Standing there for others to take pictures is actually boring, and while keeping smiling, Xia De's eyes were also scanning the crowd.
So, he once again saw Miss Bei Yasi in the brightly lit banquet hall. This time it was definitely not an illusion. The brown-haired sorceress was wearing a long dress. When Shade saw her, she immediately made a gesture to keep quiet, then turned around and dived into the crowd, seemingly not wanting Shade to know what she was doing.
"At least she's not dressed as a maid this time."
Xia De muttered quietly in his heart.
For a long time afterwards, Shade did not see Miss Beas again. After the complete knighthood awarding process was completed, Shade stood with several dukes under the arrangement of the aide-de-camp, waiting for the king to present awards to other people who received honorary medals.
He held the antique knight's long sword in his hand, and his fingers kept stroking the ruby on the scabbard. This was just an ordinary item, and even if it was properly maintained, the erosion of time still made the sword completely useless.
During the boring wait, Xia De thought about hanging the sword in the living room of Room 1 on the second floor, so that every guest who came to entrust a task would be able to see it.
Only two people received the Medal of Honor, and they were awarded separately. After that, the dozen or so people who received special awards did not have the honor of being awarded by the king. They went on stage together and were jointly awarded the "Tobesk Special Contribution Medal".
As for those who did not receive medals, such as Captain Rades, their names were simply read out to thank them for their contributions to the king. But this was enough for the captain, and such an honor was enough to wash away his title of "Captain of Eight Guns". After tonight, Captain Rades could pack his luggage and wait for notification.
After going through the whole process, the time had already increased from seven o'clock to half past eight.
The busy king would not stay here for long, but would return directly to the city. As for the other dukes, they each had their own plans.
Probably because Miss Carina had specially chatted with Shade for a few words, the other dukes also talked to him for a few words, so they knew each other. Because of the curse that the witch carried, Miss Carina rarely appeared in public. This time, her attitude undoubtedly showed that Shade was the one she favored.
The banquet officially began only after the award ceremony was over and the king left.
The dukes returned to the third floor together, and then immediately a group of people surrounded him and wanted to talk to Shade. Reporters also followed with notebooks. In just ten minutes, Shade received more business cards than he had sent out today.
Father Augustus had reminded him that public interviews were necessary, so Shad had to answer everyone's questions in turn.
Even when someone asked him what he was thinking when he stopped the bullet, Xia De, who was already confused by the question, just said:
"Everything has its own mortality, and everyone will die..."
My mind cleared up immediately, and I gave up the idea of searching for the heavier mountain in this world:
“Perhaps a person’s value is limited, but when he makes contributions that exceed his own value, his personality and soul will be sublimated at this time.”
Xia De didn't know what he was saying, but seeing the people around him nodding, he at least didn't say anything wrong. Of course, he didn't forget to praise the importance of the royal family to Delarion, praise the God of Dawn, and promote the Holy Prayer Festival for the church.
In short, Xia De was really not used to this kind of social occasion.
It took a full forty minutes to get rid of the reporters, and when he was finally able to get away, before the men who wanted to chat with "Miss Carina's close associates" could surround Shade, he was surrounded by a group of young girls.
After Shad exchanged a few pleasantries with the girls, some of them wanted to "talk to him alone in the garden" or to hear some of his "detective stories" in private.
Xia De was not stupid, of course he knew what this meant, but he was not used to the girls' enthusiasm, so he could only say that he had other things to do. But even so, some handkerchiefs were stuffed into his hands, and the addresses were written on them with lipstick or powder.
"You have to get used to this, Mr. Hamilton, no, Mr. Hamilton of Rheed."
Baron Lavender, who had come to play cards with him, greeted him with a smile.
"Are all girls nowadays so enthusiastic?"
He held the handkerchiefs and didn't know what to do with them.
"I'm not passionate about you, but about your identity and your relationship with Miss Carina. Now the Duchess of Saradir has almost made it clear that you are hers. Oh, you are such a lucky guy. Could it be that Miss Carina has taken a fancy to you?"
He smiled ambiguously, patted Shad on the shoulder while joking, and then walked towards his friends with Shad, who was holding a sword.
From the first floor of the banquet hall to the second floor, Miss Beas, whom he saw half an hour ago, was nowhere to be seen again. Although Shade was worried, nothing happened when he met her last weekend, and now Miss Carina was on the third floor, so he didn't have to worry about any emergencies, so he accepted the invitation to participate in the Rhodes card game with Baron Lavender and his friends.
These gentlemen occupied the best seats in front of the French windows on the second floor of the banquet hall, occupying sofas and coffee tables. Sitting here and looking out, they can see the night view of Tobysk City and the starry sky on summer nights.
But people were more concerned about the Rhodes card. After Shad and Baron Lavender came through the crowd at the banquet, they still congratulated Shad one by one. Although most of the people present had titles and higher status than Shad, who only had the title of "Knight", the Duchess's attention made his status more than just a knight.
After the pleasantries, he urged Xia De to take out the new special cards and show them.
Every gentleman under the gas lamp was very excited. Shad took out the cards from his pocket, but did not touch the ancient fairy tale "The Flower Girl" that Baron Lavender was familiar with. He took out three other special cards:
"Look."
He took out the Northern City - Coldwater Harbor, the Eastern Landscape of the Old World - Lake Tees, and the Original Steam Engine - Mark 9. People passed them around and told each other the history of the three cards that they knew about their past appearances.
Some of them already knew about Shade's founding card, Silver Moon, because they attended Duke Lucas's Rhodes card game last Sunday night. Now that Shade took out these three cards, some people who had heard about the deck that day but didn't know who it belonged to thought that the owner of the rumored founding series cards was the young detective.
Baron Lux was one of those who thought of this after seeing the three cards. Baron Lavender, however, didn't know about it and just excitedly told people that he had seen the Northern City Coldwater Harbor card at an auction house ten years ago.
When they heard that Xia De got the cards from an old professor, they speculated that the buyer at that time later resold the cards due to financial circumstances, and lamented that Xia De was very lucky. Although these cards with special rules were not particularly expensive, they were not necessarily available even if one wanted to buy them.
Tonight, Shade was the protagonist, so people naturally let him choose his opponent for the card game. After asking around, Shade did not choose an acquaintance, but chose the younger Baron Cobol to compete with him.
Baron Cobol was only about 30 years old. Baron Lavender had just introduced that he inherited the title from his father. This baron was a wealthy nobleman who loved antique collection and Rhodes cards. He had five special cards in his hand, so Shade wanted to see them.
So the two players sat down next to each other, and other people also sat on the sofa, or stood behind the players with their hands folded on their chests, ready to watch the game.
This corner of the second floor of the banquet hall suddenly became lively, and from time to time someone would come over to join the spectators. According to the "common sense" that Baron Lavender had spread to Shade, at any banquet with a little bit of class, there would be people playing Rhodes cards in the corner, which was also considered a part of the culture of this era. The Rhodes cards, which were originally issued by the Prophet Association to make money, have become an important part of the Sixth Epoch civilization.
For outsiders, a different world without entertainment is undoubtedly very boring. Although the mystical books and the improvement of the power of the ring wizard are interesting, you have to find other entertainment activities occasionally. Shade's attitude towards the Rhodes cards has gradually changed subtly. At least tonight, he still enjoys playing cards in front of the French window while looking at the night view.
There are 54 cards in a deck, so Shade certainly won't put Founder Silver Moon in it, so he has four special cards in his deck, while Baron Cobol has five special cards in his deck. Although the two of them don't gamble, but simply enjoy the fun of playing cards, the people watching them bet with each other on who will draw the first special card.
The answer is Shade. Ancient Fairy Tale Match Girl appeared first. Although he failed to trigger the special rule, the points alone helped him win the round. The Baron's special card Moon 13 Pirate King Skeleton Captain Victor did not appear until the fifth round.
The special rules of this card are very simple. Throw a 20-sided dice. If the number is less than or equal to 10, the number on this card is adjusted to 22; if the number is greater than 10, the number can be adjusted between 13 and 1.
It cannot be said that this card is useless, it can only be said that there are very few occasions where it can be used.
The Baron had been playing Rhodes since he was a teenager, and was a true Rhodes master, while Shad simply relied on luck. Therefore, although Shad won more, the overall result of the game between the two sides could barely be called evenly matched.
Baron Cobol was more interested in this tense game and even suggested that both parties gamble with their special cards, but Shade politely refused:
“I seldom gamble.”
As he was speaking, he looked up and saw Miss Beatrice again at the stairs leading to the first floor. It seemed that someone had grabbed her hand and dragged her to the first floor.
"Um?"
He stood up with his eyes wide open, and sorted out the cards in his hand:
"Everyone, I'm sorry, I have something else to do. I'll be back in a moment."
As he pointed upstairs, the others nodded in understanding, thinking that he was going upstairs to meet the important people. So Baron Lavender, who had been waiting for a long time, replaced Shade.
The expensive antique knight's long sword that could not be used was left here for the time being. Xia De walked towards the stairs. He looked back and saw that the people by the French window were nervously paying attention to the game. No one was looking over here, so he quickly walked down the stairs.
No matter what happened to Miss Beatrice, he couldn't pretend not to see it.