Chapter 435: Formal Challenge [Part 2] The noble who had badmouthed Alex earlier suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. For that brief moment, he felt as if his life was truly in danger. Fortunately, before Alex’s friends could murder him, the Blackmail King of the Academy spoke up once more. "I know you came here to challenge Renard, but you’re attracting too much attention at the moment," Alex said calmly. "I am the President of Endless Horizon. Renard is my club member. "Since you gentlemen are here to challenge him, do you want to fight him one on one or five on one? The way I see it, there’s nothing noble in ganging up on someone. However, even if you’re not nobles but common thugs, I’m afraid that I still can’t allow you to bully my club member. "If you don’t want to fight an honorable duel, then can you dogs go back to your kennels? This academy is not the place for nameless mutts." The young man even made a shooing gesture as if he was chasing away toothless strays which had suddenly arrived at the gate, hoping to beg for scraps. Theo and Cassandra both nodded in satisfaction. They, too, were also getting annoyed by the nobles who had barged into their school without permission. ’As expected of Alex Stratos. He definitely knows how to taunt people,’ Theo thought. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮 ’That noble’s face is turning red from anger. Such an insult is enough for a commoner to be whipped to death in some noble circles.’ Cassandra chuckled internally even as she kept her face smooth and expressionless. Emil had not spoken since their arrival, but seeing that his friends were being mocked by Alex, he finally took the center stage. "And who might you be?" Emil asked. "I am the King of Frieden Academy," Alex answered arrogantly. "If you don’t know who I am, then you’re too unprepared and naive to challenge anyone here!" The spectating students—including the student councillors—gasped at the same time after hearing Alex’s declaration. However, after remembering that he both had the titles of Blackmail King and Singing King, they decided not to question it. After all, he was technically correct in more ways than one. Seeing that none of the Frieden students were refuting Alex’s words, a frown appeared on Emil’s face. "Are you perhaps Prince Edward of Avalon?" Emil asked. "I believe I said King and not Prince," Alex replied. "If you don’t want to embarrass yourself, you should refrain from talking, Mr. Smarty Pants." ""Pfft!"" The Solara nobles who were studying at Frieden Academy couldn’t stop themselves from chuckling. Even Henry had to resist breaking into a smile. It was an open secret within their circles that Emil hated being called "Smarty Pants" the most. For him, it was the greatest insult. Unsurprisingly, he was now glaring at Alex, who looked as if he was dealing with a kid. "Can everyone quiet down, please?" Alex raised his hand to stop the laughter that was spreading around him. "If you don’t stop laughing, this pretty boy might faint out of shame. We’re all civilized people here, right? We shouldn’t bully people." After hearing his words, the students controlled themselves. But the majority of them still had smiles on their faces. When everyone had settled down, Alex once again faced the nobles, who had calmed down a bit. "Like I said earlier, since you guys want to challenge my club member, I will accept it in his stead," Alex said without even bothering to look at Renard, who was glaring daggers into his back. "However, if you want to challenge him, you need to meet a condition." "And that condition is?" Emil asked, his face still beet-red from anger. However, he forced himself to not lash out in public so his image wouldn’t be ruined. "Money, of course," Alex replied shamelessly. "If you want to fight Renard in a duel, you have to pay first. Let’s see... a thousand gold coins for each challenger will suffice." "What?!" One of the nobles looked at Alex in disbelief. "You’re asking us to pay to fight him?" "Are you insane?" another noble commented. "Since when did such a thing become the norm in duels?" Henry and Emil were about to support their colleagues, but Alex’s next words made them shut up. "Oh, you can’t pay?" Alex sighed before shaking his head. "I didn’t know that the nobles of Solara were so... lacking. I mean, it’s just a thousand gold coins, right? I’m not a noble, but that amount is just pocket change for me." To prove his point, Alex opened his storage ring and dumped out all the gold coins that he possessed in his inventory. Clinking against one another, they formed an impressive heap before him. After exchanging his Academy Points so that he could bid at the auction in the city, he had a good number of gold coins in his possession and they continued tinkling as they fell. "Oh, sorry. A commoner has accidentally spilled his pocket money. How careless of him! Now, if you will excuse this clumsy oaf..." Alex sighed dramatically. "Oh dear, I hate being poor. Now I have to pick up over a hundred thousand gold coins one by one." Everyone felt their lips twitching after hearing such shameless words. The majority of them, especially the commoners, wanted to offer their help in picking up those gold coins! Dim Dim jumped from the top of Alex’s head and landed perfectly on the ground. The Dim Sum God then took out the vacuum artifact that they had used to collect monster cores inside the Orion Dungeon. Before about a hundred pairs of jealous eyes, the little bun slapped on its gangster sunglasses and used the artifact to suck up all the gold coins until nothing was left. "Good job, Dim Dim," Alex exclaimed as he picked up the little bun. "Ahem!" Dim Dim saluted to tell Alex that its mission was completed. The young man then glanced once more at the nobles, who had suddenly fallen quiet after his show of wealth. "So, are you going to fight Renard or not?" Alex arched an eyebrow. "All of you can still back down if you don’t have money. "I mean, if you can’t even pay a thousand gold coins for a duel, then what makes you think that the Saintess will think highly of you? Just because she is a Saintess doesn’t mean she has to do charity! I talked to her when she was still here and she said that she hated poor people, you know?" Renard flinched after getting hit by Alex’s friendly fire. Although he didn’t know if Alex was telling the truth about Celestria hating poor people, his status as a poor commoner was a fact. Not wanting to be looked down by others, Henry finally stepped up and accepted Alex’s challenge. "Fine, a thousand gold coins!" Henry stated. "I’ll pay you now in cash." "Why are you in a hurry?" Alex blinked. "Do you think I’m poor? Do I look like someone who is in desperate need of money?" Henry wanted to shout at Alex, but he resisted. ’First you ask for money,’ the noble complained mentally. ’Then you refuse to accept it. Bro, can you make up your mind?!’ "One month," Alex said as he raised his finger. "In one month, the First Years will have a Field Trip to Solara. I want the five of you to reserve the Colosseum there and spread the word of this challenge. "Also, make sure to tell everyone that only those who can pay a thousand gold coins will be allowed to watch the duel. That is the price of the ticket, okay? Dim Dim and I will be collecting it at the gate so that no one can watch it for free." Nessia was scribbling desperately on her notebook while Charles looked at her blankly. "What are you doing?" Charles asked. "I’m trying to write down ways to earn easy money," Nessia replied as she continued to write. "Alex makes scamming people look so natural. I need to learn from him." Charles didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He would soon have a rich girlfriend, but at what cost? In the meantime, everyone else was paying close attention to Alex’s next words. "Make sure to spread the news far and wide," Alex continued. "You have one month to advertise this duel, so make it count. Also, tell those who will open betting stalls that I must get a ten-percent share from all transactions. This is non-negotiable." Theo looked at Alex with a conflicted expression. He was starting to think that leaving this matter to the Blackmail King might have been the wrong decision. If his father, the King, learned about the outcome of this incident, he would certainly receive quite a bit of nagging. The King would surely want to know how a disagreement between a few young nobles and commoners became such a public spectacle. In the end, the nobles of Solara reluctantly agreed to Alex’s demands and left. The young man was still grinning as he watched them depart like dogs with tails between their legs. He was blissfully unaware that his get-rich-quick scheme would result in consequences he could have never accounted for.