The Silly Alchemist

“I have some snacks here, have it instead,” said Debbie as she pulled out some food from her pocket.

“Sure!” Ye Lang took a few bites of the snack and continued, “Let’s go!”

“..., isn’t that enough?” said the third princess.

“I’m just having it for now, doesn’t mean I don’t want dinner, hurry up sister...” said the hungry Ye Lang. He didn’t mean anything when he said sister but the third princess’s eyes lit up when she heard it.

She said, “Well, since you called me sister, I can’t leave you hanging can I? Let’s go, I’ll bring you to the best place I can find!”

“...” The others were surprised at the change of events. The third princess just told him about how many people were waiting for him but she’s now taking him away?

“Yes, let’s go!” said Ye Lang excitedly.

“Where are you two going?” asked a deep voice, angry seeping in it.

“To dinner!” replied Ye Lang casually.

“So you think you’re going to win?” asked the voice again, slightly angrier.

“I’m not sure about that. I just know that if I don’t eat now I’ll starve to death,” Ye Lang didn’t pay attention to who he was talking to.

“You cannot leave, until this matter is settled you cannot leave!!”

“Fucking hell, who are you... wait, Aibi, isn’t that the guy you were with just now?” Ye Lang was looking at a familiar-looking guy.

“Yes, he’s the eldest prince, the leader of the red team!” explained Debbie.

“You’re the leader of the team? That’s easy, third princess, you don’t need to treat me to the meal, he can,” said Ye Lang with a cheerful smile.

“Me? Treat you? I’ll make you a treat for death!!” said the prince coldly.

“You don’t want to win?” asked Ye Lang.

“Of course we want to!!” roared a member of the red team.

Ye Lang was surrounded by the members of the red team. He maintained his relaxed smile and said, “If you want to win, prepare a table of food for me. I want dinner!”

“Are you kidding me?” The prince stared at Ye Lang.

Ye Lang shook his head and said, “No, I’m bargaining!”

“...”

Is this man shameless?

“You think you can get through our solid defence? You think you can win?” said the prince, slightly upset.

“That, I don’t know. But if I don’t show up later, you surely can’t win!!” said Ye Lang with a smile.

“...”

Everyone was silent. They knew if Ye Lang disappeared it would mean that the game would end in a tie.

“If it’s a tie then let it be, wouldn’t that be great?” said the prince with an icy smile.

“Oh, if that’s the case, third princess we can go further for the restaurant. I think dinner can go on for a few hours,” said Ye Lang without a care.

It wasn’t his plan to win the game in the first place, a tie didn’t sound bad to him.

“You...” The prince knew from Ye Lang’s tone that once he left, he wouldn’t come back.

“Fine! I’ll get someone to prepare dinner for you. Have it if you aren’t afraid of getting poisoned!” said the prince.

“Poison won’t do anything to me,” said Ye Lang without much thought. What he said was the truth but others thought it was a joke.

“Don’t disturb my meal or I’ll leave straight away. I can’t fight you all but I can hide!” said Ye Lang.

“Got it, enjoy your meal!!” replied the prince.

The prince wouldn’t want Ye Lang to leave, if he left the red team would have no chance of winning.

“Settled!” said Ye Lang with a smile. “Uh, Aibi, do you have any more snacks? I’m hungry,”

“Eat, eat, eat! You dare to even extort the prince!” Debbie passed some snacks to Ye Lang.

“This isn’t extortion. With this meal now and the third princess’s meal tomorrow I can leave in the afternoon!” said Ye Lang as he calculated in his mind.

“Even I can treat you to a meal! Why anger the prince!” said Debbie.

“This isn’t angering him. We are just playing a game,” said Ye Lang. He was afraid of no one, even the prince.

“You can say that but...”

“But what. Whatever, ” said Ye Lang as he cut Debbie off.

“Ye Lang you’re an interesting guy. Many threaten eldest brother before but not to this extent,” said the third princess, battling some conflicting feelings in the mind.

Very few to none could actually irritate the prince. Usually, those that do were very special cases.

“He’s persistent, isn’t he? Is winning that important? He cares so much about it,” asked Ye Lang.

“You’re right. He cares too much about it!” said the third princess with a smile.

She would later tell this to the prince, to remind him to not overthink things. He would get tunnel vision and fail to see the big picture.

Soon, dinner was served. The prince got someone to set up a nice table and didn’t make things difficult for Ye Lang, instead things were near perfection. That left a good impression of the prince for Ye Lang.