Bess smiled and said, "Leo, I'm very glad you accepted my invitation today."
Leo smiled. "Wizard Bess, your invitation has honored me as well. Among First-Rank Wizard Apprentices, I'm afraid I'm the only one to have been personally invited to dinner by a Formal Wizard."
Bess tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. "Not necessarily. Wizard Nova and Wizard Anthony were both First-Rank Wizard Apprentices who had once received invitations from Formal Wizards."
"To be mentioned alongside those two truly honors me."
Bess said, "No need to be modest, Leo. You absolutely have the qualifications to stand alongside them."
"Leo, did you know that the Formal Wizards in the Central Region of the Tower of Dawn are divided into three factions?"
Leo said, "I've heard a little about it."
Bess smiled. "The three major factions also have different attitudes toward Prossians."
"The Golden Eagle Faction, which is filled with hostility toward Prossians, includes people like Wizard Sajia and Wizard Jindeli. The Hunting Eagle Faction, which maintains a neutral attitude, includes Wizard Stofen. And then there is the Mysterious Eagle Faction, which remains friendly toward Prossians."
Bess said, "And I am from the Mysterious Eagle Faction."
Leo said with a smile, "Lord Bess, when we first met, you already introduced yourself as a Formal Wizard of the Mysterious Eagle Faction. I remember that quite clearly."
Upon hearing this, Bess showed no embarrassment at all. He said, "Is that so? So I'd already introduced myself. Then my memory really is a little unreliable."
Bess burst out laughing.
Leo smiled as well, though inwardly he cursed.
Bess had probably come to him because he wanted something. Otherwise, he would not have kept emphasizing that he was from the Mysterious Eagle Faction, that he not only held no prejudice against Prossians, but was full