Chapter 239, the Fortress-Like Banquet Restaurant and the Senior Stewards of the United Chamber of Commerce
The two of them quickly walked toward the south side of the town, between the slums and the civilian area.
Although it was dark, Kil pulled out the long sword on his left belt and released a white light that illuminated the street. The boy from the Chamber of Commerce who led the way turned his head and glanced at Knight Kiel's long sword in surprise, feeling annoyed for his careless observation just now.
"Be careful, don't look back, you might hit the wall." Kil joked, causing the chamber of commerce guy who kept looking back at his weapon to come back to his senses.
At this time, Keir also noticed that even though they were walking through the streets of the civilian area, the road leading to the town's banquet venue seemed to be given special treatment. The entire street is neatly paved with fine stones, and the shops on both sides are mostly for entertainment. Red houses with beautiful lights, taverns with the smell of alcohol, and large and small casinos where life is full of life are all on this street. superior.
There were tall, fat thugs with raised chins guarding the door of each shop. As Keir passed by, there was a middle-aged man walking out of the red house cheerfully, who seemed to look familiar.
There were also drunken drunkards in the tavern who wanted to go out to urinate in the street, but were thrown back into the tavern by thugs at the door of the tavern. The drunkard's crotch immediately became wet and he was cursing.
The worst thing was the one who was stripped naked and thrown out in the casino. No, the worst thing was the debtor who had ropes and wooden rings tied around his wrists and neck.
Seeing Knight Kiel sizing these people up, the guy from the Chamber of Commerce who led the way explained: "Please don't feel sorry for them. People choose their own roads. Besides, they just lose their freedom temporarily and are forced to do some work. It's nothing."
Keir snorted coldly and asked: "Then have you ever been a debtor?"
The clerk from the Chamber of Commerce shook his head: "What? No, of course not. I am from a clean and wealthy family. Only those who have no property will be counted as debtors. Besides, sir, why do you want to gamble? Being a banker is the most stable thing. It’s about making money, right?”
Keir smiled and didn't say much.
People, only after losing their freedom can they realize the value of freedom.
This overly prosperous street is not long, and when you reach the end, you directly enter the slums. But obviously the town managers don't want the place where they hold banquets to be disturbed by the poor people they despise.
Therefore, at the end of the street, there is a square open space surrounded by a brick wall several meters high.
There are many fragrant flowers and plants planted in the open space. It is spring at this time, and the rich fragrance can immediately give people a direct experience of luxury and glitz.
Although humans are visual creatures, visual observations account for the vast majority of information acquisition. But in terms of taste and smell, it has a special place.
Human beings have extremely profound feelings about smells, and different smells directly affect various human behaviors and feelings.
Obviously the designer of this new banquet venue in Dorne Town is someone who is familiar with this.
The rich aroma of the complex flowers not only blocks out the unpleasant smell of the slums separated by the wall, but also makes the guests who come to the banquet be affected by the aroma from the first time they come here, creating a positive effect of goodwill and excitement. .
This is a very important thing for businessmen from all walks of life who negotiate deals and cooperate at places like banquets.
Kil took a deep breath, with an intoxicated look on his face. Blood Licker also seems to like this place, but unlike his owner, he likes the smell here. What it focused on were the various and unseen flowers in front of it.
There are beautiful flowers with different colors and different fragrances. It seems to want to taste what they taste like.
Opening his eyes again, Kil exhaled and looked at the fortress-style building in front of him, which was more than ten meters high and roughly had four floors on the ground.
Unlike a real fortress, this building has a specially built terrace starting from the towering second floor, as well as large windows that are not found in ordinary fortresses.
At this time, music was already coming from the doors and open windows of these terraces, and there was also the lady's sharp laughter and beautiful singing voice.
"Has the party started yet?"
Keir was a little annoyed, but the Chamber of Commerce guy who was standing in front and panting shook his head: "It's not started, sir. It's just to give those who come early to have something to do. Music and warm-up programs usually start first."
"oh."
Kil was a little surprised and took out his banquet invitation from his clothes. He originally wanted to hand it to the other party and ask him to hand it over to the security guards guarding the door of the banquet venue.
But unexpectedly, after the Chamber of Commerce guy had rested enough, he held the reins of Blood Licker's mouth and shouted forward: "Knight of Kendall County, Knight Joe Kil has arrived——"
The security guards on both sides of the gate immediately put the ceremonial spears in their hands to the ground again, and then hit their chest three times with their free right fist, making a banging sound.
He also followed the shouts of the Chamber of Commerce guys, and shouted in unison: "Kendall County, the Joe-Kill Knight is here!!!"
It was the first time that Keir was treated with such courtesy, and his face suddenly turned red. He waved to the young security guards who looked at him from both sides, and murmured his thanks.
As the singing sounded outside the gate, several neatly dressed Chamber of Commerce stewards hurriedly walked out of the gate of the fortress-like building. After they came over, they announced their homes. It turned out that they were all key stewards of the Dorne Town Chamber of Commerce. They had arrived early I came here just for this person Kiel.
The guy from the Chamber of Commerce who had been following Kiel before was now standing behind a person as a follower. This person was the manager of the Fortune Fruit Chamber of Commerce that he had seen at noon, the Delhi man who was known as the "Foolish Oriel". Mr. Parry.
Several other people are also people of similar status, but their ages are not the same. Some people are slightly younger than the former, and they are obviously stronger in ability and family background. Others have gray beards and hair. Their specific age cannot be determined. They may be in their forties or more than fifty years old.
They were all senior stewards responsible for the specific affairs of the United Chamber of Commerce in Dorne Town. At this time, they came out to greet them. Kil was also flattered. He hurriedly patted the saddle and jumped off the tall blood-licking grass.
"Oh, please be careful. It would be very dangerous for such a tall war horse to fall."
The gray-haired old businessman was obviously very surprised when he saw Keir dismounting like this. But another businessman next to him didn't take it seriously: "I am such a young knight, but with old arms and legs like you, I have to ask a servant to bring a wooden ladder to get on the horse. Mr. Bontolisa, Are you going to rest with your young lady at night and have your servants go to bed to help you?”
The businessman was tall and thin, and winked when he spoke. It was obvious that this was not the first time such a joke had been made between them.
Mr. Bontorisa, who was teased by him, coughed twice, glanced at Keir, and did not retort. And Kil's attention was also attracted by the words between the two. This made the tall and thin businessman very embarrassed, and it seemed that he was talking and joking regardless of the occasion.
Mr. 'Dry Oriel' pretended that he didn't see all this, and still introduced Keir with a smile.
In order to deepen the impression, he first re-introduced himself: "Dundar Orilga Deripari, senior manager of the Fortune Fruit Chamber of Commerce, we met at noon. Friends like to call me 'Gan Bian Oli' Er', if you like, you can call me that."
"Mr. Dripari, thank you for inviting me to this party."
"As I said, Knight Kiel, this banquet is specially held for you. The place has been booked by a few of us tonight. At the same time, many people in the town are also here. Please be sure to get to know each other. After all, The more people you know, the broader your path to wealth will be."
He then put his arm around Keir's shoulders and introduced the gray-haired old steward to him: "This is Mr. Wells-Bontorisa. Don't listen to the nonsense of this guy in the narrator. Mr. Bontorisa was a first-class man when he was young. He is full of adventurous spirit, and one of his most famous achievements is convincing the long-haired lynx orcs in the southern border mountains to participate in the production of our human society! He is a natural diplomat!"
Kil had never heard of a creature like a long-haired lynx orc, but he was curious about how this person in the relatively exclusive Kingdom of St. Halls allowed aliens to join human society.
"So, then I have to listen to Mr. Bontorissa's great feat tonight."
Looking at the curious look of the young knight, the old Mr. Bontorissa stroked his gray beard and nodded with a smile. Obviously, compared to the praise and curiosity of ordinary people, he likes the praise of someone with a higher status more.
Then Mr. 'Flat Ollier' pointed at the tall, thin middle-aged businessman who was the narrator: "This is the senior steward of the Burning Furnace Chamber of Commerce, Stoll-Scott. Don't think he likes to joke, but In fact, he is very reliable. He is responsible for managing the largest blacksmith shop in the town."
"Oh, I just bought a set of simple forging tools from a local merchant in your blacksmith shop today."
Keir said so.
The tall and thin Mr. Scott said with a sincere face: "If you tell me tonight, the price will be reduced by 30% for you, just like making a new friend."
Keir also looked regretful: "I met the vice president of your chamber of commerce on the way here, otherwise I would have had to deal with this matter with you."
"Really? If you know the vice-guild president, we can give you another 10% discount on the price. Our Burning Furnace Chamber of Commerce never treats its friends badly." The other party was not surprised that Knight Kil met their vice-guild president on the business road. Yes, if you think about it carefully, there is only one route heading west to the Western Province. Walking on that trade road, if you calculate the time, Knight Kiel will always meet the vice-president who has just set out a few days ago on the trade road.
"How are the vice-president and the others? Are they okay? Knight Kiel."
Kil shrugged: "You know, the atmosphere has been so tense recently, and my people and I had a battle with the bandits before, so everyone was very nervous when we met. Get closer and send people over again and again. Opening up for investigation allowed both of us to lower our guard and let the teams pass by safely."
"The vice-president is like this. He seems to like eating and is not very reliable. In fact, he is more reliable than anyone else."
Seeing Knight Kiel and Scott from the Burning Furnace Chamber of Commerce talking like this, Mr. 'Dry Oriel' quickly stopped the conversation between the two and introduced the last person.
This man was probably only in his twenties, but he was still young. His face was not very good, and he looked a little pale and weak. Mr. 'Flat Ollier' introduced: "This is Lippuld-Ottos Fetten, the senior manager of the 'Treasure House' Chamber of Commerce. The banquet restaurant we are using tonight was designed and built by Lippuld." .”
Kil smiled and nodded, and the other party nodded indifferently, obviously not curious about the foreign northern knights.
After introducing each other, Mr. 'Dry Flat Olier' guided everyone into the banquet restaurant. At the same time, Kiel's horse was also handed over to the previous chamber of commerce guy and asked to be taken to the attached horse next to the banquet restaurant. Rest in the shed.
"Not only do we have all kinds of enjoyments that we humans like here, the casual horses will also get what they like to eat, and there is also the most attentive set of services. Ha, there are five grooms there to take care of them, knights, don't worry. "
Seeing Kiel's reluctance to let go of the horses, Mr. 'Dry Oriel' explained before dispelling Kiel's concerns.
-
Enter the fortress-like banquet restaurant door.
The first floor of the banquet restaurant is not a spacious hall or a place for banquets as Kiel imagined. On the contrary, as soon as you enter the door, you are facing a gentle and luxurious wooden staircase leading upward. The real banquet place is actually on the second floor.
The first floor is more used by the people who serve here. Mr. Otto Fitten, who is very obedient, said that behind the stairs is a wide kitchen area, and there is also a wine cellar underground with mechanical elevators. On their left and right sides, there is a rest room on the left where the band and minstrels rest temporarily, and a rest room on the right used by the dance team that was rarely seen in the past.
The rest rooms on both sides have special stairs leading to the main banquet venue on the second floor. Interestingly, the door they are going upstairs through at this moment does not lead directly to the two rest rooms on the first floor. They must go through the back door behind the banquet restaurant. It can only be entered through a dedicated passage on the side of the kitchen.
"Why is it designed like this?"
Keir was curious and asked directly.
The frail Mr. Ottos Fetten did not have the energy to explain while climbing the stairs. Instead, Mr. Bontorisa, who had traveled extensively in his youth, explained angrily: "How can the people who serve us be like us and our noble ones?" Guest, why don’t you go through the same gate? Is that the truth?”
Mr. Lippold-Ottosfitten nodded tiredly. His head was covered with sweat. After nodding, he quickly wiped the sweat with the colorful hand towel he brought with him.
As if he disliked the smell of his own sweat, he asked the man behind him who was not helping him to get a box of fragrant powder. He used a small cloth bag to spread some fragrant powder and put it on his forehead.
I don’t know if the scented powder neutralized the smell of sweat, or if the sweat solidified when exposed to the scented powder, but the smell of sweat was gone.
He then stubbornly held on to the wooden handrail of the stairs and climbed to the second floor step by step.
Others had already arrived on the second floor waiting for him.
"This is?"
Keir asked questions about this scene.
Mr. Scott, who had been able to talk to him for a few words before, curled his lips and whispered in Keir's ear: "I heard, I heard that when he was a boy, he visited family relatives in the central province, and it turned out that at that time It just so happened that the central province was experiencing a war of monsters that was devouring everything. He himself was frightened, and it was like this after he came back. His health was getting worse day by day."
Keir felt strange, how could a person be so frightened, and it was not that he was frightened to death at that time, but that he only became so weak after returning home with his body and limbs still intact.
But he just thought about it and didn't ask any more questions.
Mr. Scott in his ear continued to add what he had heard, but these contents did not seem to be true: "I also heard that he came to the town a few years ago and broke away from the family's jurisdiction, so he played a lot. Crazy, it broke my body.”
After saying that, he winked and winked.
It made Keir smile bitterly.
On the contrary, Mr. Otto Fitten, who climbed to the second floor by using the handrail of the stairs, frowned unhappily and looked at the tall and thin Mr. Scott: "Stoll, I have very good ears and heard your slander against me. .so."
"So?" Mr. Scott raised his eyebrows.
"So the entire cost of entertaining Knight Joe Kil tonight will be paid by you and will be charged to the account of the Burning Furnace Chamber of Commerce."
"Tch, what did I think, that's it? If you can entertain a knight, the other stewards of the Chamber of Commerce won't say anything. Don't settle the accounts of the Chamber of Commerce, how about settling mine?"
"you said."
"I said."
After saying that, the two of them laughed instead, which made Keir confused. He didn't know why the two people who were tit for tat just now started laughing.
When it was Mr. 'Flat Ollier' who guided Keir toward the open banquet, he explained to him in a low voice: "Although Lippard is not in good health, he cherishes his friends very much. Well, because of his health , he doesn’t know how long he can live, so he not only cherishes friends with whom he can talk, but also handles things seriously and carefully. This is how he can become the strongest person in the United Chamber of Commerce in his twenties. Treasure House's senior steward's reasons."
"Of course, the family power behind him is not small, which is also one of the reasons." Mr. 'Dry Oriel' added.
The second floor of the banquet restaurant is much more open than the first floor. The hall is more than 30 meters long and wide, and with a height of at least five meters, it can easily accommodate a giant dragon.
The place was brightly lit at the moment, and near the stairs leading up from the first-floor lounge on the left and right sides, there were neatly placed suet candles for lighting. On the supporting stone pillars on both sides of the banquet hall, there are also bright oil lamps with gold reflective surfaces hung on them.
At the end of the banquet hall, around the single table and chairs where Kiel and the others were seated, the lighting here was similar to the luminous stone ball table that Kiel had seen before in the 'Beautiful Clothes' clothing store.
These objects that provided illumination for distinguished figures prevented the hosts and guests sitting in prime positions from being bothered by the heat of oil lamps and candles and the annoyance of choking smoke.
At the same time, the spacious banquet hall was already scattered. Dozens of people had arrived early. They were not here just for Kiel, but were members of the powerful people of Dorne Town. If they wanted to attend the banquet, they would only have to come if they wanted to. , there is no question of whether you can come or not. It's not fun to stay at home anyway, so it's better to take the opportunity of the banquet to get together with friends, talk, and enjoy the band's performance or the new poems written by the famous bard in the town.
The men present were well-dressed, and their intricate clothing and accessories were no less elaborate than those of the ladies present.
Men, wearing bonnets, mostly decorated with precious stones and gold, gathered around the band and talked quietly. I don’t know if they are enjoying the melodious music, or using the music to cover up the voices of them talking to their companions.
The ladies gathered around a bard who was sitting on a 'throne' stacked with several wooden chairs. The fragrance was blowing. At this time, the young and handsome bard was holding a xylophone and playing loudly. Singing a song "Tonight is a good night".
The ladies blushed slightly and discussed in low voices who could win the famous bard tonight.
Or be taken down by the bard.
Keir took a deep breath of the air here. The aroma of animal oil from the oil lamp and the strongest smell after burning candles were followed by the layer after layer of scented powder smell on the ladies. Maybe it happened to be spring, most of them were During the bath, various petals collected from outside the town were added. The sweet smell was mixed with the air blown in from the terrace, which was simply disgusting.
In addition, snacks and low-alcohol drinks for the early guests are also placed on the long table that no one cares about.
Kil accurately smelled more than one aroma of ale.
This made him feel energetic, and he said to Mr. 'Dry Flat Ollier' beside him: "I want to drink some ale first."
"What?"
The other party was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't hear clearly.
Keir explained: "I have been traveling on the wild trade road to the west for the past few days, and I really don't have a taste in my mouth. Please bring me some ale."
Hearing it clearly this time, Mr. 'Dry Oriel' couldn't help but smile bitterly, so he had to call the waiter standing by: "Bring the ale in front. Knight Kiel, which one do you drink?"
Keir's eyes were bright: "How about some?"
"Haha, as you wish."
The waiter obeyed the order and quickly brought at least five different kinds of ale to Keir.
His mouth went dry looking at it.