Chapter 332
Chapter 332
Principal Nulan announced solemnly: «With the joint efforts of all the participants, Cernos has collected eight hundred thousand keys worth thirty million points! The contribution of each team member brings Cernos first place in the forest tournament!»
«You must be ashamed of yourself, hypocrite!» … «Dick Baker did everything on his own!» … «Are you kidding? The other participants are nothing compared to him!» – The citizens of the Iron Throne shouted with laughter.
The former fan club members and the Grands were burning with humiliation. They wished they had never participated in this tournament.
Kyon stood on the platform, smiling and waving to the cheering audience. Vladimir’s confident and logical arguments had saved the day. Without his support, Kyon would have been crushed in the world where the strongest were always right. His plan had almost turned out to be a fatal mistake. If it wasn’t for the king Vladimir, Nulan wouldn’t have made it. He was too spineless and cowardly for this. It was a miracle that Dick Baker had won, and now it was time to take all the glory.
Nulan cleared his throat awkwardly to the accusations of the citizens: «As the winners, the Cernos participants are entitled to half of the total amount of the keys in proportion to each participant’s contribution. Since Dick Baker had collected ninety-eight percent of the keys, he gets four million five hundred and one thousand points, as well as the main award! Bravo!»
The audience gave a big round of applause and sniffed enviously when Kyon received 49% of all the keys collected by other schools, which made up approximately 200,000. Adding them to the keys he already had and averaging their quality, he had acquired about 1,000,000 keys of the third stage in the advanced phase.
Next, Dick Baker received 5,000,000 spheres. The harnessed wolf was ordered to obey him as his master, and at a rapturous round of ovation, Scarlet Meteor, the legendary ticket to the unattainable imperial phase, was handed over to the winner of the tournament.
When the box with invaluable medicine was in the fat freak’s hands, the first princess and the three princes trembled with the urge to attack him, snatch the treasure and go on the run. Luckily, their common sense prevailed.
Finally, Nulan hesitantly handed the winner a bag full of large gold coins with the Russell crest on the obverse and the token symbol on the reverse. There was also a document to acknowledge receipt that had to be sent to the Dantes ministry.
Kyon took a quick look at the document and noticed that the prize was awarded to Dick Grand: {Lousy bastard has issued the prize to the Grands… It won’t do.} – Before Kyon could express his indignation, he heard Kael’s loud voice.
«Gentlemen! Can I have your attention, please!»
Everyone fell silent and looked at the principal of Liberia.
«If my memory serves me right, the main award has never been given away to another empire in the entire history of the forest tournaments. Losing the transformation medicine, spheres, keys, and the wolf is bad enough, but who can explain what the foreigner will do with tokens? They are useless in his homeland! In this regard, I suggest that we divide them equally among the three leaders of the royal families. It will be only fair!» – He smiled slyly, finishing his speech.
King Vladimir burst out laughing: «What a stupid offer! Dick Baker was registered for the tournament as a Grand, but due to unforeseen circumstances, his title was taken away, therefore it is logical to assume that the tokens must belong to the Grands!»
The men stared at each other with overt hostility.
«Kael is absolutely right! We must share the tokens between three of us!» – Jezzaya, the principal of Athens, interrupted in the conversation.
{Sly fox!} – The other principals understood everything at once. Kael had offered to divide the award into three parts for a reason. He wanted Jezzaya to side with him and take action.
While the three of them kept bickering, Kyon snatched the bag with the tokens from Nulan, who was standing there taken aback, placed it in the ring, and gave it to the bird that flew away at once.
A stunned silence fell over the stands. The three rivals had an eloquent expression written all over their faces: “What the fuck?!”
Kyon cleared his throat: «Gentlemen, don’t get your hopes high. I won’t give anything to any of you. Not for free. The tokens have just been sent to my personal accountant in the Golden Pig guild, who will write out a safekeeping certificate…»
«What’s that supposed to mean?» – Vladimir asked, flabbergasted.
Kyon continued calmly: «Here is my offer for those of you who want to buy tokens. Send a notary with the money to the guild to perform the transaction. The token price starts with one hundred thousand spheres. Whoever offers the highest bid will get the lot with fifty tokens. One lot will be sold every day. That’s all I have to say.»
«Are you… Are you crazy?» – Kael finally lost it. – «Are you sure that the Russells will allow you to own tokens after all? How dare you arrange an auction for us? Stupid piece of shit! No one in their right mind will ever cooperate with you! Tokens are worth nothing in your hands. How can you ask for a whopping hundred thousand spheres for each coin? Listen to me, stupid boy. Give them back if you don’t want to get yourself in trouble!» – He broke into a scream.
Kyon snorted coldly: «First of all, according to the first paragraph of Article101 of Rosarrian economic law, foreigners can own tokens on the condition that they resell them within three months. Otherwise, the empress formation will dissipate, turning them into nothing. Second, Tokens are usually sold in extremely limited quantities, no more than fifty to one hundred at a time. As a rule, their price varies from two hundred to three hundred thousand spheres. I sell them for one hundred thousand, so it’s the height of arrogance and stupidity to blame me for setting a high price. Third, if you, principal Kael, consider yourself better than others, you don’t have to buy anything. No one forces you. The authorities from other kingdoms will buy the tokens. It’s their right, after all.» – He said, falling out of Dick Baker’s character. Anyway, something would save his image of an idiot.
{SON OF BITCH!} – Kael thought, turning purple with anger.
At some point, Vladimir straightened his shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief: {Оh! He had everything covered! Of course…}
Other principals shared his opinion. They could not believe that Dick had planned out the scenario of his victory even before the tournament began. He had incredible foresight! The fat freak was not an idiot as he seemed to be at first, at second, and at third sight. His wealthy parents must have instructed him about everything. It couldn’t have been any other way. There still was a chance to buy the most coveted currency, and buy it in bulk! It was an opportunity not to be missed! And if they managed to cooperate, they would buy two or three lots at a minimal price! The august family would be delighted with their deal.
They didn’t know that Kyon had thought of this a month before the tournament. The daily auction was going to be held behind closed doors in strict anonymity. There would be no way the buyers could see each other. Whatever agreement they might reach, they could outbid each other’s bet without the risk of being discovered. Lovr was counting on collecting the maximum resources from all the kingdoms of the empire. However, even in the best-case scenario, they wouldn’t get any poorer. The rulers of the kingdoms always had treasuries full of money.
When the principals had nothing more to say, Kyon ordered the wolf to take the animal form, saddled him and rushed off, his chin proudly raised.
About five thousand people watched him leave with a variety of expressions on their faces. Be that as it may, the fat freak had left an indelible impression in their hearts for a very long time…
Princess Haya discreetly activated the family formation on her wrist and whispered: «My faithful knight! Go after Dick Baker at once. Brutally kill and rob him. Do everything as quietly as can be. Destroy the evidence. Follow the order now.»
The tall man obeyed Her Highness and quietly left the stands. Using a concealment technique, he rushed after the fat freak on the wolf. Haya’s father had always cherished his only dear daughter. That’s why he gave her one of the best knights in the kingdom in the beginning stages of the royal phase.
When Haya learned that Dick was nothing but a pathetic advanced phaser, she made a firm decision to get rid of him. She was going to get her revenge, as well as the nephrite with the indecent recording, her honestly deserved Scarlet Meteor, and a ton of keys as moral compensation.
She closed her eyes and saw herself become an imperial phaser. With such power, her authority would rise to the most influential families in Dantes, the capital of the empire. That’s what her talent was given her for.
The princess would never have told anyone about the incident in the forest, not even her own father. Her devoted knight wasn’t supposed to know anything. The secret of Dick Baker blackmailing her would go to the grave with her. But before that, the wretched freak must die.
The knight rushed along the road, scanning the area, but, contrary to his expectations, he did not find his target. It struck him as weird. Scanning helped him see everything half a kilometer away. Where could they have gone? Two hours later, the knight lost all hope and returned to his lady. The awards ceremony had just come to an end, and the princess was waiting inside the royal carriage.
«How could you miss him?» – Haya lost her temper listening to the knight’s report.
«I am sorry, my lady… I’ve looked everywhere but I couldn’t find him…»
«I don’t need your excuses!» – The princess bit her finger nervously. – «Alright, anyway. I guess he will hole up in Cernos. Find out where he lives and do what must be done while I’m waiting for the news at the hotel.»
«Yes, my lady.» – The knight bowed to her.
«But first, I’m afraid I have pressing business elsewhere…» – Haya recalled the database.
Meanwhile, Kyon was galloping on the tigress’s back over rough terrain towards Cernos. The stunned wolf was following them. He had never expected to see his new master astride an alpha beast whose level of cultivation was exorbitant.
Lovr stayed in a little pre-rented house outside Boston. There was a ring with a certain medicine waiting for him on the table. His subordinates had recently bought it from the Stones.
Triana took the human form and put on her underwear, growling angrily: «I thought you were strong! I thought you could crush noble and lord phasers! You are nothing but one hell of a cheater! You’ve been using attacking formations all the time! Why is my master such a weakling! I am so disappointed in you! Gr-r-r-r…»
Kyon understood that strength for supreme beasts was an indicator of status but said nothing. She must be hurt to serve a “weakling,” but he couldn’t care less. He took out his alchemy kit and began to brew some medicine.
«You have nothing to say, huh! It makes me so mad… What a shame! You could at least try and convince me otherwise! Are you really worthless without your money? It’s terrible… You are so…» – The tigress kept lamenting, wagging her tail in frustration and doing laps around the room.
«Wolf! Get in here in the human form.» – Kyon ordered in a cold voice, grinding a plant with a mortar and pestle.
The gray beast uncertainly opened the door with its muzzle and went inside, taking the form of a man with wolf’s whiskers, ears, and tail. He gazed with awe at the beautiful girl. White tigers were considered the kings of the forest, and this girl, judging by her appearance and excessive cultivation, was one of the strongest representatives of her kind.
Triana walked around the naked man with his tail between his legs: «You smell of fear… Too weak for your age. You’re a disgrace to the ancient bloodline of wolves…» – When the tigress finished her examination, she ordered sternly in her language: «Drop to your knees before me!»
The wolf whimpered and obeyed with a shudder.
«Tell me about yourself.» – Kyon said in the same dialect.
The wolf was greatly surprised to hear the noble language from the human’s mouth: «Wolfie is an ordinary warrior of General Verior… Wolfie failed the task and was sent on a raid as punishment where he was captured and harnessed.»
«I see… Do you know this tigress’s name?»
«No, I don’t…»
«Alright, then you’re free to go.»
«Huh?!» – Triana raised her eyebrows in surprise.
The wolf’s eyes widened in shock: «I must have misunderstood you, sir.»
Kyon looked up from his alchemic task and glanced at the wolf with no interest: «You are a weak, morally crushed supreme beast who won’t ever reach the peak of the noble phase. I don’t need you. I release you from the power of your formation. You may go to your homeland and live as you wish. Only… stay away from humans. It’s my only order.»
The wolf’s eyes welled up with tears of boundless gratitude. He even squealed with happiness: «You… You… You’re the kindest of all humans that Wolfie has ever met… Wolfie will never forget you! Wolfie will stay away from all humans and tell his kind that there are nice humans after all!» – The wolf-man bowed to his former master with gratitude and to the shocked tigress with respect. Then he turned into a beast and headed towards the forest.
Ten percent of light in the core was worth letting the wolf go. Kyon knew that Wolfie would not ruin his life by telling his kind about the harnessed white tiger. The third princess had left the forest kingdom unnoticed, so her father still believed that she was hiding with her uncle somewhere nearby.
«Did you really let him go on the grounds of his uselessness?» – Triana was surprised beyond words. – «Greedy humans are supposed to follow the rule “the more, the better!”» – The tigress was once again convinced that her master was an unusual person. Humans would never let a supreme beast go. They would have killed Wolfie at the very least, but more likely, they would have resold him! Kyon’s decision impressed her once again.
«I agree with you, but I have no desire to mess with crushed weaklings. As for the reselling him… I don’t approve of intelligent beings trafficking. Besides, I have enough resources, and I don’t see the situation changing any time soon.»
«Then… If you let him go… Maybe you will set me free, as well?» – Triana asked ingratiatingly, leaning gently on his shoulders.
Kyon chuckled wryly: «No… Never. Forget about it.»