Goblin Dependency
Chapter 326 - 172: Banquet and Portrait

Chapter 326: Chapter 172: Banquet and Portrait

Moon Feast.

It is one of the important annual festivals on the Aifala Continent, situated during the Rotten Moon as winter approaches.

On this day every year, people pray for their deceased relatives under the moonlight and hope to endure the harsh winter ahead.

Of course, due to the festival’s ancient history and the vast expanse of the Aifala Continent,

the specific customs related to the festival have long changed due to various influences such as different living habits, geographical environments, and climates of each race.

For example, parading along the roads from cemeteries to towns, scattering bone fragments mixed with phosphorus under the guidance of a Priest to lead lost souls back home;

Adult men wearing new clothes, lying in snow pits they dug themselves to commemorate the deceased, while wives and family members stand on the sides throwing pine branches into the pit as blessings.

It is said that in the untamed wilderness far from civilization, filled with wild winds and beastly roars, those outcasts, clad in shaggy hair and sharp fangs, spend more than half a month hunting in dangerous areas to commemorate this festival.

On the night of the Moon Feast, they offer the blood, flesh, scales, and feathers of the strongest and most beautiful prey they can find as a sacrifice to their Mother Goddess.

As a large city with a massive population and commercial prosperity, Neum naturally hosts corresponding celebration ceremonies as the festival approaches.

Even those impoverished people in the slums, who struggle to fill their stomachs, will not be frugal with their copper coins on this day and will enjoy a "lavish" dinner with their families—despite the cost of going slightly hungry for the next few days.

Residents living in the city district purchase candles and candlesticks in advance to illuminate every room, continuing until dawn the next day.

It is said that this can receive blessings from the deceased, ensuring peace and health for the family living in the house, and bringing good fortune.

As for those nobles in the city center...

In a sense, every festival of the year has the same customs for them.

Only a series of celebratory banquets.

A night with bright moonlight.

Neum, city center.

A certain ornately decorated spacious hall.

It shows signs of meticulous arrangement.

The silver-blue wool carpet laid on the floor is specially prepared for the feast, matching the festival theme of night and moon; the family crest symbolizing the host’s identity, which should hang on the walls, is replaced by exquisite tapestries with silver white crescent moon patterns.

The frost-patterned velvet on the long table echoes with the black gauze and lilies entwining the surfaces of the pillars on both sides; the dark blue flames flicker slightly among the flawless silver-white vessels, casting a serene and sacred shadow on the floor.

Roast venison leg, roasted wild boar meat, fragrant creamy pies, heaps of fine salt and spices, seasonal vegetables, and honey sweet wine...

Even though ninety-five percent of it will be wastefully discarded into the trash after the banquet, or be packed and taken home by a few bold waiters while the host isn’t looking.

These dishes of extravagance, perhaps never to be tasted by the Lower City District’s poor in a lifetime, still fill the long tables.

Neglected, perhaps only having a spoonful taken by a passing guest at the start of the banquet, maintaining their dignified complete appearance until the banquet ends.

In a sense, the steaming delicious dishes on these plates are no different from the candlesticks and paintings on either side.

Having lost their essence as "food," serving only as decoration.

"Thank you for your invitation, beautiful lady as lovely as the moon, I also sincerely wish to admire your elegant dance from close by."

"It’s a pity that I just finished a rather dangerous task, my body hasn’t fully recovered, and today my feet are likely only fit to kiss the ground rather than dance with the moonlight."

"If you don’t mind, perhaps I can recommend a few good candidates for you, who I believe would not decline a dance with such a beautiful lady as you."

Gently declining.

Cornell sat in a chair upholstered with velvet cushions, gazing at the silhouette of the girl in a close-fitting gown gradually moving away, revealing her graceful figure.

He gently shook his head.

Although he was no longer young, he was not like some of his fellow apprentices in the laboratory who seemed to devote their entire lives to arcane magic.

His physical condition, due to years of care, was even better than that of most professionals.

He was not some ascetic monk requiring abstinence.

He didn’t mind indulging a little in his desires after a grueling task.

And the beautiful girl with a clear and gentle voice, pleasant features, whose air and speech betrayed good upbringing, matched his aesthetic quite well.

Under regular circumstances, such as a chance encounter on the street or after a heroic rescue in the traditional sense.

He likely wouldn’t avoid the opportunity for close contact with her.

But things were different now.

At the moment, Cornell was at a high-end banquet celebrating the upcoming Moon Feast held in a mansion in the city center.

Most attendees were nobles with titles, city officials, and some wealthy merchants and magnates.

While it was possible the girl simply admired his looks and aura, if her intentions weren’t pure and she was connected with other influential figures at the banquet...