Celebratory Banquet of Dekan – Chapter 211
Two weeks later.
Tonight, inside the Royal Palace of the Randir Kingdom, a grand banquet was being held to celebrate the resounding success of the national defense campaign.
Among the four bishops sent by the Rebirth Church, Frenzied Bishop Krey fled, and the Decaying Bishop Fahim perished in battle. Furthermore, the astrologers have confirmed that another bishop who never made an appearance has distanced himself from the Randir Kingdom.
Only one bishop is suspected to still be lingering near the borders of Randir.
However, this is quite a natural phenomenon and no longer a cause for concern.
It wasn’t until yesterday when the astrologers confirmed the movements of the three surviving bishops that the Randir Kingdom finally confirmed the outcome of the battle and began to unwind.
Tonight, therefore, they organized a celebratory banquet and invited Dekan and his companions as the most honored guests.
Besides the nobles of their own country, foreign envoys were also present, such as other teams participating in the seventh-stage evaluation, and the reinforcements from neighboring countries that came to the Randir Kingdom.
At this moment, the Beautiful Soul Squad was riding the same luxurious carriage towards the Royal Palace.
It was a specially crafted carriage that looked larger than the surrounding ones, its body painted with flowing gold dust, and the several carriage lamps made from immortal crystals.
Compared to the carriage that met them at the outskirts of the city at the beginning, this one was clearly upgraded to the highest specifications offered by the Randir Kingdom.
The carriage was getting closer to the palace as it traveled down the royal path.
With rows of carefully trimmed green cypress trees on both sides of the road, the carriage passed through a pavement of lapis lazuli, soon approaching the palace.
“Look ahead, meow.”
Following the call of Teacher Cat, the Beautiful Soul Squad saw that just ahead, close to the palace, was a spacious square already filled with various luxury carriages.
The members of the Beautiful Soul Squad were all veterans who had seen large events, so they remained relatively calm.
Only Tarta, seeing the various emblems on those carriages, felt both curious and a bit overwhelmed, inadvertently rubbing her eyes.
They couldn’t leave her alone at home while they came to attend the banquet.
Of course, the considerate king knew that their team adopted a child after coming to the Randir Kingdom, and he specially mentioned they could bring relatives when issuing the invitation.
“Tarta, if you don’t want to deal with strangers, just hide behind us.”
Dekan said this to Tarta who was beside him.
“Okay.”
Tarta nodded seriously.
Arriving at a place like the Royal Palace filled her with both joy and some fear.
Even though she had tied her horns into hair decorations, wore a lovely little hat, and Mia had helped her alter the color of her right pupil, she was still wary of her demon characteristics being exposed.
Dekan seemed to understand Tarta’s feelings and gave her a mischievous smile,
“Relax, with your looks, no one would dare bother you. Just enjoy the banquet.”
“Okay.”
Looking at Dekan’s face and listening to him, Tarta gradually calmed down.
She had a sudden feeling like she had a great supporter now.
And she didn’t even need to show it actively.
Just her face alone, people would assume she is Dekan’s younger sister.
…
When the carriage arrived below the palace, immediately a group of servants walked over in swift steps. These servants were tall and imposing but still polite in their gestures.
They showed exceptional respect for Dekan’s group.
Even though Dekan was just a commoner from another kingdom.
But the welcoming standard right now was no less than what would be used to greet a prince from another country.
On the way to the palace, every servant and noble treated Dekan with admiration.
Of course, maybe admiration made up one part, and fear made up nine parts.
If Dekan’s reputation in the Randir Kingdom, especially in the capital city, was unknown to no one.
Has anyone heard of the Bishop of Pain?!
Children stop crying at night just hearing his name!
Yet, no one dared to mock Dekan as the Bishop of Pain; they could only think it in their hearts.
Even though most people held very complex views about Dekan.
But still,
At least show respect!
When in front of them, admiration is all that matters!
Regardless of whether Dekan was a hero, the real Bishop of Pain, or a fake one, “don’t provoke Dekan” had become common knowledge among the people of Randir.
If anyone did, Fahim’s tragic fate would be the consequence.
Before they even reached the palace gates, the king himself walked out to personally welcome the few people disembarking from the carriage.
After some small talk, Dekan surprisingly felt like the king of the Randir Kingdom was as friendly as a neighborhood uncle.
When he was in the border town, his neighbors had a similar attitude towards him.
“Have you all decided when you’re returning to the Norton Kingdom yet?”
The king asked while leading them into the palace.
“Maybe the day after tomorrow. We’ll take a tour of the capital city tomorrow, and then we should be heading back to school; otherwise, most of this semester will be gone.”
Dekan gave it some thought and replied.
Though they all thought the Randir Kingdom was a great place,
They were also ready to leave.
There was no need for dwelling there too long.
The reason Dekan and his team stayed in the Randir Kingdom for two weeks was that before the crisis was resolved, Randir relied heavily on Dekan’s defense.
After all, after killing Fahim, he could be considered the top anti-Rebirth Church figure in the world today.
Even though Dekan himself was extremely dangerous.
During the crisis, the king was willing to trust in Dekan.
In recent decades, there have been heroes who defeated Bishops of the Rebirth Church once.
But there has been no hero who defeated two bishops in such a short time.
In a sense, Dekan even drove away Krey the Frenzied Bishop.
The King said, “Very good, very good, if you need anything, just tell me. You are welcome, and I hope you’ll come again.”
Dekan responded, “Alright, thank you, your majesty.”
Dekan began to think of the king more and more like a neighborhood uncle.
Back in the town, the neighborhood uncle also seemed eager for his departure but didn’t show it.
Dekan got used to it and didn’t care.
The Norton Kingdom was his home.
He didn’t cherish any other places.
…
After entering the banquet hall,
Generally speaking, as the main characters of the celebratory banquet, they would attract a lot of people of various sorts trying to flatter them.
But in reality, except for a small number of the courageous ones, such as the teams from the southern kingdoms who dared to greet them in good spirits,
Others kept a respectful distance.
It was unclear whether it was out of respect or some other emotions, but everyone in the banquet hall was greatly praising Dekan’s achievements.
He had proven with his strength that, even without the title of Bishop of Pain, he is truly a figure at the level of the Bishop of Pain.
If before, in the city of Tristin, many people would think Dekan and Chloix were auxiliary, and the main force in defeating Evans was the eighth-level top card maker Ice Snow Princess and St. Knight Judith of the Church of the Sun,
Then now everyone understands: the one who truly finished off Evans must certainly be Dekan.
It was obvious that he didn’t rely on the assistance of any other eighth-level power figures this time; he disposed of two bishops.
He was a terrifying man of magic.
Absolutely not to be underestimated.
Originally, this banquet should have centered around them as the main characters,
But now it felt somewhat like they didn’t belong here.
Thus, the group could only huddle together, helplessly chatting with themselves.
“Actually, this time I really feel like I’m not the MVP…”
Dekan said, sounding gloomy.
Even though everyone was hyping him up, he himself felt very discontent.
Many things on this trip to the Randir Kingdom turned out entirely contrary to his expectations.
It always felt like all parties involved had their own plans, but they interfered with each other, leaving the situation chaotic and unpredictable.
And Dekan had taken advantage of the situation due to a coincidental opportunity.
It seemed like he hit the jackpot.
Even more bizarrely, he got the job done without using all his strength.
This peculiar luck made him feel good, but not entirely.
His sister card didn’t even get a chance to make an appearance!
Now, upon reconsideration, the real turning point was the moment Dekan encountered Krey.
Everything became too smooth afterwards, leading to a subsequent series of schemes and actions.
“You don’t mean the Frenzied Bishop is the MVP, do you meow?”
Teacher Cat, perched on Tarta’s head, asked.
Now, it no longer feared Tarta.
Though it was aware that Tarta was also an eerie card maker, she was far too pure to pose a threat compared to Dekan.
Tarta, after getting to know the team members, had grown closest to Teacher Cat third.
Though calm on the surface,
Her eyes betrayed an eagerness to pat Teacher Cat.
“Who else could it be? Krey delivered a major play, sending Fahim to his demise halfway through.”
Dekan highly acknowledged Krey’s MVP value for the entire match.
“Would Fahim have any chance to escape from you?”
Mia asked with a smile nearby.
“If Krey hadn’t performed that legendary betrayal of his teammates at the end, Fahim might have actually managed to run away from me. But whether he could escape from the Shadow Bishop, I’m not so sure.”
Dekan waved his hand indifferently, with a carefree expression.
Mia nodded, but seemed to have a bit of doubt and asked,
“How do you know it was the Shadow Bishop?”
Dekan simply said, “I guessed.”
Subsequently, both laughed and fell silent for a while.
“Say, if Krey finds out that Morion is still alive, would he run down to the southern kingdoms to hassle Morion?”
Suddenly Chloix remembered something and asked.
He thought if Krey hears about Morion’s whereabouts, it’s likely he’d head south to investigate.
If these two were to meet, they might have some entertaining interactions.
However, Dekan shook his head and said with a troubled look,
“To be honest, I can no longer tell if Krey is really dumb or just pretending to be.”
After carefully reviewing the entire process, Dekan started having doubts.
Whenever things went too smoothly, Dekan would suspect whether there was a certainty behind the randomness.
After all, low-probability events are hard to happen frequently.
And what if…
Krey isn’t really dumb, but rather a mastermind akin to Zhuge Krey?
In that case, upon deeper consideration, it was truly terrifying.
Then Fahim’s death was really not in vain!
As a witness throughout the entire process, Chloix also understood Dekan’s meaning and began thinking deeply.
But he quickly had a question and asked,
“If Krey really wanted to help, why didn’t he come directly to you and express his intentions?”
“If he had come directly to me to cooperate, I might not trust him, and I could even end up betraying him myself. So it was risky for him to reveal his identity to me, as it would expose his carefully cultivated alias.”
Dekan explained, looking somewhat helpless.
After hearing, Chloix nodded.
While resting his chin on his hand and pondering, he began deducing,
“…So Krey arrived in the capital early, with the first aim being to disrupt the Rebirth Church’s plot against you, trying to at least save you initially… then he waited for us quietly outside the city, and throughout our process of finding Tarta, Krey has always been secretly watching us… once we entered the casino, Krey acted stupid… whatever that is… then he staged a dramatic loss of the Bishop’s Certificate to you, handing over the information and all the initiative to you in such a way, raising no suspicion?”
Chloix finally understood Dekan’s deduction.
“You’re absolutely right, this explanation makes sense.”
Dekan said with a mixture of laughter and exasperation.
If he and Krey truly worked as accomplices, then Fahim was completely set up and killed intentionally.
Even with the existence of an insider Bishop, Fahim truly had no chance for revenge.
“Then this way, don’t we seem like the main villains, without any martial morality, setting traps to hunt down the Bishop of Decay?”
Mia sighed as she listened to their deductions.
“I’ll go ahead and say this: it’s not ‘seem like,’ our team’s reputation has already been ruined!”
Dekan chuckled bitterly, exuding self-abandonment.
The current issue wasn’t only how cruelly the male members of the Beautiful Soul Squad killed Fahim.
Even the female members were feeling off.
Though they didn’t appear during the entire front-line battle,
The Northern Kingdoms team didn’t appear either from beginning to end.
Every observant person would know that the Northern Kingdoms team would certainly interfere with Dekan.
If this team showed up, the result of Dekan’s duel with Fahim might change.
The mysterious disappearance of the Northern Kingdoms team could definitely be credited to the female members of the Beautiful Soul Squad, who seemingly remained inactive.
What’s truly alarming is—
All five members of the Northern Kingdoms team now suffer from dementia.
They are still in the hospital, babbling “Ah Bah Ah Bah.”
The examination results show that their brains suffered damage from poison.
Apart from the team leader Arik, who was attacked by Krey, the other four were ambushed and swiftly killed.
It’s almost impossible without eighth-level strength.
It’s hard to imagine how the female squad could have managed this.
Moreover, no matter how they investigate, all clues show that the female squad has clean hands!
The condition of these few people from the Northern Kingdoms has nothing to do with them!
Clearly, the locations where the female squad and the Northern Kingdoms team were before disappearing largely overlapped!
But just like washing hands and letting go of the flaw, it’s impossible to find fault with the female squad.
This perfect criminal act caused the Randir Kingdom’s public security force to feel chilled to the bone.
Ultimately, the inference results could only indicate that the unsolved case might be the work of the bishop who never showed up.
The report results directly angered the eighth-level warrior from the Northern Kingdoms who came to provide aid, and they immediately walked away.
Saying this had nothing to do with those people was pure nonsense!
This conclusion undoubtedly deceives fools.
Or it’s the Randir Kingdom’s favoritism towards the Beautiful Soul Squad.
Or perhaps they were afraid to investigate further.
Dekan seemed to be deeply distressed by his team’s current reputation.
“Doesn’t matter, in the past, it was always just me and Dekan, and our reputation was already bad, so we’ve never expected it to get better!”
Cornelia consoled Dekan, saying.
“Your words sound like the mentality of ‘follow the spouse, good or bad,’” Mia couldn’t help but criticize.
“Er, no!”
Upon hearing Mia’s words, Cornelia seemed a bit shy,
“Tarta, let’s… go eat.”
“Okay…”
Tarta still felt a bit afraid of Cornelia and Mia, but now had confirmed that these two dangerous sisters wouldn’t harm her but would protect her.
Willing to protect her – those are good people.
So Cornelia took Tarta’s hand and left.
“Eating? You taught her that word again, didn’t you?”
Mia looked with disdain at Dekan.
These strange and vivid words were probably all from Dekan.
“Aah, I’m wrong, I shouldn’t have taught her language. Still, Kyroux should be the one to teach her…”
Dekan said with some shame.
At this point, Kyroux, however, was still deeply analyzing Krey’s nature and muttered to himself,
“If Krey isn’t stupid, then he’s not only full of combat power, but his strategy and acting skills are equally terrifying. What kind of top-secret spy is this…”
“The more you infer, the more I can’t figure out if you are praising or criticizing him meow…”
Teacher Cat finally interrupted Kyroux’s inference impatiently.
“Whatever, I don’t want to deepen further into it. Regardless of Krey’s nature, I’m really looking forward to seeing him again.”
Dekan patted Kyroux’s shoulder, helplessly chuckled, and said,
“Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Eat!”
“Eat!”
“Eat meow!”
