A Banquet
The brilliant rays of the sun lit up the path with a golden light. Walking on it was like walking on a golden, paved road.
Today Leylin had especially changed into formal ceremonial attire. He had Greem personally drive the horse carriage to Murphy’s villa.
Similarly, Murphy also wore formal attire and carried a black cane as he waited. After seeing Leylin, his wrinkled face revealed a joyous expression, "Welcome, my friend!"
"My apologies for being a little late!" Leylin opened the window and said.
"The agreed time isn’t up yet, I just deliberately got out earlier!" Murphy got into the horse carriage with the help of his servant. With the crack of the whip, Greem drove the horse carriage towards the centre of the city.
"City lord’s banquet is to be held today. He invited you too. After all, as the owner, he has developed a curiosity for any guest with strength..." Murphy left his sentence hanging.
"That’s understandable!" Leylin answered. As someone who has control over a city, seeking Leylin out only after so many days since he had entered the city was somewhat surprising.
"Are you somewhat bored?" Murphy noticed Leylin’s indifference.
"To be honest, I am not adept at these kinds of social interaction. Given a choice, I’d rather stay inside my experiment lab..." Leylin smiled wryly.
"Haha..."Murphy let off a benign laugh, "I felt exactly the same way when I was younger! However, you must learn to enjoy life, young man! Compared to tasteless experiments, delicacies and fervent, unrestrained women can sometimes lead you towards excitement!"
Leylin nodded his head. This was actually the difference between retired magicians and newly advanced ones.
Murphy has no way of advancing in the path of a Magus anymore, so he could only divert his enthusiasm towards other areas. As for Leylin, he still had a lot of options, so he naturally would make use of the time to cultivate--not waste it on such mundane matters.
"Brighten up kid!" There are several comrades I will introduce you to...." Murphy smiled lightly.
"Could they be...?" Leylin’s eyes flashed.
"Indeed! They are acolytes like us, and they are all younger than me. You would have some common interests to talk about."
"I’m starting to look forward to this banquet now!" Leylin’s lips curled up and smiled.
The city lord’s castle was in the heart of Extreme Night City. Standing guard around it were two rows of fully equipped black-armoured arms men.
"Those are the Black Iron Guards of Extreme Night City’s Lord, Viscount Jackson. They once defeated a 500-man army troop with roughly hundred men.
After alighting the horse carriage, Murphy introduced Leylin.
Leylin looked around. There were several other horse carriages in the vicinity. From time to time, gentlemen in lavish attire and ladies in low-cut ball gowns got down.
Murphy appeared to have quite a reputation amongst this circle of nobles based on the exuberant greetings Murphy happily responded to. They even chatted for a while before moving on.
Upon seeing Murphy, the guard at the door ran in immediately. Not long after, an extremely loud voice boomed from within.
"Murphy, my friend! You have finally arrived!" Accompanying the voice, a burly middle-aged man walked out of the castle. The nobles and troops around respectfully greeted him. This apparently was Viscount Jackson of Extreme Night City.
Leylin’s height in the South Coast area was considered average, but this Viscount Jackson was actually taller than him by two heads. He had the classic western features and an extremely wide forehead. He even had extremely long sideburns.
Jackson gave Murphy a firm hug, "Little Jackson has always been asking about you!"
"I too miss that cute fellow. He is one of the smartest amongst all my students!" Murphy said.
"This is a good friend of mine from far away, Sire Leylin Farlier!" Murphy introduced Leylin to Viscount Jackson.
"Extreme Night City welcomes you!" Jackson sized up Leylin, and opened his broad shoulders, giving Leylin a hug.
Leylin’s smile was somewhat stiff, which he quickly concealed.
Right at that moment, he was completely distracted by the stats shown by the A.I. Chip.
[Jackson. Strength: 7.9, Agility: 4.5, Vitality: 6.3, Spiritual force: 3.5. State: Healthy. This human is deemed as dangerous, it is strongly suggested that the Host maintain a distance of 50 metres from this person.]
"These stats can only belong to a Grand Knight!" Leylin’s pupils shrank.
"The vitality of Grand Knights is extremely high. And, after constant activation and stimulation of their internal life energy, they have surpassed the bottleneck that held back most humans. Moreover, they have also developed a slight resistance to rank 0 spells." Leylin recalled a description he had read before.
"Very well! You should be a Knight too, right?" Lord Jackson was slightly astonished by Leylin’s strength, and he looked upon Leylin now in a friendlier light.
"I only recently advanced, and am nowhere close to you!"
Leylin said humbly and ordered the A.I. Chip, "A.I. Chip! Show me a simulation if I were to fight against this city lord Jackson."
[Beep! Establishing parameters, inputting data, simulating battle scenario, predicting outcome....]
A large light screen flashed continuously, and the results: [Battle simulation complete. 50 metres and beyond, Host win rate is 89.8%. Between 20 to 50 metres, Host win rate is 58.7%. Below 20 metres, Host win rate is 33.9%!]
"As expected, the physical power of Grand Knights is extremely astounding. They are capable of closing the distance before a magician can cast a spell. If magicians do not try to stay out of range, they would be on the short end of the stick!"
Leylin’s expression did not change as he walked together with Murphy into the castle’s hall.
It was obvious that the large hall had been decorated for the occasion. The marbled floor was so smooth that it reflected the figures of people walking around on it.
A huge golden chandelier hung from the centre of the large hall. It was densely packed with lighted candles that shone through the surrounding coloured crystals letting out a colourful light.
At the side of this huge hall, was an orchestra of musicians wearing swallowtail coats and performing a slow enjoyable tune.
The area filled with long tables covered in white cloth. On these tables were gold and silver platters with various fruits and barbecued meat. On the side, there were even flasks and silver flagons, which emitted the strong aroma of wine.
Right in the centre was a huge open space where many of the nobility were waltzing to the music.
"It seems like a ball with a buffet on the side!" Leylin nodded his head.
"Go enjoy yourself! I’ll have to say hello to a few old friends!" Murphy said to Leylin.
"Please do!" Leylin gestured with his head in assent. He then picked up a cup of grape wine and sat on a nearby sofa.
Not long after, he spotted Murphy together with a number of coquettish women in revealing outfits. They even entered a small side room, which made him rather speechless.
"He’s so old and he still wants to pretend to be rather strong, can he even make it?"
"Do you mind if I sit beside you?" Just as Leylin was thinking such indecent thoughts, an elegant voice sounded beside him.
Leylin raised his head and saw a young lady wearing a purple gown. She a head of golden hair that fell to her shoulders like a waterfall; even her skin was a milky white.
Looking around, Leylin discovered that there was no one else near him. Leylin was quite good looking and kept himself well groomed, which naturally attracted a few young ladies.
"Of course, I don’t mind!" Leylin smiled lightly and chatted happily with the young lady.
To him, the combination of his memories from a previous life and the memories of this body’s previous owner made making a little girl happy an easy task.
Not long after, the young lady was completely enraptured by Leylin’s made-up stories.
"Haha...Haha, running naked on the street? He actually did that?" The young lady completely lost her earlier elegance; she laughed almost uproariously without much of her former delicate demeanor. This drew a lot of curious stares from the people close by.
"Sorry to interrupt you Leylin! However, our friends are here!"
Murphy followed closely by several noble women with whom he had just tangled violently, walked over. Surprisingly, his attire was still extremely neat and tidy, which left Leylin rather shocked.
"Alright, I have to go!" Leylin made a helpless gesture and rose from the sofa.
"This...Sir! After talking for so long, I haven’t asked for your name yet?" The young lady slapped her forehead.
"Leylin Farlier, just call me Leylin!"
"I...I’m Alicia, my house is located at Cecelia Main Street, 34. You’re welcomed to come over to play anytime!"
"Haha, I never thought that you might be so sought after by ladies huh!" After the both of them left, Murphy made fun of Leylin.
"It’s only a young lady who likes to listen to stories. Have they arrived?" Leylin asked.
"They’re all here, followed me!"
Murphy said, and brought Leylin to a small room beside the dance hall.
There were several acolytes already waiting in the room. Leylin could sense that their energy waves made them either level 1 or level 2 acolytes.
Murphy obviously had the highest standing in this circle. When he entered, the acolytes all stood up to receive him.
"Alright!" Murphy swept his gaze around, "Let me introduce all of you to a new comrade! Leylin, he came from the west...."
After Leylin’s self-introduction was over, he could not help but ask Murphy, "Would a gathering like this cause an issue?"
"No worries, Jackson has reared some Beastmen and their noses are more sensitive than a dog’s. He already knew of our identities long ago. It’s just that all of us do not mention it explicitly!"
An acolyte with acne spoke, picking up a silver flagon and drinking from it from time to time.
"Oh! Mayflower, my Mayflower!" At this moment, a guy’s heavy panting sounded.
"Oh! Baby! So hot, so good!" A woman’s murmuring groans followed soon after.
It seems like there was a couple in ardent passion in the room next door.
Black lines formed on Murphy’s face. He promptly swung his hand and a faint energy membrane enveloped the room isolating the noise of the outside world. "This is an accident, an accident!" His old face actually reflected his embarrassment.
Leylin wanted to faint, and there was a voice that repeatedly echoed in his mind. "Alright! I really shouldn’t harbour any hope toward this group of acolytes. They are all just a bunch of trash that has completely lost their motivation and prudence!"