Chapter 365 - 364: Private Chat
As he sat down, he happened to see Orelia looking at him gratefully. The somewhat shy girl stood up and, following Colin’s lead, said, "Orelia, a Cultivator from the Monastery."
"Dorn, a Dwarf from the sewers."
The Dwarf also stood up and offered a perfunctory introduction, his tone conveying a sense of ’not wanting to bother with these little brats’.
After the Dwarf finished speaking, the atmosphere grew cold again.
The members of the several teams sized each other up. The old nobility, the new nobility, and social outcasts like Colin and his group—these three factions had absolutely nothing to talk about.
The Paladins looked like they wanted to speak, but as Foreigners, they didn’t really know what to say either.
Bored, Colin glanced over at Asvir’s seat.
He suddenly noticed an interesting little detail.
The Mage from the Black Tower had a steak on her plate, with potatoes and broccoli as side dishes. She was using her dinner knife to cut all the food on her plate into small, uniformly sized cubes, arranging them neatly. It looked prim and proper, and rather interesting.
A short while later, Asvir and the others returned to the banquet.
Only then did the atmosphere slowly begin to warm up.
Colin’s group listened to them chat while finishing their food.
When they finished eating, their dirty plates would fly away, immediately followed by after-dinner desserts flying in. Colin received a dessert that looked a lot like a mousse cake.
Just as he was enthusiastically digging in, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Asvir said with a smile, "Alright, today’s banquet is now over. All teams except for Colin’s may leave."
’What’s going on?’ Colin swallowed the cake in his mouth and looked at his companions. The others were all staring back at him, wide-eyed. Kase, his mouth greasy from eating, silently picked up a napkin from the table and wiped his mouth and teeth.
Hearing this, the other three teams took the cue, rose, and bid their farewells.
After everyone had left, Colin asked, "Is there something you need?"
"I mostly just wanted to have a chat with you all." Asvir snapped her fingers.
The hard, thick, round table seemed to have been thrown into boiling water. Its once-clear wood grain churned and twisted madly, rapidly shrinking until it was just big enough for eight people. The group remained seated steadily at its edge, just as before.
Before the group could recover from the Magic, Asvir asked with a smile, "What was your team’s name again?"
"We don’t have one yet."
Colin answered honestly, not trying to be clever with something like "the Ordinary Team" or "the Nameless Team."
"It’s best to pick a name. Having one makes things much more convenient." Asvir shrugged, then continued, "You all did a beautiful job on that task with the gangs."
"It wasn’t a difficult job. Most people from the slums could have handled it," Colin said quietly, showing a bit of humility.
"But the fact is, most teams prioritized gangs they were familiar with. Some even took money to selectively report on the intentions of certain gangs," Asvir said. "That’s why I said your performance was so satisfactory."
"I just felt it was the right thing to do."
As he spoke, Colin grumbled internally, ’With a Paladin as my direct superior, wouldn’t taking that kind of money be asking for death?’
’Besides, this must be one of the reasons why the Hundred Eyes Gang, being information brokers, had no way to make contact with the city proper.’
’Since most gangs knew that the officials of Thousand Masts City couldn’t possibly need so many of them, the ones who wanted to go legitimate would not only actively contact the Field Staff, but also definitely pay to sabotage other gangs.’
’And the only channels for contacting the city were the few Field Staff teams.’
’Therefore, there weren’t many effective teams operating in the Hundred Eyes Gang’s territory, and since they didn’t dare dabble in the fast money from gray-market businesses, they were definitely getting crushed in this competition.’
Then again, Colin thought, looking at Asvir.
’When the Master of the Black Tower issued this mission, she must have been monitoring these gangs from the slums. For someone like her, something like that would be trivial.’
’So, that job was a test.’
Asvir leaned back in her chair, her long fingertips holding a dinner knife, idly toying with the cubes of food on her plate.
She began speaking softly, "During the first wave of settlement in the Northern Lands, butchers, cobblers, farmers, bastards... anyone could become an Adventurer, and any kind of person could become a noble."
"But it’s different now. Those nobles who were once Adventurers have hidden away their Swordsmanship and Magic, teaching their skills only to their own children, regardless of their talent, letting exquisite techniques go to waste."
"This has led to the great noble houses of Thousand Masts City always being the same few families, with almost no change for a thousand years. Such a rigid system is neither healthy nor reasonable."
Colin thought for a moment and decided not to play dumb.
He asked directly, "I’m guessing you need some new blood without any established loyalties. However, I think that Paladin team from earlier would also be a good choice."
"You’re very sharp. People from the slums don’t usually talk like that." Asvir glanced at Morel, who was standing beside her.
She paused for a moment before continuing, "To be fair, Paladins are capable of upholding justice, but most of them are not suited for our cause."
Colin glanced at Edwin.
However, the Paladin just smiled and didn’t refute her statement.
Seeing his opening, Colin got straight to the point. "I want my team to have a say in what missions we decide to carry out."
"We don’t do evil deeds," Ale chimed in, and Orelia quickly added, "R-Right."
Dorn also knocked on the table and said, "We get to decide what we do. I’m representing the honor of the Shadow Anvil Clan!"
"Of course."
Asvir said with a laugh, "Don’t be nervous. It’s not like I’m asking you to assassinate some noble and spend the rest of your life rotting in prison. Your team is among the most talented. You can be a little more confident. Time is on your side, and so are we."
Her words helped alleviate some of the anxiety that had been building up in Colin for days.
’A major figure like the Master of the Black Tower probably wouldn’t lie to me about something like this,’ Colin thought. ’Besides, Edwin is here too.’
’Judging from the Master of the Black Tower’s words, Edwin must have also known about the gang dealings. Since he didn’t stop it, there must have been a reason.’
Asvir continued, "Since today is your promotion ceremony, we should also discuss your new benefits. Your stipend will remain the same, but you can move into an apartment in the Southern District. The living conditions there should be a bit better than your current place."
"Additionally, you should all find some time to visit the ’Saffron Tailor Shop’ together. The tailor there will make a set of respectable formalwear for each of you, free of charge. Wearing what you have on now can be a bit awkward in certain situations, don’t you think?"