Chapter 99: The Ceremony Venue

Savile Town, Central Plaza.

Saier Town Mayor was directing a group of servants, bustling about. Facing the Lord's orders, he dared not show the slightest negligence. Although the Territory had not held a proper Award Ceremony for many years, he still arranged the personnel to set up the venue with great experience.

Thinking that the last time the Territory held an Award Ceremony was when the old Lord was still around, he had not expected that in the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. The Lord, who was once a young man, was no longer young now.

"We've all grown old!"

Saier Town Mayor sighed with emotion and ordered someone to go to the Temple to invite Bishop Anbulier, while he himself found Mage Aiboke, who was casting a spell to create flowers, and familiarly patted Aiboke on the shoulder:

"Aiboke, what is the Lord doing right now? The people here are almost all gathered, yet he still hasn't appeared!"

"He should be talking to Niya right now; he wants to introduce Niya to everyone at the Award Ceremony."

"Ah—" Saier let out an exclamation, "Wouldn't that be too early? Niya is still so young, why didn't you persuade him!"

As the administrative Supervisor of Savile Territory, Saier and Aiboke were both followers chosen by the old Lord for Lord Epps. Especially Saier, who had been serving the Seville Family since his grandfather's time.

Facing Saier's complaints, Aiboke could only smile bitterly, "How could I not have persuaded him? But whenever the Lord makes up his mind, when have we ever been able to dissuade him? Not to mention letting Niya step to the forefront, just a short while ago, he even let Niya go to the Orc Battlefield!"

"What!"

Now Saier was even more unsettled, "By the way, why didn't Saixili tell me about this? Was it the Lord who stopped her, or you?"

Saixili was Saier's daughter, who grew up with Niya. It could be said that she was the next-generation head steward of Savile Territory, and most importantly, Saixili was a Mage.

Compared to the relationship between Saier and the Lord, his daughter's relationship with Niya was even closer.

"No one stopped her; it was her own decision."

"Fine, she is very sensible, but even so, you actually didn't tell me! Do you think I'm old and useless?" Saier's expression was displeased.

Looking at Saier, who had grown up with him like a brother, Aiboke only felt a headache, "Alright, Saier, don't be angry. We've been so busy after the war that we forgot. I guarantee it won't happen next time!"

Saier waved his hand, "Forget it, how many 'next times' have you said? I've seen through you all long ago."

Then he changed the subject and returned to the previous topic, "Regarding Niya, I don't think it's appropriate yet. The Orc Tide is gone; the vast forest from Savile Territory to Wolf God Mountain can all be developed. Do you think anyone within the Empire will be jealous?

"And the Elf. When the first Lord developed this place, he had conflicts with the Elf. If the Territory is to continue developing, will it provoke the Elf again? Niya is still a child; there is no need for her to bear this now. We aren't dead yet!"

"This—" Hearing Saier's words, Aiboke was also somewhat hesitant. He was proficient in researching Magic, but he was not good at considering the development of the Territory, "Then the Lord—"

"Hurry and take me to find him! He cannot bring Niya to the Award Ceremony, at least not as the heir to the Territory."

At this moment, Aiboke seemed to see the majestic aura this elder brother once possessed again.

He casually summoned a Mage to let him continue casting spells to create flowers to decorate the ceremony venue, and he took Saier and teleported away.

……

At this time, Xia Duo had already changed into a set of quite gorgeous and exquisite Mage Robe and had come under the Great Arcanist Statue to wait quietly for the ceremony to begin.

Similar to him, there were more than a dozen Apprentices in the same attire. Unfortunately, this exquisite Mage Robe adorned with gold thread and Silver Thread was actually just for show.

Xia Duo did not see any Magic Aura on it; it was flashy and without substance, and this set of Mage Robe was even given to them directly.

In addition, he also noticed that although the Mage Robe of those Official Mage were similar to theirs, they truly possessed Magic Aura.

Perhaps it was for the Lord to make them look more formal that he had set up this facade project.

"Xia Duo, Xia Duo, I see my family!"

Suddenly, Dien pointed excitedly at a spot in the crowd to the south and said, "Look, behind that tall soldier, three people passed by. The one holding the little girl is my mother, and beside her are my father and aunt. That little girl is my cousin."

Xia Duo looked in the direction Dien pointed. It was all heads; it seemed that everyone in town who could come had come. From time to time, people waved and shouted.

Dien's family was inconspicuous in the crowd.

Beside him, Sami was also waving to the south, obviously greeting his family as well. Everyone was extremely excited, except for Xia Duo.

He felt that he was out of place in such an occasion. In this atmosphere, Xia Duo naturally thought of his own family, but separated by a world, how could he greet them?

By comparison, he would rather study Magic in the Mage Tower.

Seemingly mindful of Xia Duo's feelings, Sami and Dien's excitement subsided slightly, but others did not care what Xia Duo thought; they were as excited as they could be.

And Xia Duo turned his gaze elsewhere.

Under the Great Arcane Statue, the Spellcaster and non-Spellcaster were lined up in an "eight" shape on the left and right. The closer one was to the Great Arcanist Statue, the more powerful their strength, the more revered their status, and the more magnificent their achievements.

And in Xia Duo's view, there was another way to judge, which was by the strength of the Magic Aura on their bodies. The more powerful Magic Item one possessed, the closer they were to the Great Arcanist Statue.

Almost all the prominent figures in Savile Territory were on this "eight" shape.

Xia Duo and these Mage Apprentice were merely standing at the end of the "eight," which counted as showing their faces.

Further away were the guards maintaining order and the onlookers.

……

Just when Xia Duo was bored and looking around, the non-Spellcaster on the other side of the "eight" had arrived one after another, and the Spellcaster on Xia Duo's side were also almost all there, with only a few seats left empty.

"Look, the Bishop of the Temple is here!"

Xia Duo saw that almost everyone to his left and right turned around, and he also curiously turned around. It was an old man wearing a red, orange, and yellow robe, who, accompanied by attendants on his left and right, walked slowly to the very front of the "eight" foot where Xia Duo was, under the Great Arcane Statue.

During the Bishop's progress, Xia Duo seemed to see a ray of light rising from the Bishop, and a gentle feeling slowly permeated, making people feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze.

At this moment, it was as if the cold had also left him.

Originally, the noisy crowd collectively quieted down the moment the Bishop stepped out of the Temple. Xia Duo did not expect the Bishop to have such great prestige in Savile Territory.

Fortunately, Xia Duo had also read the Sacred Proverbs of the Lord of Radiance thoroughly and knew how to avoid conflicts with the church. In fact, the more powerful a Cleric was, the more they were like the ancient gentlemen on Earth, who could be deceived by their own principles.

This "principle" was their Doctrine.

Of course, with the exception of a very few fanatics.