Fundraising Banquet

Iris acted quickly; Fran hadn't been in the Alchemy School's lodgings for half an hour when she received an invitation to a banquet.

"That's way too fast!"

Fran held the invitation card that read "Mercury Avenue Silver-Scale Manor" in her hand, her face full of hesitation.

She knew that Iris her here without informing anyone beforehand, as it was best not to attract too much attention given her current situation.

It's highly unlikely that the host of the banquet could make adjustments within half an hour and hand the invitation to Fran, especially since the banquet time on the invitation is less than two hours away from starting.

Fran looked up at the sky; the sun had already reached its westernmost point, and the remaining half was about to disappear from the view of the Floating City.

"It's a little past six now, which means we need to go before eight o'clock tonight..."

She looked at her clothes and accessories, pondering what changes she should make.

"Just wear the mage robes from the Northern Lands Society. I remember it's not impolite to wear the academy's standard robes to a banquet, and it will also show that I'm from the Northern Lands Society."

"And the necklace and ring I have..."

Fran had some knowledge about these decorations; the most common ceremonial attire worn by mages at banquets was various types of mage robes.

Most monks wear the robes of their own School or the association they belong to as a sign of respect, but how then can the unique characteristics of each monk be showcased?

So the mages turned to other things, including rings, necklaces and other jewelry, and some even set their sights on weapons as decorations.

Needless to say, Fran felt that the watch on her left wrist and the pearl bracelet storing Divine Power on her right hand were enough. It might have seemed a bit awkward in her previous life, but this setup was just right for those mages.

Fran pondered for a moment, then took out the [Howling Gale] Spell Ring she had made years ago. She couldn't use the Spell Ring now, but it could still serve as decoration.

A yellow crystal was embedded in the middle finger of her right hand, allowing Fran to feel that she could activate the Spell Ring at any time.

Finally, Fran turned her attention to the weapon's decorations.

She glanced at her baseball bat. While it might be as powerful as any Tier 2 weapon in a fight, bringing it to a banquet...

Fran felt a little awkward about it, and besides, mages usually carried a small Short Sword, which they wore at their waist, making them look more composed.

She glanced at the other weapon in her hand, the Purple Shortsword.

She took the Short Sword from its storage box; a faint purple light shimmered in the room. The straight blade was flawless, and she felt that was enough.

Of course, if this Short Sword is really to be brought to the banquet, it will definitely need to undergo some processing.

The runes of the Goddess of Ocean Currents were still imprinted on the sword. Given the sensitive time now, when the Alliance was about to take action against the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents, if the runes were revealed, she felt she could be mistaken for a spy and eliminated.

She sprinkled a lot of blue powder on it, then drew lines on the Short Sword with her fingers until the image of the Goddess of Ocean Currents disappeared from the Short Sword.

"It will probably take at least three days for this rune to appear."

After Fran finished doing all this, she glanced at the time again; it was already past seven o'clock.

"We still need to find a way out, let's go now."

After quickly tidying herself up, Fran stepped out of the row of small houses, and the first thing she saw was a bright light moving rapidly across the sky.

Those are mages flying in the sky; they at least have to create light so that others can see them at night.

Otherwise, if other passengers aren't careful, a collision could happen, which is no joke. Even if there's no serious injury, the time wasted is still a significant issue.

"So many mages are flying... then I'll fly too."

Fran could sense that among the mages flying in the sky, there were quite a few second-tier mages, and even some First Order mages flying with the help of magical devices.

So, to save time, she activated the runes of the Sky Dragon and quickly took to the air.

As for emitting light, she subconsciously used the Light Prayer, and a burst of light caused the unprepared mages to close their eyes tightly and shed tears.

"It's so bright, are you blind?!"

"You little brat, are your eyesight even worse than those cyborgs?!"

Insults rang out from all directions, and only then did Fran realize that the light she was emitting was too bright.

As Radiant Priest, she had a high tolerance for this kind of light, so she subconsciously turned it into her preferred range.

However, it's clear that these mages' habitual range is somewhat lower compared to hers.

She immediately canceled the Light Prayer, quickly activated the runes to move away from the scene, and then recast the Light Prayer, this time making the light slowly grow until it was about the same size as the people around her.

Because of her swift movements, those who were blinded by her couldn't find her at all, and could only hurl a few more insults before flying off in the intended direction.

After this little incident, Fran spent a little time following the road signs to Mercury Avenue.

Mercury Avenue appears to be one of the wealthier streets on Number Nine Floating City. Fran can see that the surrounding buildings are ornate and cover a vast area.

At this moment, the building to Fran's right is No. 1 Mercury Avenue, a complex five-story building, entirely bright red, with a Nameplate hanging at the entrance.

"Alchemy Association Standard Laboratory No. 3".

The first ten numbers on Mercury Avenue all seem to belong to the Alchemy School, with most buildings bearing the Alchemy School prefix, including laboratories, mansions, and botanical gardens.

Later, Fran saw many residential-style buildings with different decorations. The Nameplate no longer bore the prefix of the Alchemy School, but instead bore the name of the mage to whom they belonged.

As Fran strolled along, she arrived at the Silver-Scale Manor. This building seemed to occupy twice the area of the other buildings, suggesting that two plots of land had been purchased for its construction.

The exterior wall of the mansion was covered with neat, intersecting silver scratches by Artisan or Construct School, which looked like scales from a distance.

The second-floor exterior wall is relatively smooth, with only a few sparse silver scratches visible on the off-white wall directly opposite the main entrance.

"Has it already started inside?"

Fran could clearly hear the conversations, the clinking of metal glasses, and the sound of hurried footsteps on the soft carpet coming from inside the mansion.

She looked again at the invitation in her hand, which clearly stated that she should arrive at eight o'clock. She glanced at her watch and realized that there were still twenty minutes until eight o'clock.

Fran scratched her head, deciding to go down first and talk about it later.

There were about seven or eight people at the entrance of the Silver-Scale Manor. Two or three of them were dressed like servants, while the rest were dressed in various mage robes.

The person dressed as a waiter was at the apprentice Order, which was normal; even if a mage's attendant wasn't very skilled, they should at least know some magic.

These servants' basic Mental Power might not even be high enough to be accepted by the City of Apprentices. Once they learn a spell, they are considered apprentices and thus have the opportunity to work here.

Those wearing mage robes were all Formal Mage; except for one who was a second-tier mage, the rest were First Order Mage.

Fran walked through the wall and arrived at the entrance, where she saw the Second Order Mage's eyes light up.

It was a tall, red-haired woman wearing an Alchemy School's robe with an extra silver thread at the waist—a line not typically found on a normal mage's robe.

Calista stepped forward and asked in a gentle voice.

"Are you called Lai?"

Fran stopped in her tracks. Logically, no one in the Floating City should recognize her at this point.

Then there's only one answer, and it's related to Iris.

"Yes, I am," she replied calmly.

"My name is Calista. Iris sent me here. She asked me to look after you."

Calista visibly relaxed, and only then did she begin to carefully examine Fran's attire, prompting Fran to ask a question.

Is there something wrong with my clothes?

Fran's understanding of banquet etiquette was Northern Lands Society, which may differ somewhat from the etiquette of the Floating City.

"No, there's no problem, it's just that you seem to be carrying a real sword..."

Calista's gaze was fixed on Fran's waist; she could easily tell that this sword was no ordinary ornament.

Is there a problem with this?

Fran became even more curious, and Calista then responded.

"No problem, just it's best not to do anything else with this sword... If you don't know what to do, just tell me."

Calista patted the Short Sword at her waist; Fran could tell it was purely decorative.

The Short Sword was decorated with intricate light-colored patterns, and the hilt was wrapped in a layer of dark green Magic Creature leather with rough edges, indicating it was not yet sharpened.

Calista turned to look at the sky and then spoke.

"You're too early. According to the invitation, you should have arrived after eight o'clock."

Fran pointed inside with some confusion and asked slowly.

"But it's already started inside, hasn't it?"

Calista explained patiently.

"At banquets held in places like this, guests are scheduled to enter at appropriate times according to their status."

"Those who arrive later are naturally of higher status."

"Due to some special circumstances, the banquet will end early at 10 PM tonight, so arriving at 8 PM is the latest you'll arrive."

"Oh." Fran finally understood the situation, realizing that with Iris's help and her own status, it was perfectly normal to receive the latest invitation.

"Then we..."

"Let's go in now, since you're already here."

Calista shrugged and led Fran to a waiter. After Fran showed him the invitation, a waiter led the two inside.

"By the way, do you have any money? At least five hundred Gold Coin?" Calista suddenly asked a strange question.

"No, what kind of banquet is this that requires money?" Fran asked, somewhat surprised.

Calista sighed, seemingly finding the task Iris had given her too difficult; Fran knew practically nothing about it.

"This is a fundraising banquet; you can think of it simply as a banquet where we're asked to donate money."