The Fifteenth Banquet

That afternoon at North Wind Garrison, Lin Lei changed into formal attire, borrowed Henry and the others' things to tidy his hair, and prepared to head to the Flower Territory's lord's manor.

"Is Centurion Lin heading to the banquet too? Come with us."

The moment he stepped outside, he ran into Captain Otto and four other centurions. They had already formed a faction, and whenever they attended events like banquets, they acted together.

"Sure. I was just worried I wouldn't be able to find the count's manor. Having you along saves me a lot of trouble."

Lin Lei gladly accepted their invitation. He could easily sense the goodwill they showed him. With no power or faction to rely on, he felt Otto was not a bad person and that he could make a place for himself under him.

The six of them chatted and laughed as they left the City Defense Department, only to happen upon two other groups with the same composition, all heading toward the Flower Territory count's manor.

Since he was fairly familiar with Hu Baifu, Lin Lei walked alongside him. Hu Baifu noticed his gaze, rolled his eyes around, and said to him,

"That's Captain Hera's and Captain Brown's group. The one always smiling is Hera. Don't think that constant smile means he has a good temper. Quite the opposite—his temper is the worst in the entire City Defense Department. Whenever a mission goes wrong, he smiles while punishing his subordinates. His men are terrified of him. Behind his back, everyone in the City Defense Department calls him the Smiling Tiger.

"Of course, he also knows how to win over his own men. He often rewards them with gold coins and trinkets, so he has gathered quite a few fiercely loyal followers.

"The one with the constantly gloomy face is Captain Brown. He has the worst relationship with our Captain Otto. Several times, he deliberately ordered his men to pick fights with us. Half a month before you arrived, we even got into a brawl with them. When the lord found out, he reprimanded us and removed two centurions from each side.

"If Hera is a hypocrite, then Brown is a true villain. With Commander Ma looking after him, he's always pulling dirty tricks. You need to stay on guard and not let him trap you."

Hu Baifu did not speak loudly, but his explanation was especially useful for helping Lin Lei quickly understand his surroundings. Lin Lei kept nodding at his warning.

None of the three groups paid any attention to the others as they entered the venue separately. Elite soldiers guarded the entrance, specifically checking invitations.

Before coming, Lin Lei had given his invitation to Captain Ao. After the soldiers checked the invitations, a maid led them to a small round table. There were two more round tables beside it, presumably for the other two captains of the City Defense Department.

The table was laden with food, with little difference from modern cuisine. There was chicken, duck, fish, and meat. In the middle sat a platter of Silver-rank magical beast meat, while six bottles of wine stood around the table, brewed from grapes grown by Bronze-rank magic vines.

The maid who had led Lin Lei there did not leave. Instead, she stood behind them, waiting for their orders.

Lin Lei and the others did not have particularly good seats. They were tucked into a corner of the enormous hall. Captain Ao stayed with them for a while before going forward to speak with acquaintances he knew.

Once Captain Ao left, the other centurions gradually departed as well. Some began chatting with beautiful young ladies from noble families, while others struck up conversations with officers they knew.

Lin Lei was unfamiliar with both the people and things here, so he could only sit alone by the round table. Red Fire had not been allowed in either. He was truly all alone now.

"Hello, may I sit here?"

A girl with big eyes and crescent-shaped dimples spoke to Lin Lei. He looked up at her, then nodded in agreement.

The girl wore a dress covered in coffee-colored patterns and adorned with all kinds of gemstones. There were tiny diamonds weighing less than a gram and sapphires dozens of grams in size. Unlike everyone else, her hair was styled into two long curled ponytails, making her look adorable.

"Hello, my name is Aierlan. Are you also a guest at this banquet?"

Aierlan leaned closer and looked at Lin Lei, who had been silently drinking. When she first entered, she had casually noticed Lin Lei drinking alone. She had become curious about this man with yellow skin and black eyes.

"Mm."

Lin Lei gave a cool reply. He was still worried about the Banshee invasion, and this woman who had suddenly interrupted him annoyed him somewhat.

"..."

Seeing Lin Lei's unapproachable expression, Aierlan suddenly did not know what to say. Noticing the remaining wineglasses on the table, she began drinking with him, one cup after another.

"This little lady can really drink."

Aierlan had an impressive tolerance for alcohol, leaving Lin Lei clicking his tongue in amazement. This grape wine had a powerful kick. Would such a delicate little girl pass out later?

As Lin Lei was thinking about it, the doors slowly began to close. Everyone who was supposed to come had arrived, and those who came late would not be allowed in.

Then beautiful music echoed through the hall. Several people holding different instruments stood at the front and played Azeroth's Song of the Wind.

It was Lin Lei's first time hearing music from this world, so he naturally put down his wine and listened intently. Aierlan beside him seemed to have become obsessed with the grape wine and kept drinking intermittently. The sound she made caused the focused Lin Lei to look at her in surprise.

"Pfft."

It would have been better if Lin Lei had not looked. The moment he did, he was startled. Little Aierlan's face was flushed red. Her hand swayed unsteadily, and all the wine spilled onto the floor without a single drop reaching her mouth.

"Stop. Don't drink anymore."

Lin Lei no longer had the mood to enjoy the music. He hurriedly stopped Aierlan, took away both her wine and luminous wineglass, and let her lie on the table and sleep properly.

Once he had settled her down, the music at the front of the banquet had already ended. Alice accompanied a tall man to the front.

From the intimacy between Alice and that man, Lin Lei could infer that he was Edward, lord of the Flower Territory and a count under the admiral.

"I'm very happy that so many people could attend my daughter's celebration banquet..."

Edward began speaking as soon as he took the stage. His words were much like the empty, grand speeches bosses gave employees, full of formalities and lacking any important information. Yet when Lin Lei looked around, everyone seemed to be listening with great interest.

Being in the corner, Lin Lei was not overly constrained and began observing the people seated in front.

"That woman... she should be Moran."

Among the crowd of men, Lin Lei spotted a woman in a black formal dress. According to Hu Baifu's explanation, Lady Moran usually wore black, so this woman before him should be her.

"Now then, everyone, enjoy yourselves."

Edward did not speak for long. As a man of great strength, he preferred to be brief and direct.

Banquets were generally held to build connections and meet more people. Edward left everything that followed to Alice, allowing her to better take control of the Flower Territory in the future.

Edward left the venue. As the only Platinum-rank powerhouse in all of Flower Territory, as well as its lord, his presence was simply too imposing. If he remained at the banquet, the entire atmosphere would become stifling, so he withdrew early.

With Edward's departure, the banquet atmosphere became even more lively. At Lin Lei's table, only Hu Baifu found time to return briefly.

"Huh? Who is this young lady? Why is she sitting here?"

Hu Baifu looked at the unfamiliar girl sitting in what had originally been his seat and asked Lin Lei, who was still drinking beside her, in confusion.

"She said her name was Aierlan. Then she kept drinking here by herself and eventually got drunk."

Lin Lei gave a simple, straightforward explanation, only to receive a wicked grin from Hu Baifu.

"So you two know each other. I understand. I'll leave right away. Carry on."

Hu Baifu did not stay any longer. He left Lin Lei's table again and went toward the other guests.

"No, she really got drunk by herself. What does that have to do with me? Seriously..."

Lin Lei wanted to explain further, but Hu Baifu had already left. He could only look at Aierlan, who still had drool hanging from her mouth, and complain.

Seeing the sea of people around Alice, Lin Lei did not go over to join the crowd. This was not a good time to discuss anything with her.

"Miss Aierlan, why are you here?"

Two maids suddenly ran over. Seeing Aierlan still sleeping soundly, they muttered to themselves before glancing at Lin Lei beside her and demanding indignantly,

"What did you do to Miss Aierlan?"

For heaven's sake, she's drunk. Can't you smell the alcohol? Did I force her to drink? No, right? This girl is way too much trouble.

Good thing I didn't provoke her earlier. Otherwise, the grass on my grave would already be ten feet tall.

Lin Lei complained endlessly in his heart, but faced with the two maids' aggressive manner, he forced himself to explain in the calmest tone possible.

"Your young lady was drinking by herself just now and got drunk on her own. Hurry up and take her back."

"No. Who knows whether you took advantage of our young lady? Come with us. Wait until she wakes up and clears your name."

The two young maids refused to let the matter go.

"Why are you saying I took advantage of your young lady? Be careful, or I'll sue you for slander. Do you have any proof? I'm a centurion from the City Defense Department."

Lin Lei said irritably.

"You're a centurion? Our young lady is the eldest legitimate daughter of Viscount Aixing and Miss Alice's cousin. Do you think we dare not tie you up?"

As the red-clad maid spoke, Lin Lei finally noticed that seven or eight warriors had appeared beside them at some point. All of them possessed Silver-rank strength. Lin Lei could defeat them one-on-one, but if they attacked together, he would still be brought down unless he used the Guan Yu card.

A wise man knew when to yield. Lin Lei backed down and decided to follow the maids back to their manor, waiting for Aierlan to wake up and clear his name.

Where Lin Lei could not see, Aierlan raised a hand and gave the maids a gesture of approval.

After Lin Lei left, Hu Baifu and the others gradually returned. Seeing the empty seat, they all assumed Lin Lei had gone back because he was bored alone, and none of them paid it any mind.