Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength
Chapter 147 - 146: The Banquet Guests

Chapter 147: Chapter 146: The Banquet Guests

Everton and Ronald had agreed on a time for a detailed discussion.

He didn’t want to disturb any further and quickly left the balcony on his own.

After that, Ronald blew a bit of air by himself on the balcony for about a quarter of an hour before finally joining the banquet on the second floor.

After all, social events in this world were something he needed to experience more of presently.

It was better to start mingling now rather than avoid it forever.

...

Walking down the stairs at a steady pace, Ronald had just reached the first-floor ballroom when he noticed that the current scene was somewhat special.

Although the music and dancing were still ongoing, the attention of most people present was focused on the podium at the side of the hall.

The reason was simple.

At that moment, a girl and a man were standing there.

The man had a steady demeanor, one that Ronald had seen before.

The renowned figurehead of Bernwich, the warden—Bach Krichens.

And by the side of this warden

stood a fragile young girl in a pink dress, who seemed quite petite.

"..."

"Hehe..."

Watching the two of them, Ronald pulled a forced smile at the corner of his mouth and immediately blended into the crowd inside the banquet hall.

He certainly did not want the other party to catch sight of him.

—After all, this young lady

was the ’daughter’ he and Alida had ’rescued’ at Black Mountain, the one ’nailed’ to the second-floor boards by her ’mother’!

How should he put it...

Ronald had recently been doubting what had happened to her that night at Black Mountain.

He hadn’t expected to run into her again at this banquet in such a manner.

In fact, upon reflection, there were many uncertainties about the events at Black Mountain.

The ’people’ he had seen did not match the actual number he had sensed residing there;

when the ’mother’ had launched their attack, the merchant Thomson had been clearly outside the villa, yet his death trail extended from inside the house to the outside;

and where were the remaining two-thirds of the "Divine Comedy," if he had only obtained one-third...

Ronald had been inquiring about such questions continuously.

He even had a hypothesis regarding the divine Magic Power that had erupted in Bernwich over a month ago.

Could it be "Divine Comedy - Paradise"?

He had obtained the "Hell Chapter" on Black Mountain and then arrived in Bernwich.

Then, was it highly likely that the person in possession of the "Heavenly Chapter" would also come to Bernwich, the central city in the southwest direction?

Perhaps they had arrived in Bernwich later than Ronald, who had traveled through the forest on the East Wind Train, and were conducting research on the original text as well, leading to an accidental loss of control of the "Heavenly Chapter’s" power?

Although the probability was low, there was still a possibility.

And the appearance of this young girl now seemed to hint at the unfolding of events to some extent.

"It can’t be..."

At this moment, Ronald thought of a play—"Thunderstorm."

Coincidences and accidents always manage to make their presence felt inadvertently. Just like how he, even after transitioning into another body, didn’t improve at shooting and never hit his mark.

Meanwhile, as he was sorting through his thoughts

Warden Bach stood at the podium and introduced to the surrounding people:

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you today."

"This is my daughter Lumier, who will become the lawful heir to the Krichens surname!"

Along with Warden Bach’s introduction, the girl stepped forward slightly and curtsied, introducing herself to the people around:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Lumier Krichens."

"Today is my 14th birthday, and it is my first time attending a social event, so please be kind to my..."

With a steady voice and dignified attitude,

The girl seemed unashamed in the face of surrounding gentlemen and ladies, her performance as undaunted as it had been atop Black Mountain. Behind her stood a smiling butler, clearly someone like her direct manservant.

During this interval, Ronald also took the opportunity to ask the people around for some information.

According to these well-informed individuals, the warden had let it be known before the banquet that Lumier was a child of his distant relatives.

Focused on studying the esoteric side of knowledge, he had not sought out a female companion.

So, just a few weeks earlier, he had legally adopted the young girl as his own.

The present was just the right time to make a formal announcement.

"..."

"Ah, Mr. Ronald, you’re here!"

Suddenly, a distinct perfume scent invaded his nostrils, followed by the seductive touch of a charm spell that tempted one into degeneracy.

Ronald turned around to find that indeed a girl in a long dress had approached him.

"..."

This girl’s timing was impeccable.

He had only come downstairs a minute ago.

He sighed resignedly and acquiesced, following the girl away from there.

As the matter of Lumier involved the warden, he couldn’t confront the man there and then.

He would have to find another opportunity to investigate...

The warden and his daughter didn’t stay too long at the banquet, leaving after a little over an hour, and they returned together to their suburban home less than a kilometer away in a private carriage.

When Patricia felt the time was right and returned to the banquet, she headed towards Ronald.

At that moment, Ronald was still fending off the attentions of a bevy of beautiful debutantes.

It was only upon seeing Patricia return that he quickly took the chance to break away from the encirclement of young ladies.

Observing Ronald extract himself with difficulty from the group of girls,

Patricia, a native member of the nobility, couldn’t help but reveal an amused smile:

"Ronald, it seems you were quite enjoying yourself."

"Perhaps, unexpectedly, you’re well-suited for such events?"

Ronald managed a sheepish smile:

"Begging you, spare me."

"To be honest, I’m truly at the end of my rope."

Patricia raised an eyebrow and then handed Ronald a handkerchief.

"At the end of your rope," she mused, "that’s an interesting choice of words."

"Thank you." Taking the handkerchief from Patricia, Ronald immediately wiped away the odd traces on his body.

Ordinary stains were one thing,

but the most troubling was a charm object with magic power that a mysterious girl had rubbed against him.

He had no desire to let such a dubious item stick to him.

The party continued until midnight.

Aside from Patricia’s socializing, Ronald ended up only chatting with Nicole for a moment.

Just as he expected, after he tacitly declined to join the investigation agency,

the organization treated him as an ordinary person associated with the mysterious side.

Ronald’s previous conduct had already proven he wasn’t a danger, so naturally, the investigation agency hadn’t intended to spend effort on him.

Not until the deep quiet of the night did he and Patricia return by carriage to their apartment.

Only after escaping from both mental and physical exhaustion did Ronald finally breathe a long sigh of relief.

"Huff—"

"My goodness, today was really..."

"Hmm?"

His lament stopped abruptly.

Just as he took off his clothes to hang them up, Ronald noticed something amiss.

Different from when he had left in the evening,

there seemed to be something extra in the pocket of the newly bought coat.

Upon pulling it out, he saw it was a crumpled piece of paper.