I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 228

Although I had lost all interest in staying after the announcement, I remained at the dinner banquet for the remainder of their festivities as a show of politeness. I didn’t just represent myself, but there was also the Capala family that hadn’t otherwise come, and then the headmistress who had invited me. If I didn’t maintain propriety, I could risk causing trouble for them. Thankfully, I had already learned about most of these faux pas since becoming the young lord of the Capala family.

It wasn’t all bad; the food they put out was top-tier delicacies for paragons. It was a type of sage beast meat basted in various herbs and spices collected from mystic plants. As a result, the food was filled with passive energy and would likely help low-tier paragons progress in their evolutionary path. These were the kinds of things reserved for paragon families. Individual isomers would only very rarely taste sage beast meat or mystic plants.

These items were still rare enough that even paragon families only brought them out for celebrations, but that still meant they got to enjoy them monthly if not weekly. That was just one more reason that the paragon families tended to excel over their isomer counterparts. Of course, I had no shortage of sage beast meat. After the massacre on the mountain, I had collected several corpses, including the wyvern. That didn’t mean I knew how to cook or season the meat properly, so I was interested in the taste, both for improving my own taste buds and improving my ability to cook.

Thus, I used the opportunity to experiment with taste, which was probably my least developed sense. Thankfully, it appeared to be a paragon family tradition to openly talk about the various foods and rate them out loud.

“Mmm, I believe this is bilge boar meat, seasoned in dragon’s breath, and starlight sage.”

“It has a sweet flavor with a sharp tinge. Is that perhaps immortal spice?”

“No, that must be mooncaste rosemary. Immortal spice would be more pungent.”

I took in countless conversations that sounded like this, although I couldn’t help but wonder if everyone’s conversations were so artificially sophisticated to make up for their lack of personality. I had spent plenty of time in bars to know the conversations between commoners and even paragon mercenaries to be quite colorful. However, when it came to paragon families, they seemed to spend their lives obsessing over maintaining power and evolving. It was to the point I wondered if they left room for anything else.

These people lacked hobbies. They couldn’t discuss their evolutionist training or skills, or they might be benefiting other houses indirectly. Thus, they have no choice but to discuss vapid and useless things like the weather or frivolous gossip.

“Did you hear about the young Capala lord? Rumor is that he has seduced the young lady of the Lou family.”

I nearly jumped, then I heard that one.

“Destiny Lou? Why would a girl like her have any interest in a useless commoner?”

“He’s a commoner no longer. I heard word that he passed the botany exam.”

“Botany! You’re telling me he is a skilled botanist? At his age?”

“Young women like intelligent men. I also heard Diana Stride speaking about him. She says the alchemy guild is talking about recruiting him. Do you still think he’s a commoner?”

“But why is he in trouble with Lady Capala then?”

“Well, she isn’t here, is she? I heard he came with Veronica Domini instead of his fiancée. I suspected he was in trouble, but he’s not with the headmistress?”

“Of course not! It must have been Sammuel who begged her to bring him. That drunken louche just wants a drinking buddy. However, did you see her with him earlier? They’re clearly a thing, and Lady Capala has no clue!”

I let out a breath of relief. I was going to say that their ability to discern information was unparalleled if they managed to already guess my relationship with Fate, but they were apparently misunderstanding my relationship with Destiny instead. We were just acquaintances and nothing more. Still, there seemed to be a lot of rumors flying around about me. I had become the new hot topic in town.

I didn’t really take offense. There were dozens of rumors flying around about everyone. A man had even accurately guessed that Mistress Sci was Lady Giselle, noting that both women left the city to return to the capital around the same time, but he was quickly ridiculed by the others and nearly beaten up for suggesting the noble Lady Giselle might be masquerading as the mistress of the green palace.

“You said this was a gift of the Stride family?” I heard Master Blanche speaking quietly.

I immediately focused my ears in that direction, determined to hear everything they were saying.

“Yes, they delivered it privately a short time ago,” a servant answered.

“This… they really provided exactly what we need. Put it in the treasury for now. Lord Frankford will be ecstatic when I give him this as a present for the groom.”

“Do we really want to give it away? It is an A-rank technique. The Stride family likely traded much to obtain it.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to keep it.” Master Blanche said uncertainly. “I feel like this technique might be a double-edged blade. Its arrival is a bit too perfect. The Stride family knows nothing of the situation we’re in, yet they sent such a provocative technique to our doorstep. I suspect that it is some kind of trap.”

“Perhaps, they had always intended for it to end up in Huntington’s hands?”

“If so, then that will be an issue between the Frankfords and the Strides. The safest thing that we can do is stay out of their business. We’ll be open on the source of the technique and leave it up to Huntington to decide for himself. Damn it! If that girl hadn’t been so willful, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation in the first place…”

“Are you ready to leave?”

My eyes flashed in irritation as someone spoke right in front of me, causing me to lose my focus on their conversation. They were already moving as they spoke, so it was already difficult to hear them, but the distraction was enough that I lost them for good. When I glanced up, I was surprised to see Headmistress Domini looking down on me with her hand on her hip. I quickly smoothed out my irritation with a smile.

“I thought you had abandoned me.” I grinned.

“Did I interrupt something?” She asked with a frown. “I think your initial face was probably truer to your real feelings. A hint of advice, not all women like a handsome smile.”

“Well, at least you admit my smile is handsome,” I smirked wider, causing her face to flush slightly. “I’ve also found that women rarely know what they like or dislike, and it always depends on who is giving it to them.”

As I spoke, I couldn’t help but wonder why she was willing to approach Sammuel. I turned to my side to find that his head was on the table and he appeared to be passed out, his hand still grasping the last refill of wine. When I looked back, I noticed Headmistress Domini looking at him with tight lips as well before turning back to me.

“I invited you here. Unless the situation has changed, you were staying in the Capala mansion to avoid being attacked. Now that half the city knows you’re here, you are likely to be attacked again on the way back to the Capala mansion. I will escort you home to avoid any trouble.”

“Actually, Sammuel appears to be unconscious. Someone needs to take him home.”

“The guards will just throw this drunken slouch on the street.” Her expression flickered with coldness. “You don’t need to worry. He’s used to it.”

I smiled awkwardly. “We’re friends. How can I leave knowing what will happen if I don’t?”

Her expression turned serious as she stared at me. “Are you sure? Is a mere friend really worth your life?”

“My life is harder to snuff out than you think.” I chuckled. “I appreciate your protection, but I’d be no friend at all if I did nothing. If you were ever in trouble, I might do the same.”

“If I were ever in such trouble. I would never want you to…” She stiffened.

“And yet…” I shrugged. “I still have to try.”

She nodded slowly and then glanced over at Sammuel. “In that case, make sure they know what you did… take this louche with you.”

She spun around and then, after saying farewell to a few choice people, headed out of the banquet hall. At this point, people began to leave. It appeared like the banquet had reached its end. I eventually glanced down at Sammuel.

“How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?” I asked.

He chuckled, his body remaining in place as he spoke. “Veronica was glancing this way. She was worried about you, but far too proud to approach when she thought she might have to talk with me. She seems to like you.”

“Me? I don’t see it.”

“And you seem to like me too. I didn’t realize we had become such close friends.”

I snorted. “If you think you were the friend we were talking about, you have too much wax in your ears. Come, it’s time for us to break in.”