Chapter 833: Chapter 43: A Temporary Sense of Belonging
“Hard to say…” Gongsun Ce mumbled, following the Dawn Knight towards the nearby headquarters.
They walked into the Knight Order headquarters, passed through the hall, and the venue for the celebration banquet was in the reception room on the third floor. The crystal chandelier on the ceiling glowed faintly, candelabras on the wooden cabinets flickered with candlelight, and the original furniture had been moved out in exchange for a long table filled with food. People familiar to him were mingling inside, holding plates and wine glasses.
This was indeed a small celebration banquet. The attendees, besides the Starlight Knights and their entourages, were only those who had arrived earlier. Mo Yuankai stood in the middle of the room with a can of beer, somewhat awkwardly accepting everyone’s congratulations. Standing at the door, Gongsun Ce suddenly felt his heated mind cool down a bit; the familiar feeling and sense of orientation returned. He had briefly enjoyed a moment of fame guided by official publicity, but in the end, the spotlight was still meant for those truly dazzling stars.
Didn’t he not really do anything? It was his big brother and the Creation Realm Mages who decided the course of the battle; he had merely contributed a bit of effort.
Gongsun Ce habitually walked towards a corner, wishing to find a quieter spot to stand. At this time, the knights noticed his arrival, and a blue-haired knight was the first to approach, unceremoniously shoving a glass of low-alcohol fruit wine into the Superpower User’s hand.
Yuliy raised his glass: “To the capital and the friends of the Knight Order!”
The Starlight Knights all raised their glasses, and those familiar to him smiled at him one by one. The knights of Supibia said in unison: “To the capital and the friends of the Knight Order!”
He was pushed to the center of the room, where everyone clinked glasses with him in celebration. “Thank you…” Gongsun Ce’s voice trembled a little. Surrounded by knights, he was at a loss for words other than to repeat, “Thank you, everyone!”
·
Gongsun Ce spent an enjoyable hour or so, during which he and his big brother cleaned up most of the food on the table. He listened to Rakael telling jokes from the southern Country, discussed the heavy stereotypes of the Country with Gafri, joked about Yuliy with Sara, and listened to the enthusiastic old commander reciting ancient long poems.
After a few drinks, feeling a bit warm, he went to the balcony to cool down. (Alandia had earlier reminded minors that they shouldn’t drink, but it was selectively ignored by all.) Orianna and Alandia whispered quietly beside him. “Knight Alandia, do you think I did well this time…” “I think you did very well, Knight Orianna.”
Gongsun Ce chuckled quietly and leaned casually on the railing of the balcony. Mo Yuankai approached with a glass of wine and leaned beside him.
“How about it, Ah Ce?”
“About what?” Gongsun Ce retorted.
“Supibia.”
“The food’s alright, and the wine is good.”
“Oh…”
“It’s quite a good city,” Gongsun Ce said sincerely.
“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” Mo Yuankai laughed, raising his glass, “Cheers!”
Gongsun Ce, tipsy, raised his glass and clinked it with his big brother’s. He thought that this city was like an old building, with many issues inside and out, but once you got used to living there, you’d still find it quite nice…
At least it wasn’t a place that rejected him.
·
Elsewhere away from the Knight Order headquarters, in a lavish garden, a child in black was gazing at the starry sky with his accomplice.
“I must really thank you for giving me the Jade,” Jian pushed the Unity Jade towards the table.
“You’re safe thanks to your own caution, using the Jade and still casting through a puppet with a doppelganger.” The Hidden Law Master said.
“I had to be careful. The Dawn Knight is unfathomable; if I hadn’t been extra cautious, it wouldn’t just be the Jade that was lost; we would have been exposed long ago.” Jian sighed, “Speaking of which, Situ Yi, wasn’t the plan for you to die heroically in battle? How did it end up with the blame being thrown on the Hidden Law Master?”
“It’s as if I betrayed the faith.” said the Hidden Law Master unhappily.
Situ Yi’s voice rang out teasingly: “An act is valuable because it’s real! Without a good reason, how can one reasonably exit? I kindly ask the Hidden Law Master to be the villain this time~”
Jian spoke with sarcasm: “It seems your trap wasn’t very effective either?”
“I intended for the Dawn to awaken as King, to have reality compete with greed, at which point it would be easy to seize the glaze. Unexpectedly, a bad jester became a good jester, a minor character turned into a great hero, how thoroughly unexpected, life is unpredictable~!”
Jian felt a headache, once more thinking that partnering with this man was too risky a move. If Alandia Helison truly becomes the Eternal King of this era, who could guarantee that He would enter the inside of the world, at the end of the road? The real world’s effects aren’t permanent, and once the realm shatters…
“Sigh…” Considering the extremely dire consequences, Jian couldn’t help but sigh deeply, then complained: “Sir, could you please have the script straight next time before acting? We amateur actors can’t always improvise every time.”
“No worries, I never placed great expectations on this trap; this mission has already been successful.”
The Hidden Law Master flicked his fingers, sending a glass bead-like object soaring into the air, which he then caught with one hand.
That was the core left when the King of Skeleton, Morton, disintegrated…
It was also one of the true objectives of this mission.
“The Netherworld Eyes retrieval is complete, so the conditions are met. Everyone can rest for a while. The next time we take the stage, it’s when the final act concludes.”
The figure of the Hidden Law Master merged into the night and disappeared without a trace.