Chapter 638: The Banquet
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At the same time.
In Regina, along the border of Icor, it was not such a peaceful night either.
"Everything has been prepared, our people have blended in as chefs and guards in the Palace and can now perform their roles in the operation at the banquet. Also... This is the Mage Guild’s badge, I’ve made a fake identity for you so you can wear it tomorrow and attend the banquet with me."
In a secret attic, Benjamin and the president met. The president pulled out the badge of the Mage Guild and handed it over to Benjamin.
Benjamin kept the badge is his bag then asked, "Have there been any abnormalities recently?"
The president shook his head, "Nope. The Church has been extra law-abiding recently, and the Queen also stays put in her Palace every day; the situation in each country has been stable."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin nodded his head.
After ending a round of parading in the Kingdom of Helius, he crossed the border again and arrived at Icor. As the Queen’s birthday was nearing, the matter of improving the image of mages in the Kingdom of Helius had to be put aside temporarily.
Furthermore, he had already spent quite a lot of time in the Kingdom of Helius.
During this period, the operation of the Mage Academy had become more stable and ran without a hitch. As the first semester was coming to an end, the whole academy would be preparing for the final examination. Although Benjamin was far away from the academy, he managed to learn about the condition of the academy through the reports via the transmission woodpiece.
With the Black Operation of the Academy, every single secret base had been built; mercenaries blended in with commoners and started to enhance the reputation of the Mage Academy among all walks of life.
Therefore, Benjamin did not need to worry about the running of the Academy as he traveled.
He thought about asking some of the mages in the academy for help during the birthday banquet, but after some self-deliberation, he decided that he alone was enough.
Over at Icor, the president had gathered more than ten mages from the Guild. They had drunk the cure and were now free of the Queen’s control, so they were willing to help stabilize the situation with Benjamin. With this, as long as Benjamin could settle the Queen, the plan should go smoothly.
"You shall wait over here, this is your ride will pick you up from tomorrow." The president took a portrait out and passed it to Benjamin then said, "This is the new identity that I’ve created for you. I tried my best to find one that is similar to your appearance; with your skills, it will be easy for you to match this form, right?"
Benjamin received the portrait and nodded after looking at it.
Then, the president left, and Benjamin laid down on the bed in the attic and spent the night getting ready for the next day.
The evening of the next day.
"... Are you Mage Johann? The president has sent me to pick you up for the banquet."
As he heard the gentle knock and the inquiry that came from outside, Benjamin opened the door, completely fitted in his disguise. He nodded at the coachman, left the attic and climbed into the carriage that was parked outside of the building.
They headed towards the Palace and drove off quickly.
The atmosphere in Regina was festive today, even for the commoners, the Queen’s birthday was a national celebration. Elated children ran from one end of the street to the other, playing with their new toy bell by shaking them, revelers danced to the sound of musical instruments, and street performers performed various tricks to the sound of joyous applause.
Nobody would have suspected that Icor would experience some sort of shocking transformation later that night.
Half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the Palace. Flashing the badge, getting ushered in by the doormen, entering the Great Hall... Each step went exactly according to plan. The corridors were full of servants bustling around, mages of different generations were having conversations with each other, and various colorful flowers littered the floor of the entrance all the way to main hall.
It was obviously an extremely luxurious banquet. It seemed like the Queen was not willing to stop enjoying a life of pleasure simply because she could not become a mage. Or it could be that she needed a banquet like this to fill the void in her heart.
Benjamin had no idea and didn’t really care. He unfolded his water elemental induction magic and carefully pried at everything.
From what he had seen so far, there were quite a number of powerful mages gathered here. Some of them had even more spiritual energy than him, which made him cautious and stopped him from prying to brashly.
But in the limited range that he had scanned through, there was still no sign of the Queen.
Must she be the last to show up?
Benjamin entered the Great Hall of the banquet slowly. The spacious hall was filled with standing people; due to the great number of people who were wearing black magical robes, the venue looked more like some cult gathering. Various good wine and dainty dishes were prepared for the guests across the long table that stretched more than ten meters long.
Upon closer inspection, Benjamin realized that he had happened to be at a hall intended for mages; the political figures from Icor were probably having the banquet in another place.
- It was the Queen’s birthday, after all, so surely there had to be more than just one venue.
When Benjamin entered, the president immediately spotted him. He slowly paced out of the crowd, nodded at Benjamin and led him to a quiet corner.
"The potions are all in the box at the left-side corner. There are two-thousand of them in total." He said in a hushed voice.
Benjamin nodded and glanced at the mages around him carefully before asking, "These mages around us...are they on our side?"
The president smiled and nodded.
Benjamin had initially suspected this. No wonder they could converse without much consideration, as long as they hid among the mages, they did not have to worry about spilling the beans.
Thus, he immediately continued, "Then... What about the Queen? When will she show herself?"
"I’m not sure either, it all depends on her mood." The president forced a laugh and said, "Nevertheless, based on the schedule, she will start by giving her regards to the people at the City Square outside of the Palace, only after that will she show up at the private banquet for the mages."
"Alright, then what about the mages here? Is everyone from the Mage Guild already here?"
The president shook his head, "Not yet. But judging from the scene right now, it seems that there will be more mages absent this year as compared to the previous years."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin frowned, "If those people don’t attend, we won’t’ be able to feed them the cure."
"That doesn’t matter, the total amount of absentees are only about two hundred to three hundred. As long as the others are liberated, the two to three hundred of them won’t be able to oppose us."
"Is that so..."
Benjamin nodded his head after hearing what the president said, but still felt unsure.
Was the situation this year really unusual? Although it was not a big deal, he was still uneasy. Why was there such a coincidence just as they were about to conduct their operation?
Surely it was not by dumb luck, right?
If not for the great numbers of powerful mages around, Benjamin would have already done a more thorough scan. It was just because he was afraid of being noticed that he could not do anything but wait patiently for the Queen to appear, even the System could not retrieve sufficient data for analysis.
The range of observation of the System was closely linked with Benjamin’s vision. If Benjamin could not see anything, then the System could not analyze anything.
However, even with just a minimal amount of trace information, it seemed to have discovered something.
"Something is wrong, you should be careful, it seems like the situation in the gathering is really unusual this time." It suddenly said in Benjamin’s mind.
Instantly, Benjamin’s heart jumped.
"What did you find?"
"None of the mages that were invited are real mages." The System said slowly, "Look at those guys at the entrance, although they’re wearing magical robes, they are actually just commoners."
Benjamin was shocked when he heard this.
"You’re saying..."
The System said, "They’re like you, they sneaked in and blended in with the others."