The so-called "reward more valuable than a medal" aroused Chad's curiosity, so after seeing off his boss, he first mailed the letter to Madame Lemaire, and then walked to the Church of Dawn.
I sat on the bench pretending to be serious, and spent half an hour listening to the middle-aged priest standing behind the pulpit preaching the deeds of Mr. Liming, the righteous god, which was a religious myth. After the show, I found Father Augustus through the middle-aged priest. The priest was busy coordinating the time of the church choir, but he still took the time to talk to Xia De:
"Yes, I heard from Bishop Owen that the church intends to help you get a bigger reward, but I haven't found out the specific result yet. You know, I've been very busy lately."
The old priest pointed at the group of children waiting for him behind him. As a senior priest who had experienced countless Holy Prayer Festivals, Rat Augustus would definitely not be idle before the end of the Holy Prayer Festival.
"Oh, one more thing. If a reporter interviews you at the banquet tonight, don't forget..."
He did not forget to remind him, and Xia De smiled and nodded knowingly:
"Of course, thank you Mr. Dawn."
The priest immediately lowered his head, closed his eyes, and drew the holy emblem on his chest. It was a subconscious action.
The rest of the day was spent on reading. Because Mr. Anros repeatedly emphasized not to be late, Xia De was ready to leave at 5:30 for the banquet which was supposed to start at 7 o'clock in the evening.
Of course, he did not forget to feed the cat before leaving. Mia did not intend to follow him out. Compared with the "dangerous" outdoors, the cat preferred the safety of No. 6 St. Teresa's Square.
I went to find Captain Rades first. I thought the captain was still preparing, but I didn't expect that he had been waiting for Shade to come. What happened tonight was only a relatively important reward for Shade, but for the captain it determined whether he could return to the front line, so he valued it more than Shade.
Shade's formal suit was the same one he wore when he played cards with the Duke last time, but the captain was not wearing a black formal suit, but a red army uniform. There were no wrinkles on the clothes, and there was not a single stain on the clean cloth.
On the way in the carriage, the captain told Shad that he had paid someone to clean and iron the clothes two days in advance, and it cost two shillings just to clean the clothes.
“But it’s all worth it.”
The captain's eyes seemed to be shining when he said this. His life had changed because of the relics, and now he was about to see the light of day again.
Although the banquet officially started at 7 o'clock, in fact, most of the guests had already appeared before 7 o'clock. There was a specially built flat road from the city to the royal estate. As for whether it was taxpayers' money or the royal family's own gold pounds, this was not something Shade should consider.
As they approached the manor, they noticed many private carriages parked on the roadside. In comparison, Captain Shad and Captain Rades, who came in a rented carriage, looked a little shabby.
One of them thought he was a lousy detective, and the other thought he was a nobody and no one would know him, but they didn't expect to meet an acquaintance as soon as they got off the carriage.
Captain Rades met friends from his time serving at the front, some of whom had returned to Tobysk on leave and were also invited to tonight's banquet.
As for Shad, he met Baron Lavender. The two hadn't seen each other for a week and a half since they discussed the disposal plan for the ancient fairy tale Match Girl's Rhodes card.
The Baron had just got off the carriage. Seeing that the captain was chatting with his friends and couldn't leave for the time being, Shad said hello to him and took his leave temporarily, and then went into the manor with Baron Lavender.
"Mr. Hamilton, it's been a long time. I didn't expect you to save Queen Diana."
Shade's MI6 identity could not be exposed, but what he had done had been reported in the newspaper. There was no photo in the newspaper, and only the last name was mentioned, but when the baron saw Shade appear here, he knew that Hamilton must be him.
It was still early, and the gentlemen and ladies who came to the party had just arrived. Walking on the courtyard path of the manor, the men in formal suits and the ladies in dresses did not realize that the young man next to them was one of the protagonists of this party.
"I think if anyone else was there, they would have done the same thing."
Xia De said something that no one would believe, but everyone felt it was right when he said it.
Baron Lavender didn't really care about the details of that day. After all, the description in the newspaper was more exciting than what Shad actually experienced. Walking side by side with Shad, the baron shook his right index and middle fingers together at Shad, which was a classic card-throwing gesture:
"Detective, do you have the Rhodes card with you?"
As he spoke, Baron Lavender himself laughed.
"certainly."
Shade patted his pocket.
The smile on Baron Lavender's face became even more intense, a smile that came from the heart:
"How about it? After His Majesty the King gives you the reward, do you want to play Rhodes with us? This time, I can introduce you to some new friends. After the game at Lakeview Manor, I am looking forward to watching your game again."
"Gambling?"
Shade asked quietly.
He glanced at the lawn. The neatly trimmed grass was probably suitable for lying down and taking an afternoon nap. But the banquet was not held outdoors. This was a formal dinner held in the manor's grand banquet hall. The manor itself was built for the royal family to hold banquets, so there was no need to worry about whether it could accommodate so many people.
"No money is involved, but if you want, you can still use your special cards as chips."
The Baron whispered.
Xia De also smiled. He didn't know anyone anyway. Instead of walking around with his glass of wine in boredom after receiving the award, he might as well sit down and play a few exciting games of Rhodes:
"Of course I will, Baron. I have got some good cards recently. I will show them to you later."
"Oh? Then I am really looking forward to it."
Both men had smiles on their faces, as if the Rhodes cards were the most important thing tonight compared to the king.
Because it was built for banquets, the banquet hall is located behind the gate of the manor house. The banquet hall is divided into three floors, connected by a central curved golden staircase, but ordinary guests are only allowed to walk on the first and second floors. The third floor is a lounge for royal family members and VIPs to rest.
Shad entered the mansion with the Baron, and Baron Lavender, who had a wide range of friends, introduced Shad to his friends. Baron Rwanda, who played cards with Baron Lavender last time, was also there. He was still lukewarm about Baron Lavender, but was very happy that Shad appeared.
Of course, he was even happier when he heard that Shad was the "caring citizen" who helped Queen Diana block the bullet.
I heard that after the award ceremony, Shad also planned to play Rhodes with everyone. He was so happy that he almost forgot his "hostile" relationship with Baron Lavender.
Most of the two barons' friends also loved Rhodes. Before the banquet began, everyone had nothing to do, so a group of men stood together and talked about interesting cards, boring politics, or joked with each other and talked about interesting things in the city.
Everyone had heard about the appearance of Founder Silver Moon in the city a week ago on Sunday. People could even tell the details of the game in full, but no one knew who was playing cards with the old Duke Lucas with the cards in hand.
Some of Baron Lavender's friends, such as Baron Skaven, showed up at the Duke's house that night. But they all followed the Duke's instructions and did not reveal Shade's identity. Whenever people excitedly talked about Founder Silver Moon, they would raise their glasses or smile at Shade.
It seems that the secret that Shade is the holder of the Founding Silver Moon will not be kept for much longer.
"But it doesn't matter if you know it. Anyway, I have Miss Carina as my backer now."
As he thought about this, he kept looking towards the entrance of the banquet hall, worried that he would see someone familiar like he did that night at Lake View Manor.
In addition to the Rhodes cards, the gentlemen standing together chatting learned from Baron Lavender that Shad was the "enthusiastic citizen" and invited him to tell what happened that day.
The rumors among the citizens were getting more and more far from the truth about what happened at the entrance of Tobysk Station on Wednesday afternoon. Even though the police department's statement was published in the newspaper, people were still willing to believe the news they heard from the tavern idlers or the cab drivers.
As for the truth in the newspapers, it is certainly false. Most people believe that City Hall and Redwich Field never publish true news in the newspapers.
"The rumor I heard was that the man who saved Queen Diana was a wrestling champion from a small southern town who killed a bear with his bare hands in his hometown. On Wednesday at noon, he caught the bullet with his bare hands and tore the gunman in half on the street."
Baron Lavender spoke in a joking tone, making the people around him laugh.
"Look."
Shade showed off his "skinny" arms and made a joke:
"It's not so much that I can tear a man in two in the street as that I can summon a meteorite to destroy an entire city block."
“Oh, this is really interesting.”
The short but shrewd-looking Rwandan Baron was laughing until tears came out, although Shad didn't think the joke he told was very funny.
Chatting with people is the best way to kill time, but Xia De didn't spend too long here before a servant handed him a note.
After unfolding it, it was written by Miss Carina, and the special cursive writing was easy to recognize. She asked Xia De to find her on the third floor, and she had something to discuss.
Thinking of Miss Carina, I naturally thought of the information I got when I entered 1068 for the third time.
Shade confirmed that he was a man, and his physical characteristics were fine, and the gods also confirmed this. But he was indeed unable to trigger the curse that the witches carried. In the Sixth Era, only the people of the Witch Council could explain this.
He has been thinking these days whether he should take the initiative to talk to Miss Carina about this issue, or wait for her to speak first.
This meeting at the dinner party gave him more thoughts.