Mystery: But the Witch's Path

December 1346, 6

Backlund is also starting to get lively. It's the month for the 'nobles' of the Kingdom of Rune to hold their banquets.

Nowadays, almost every nobleman's estate hosts at least one party every day.

By showcasing their "family wealth" through a series of grand banquets, which consume a great deal of manpower and resources, each banquet features a wide variety of "exotic" delicacies or rare foods, demonstrating the family's prosperity to the outside world.

This has resulted in me receiving a huge number of banquet invitations every day, and if I don't attend, I have to reply to express my "apology".

At first, Altair could manage, but when even she and her two maids couldn't keep up with the replies using their "typewriters," she simply handed the job over to Hahn and hired several people specifically to handle replying to the invitations.

Even if Altair keeps refusing to attend the banquets and the number of invitations decreases, he will still continue to receive invitations for the "Banquet Month".

The "Banquet Month" ended three months later with the arrival of autumn.

During this period, Altair also needed to hold banquets regularly to publicize that 'Sheffield' still existed, so as not to be regarded by other nobles as 'fallen from grace' and excluded from the core social circle of the nobility.

Altair was completely clueless about such matters and could simply let Hahn arrange the banquet. However, considering the nature of such banquets, he took away the power to choose the guest list, allowing him to decide who to invite.

October 5th, afternoon.

Altair slightly lifted her skirt as she stepped down from the carriage, bowed to the person before her, and greeted them.

"Good day, Your Excellency Earl Donovan. It is my honor to dine with you tonight."

"Good day, Earl Sheffield. This lace dress complements your hair color perfectly; it's a wonderful choice."

Today, Altair still couldn't avoid attending the party at Owen Donovan's house. After all, he had helped him so much, and it wouldn't be easy for him to refuse.

.......

In this period, the formal way of greeting someone was to use "title + surname", while in informal situations, one could use "given name + title".

After exchanging greetings, Altair followed the servant's guidance and entered the manor.

"This must be Altair Sheffield." Following the voice, one could see a girl dressed in a light green dress, looking like an elf, but wasn't her skin a little too fair?

The girl looked at Altair Sheffield with a puzzled expression and spoke.

"I am Heather Grant, you should have heard of me."

Upon hearing the girl's answer, Altair remembered the identity of the person in front of him and said, "Good day, Countess Donovan."

To everyone's surprise, upon hearing this, the young woman immediately bowed solemnly and said, "Good day, Your Excellency, Countess of Sheffield."

This behavior left him completely embarrassed, unsure how to respond. "I addressed you respectfully because you're my elder! What do you mean by doing this to me?!"

Seeing Altair Sheffield's flustered state, Heather Grant stepped forward, took his hand, and said, "How are you feeling? Does it feel weird, like you don't know what to say? You were the one who did it first, now you're embarrassed."

"From now on, you can just call me 'Heather' or 'Mrs. Donovan'."

"I don't really like younger people because they show me too much respect due to my age, seniority, etc., which makes it difficult to maintain my own mindset."

Looking at the girl holding his hand, Altair's thoughts were churning. "No, not big sister! Judging by your age, you're at least forty. But you seem younger than me in spirit."

Heather Grant, walking alongside Altair, said, "I've known about you for a long time, and I've wanted to meet you for ages. But your father wouldn't let me go to your house. But it's alright now, it's not too late to meet you."

"Come on, come on. You're the first one here today, so have some afternoon tea and chat with me first. It'll be quite a while before the banquet starts, so I'll introduce you to everyone after they arrive."

......

As the moon and sun rose and set, the guests arrived one after another, and the manor began to be filled with song and dance. During this time, Altair met many people through Heather's introduction.

Perhaps because of Heather's personality, most of the people she introduced to were young girls, most of whom were minors or had just come of age.

The older 'Heather' was also introduced, but only briefly, and the two were not closely related.

Because Altair had never attended such a banquet before, no one knew "him," nor did he know anyone else. He simply chatted with Heather and the others who weren't particularly interested in dancing, waiting for the banquet to begin.

The conversations mainly revolve around issues that most girls at this age would be concerned with, such as: what new desserts are out there, good cosmetics, and how to design beautiful clothes, etc.

Before dinner began, those in the household who knew Altair's identity began to inquire, intentionally or unintentionally, about the follow-up arrangements for the weapons and technology.

"Lord Earl of Sheffield, what are your thoughts on the weapons currently used by the army?"

Altair looked at the person in front of him, whom he did not recognize at all, and said, "Since Emperor Roselle promoted the reform of gunpowder technology and applied it to weapons, it marked the end of the era of 'close-range assault' in the cold weapon era, and instead developed into 'long-range firepower confrontation'. The armies of various countries could no longer win by relying on the advantage of numbers."

"When firearms become standard issue weapons for the armies of all countries, it becomes necessary to compete in terms of weapon technology. The side with superior technology will have the advantage."

Those around Altair nodded in agreement as they listened to his words, saying, "Indeed, the mode of warfare has changed since the rise of Emperor Roselle; modern warfare is dominated by technology."

"I wonder if you, Altair, are planning to open a factory for your 'new type of gunpowder' technology? If so, you could let us uncles and elders participate..."

........

As the banquet came to an end, Altair boarded his carriage to go home, having successfully achieved his purpose in attending the event.

He spread the word through banquets that he was planning to open a factory. When the time was right, he would hold another banquet and invite people to attend, waiting for them to give him gifts.

Eating alone is not a good thing, not to mention that your teeth aren't very good.

Even with help, one may not be able to handle everything. It is wise to give up some "benefits" in exchange for other "benefits".

Moreover, even if someone has no reason to help you unconditionally, isn't the thought still the same—wanting to sit at the table and eat?

It's better to give it voluntarily than to be forced to, and this is just a little bit of "breadcrumbs" in the future plan.