Chapter 504: Secret Meeting
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As Marshal Ophra's voice trailed off, everyone in the hall was dumbstruck. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Becky's jaw dropped to the ground: she was in the midst of reconstructing her perception and temporarily refused to believe in reality. It was not until Lily patted the mercenary on the back with her tail that Becky jumped to her feet and said, "That's it?! You're... Oh yeah, I know. It's definitely a secret. You don't want to talk about it..."
"That's it," said Ophra, nodding with a smile. "I know what's going on outside. For hundreds of years, I heard many versions of the story. I minded at first, but now, I could not care less about the bards. In the beginning, what happened between Geddon and I was really simple. When I was an adventurer in the Lawless District, I could barely make ends meet. Then I met Geddon by accident. He couldn't fight, but he had sharp eyes. He could see that I could fight. So he said to me, 'you help me to fight, I would give you my men, plus 20 gold Denars. I thought for a while and said, 'That's a good deal.' Then I became his commander, but at the time I didn't know he had more than two-hundred-thousand men. If I had known it earlier I'd have asked him for more."
Covering his face with his hand, Hao Ren refrained from commenting. He now figured in his heart why Ophra said she had recalled her time as an adventurer when she saw Becky. Meanwhile, Becky was still trying to wrap her brains around what she had heard. She said after a short while, "Then the four hundred years of commitment..."
"I told Geddon III that I would stay here as long as I had a stable pay," said Ophra, smiling. "Of course this was the case in the very beginning. Later, when the country had become stable and I became its marshal, staying in the country had become a responsibility and... feelings."
Ophra glanced at Becky. "But at the very beginning, I did so because of money."
Putting her head in her hands, Becky said, "I need sometime to make sense of all these."
Ophra felt the reaction of the mercenary was very interesting. After smiling for a moment, she suddenly asked, "Becky, you are already a hero, you know? The church spares no effort to promote the legendary mercenary who had died a martyr in Beinz."
"Oh, I know," said Becky, raising her head and wondering why Ophra mentioned this suddenly. "It just feels surreal."
Ophra pointed to Hao Ren and asked Becky, "Why did you follow the foreigners to Dragonspine Ridge?"
"For reward," Becky said matter-of-coursely. "I'd be rich if I found the orb!"
Ophra shrugged. "In the future, your admirers and bards will make up stories that you don't even believe in. They will glorify you that you were inspired by the Goddess, for love and honor, and guided by prophet, to kill the devil, to embark on a journey to save the world; but the real reason you set foot on that journey was simply because the Church was paying high rewards. So don't believe what the bards say and what they do is just to get attention. The first battle of most heroes to saving the world is often just to for money."
Betsy nodded thoughtfully. Ophra looked at the girl with a forced smile. "Of course, this is the first time I've ever seen a hero still thinking of money after saving the world. Your purpose is simple enough."
Nangong Wuyue grunted. "What more could you expect from her?"
They had light refreshment in Ophra's house. The banquet of the Royal Palace would not begin until the evening, so they were getting some shut-eye in their respective rooms. At sunset, a royal knight dressed in gorgeous armor came to the marshal's residence. Ophra called everyone out.
"Mhoren, the king of Holletta, has prepared a banquet in the royal palace to welcome you all and the pope will also be present—both of them are making a rare appearance in public." On the way to the palace, Ophra briefed them about the meeting. "This is a secret meeting. The banquet will be very moderate because it is essentially a meeting. You can raise any questions. I have already reported what had happened in Dragonspine Ridge to them...well, of course all that I knew. In the two months that you had left, the Pope and his Majesty had had several intense discussions. Eventually they decided to give up their stubborn stance. They will give you all the information concerning the Disciples of Glory and the legend of the Goddess. But there is a one condition: you must not shake the foundation of the kingdom and leak these information to the public."
"There's no reason for us to do that," Vivian nodded. "As an out-of-this-world visitors, we pose no harm for you, because all the worldly interests of your world have nothing to do with us; we're only interested in The First Born."
"It was exactly why they decided to give in," said Ophra, sighing. "That two guys are like old souls trapped in young bodies. I've been persuading them for half a month."
Hao Ren could not help but roll his eyes on Ophra's play-old tone of voice. Then he looked at Vivian who was beside him, thinking there was no one who was more qualified than Vivian saying like that: after all, among those in the car, no one was as old as Vivian...
Vivian looked back at Hao Ren, baring her teeth. "Why're you staring at me like that? I am still young, all right!"
The carriage drove past the high wall of the palace. Nangong Sanba looked out at the magnificent and exotic architecture outside. The majestic, magic-powered royal palace was the first kind he had ever seen in his entire life; it was something that could be seen only in places where imperial power was dorminant. It was extravagant as much as it was mind-blowing. He turned her head back in and solemnly nodded to Hao Ren, "I've decided. I will join your company no matter what. This is too f**king interesting."
Hao Ren lay his back on a soft chair squinting. "You said like as if you have a choice."
Nangong Wuyue twitched her mouth and said, "You'll find it not that interesting when you come with us to the battles."
Finally, under the protection and supervision of a group of valets, the group of country bumpkins—at least Becky and Nangong Sanba seemed to be so all the while—entered the palace, passed through a long corridor, into a magnificent long hall where they were traversing under the watchful 'eyes' of the sculptures of the previous kings and historical figures for a long while.
As Ophra said, this was a little secret meeting. It was not luxurious, but its significance was unprecedented.
In the meeting room, several elderly men and women with serious faces were sitting at a long table. Their identities were not known. Five to six officers who were qualified for this secret meeting had arrived in the palace in time. The rest were either not qualified or too far away.
Each time Hao Ren and his men came, they appeared out of nowhere. These foreigners who used to appear without notice had bewildered the king and his officers: they were used to follow strict rules in everything, including meeting with foreign envoys and domestic lords. Obviously, this group of people from the outside world did not follow the international law and customary practice. With such a short notice, that was the best preparation they could do.
As the guests showed up, the VIPs at the table got to their feet and nodded intently. Ophra introduced them out one by one. "His Majesty, Mhoren, the King of Holletta, is currently one of the most intelligent kings in the world; the pope of Disciples of Glory, the highest representative of the authority of God, is one of the most reputable persons in the entire world; Prince Hoffman, who is responsible for assessing the influence of the First Born and what to do if an unexpected disaster occurs; the red-robe Cardinal Orben was one who stationed men guarding the entrance of the other two sacred caves. The last two First Borns are under his supervision."
Then Ophra proceed to introduce the other people. But Hao Ren didn't think he needed to remember everyone of them: he was not here to socialize.
He only remembered the characteristics of several important figures: King Mhoren, who was an old man with a white hair and a little hunchback, seemed to very good in temperament, if it were not for the robe it wore it would be difficult to associate him as the king. The Pope was a alert old man with white hair, wearing an expensive purple and gold robe, his face deadpan, and often fell into a contemplative look. Prince Hoffman was a middle-aged man, slight chubby, and a little bald. The red bishop was a bald middle-aged man, he was the most recognisable figure because of his scriptural and religious symbol tattoo which had even spread up on his face which made the red bishop look a bit frightening. His serious attitude was accompanied by an unapproachable vibe. He was sizing up Hao Ren and his entourage since the moment they entered the door.
Vivian and Hao Ren shared the same attitude here; they were indifferent. Vivian had seen more great and smarter people whom she had chatted up and then kicked them down in the moat.
But Becky was very nervous as she bowed to everyone at the scene. The girl had butterflies in her stomach. Most of the people standing in front of her were the figures she had heard since she was young. Before this, she had only heard about their names when she was bragging with people in taverns. But now these great people were standing right in front of her, nodding and smiling at her. The poor mercenary girl had cold sweat trickling down her back as she pinched herself at the back. "Am I dreaming? Hmmm, I don't feel pain. It's a dream."
Lily scolded her and said, "Why are you pinching my tail?"
Vivian facepalmed and sighed. "I knew it would be like this."