Chapter 171 - Bard’s Struggle
Chapter 171 Bard’s Struggle
John Junior was not a fool. If he were, he would’ve attacked the Golden Sons before Bard arrived. He planned to achieve his purpose by cooperating with an outsider.
Because he was not a fool, he sensed something unusual from Bard’s remark.
A sculpture that could be called a miracle looked identical to Roland. What did it indicate?
John Junior was silent for a while, before his face was overcome by desperation. “Those Golden Sons are indeed powerful. They can even make a miracle… There’s no hope for my family to rise again.”
His soft voice couldn’t disguise his heavy grief.
“I don’t think it’s just a miracle.” Bard had a mouthful of the fruit wine, which was supposed to be sweet but somehow tasted bitter. “I threw a gold coin too, and I too have the special ability. There’s a voice that tells me that this ability is named Roland’s Zeal.”
John Junior didn’t say anything else. He simply looked out the window even more grimly.
Seeing that, Bard began to talk about the interesting incidents in the capital, not considering if John was in the mood for them.
What could they do at this point except chat?
Enact revenge?
That was impossible.
Very soon, it was already evening. Night always fell quickly in winter.
The wind at night was slightly cold.
Bard subconsciously pulled his clothes tighter around himself.
When he jumped off from his carriage, he discovered, to his surprise, that a lot of carriages were parked before Roland’s manor and a lot of nobles were entering it. Still more carriages were approaching.
Before he could do anything, the butler who was responsible for reception had seen him and greeted him. “Mr. Bard, you’re finally back. Fantastic!”
Bard pointed at the manor that was ablaze with candles and lights and asked curiously, “What’s this about?”.
“A party that my master has arranged for you. The influential nobles and merchants in town have been invited.” While leading the way, the butler said, “Master is waiting for you in the study.”
Bard greeted people he was familiar with on his way, and the nobles who weren’t familiar with him asked their friends who he was.
At the party, Bard saw a group of people that were obviously different.
Their attires were somewhat odd but definitely formal and not out-of-the-picture. More importantly, Bard sensed an aura similar to Roland’s emanating from them.
After a brief shock, Bard became alarmed as he thought of a chilling possibility.
Looking at those people who were fooling around at the party, showing a lack of manners, Bard went to the third floor.
He felt that his back was cold. He touched it, only to detect cold sweat on his skin.
Then, he took a deep breath and entered the study, where he saw Roland by himself.
No candles were lit in the room, but the ball of light hanging on the ceiling illuminated the study and made it as bright as day.
Bard sat down before Roland and asked seriously, even with criticism, “Are those people downstairs all Golden Sons?”
Roland nodded.
Bard’s face cramped. “All of them are professionals?”
Roland nodded again.
Then, Bard heaved a long sigh and looked out of the window, as if he had abandoned everything
Before Roland could ask anything, Bard said, “Poor John Junior.”
Roland was puzzled; he couldn’t keep up with Bard’s line of thinking.
When he left Roland’s study about a quarter-hour later, Bard was even more dazed. He was manipulated by Roland, his strings pulled like a puppet’s. He watched Roland make an amusing speech before the party and raise a toast to all the nobles, before he was pushed to the stage and made to smile at everyone like a doll.
Bard didn’t come back to himself until most of the nobles left late at night.
The later it was at night, the colder it would be.
Bard took a long breath, and he was already breathing out vague mist.
Seated by the window, he was holding a glass of green fruit wine. Instead of drinking it, he watched the silver ripples of the cold moonlight while the cup shook in his hand.
Bard had known that the Golden Sons were good and would affect the nobles sooner or later.
However, he didn’t know that it would happen so quickly.
Tonight, he raised his cup to the moon and didn’t drink it. It was a sleepless night.
The next day, Bard came to Roland and said, “I intend to stay here for a while. Can I join your Magic Tower for now and learn the fundamental magic knowledge with them?”
Roland smiled and said, “Not a problem.”
The party the previous night was actually Roland’s improvisation.
After all, Bard had gotten almost double rewards for him, including gold coins and magic resources that sometimes couldn’t be bought even when one had the money.
So, as a gesture of gratitude, Roland threw a party for him according to the tradition here.
Because he made the decision hastily, Roland thought that few people would attend.
But beyond his expectations, almost everybody that his butler invited came.
The players at the party, on the other hand, were the members of Silver Wings that moved here a couple of days earlier.
There were about seventy of them. Though they were generally level two and level three, they were still a powerful force.
Roland held the party partly to welcome Bard and partly to see if the players could assimilate into the nobles of Delpon.
As it turned out, the result was not promising.
Though the two parties tried to communicate, their beliefs and ideologies differed too greatly.
Their conversations died off very soon, and it was fortunate enough that they didn’t call each other names right then.
Although the attempt failed, the party raised quite some talk in the forums.
A player had recorded the video and posted it after editing
The title of the post said, A Real Party of Nobles. What an Eyeopener!
A lot of players replied to the post.
“They look like gentlemen and ladies, but they’re actually thieves and bitches.”
“My friend, where did you get that from? Why did I sense nothing but the grandness of the party?”
“Different people see different things, young man.”
“Had it not been for respect for Roland, those guys would’ve blown out the candles and started horsing around right there.”
“Wait, how exactly did you see those signs?”
“I don’t see any either.”
“Of course you decent people don’t understand. Those who can understand are all wealthy guys that hold parties all the time. They can understand the body language of the participants at the party very well, just like me.”
It was Principal Huang who replied this time. His reply which was in a unique gold style raised another riot.
At this moment, Roland led Bard to the Magic Tower and said to the magic apprentices, “Mr. Bard will stay for a few days in the Magic Tower. He will discuss and learn the basics of magic with you. Let’s welcome him.”
The magic apprentices clapped their hands, but they obviously looked rigid and nervous.
The Mage players, on the other hand, seemed calm and even interested in the stranger.