Chapter 413 - 411: Banquet
This was Hilia’s first time entering a complete City Lord’s Castle.
The last City Lord’s Castle she entered was the Southern Border City Castle. Unfortunately, it was blown up before she could go in. By the time she entered, it was already in ruins, and she even had to raid the warehouse for supplies.
Hilia looked up at the magnificent castle and couldn’t help but exclaim, "It’s so spectacular."
"Mr. Pharos’s castle is, of course, spectacular. It was once constructed at the Holy Court’s request to thank Mr. Pharos for his contributions,"
Benovia’s voice came from behind, and Hilia turned around to see Benovia slowly walking over, smiling, in a formal gown.
Hilia looked down at herself.
Fortunately, since she was here in Letes City for a vacation, she had worn a beautiful long dress from the start. Although it can’t compare to others’ formal dresses... Hilia believed her beauty made up for the shortcomings of her attire!
Hilia was never insecure!
"Mr. Pharos is Phil’s father, right?" Hilia asked.
Benovia nodded, "Yes, Phil’s birthday is coming up, and since she’s nearby this year, Mr. Pharos insists on hosting a birthday banquet for her."
Hilia muttered, "Bishop Helder actually lied to me, saying it was a celebratory banquet for me. So wicked!"
"What celebratory banquet?" Benovia asked curiously.
Hilia briefly told Benovia about encountering a sea monster on the beach in the afternoon. After a moment’s thought, Benovia said, "Besides notifying the Letes Divine Hall, we should inform Ms Meilina as well. Perhaps this Aquatic Parasitic Beast got lost on the outskirts and ended up here, while the Deep Sea Giant Beast’s target might be the Golden Apple Stone Forest."
"Makes sense."
Hilia lowered her head, opened her bracelet, and sent a message to Melina, informing her of the Aquatic Parasitic Beast’s situation and Benovia’s speculation.
Melina quickly replied with a "Received."
Hilia didn’t pay further attention to this matter and asked the all-knowing Benovia out of curiosity, "Benovia, do you know what major achievements Mr. Pharos has accomplished?"
Benovia said, "The biggest achievement is clearing all the threatening demons within a 300-kilometer sea area around Letes City, turning Letes City into an important port, bringing commercial prosperity to the Letes City, hailed as the lighthouse of Ista."
Benovia looked towards the direction of the sea at the lighthouse, which was still faintly visible from there, "For this, the Holy Court specially built a gigantic lighthouse, solidifying Mr. Pharos’s title as the lighthouse. Nowadays, this lighthouse has become the symbol of Letes City."
Hilia suddenly understood, "So that’s how it is."
Clearing the sea area, creating a safe navigation route for the entire city, promoting the city’s prosperity, these contributions are monumental, he should have a statue or something erected for him.
"Alright, we’ve reached the banquet hall. The banquet hasn’t started yet, let’s go get something to eat first."
Benovia invited Hilia in as they walked into the banquet hall of the castle.
At that moment, the shadows of people in the banquet hall were scattered, each wearing elegant gowns, holding crystal glasses, gathering in groups of twos and threes, talking about who knows what, occasionally punctuated by low laughter.
A portion of these people were older, but most were young adults.
Hilia didn’t recognize any of them anyway.
Their arrival also drew attention from the inside but, since they didn’t seem to recognize either Hilia or Benovia, they only glanced over and then continued their whispered conversations within their small circles.
"These must be Letes City’s nobility," Hilia thought, "or maybe wealthy merchants and such."
All the nobles had magic power fluctuations, but nearly all were below the third rank.
As for above the fourth rank, Hilia couldn’t tell, and didn’t know if there were any.
As a genius mage, Hilia did not feel ashamed facing these noble wealthy merchants; on the contrary, she was very confident.
The two of them searched around the banquet hall for a moment and quickly found Phil surrounded by many young men and women.
Phil was dressed in formal attire and seemed a bit overwhelmed by the young people surrounding her. Upon seeing Hilia and Benovia, she looked like she had met her saviors and hurriedly waved, "Hilia, Benovia, over here."
Many young nobles looked over, seeing the two pretty young women approaching, their eyes brightened.
But as Phil, the main character, was next to them, they didn’t approach. A young man in a black tuxedo smiled and said, "Are you friends of Miss Phil? Hello, let me introduce myself, I’m Beck Arman, the eldest son of Earl Arman, pleased to meet you."
He looked at Benovia and, judging her attire, seemed to give up on flirting.
Then he looked at Hilia, saw her dress was just a normal long gown, hesitated for a moment, but upon seeing her beautiful appearance, a look of amazement flashed across his eyes and he approached warmly.
Hilia was also walking over.
Then she walked past him directly, pulled up a chair to sit down next to Phil, stretched lazily, "Phil, are you going to tell me what’s going on?"
Beck’s face showed signs of displeasure, whether annoyed by Hilia ignoring him or by her treating Phil so casually, his tone cooled somewhat, "Miss, although you are a friend of Miss Phil, please don’t be so casual in such solemn occasions. If you don’t understand noble etiquette, I can teach you."
Hilia didn’t say anything, and Benovia’s voice came through, "Earl Arman once followed Mr. Pharos in war, serving as the logistics head. When supplying materials to Mr. Pharos, he embezzled over 30% of the supplies.
"After the maritime campaign stabilized, he monopolized Letes City’s slave market, and not yet satisfied, used his position to establish long-term cooperation with Letes City’s gangs, selling numerous banned drug materials such as pearl rosemary in the underground market."
She looked at Beck, whose face was progressively turning sour, and chuckled lightly, "Am I correct, Mr. Beck?"
"You stop talking nonsense! What evidence do you have? Who are you?" Beck angrily said.
Phil looked at him, furrowing her brow, "I’ll have my father look into this thoroughly."
Beck hurriedly said, "This person is talking nonsense, don’t believe her. My father is the most loyal to Mr. Pharos!"
Phil stayed silent, merely looking at the guards beside her.
The guards stepped forward and took Beck away.
Hilia watched Benovia’s maneuvering, secretly amazed.
How does Benovia know everything?
Is there anything she doesn’t know?
What exactly is her family’s background?
Seeing Beck being dragged away, another noble stood up, just about to say something, Benovia looked at him, "Do you want me to recite what your family has done too?"
The other party decisively backed down, leaving in a hurry to find someone else.
Of course, just telling wouldn’t scare them.
But the banquet’s main character, Phil, seemed to trust the words of this mysterious noble lady without a single doubt.
That was quite terrifying.