After knocking, he immediately moved away, and then he felt a fishy wind passing by behind him, as if he had just avoided the attack of a giant claw.
"who is it--"
A voice like thunder rang out in the yard.
"Governor." The servant swallowed his saliva, "This... do you still remember? A few days ago you asked me to wake him up at this time... because the banquet is about to begin."
Yes, awakening - this is the most dangerous job in the entire mansion.
Countless servants died because of this, and the pile of bones under the tree was proof of that. He suffered in the long silence, and finally, he heard movement from above.
Crunchy——
Accompanied by the sound of countless branches being broken, a majestic, somewhat slender shadow fell from above, gradually condensing into a dark figure.
He walked out, revealing a strong and masculine face, scratched his forehead and said, "Oh! It seems to be collecting incense tax?"
"Yes……"
"Has Farrell been here?"
"Lord Farel has checked all the gifts."
"Any special findings?"
"No...but one of the perfumes was of very high quality. He sent the letter as you requested and gave the other party the only VIP treatment."
"The letter was actually sent out?" The man seemed a little surprised. "Who sent it?"
"Xiu De Jin Lisi." The servant bowed his head.
"The leader of a team of corpse retrievers."
"People who live with rotten stench all day long, can they actually make perfume?"
The man rubbed his chin with a very strange expression.
"Maybe he has flattered a certain master... then we should get to know him better."
"By the way, sir..."
"What else?"
"Mr. Lianqi is waiting in front. He asked me to bring you a message...'There has been progress in the search for the knight.'"
"Then he should be promoted soon." The man sneered.
"Everyone thought that I would lead people to the heart of the kingdom of God after collecting the incense tax, but they didn't know why the entire Inian Port existed."
The servant didn't dare to respond. He lowered his head and just stood there silently.
"Take me there." said the man.
"Lianchi...are there still Hashemites and people from the church?"
"Yes……"
"Okay." The man nodded again.
“It’s time to have a good chat with them.”
Chapter 100 Dinner Party
The area of the Governor's Mansion is not large, but that is defined for the front yard and the back garden. The overall area of the mansion is outstanding compared to the houses in the dilapidated city. It looks like a three-story villa. There is a spiral corridor with a circular structure from the first floor to the roof. After entering through the gate, you can see some tables covered with bright red tablecloths, which are filled with various dishes, all covered tightly.
When she came in, Xia Yibing frowned. Not only was she annoyed by the gazes directed at Hitzfeld, but she also smelled some rancid blood.
The smell was also present in the sea of blood, but it was different. If there was a difference, it was that the smell here was fresher. She suspected that these barbarians had set up a cooking kitchen nearby.
"This way please~" The guide was a middle-aged man in a "barrel suit". His appearance was hard to describe. He was bald and had many wrinkles. Fortunately, the few hairs he had were well-groomed and did not give people much of a disgusting impression.
As this person explained to them along the way, everyone including the captain realized how desirable it was to "have an independent seat" mentioned in the letter.
To explain this, we have to start with the layout of the hall: most of the red-cloth tables are scattered, except for one flight of stairs - that is, on the large platform in the middle of the corridor from the first floor to the second floor - there is a fairly long platform aisle where a long table is placed, with only five chairs around the table.
They belong to——
Governor of the Port of Inian, Agor-Pisonrog.
Luca Pilarken, the chief of the Blood Mage Guild of Inian Harbor.
Theo, the chief of the Bloodslayer Guild of Inian Harbor.
Acting president of the Port Inian Corpse Retrievers Union, Lianchi-Ilem.
and the local Our Lady of Redemption Church, from which Sister Marianne Fister, an Episcopal nun, came.
And now, in front of all those seated, several servants personally brought up another chair, placed it on the right side of the main seat, and invited Captain Xiu De to go up the steps and take a seat.
Hitzfeld almost laughed out loud.
As this scene began, all the eyes that were originally fixed on her disappeared. All kinds of people... everyone, they all looked at Captain Xiu De, whispering to each other, with confusion and jealousy on their faces.
Captain Xiu De was very nervous.
He had never experienced such a scene before, and the looks and comments made him embarrassed.
He had to deceive himself and repeat in his heart that these bastards were no different from the sailors. He told Hitzfeld to "look after Billie for me", then walked up stiffly and sat down alone at the main seat.
No, it's too embarrassing no matter how you look at it.
Especially the pair of white stockings on his legs, Hitzfeld couldn't help laughing, and took the initiative to move closer to Xia Yibing, using her body to block his view.
"It's mainly because he's the only one here." Xia Yibing lowered her head, and guessed what she was thinking from the corners of her upturned mouth, "If there were other people sitting at that table, they could at least chat, but he's the only one..."
She didn't say anything more. Some things really don't need to be made too clear - when someone who doesn't have enough strength becomes the focus of the whole audience, it really can't be said to be a lucky thing.
But who made the captain ask for help? It is easy to make a fool of yourself when asking for help from people across social classes.
Xia Yibing was actually quite curious. Judging from the situation, Captain Xiu De would have to dine at the same table with his "enemy" Li Anqi. She didn't know how he would describe his demands, and what would happen at that table.
At this moment, the servant finally noticed the captain's embarrassment and came over to explain to him in a low voice. Hitzfeld saw the captain call JB over and seemed to ask him to stand behind his chair and not move.
Oh...so everyone who is qualified to sit on it can also bring an attendant to serve them.
The only thing is that the followers cannot sit and must stand by.
Hitzfeld understood it immediately. She immediately thought of Hashem and felt that she should be the one standing behind the bishop nun.
"Have you noticed? The customs here are indeed different." Xia Yibing pulled the girl to explain to her, "Just like the names we introduced before, they usually only read the first part, and the second part is not their surname... Strictly speaking, it is not the surname we understand."
"What is that?" Hitzfeld asked her honestly.
"Father's surname." Xia Yibing was very satisfied with her cooperation and exhaled, "For example, 'Agor-Pisonrog', the first name is 'Agor', and the father's surname is 'Pisonrog'. However, this 'Pisonrog' is not an inherited surname, but the name of one of his elders."
"Is it inherited like this?" Hitzfeld's eyes widened slightly. "That means his elder might be called 'Pisonrog Ethan', and the father of 'Pisonrog Ethan' might be called 'Ethan Heidegger'?"
"... Ethan will be very sad if he hears this." Xia Yibing couldn't hold it in anymore and bumped into her lightly, "He's not that old, is he?"
After some laughter, Hitzfeld memorized all this knowledge.
Simply put, in the Kingdom of Corrupted Blood, surnames are merely labels used to indicate where an individual comes from. They believe that blood ties beyond one generation are no longer important. Instead, the relationship between master and apprentice is closer than blood ties.
Xia Yibing continued to explain to the girl the origin of this custom: it turned out that there were many dangerous places in the entire kingdom of God, and coupled with the raging gray fog, disasters and deaths occurred at any time and anywhere. All of this resulted in the total population not increasing no matter how people reproduced. Against such a background, even the most basic human ethics began to blur. The most classic example is that after a man and a woman get together, the man doesn't care whether the woman will have an affair with someone else.
If there is an affair, then there is an affair. I don’t care whether the child is mine or not. Anyway, that momentary happiness is enough for us. Just don’t bother me after we break up.
Too realistic and primitive, which is why Xia Yibing called these guys barbarians in her heart.
But Hitzfeld knew a little about sociology, and she immediately realized that this custom probably did not exist from the beginning, but people were forced to make this choice because life was too difficult and depressing.
Is this a disaster for the Kingdom of Corrupted Blood?
The girl recalled the long dream in which she had experienced Alessia.
The talking river of blood, the talking clouds, rain and wind.
A talking monster appeared along with the gray fog.
The survival of a village is no longer something that can be decided by the people themselves. They have to perform sacrifices - offer sacrifices to the blood river that protects them, and find ways to rely on the blood and bone forest - just to obtain the sporadic resources necessary for survival.
According to this standard, the Port of Inian, with tens of thousands of people, was indeed very luxurious. It was impossible to build such a city without cost. There might be countless rotten flesh and blood buried under the ground where she stepped.
After expressing her feelings, she suddenly remembered that when the servants introduced those important figures just now, there seemed to be one who did not have a surname.
This is the only remaining formalism. Don’t you even bother to do it?
What's his name?
"Xiao." Xia Yibing replied, "The leader of the blood-slaughterers... it's understandable that he has this kind of personality."
She lacked blood mages in her experience, but she knew a lot about blood butchers. As far as she knew, blood butchers in the Kingdom of God did the work of rangers, eating and drinking was the norm, and there were many weirdos in this group.
Just then, there was a commotion from behind.
Looking back, I saw a group of guests who had been waiting outside to greet each other, trying to get in. They looked excited and terrified, like a group of livestock being driven, and they sat down at scattered tables one by one.
"here!"
Hitzfeld was still wondering if there was no more room around, when he saw that on the right side of the stairs, Madeline had already occupied a table with Billie and the sailors, and was waving at them excitedly.
She went over and sat down with Xia Yibing, and followed closely. She heard another noise coming from outside the door.
There was the sound of footsteps.
A few seconds later, a fat man wearing a black robe, with white hair and a white beard on his chin, walked into the gate with a cane, stood there and nodded to everyone who looked at him.
"That's Master Luca!"
Someone immediately revealed his identity.
"Master Luca!"
"Master Luca!!"
There was a long red carpet from the door to the steps. People sitting on both sides stood up and stretched out their hands to him, their faces full of joy and enthusiasm.
Is this etiquette a bit...
Hitzfeld raised her eyebrows slightly, as she remembered the guards under the rule of a certain mustache man.
But there is still a difference, these people's fingers are open - not deliberately, very naturally... It's as if they are actually touching the body of the person who comes in the void, using this method to share something.
"It's a way for the locals to express respect." Xia Yibing had another chance to show off her knowledge. She never missed any such opportunity. "No matter who you are, as long as you are strong enough, you can gain their respect. They will treat you like a god. This gesture shows that they submit to power and hope to be blessed by power."
"So this has nothing to do with his identity." Xia Yibing guessed, "Although the mage should be a character who can gather the symbol of 'wisdom', in their eyes, this is also power."
Hitzfeld nodded to show that he understood.
Blood Mage Luca was the first VIP to walk up the stairs besides Captain Shude.
He did not bring any followers with him. He found a long table and sat down alone. Then he kept turning his head and staring out the door, with no intention of talking to Captain Xiu De.
The captain actually wanted to initiate a conversation, but his smile froze on his face and he didn't know what expression to make for a moment.
Fortunately, someone else came soon and people's attention was distracted again, and no one noticed that he was making a fool of himself again.
That was a bald head.
Bald, one-eyed, with a thick black beard on his chin and several hideous scars on his face. He was wearing a black robe, with iron armor on his wrists, ankles, knees and other parts, and a dark brown armored leather skirt hanging from his waist. On the leather skirt were a row of throwing knives, a short sword, and a long whip made from the spine of an unknown animal.
This man did not bring any followers with him. Unlike the old man, he did not nod. After he appeared, he did not look at anyone. He went straight up the steps, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite the old man.
"It should be Theo." Xia Yibing guessed.
Hitzfeld also thought it was him. With this attire and temperament, no other character fit the bill except the Bloodslayer.
Her eyes swept between Blood Mage Luca and Blood Slayer Theo, then she looked at Captain Shude and suddenly felt sad for him.
It was obvious that the two of them were not getting along - or rather, Theo was not convinced by the blood mage. Hitzfeld didn't know what the hidden story was, but there was one thing she could see, that was that neither of them wore formal attire according to the rules.
Luca was wearing a black robe. It had probably not been washed for some time and the hem was very dirty.
Theo simply dressed up as a ranger, looking like he was ready to take action at any time. They didn't take the rules seriously at all.
She guessed it was some kind of privilege.
The privilege of the strong.
And Captain Shude—whatever had earned him the right to sit at the same table with them—was already sitting there.
He probably also deserves the privilege that he can dress however he wants and in whatever way he is comfortable.
But he still... maybe because he was young, or because he didn't understand... wore the barrel suit that most people wore, with two hairy legs under his shorts, and he wore a pair of white silk stockings.
Well, that’s why so many people looked at him at the beginning.
