Free Web NovelChapter 172: The Opening Banquet [Final]: Introductions
A few minutes passed with everyone eating in silence, but said silence was soon broken by those on the church’s side.
"Since this year’s representatives are all present," Archbishop Matthias suddenly spoke.
His gentle voice immediately drew everyone’s attention and the archbishop smiled pleasantly as attention was pulled towards him.
"Wouldn’t it be appropriate for the young talents to introduce themselves?"
The room went silent again and some of the grand dukes exchanged glances, understanding exactly what he was aiming for.
The old fox.
What sounded like an innocent suggestion was anything but.
This was the first opportunity for every faction to evaluate the competition and Matthias had just forced everyone into it.
King Magnus merely smiled before agreeing, "a fine idea."
The moment the King approved it, refusal was no longer an option.
The Archbishop’s smile widened slightly.
Then his gaze landed directly on Adrian, "why don’t we begin with the Academy’s representative?"
The entire table immediately turned toward him.
Adrian sighed internally.
It seemed the Church had decided to make their move much sooner than expected.
He expected their attention to be focused on him since, after they had suggested the Frost Sovereign Lotus to Grand Duke Boreas, Adrian had been the one to reveal the actual cure for the Grand Duchess.
In doing so, he had disrupted their plans to eliminate the stubborn Grand Duke, a man who stood as a major obstacle in their path.
How they knew that remained a mystery even to Adrian, but one thing was certain: he was firmly on their radar now.
Adrian let out a sigh, first the Cult Master, then Marion, and now even the Church.
Not to mention, there were other beings that he had to prepare to stand against, preparations that wouldn’t go smoothly thanks to these obstacles in his path.
Still, he couldn’t deny the request to introduce himself, so he calmly stood up and gave a polite bow.
"My name is Adrian, Lady Renelle’s personal butler."
"..."
The table immediately went silent again as they looked at him, waiting for him to say anything else, but it seems he had no intention of doing so.
This caused the headmistress to let out a chuckle before she continued eating, leaving the butler to handle his situation.
"...And?" Matthias prompted gently.
Adrian looked genuinely confused, "and?"
He wasn’t confused in the least bit.
The Archbishop’s smile became a little strained as he added, "perhaps you could tell us more about yourself."
"I am a student of the Imperial Spirit Academy," Adrian added.
"..."
Matthias seemed to want to discard his kind demeanor but he quickly took in a deep breath before saying, "you are one of the Academy’s representatives."
"Correct," Adrian nodded in agreement.
"A representative chosen to stand amongst the finest young talents in Avera."
"Also correct."
The Archbishop’s eye twitched slightly, anyone could see where he was going with this, but it seemed the kid wasn’t.
So he asked directly, "then perhaps you could tell us about your achievements?"
If his intentions weren’t obvious before, they very much were now, so much so that even Darius understood what the Archbishop wanted.
Adrian seemed to think of an answer for a while before simply stating, "I was one of the seven that lead the survivors out the dungeon."
Boreas let out a tired sigh, of course he could see what the butler was doing, but the kid seemed to have forgotten the plan of making a name for himself right now.
"Ah yes, the dungeon," the Archbishop nodded, "according to the report we received, you didn’t show up until a month after."
"Hmm," Adrian nodded in agreement, "but I believe those reports also stated that I and my lady were the only ones to venture into the dark sea and discover the exit."
He glanced at Noelle before adding, "or did your report somehow miss that?"
The Archbishop went silent after that, of course the report hadn’t missed it.
In fact, that particular detail had been mentioned far too many times for his liking.
The problem was that Adrian had just reminded everyone present that while the others had spent a month searching for a solution, he and the daughter of Duke Boreas had been the ones to actually find the exit.
Two people that were a nuance to the church.
Matthias internally cursed.
The conversation had somehow drifted away from exposing the boy’s lack of qualifications and instead moved toward his accomplishments.
But before he could redirect the discussion, another voice spoke.
"Then perhaps I should introduce myself next."
Everyone turned toward the speaker and noticed a young man dressed in white church robes slowly stood from his seat.
Unlike Matthias’ warm smile, this one’s felt artificial.
It felt like a completely unfit feature on his face, but at the same time, not everyone noticed.
Most, on the banquet table, were curious about the church’s representatives, after all, they were a faction that rarely, if ever, interacted with the public.
Save for the Saintess and the ones that ran the place of worship, not much was known about them.
"My name is Fidelis, a representative of the church," he introduced, still keeping his smile, "though, unlike the talents here, I have no proper achievements to share.since I have spent the past years in devotion to the goddess."
’Noctis?’ Adrian mentally called out as he continued looking at the representative.
«His mana seems human,» Noctis answered, «but something feels off about him and it’s the same feeling coming from the other two.»
’Could they be affected by corruption?’ he asked again as the other representative introduced himself. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
«No,» Noctis mentally replied, «if it was that, I would’ve sensed it, but it’s different.»
The cat took a pause before adding, «it’s almost like.....»
’Almost like?’ Adrian asked.
«Nothing,» Noctis answered, «for now, worry about the shards.»
That proved that it was definitely hiding something, but Adrian didn’t press, instead he focused on the introductions of those gathered around the table.
The headmistress was right, this festival was definitely going to be quite the lively one.
