Lucius took a deep breath and smiled a little sheepishly.

’Damn. Why are those two here? And of all people, the sharpest woman in that bastard’s family had to show up here! Damn, what bad luck!’ Lucius sighed.

He couldn’t let those two see him, because they weren’t just ordinary S-Rankers. Their positions in the Global Ranking were within the Top Ten Thousand.

They were part of the S-Rank elite!

’Especially that bastard, Kael’s nephew. I didn’t think I’d run into one so soon,’ he thought, glancing at him from the side.

He grabbed a hooded coat and put it on to hide his features, then asked Clara to step back a little.

"Are you feeling okay? I get it. I’m also feeling a little overwhelmed by so many powerful people... And look at those two—they really are S-Ranks," Clara said.

She could certainly stare at them without them noticing, but Lucius chose not to look at them again.

"Well, it’s suffocating to be around so many powerful people," he replied simply, looking for a way to excuse himself.

Clara agreed with him, and the Employee was already mentally thanking them. He didn’t know what he would do if those two had said to come closer.

But as they moved away from the crowd and stood in one of the less conspicuous corners, they caught the attention of an annoying individual.

"You again?" Lucius sighed heavily as he saw Darius’s face appear before him.

"Hmph. I came here solely to discuss a few matters with our affiliated families. But seeing as they’re so busy attending to new visitors and have allowed us young people to study the tools first, I’ve come with an offer for you, Lucius," he said.

Lucius shook his head. "I’m not interested in your offers. If you don’t have anything of value for me, then turn around and go play over there. Look, those kids over there are playing tag—go join them."

"You...!" Darius roared.

But Kenneth and a new friend of theirs held him back. "Calm down. You don’t want to upset the Lords."

Darius nodded in frustration and swallowed his urge to punch Lucius.

"My offer is a bet, Lucius. Since you enrolled in the Toolmaker Department, why don’t we play around with the tools on that table?"

Lucius frowned. "Play with the tools? In what sense?" he asked.

"We’re going to identify them. My father told me that most of them were fossilized, but that they held a lot of power. It’ll be hard to identify them, but that’s the idea. Whoever identifies the most wins."

Lucius was taken aback. "A bet against me, about identifying things? Darius, no offense, but you’re terrible at that," Lucius reminded him in a mocking tone.

Darius got upset again and pointed at him, but when he saw the stern looks on his two friends’ faces, he held back and withdrew his hand.

"Hmph. At least I’m better than you," he claimed, though he didn’t let Lucius speak; he wasn’t finished yet. "We don’t need to play ourselves. I’ll find an expert, and you’ll find one you trust," he said, glancing at Clara suggestively.

He didn’t think Lucius could even identify one; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bought a tool like that, which not even the best experts in his family wanted to touch.

So he could only look for that girl, Clara. She was good, according to his books, but could she compare to the ones he might find?

Lucius noticed that Darius was very confident. He looked at Kenneth... it couldn’t be him.

Instead, the other person standing nearby had a faint scent of antiquity about them. Although they were wearing a hood that hid their features, that scent was unmistakable. They had recently been in contact with ancient artifacts. Furthermore, though somewhat concealed, he carried tools for examining both fossilized and non-fossilized artifacts on his person. He was prepared for this.

But Lucius smiled. ’You want to play with me on my own turf? Very well.’ He smiled and glanced sideways at those two S-Rankers. ’I’ll have to be careful with them, but no problem.’

"I like the game. What’s your bet?" he asked.

Darius felt intense joy seeing that Lucius had fallen into his trap, so he didn’t hesitate to speak.

"The stakes are simple. If I win... you’ll resign from your position at the academy," he said with a sinister smile.

He thought he’d see Lucius hesitate.

But Lucius simply nodded. "And if you lose?"

"Huh?" Darius blinked a couple of times, confused by his quick and matter-of-fact reaction. Didn’t he care about leaving the academy?

Darius was furious that he hadn’t even managed to anger Lucius, but he swallowed his rage.

If he could expel him with this, it was for the best.

"If I lose, I’ll do the same," Darius replied firmly.

"No." Lucius’s response was immediate. "I don’t want you to quit the academy. If you lose, you’ll do something for me, and you won’t be able to refuse, no matter what it is. Deal?"

Darius froze for a moment, but then nodded. It was fine for him to set the conditions for what he wanted his opponent to do if he won, wasn’t it? He didn’t see anything wrong with it.

"All right..."

Lucius didn’t need to call in any witnesses, because no matter how quietly they were speaking, this conversation had already reached the ears of the powerful. They were the witnesses.

Especially Gerard and Sylph, two people with hero complexes.

"Who will you choose to do this job for you, Darius?" he asked.

Darius smiled and stepped aside. "He will be my representative. Mr. Kael."

’!’

Lucius’s heart leapt at the sound of that name, and he stared at him in shock.

However, just then, the Kael in front of him removed his hood and revealed a face... he didn’t recognize.

Lucius let out a huge sigh of relief at that moment. ’Shit, you damn bastard, why the hell do you call yourself Kael and show up right where that bastard’s family is?’

Lucius felt as if he’d narrowly escaped a premature heart attack. For a brief moment, he felt like he was in hell, and the next thing he knew, he was in heaven. The change was so drastic that it even made him feel hot.

Only Clara noticed that peculiarity, because she had been connected to him earlier through her magic.

But Clara also sensed Kael’s identity, so she leaned close to Lucius’s ear. "Kael Vorren, a member of the Ancient Vorren Family, the Seventh. He’s in Class A-1 of the Tool Creation Department, and in the Regular Classes, he studies with Darius. His Ranking is 11th within the Academy, and he seems close to reaching Rank C, which could propel him into the Top 5, alongside Darius."

Lucius nodded. ’I see. So this is the source of your confidence. Not bad—you brought in a potential expert,’ he thought.

Although he had a faint smile on his face. He didn’t want to wipe the floor with this kid, but since... he had to do it. After all, he didn’t like being looked down on in his area of expertise. Especially if the guy in question was named Kael...

"All right. Then let’s get this started." Lucius said and walked toward the table that was already set up and where the young men had gathered first to study the tools on their own.

As he approached, Lucius turned to look at Darius and pointed at himself. "By the way, the one chosen to represent me this time is myself. So just go all out."

"You?" Darius and Kael asked in unison. Then they looked each other in the eye and stifled their laughter.

This had been way too easy!

A member of Class A, competing against one from Class F? This was a piece of cake!

Kael felt a surge of confidence and stepped in front of Darius.

"The competition will consist of ten rounds. We’ll select ten fossilized tools that aren’t visible to the naked eye. After studying what they are and reaching a final decision on both sides, we’ll name them one by one and let the experts break open the fossilized rocks to reveal their contents," said Darius.

Lucius finished his sentence: "Whoever manages to guess the most of what those tools are will win the duel, right? What happens if we both guess the same number?" he asked.

Although the question was laughable to Darius and Kael (and almost anyone who heard it and understood that the context is Rank F vs. Rank A academically speaking), Darius still answered.

"Then we’ll proceed to study another ten tools, with a limit of 30. If for some reason you both reach 30 in a tie, then the competition will end in a draw."

Lucius nodded. "All right. That sounds fair."

Although it wouldn’t be necessary. He’d win this in the first round.

Kael finished organizing his tools and got ready. Then he looked at Lucius. "Aren’t you going to take out your tools?" he asked.

Lucius laughed. "No. I don’t need them." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Though in his mind he thought gloomily: ’I don’t even have one.’

If he did, he would surely pull out some goggles to help him look directly at the cursed energy inside, so he wouldn’t have to guess at tools that were too powerful and thus avoid bringing unnecessary trouble upon himself.

But since he didn’t have any, he could only try a little harder and look more carefully.

Kael could only scoff at such a clear display of arrogance or surrender.

"Let’s get started, then," said Lucius.