Chapter 56
I sat there dumbfounded. How did Lian Qi get into a head-to-head confrontation with him?
Lian Qi’s words seemed to have “rubbed Ivan’s scales the wrong way.”1 Perhaps no one had ever competed with him in terms of money his entire life. I just heard him say, exasperated and furious, “You really don’t know who I am, do you? It’s just a measly restaurant. You really think I can’t buy it?”
I remember Ivan’s father is one of the members of the Magic Academy’s board of directors. He funded the construction of the Magic Academy’s castle. He’s indeed very rich.
“You don’t know who I am, either. If you’re not convinced, let’s compete.” Lian Qi dropped this line, turned around, and came back to my side. Ivan slammed the table and stood up— “I’ll write a letter home right now. You punk, if you’ve got guts, don’t you run!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t run. I’ll just sit right here and wait to watch your face get slapped pa-pa by me.” Lian Qi plopped down next to me, and I scooted over a bit to give her space.
“Where is your raven perch?” Ivan casually asked a waitress. tlnote the hell is a raven perch and pa-pa
“Th-that… Turn right outside the door.”
Ivan pointed at Lian Qi, still muttering something under his breath, seemingly saying, “You just wait.” Then, he swaggered off to write a letter home.
At this moment, the black-haired waitress came over to Lian Qi’s side and said uneasily, “Um… thank you for standing up for me, but that person seems to be serious. His family might really be very rich. You should hurry up and leave while he’s gone.”
“No. I just said, I’m sitting right here to watch his performance,” Lian Qi said nonchalantly, crossing her arms.
In no time, Ivan returned. When he saw that Lian Qi really hadn’t run, a smug expression appeared on his face.
“I’ve already sent the letter. I was worried you punk would chicken out and run while I was gone. I’m doing this today specifically to slap your face. If you ran, it wouldn’t be fun anymore,” he said viciously.
“Heh heh, I’ll just quietly wait and watch your splendid performance.”
Lian Qi brushed it off with a cold laugh and whispered in my ear, “Go tell your Queen that I want to buy this restaurant. Go on, just say it’s part of the plan to defeat the Demon King.”
“E-eh????”
Things had already escalated to this point, so I couldn’t say much. I could only do as she instructed. “Please excuse me for a moment.” I gave a slight smile and got up to walk toward the door.
Buying a restaurant is part of the plan to defeat the Demon King… Ahem. I really don’t know what kind of expression Queen Tristina will have when she sees this letter. Anyway, there’s already a precedent. For example, when Lian Qi asked for a villa, didn’t Tristina agree, even if she had her doubts? What if it really is related to defeating the Demon King? Right? Therefore, satisfying all of the Transmigrator’s strategic requests is beyond reproach.
In short, after Ivan sent his raven flying, my raven was also on its way. As for what will happen next, I’ll just wait and see!
I returned to the restaurant and secretly gave Lian Qi an “OK” gesture. When Ivan saw me return, he had a look of utter disdain. In his eyes, Lian Qi might be the child of some noble, but it was impossible for her to be richer than him.
I couldn’t be bothered with him either. At this moment, my three-tiered afternoon tea set and Lian Qi’s steak were already on the table. The moment I sat down, Lian Qi cut a piece of steak and held it to my lips. I froze for a second, startled by her “feeding” gesture.
“Thanks for the hard work,” Lian Qi said to me.
Urk… Doing this in public is a bit embarrassing. Especially in Ivan’s eyes, he’ll probably think we’re showing off our affection, right? Even though I don’t like the spicy taste of black pepper sauce, I still let her feed me a bite.
Uwaah… A whole mouthful of black pepper flavor. I quickly took a sip of rose tea to wash it down.
Time passed, minute by minute. When we were halfway through our meal, I was holding my teacup and saw a group of people burst through the door. I saw they were all uniformly dressed in black formal wear and sunglasses. One of them was even carrying a briefcase.
It looks like Ivan’s family arrived first.
“Look at them. They’ve got the whole ‘mafia’ vibe going on,” Lian Qi said dismissively.
“I’m sorry, what does ‘mafia’ mean…?” I asked weakly.
I saw the man place the black briefcase heavily on the table in front of Ivan. It seemed very heavy. Ivan crossed his legs and shot us a smug glance.
“Young Master, all the money is here,” the leader said respectfully.
“Very good.” Ivan waved his hand leisurely and said to a waitress, “Go, get your boss. Ask him if this much money is enough to buy this shop.”
As he spoke, he opened the briefcase, revealing a case full of gold bars! The customers in the shop who were watching the spectacle all gasped in amazement— “So much gold!? Forget one shop, that’s enough to buy ten shops—!”
“The boss couldn’t spend all that in a lifetime!”
Hearing them, does this mean the winner of this wealth competition has already been decided?
Ivan turned the case full of gold bars to face us directly, gloating and shouting, “I bet you two can’t possibly produce this much gold, can you?”
Lian Qi let out a cold, dismissive laugh. “Is this your entire performance?”
“I think you’re just being stubborn!” Ivan wagged his finger, pointing at Lian Qi. “I don’t care whose son you are, no one in the entire Royal Capital is richer than my family.”
“In your eyes, money is omnipotent, is that it?”
“Sorry, but being rich does mean you can do whatever you want.” Ivan revealed a smug face. The men in black with sunglasses behind him seemed to think their young master’s words made a lot of sense, and they pursed their lips in a supportive smirk.
Just at this moment, the main door was pushed open a second time. Queen Tristina’s direct guard, “Valkyrie” Sylviel, led a vast contingent of Royal Knights and surrounded the restaurant.
The fully-armored Sylviel waved her hand, her white cloak swirling, and her aura intimidated everyone present. I saw her present an imperial edict, stamped with the Queen’s royal seal, and declare loudly— “In the name of the Guardian of all Europa, the Holy Flame Queen Tristina Mereril, the land this restaurant sits on has been requisitioned by the Queen!”
Not a single person dared to speak. Everyone, including Ivan, was dumbstruck. Until Sylviel handed the edict to Lian Qi, no one had connected this spectacle to Lian Qi!
“Sign this, and this land is yours. The building on it is included,” Sylviel said to Lian Qi in front of everyone.
Lian Qi glanced at Ivan and casually signed her name.
“Sorry. You said being rich means you can do whatever you want, but in this world, there will always be someone more powerful than you.”
Footnotes
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逆鳞 (Nìlín): “Reversed scale,” a scale on a Chinese dragon’s neck that grows backward. Touching it enrages the dragon. An idiom for someone’s biggest sore spot or trigger. ↩