Chapter 402 Wedding Banquet (2)

Chapter 402 Wedding Banquet (2)

A few minutes after everyone left the library.

In a room with a fireplace somewhere in the tower, a group of people dressed simply but not shabby, but rather exuding a noble aura, were discussing something. Judging from the books in their hands and those spread out on the nearby tables and chairs, they should be having some academic exchanges.

These people seemed to be quite old, probably over fifty years old, but there were also some young people among them. Among them was a woman in her thirties, wearing a coarse cloth robe. She was surrounded by these scholars. She answered the questions raised by the people around her in an orderly manner. Her answers were accurate and capable. Although the descriptions she used were simple and easy to understand, they were also elegant. Even when there were questions involving dialect vocabulary, she was able to accurately pronounce those dialect words. Her calm and clear mind was unanimously recognized by the scholars around her. It was obvious that the elderly scholars around her admired this very young female scholar very much. They had a good chat.

"Young lady, we noticed that you have been wearing this ring that does not look special and you seem to take good care of it. Does it have any special history?"

"Oh, you're talking about this. The material of this ring is very ordinary, just ordinary metal and some impurities of gemstone scraps. To others, it is worthless, but to me, it is a priceless treasure, a family heirloom."

The female scholar generously stretched out her hand so that everyone could clearly see the ring. She was right, it was indeed very ordinary. Although it did have gem material on it, it was indeed covered with impurities and was not special.

"Can you tell us about its origin? After all, for a bunch of old bones like us, knowledge and history are more interesting to us than precious treasures."

"Of course, this ring has been passed down from generation to generation in my family, and can be traced back to three hundred years ago. According to the records passed down from generation to generation in the family, my ancestor was a noble duke, but because of the unrest in the country and the war, the family suffered a heavy blow and could not recover. Our family became refugees. At that time, my ancestor had not yet established his own family and was seriously injured in the battle. During this period, he met the love of his life, who was also a fledgling medical apprentice. At that time, my ancestor's spouse did not know his identity or experience, and just treated him as an ordinary injured soldier. However, she did not favor one over the other and neglected the care for my ancestor. The meticulous care allowed my ancestor to stand up from the sickbed soon, and a month later, he recovered completely."

"This kind of emotion that has gone through adversity is often the strongest. I guess this unremarkable ring might be a token of love given by the impoverished duke to his future wife?"

"Yes, you are right. According to the records passed down from generation to generation in my family, the ancestor was separated from his country's team at that time. No one knew his identity. So after recovering from his injuries, he had to find a way to return to his country. Just when he was thinking about how to express his feelings to the apprentice healer, he accidentally found a fragment of a gem product illuminated by moonlight in the ruins of a collapsed city wall nearby. So he spent a few weeks making this ring himself and gave it to the apprentice healer to express his feelings. The ancestor's wife also fell in love with him, so from then on, they were together. Later, the ancestor took her back to his country and held a wedding. They loved each other for decades. Unlike the nobles at that time and even now, the ancestor had only this one wife from beginning to end. This seems to have become a tradition in our family. Oh, except for my father, this not-so-precious ring has been passed down from generation to generation until it came to me. To a certain extent, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is my heirloom."

"Loyal love is indeed a precious thing in our history. I think the origin of this ring is enough to surpass many precious collections."

"You flatter me."

The scholars around suddenly became interested in the family history of the female scholar, especially after they learned that her ancestor was a duke three hundred years ago. For their country, the national unrest three hundred years ago led to the destruction of a large number of documents at that time and a part of the history was broken, so if they could find some history handed down from that time, it would be great news for these scholars.

However, as these scholars continued to discuss history, a maid came to them. After a respectful salute, she seemed to bring some news.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, Miss Mortaan would like to borrow some of your ladyship's time."

"Oh, of course, no problem. Please forgive me, Miss Motaan may have something to ask me, so I'll excuse myself first."

"It's alright, young man. Let's express our gratitude to Miss Motaan for inviting us old bones to the banquet."

"I will. Miss Motaan is also very interested in history. I believe that the arrival of you gentlemen will make her very happy. I will take my leave first. I can't let Miss Motaan wait too long."

"Ok."

After politely saying goodbye to the scholars around her, the female scholar followed the maid and left the room. After passing through several corridors, they came to a room on the upper floor. Few people came here, but it was often cleaned. It looked like a baby room, but the items inside were all from more than ten years ago.

"You are really good at making up stories. You can talk about things that happened three hundred years ago without any hesitation. You are worthy of being called a "scholar."

"I'm not making this up. The Duke is my father, and the apprentice healer is my mother. To some extent, I'm just repeating what my parents told me."

"Really? I knew you were a vampire, but I didn't expect you to be so old. How old are you?"

"Three hundred years old, but according to the current calendar, I should be two hundred and ninety-nine years old. My mother became pregnant on the way back to his country with my father. At least that's what they say."

"So everything you said is true?"

"Almost, but I omitted some facts. My mother is not just an apprentice healer, but also a powerful witch. My father is not a duke, but a king."

"You're still a royal?! Wait, three hundred years ago this country wasn't unified yet. Of the four countries at that time, one was destroyed, one was occupied by demons, another was the ancestor of the castle owner, and the remaining one... you are!"

"Just keep it to yourself, don't spread it around. If that kid Rat King gets to know about this, the whole guild will know about it, and then I'll have to change my identity again."

"A 40-year-old boy... well, for a 299-year-old, that's true. So how did you become a vampire? Tell me about it."

"It's an immortal species. Vampire is a derogatory term. No one likes it."

"Are you the same as the legend says? Afraid of the sun? But you don't look like that?"

"Except for the fact that we need to suck blood, everything you know about vampires is fake... It's very rude of you to put your finger in my mouth."

"You don't have fangs? I think that's a cool thing!"

The "scholar" pressed the maid's fingers, sighed, and then opened his mouth in front of her. It could be seen that the teeth that had been normal just now suddenly turned into a mouth of equally neat but extremely sharp fangs.

"Oh! How did you do that?"

"A little magic."

"Then you can..."

"Okay, Siren, don't you have something important to talk to me about? We'll have plenty of time to talk about these topics after we complete our mission."

"Oh, I almost forgot. An inquisitor appeared in the castle, accompanied by some knights and mages, all elite, unfamiliar faces. There seemed to be an assassin as well. Judging from her unusually smooth leather armor, she must be a friend of some important person, probably the inquisitor's maid."

"Inquisitor?! Why would such a terrifying guy appear in this place?"

"I'm not sure, but he asked the head maid for a quiet place before, saying that he wanted to discuss "internal" matters. I have a bad feeling that their appearance may be related to what we were commissioned to find."

"So you actually have the mind to ask me about such an important matter?! You should have talked about this first!"

"Don't get so excited Tarun. Do you think we have a way to deal with them? One Inquisitor is already a disaster, not to mention a team of elite knights and mages, plus an assassin who is most likely the Inquisitor's maid. So it's better to keep calm. Anyway, they are definitely not coming for us. I remember that the Inquisition didn't care too much about the existence of vampires."

"That's easy for you to say. The first thing my Transformer told me was not to provoke the Inquisition. We must tell the others about this, lest they do something that would lead to their own demise."

"On my way here, I told the Rat King the news. I guess by now the news should have..."

"Squeak!"

"Look, it should have been passed on to other people."

A little mouse suddenly appeared under their feet. It looked adorable with soft fur, of course, if the mouse didn't have green eyes.

"Rat King, go find Tulong and ask him to prepare the backup evacuation route as soon as possible. Also, if you dare to tell others about what you just heard about me, I will suck your blood dry. Do you understand?"

"Hey! You are prejudiced. Do I love to spread gossip so much?! Tulong is still a demon. Look, I told everyone about it... Oh, I let it slip."

The little mouse suddenly spoke, but the two people present did not feel surprised. However, the voice was that of a middle-aged man, and his voice was not as sharp as imagined, but rather very steady.

"The Earth Dragon is a demon?!"

"To be precise, I'm a hybrid of a demon and a banshee. Don't let this slip when you meet the Earth Dragon, or else the Earth Dragon will use me as fertilizer for his little garden before Taron sucks my blood dry."

"You will die from your broken mouth sooner or later..."

"Ha! That's worth it."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Tell the earth dragon to be careful and not to appear on the ground of the castle. If that Inquisitor senses that there is a demon here, we will all be in trouble."

"I've already said it. Although the Inquisitor's title is intimidating, our strength is not bad either. As long as we can avoid the Inquisitor, deal with the elite team first, and then be careful of the assassin, even if we can't win, we should be able to escape."

"About this...it doesn't seem to work..."

At this time, the "Siren" suddenly remembered something she forgot to say. Judging from the expression of the "scholar" Taron, this was not the first time this had happened. Although the little mouse could not see the expression of the "Rat King", he probably looked very upset now.

"Although your carefree personality is lovable, you really should learn to talk about important things first. Tell me, what trouble are we going to encounter? Are there other inquisitors here? Or something else?"

"That's not the case. There is only one inquisitor. But this inquisitor... he... how should I put it, isn't... ordinary?"

"Do you want to drive us crazy so that you can take all the mission bounty for yourself?"

The "Siren" scratched her arms nervously twice. It seemed that she was very cautious about what she recalled, so much so that she was very nervous just thinking about it.

"The mayor was completely unaware of the Inquisitor's arrival at the castle. Moreover, he did not have any weapons on him. When I passed by him, I saw runes appearing on his enchanted cloak."

These seemingly unimportant information petrified the "scholar" on the spot. Even the rat controlled by the "Rat King" suddenly lost control and regained normal consciousness. It can be guessed that the "Rat King" who learned the news was probably in the same state. Fortunately, before the rat ran away completely, the "Rat King" regained control of it and returned to the two.

"Do we...really want to get involved in this situation just for the gold coins? Even though it's a full 2,000 gold coins including the advance payment, I want to stay alive more than money..."

"..The castle owner's reception has ended, and the gates of the castle have been closed. Although the drawbridge has not been fully raised, no one except Tulong can escape from the castle in such a short time..Oh, no one can leave now, the drawbridge is raised."

For a moment, the three of them fell into silence for a long time, and then the "scholar" Tarun broke the awkward silence.

"Let's tell the others about the situation first. I think we need to think about whether we should give up this mission. We have one month, so I don't think we need to rush in the next few days."

"I'll notify the others immediately."

"My disguise is very good. Even though I passed by him many times, he didn't notice me. Perhaps I can use my disguise to monitor the movements of the Inquisitor."

"Honestly, I don't recommend you do this."

"Yes, he may have discovered you, but you were not the reason why he came to the castle, so he ignored you."

"It's okay. I can just reveal my identity. As long as I cooperate, I think my safety should be fine. Besides, if he finds the others, I can buy some time for Tarun and Tulong to escape. But as for those two guys, it's up to fate."

"Well, be sure to stay safe!"

"Do not worry!"

The small gathering soon broke up, and after leaving the room, the three of them quickly separated and went to different locations.

But in fact, our "Inquisitor" has no idea what is happening in the castle. He is currently in an alchemy laboratory, studying those messy alchemy books.

"Honestly, I understand every word, but when put together, it's just a bunch of nonsense. What the hell is this?"