Chapter 171: How Much?! [600GT Bonus Chapter]

A/N: I never expected you guys to get this far this soon. Thank you. This means your total bonus Chapters is now seven.

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Lukas and Akira exchanged a glance, then followed.

They waited for a gap in the passing cars before crossing the road.

By the time they stepped onto the other side, Melody was already deep inside the dealership, moving between the vehicles on display with both arms outstretched.

She stopped at a dark green sedan, wrapped her arms around the hood, and pressed her cheek against the metal.

A salesperson had already materialized at her side, smiling professionally, gesturing as they explained the car’s features.

He was pointing at the side panel, explaining something about the vehicle’s mana drive system when Lukas and Akira caught up to her.

Melody turned to them, her face bright. "It was meant to be," she said. "We came to the bank and the dealership was right there. Directly across the street. That is not a coincidence."

"That’s called city planning, not some higher power giving you signs," Akira said.

Melody ignored her and turned back to the salesperson. "How much for this one? The sedan."

The salesperson straightened slightly, a wide smile spreading on his face at the sight of such an eager customer. "That’s one of our mid-range models. The base price sits at ten million gold coins."

Silence filled the air at the price.

"Wait what?" Lukas looked at the car. Then at the salesperson. Then back at the car.

Melody’s mouth had opened but no sound was coming out.

"Ten million?" she finally said, her voice very quiet.

The salesperson blinked. "If that’s outside your range, we do have another model that comes in at around eight million. It has slightly fewer features but it’s a reliable vehicle and very popular with new Adepts coming into the city."

Lukas looked at the man. "Are all cars this expensive?"

The salesperson tilted his head. "Our starting price for a new vehicle is around five million gold coins. That’s the entry model, very basic, with no additional features. That’s the best deal you can get on the market."

He frowned. "If you were looking at the second-hand market, you might find something from three million, depending on the condition and the model. Nothing less than that."

Akira turned to Melody. "Maybe it wasn’t meant to be."

Melody looked at the green sedan. Her arms dropped to her sides.

Lukas smiled at the salesperson. "We’ll come back for it. We just arrived in the city. We’re still getting settled."

The salesperson returned the smile with the expression of someone who had heard exactly those words many times before. He said nothing further.

They left.

Outside, Akira walked with her arm loosely around Melody’s shoulders. Melody moved in a daze, her eyes slightly unfocused, still processing what she’d heard.

"Ten million," she said again, mostly to herself.

"At least now we know how much we need to hold to buy one," Lukas said.

"The car that drove us to the apartment from Lotus hall," Melody said, looking up suddenly. "How much do you think that one cost?"

Akira considered it. "That was a full luxury sedan. It has a longer body than this one, dark windows, and a luxurious interior." She paused. "It looks like something that’ll sell at fifty million. Maybe more." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Melody stopped walking. She stood on the pavement for a moment, staring at nothing.

Then something changed in her expression. The shock cleared, and was replaced by determination.

Her eyes went bright, and she clenched her fist.

"I’m going to buy one," she said.

"Melody—"

"I’m going to go to the Second Floor, make a lot of money, come back, and buy one." She said it as if it was already a fact, eyes blazing. "I don’t know how long it’ll take but I will do it."

Akira and Lukas shared a glance, a small smile on her face.

Neither of them said anything, because the look on Melody’s face made it clear that arguing would be pointless. Besides, they were not exactly opposed to her plan.

He chuckled and looked away. That was when the billboard caught his eye.

It was large, mounted high on the face of a building across the street and painted in realistic detail. Three figures dominated the image.

On the left stood a male elf. He had pale hair, a golden circlet resting in his long hair as it flowed behind him.

He wore golden armor and had a flaming bow drawn back to full tension, his expression locked in total concentration.

On the right was a human woman wearing a winged helmet, her body in the middle of a swing, and a giant hammer spinning through the air with visible force.

Her face was fierce and open, completely committed to the motion.

In the center stood a tiefling woman with brick red skin. She wasn’t fighting. She was simply standing and smiling, an ethereal glow wrapped around her entire body like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Below the three figures, in bold clean lettering, were a few words.

"Join the Infinity Guild. Train alongside legends. One day, rival the Sacred Trinity."

Lukas stared at it.

"Who are they?" Akira asked from beside him. She had stopped too, looking up at the same image.

Melody had turned around. She stared at the billboard, her car ambitions momentarily forgotten.

"That has to be the Sacred Trinity," Lukas said. "The ones the billboard is talking about."

"Has to be," Melody agreed. She tilted her head back, still looking at the image. "Guilds sure are different here. They’re more extravagant."

She lowered her gaze, looking around the street. There were other billboards, advertising other things, but none as big as this one.

"A billboard like that definitely isn’t cheap. They have to be one of the top guilds in the city."

"Probably," Akira said. She crossed her arms, still studying the three figures. "Actually, didn’t the Iron Fist guild say they had a branch in Salaria? Ryan mentioned it once, didn’t he?"

Lukas looked away from the billboard.

"It doesn’t matter," he said. "We don’t need to speculate about guilds and who’s at the top of what."

He glanced at both of them. "We’re already contracted to the Le Fay family. The number one power in this city. That’s the only alliance that concerns us right now."