Chương 12: The Celebration Banquet

The celebratory banquet was a venue for the Hero candidates to mingle and introduce themselves. The crowd was ushered into another grand hall, where wine, fruit juices, and pastries had already been laid out. The "Princess" was escorted to a seat at the head of the hall. She remained silent, letting the two priestesses at her side handle all the speaking on her behalf from start to finish. Having grown up in a noble household, Jullius was well-versed in these social gatherings.

He moved through the room with practiced confidence, responding to anyone who approached him, and never forgetting to slip in the "crucial" detail that his Holy Mark was located on his left chest, meaning it was positioned very close to his heart. I was equally busy. Since I wanted to review the data of every single candidate before deciding whom to support, I couldn't help but stare. Even though I tried to use my bangs to mask my gaze, my wandering eyes didn't go unnoticed.

When Jullius struck up a conversation with Henry McCaley, the taciturn man suddenly spoke up:"The person beside you, Young Master Jullius, who might that be?" Both Jullius and I were caught off guard. I had been trying my best to suppress my presence to the absolute minimum. I didn't expect to catch his eye. As for Jullius, he was likely wondering why the man hadn't asked a single thing about him yet showed interest in the "shadow" standing behind him. Nevertheless, Jullius maintained his polite smile.

"Vice-Captain Henry, this is my cousin and assistant, Asher Griffin." Henry's cold, ash-gray eyes locked onto me. He pressed further:"I noticed him staring at me for quite a while earlier. Is there a problem?" I'd been caught. He certainly lived up to his military training; his vigilance was top-notch. However, this wasn't a big issue. Putting on an anxious front, I stammered:"M-my apologies, Sir. It's just that I admire the Heroes so much that I... ended up staring. I'm terribly sorry for bothering you."

"Is that so..." My explanation sounded reasonable enough, so Henry didn't press the matter further and turned to acknowledge other greetings. My "young master," Jullius, however, was a different story. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"You're stuck by the side of a Hero candidate like me all day, and that's still not enough for you?" he muttered, his voice laced with irritation.

"Or do you think I'm not good enough and you're out looking for someone better?" I shook my head hurriedly.

"How could that be? I was just a bit curious, that's all." Jullius let out a sharp snort of disdain.

"If you haven't stared your fill yet, go stand in a corner and watch from there. Stop following me around. You're in my way." Well, that was exactly what I'd been hoping for. Without waiting for him to say it twice, I slipped away to the most secluded corner of the hall. To my surprise, the spot was already occupied. What was her name again? Ah, Lealia Castela, the commoner girl with the herbalism skills. We nearly bumped into each other as we both retreated behind a massive pillar.

Lealia looked panicked, likely thinking she had collided with some high-ranking noble, but when she noticed my relatively modest attire, she seemed to relax a little. I had intentionally chosen an outfit today that resembled a butler's uniform to avoid drawing attention. I scanned the surroundings and realized there was no better vantage point to observe the entire hall than right here.

"Mind if I share this spot for a while?" I asked. Lealia scanned the room, and seeing no desire to fight through the crowd for a new spot, she gave a reluctant nod.

"Are you... a servant for one of the nobles?" I pointed toward Jullius, who was busy boasting in the distance. Lealia looked at me with sympathy.

"It's exhausting, isn't it?"

"It's manageable."

"I... I don't like nobles. They don't even see us commoners as human beings. I used to prepare medicine for them for a short while, but they were so unreasonable that now I just run a herb stall at the market..." Lealia spoke so softly she was practically muttering to herself. She clearly wasn't used to socializing with the upper class and was suffering from extreme stress. I listened in silence before adding:"Actually, I'm a member of the Griffin family as well." Lealia's eyes widened.

"But... aren't you...? I saw you serving that Jullius guy."

"Even within a family, there's a hierarchy. I'm the son of someone with a lower standing."

"Oh..." I said that specifically to gauge her attitude. If she harbored a deep-seated hatred or a personal vendetta against the nobility, her joining a squad with other nobles would create unnecessary friction. However, she merely murmured, "Actually, not all nobles are hateful. Just the arrogant ones. And there are far too many arrogant people in here." I nodded in agreement.

"But you're a Hero candidate now, too. You aren't inferior to any of them."

"... But I feel like they all look down on me."

"That's because they're short-sighted. But if you retreat just because of their ignorance, you're the only one who loses out." Lealia stared at me for a long time, speechless. Then, she clenched her fists as if she had just reached a monumental decision.

"I... I'm going to ask if being a Hero candidate will get me into the capital's herb treasury. It must contain things that commoners aren't allowed to trade. I've wanted to get in there for so long, and this is probably my only chance to get close to it." With that, she took a deep breath, stepped out from the shadow of the pillar, and headed into the crowd. A moment later, I saw her strike up a conversation with a few others; the exchange seemed to be going quite smoothly. She's got potential, I thought.

Timid but not self-deprecating, and she knows how to take advice. Definitely a worthy candidate.