Chapter 309: Grand Gathering
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"It looks busy in the front yard," Suzanna murmured.
"If you would like, we can walk around out there for a little while," Anfey said cheerfully.
"No, thank you." Suzanna shook her head. "This little guy seems anxious. Others have no control over him. If we go to the front yard, what would we do with the little unicorn?"
That day, Saul was hosting a grand party. He had prepared this party very early. There were so many people coming that Saul could not handle all of the arrangements. Luckily, Yolanthe sent about a hundred palace maids and servants to help, and some government officials also sent their family servants over, which barely succeeded in making the party run smoothly. The huge front yard and the main building were lit up. People were walking everywhere. Saul’s house seemed to be highly secured. If today someone successfully attacked Saul’s house, he could have destroyed almost the whole upper class of Maho Empire. No one could let anything slip this time.
In fact, the chance that anyone could successfully attack Saul’s house was very, very slim. Even Philip, who did not see eye to eye with Saul, came for this party. The five top powers in Maho Empire were all here; Saul, Steger, Baery, Mioritch and Philip. In addition to the five top powers, Ernest, Bruzuryano, Manstuly, Jacob, and the old servant of Yolanthe were in the party. All top powers had gathered here. Facing such powerful opponents, even the craziest assassin would give up the idea of assassinating anyone that evening.
Maybe because so many top powers were present, the little unicorn had been looking nervous. He followed after Anfey closely. If the talking or laughter from the front yard were a little loud, the little unicorn would have a chill.
"This little guy is too timid. He should be better when he grows up a little bit more." Anfey smiled. His smile looked forced. He had been waiting for news from afternoon till evening. He had not heard anything yet. When he went to the front yard to take a look, no matter whether it was Saul, Bruzuryano, or Manstuly, they were all talking and laughing together. He could not tell anything from their looks. Anfey actually felt quite nervous at that moment.
"Too timid?" Suzanna could not help rolling her eyes at Anfey. "Top powers are gathering here. Like the little unicorn, I even feel nervous. As far as I know, it is rare to have three or five top powers at one party. Right now there are nine. It has been a long time since we have had such a grand party on Pan Continent."
Anfey was shocked for a second. He thought it was just a regular party. After hearing what Suzanna said, he suddenly realized perhaps Yolanthe had asked Saul to host this party to proclaim the power of Maho Empire to the whole Pan Continent. After thinking about this for a while, Anfey had a bitter smile on his face. It was really hard to understand what the king was thinking. There was no doubt that Yolanthe’s skills at recognizing and taking advantage of good timing were brilliant. No one could be as good as him.
They heard steps coming from the right. Hagan walked around the corner. He looked normal, but his eyes were constantly moving, which showed he was actually nervous. Ernest walked behind him.
"Uncle Ernest, what are you doing here? Christian just told me he saw you drinking with Baery and Mioritch," Anfey asked in surprise.
"I did not pull myself away easily," Ernst said with a smile. He was serious as he sharply and carefully looked around the room.
"Hagan, what happened?" Anfey laid his eyes on Hagan and asked in a low voice. "I have been waiting for you since this afternoon. Why did you come out so late?"
"How could I get out?" Hagan had a bitter smile on his face. He turned to nervously look at Ernest.
"Nobody is around us," Ernest said calmly.
"They were watching so closely that I could only stay in the lab," Hagan said, relaxing a little bit.
"Did you do it?" Anfey asked.
"Of course. I am a genius alchemist," Hagan said.
"That’s not what I’m asking about. I am asking whether they were suspicious of you," Anfey said. Hagan had promised to make the Sacred Spirit potion. He said it was not too complicated to make, and the recipe was flexible. He thought he definitely could make one. Anfey trusted him, but he cared more about another problem that went with it.
"I don’t know," Hagan stammered.
"They should not suspect anything," Ernest answered on Hagan’s behalf. "I was in the lab too. Hagan is a talented performer. He did very well."
Anfey looked Hagan up and down and noticed he still looked nervous. How could he be a talented performer if he did not even know where to put his hands, and his hands still kept moving? If Anfey had other options, he definitely would not have let Hagan do it. Unfortunately, Hagan was his only hope. If he failed, they would have a lot more troubles, even though they still would have a chance to settle matters with Bruzuryano and others.
Ernest seemed to sense Anfey’s worries. "Hagan looked very scared and rambled to defend himself. Bruzuryano and Manstuly thought Hagan was afraid of being punished. They were not suspicious."
"How many experiments did you do?" Anfey heaved a long sigh.
"How many could I do? Just on, and then they collected all the ingredients back," Hagan said.
"They are so stingy," Anfey said.
"Stingy? Anfey, Bruzuryano was flexible, but Manstuly was hard to deal with. If Master Saul did not cover for me, I think they would have suspected me," Hagan said, grimacing bitterly.
"It is ok. Practice makes perfect. You will feel much better next time when you lie." Anfey smiled at Hagan. "How much Sacred Spirit potion did you make?"
"Only this little bottle." Hagan grabbed it with his hand.
"Where is the potion?" Anfey asked.
"Master Saul took it. I was not able to hide it on me." Hagan felt more scared as he recalled what happened in the lab. The whole time he was making the potion, Bruzuryano and Manstuly were next to him and watched him. It was really hard to play any tricks. Luckily, Saul taught him how to hide the magic surges of the potion and helped him with coverage, otherwise he would have been found stealing potion a long time ago. Hagan had felt the urge to use the restroom in the lab several times and had cold sweat on his chest and back. He knew how important this job was, otherwise he might not have been able to hold up.
"Ok. One bottle is fine. We should not be too greedy," Anfey said.
"Oh, right. Anfey, is Master Jacob one of our people?" Hagan asked.
"Yes." Anfey nodded.
"I wondered," Hagan sighed. "When I argued that the ingredients were not pure and resulted in failure, Uncle Ernest and Master Mioritch had left the lab. I saw Master Jacob walk in. I was startled. I did not expect Master Jacob would say those ingredients were not pure, although I knew the ingredients were fine."
"What happened afterwards?" Anfey asked.
"Then Master Jacob said he needed to purify them first. We should wait a few days before the next experiment," Hagan said.
"Ok. We should be fine then," Anfey said.
"Anfey, Master Jacob said the leftover ingredients were only good for three bottles of Sacred Spirit potion," Hagan said.
"That little? We should have more unicorn blood. Why could we only make three bottles?" Anfey asked.
"We do not have enough Spring of Life. The population of elves is declining. So is the Spring of Life. The Spring of Life they brought almost depleted all the Spring of Life that the elves have. We would not be able to get any Spring of Life in the next few decades," Hagan said.
"Who is in charge of the ingredients now?" Anfey asked.
"That guy named Manstuly. I did not give him the unicorn blood," Hagan said.
"Three bottles, too little," Anfey said bitterly. He expected a lot more than three bottles. Bruzuryano had said feeding the little unicorn with Sacred Spirit potion would not have any side effects. Whether the little unicorn could be his helpful assistant totally depended on the supply of the potion. Now Anfey’s hopes were dashed.
"We cannot get all three of them. It seems that Master Jacob will take one bottle. Manstuly also will take one, so we can have one bottle at most," Hagan said.
"It’s fine. Better than nothing." Anfey nodded. "Hagan, can you act normal for the next few days? Even though you have finished your job, I am just worried they still could be suspicious of you. How about hiding yourself in your room. Don’t come out unless it is necessary."
"Sure. I definitely could use the time to copy Master Jacob’s script. There are so many things I still do not understand, but I think I could comprehend them later." Hagan looked confident as he talked.
"It is great as long as you think so." Anfey took a look at Ernest and said quietly, "Uncle Ernest, do you think we are blameless, since the professor and I did this? I know Bruzuryano is our friend."
Ernest smiled. "I have asked Saul. Saul does not like to take advantage of anyone, not to mention his friends. Saul has told me that he does not feel bad for doing it. I trust him."
"Uncle Ernest, we indeed did nothing wrong!" Anfey said firmly. Now there was a queen among the elves. Anfey was not afraid of the consequence of not following his promise, but he did not want to pick a fight for nothing. He tried not to go against his promise.
"Are you saying we need be aware of Bruzuryano?" Ernest said, a bit angrily.
"No, Master Bruzuryano did want to work with us. He is a good man," Anfey replied.
"If Bruzuryano is a good man, are we the bad guys?" Hagan asked out of nowhere.
"It is too nave to label people as good and bad." Anfey patted Hagan’s shoulder. "Ok. Go to sleep. You do not have to worry. Remember to hide yourself for the next few days."
"I got you," Hagan said with a nod.