Chapter 5, There are knights, run away quickly!

 As Seake was pushed into the banquet hall on the second floor by the maids, he looked like a Valru-type servant, who could come and go in high society with ease as an accompaniment, rather than a poor mage wandering the streets without even a qualification to be close to women dressed in fancy clothes.

 His job today was to support the banquet.

 He took orders from the chef and assisted with serving the dishes. In the process of helping to deliver various dishes to the buffet area and retrieving the food that had been left out for too long, he found that most of the food had not even been touched before being sent back to the kitchen!

 He held a plate of cold grilled fish in his hands, which was the biggest fish he had ever seen with golden and crispy skin. He looked at the chef with his most sincere eyes and asked, "Can I eat this?"

 The chef could clearly feel Seake's craving for food, which for a culinary professional was a powerful compliment. He pointed at the young cooks who were taking turns consuming leftover food in the break area and said, "You can join them."

 So Seake ate and drank heartily during his breaks, fried taro, fried shrimp, roasted pig, ham slices, chicken soup... he ate until all the kitchen staff looked at him with sympathetic eyes. One person even patted him on the shoulder and said, "There's a banquet here every other day, so you won't go hungry anymore."

 So Seake gave up the idea of changing jobs.

 When he wasn't eating, he wandered around the banquet hall watching as an observer. Rich people's banquets were different from what he had imagined.

 The banquets he had seen on TV had everyone smiling as if there was nothing to worry about in the world. The message conveyed by these celebrities was that at banquets, you would be excited, fatigue would disappear, you would once again believe that all human beings are kind, you would have many interesting topics to talk about, and you would see performances that would make your eyes light up.

 He heard the melodious music, saw the gorgeous hall, the beautiful curtains on the walls, the shining tableware, the ample food, and the comfortable room temperature. Everyone was dressed in expensive and beautiful clothes (but probably not very comfortable, like those ergonomic high heels that violate the human body). Their faces were indeed smiling, but no one was like the genuinely happy smile that Seake had imagined.

 Some people smiled so that they could feel happy themselves. Some people smiled because it was not appropriate to cry in this situation. Some people smiled because they saw others squeezing out a smile while being full of pain. Most of them seemed to be there just because they had to, not because they were happy to be there.

 They would laugh at a joke that wasn't funny, and then laugh again because someone else was laughing. Their smiles were exaggerated, like a mask, as if not letting others clearly see that they were laughing was a sin.

 Seake was taking plates from a group of women. One of them had just gotten married and was showing off her marriage to her friends.

 Seake noticed that no matter what the woman said about her interactions with her husband, such as her husband accepting things from her, her husband coming home at a certain time every day, her husband's love for trying new things, and her preparing different dishes for him every day, the other women could explain it as, "You will become his maid, and then he will treat you like an old lady and go out to cheat." He won't tell you if he gets off work early, and then he can go out and cheat. He undoubtedly likes to try new things with women and cheat on them every day. Whatever she says, the conclusion is that her husband will cheat. These women were so insistent in their views, as if something bad would happen if her husband didn't cheat, so her husband had to cheat.

 There was also a group of men talking about political matters. One of the men said, "So, policy should go in this direction."

 Another man said, "No, I think it should go this way." So the first man immediately changed his mind and said, "Actually, I think so too!" As if agreeing with what the person in front of him said was more important than reason or thinking. As if if he didn't agree with the person in front of him, the sky would fall down or something like that, so he had to agree. No matter what the other person's opinion was, he had to agree.

 Aside from the fact that the food was very practical in the banquet hall, Seake felt that everything else, such as the guests, seemed to not enjoy life thoroughly. They seemed to live in a world that had nothing to do with life, where the only thing that mattered was the fake happiness piled up by smiles (rather than joy).

 He pretended to work seriously and even pretended to have a reverential attitude towards these people, not daring to stop his gaze on them. This kind of surface work was quite basic in the Black Night Sect, where everyone pretended not to dare to kill people and killed their classmates one by one.

 In fact, Seake could hear every word of their conversations clearly, and he also memorized the physical characteristics of each person. He speculated on their interests, the relationships between them, and how to make use of them if necessary.

 He heard someone say, "I always feel this room is wrong!" So he listened carefully, but heard them say, "The brand of the armrests is the most exquisite craftsmanship. Can you believe they use such subpar products? It feels so wrong to me; they have such poor taste!"

 These so-called subpar products could allow Seake to rent a decent apartment for half a year with their unit prices.

 Seake began to look for the host and his family. Since he wasn't leaving, he wanted to figure out the power structure here and find out who he couldn't mess with.

 He first found Miss Hana. Her pointed hat stood out above the crowd, pointing towards the ceiling, making her very easy to find.

 Hana was wearing a mage robe that was several times more exaggerated than usual. The magic circle on top changed from being printed to hand-drawn with waterproof paint, increasing its complexity by several times. She had a large string of exaggerated and useless magical instruments on her person, making her look like a walking wind chime. She was surrounded by a group of guests, holding a heavy staff with a pointed end set with a large gemstone and a metal vine wrapped around the handle. Her uncontrollable outbursts of spell energy were causing small burn holes on the expensive clothes of the guests. The guests kept shouting, "How powerful! How beautiful!"

 Following the paths of the guests, Seake found the host's family. He could judge who was the master and who was the guest based on the price of the accessories they wore. Even if the guests had bigger diamonds than the host's family, they could not wear them, as it would be impolite to the host.

 He saw an old man with white hair in the center of the crowd; he should be the host of this house. The old man was not young, but he had a straight spine that was stronger than a young person's, and his physical condition was quite good.

 Beside him, Seake saw the twin sisters. It took him a moment to figure out which was which. In this public setting, the two of them were both dressed in wrinkled dresses that trailed along the floor. They were covered up tightly, revealing only their plump arms. Lino's hair was braided on the right side of her head, and she tried hard to focus on listening to people's conversations, but she was easily distracted. Gino's hair was braided on the left side of her head, and she also tried hard to concentrate, but she would unintentionally show a disdainful expression.

 Seake also saw the mistress of the house. She was much younger than the old man, and Seake learned from people's conversations that her name was YoLan. She had an oval face like her two daughters, with fuller cheeks than her daughters and a rounder facial contour. She had put on bright red lipstick and had broad shoulders that supported her very full chest. She had a long and elegant neck and wore a simple necklace that made her look more elegant. She was a beautiful woman, but there was an obvious exhaustion on her face that reduced her beauty.

 The guests' gaze was focused on the old man and the two misses, and no one spoke to her directly. Even when she was mentioned, it was only mentioned in passing during other conversations. For example, "Your wife is beautiful today" or "Your mother prepared good dishes." No one asked for her opinion, no one wanted to discuss anything with her, and no one even wanted her approval. She was just a thin shadow, accompanying the old man, like a tall vase in the banquet hall.

 In addition to these people, he also noticed an old woman dressed in black from head to toe, who stood quietly in the corner. Anyone who tried to flatter her would be driven away: "Let me be quiet. Can't you see that I'm in mourning clothes?"

 Seake felt that this old woman had a dignity that no one else had on site. The corner where she was felt like it had stronger gravity than other places. It made people feel that they absolutely couldn't harass female guests by pretending to be friendly like the male guests did elsewhere. That old woman would never turn a blind eye to it.

 When Seake went to collect cups beside her, he tried his best to maintain an upright posture. The old woman initially looked at him askance but then turned her head to face him directly and slowly shook her head, whispering, "This country is sick."

 Seake didn't dare say anything, lifting his head and chest and firmly holding the cup as he walked away in a straight line.

 Later, Seake continued to study the people on site and saw a familiar figure. Upon seeing this person, he immediately turned around and prepared to flee into the kitchen, finding an excuse never to come out again!

 The young man was about five years older than Seake, with a shiny head of golden hair, a pair of gleaming green eyes beneath his thick eyebrows, and a square and sharp-looking face. He was nearly two meters tall and very noticeable in the crowd with his strong physique. He was dressed in a short jacket and a high-necked shirt fastened with double copper buttons, snug-fitting trousers that revealed his powerful thigh muscles, and knee-high boots, all of which made him look like a sturdy knight. A sword hanger with a hollowed-out belt hung from his waist, and jewel-encrusted scabbards decorated his ceremonial sword with greater symbolic value than practical use. On his chest was a five-centimeter silver shield-shaped knight badge with a white blooming rose engraved in the center.

 This person was a member of the Royal Knights' holy shield division, commonly known as Seren. Before Seake could find refuge among the chefs, he was discovered by him. Knights were all warriors who walked fast and took big steps. Seren caught up with Seake in no time and grabbed his thin bird-like wrist with his iron-grip-like hand.

 Seake shrank his neck and glared at Seren, but Seren returned him an upright gaze.

 After the destruction of the Dark Academy, Seake had become a wanted criminal throughout the country, hiding in the wilderness, and Seren was one of the hunters who pursued him at that time. Now that Seake was already a law-abiding citizen, Seren was no longer his enemy, but Seake had developed a habit of running away when he saw a knight.

 "I heard you're working here." Seren showed Seake a brilliant smile.

 Seake had the urge to raise his hand to shield his eyes from the sunshine. He really didn't want to see Seren's dazzling smile. But since he had been caught, he had to endure the feeling of wanting to escape and talk to Seren.

 "Who told you?" Seake asked.

 "Shuilonu's dad. He has always been concerned about your situation."

 "Oh."

 Shuilonu was the girl Seake rescued along with him when the Dark Academy was destroyed. She later returned to her family safe and sound. Shuilonu came from a well-off family, and even had a bit of noble blood. Seake did not fully believe what Seren had said. He thought that someone of such a high social status would not care about someone like him from the bottom of society.

 "He also mentioned you when he talked about Shuilonu. She-"

 "There's no need to say anymore. I'm not interested." Seake interrupted Seren. He and Shuilonu were two people from completely different worlds.

 "Why do you have the mentality of a person on the social margins?" Seren raised his eyebrows slightly. It has already been more than two years since Seake was granted amnesty.

 "Because I am indeed one." Seake said.

 Seren paused and looked at Seake's servant attire, saying, "I heard you're a sorcerer's assistant."

 "Well, assistants of sorcerers are like this." Seake replied with an official tone.

 "It doesn't matter. Come and chat with me."

 "I'm still working!"

 "According to the rules of high society, chatting with guests is also a kind of work. Come on." Then Seren dragged Seake away.

 ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

 Seren took Seake to an empty balcony.

 It was snowing outside, and the sky was dark. The balcony had advanced thermal insulation, so it wasn't freezing, but it was still colder than inside the house.

 Seake rubbed his arms and asked, "Why come outside? Can't we talk where no one else can hear us?"

 "Sort of." Seren replied.

 Seake raised his eyebrows and pulled out his sacrificial knife, waving it around to detect any eavesdropping spells or hidden individuals. Only after confirming that there was no one hidden, he said, "Go ahead, then."

 Seren also raised his eyebrows. Seake's vigilance didn't seem like something a person in peacetime would have.

 "I don't know if you know, but there's a problem with this land." said Seren.

 This was a piece of land that could turn the grass into human heads. "I know, I've seen it." Seake said.

 "Have you heard about the insider information?" Seren continued.

 "A lot."

 "Do you know that the staff of the Wand of Light wants this land?"

 "Huh? Why? They're not trying to cultivate a large quantity of mutated grass, are they?"

 "Not sure. The Wand of Light has been in communication with this family for a long time, but nothing has worked. Now they're asking for help from the Holy Shield, which is why I'm here."

 "I don't think you can help much." Seake said bluntly.

 Seren smiled bitterly, "Indeed. I'm in a dilemma."

 The Wand of Light and the Holy Shield have been allies for a long time, always helping each other when possible, and if not, using excuses or pretending to be sick halfway through. Seren was torn between whether to go back and give excuses or pretend to be sick.

 Seake seemed to have a third option in mind.

 Seren said very seriously to Seake, "Do you know that tax audits are a very effective means?"

 "What?" Seake was puzzled how they can suddenly talk about this.

 Seren's expression was serious, "Once we catch the main perpetrator, everything can be discussed."

 Seake's eyes widened. What is this righteous knight talking about?

 "If conventional means don't work, we'll have to resort to other illegal means. If you know any insider information, please tell me. For example..." Seren pursed his lips, it seemed to be difficult for him to say the next word, "**."

 "For the sister? No, I don't know anything. I don't know anything at all." Seake shook his head vigorously.

 "There are rumors outside." Seren took a breath and continued, "This is something the police should be responsible for, but we should use everything we have."

 "You're so sure I'll help you? Delving into the scandals of the boss's boss is undoubtedly a thankless job."

 "I think you still have a sense of justice." Seren hadn't finished his words when they both heard a woman screaming from inside the banquet hall.

 Seake and Seren immediately turned and rushed into the hall.