Westminster Bank

Chapter 178: Chapter 123: An Artistic Persona Is for Fooling Young Girls

Some with long-held grudges even started arguing, their faces red with anger.

Baron found an opportunity and slipped away with Maguire.

Dressed in his evening attire, Baron touched the pair of pistols hidden at his waist and said to Maguire, "Your part of the plan this time is to cover for me."

"Isn’t Morey coming? I thought we were already friends, L. Isn’t it a bit unfair to him to only have me and Zod come?"

"Since when were you and he friends?"

Baron nodded at every young lady who smiled, winked, or waved a lily-white arm at him.

That’s just how it is for a handsome bastard. Even if he didn’t want to be respectable, there were always people who would make him respectable.

"Last night, of course. Didn’t we all do... that sort of thing together?"

Maguire said mysteriously.

He was referring to the events of the previous night at the brothel.

Baron found it a little amusing, but Maguire was right. Friendships between men could easily be forged through shooting the shit, chatting, and joking around.

And shooting the shit was the fastest way of all.

Baron said, "Morey is a Blood Loss Knight. His identity makes it inconvenient for him to operate in the open. I have another mission for him."

"Then what about Zod? We clearly came together, but now he’s just over there drinking with Lady Yalilan."

"He has other business to attend to."

Maguire hesitated. "Then... how am I supposed to cover for you?"

Baron said, "See those young ladies from the wealthy families to the southwest? I need you to help me cause a big enough scene that everyone will remember it."

"Remember what?"

"That we were here."

After speaking, Baron picked up a glass of wine and moved forward, about to randomly select a young lady at the banquet to "accidentally" slip and spill it on. But just then, the surrounding noise suddenly died down.

"Ladies and gentlemen! City Lord Lewis has asked me to thank you all on his behalf. We are delighted that you could take the time to join us at the City Lord’s Mansion for this evening’s banquet, held especially for the contestants of the Hunting Competition..."

The familiar words echoed from all four sides of the City Lord’s Mansion. It was the voice of the host from the daytime Hunting Competition.

For some reason, a sudden sense of foreboding washed over Baron.

And just as he expected, the next second, after thanking the guests for their attendance, the host’s tone shifted.

"But City Lord Lewis also said that after the contestants of the Hunting Competition have had the spotlight for so long, it’s now time to let the other gentlemen and ladies have their turn in the spotlight..."

There was a sound, as if a switch had been flipped.

Several bright spotlights suddenly shone down from the sky, illuminating Baron and the other contestants from the Hunting Competition.

The white light was a bit dazzling.

The phonograph’s tune suddenly swelled in volume. Baron figured the power must have been turned up.

’Poor Phonograph Monster,’ Baron thought. ’It must be getting quite a jolt.’

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let us first turn our attention to the final champion of this year’s Hunting Competition, L!"

"As is tradition, his challenger will be today’s Hunting Competition runner-up! The Glorious Knight, Jangalel Tristan!" ƒreewebɳovel.com

"The formal ball will begin later. For now, let us focus our attention on these two gentlemen!"

As the host’s voice faded, the multiple spotlights from the sky dwindled to just two.

One beam was on Baron, dressed in black, and the other on Jangalel, dressed in white.

’Seriously? There’s a dance-off segment?’

Baron, tall and slender in his black attire, saw the gazes of the crowd outside the light and complained internally. ’Well, regardless, the goal of attracting everyone’s attention has been achieved.’

Jangalel, clad in a custom-made, high-end, pure white formal suit, held a single crimson rose in his hand. He approached slowly, murmuring:

"Our distance is like the rose in ’The White Bird and the Thorns.’ If I pluck you, I cannot fly. If I don’t pluck you, I also cannot fly."

The watching crowd erupted into a timely uproar. Baron noticed it was mostly girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four. They were currently clutching their chests, seemingly moved by Brother Sorrowful’s words.

Their pretty faces were either filled with tender affection or downcast with sorrow and melancholy.

’Just as I thought,’ he reflected. ’My conclusion from my past life was right.’

’This artsy, dramatic crap is just for tricking little girls!’

With every step he took, Brother Sorrowful Jangalel plucked a petal from the rose and tossed it to the side. By the time he reached Baron, only a bare stem was left in his hand.

He threw the stem down, stomped on it, and looked at Baron, saying:

"I know that you, like me, are a lonely and solitary person. Like two Lone Wolves, separated from the pack."

"It’s a pity our meeting can only end in a fight to the death," he sighed with feeling.

Baron: "..."

Beside them, Maguire sighed. "That was so well said."

Baron turned his head, his expression blank. "..."

The host’s voice rang out again, tinged with amusement. "For this dance, there are no official judges. The winner will be decided mainly by the applause you receive."

"The accompaniment will be chosen randomly by the phonograph. The Alchemists of the Mechanical School have stated that most of Prole’s musical accompaniments have been recorded in it."

As soon as he finished speaking, a graceful female voice emerged from the phonograph. It was a lyrical melody, without words, only humming—like the sigh of a Siren after her song upon the great sea.

Baron noticed that the moment the song began, Yalilan—who had been in another courtyard discussing something with Lewis, Stephen, Victor, and Ferdinand—froze. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

An expression of reminiscence flashed across her face.

The tune was still in its introductory phase, giving guests time to find a dance partner. Maguire whispered, "L, do you know how to ballroom dance?"

’I know how, yes, but I don’t know if the ballroom dancing of this Otherworld is fundamentally different from the hodgepodge of tango, waltz, and so on that I learned from Miss Stella on the Inner Side.’

Baron shrugged and said, "I guess so."

The moment he said that, Maguire thought with a sinking feeling, ’Oh no. It looks like L isn’t very good at it. He’s bound to embarrass himself in front of everyone...’

But looking at L’s expression, he didn’t seem to care about any of it in the slightest.

A sliver of admiration rose in Maguire’s heart. ’As expected of L. He’ll do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. So what if he loses some face? As long as the final result is good, that’s all that matters.’

At that moment, Jangalel led a female dance partner out from the crowd. She had emerald-green hair, and Baron recognized her as Miss Triss from earlier in the day.

Stephen looked at Lewis. "I thought your daughter would be the one dancing with Jangalel."

Lewis smiled. "Remedios doesn’t like being in the public eye, but she does indeed love to dance."

Dressed in a snow-white long dress, Miss Triss gave Baron a slight nod before stepping onto the empty dance floor in the center with Brother Sorrowful.

The two began to move their feet slowly in time with the shifting melody, their movements gradually changing, like a seed buried in the soil that sprouts, slowly grows, and finally blossoms into a flower.

In short, they danced very well—at least better than most of the people there.

As the pair took to the floor, all eyes in the venue fell upon Baron—the final winner of the Hunting Competition.

Their expressions showed curiosity, anticipation, jealousy, and schadenfreude... everyone wanted to see how L would respond to the combined dance offensive of Jangalel and Triss.

Some of the young ladies even unconsciously straightened their backs, hoping to be chosen as the Demon Hunter’s dance partner, even though he was highly likely to lose.

But it was just a dance. Any noble lady or young woman who had watched the Hunting Competition over the past few days had to admit that Demon Hunter L had thoroughly conquered them, both physically and mentally.

Powerful, a thrilling fighter, handsome, with immense potential, and single—isn’t he just the Otherworld version of a gold-standard bachelor?

But there were others who said:

"He’s a playwright, he should know how to dance, right?"

"Not necessarily. When you talk about Feinan People, aren’t they best known for their poetry?"

"Besides, he’s a Demon Hunter now. Generally speaking, Demon Hunters aren’t very good dancers."

"Even if he can dance, looking at the way that Knight and Miss Triss move, his chances of winning aren’t high."

"Why hasn’t he chosen a partner yet? Don’t tell me he’s forfeiting?"

The whispers from the surrounding crowd soured Maguire’s mood slightly.

Maguire thought, ’The enemy came prepared and with ill intent. This is bad for L.’

Baron’s gaze swept across the crowd for a moment. Just as he was about to find a girl to get through this dance competition with, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

Yalilan said coolly, "L, dance with me. I don’t want to lose."