Fledgling God: Book 5

02 Agreement

Rene leaned forward in excitement and spoke up before anyone else.

"Well, I for one, would love to have a solution to this dilemma. As I'm sure would everyone else present. Now, out with it! How are you proposing we solve this mess?"

"I recalled that someone else had talked about two million pearls recently," Tyler said. "I just couldn't remember who it was or in what context. I've been sitting here, wracking my brain, trying to recollect what it was all about."

He snapped his fingers.

"And then it came to me."

He paused for a moment to make sure he had everyone's attention, which he certainly did. My honey was playing the part of the showman, and he was playing it well.

"When we had our Exchange of Reconciliation with Ken's school from Cincinnati, he mentioned that there was a tournament coming up. I believe he said the grand prize was two million pearls. Why don't we look into that? Even if we don't win the top prize, we still could earn enough to put a sizable dent into the amount owed."

"Are you talking about the MMTL?" Rene asked.

We all looked at him blankly.

"The Midwest Majiga Turnir League? Junior division? Takes place every five years? Has two million pearls total prize money?"

"I've only heard about it once," Tyler said, "so I'm not a hundred percent sure, but that does sound correct."

"It won't work," Rene said flatly and leaned back with a sigh. "Although I do appreciate you offering a creative solution."

"Why not?" Tyler asked. "I know that entering into any sort of tournament is a gamble, but we have some powerful talents in this group."

"I know this tournament well, as the Bank is one of the primary sponsors for the event," Rene said. "About fifty years ago, I was one of the presenters and helped chair the tournament. It was fun and we recruited some top talent that season, but it was also a lot more work than I wanted to manage on a regular basis. My duty is to the Houses, and having to do both was exhausting."

I guess just talking about it made him tired, as he took a break to suck down the last of John's ale. John quickly poured him a refill. If he was drinking, that meant he was still listening and not trying to drag our asses off to debtors' prison.

"Anyway, this is a junior tournament. Which means you must be sixty years or younger in order to participate. Who were you planning on having to compete? You are certainly too old for this."

"I thought Ken said the maximum was fifty years?" Tyler replied.

"It is at the city level," Rene nodded. "Once it gets to the multi-state level, the upper age increases to sixty. That is because there are many out-of-region teams that arrive to participate as well. The free admission won at the city level is still a great perk, but the winners are almost exclusively from the upper age group, and they all have to pay the higher fee in order to compete. It allows the organizers to give away more prizes to a larger section of up-and-coming supernaturals, and yet still keep the prize pot big enough to attract the top talent.

"Now, who were you planning on competing for this House?"

"I was thinking that Jason and Annabeth would make a great team." Tyler gave us a supportive smile.

Rene laughed and almost snorted his ale. That threw him into a coughing fit, and it took him a few minutes to recover. Finally, he wiped his watering eyes, took another cautious sip, and then looked at Tyler again. He was still grinning, like it was a joke, but when he saw Tyler's sincere look, the grin faded.