Banquet

At noon, standing outside the castle and watching Arcadia's figure in the distance, a solemn look flashed in Arthur's eyes.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he always felt that beneath Arcadia's cheerful smile, there was a hidden, discordant coldness.

"Lord Arcadia actually spoke to you personally!" Edward's familiar voice sounded from the side, filled with obvious envy.

Edward was riding a black horse, dressed in a serious, sleeved outfit, quite conspicuous in the surroundings.

As Count Polia's child, when Arcadia had passed by earlier, he had also smiled at him, but it was clearly far less than the treatment Arthur received.

Glancing sideways at Edward beside him, Arthur felt speechless.

In his memory, he knew that Edward, the Count's second son, usually admired Knight Arcadia the most. He hadn't expected it to reach this point; it was just like the fanatical fans in Arthur's past life memories.

However, upon closer thought, this also indirectly demonstrated Arcadia's strong personal charm and influence.

As the strongest knight in the North, Arcadia was born into a fallen noble family. He displayed strong knightly talent from a young age and was extremely famous in the North, an idol in the hearts of many young nobles.

Count Polia, as Arcadia's liege lord, now even had his own children as admirers, which showed his influence.

Thinking of this, Arthur secretly shook his head.

Arthur didn't understand much about the affairs of the Northern upper class, either in the past or present.

However, based on his current observations, both Count Polia and Arcadia were strong-willed individuals, and they might not necessarily be very close.

In the distance, as Knight Arcadia returned to the castle with his men, Arthur followed beside an overly excited Edward and slowly walked into the castle.

At night, to celebrate Knight Arcadia's victorious return, Count Polia hosted a grand banquet for him.

Many nobles, both high and low, as well as some powerful warriors who had performed exceptionally well during this period, were all in attendance. Arthur and Flar were among them.

As the youngest knight in Northern history and the sole heir to a wealthy barony, Arthur undoubtedly attracted great attention at the banquet.

He was exceptionally handsome, inheriting the best of both his parents as a half-elf. He was tall and refined, even more outstanding in appearance than the cheerful and handsome Arcadia, naturally making him popular with many.

Many minor nobles had heard of Arthur's reputation and had specifically brought unmarried women from their families to introduce to him this time, seemingly intending for an alliance.

Arthur maintained a gentle expression on his face. Although he appeared approachable, he directly sat next to Knight Flar, thus escaping the harassment of those young women.

As Count Polia's confidant, Knight Flar was notorious in the North, having eliminated countless enemies over the years, including bandits and orcs, as well as many nobles who dared to defy Count Polia. He held considerable deterrent power over ordinary nobles.

When Arthur sat beside the middle-aged knight, the noble young women who had been pestering him practically disappeared, not even daring to approach his vicinity, leaving him at ease and somewhat speechless.

Not far from him, Edward was also at the banquet.

As Count Polia's second son, Edward's elder brother had reportedly gone to a distant country years ago and would not return, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

In this situation, Edward, as the second son, was very likely to inherit everything from Count Polia in the future and become the de facto ruler of the North, far more popular than an ordinary knight like Arthur.

He was unlike Arthur, readily accepting any young women or married women who came his way. In just a short while, he had already danced with seven or eight girls, seemingly enjoying the atmosphere.

Looking at him, Arthur shook his head helplessly and then shifted his gaze to the center ahead.

That was the true center of the banquet. Even if Arthur and Edward were dazzling, they were merely supporting characters compared to the people there.

There, Arcadia and Count Polia were drinking heartily, laughing and chatting about their amusing anecdotes, appearing to be enjoying themselves immensely.

Beside Count Polia stood a middle-aged knight with coarse hair, who looked taciturn and merely stood quietly by Count Polia's side, appearing quite close.

"Who is that lord?"

After taking a deep look at the person in the distance, Arthur casually asked Knight Flar, who was sitting beside him.

"That's Cadiz, Lord Polia's Guard Captain," Flar said, glancing at the person in the distance.

Hearing Flar's words, Arthur nodded thoughtfully and then asked in a low voice, "How is Lord Cadiz's strength?"

"He's decent among Knight Apprentices, but he can't compare to a true Knight," Flar shook his head. "Cadiz is an excellent fighter. He reached the standard for promotion to Knight in his youth, but he never succeeded in advancing, and now there's almost no hope."

"He is very loyal to Lord Polia. He has been severely wounded several times in battle, so although he couldn't be promoted to Knight, Lord Polia promoted him to Guard Captain."

Promoting to Knight requires strong physical fitness and life force. Generally, if a normal human hasn't been promoted by the age of thirty, the possibility of natural promotion becomes increasingly slim.

Polia in the distance looked at least forty years old. Under normal circumstances, he probably wouldn't be able to break through to Knight in this lifetime.

Beside him, listening to Flar's explanation, Arthur nodded, but a cold glint quietly appeared in his eyes.

In his mind, the mechanical voice of the chip sounded.

"Name: Cadiz. Strength: 5.1. Agility: 5. Constitution: 5.2."

This was hardly the physical quality of a so-called Knight Apprentice; it had clearly reached the peak of a Knight, barely meeting the standard of a Great Knight.

In the entire North, apart from Arcadia and Count Polia, there was probably not another warrior of such power.

"This Cadiz is problematic."

Arthur quietly watched Cadiz, who stood silently in the distance, and the thought flashed through his mind.

In this world, the status of a Great Knight was unimaginably high. In any country, they could receive a noble title and corresponding territory.

Such a powerful warrior, silently disguised as a Knight Apprentice and even becoming the Guard Captain of the Northern ruler, there must be a reason for this.

Sorry! The author was a bit late getting home from work today, so the update is a little delayed.

Also, because readers pointed out some minor issues in the previous chapter, I went back and revised it~ I hope everyone is satisfied.

I will continue to update punctually at six o'clock tomorrow~