Chapter 6: Black market

*SIGH* I really don’t like this elitist asshole. Besides, what beef could there possible be between the two of us, I didn’t even know he existed until today…

Aah got it! He’s probably one of Sara’s minions, here to take revenge in her place… Time to put this douchebag in his place:

“Beef with me? Oooh right, sorry about your shoulder, it must really hurt from all that bumping into people you do in the hallway. Seriously dude, you should look where you’re going. It’s only cute when girls try to act clumsy.”

He looked embarrassed, some of his friends where even holding in their laughter.

“S-Shut up! You bumped into me!”

“Sure man, what’s next? Are you going to pin me up against that wall and tell me I’m beautiful?”

“S-Stop saying stuff like that! I’m here to tell you to stay away from Sara! She’s my fiancé, I won’t allow you two to sleep in the same apartment!”

Oh damn… so it’s actually her fiancé… Oh well, already pissed him off, might as well continue:

“Ooeeh, what a bad husband, flirting with others in the hallway while you already have a fiancé at home.”

“I’m warning you buddy, just stay away from Sara! I’m already in my second year of college, I could easily destroy you in a duel. My dad even has enough authority to make you permanently disappear from this island!”

I shrugged my shoulders:

“Threatening me, a poor immigrant freshman, with the achievements of your parents? Truly a brave thing to do, that must have taken a lot of courage. Besides, even if I wanted to move out of my apartment, Sara already was denied a room change by the dean himself. He forced us to stay together even after our little ‘naked yoga incident’.”

“N-N-Naked yoga incident?! I’M SO JEALOU- I MEAN ANGRY! How dare a filthy immigrant like you share the same apartment with a goddess such as Sara?!”

“Really a goddess?... I don’t think you should put your fiancé up on a pedestal like that, you kind of give me creepy stalker vibes…”

“SHUT UP! I’VE HAD ENOUGH! I, Kaori S. Honda, challenge you to a duel in the sports arena, I’ll send my strongest minion that’s still in wood class. Afterall, it wouldn’t be fair for a noble in bronze class like me to fight against filth like you.”

“Sure sure whatever, why would I even accept your ‘duel’ in the first place?”

“FOR HONOR, FOR PRIDE!”

“Dude, I’m not that insecure…”

“A-Alright, if you win, I’ll give you an unknown orange cartridge, I’ll even throw in an E rank equipment. That should motivate such a peasant as yourself right?”

Seriously? I wouldn’t even be able to afford those items if I saved all the money from my programming-jobs for an entire year. I guess Machias really do have an entirely different perspective on money and wealth…

“W-Well… I guess I do have to protect my pride and stuff like that… fine, I’ll duel that minion of yours. Just don’t forget to pay out when I wipe the floor with him.”

“Oh don’t worry, everybody here witnessed my offer just now. But if you lose, you’ll have to leave your apartment, I don’t care if you have to sleep on the streets, as long as you stay away from my Sara!”

“Your Sara? I’m starting to feel sorry for her…”

“NEXT FRIDAY! I’LL SEE YOU IN THE SPORTS ARENA! DON’T YOU DARE CHICKEN OUT!”

He and his clique finally walk away, after which Lance dragged me to the cafeteria, he looked kind of worried:

“DUDE? Why did you offend him? His dad is a gold [II] Machia!... *SIGH* Although it was really fun to watch…”

“Elite bastards like him need to be pulled down to earth every once in a while, otherwise they’ll never grow up. Besides, he offered me an entire one-year salary! I couldn’t say no… I need money if I want to become a powerful Machia.”

*SIGH* “I get it… but be careful, I don’t even know who his minion in our class is. I don’t want to scare you, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a student died during a duel in the sports arena… be careful.”

“It’ll be fine… well, I’ll first have to purchase some cartridges though…”

“Y-You don’t have any cartridges?”

I innocently smiled at him.

“You can’t be serious… *SIGH* We’ll have to ask mister Ito where we can purchase some cheap cartridges, I’m guessing your budget’s pretty tight too right?”

I once again innocently smile at him.

*SIGH* “This is going to be a long day.”

After talking to mister Ito we discovered a few things, namely: Cartridges are way too expensive! I only have around 100 Universal coins or U-Coins left in my bank account from my number 2 Appstore hit… The cheapest yellow cartridge will cost me 180 U-Coins according to mister Ito.

But he did also mention something interesting: the black market. Apparently you can buy cartridges and equipment there, but the quality and authenticity isn’t guaranteed… it’s also a bit shady… but it’s a lot cheaper and thus my only option!

I head back to my dorm, it’s only a 10 minute walk from campus.

I can’t see Sara anywhere, she must be at a friend’s house or something? Maybe visiting her fiancé?

Speak of the devil, just as I was thinking about her she opens the front door.

She looks visibly disappointed to see me…

“I met your fiancé today, I really don’t get your taste.”

“What are you talking about? Is this some creepy pick up line? Sorry, I’m not interested.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, I’m not going to waste my pick-up lines on some violent psychopath. But you should be careful then, I’m afraid there’s some lunatic running around calling himself your fiancé. I think his name was Kaoir? He even challenged me to a duel.”

“UGH! Not that asshole again! Getting his panties in a twist just because our grandparents arranged a marriage for us! I should have warned you… I could have guessed he would pull a stunt like this.”

“Worried? Abouuut meeee~??”

“Oooh shut up.”

She takes off her shoes, heads to her room and locks the door. I guess it’s time to research this ‘black market’ mister Ito mentioned.