Darduf, the name sounded vaguely familiar to Yuxie, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before.
Yuxie set his coffee cup down and looked at the well-dressed businessman in front of him, then glanced at the bodyguards standing behind him. Each of them was holding something, and every item was wrapped with exquisite care.
"Mr. Darduf, I'm afraid I can't help you."
"How can you know you can't help unless you hear my request?" Darduf snapped his fingers.
At his signal, the bodyguards quickly stepped forward and placed the meticulously wrapped items on the table.
"Mr. Yuxie, a small token of appreciation, I hope you'll accept it," Darduf said with a smile, the kind of smile every businessman had perfected.
Yuxie glanced at the items on the table. One of them had an envelope attached to the wrapping. The envelope likely didn't contain a letter.
"If I were still a Champion Duelist, this could be seen as attempting to bribe a government official," Yuxie said.
"But you're no longer a Champion Duelist, are you? That's why I'm coming to you now," Darduf replied. "So, would you like to hear my request?"
Looking at the businessman with his two tufts of mustache, Yuxie thought for a moment before nodding.
"Go ahead."
After receiving such a response from Yu Xie, Darduf glanced around. The other customers in the café occasionally cast slightly odd glances toward their table.
Darduf lowered his voice a little.
"You're no longer a Champion Duelist, but your reputation from before is still intact, and the connections you had in the Tribunal are still valuable. I'd like to propose that we collaborate. If you leverage those connections, the future for both of us could be very promising."
"So that's what this is about." Yu Xie nodded thoughtfully. "If I were still a Champion Duelist, then you would have indeed bribed me."
"But you're not anymore, right?" Darduf smiled again, a smile full of confidence.
It seemed he was sure that Yu Xie wouldn't refuse him—if he did, it would mean the benefits hadn't been made clear enough.
This kind of businessman always had an inexplicable self-assurance.
"If I cooperate with you, what's in it for me? Is it just these little gifts?" Yu Xie glanced at the items on the table.
"Of course not," Darduf replied, picking up the envelope that had been attached to the package from the start, and placing it on the table in front of Yu Xie. "I believe the 'contents' inside will satisfy you, and this is just a token gift. Please, Mr. Yu, open it when you get home."
Yu Xie shifted his gaze to the envelope, hesitated for a moment, then picked it up and casually opened it.
As soon as the envelope was opened, a trace of panic appeared on Darduf's face. He instinctively glanced around, noticing that many people were watching them.
"Certificates issued by the Northern Bank. With these, one can withdraw Mora at the Northern Bank." Yu Xie looked at the special paper he had pulled out of the envelope. "One is worth one million Mora, and there are ten in total—ten million in total. Mr. Darduf, you are quite generous."
Under the scrutiny of the surrounding onlookers, Darduf's expression became slightly flustered. The absolute confidence that had been in his eyes earlier had faded somewhat.
What he had just said to Yu Xie was very clear—this envelope should not have been opened in public. But Yu Xie had ignored his advice.
This indicated that Yu Xie had no intention of accepting any gifts, including the Mora.
Sending gifts to a resigned Champion Duelist would have been seen as just sending gifts, but offering ten million Mora was an entirely different matter.
If the public got wind of this, it would be far from something that could be easily brushed aside.
"Well, Mr. Darduf, I will seriously consider your proposal," Yu Xie smiled, placed the certificates back into the envelope, and then tucked it away.
This action left Darduf completely puzzled.
He looked at Yu Xie, as if inspecting a freak.
After a long pause, he let out a sigh of relief, and a smile reappeared on his face.
"Mr. Yu Xie, you really are an interesting person. I look forward to our cooperation. I still have some business matters to attend to, so please allow me to take my leave."
"Wait a moment," Yu Xie said.
"Is there something else you wish to say, Mr. Yu Xie?"
"Take these things away. The letter is enough," Yu Xie said with a smile.
Darduf paused for a moment, then waved his hand.
One of his bodyguards quickly stepped forward, gathered the items from the table, and left with them.
"Boss, a lot of people saw what happened today. Should we do something about those who witnessed it...?" one bodyguard whispered to Darduf.
"Use your brain. Do those fools dare to offend me? Stop thinking about all those dirty schemes. We're here to do legitimate business, not cause trouble," Darduf replied.
"Understood... Those people naturally wouldn't dare to offend the boss."
"However, we still need to take precautions. Send someone to keep an eye on things. If anyone dares to spread rumors, let's give them a little 'lesson'," Darduf added.
"Understood!"
Darduf and his bodyguards walked away.
Yu Xie remained seated at the original spot, picking up his coffee cup and slowly savoring the drink, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a distant memory.
The looks from the people around him grew even more peculiar, but no one spoke about what had just occurred.
When the matter doesn't concern them, people tend to turn a blind eye. No one wanted to make trouble for themselves.
Arouet watched Yu Xie from a distance, wanting to go over and offer some advice, but he didn't dare approach.
He had seen everything that had happened and overheard a bit of the conversation.
Although Yu Xie was no longer a public servant, after having been a Champion Duelist for so long, his influence wouldn't simply vanish with his resignation.
Yu Xie's actions could still be construed as accepting a bribe.
Arouet couldn't understand Yu Xie, but he also didn't want to get involved in this mess.
After a long while, Yu Xie finally finished his coffee. He walked to the counter, intending to greet Arouet, but he noticed that Arouet seemed to be very focused on mixing drinks, likely trying to pretend he hadn't seen him.
Yu Xie smiled, placed some Mora on the counter, and turned to leave, heading in the direction of the Palais Mermonia.
....
Inside Palais Mermonia.
Furina sat on the sofa in her office, feeling a bit bored.
At this time, if nothing else was going on, she would usually go to Yu Xie's office to hang out. Although there was nothing much to do, at least there was someone to talk to.
"Sigh..."
Letting out a sigh, Furina walked over to a bookshelf, trying to pick a book to read. But after picking a few and putting them back, she gave up.
It just didn't feel the same reading here as it did in Yu Xie's office.
She returned to the sofa, staring at the chandelier above her and zoning out.
Although she was the Hydro Archon, this was Furina's everyday life.
She was just an ordinary girl after all—besides the drama, she didn't understand the matters of the gods.
All of those tasks were handled by the Chief Judge, Neuvillette.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door.
By the time the footsteps reached Furina's ears through the door, they were faint, but as soon as her ears perked up, she immediately became alert.
She was very familiar with these footsteps—it was... Yu Xie's footsteps!
She immediately straightened up.
As expected, there was soon a knock at the door, followed by Yu Xie's familiar voice.
"Furina, it's me."
Cough, cough... "Come in."
Yu Xie opened the door and walked in.
The moment Furina saw him, she almost couldn't control herself and wanted to stand up to greet him.
But as both a Archon and a lady, she knew she should behave more decorously.
"Why are you here?" Furina remained seated on the sofa, not moving.
"I've got something for you," Yu Xie replied, walking over and sitting down. He took out the envelope that Darduf had given him.
"A letter?"
"Take a look."
Furina, a little confused, took the envelope and opened it, frowning slightly.
"Yu Xie, what does this mean—you're giving me ten million Mora?"
"It's not for you, it's just for you to hold onto for now. I came to report it to you first," Yu Xie explained.
"Report?"
"Do you know Darduf?"
"I have some impression of him. He's a rising wealthy businessman, pretty well off."
"He gave me ten million Mora, hoping I could use my connections at the Tribunal to collaborate with him in the future."
"So you accepted it?" Furina looked at Yu Xie incredulously. "Yu Xie, you're not that kind of person, are you? That rich businessman might appear to be a philanthropist on the surface, but there are some nasty rumors about him behind the scenes. To put it simply, he's just a greedy, heartless guy."
"I accepted it, but didn't I give it to you?" Yu Xie smiled at Furina.
Furina fell silent and thought for a moment.
"I get it now. You wanted to take the evidence first, then wait for the right time to accuse that businessman?"
"Pretty much, yeah. By the way, don't tell Neuvillette about this for now."
"Why?"
"Stop asking so many questions. Just tell me whether you'll agree or not."
"Well... alright, I agree, but you have to promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"I'm so bored. Stay here and keep me company."
Yu Xie smiled helplessly.
Furina, in front of him, really didn't act like a Archon at all.
End of chapter
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