The sound of the violin floats on the top, with the sounds of the silver flute and clarinet underneath, and finally the soothing cello sound with a Kasenlic style underpins it, which is a typical style of Kasenric dance music.
The entire first floor of the Rothschild Manor was opened as a banquet venue, and the hall, which occupies a quarter of the first floor, is the main banquet venue, and the place itself is prepared for banquets.
It was still early and Princess Margaret had not yet given her farewell speech. The gentlemen and ladies in exquisite dresses under the crystal lamp were enjoying the moment.
Shade, whose English was not very good in Kasenrik, followed Mr. Bernhardt and found his friends at the long table with him. They were vampires with small bats hanging above their heads.
There were about seven or eight people in total, all dressed in white shirts and black formal suits, but each one had different decorations such as pocket watches and badges.
Each of them was carrying red wine, and when Mr. Bernhardt came over, they were talking loudly about this autumn's grape harvest. Similar to the vampires in Fort Midhill, most of the local vampires also run the wine business.
, and even most of the people in the local wine guild have a vampire background, which Shade believes is related to the god they believe in.
"Oh, look who's here?"
A middle-aged man with a rough beard, who looked more like a bear-like alien creature than a vampire, greeted Mr. Bernhardt loudly:
"Armand, when did you come back from Fort Midhill? Is business going well?"
"I came back two weeks ago. As for business? Well, my colleagues in that mountain city actually don't welcome me."
Mr. Bernhardt also smiled and hugged him, then patted Shade on the shoulder and introduced to everyone:
"Everyone, this is my friend, from Delarian. Although he is not from us, he is still from our side."
Although this introduction was very vague, people understood what he said.
"Good evening, gentlemen."
Shade said in Kassenric, taking the initiative to shake hands with these gentlemen, and judged from this that most of them were low-level, and only one of them was fifth-level. In comparison, Mr. Bernhardt, who was seven-level,
With the highest rank, it finally made sense that he was sent to perform the mission of Fort Midhill in the fall.
Mr. Bernhardt has a high reputation in the local area, so Shade was warmly welcomed as a friend he brought. People asked him about interesting things about Delrayon, praised his appearance, and sighed.
The workmanship of the dress on his body was so exquisite. Mr. Bernhardt was very happy to see his friend welcomed. He picked up two glasses of red wine from the tray in the waiter's hand, handed one of them to Shade, and then spoke
said:
"Has there been any interesting happenings in the city recently? I have been recuperating since I came back. Yes, I encountered some things in Middleburg, so I don't know much about the interesting happenings in the city recently."
As he spoke, he knocked the glass with his own ring, and then winked at Shade. Shade knew that Mr. Bernhardt's ruby ring was actually an alchemy item made by himself, which could make the wine have the effect of blood.
smell.
"Interesting things?"
The old gentleman whom Mr. Bernhard called "Count Ronan" raised his glass and clinked it with the former. The cane the old gentleman held was covered with gold, and he wore three gemstone rings on the five fingers of his right hand, black.
The buttons on the coat look like sterling silver, and each one has a subtle pattern of a little bat. But instead of looking obtrusive, this look has a low-key sense of luxury:
"Count Sagia died yesterday at the White King Club not far from here. The murderer was his lover."
Count Ronan said, and Mr. Bernhardt nodded slowly:
"What a surprise."
Shade also echoed:
"It's surprising. I didn't expect the security in Huntington to be so bad."
"It's not that the local public security is poor. There is actually a hidden agenda in this matter."
Earl Ronan lowered his voice and raised his eyebrows at Shade:
"Sir, you just came to the local area, so you may not be well informed. It is said that the church also arrested someone yesterday, a person from the Pantanal."
He blinked, and Mr. Bernhardt made a clear expression:
"It's them, they are so brave."
As he spoke, he explained to the "bewildered" Shade on the side the meaning of the people coming from the Pantanal.
"What do they want to do?"
Baron York, who had pigtails on the back of his head, asked while holding a wine glass. He wanted to touch Mr. Bernhardt's ring with his own glass, but the latter dodged it with a smile.
This time it was the bear-like Viscount Ramadi who answered him. The Viscount's voice was very elegant and did not match his appearance at all:
"I did hear some news, but I can't guarantee it's true."
Everyone looked around, and then the Viscount lowered his voice:
"It is said to be related to the Heart of the Pantanal. There are a lot of rumors in the swamp. The herbal medicine business run by Count Sachia has stretched his hands too far and blocked the road that shouldn't be blocked."
“What is the Heart of the Pantanal?”
Shade was suspicious, but before he could ask, Baron York, who was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, said again:
"Speaking of which, I have another piece of news. This is exclusive news. Not even the church knows about it. The Association for the Search for the Truth, yes, that academic organization further south, sent people to our place. It is said that they are looking for something.
thing."
Shade was stunned:
"The Truth Society?"
He almost blurted out, but luckily he stopped in time.
Mr. Bernhardt tapped the floor with his leather shoe uneasily twice and drank the red wine in his hand:
"The Truth Society?"
He lowered his voice as much as possible, narrowed his bright eyes, and wrinkles appeared on the pale skin of his forehead:
"I also met this group of lunatics in Middleburg. What are they doing here? Is it related to the people in the Pantanal?"
"It doesn't matter. Academic organizations like the Society of Truth look down upon the country bumpkins in the Everglades and think they are uneducated."
Viscount York said with a smile, and everyone in the circle smiled, and Shade also laughed in conjunction. Even among ring magicians, there is a chain of discrimination.
"The Truth Society only sent three people, and they were accompanied by a cleric from an active illegal religious group who believed in incorrect gods. They found me on the black market, bought some special drugs, and asked me about the banquet.
I learned the information and bought four invitations at a high price. Those people are really rich."
The "drug dealer" disclosed the information about his customers without any care:
"I haven't seen them yet, but they are definitely coming."
Shade immediately scanned the surroundings, and then heard someone ask again:
"Why are you related to evil, ahem, I mean illegal believers again?"
This time it was Mr. Bernhardt who gave the answer:
"The Truth Society suffered a big loss in the Fort Midhill Incident. Almost all the professors it sent were arrested for illegally prostitutes. Moreover, they have never minded cooperating with illegal elements. After all, most illegal elements have no
They are so crazy."
Because they belong to the same race, these vampires trust each other and gather together to exchange various local news using metaphors that ordinary people cannot understand. During this period, Shade listened quietly and wrote down the contents.
However, the diet of vampires is a little different from that of normal people, so they all took some fruits and vegetables on their plates and did not touch the meat.
Since Shade had no acquaintances, he didn't run around. Even when he saw a crowd of people playing Rhodes gathered in a corner of the hall, he didn't rush over to join in the fun.
On the contrary, the middle-aged priest with the Holy Emblem of the Church of Peace on his chest came over to shake hands with Mr. Bernhardt midway. He seemed to be an acquaintance of Mr. Bernhardt. At this time, the other vampires tacitly changed the topic to the next chapter.
Before a snowfall, in the name of the Huntington Winery Association, we went to the local church to donate to the Huntington Orphanage and Welfare Home.
It seems that they have completely integrated into the lives of ordinary people.
Shade did not take the initiative to talk to strangers, but someone came to strike up a conversation with Shade. It was a group of local aristocratic girls who gathered together. They smiled and pushed one of the girls in a red skirt and handed Shade a handkerchief.
After Xia De took it, he discovered that there was an address and name on it.
When I went to see the girl again, she was already a little shy and went to join her friends.
Seeing Shade's surprised look, Baron York, the "drug dealer", smiled and joked again:
"We girls from Huntington have always been so enthusiastic and bold. The one I saw just now seems to be the daughter of the MacDonald family. She is a good marriage partner. Their family's vineyard is bigger than Bernhardt's.
"
"But the quality of their wine is not as good as mine. The red wine produced by the Bernhardt family is sweeter than the blood of virgins!"
Mr. Bernhardt immediately retorted, and everyone around him laughed and joked, but they did not deny that the quality of his wine was very good.
Shade looked at the handkerchief and then touched his face. He was not in the habit of messing with strange girls.
When the clock tower in the center of the city rang seven times in succession, Princess Margaret of Anjou, wearing a blue princess dress and a silver crown, finally accompanied by the accompanying Willendale nobles,
Appeared on the platform above the stairs.
While the spotlights of the newspaper's cameras kept flashing, the music stopped and the voices in the banquet hall also stopped abruptly. Shade held the wine glass and looked up at the high place with these rather upper-class and respectable vampires.
, under the illumination of the surrounding gas lamps, the princess with long pale golden hair seemed to be shining all over.
She did not take out the speech script, but started speaking directly.
"Citizens of Carsenlique, on behalf of the Angevin royal family and the Tobesk delegation of 1853, I would like to make a speech at this moment. Peace has come to the Old World for nearly a century, and the friendly relations between Delrayon and Carsonique
, stretching from my ancestor, the great Corleone I.”
"gentlemen."
Shade was looking up at the princess when a young lady's voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw that it was a girl dressed as a maid. She was a ring warlock with the power of a witch. Shade had seen her before at the Owl Club.
When meeting Miss Sylvia, it was she who was serving Miss Sylvia:
"Miss wants to see you."
The maid whispered, Shade nodded, and then said to Mr. Bernhardt:
"That lady has something to do with me. I'll be back soon."
"be careful."
Mr. Bernhardt patted Shade on the shoulder with some worry, and then watched Shade gradually walk away as the maid walked through the crowd.