Chapter 3921

When the Mayor's wife mentioned the issue of childbearing, Vigo also secretly observed Xia De's expression. She found that Xia De had no expression, clearly not caring about such topics.

The banquet officially started at 7:30, and the guests took their seats one after another. The order of seating is also particular. Although Vigo has no noble title, she also sat in a relatively forward position.

Then the servants served dishes in the order from the main table to the edge table. However, those invited this time were all local people in Arcadia, so the banquet meals were not all local dishes that everyone was familiar with. After all, the locals were already used to the local taste.

However, there were no Delarion-style dishes on the table. In the current war era, no one wanted to cause trouble for themselves.

Caviar salad, roast beef, roast goose, fruit tart, chocolate pudding, fresh vegetable clam soup, the rich meal was accompanied by low conversation. The people sitting at the main table where Xia De and Vigo were were all the most important guests of this charity banquet, so the topic also revolved around "future planning of charity projects," "royal dynamics," and "international situation."

The topic was dominated by men. Under Vigo's signal, Xia De also talked about some things he heard from the blonde princess when he was privately meeting her during the holiday of the past month and a half. So people's understanding of this Willendale visitor with a Northern Kingdom appearance added the label of "suspected to have friends in the high-level military."

And during the banquet, people inevitably talked about the topic of the Anjou royal family's offspring. It could be heard that Samuel Anjou, the eldest son of Margaret, currently had the highest voice, but Margaret's name was also mentioned by people several times.

But this was a sensitive topic after all, so there was not much discussion about it.

As for the core part of this charity banquet, it was the "fundraising speech" that started when the banquet was basically over.

First, the Duchess of Russell expressed her gratitude to the guests and explained the current situation of refugees outside the city. Then Mayor Norfolk introduced the plan of the Arcadia City Hall. He hinted that if this war continues, the refugee problem will become more and more serious.

Although the refugees are currently blocked on the edge of the Outer City, mostly setting up tents in the desolate area between the Outer City and Gray Rock Pass, and have no connection with everyone sitting in the Upper City, if the number of refugees is larger, it will sooner or later affect every corner of the city.

After the Mayor's speech ended, representatives of public welfare charity organizations such as Snake Heart Hospital took turns to take the stage to call on people to donate money for those refugees who couldn't eat.

Even the church sent representatives to the scene. It is worth mentioning that although the church of the Church of Creation is not far from Arcadia, all five orthodox churches still exist in the city.

This time, the old priest of the 【Church of Peace】 came. The full name of the 【Church of Peace】 is "Church of War and Peace." The duality of the orthodox god led to the 【Church of Peace】 also being the church with the fastest increase in faith in the war era.

Both those who thirst for victory and those who pray for peace will go to the church for worship. Even such activities of fundraising for war refugees will mostly have their attendance.

So after these consecutive speeches, five small donation boxes were placed on the left side of the banquet hall, and then the banquet entered the social session. And on the right side of the banquet hall, a small auction was held, and the auction items were gems, oil paintings, sculptures, and even spices prepared in advance.

Xia De had inquired from the coachman that there was no Tarot card in the auction, so he was not interested in this. After getting up, he first accompanied Vigo to donate another 200 crowns, and only then did Vigo take him towards Baron Ramsay.

Baron Ramsay was a thin, middle-aged man with two beautiful mustaches. He had very capable short black hair. Compared to a politician, this kind of person should actually appear in a university classroom.

His triple identity of noble/deputy mayor/member of the Royal Academy of Sciences made it difficult for Xia De to understand the specific personality of this gentleman before contacting him, but when really contacting him, Xia De found that this Baron was the type who didn't like to talk nonsense and spoke very directly.

So after Vigo introduced the two sides, Xia De directly stated his intention to obtain the original design manuscript of the 【Mark I Steam Engine】 from his hands.

Professor Thorn, who studied botany, reminded Xia De of the difficulty of this matter, but Xia De still didn't expect that the Baron would directly refuse without even thinking:

"Sorry, that manuscript is not for sale. If you need it, I can give you other steam engine design manuscripts I collected, or invite you to my collection room to see my collection. Even if you want to copy or take photos, it's fine, but I will absolutely not let that manuscript to others."

His tone was very firm, leaving no room for any leeway. But he also didn't want to really offend Vigo Astley for this, so he said to the black-haired lady again:

"Ms. Astley, I'm sorry I can't agree to the deal proposed by your friend. I really don't want to let go of that manuscript."

Xia De also didn't expect the other party's attitude to be so firm. Vigo still wanted to continue to persuade on the side, but at this time she coughed again. She didn't take out the blood brew during the banquet, and her physical condition deteriorated a bit at this time.

Seeing this situation, Xia De could only say goodbye to the Baron for the time being, and then supported Vigo to the rest area in the corner. After blocking the line of sight, he let her take a small sip of the essence bottle. Only then did her complexion look better:

"I'm really sorry, I thought that with my status, the Baron wouldn't refuse so directly."

Xia De shook his head:

"Some difficulties are normal. This time it counts as the first contact. Later, let's investigate the Baron's living habits to see if he has any urgent needs or special hobbies. We will always find a way. Besides, I am not very anxious."

But Vigo was still a bit guilty. She invited Xia De out on the grounds of communicating with the Baron, but as a result, she only said a few words to the other party for a whole night. In her view, this was a bit of a waste of Xia De's time.

It's just that before she spoke again, noise came from the side of the banquet hall close to the auction. People looked over one after another, and then Xia De saw that it was the Mrs. Connaught mentioned by Vigo before the formal banquet started, and her young male companion were arguing.

However, seeing people looking at them one after another, that chubby Viscountess pushed the young man onto the carpet in a fit of anger, and then she stepped on her high heels and walked towards the entrance. And the young man who climbed up followed her with his head down quickly. It wasn't until he disappeared that people talked about it.

"One values the other's youth and enjoys the other's flattery; one values the other's wealth and hopes to change his life through this."

Vigo shook her head:

"Such a connection itself is a kind of chaos. It is not derived from sincere fit between each other, but a temporary patchwork of interest demands. It has neither a clear future direction nor a stable emotional foundation, leaving only chaos and blur under the interweaving of desires."

She didn't want to discuss the two people's affairs very much. In the eyes of the witch who believed in "destined people," just looking at them would dirty her eyes:

"Then do you want to see the auction now? Or accompany me to get to know the local nobles again? The charity banquet has no dance session, but before the end, the total amount of fundraising this time will be announced, and souvenirs will be given to each participant. It's best not to leave before that."

Xia De just wanted to nod, but saw a familiar figure walking over.

Armand Bernhardt was wearing a black formal suit like Xia De, but the tie was red. He came with a wine glass, first politely greeted the lady beside Xia De, and then reached out to Xia De:

"Mr. Watson, I saw you just now. Sorry, I was chatting with acquaintances before and didn't have time to come over to see you."

Xia De shook hands with him. He didn't mind very much, and then introduced the identities of the two sides for Mr. Bernhardt and Vigo.

And Mr. Bernhardt said embarrassedly again:

"Lady, can I borrow your male companion for a while? I have some things I want to talk to him alone."

Vigo nodded:

"Of course. Then I'll go to the auction side first. Mr. Watson, you can come to find me there in a while."

"Okay."

After Vigo walked away, Mr. Bernhardt didn't over-greet Xia De, and said the serious business directly while holding the wine glass:

"Just now I smelled the smell of high-level blood-sucking species blood on someone. I would absolutely not smell this smell wrong. She is not a blood-sucking species, but she must have sucked the blood of blood-sucking species recently."

The blood of blood-sucking species is highly toxic to ordinary people, but according to Xia De's understanding, it can also be made into medicine that ordinary people can also use to delay physical aging through special means. It's just that the side effects of this medicine are extremely large, and addiction and photosensitivity are just the most insignificant side effects among them, so few people will use this kind of thing.

"Oh? Who is it?"

"The chubby woman who ran out of the door with her male companion just now."

Mr. Bernhardt said, Xia De raised his eyebrows and nodded lightly:

"I understand. Then I will go out with you to see the situation. Maybe this is a clue to the investigation. The other party has been gone for five minutes, can it still be tracked?"

"Yes, I applied a 'Hunting Mark' on the other party."

The two left the exhibition hall one after another, and then blurred their respective faces. Even if it is night, the temperature is not particularly low in the current season, so there are quite a few guests standing at the entrance of the exhibition hall enjoying the park night view while chatting with companions. No one cared about the disappearance of Xia De and Mr. Bernhardt.

Mrs. Connaught, who left, didn't go far. She was in the park lake. Although there were no lights on the lake, Xia De and Mr. Bernhardt could still see a small boat floating in the middle of the lake.

When they came to the lakeside, the two saw it more clearly. On the boat were Mrs. Connaught and her young lover. As for what the two were doing, Xia De didn't want to describe it very much:

"This... weren't they arguing just now?"