Design

Translator : Elizabeth

Chapter 30. Design

Danel's first impression heading to the banquet hall was this.

'Money is rotting over.'

A feeling of being overwhelmed by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠money, not martial power.

The Ashuhalt family's grand banquet hall itself seemed to symbolize the influence and dignity of the North.

On the high ceiling, intricately crafted crystal chandeliers hung like ice sculptures scattering light, and giant tapestries decorating the walls showed the family's long history.

A space where antique instrument sounds and aroma scents relaxing the mind and body flowing in the huge hall made of luxurious marble rather created a strange tension.

While checking such scenery, a clear voice was heard in Danel's ear.

"L, l, l, let's enter, Danel."

Danel chuckled.

"What should we do if the Lady is so nervous."

"I, I told you it's my first time at such a big banquet……?"

"R, r, r right! Lady can be nervous too!"

Kailey standing next to her wasn't much different.

"You… why are you so nervous…?"

"W, w, what?"

Seeing Lorraine and Kailey's faces flushed with tension, Danel thought both were a little cute.

The moment they entered the banquet hall like that.

There was a person who caught Danel's eye immediately.

'Oh… Mr. Righteous Living.'

Vince Ashuhalt, who was pacing at the entrance, was staring at Danel with an indifferent expression.

"You came as expected."

Danel shrugged his shoulders.

"How can the thread be missing where the needle goes."

"You look quite watchable dressed up."

"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Vince."

Vince's eyes became sharp.

"You…… became stronger……. No, did you hide your power from the start?"

Vince was surprised again.

Because this unknown mercenary bastard's spirit was different from a few days ago.

Danel answered smiling leisurely.

"How did you know?"

It was an ambiguous answer.

'How did you know I became stronger? Or how did you know I hid my power?' It could mean both.

"Just felt like it."

Expert Vince's senses were sharp.

He instinctively noticed that the energy wrapping around Danel's body, who learned Daeryeo's secretive Aura operation method, became much more precise and solid than before.

Danel bowed his head slightly and trembled.

"Still, would I be as good as Lord Vince."

"I don't hate you, but you are annoying. Would be great if you just shut that mouth."

"Haha, I will be careful."

Vince snorted and turned his gaze to Lorraine standing next to him.

"You recruited a good talent. Your eye… deserves praise."

"T, thank you, Brother."

As Lorraine answered shyly, Vince added heavy advice.

"Still, your own ability is important. Since you obtained a sharp sword, you should become a scabbard befitting it."

It was heartfelt advice as a brother to become an owner who can fully embrace and control Danel.

But the choice of words was strange.

Danel intervened with a mischievous smile on his lips.

"Uh… Lord Vince, depending on how you interpret that… isn't there considerable room for misunderstanding?"

Instantly, a thick vein twitched on Vince's forehead.

"……Didn't I just say it would be great if you shut your mouth?"

Teasing such a serious person was more fun than expected.

"Yeees."

Vince closed his eyes and sighed.

"Haa…… Then, enjoy. Since a banquet is a banquet. And……."

Vince opened his eyes and lowered his voice.

"If you show such a frivolous appearance in front of Brother Veron, you and Lorraine will be in quite a trouble."

"That's why I like Lord Vince. I will keep the advice in mind."

"……Forget it. Damn bastard."

Vince suppressed emotions on the verge of exploding and left the spot.

Lorraine looked alternately at Vince's receding back and Danel with a blank expression and asked.

"W, when did you become so close with Brother? I've never seen Brother joke like that."

"Well? Where is the joke? Not funny at all."

"Considering Brother Vince's usual personality, he definitely joked."

Danel chuckled.

"True… among mercenaries, the word scabbard is used in a bit… different meaning… but for Lord Vince, it must have been a tremendous joke. Kuk kuk."

Only then realizing the hidden slang of scabbard, Lorraine's face burned hot.

She fanned herself with her hand and shouted in panic.

"Y, you are teasing, Danel!"

"Yes? What did I do?"

"N, nothing!!"

When the conversation with Lorraine ripened, someone approached fluttering the hem of a fancy dress.

"Yahoo! Danel Op…… No, Danel!!"

It was Arisa.

If it weren't an official place, she would have run shouting Oppa, but seemingly conscious of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠banquet hall with many watching eyes, she corrected the title urgently.

Danel sighed in relief inwardly.

'……Just now was dangerous. If she called me Oppa in this crowded place…….'

Danel felt goosebumps rise.

Maybe Arisa is the most dangerous one…?

Danel forced a smile and whispered to her who approached.

"Yes, Lady Arisa came. But if you don't want to kill me, please refrain from that word Oppa. My heart is pounding."

Arisa smiled brightly and said.

"Why? Pounding because you like it too much?"

"…Yes… So please. I feel like I won't die a natural death."

Arisa giggled and spun around on the spot.

"Okay! Hehe, how am I today?"

The clothes she wore were not the dress she picked with Danel yesterday.

Much bolder cut and exposure, and the dress studded with fancy jewels gave a feeling of forcibly raising Arisa's maturity.

"Thought I should do this much to seduce Danel."

"Hmm… I prefer modest things though."

At Danel's firm taste confession, Arisa's eyes grew round and big.

"W, what?! The designer clearly said you wouldn't be able to move with this outfit!"

"Might be so if Lady Arisa ages a few more years."

"R, really? The designer is dead…. Anyway Danel! I have to go over there. Brother is beckoning?"

Ah, sending away the designer with a single word, Danel felt a little sorry.

Arisa pouted her lips as if lingering attachment remained and headed toward Vince.

As she disappeared, Danel's eyes sank coldly in an instant.

Now it was time to perform the real purpose.

He asked Lorraine quietly.

"Lady Lorraine, who is Julia Helmon?"

At Danel's question, Lorraine's expression hardened slightly.

She looked around and answered throwing her gaze to one side.

"Speak of the goblin and he appears, she's coming just in time over there."

A woman was caught at the end of Danel's gaze.

A woman with red hair, the symbol of the Helmon family, with a fancy but somewhat vicious impression.

Pretending to walk elegantly, but minutely trembling muscles and anxious eyes were captured by Danel's eyes.

Trace captures the movement of muscles.

That meant it could capture facial muscles too.

Danel could read her emotional state to some extent through that ability.

'Kuk kuk, failing to manage facial expressions like that…… indeed, must be shitting bricks. Shall I watch a little more.'

Julia Helmon's head was complicated beyond measure.

'Damn it……! Who on earth is it? Who sent me such a letter!'

Her eyes were scanning the entirety rapidly as soon as she entered the banquet hall.

Her gaze stuck on Vince, and Arisa chatting with him.

Vince Ashuhalt? No, that rigid man is not a person to play such dirty tricks.

Arisa? Just an idiot genius who knows nothing but the sword.

'Truly, is it Veron or Rose Ashuhalt……?'

Then her gaze stopped at one place.

"……!!"

Lorraine Ashuhalt, she was looking at Julia indifferently.

Her eyes, which she ignored as Ashuhalt's leftover, looked solid today.

Gaze ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as if saying 'I know everything you did.'

'Surely… Lorraine? Can't be. An idiot among idiots who didn't notice my spy for years….'

Just then a strange man entered Julia's vision.

A man with coolly swept back black hair guarding Lorraine's side.

Solid physique and overflowing leisurely smile were emitting a heterogeneous and attractive atmosphere different from knights here.

'Who is that man? Someone I don't know?'

Unable to endure curiosity and anxiety, Julia eventually approached Lorraine.

"Oh my, you were here, Lady Lorraine. Glad to shake off the regret of the canceled tea party like this at least."

Lorraine received Julia's greeting leisurely.

"Fufu, is that so. I also waited to meet and talk with Lady Julia again, our minds connected."

Pretentious smiles went back and forth between the two women.

But that peace didn't last long.

"How dare you!! Where!!"

Clang——!

A sudden sharp metallic sound cut through the banquet hall.

Knight Ferik, who was escorting Julia, drew his sword.

"W, what?!"

Julia's face turned pale white.

'W, what, why is this crazy guy doing this!?'

All this was Danel's design.

He applied the Yeon family's Aura cultivation method learned from Dayrolls.

A technique shooting killing intent concentrated like an awl only to a specific target, not scattering it in all directions.

People around didn't notice anything, but Ferik, who became the target, would have felt fear as if a giant monster was trying to tear him apart.

'Useful indeed. If I achieve as much as Lord Dayrolls, it would be possible from a much farther distance.'

Ferik shouted confidently.

"Where do you dare spread killing intent!?"

But Danel shrugged his shoulders without blinking an eye.

"Me? No way. Do you have proof?"

Ferik looked at his fellow guard Randolt urgently, but Randolt shook his head with a troubled expression.

Because he felt nothing.

Danel dug into Ferik's ears with a cool voice.

"Better speak well."

"Y, you bastard spread killing intent to Lady Julia!!"

Danel smiled looking at Julia.

"Nice to meet you, Lady Julia Helmon. I am Danel, Lady Lorraine's guard. Was killing intent contained in my gaze?"

Polite and fascinating greeting.

Julia answered Danel's question as if bewitched.

"N, no."

Julia also couldn't say she felt what she didn't feel.

Because Danel's eyes felt like slightly sticky curiosity rather than killing intent.

Then Danel's sunken voice stuck to Ferik.

"She says so."

"B, but Lady Julia, this guy clearly!"

Danel cut off Ferik's words.

"Haven't come to your senses. Dragging Lady Julia into your own mistake? Wake up. This is the Ashuhalt family. If you blabber nonsense, it won't end with just your head flying off."

'Damn it.'

Only then did Julia realize she made a mistake.

Whatever it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was, Ferik felt something and she should have sided with Ferik.

But it was already too late.

Fell into trouble less than 5 minutes after arriving at the banquet hall. Her insides burned.

Even if she claimed the knight felt killing intent in this situation, there was no way to prove it, and rather she, Ferik's master, would be in trouble.

To make matters worse, surrounding gazes began to focus on them.

Until just a moment ago, they talked among themselves, but from now on with gazes focused, it became a dizzying situation where she had to care about every single word.

Then, when no one could open their mouth easily.

Danel grabbed Ferik's sword softly and reversed the atmosphere.

"As expected, a cool sword. May I take a look?"

Ferik stepped back one step as if flustered.

"W, what?"

Julia intuitively realized Danel opened an exit for her.

Instead of scolding Ferik, she played along with Danel.

"As expected, you recognize it. Ferik, show your sword to the knight here."

Even tactless Ferik realized what this situation meant now.

He handed over the sword with trembling hands.

Danel examined the blade carefully and said loudly.

"Oh, this beautiful casting, and strength. As expected, Helmon family knights don't use ordinary swords."

Then the stinging gazes around were withdrawn.

Because knights admiring swords among themselves was a common scene in the North.

As the situation calmed down, Danel returned the sword and whispered small enough only for Julia to hear.

"Your subordinate knight is terrible. I wouldn't have done that if it were me…."

Julia's brow distorted.

Curiosity along with insult stimulated her simultaneously.

"You bastard…!"

Just as she was about to open her mouth, a magnificent voice resonated from the banquet hall entrance.

"Lord Veron Ashuhalt enters!"

Everyone's gaze focused on one place.

The protagonist of the banquet, Veron's appearance.

Danel swallowed laughter inwardly seeing Julia's distorted face.

'Attracted enough attention for now. Now…… show your inside, Julia Helmon.'