Chapter 264: The Brat No One Dares to Provoke
Naimi was so excited by the idea of taking Vege-Fritter out for a spin that he had forgotten that the test drive would take up a considerable amount of time and not fulfill his stomach along the way. But luckily for them they were inside the mountains, so it was possible to find wild fruits and small herbivores, not to mention that this was a remote planet that only got crowded during the races that occurred once every four years. It was why an abundant amount of resources and species could be maintained to this day.
Cillin and Naimi got off a valley to search for food. There was a simple multi stage heater on the car that could heat up the food they gathered. Since no one had brought any seasoning with them, they had no choice but to search for spices or raw seasonings that could stimulate the sense of taste and make it easier to swallow.
There was a rule that fires weren’t allowed to be started at places with rich flora. Not only that, it was illegal to create big fires using heating equipment such as electrical heaters, microwaves, laser equipment and so on. Anyone who got caught would be penalized accordingly or even disqualified in the case of a serious offense.
Cillin and Naimi weren’t planning on making a feast. It was fine as long as the food was swallowable.
“Someone’s coming. Three cars, seven people.” Vege-Fritter suddenly spoke up before displaying a hologram that showed their approximate distance.
“They must’ve found us. They’re obviously heading towards us.” Naimi said while stuffing meat into his mouth.
Cillin hadn’t told Vege-Fritter to hide itself, so their discovery hadn’t come as a surprise. None of the three flying cars that came after them possessed racing team logos that he recognized, so they were likely to be privately owned vehicles. They looked fearsome — a flamboyant exterior with adorned with sharp, wavy patterns — but they were not suitable for racing. Cillin could see that they were custom made vehicles, and that they had just been made recently. They were probably the new transports of some young nobles.
As the cars came closer and closer, an arrogant voice blasted from the external speaker of the roof of the leading black car.
“Haha, are my eyes deceiving me? Or is a young master of the Sizer Family actually driving a relic from the past?”
Naimi felt nauseous the second he heard this voice. He spat out the meat inside his mouth, and Vege-Fritter very kindly held a nail-sized, wave focusing microphone right in front of him.
“Pah! Can you feel that saliva on your face? Do you think that your taste will grow better just because you’re driving a car that only you think is flashy? An amateur who doesn’t even know where an energy coupling device is installed inside a car will remain an amateur even if they’re driving the best flying car out there in the whole empire! You’re a slowpoke who drives like a freaking turtle and you think you have the right to question my preference!?”
The three cars stopped about twenty centimeters above ground before the passengers inside jumped off and landed safely on their feet. They were about as typical as a young noble could be, from garments that looked so flashy it was almost as if they were afraid that someone might fail to recognize them, to expressions of arrogance and disdain so frequently worn that they became more habitual than intentional.
“Did you twist your neck, Brielles? Why’re you holding your chin like that?” Naimi called out the leading nobles’ peculiar gesture snappily.
The way Brielle held his chin high and faced other people with his nose reminded Cillin of Pride from GAL.
Brielles put Cillin out of his mind after glancing at him and confirming that he didn’t recognize him one bit. Brielles remembered every noble descendant of the upper class roughly, but Cillin was clearly not in his list, so he thought that he was a flatterer of Naimi’s just like the ones behind him.
Brielles looked at Vege-Fritter again before letting out a disdainful snort, “Your taste really is something, Naimi. To think that you would bring out a literal relic like this back to life and parade it across the streets. I would be ashamed for you were I a member of the Sizer Family.”
“We would definitely be ashamed if someone like you actually turned up in the family!” Naimi sat on Vege-Fritter’s rim and stared right back at Brielles with equal disdain.
“Are you sure you have the right to say that? The Sizer Family is famous for their flying cars, right? So why aren’t you racing in the Winds of Freedom? What’s the point of showing off in minor races and nowhere else?!”
“And who says I’m not? Is something wrong with your eyes?”
“You’re actually participating in this race?” Brielles was very surprised. He was just saying it to kick Naimi’s edge down a notch; it was rare for anyone among the nobility to actually participate in a large-scale, high risk race like this without fear of consequences. Did the Sizer Family seriously gave permission to Naimi to participate in a race like this? Weren’t they afraid that it would turn out to be a one-way trip?
“Show off your pettiness at different place, Brielles, do you think everyone’s as cowardly as you are? Tsk. What’s with that glare? Not everyone’s a limp dick just because you’re one!”
Brielles didn’t actually look too angry despite Naimi’s scathing remark. He asked, “Your father actually agreed to this?”
“Of course he did!” Naimi said proudly.
Brielles rubbed his chin and looked around before pointing at Vege-Fritter. “And you’re going into the race using this thing?”
Naimi gave Vege-Fritter a pat. “Exactly!”
“Hahahaha…”
Brielles and his followers laughed so hard that they nearly ran out of breath, but Cillin barely showed any reaction to their ridiculing laughter. There often was no better counterattack than the truth itself. They would learn soon enough just how wrong they were once the race had run its course.
A moment of silence later, Brielles said, “Hey Naimi, do you want to make a bet?”
“What kind of bet?” Naimi asked.
“Fifty million MB. You’re racing, aren’t you? If you manage to get into top five, then this money is all yours.”
“Ceh, is that all? Do I look like that poor to you?” Naimi kept up a tough appearance, but the fact was he really didn’t have fifty million MB in his pockets, not to mention that it was enough money to build a second Vege-Fritter already. So he was tempted, of course. An extra fifty million MB in the pockets meant that he could modify Vege-Fritter further, upgrade most of its parts and enhance it in every department.
“Yes, or no. That’s all I’m asking.”
“Alright, let’s do this then! Do you think I’m scared of you?!”
There was no need for proof. They might act like a fop, but they had their own pride and honor. They would never renege on a verbal bet like this.
Brielles laughed again when he shot a glance at Naimi’s Vege-Fritter. Naimi raised his eyebrows and was just about to say something when Vege-Fritter spoke up, “Another flying car is headed this way. They’ll be arriving in fifteen seconds.”
Brielles’ laugh abruptly died in his throat, which prompted his followers to do the same. Unlike his followers who were looking confused, Brielles’ eyes were narrowed in disbelief. In fact, he was even more shocked than the time he saw Vege-Fritter making it back to the living. That thing had a super AI installed in it! Was Naimi an idiot? Had he gone insane?! There was absolutely no way he was going to win like this!
Brielles was going to say something when the flying car Vege-Fritter mentioned finally showed up. It was exactly fifteen seconds.
The new car wasn’t as showy as Brielles and his followers’ cars, but it was still very new. Moreover, it looked like a war blade — one with a blood groove no less — but of course scale wise it wasn’t as long as the real thing. Still, the immediate impression the vehicle gave was a deadly, hidden war blade that would cut through anything that stood in its way.
The vehicle was extremely well made, and made up of nearly the best equipment the military had to offer. After having assembled a real flying car with his own hands, Cillin could now gather some info about a certain flying car immediately just by glancing, listening and feeling the way it cut through the air.
That being said, a military vehicle? Who on earth was the owner of the car? It was clear that it was coming for them too.
Brielles and Naimi wisely kept their mouths shut. They weren’t ignorant, and as members of the upper nobility they instinctively knew that the passengers of that car were no ordinary people, even though their depth of professional knowledge wasn’t as deep as Cillin’s.
The flying car finally descended on the ground, and its door opened like a blade that was being unsheathed. The person who appeared though didn’t quite match the outlook of the vehicle, so much so that the people behind Brielles felt like laughing there and then. However, they dared not act out of turn because Brielles hadn’t given any clear indication of action yet.
It was a kid who had jumped out of that menacing flying car, and it was even someone Cillin whom recognized. It was none other than Teita. An elderly, familiar-looking servant and three bodyguards stood behind the boy.
Brielles and Naimi’s eyes twitched the second they saw Teita. What is this kid doing here!
Some time ago, the Yurong Family — one of the three heads of the military — had made an announcement among the upper class nobility to declare the existence of Yurong Teita. Anyone slightly below the rankings wouldn’t even know about this.
Yurong Teita was Sir Yurong’s youngest son — you heard that right: not grandson, but son — and as the saying goes “when an old oyster produces a pearl”, it becomes very protective of it. Sir Yurong* was normally very strict with his own children, but his youngest son was an exception to the rule.
*imagine your grandpa having a new son, in case it isn’t clear enough.
Currently, everyone in the upper nobility knows about Yurong Teita. There were two kids in the empire that no one except those under the emperor and the three kings dared to provoke, and they were Yurong Teita and Gleason Dodge. It was well known — and with precedent to boot — that anyone who provoked them would be landed in a pile of deep shit, and it was why Brielles was currently experiencing the regret of his life. I must’ve been possessed by idiocy when I drove all the way here just to trade spits with Naimi. Seriously though, what is this hot potato doing in this place!
Seniority wise, Teita was a level above everyone present!
Teita didn’t shoot anyone a sideway glance. He walked straight towards Cillin.
“Why didn’t you greet me when you saw me, Cillin?” That was what he said, but anyone could see that Teita wasn’t scolding Cillin at all. He obviously looked very happy to have encountered a familiar face as he ran and stood next to Cillin.
“Long time no see. Don’t you have homework and missions to finish?” Cillin asked.
“In fact, I’d just finished a mission my teacher gave me, and he was so happy with the results that he gave me a long vacation, just enough to watch this race! I’ve been looking forward to this since a long time ago, and I just arrived today! I have no idea that I’d run into you on a random spin around the place though. It’s so nice to meet a familiar face.” Teita chirped happily.
Both Brielles and Naimi thought at the same time: your teacher obviously opened you a back door! Those old foxes may look like model teachers and everything, but there’s no way those they would fail to read that honest face of yours! Who’d dare to make you sad in this empire?!
“Hey, what were you guys talking just now?” Teita asked with a look of deep curiosity.
Cillin turned to look at Brielles and Naimi.
Brielles opened his mouth, but he couldn’t force out a sound no matter how he tried. One of his followed thought that he was too lazy to speak, and he was just about to answer like the loyal dog he was when Brielles caught him in the act and elbowed him right in the stomach. It was such a painful blow that he swallowed all his words with a painful look on his face.
The rest of Brielles’ people still couldn’t understand the meaning of this, but they all wisely kept their mouths shut.
Seeing that he would get no answer from Brielles, Teita turned to look at Naimi. Naimi gave the boy a stiff smile, having no idea how best to react to a dangerous character like this.
“We were making a bet just now.” Naimi answered.
“What bet?”
After Naimi was done explaining, Teita looked at Cillin, “Are you racing together with him?”
Cillin nodded, “Yeah, I am.”
“Alright, I’m partaking in this bet as well! I bet that you guys will win the bet!”
Brielles’ smile was quite stiff. God dammit, why are you meddling in an adult’s affairs, kid!? If Naimi lost you’re definitely going to be unhappy, and we’re the ones who have to suffer for it! Sure, at worst I’m going to get yelled at by my parents, but it’s still uncalled for!
Brielles didn’t want to stay for even a second longer after this. After making up a random excuse, he escaped with his followers at top speed.