Chương 3: Banquet for Heroes

Yan entered the banquet place of the imperial palace. Large crystal chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, luxurious food piled on the long tables and well-dressed people are the first to grab his attention.

The place was worthy of being the Imperial Palace.

Men boast their family names and richness on other noblewomen hoping to get in with them. But Yan knew that these women were not dumb. Since young, these women had been trained by their families to select the perfect partner to increase their family's standing in society. Though they may look like interested in these buffoons, they are secretly scheming on their next move.

On the center of the banquet place, there was Captain Holt and by his side is Lady Anna, socializing with the nobles and other important personas of the kingdom. Their appearance and grace captured everyone's attention.

Captain Holt donned his flashiest armor and a dragon-patterned cape. Hanging on his back, a large golden shield, almost his size, reflected the glitters of light in the room. Though he was, in fact, the Main Tank of the guild, Yan would never let Captain Holt wear those in a quest. It was flashy, bulky, and completely impractical!

But because of their strength, fame and beautiful appearance, nobles were flocking at them like birds after seeing a crumb of bread in hope of ensnaring a member of the famous guild or at least have a connection with them.

Yan just shook his head in the scene. Looking around, he saw a familiar face approaching him.

''Yo. How are you liking the party, Yan?''

''I hate these kinds of parties.''

"Of course you do. Hahaha!"

The man's name was Rhodes, Yan's closest friend. He has short brown hair, glasses on his eyes and a slight grizzled look. Away from his usual adventurer set, Rhodes wore a black formal vest. But what made him different from the rest was a large adamantine-mithril sword in his back.

Before meeting Yan, Rhodes had a background on the military and thus even at peace times, or at a celebration, he always brought his most trusted sword. He had the nickname 'Rhodes the Titan Slayer'.

Seeing his best friend and guild master looking disinterested by the party, Rhodes passed him a glass of wine to cheer him up but immediately turned it down.

''Why don't you chill down a little bit. It took us more than three months to finish that quest and kill the bastard, you know. We deserve something like this!''

Yan plucked his brows and looked around the party.

''I know. It just I don't like to be surrounded by these people. They are all laughing and talking to each other in smiles but continuously schemes on how to bring each other down.''

Hearing Yan's reasons, Rhodes just laughed out loud.

"Well, that's how they entered nobility in the first place. Hahaha!''

As both of them were about to grab food at the table near them, out of nowhere, both men turned around as another individual entered the conversation. He immerged from the shadows and appeared in front of them. They knew who he was.

''Well, it may not be as boring as you might think; Guildmaster, Rhodes.''

''Oh. What do you mean by that, Shicks?''

Shicks, the guild's intelligence gatherer, a top-tier master assassin and poison grandmaster. He had another name, 'Shicks of the Black Shadow'. A usually reclusive person, his bald head, a black bandana covering his nose and mouth are his most distinguishing feature. With his information gathering skills, he made each quest of the guild much easier.

''According to one of my birds at the docks, the new lord of Canary Islands is joining the banquet shortly. He will enter that door in about five minutes. On the side note, the underbelly had also become restless when we were absent these past few months. Someone had been gathering powerful men in the dark. "

Both men were slightly surprised by the news. They did not doubt one word but was quite curious.

Yan had read many things about the new lord of Canary Islands.

''Lord Bernard III of House Alterac is the nephew of the emperor. His late father was the older brother of the emperor. Thirty-five years ago, due to some incident, the former emperor handed the throne to the younger Alterac, not to the older. The older was then thrown to the Canary Islands in the West and became the island's lord.

Even though Lord Bernard III was not directly in line with the succession of power of the islands, he managed to grab the power when his father died from a strange incurable illness a year ago while his three older brothers died of freak accidents. One fell on a horseback and broke his neck, one was so drunk he fell from his tower while the last one died on a monster-hunting expedition and said to have died by the hands of a strange monster. It is said that he has a twin sister but seemed to be quite sickly and held no influence in the island's court and cannot fight for the island's lordship.''

Rhode was impressed by Yan's detailed information but it was completely expected of his best friend. He was also quite curious about the new guy's arrival.

''He seemed quite the lucky guy but why is he in the capital? The Canary Islands is quite far from the mainland. It usually takes about a month by ship to reach here. Even by their fastest ship, it still takes about three weeks.''

The three men turned serious. Even with Shicks' web of connections, they still didn't know why the new lord of the Canary Islands is in the capital. Shicks blames in his mind the guild's long absence in the capital due to their quest that took more time than it was first estimated.

"I don't know but these days, the intelligence I acquire from my birds is getting scarcer. Something or someone is disrupting the flow of information. I don't know why but I feel that everything is connected somehow. Something is about to go down and we better prepare for it."

Slicks warned both men before disappearing back in the shadows. Yan turned towards Rhodes, his right-hand man and asked.

"Do you know where are the others?"

Rhodes immediately knew who he meant. The other eight main members of the Light of Dawn.

Light of Dawn's main members is composed of thirteen people, all at the peak of their classes. They were the best of the best, the cream of the crop in the whole empire. While the guild's secondary and tertiary members are composed of hundreds of people in bureaucracy, intelligence gathering, trading, weaponsmithing, and other normal activities of the guild.

In all of it, Yan stood at the top because of his undeniable strength, intelligence, and leadership skills. Even Captain Holt, with all his pride and strength, has to bow to Yan's skills.

Rhodes took another sip of his wine before answering his query.

"Rosella should make her appearance in a while. Blind Kuro, Escanor, and Astor told me that they had to go on a mission outside the capital and will be back by morning. Maria and Althea went back to their homeland. It seemed something going on in the forest so they had to rush.

Old Man Guso should be in his shop while I don't know where the f*ck Locke is. He was tasked to bring the head of the Black Dragon Dorotar to the Adventurers Association to claim our reward but that was this morning. He may be in the Red-Light District now. I don't care what the f*cker does."

"Mm."