Chapter 211: Eve of the Banquet

The so-called "reward heavier than a medal" piqued Xia De's full curiosity, so after seeing off his superior, he first mailed the letter to Mrs. Leimeier and then walked to the Liming Sect Church.

Pretending to sit on a bench, he spent half an hour listening to the middle-aged priest standing behind the pulpit preach the deeds of the true god 【Mr. Dawn】, which was religious mythology. After the crowd dispersed, he found Priest Ao Gu Si through the middle-aged priest. The priest was busy coordinating the time for the church choir at that time, but still took the time to talk with Xia De:

"Yes, I heard from Bishop Ouwenzhu. The church intends to help you fight for a heavier reward, but I haven't inquired about the specific result yet. You know, I've been exhausted lately."

The old priest pointed to the group of children waiting for him behind him. As a veteran priest who had experienced countless Saint Prayer Festivals, Late Ao Gu Si would definitely not be idle before the end of the Saint Prayer Festival.

"Oh, there is one more thing. If there are reporters interviewing you at the banquet tonight, don't forget......"

He didn't forget to remind him. Xia De showed a smile and nodded knowingly:

"Of course, thank you Mr. Dawn."

The priest immediately lowered his head, closed his eyes, and drew the holy emblem on his chest. This was an instinctive action.

The remaining time of the day was spent reading books. Just because Director Anluosi repeatedly emphasized not to be late, Xia De prepared to set off at 5:30, even though the banquet didn't officially start until 7:00 in the evening.

Of course, he didn't forget to feed the cat before leaving. Xiao Miya didn't seem to have any intention of following him out. Compared to the "dangerous" outdoors, this cat preferred the safety of Saint Deran Square No. 6.

He first went to find Captain Lei Jiede. He originally thought the Captain was still preparing, but unexpectedly, he had been waiting for Xia De to come to the door long ago. Tonight's event could only be considered a relatively important reward for Xia De, but for the Captain, it determined whether he could return to the front line, so he valued it even more than Xia De.

Xia De's formal wear was the same set from when he played cards with the Duke last time, while the Captain was not wearing black formal wear, but a red army uniform. There were no wrinkles on the clothes, and not even a single stain could be found on the clean fabric surface.

On the way in the carriage, the Captain told Xia De that this was something he had spent money to have someone clean and iron two days in advance. Just cleaning this piece of clothing cost two shillings.

"But all of this is worth it."

When the Captain said this, his eyes seemed to be glowing. His life had changed because of the relic, and now he saw the dawn again.

Although the banquet officially started at 7:00, most of the guests had already appeared before 7:00. There was a flat road specially built from the city to the royal manor. As for whether it was taxpayers' money or the royal family's own gold pounds that were spent, that was not something Xia De should consider.

After approaching the manor, he found many private carriages parked on the side of the road. Relatively speaking, Xia De and Captain Lei Jiede, who came by taxi carriage, appeared a bit shabby.

The two of them, one thinking he was a clumsy detective and the other thinking he was a small character, didn't expect anyone to recognize them, but they encountered acquaintances as soon as they got off the carriage.

Captain Lei Jiede encountered friends from when he served on the front line, some of whom had returned to Tobesk on leave and were also invited to attend tonight's banquet.

As for Xia De, he encountered Baron Luo Saier. Since discussing the disposal plan for the 【Ancient Fairy Tale · Match Girl】 Luo De Pai last time, the two hadn't seen each other for a week and a half.

The Baron had also just gotten off the carriage. Seeing the Captain chatting with friends and unable to get away for a moment, Xia De greeted him and excused himself, entering the manor interior with Baron Luo Saier.

"Mr. Hamilton, it's been a long time. I really didn't expect you to have saved Wang Hou Lei Qianya."

Xia De's Intelligence Agency identity could not be exposed, but what he did had already made the newspapers. The newspaper didn't post a photo and only mentioned the surname without the name, but when the Baron saw Xia De appear here, he knew that Hamilton must be him.

It was still early, and the gentlemen and ladies who came to attend the banquet had also just arrived. Walking on the garden path of the manor, the men in proper formal wear and the ladies dressed in gorgeous long gowns did not realize that the young man beside them was one of the protagonists of this banquet.

"I think if anyone else were there, they would have done the same."

Xia De said something that no one would believe, but everyone would feel was very correct when said.

Baron Luo Saier wasn't very concerned about the details of that day; after all, the description in the newspaper was more exciting than what Xia De actually experienced. Walking side by side with Xia De, the Baron shook his joined right index and middle finger at Xia De, which was a very classic card-throwing action:

"Detective, do you have Luo De Pai on you?"

As he spoke, Baron Luo Saier laughed himself.

"Of course."

Xia De patted the position of his pocket.

The smile on Baron Luo Saier's face became even richer, a smile from the heart:

"How about this, after receiving His Majesty the King's reward, would you like to play Luo De Pai with us? This time, I can introduce you to a few new friends. After the card game at Lake View Manor, I've been looking forward to seeing your card game again."

"Betting money?"

Xia De asked in a low voice.

His peripheral vision looked toward the lawn; the neatly trimmed grass was probably very suitable for lying down and taking a nap. But the banquet was not outdoors; this time it was a formal evening banquet held in the manor's grand banquet hall. This manor itself was built for the royal family to hold banquets, so there was no need to worry about whether it could accommodate so many people.

"No betting money, but if you are willing, we can still use each other's special cards as chips."

The Baron said in a low voice.

A smile also appeared on Xia De's face. He didn't know anyone anyway, so rather than walking around aimlessly holding a wine glass after receiving the award, it was better to sit down and play a few tense and exciting Luo De Pai games:

"Of course I want to play, Baron. I've managed to get a few good cards during this time, and I can let you take a look in a while."

"Oh? Then I'm really looking forward to it."

Smiles appeared on the faces of both men, as if Luo De Pai was the most important thing tonight compared to the King.

Because the building itself was built for banquets, the banquet hall was located behind the main gate of the manor. The banquet hall was divided into three floors, connected by a central curved golden staircase, but ordinary guests were only allowed to move on the first and second floors, while the third floor was a lounge for royal family members and distinguished guests.

Xia De entered the mansion with the Baron, and Baron Luo Saier, who had many friends, introduced Xia De to his friends. Baron Lu Anda, who played cards together last time, was also there. He remained lukewarm to Baron Luo Saier, but was very happy to see Xia De.

Of course, he was even happier when he heard that Xia De was the "enthusiastic citizen" who helped Wang Hou Lei Qianya block the bullet.

Hearing that Xia De also planned to play Luo De Pai with everyone after the award ceremony in a while, he was so happy that he almost forgot his "hostile" relationship with Baron Luo Saier.

Most of the friends of the two Barons also loved Luo De Pai. Everyone had nothing to do before the banquet started, so a group of men stood together talking about interesting cards, boring politics, or joking with each other and telling interesting things in the city.

Everyone had heard about the appearance of 【Founder · Silver Moon】 in the city last Sunday. People could even describe the details of that match completely, but no one knew who exactly was holding the cards and playing against the old Duke Lu Kasi.

Among Baron Luo Saier's friends, some were present at the Duke's mansion that night, such as Baron Shi Ka Wen. But they all followed the Duke's instructions and did not reveal Xia De's identity, only raising their glasses or smiling at Xia De whenever people excitedly talked about 【Founder · Silver Moon】.

It seemed that the secret that Xia De was the holder of 【Founder · Silver Moon】 wouldn't be kept for long.

"But it doesn't matter if they know. Anyway, I have Miss Jia Lin Na as my backer now."

He thought to himself, his eyes looking toward the entrance of the banquet hall from time to time, worried about seeing acquaintances like that night at Lake View Manor.

In addition to Luo De Pai, the gentlemen standing together learned from Baron Luo Saier that Xia De was the "enthusiastic citizen," so they invited him to recount what happened that day.

In the rumors of the citizens, the incident that happened at the entrance of the Tobesk station on Wednesday noon was becoming more and more deviated from the truth. Even though the police station had published a statement in the newspaper, people were still willing to believe the news they heard from tavern idlers or taxi carriage drivers.

As for the truth in the newspaper, it must be fake. Most people believed that the City Hall and the Lide Weiqi Field never published true news in the newspaper.

"The rumor I heard is that the person who saved Wang Hou Lei Qianya was a fighting champion from a small town in the south, who killed a bear with his bare hands back home. On Wednesday noon, he caught a bullet with his bare hands and then tore the gunman into two pieces on the street."

Baron Luo Saier said in a joking tone, making everyone around laugh.

"You see."

Xia De showed his "weak" arms and also joked:

"Rather than saying I can tear someone into two pieces on the street, it's better to say I can summon a meteorite to destroy an entire block."

"Oh, this is really interesting."

Baron Lu Anda, who was a bit short but looked very shrewd, had already laughed to tears, although Xia De didn't think he had told a very funny joke.

Chatting with people was the best way to kill time, but Xia De didn't kill too much time here before a servant handed him a note.

After unfolding it, it was Miss Jia Lin Na's handwriting; this special way of writing fancy letters was easy to recognize. She asked Xia De to find her on the third floor, as there were some things to discuss.

Thinking of Miss Jia Lin Na, he naturally thought of the information he obtained when he entered 1068 for the third time.

Xia De confirmed that he was male, his physiological characteristics were fine, and the god had also confirmed this point. But he was indeed unable to trigger the curse carried by the witches. In the Sixth Era, only people from the Witch Council could explain this matter.

He had been considering these days whether he should take the initiative to talk to Miss Jia Lin Na about this problem, or wait for the other party to speak up one day.

This meeting at the banquet made his thoughts increase all of a sudden. ===== CHAPTER 212 =====