roads.
Of course, the entire bureaucratic process became a lot easier if you happened to be the Hero of Skyonee Island.
But the most absurd part of all? The Phoebus Motor Company strictly prohibited reselling the vehicle. You couldn’t even sell it back to them. If you were caught trying to flip one on the secondary market, the car would be remotely tracked, seized, and scrapped, while you would be slapped with a devastating lawsuit.
And yet, plenty of people were still willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money for one.