Faced with the envious gazes of all the men present, Ryan seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head slightly. He reached out and pulled Veronica into his arms, then smiled and said, "I already have a date with my female companion, Miss Añeda. I have a date with her tomorrow night, so I'm sorry."
"That's … a pity." Anida giggled. "Mr. Laing, you're always welcome to the Aesthetical Association. I'd like to see the difference between the warriors of the north and the men of the south."
At least this man knows what's good for him! Seeing Laing turn down the invitation, the men in the hall felt that Laing knew what was good for him. On the other hand, they felt that Laing was out of his mind. How could this man turn down the invitation of the president of the Aesthetical Association?
How many men couldn't get this opportunity even if they spent a fortune?
After meeting everyone, Schultz found a secluded place and signaled that he wanted to talk to Laing alone. Veronica took her apprentice and waited outside.
On a secluded balcony.
"It's hard to imagine that you'd turn down Anida's invitation." The Grand Duke of Marlinburg chuckled as he stood beside Leon. His eyes flashed with a strange light. "But I'm not surprised. You know that we all hate this kind of person. Hedonism is always detestable. But since half of the council has fallen for her, I can't say anything."
"She always has a rotten smell on her, like …" Laing made a sign in the air. "That believer."
"Are you sure?" Schultz's eyes widened.
"You know what I am. You know I'm most sensitive to that smell." Laing shrugged.
"Then I'd like to ask, what's your mission in this world?" Schultz whispered. "Court? Orthodoxy? Defense Force? Navy? Astarte? Looking at your sign, you should be Astarte? "
"Because I'm his son," Laing whispered back.
Schultz jumped up as if he had been electrocuted. His pupils widened to their maximum. The Grand Duke of Marlinburg stared at Leon with his eyes wide open. After a while, he shook his head frantically. "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!!! "
"Nothing is impossible." Laing stretched out his hand, and a golden double-headed eagle mark appeared in the center of his palm. This was given to him by the Emperor, and was his most powerful proof of identity.
Seeing the symbol of endless power, Schultz no longer had any doubts. If it were not for the Supreme Emperor's will, he would not have appeared here. So he asked carefully, "Then who are you …"
"Neither."
"Impossible! There are only twenty of them!"
"Can't He make something new?"
Schultz was getting more and more surprised. The Grand Duke of Marlinburg's forehead was covered with sweat. In the end, he reached out his hand and secretly made a "21" sign.
Laing nodded.
"I understand, great Son of God. Do whatever you want to do. I will support you." The Grand Duke looked at Laing as if he wanted to eat him alive. "Don't worry, the Senate is under my control."
"For His Majesty! For the Holy Terra! "
"For Father!"
Fifteen minutes later, Laing and Schultz came out of the secret meeting with smiles on their faces. They shook hands and said, "Laing, there's a lot of fun and delicious food here. You can go take a look. I have something to do."
"Okay." Laing said goodbye to the Grand Duke of Marlinburg and came out. He saw Veronica talking to a tall demon hunter. Seeing Laing, Veronica came up to Laing with a smile and held his arm. "Laing, Vice-Chairman Jacob is here."
The demon hunter was nearly two meters tall. He wore a long hood and a wide-brimmed hat. His face was full of scars, and he was muscular. He greeted Laing. "Hello, Laing. I'm here to track Beldt."
Jacob was a veteran Master Demonhunter from Beldt's time. He was old and had not been out on missions in recent years.
"Is the problem that serious?" When Leon saw that the vice president of the Demon Hunters Guild had appeared, the man's expression became very serious. He gestured for a few people to move towards a small room.
Usually, in such a large banquet, the host would provide a large number of small rooms. These small rooms had various uses … one of them was for discussing business. However, after searching for a few rooms, they found that there was a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on the door of the room. Then, strange sounds came from inside.
In the end, the four of them had to find a corner of the banquet hall. The tall Jacob found a place to sit. He grabbed the food with his hands and began to eat. The high-end wine was like fruit juice in the hands of the demon hunter, one glass after another.
Many nobles and merchants frowned when they saw Jacob's way of attending the banquet. However, when they saw that Laing and his female companion were chatting with Jacob, they did not say anything. Besides, the Master Demonhunter reeked of blood and violence. He did not look like a person to be trifled with.
Banquets were a medium. The nobles and merchants of the world's largest trading center needed a reason to gather everyone together. Before they could talk and whisper, a new trading partner would be born. Or, a transaction worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins would be completed.
Laing fetched the red wine and filled the glasses of Veronica and her female Apprentice. Katherine's face was full of excitement. Her female Apprentice was very happy to have the opportunity to attend such a large banquet. Veronica gently tidied up her skirt, while at the same time, she reminded her apprentice not to lose her composure. She just quietly listened to the conversation between Laing and Jacob. She looked like a beautiful vase, but the light that kept flashing in her eyes showed that she was thinking a lot. She just kept quiet.
This was interesting. Laing thought. When Teresa attended a banquet, she was always eager to show off, while Veronica was more quiet. But when the banquet was over, Veronica always gained more. Thinking of this, he suddenly understood Teresa's series of actions during the journey. She was under a lot of pressure because of a witch with no background who was better than her in many aspects, so much so that Teresa's behavior changed.
The two sides exchanged information.
"I have something very important to tell you, Laing. During Bernt's defection, he seemed to have changed his faith." The vice president's voice was very hoarse. "We all know that Bernt was a believer of the Lord of Pestilence when he defected."
"But from the signs I've received, Bernt seems to have changed his faith. He's become a believer of the Blood God. I don't know why he changed his faith, but this could be good news for us … or bad news."
"It's good news!" Laing stroked his chin. "This means that Bernt is hated by the Lord of Pestilence. At least one of the forces will not help him."
Yes, the Four Gods of Chaos were not as monolithic as many people thought. On the contrary, the infighting and war between the Four Gods of Chaos was endless. Their invasion of the prime material world was more like a snack to them.
In the chaotic space of the subspace, the demons under the Four Gods would engage in an eternal bloody war. The Four Gods hated each other, and they would throw all their forces into a bloody battle for any piece of land or any small excuse. Since demons could not really die, the bloody battle would never stop.
Only in rare cases would the Four Gods of Chaos temporarily reach an agreement and send a small number of forces to invade the prime material world. For example, the birth of the Eternal God of Chaos, or his father's attempt to completely eradicate the energy source of Chaos through the dissemination of science and enlightened ideas in the prime material universe. Even so, the Four Gods of Chaos' main focus was on the infighting in the realm of Chaos.
(Even under such circumstances, the intelligent creatures of this world had to do their best to have a chance of survival.)
Jacob gulped down wine and meat. The vice president of the demon hunters came from the northernmost kingdom of Kislöw, which bordered the Wastelands of Chaos. Every time the Chaos invaded, this kingdom was the first to suffer. But their homeland was rebuilt again and again, and they still united under the banner of Essun, the Bear God, to fight the Chaos to the death.
"I've asked the Lady, and she told me that Berthe is in Marlinburg, the closest place to the Chaos." Laing frowned. The Lady of the Lake's prophecy was indeed useful, but the specifics were a little vague. Laing still wanted to ask the demonhunter. Jacob was over a hundred years old, and his experience was far greater than his own.
The demonhunter wiped the corner of his mouth, spilling soup everywhere. Many of the noble ladies instinctively lifted their skirts, but Laing did not move. He motioned for Jacob to continue.
"Just as you said, Berthe should still be in Marlin Castle, because our information also shows that he is still in Marlin Castle." Jacob was a little old, and he could not stop himself from talking. Occasionally, food would drip from the corner of his mouth. "A demon hunter used his innards to determine his location, but the hunter also paid a great price."
Prophecies and divinations required an equivalent price. Among them, divining about the Chaos was the most dangerous. Many diviners and clairvoyants were easily blinded or corrupted by the Chaos.
"As far as we are concerned, there are three places that are most suspicious. First, the Colosseum. Marlinburg's Colosseum is famous for its size and variety. A large number of gladiators and all kinds of strange creatures reside there. Berthe is a follower of the Blood God, so it's not strange that he would be hiding in the Colosseum." The demonhunter coughed a few times.
"Secondly, Marlin Castle is densely populated and extremely crowded. However, this city has countless underground tunnels and all kinds of secret passages that connect to the outside. It is said that there are even large residential areas and dark elves in the underground tunnels. Bate could be hiding in there too."
"Lastly … I think there's something wrong with that woman." Jacob raised his head, and Laing followed his gaze. He found Anneda, the president of the Aesthete Society, chatting happily with several of the nobles.
"Well, Veronica and I will investigate the Colosseum and the Aesthete Society. I'll leave the underground tunnels to you, Vice President Jacob." Laing thought about the division of labor. He was better suited to socializing with the upper class, while the demonhunters were better suited to deal with the commoners and the guilds.
"Alright, I'll go with my boys to find Berthe." Jacob hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "We'll have to move faster, Laing. I understand that the war is holding you back, but … it seems that some of the other demonhunters are also acting strange …"
"I understand." Laing could feel the shadows getting bigger and bigger as they approached the continent.
Jacob left. The banquet did not welcome the bloodthirsty demonhunters. Laing sat in a corner, deep in thought. Suddenly, an uninvited guest interrupted him. "Oh! Mister Laing! I'm so lucky to see you here! "
It was Olivier, the merchant they'd met before.
The merchant from the Empire was decked out in jewels. His hands and body were covered in as many pieces of jewelry as possible. Veronica giggled when she saw him.
"Haha, hello, Mister Olivier. Did everything go well?" Laing smiled.
"What do you mean it went well? My goods are gone, and my guards are dead. But at least I'm still alive. Hahaha! "Olivier proudly showed off his magic ring and big belly." And this is? "
"I'm Veronica Benadotte, from the Garland Council. I'm Laing's companion. Nice to meet you, Mister Olivier, and this is my apprentice." Veronica smiled sweetly when she saw that it was Laing's old friend.
"Oh, oh, oh! Nice to meet you! "Olivier wondered why Laing had changed his companion.
However, this witch did not have the arrogance of a sorceress at all. Instead, she smiled sweetly and was full of courtesy and respect. Her face was especially sweet, which made people feel good about her.
Olivier sat down and chatted with Laing for a while. This new noble was very popular now, and there were many benefits to being acquainted with him. Olivier could be considered a big merchant in Nord, but in Marienburg, he was just a small grasshopper. No matter how he jumped, he did not make much noise. He was able to attend this banquet because the Grand Duke of Marienburg knew that he used to be friends with Laing, so he specially invited him.
During this process, Veronica still did not say a word. She only held onto Laing's arm and smiled. Olivier thought to himself that this woman was nothing special. She seemed to be just a pretty vase that Laing found at the last minute.
Thinking of this, Olivier's tone and expression could not help but show some contempt for this woman. Veronica felt it, but the woman did not say anything. She continued to smile. Instead, it was her apprentice who glared at Olivier.
"By the way, Mr. Laing, you met President Anneda earlier. What do you think? She's really a beauty, isn't she? She's known as the Rose of Marienburg, the flower of the Empire! " Olivier thought that this woman was just a pretty vase anyway, so he teased Laing, "That's Anneda Klausner's invitation. It's hard to get even with thousands of gold coins. You actually turned her down?"
"Why do I have to?" Laing raised his wine glass. The bright red liquid swirled in the goblet as the man moved. "I already have a partner, and I'm not interested in that kind of party."
"Oh, you really are! There's no harm in giving it a try! Mr. Laing, just tell me, what do you think of President Anneda's appearance? Be rational, neutral, and objective. "Olivier was pained by Laing's lack of tact. In his opinion, accepting Anneda's invitation to the Aesthete Society's banquet was a no-brainer. He really did not understand why Laing would refuse.
"I admit, President Anneda's appearance is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. There's no other … Ugh!" Laing was speaking calmly when the Holy Grail mark on his chest suddenly burned with pain.
What followed was an angry voice in Laing's heart. "Laing, my champion, I'll give you one more chance. Who's the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?"
WTF？？？
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