Chapter 239: Celebration and Banquet

"The parade is about to begin."

Nightfall arrived, and light, melodic music played in her ears. Brenna took Yun Mu's hand and walked toward the parade vehicle that had just departed from the Church and was slowly driving out onto the street not far away.

Everything felt like a scene from a movie; Bishop Land sat atop the parade vehicle in solemn attire, surrounded by throngs of Believers, while civilians cheered on both sides of the street. In her ears were the melodies played by the Bards and the collective, soft chanting of the Holy Scripture by the Believers.

Yun Mu and Brenna remained hidden among the crowd, watching the parade vehicle drive past them.

"This scene is truly spectacular."

Yun Mu, experiencing such an occasion for the first time, had a look of wonder in her eyes. She watched Bishop Land gradually disappear from view and asked Brenna, "Do we not need to follow them?"

"No need." Brenna shook her head. "Just wait here; the parade vehicle will return after circling the city."

"Open your mouth."

"Hm?"

Yun Mu subconsciously obeyed, and then, a skewer of squid grilled to a golden, crispy finish was placed into her mouth.

"Is it good?" Brenna asked softly, watching her chew the squid.

"It's alright." Yun Mu held the skewer with her hand and swallowed the portion she was chewing.

"That's good then."

Seeing that her expression was genuine, Brenna felt at ease and began to enjoy her own skewer of grilled squid.

"There are many street food stalls during the festival. Let's just eat and wait here," she suggested.

"Sure." Yun Mu agreed decisively; it just so happened that they hadn't eaten dinner yet today.

The two found a stall nearby that offered a view of the Church's direction, and after ordering their food, they began to chat casually.

"The feeling of chatting with 'oneself' is truly novel," Brenna said, looking at the face Yun Mu had disguised to be almost identical to her own.

"Mr. Dunn is truly amazing," Yun Mu remarked.

"Heh." Brenna chuckled softly. "He will be working with us tonight."

"Dunn?" Yun Mu tilted her head in confusion. "I thought it would be Ai Yi."

Before she could finish her sentence, a familiar male voice came from behind her: "Oh? I seem to have heard someone discussing my name just now?"

"Eh?"

Yun Mu looked in the direction of the voice and immediately saw Dunn, disguised as Stanny, walking slowly toward them before sitting in the seat beside them.

"Too slow. The last person to arrive has to pay," Brenna said, looking at Dunn as he sat down.

"Of course." Dunn nodded knowingly. "It wouldn't be gentlemanly to let two ladies pay."

As he spoke, he called the waiter over and selected a few dishes that interested him.

"Besides, today is the Sacred Night, and all meals are forty percent off," he noted, spotting a sticky note on the bottom right of the menu, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

No one spoke; the food they ordered was soon brought over by the restaurant waiter. While enjoying dinner, Yun Mu looked down at the bustling street below the restaurant.

"Are all the workers off today?"

"Yes." It was Brenna who answered her. "All factories close for the Sacred Night. As for the shops..."

She glanced at the restaurant waiter not far away, who was so busy that they couldn't stop.

"There are fewer staff than usual, but very few shops choose to close, and they even temporarily add a batch of exclusive Sacred Night dishes to their menus."

"Like this Moon Apple Pie?" Yun Mu asked, looking at the crescent-shaped apple pie in front of Brenna.

"Mm." The other nodded without saying anything more.

"If you want to feel the festival atmosphere, it's best to follow behind the parade vehicle for a lap," Dunn interjected at this moment.

"Depending on the size of the city, the duration of the night parade varies. The music played by the band will change several times along the way, and the Church choir will also sing songs that fit local customs as well as the Church's propaganda."

"Some sections of the road will even be prepared in advance to scatter flower petals, candies, or light fireworks when the parade vehicle passes by..."

"Whoosh!"

"Bang!"

Before Dunn could finish his sentence, a loud explosion came from the sky in the distance, and colorful flames left a brilliant glow in the pitch-black night sky.

Hm... It feels quite average; it's far from the fireworks on Earth.

However, rather than admiring the beauty of the fireworks... Yun Mu looked at Brenna and Dunn beside her, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.

Enjoying the festival atmosphere with people one knows is what matters most.

It's a pity Lita and Edward aren't here; otherwise, it would be perfect.

"Lucy, come out and watch the fireworks." Yun Mu summoned Lucy from the Game Panel.

Originally, she had wanted to summon Chester, Dabai, the Scarlet Knight, and the Goblin Brave as well.

But thinking that she was still in a restaurant, she dismissed the idea.

"Fireworks..."

As an Alchemy Master, Lucy saw the essence of the brilliant firelight in the sky at a glance, but she was clearly not someone who would spoil the mood.

"Quite pretty."

Her Ether Body floated beside Yun Mu, like a warm Wind, gently brushing against her skin.

"Do you know?" Dunn looked at the firelight overhead and suddenly spoke.

"The Dark Night Church initially banned the setting off of fireworks. They believed that the act of firing into the night sky and bringing forth firelight was a Profane act against the gods."

"Later on..." Seeing the two looking at him curiously, Dunn paused intentionally for a moment.

However, the two clearly had no intention of playing along and just watched him quietly.

"..."

Having said half of it, keeping the rest of the content bottled up inside was clearly not a pleasant feeling. With no choice, he had to finish the story as if talking to himself.

"Later, the Lady of the Dark Night personally issued an oracle, expressing her appreciation for fireworks in her words, so the ban just faded away."

"Because of this oracle, the Believers even came to believe that the Lady of the Dark Night likes to see fireworks bloom in the night sky, so there is a fireworks display every Sacred Night."

The Lady of the Dark Night likes fireworks. Yun Mu silently noted this information in her heart; although she did not know if it would be useful, she thought, "Whatever, I'll just write it down first." Perhaps one day in the future it might come in handy? "The patrol carriage is back!"

About two and a half hours later, someone suddenly shouted, causing the gazes of everyone in the restaurant to shift toward the distant street.

Yun Mu and her companions were naturally no exception.

They saw that, pulled by two sturdy black-maned horses, the carriage Bishop Land was riding in was slowly driving back to the Church, in the exact opposite direction from when it had just departed.

It looked like it had indeed driven a full circle around the city.

"Let's go."

Brena Saierliya stood up at this moment and said, "It is time to attend the banquet."

"Boss, check, please."

Dunn took two Gold Frost coins from his bosom and placed them on the tabletop.

"Keep the change," he said.

As the three of them were Transcendental, they had ordered a large amount of food; although this was not Liuli Street where the richest people were, it was still a core area near the Church.

Even with a forty percent discount on the meal, the total price still came to about one Gold Frost and fifteen Silver Frost.

As a person from the Winter Capital, Dunn was quite satisfied with these prices, so he was very generous when paying.

Of course, this was also because, as a Fourth Rank Master Transcendental, he was not exactly short on money.

"Be more elegant in your demeanor. From now on, you are the Third Princess of the Frost Kingdom, Brena Saierliya, do you understand?" Brena walked beside Yun Mu and instructed her in detail.

"And I am your personal attendant, um... Lilith, right?" She directed the latter half of her sentence at Dunn.

"Yes, Lilith. My name is Stanny," Dunn nodded affirmatively, then paused slightly: "Um, also the Princess's personal attendant."

"This identity was only used at the dock factory before; the people at the banquet are all nobles, no one will recognize it," he added immediately afterward.

After saying this, both he and Brena fell silent.

Yun Mu had originally wanted to say something, but after noticing the surrounding environment, she silently closed her mouth.

She was currently wearing a dark blue evening gown; compared to similar garments, the hem of this dress was not very long, just falling right above her ankles.

To accentuate the slenderness of her waist, Brena had also tied a wicked corset on her.

Fortunately, as a Transcendental, this thing could not cause any impact on her physical health, and besides, as long as one was not an overly extreme female, generally speaking, one would not tie this thing too tightly.

Brena's attitude toward this was clearly just for show; after all, she knew very well that tying it too tight was bad for the body.

Besides that, there was the design of the chest; most evening gowns would choose a low-cut style, but Yun Mu stated that she was still a fifteen-year-old child, so she would rather skip that.

Moreover, even if she wanted to be generous with that scale, she couldn't; squeezing it would only make it look more ridiculous.

So, for the sake of the Princess's dignity, the chest area did not adopt a low-cut design, but instead focused on highlighting the legendary-grade necklace hanging on her chest—The Frost Queen's Sigh.

By the way, this outfit was not worn from the moment they left in the morning; after all, that would be too conspicuous and inconvenient for movement.

Yun Mu had changed into the clothes after leaving the restaurant, together with Brena, inside the Painted World of the Cold Crow.

As for the reason she chose to shut up, it was because many local nobles had already arrived on the surrounding streets, right in front of the gate of the Dark Night Church.

In order to manifest the Princess's dignity, she naturally could not chat with the two attendants by her side anymore.

"Everyone, please enter."

The Church gate slowly opened, and two Second-tier Elite Night Watchmen stood before the gate, watching every local noble enter in an orderly fashion.

Yun Mu handed Brena's invitation to one of them, and the other's expression could not help but change after seeing the contents on it.

"You, please enter." He returned the invitation to Yun Mu with both hands, his expression and posture both quite respectful.

"Mm, thank you."

Taking the invitation from the other's hand, Yun Mu chuckled.

She had originally wanted to act cold and aloof, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt that a persona that was too cold did not seem very likable, and besides, Brena did not look very cold usually either.

So she decided to appear more approachable.

"What are you dazed for? It's time to receive the next person."

After Yun Mu left, the gentle smile of the 'Princess' could not help but echo in the mind of the Night Watchman from before. He was dazed for a moment, and only after his companion patted him on the shoulder was he able to come back to his senses.

On the other side, in Yun Mu's mind, a message notification from the Game Panel suddenly appeared.

【After arduous training and study, your passive skill 【Deception lv1】 has been upgraded to 【Deception lv2】】 【Critical Hit Rate +2% / Path of the Cat points +5】

【Your passive skill 【Social Etiquette lv2】 has been upgraded to 【Social Etiquette lv3】】 【Dodge +3, Charm +2】

The knowledge that suddenly flooded into her mind caused Yun Mu's figure to pause for a split second.

She knew that upgrading skill levels could grant attributes, but this was the first time she had encountered +5 points for the Path of the Cat.

Deception, huh? Secretly noting this skill in her heart, Yun Mu led Brena and Dunn into the interior of the Frostfall City Church.

At this time, Leinuode and Bishop Muse should already be arranging for their subordinates to surround the Church.

Her and Brena's mission was to keep an eye on Bishop Land's movements; before the encirclement was complete, they could not let the other party notice anything abnormal... that was what was said, but in reality, they didn't need to do anything, just keep an eye on the other party's location to ensure they wouldn't escape.

The banquet had not officially started yet; as Yun Mu and her companions walked into the interior of the church, their ears were filled with the sounds of local nobles talking to each other.

"Ugh, I ate a bit too much earlier, and now I can't eat anything at all." Brena followed by her side, looking at the food and wine on the many dining tables inside the church, her expression somewhat annoyed.

Whenever she attended various noble gatherings in the past, she had always appeared as the protagonist, busy interacting with various nobles, and never had the chance to enjoy the food alone.

Thus, she subconsciously forgot that her identity this time was Yun Mu's personal attendant; she didn't need to be busy dealing with those nobles at all and could have found a corner to sit down and eat to her heart's content.

As a result, she wasn't hungry now, and having finally had a chance, it was wasted just like that.

"I can still eat a lot, though."

Yun Mu quietly stuffed a piece of pastry into her mouth, saying it while chewing.

As a Bloodline, the speed at which she digested food was naturally fast, and coupled with the new Blood Core in her body that could help her store life force, combined with the High-Speed Regeneration trait.

She could eat while storing life force into the Blood Core until the Blood Core couldn't hold any more!

This thing was equivalent to her second life!

Thinking this, the speed at which Yun Mu snuck food grew faster and faster. (End of chapter)