Chapter 166 The Young Master

Chapter 166: Chapter 167: The Young Master

Lyra and Paul spread out and walked into the crowd and started searching and looking for their partners with the kind of focused determination that came from knowing that time was limited and the stakes were high.

Daniel sat there and leaned against the tree and placed his card on his chest and closed his eyes and waited with the kind of patient stillness that made him look like he was sleeping or meditating or simply didn’t care about the chaos happening around him.

He waited.

The sun was warm and the breeze was cool and the sounds of the crowd filled the air with the kind of distant noise that was easy to ignore.

He yawned a long and lazy yawn that suggested he was either very tired or very bored or both.

He did some stretches and rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck and stretched his legs with the kind of casual indifference that made the other participants look at him with confusion and irritation.

Then he spoke with his voice calm and almost conversational. "I’m getting bored," he said.

The bushes rustled with the kind of small, subtle movement that suggested someone was trying very hard not to be noticed.

"I know you’ve been there since the beginning," Daniel said. "Come out."

Nothing happened.

Daniel sighed and reached down and picked up a stone and threw it at a bush with the kind of casual accuracy that came from years of practice.

A scream came out.

A man stumbled out of the bush with the kind of dramatic, flailing motion that suggested he had been startled and was trying very hard to pretend he hadn’t been.

He was dressed in golden armor that gleamed in the sunlight and was ornate and expensive and clearly the armor of a young master who had more money than sense.

The young master rubbed his head and glared at Daniel with eyes that were burning with rage. "You threw a rock at me!" he shouted.

Daniel shrugged. "You were hiding in a bush."

"I was strategizing!"

"You were hiding."

"I was strategizing!"

Daniel shook his head. "Whatever you say."

The young master straightened up and dusted off his armor and tried to look dignified in the way that young masters always tried to look dignified when they had just been humiliated.

"I am the great and powerful young master of the Golden Dragon Clan," he declared with his voice loud and proud. "I am heir to the largest fortune in the kingdom. I am—"

"Boring," Daniel said.

The young master blinked. "What?"

"You’re boring. You’re one of those young master types. Arrogant. Entitled. Annoying."

The young master’s face went red and his hands clenched into fists. "How dare you!" he shouted. "I am the great and powerful—"

"I know. You said that already."

"I am—"

"Boring."

The young master screamed with rage and raised his fist and prepared to attack.

But then he stopped and took a breath and calmed himself with the kind of forced composure that came from someone who was trying very hard to be the bigger person and failing.

"I will not let you provoke me," he said. "I am here to make a deal."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "A deal?"

"Yes. A deal."

"What kind of deal?"

The young master smiled a confident smile that suggested he thought he was about to win. "I want your card. The number seven. I will give you any amount of gold you want."

Daniel blinked. "Any amount?"

"Yes. Any amount."

Daniel laughed a loud and genuine laugh that echoed through the clearing and made the young master’s smile falter.

The young master frowned. "Why are you laughing?"

Daniel shook his head. "You’re not very good at this."

"At what?"

"At haggling. When you’re haggling for something, you don’t tell the other person to pick any price."

The young master blinked. "Why not?"

Daniel sighed. "Because then I can just say I want a hundred trillion gold."

The young master stared at him with his mouth open. "One hundred trillion?" he repeated.

"Yes."

"That’s... that’s not a real number."

"It is."

"It’s too much."

"You said any amount."

"I didn’t mean any amount!"

"You did."

"I didn’t!"

Daniel shrugged. "Whatever you say."

The young master’s face went red and his hands were shaking with the kind of rage that came from being outmaneuvered by someone who wasn’t even trying.

"That’s not how this is supposed to go!" he shouted. "You’re supposed to give me the card and even praise me!"

Daniel tilted his head. "Praise you?"

"Yes! For being so generous! For being so powerful! For being so—"

"Boring."

"Stop saying that!"

"Make me."

The young master screamed with his face purple and his veins popping. "You... you..." he stammered.

Daniel ignored him and looked at the sky with the kind of dreamy expression that made the young master even more confused.

The young master blinked. "What are you looking at?"

Daniel pointed at the sky. "The sky."

"I know it’s the sky. What are you looking at in the sky?"

Daniel smiled a dreamy smile. "Do you think there’s a hot goddess watching me?" he asked.

The young master stared at him with his mouth open. "What?"

"A hot goddess. Watching me from the heavens. Just waiting for me to get stronger so she can join my harem."

The young master’s face was a mask of confusion. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he demanded.

Daniel ignored him and kept looking at the sky. "I stayed up all night," he said. "And what I have to face is just one of those shitty young masters."

He sighed a dramatic sigh. "If this is your way of a joke, pretty goddess, it ain’t funny."

He yawned again with the kind of long and lazy yawn that suggested he was about to fall asleep.

The young master was confused and angry and mostly confused. "Are you drunk?" he asked.

Daniel looked at him. "Drunk?"

"Yes. Drunk. Or crazy. Or both."

Daniel shook his head. "I’m not drunk. I’m not crazy. I’m just... tired."

He yawned again. "I’m going to sleep," he said. "And dream about fun dreams. Hehehehe."

The young master’s eyes widened. "What?"

"Fun dreams. You know. Dreams where I’m surrounded by beautiful women. Dreams where I’m powerful. Dreams where I’m—"

"That’s not appropriate!"

Daniel shrugged. "It’s my dream. I can dream whatever I want."

The young master was shaking with anger and confusion and a little bit of fear. "What about the card?" he asked.

Daniel looked at him. "The card?"

"The number seven card. The one I want to buy."

Daniel smiled a cold and dangerous smile. "You mean this card?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card with the number seven on it.

The young master’s eyes lit up. "Yes! That card!"

Daniel held it up. "You want this card?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yes!"

Daniel shrugged. "Okay."

He held out the card.

The young master reached for it with his fingers inches away.

Then Daniel pulled it back. "Oops," he said. "Changed my mind."

The young master screamed. "Give me the card!"

Daniel shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because it’s mine."

"I’ll pay you!"

"I don’t want your money."

"I’ll pay you a lot!"

"I don’t want a lot."

"I’ll pay you everything!"

"I don’t want everything."

The young master was crying now with tears streaming down his face and desperation in his voice. "Please!" he begged. "Please give me the card!"

Daniel sighed and reached into his pocket and pulled out another card with the number seven on it.

The young master stared with his mouth open. "Two cards?" he whispered. "Two number sevens?"

Daniel nodded. "One is real. One is fake. Guess which one is which."

The young master looked at the cards and their identical faces and their identical numbers. "I... I don’t know..."

"Wrong guess."

Daniel put the cards away and reached into his pocket again and pulled out a third card with the number seven on it.

The young master’s eyes widened and his face went pale. "Three?" he whispered. "Three number sevens?"

Daniel nodded. "One is real. Two are fake. Guess."

The young master stared at the cards with his hands shaking. "I... I can’t..."

"Wrong guess again."

Daniel put the cards away and looked at the young master with his expression calm. "You know," he said, "you’re not very good at this."

The young master was confused. "At what?"

"At keeping track of your own belongings."

The young master blinked and patted his pockets and checked his belt and looked around with the kind of dawning horror that came from realizing something was missing.

His card was gone.

His eyes widened and his face went pale. "What?" he whispered. "Where is it? Where is my card?"

Daniel held up a card with the number seven on it. "Looking for this?" he asked.

The young master stared with his mouth open. "That’s... that’s my card," he whispered.

Daniel nodded. "Yes."

"You stole it."

"Yes."

"How?"

"Mind games."

The young master’s face went red and his hands clenched into fists. "You tricked me!" he shouted. "With your mind games! How dare you!"

Daniel shrugged. "It was easy."

The young master screamed and charged with the kind of desperate fury that came from someone who had been humiliated and outmaneuvered and utterly defeated.

Daniel moved.

He was fast and faster than the young master and he appeared in front of him with his fist raised and his eyes cold.

He punched.

The young master flew backward and crashed into a tree and the tree cracked under the impact and he slumped to the ground and didn’t get up.

Daniel stood there with his fist still extended and his expression calm. "Boring," he said.