Chapter 2296: Inspection, Letter, and Moonlight

Chapter 2296: Chapter 2296: Inspection, Letter, and Moonlight

Shard glanced at the Noble Lady speaking with Miss Belindel again:

"Why be cautious of her? I don’t even know her."

"Her reputation locally isn’t very good."

Mr. Benhart whispered:

"I’m not one to speak ill of others behind their backs, but her private life is truly chaotic."

"Rest assured, even though I... I’m not that kind of playboy."

Shard assured, unexpectedly, Mr. Benhart shook his head:

"I’m not telling you to worry about yourself, but to worry about Earl Belindel... That Miss Angrui Laise prefers ladies."

Shard suddenly understood, the Vampire Viscount raised an eyebrow:

"It’s not uncommon for nobles to have peculiar preferences, if she only liked one person, no one would say much. But she’s not a faithful person, and Earl Les has had quite a headache because of it."

"I’ll be careful, but your relatives are really... The Captain loves gambling, Mrs. Jude is gluttonous, Baron Chandler is greedy, Miss Les is deeply indulgent... Can you warn me in advance, what flaw does Marquis Mosen have?"

Mr. Benhart thought for a moment:

"That Marquis is relatively normal, doesn’t like card games, family is harmonious and there are no rumors of mistresses. Not fond of luxury goods, nor has habits like Mrs. Jude."

"But then?" ℴ

Shard said, Mr. Benhart gently shook his head:

"Yes, but this Marquis loves hunting."

"That sounds quite normal."

"Hunting is normal, but rumors say he enjoys killing prey in the most brutal ways, and the specimens, skulls hanging in his house, are all crafted by himself.

In comparison, it’s nothing. But I’ve heard, yes, heard, after all I’m not a person of Moon Bay, that anyone who has hunted with the Marquis and seen him handle prey never dares to hunt with him again."

"Marquis the Slayer."

Shard thus concluded, and Mr. Benhart didn’t oppose his view.

It wasn’t until eight-thirty that Marquis Mosen finally appeared in the banquet hall.

But with Mr. Benhart’s status, it was difficult to initiate a conversation with him, so Shard first introduced Miss Belindel to Mr. Benhart. Then, when Marquis Mosen approached the Countess, Mr. Benhart naturally shook hands with the Marquis and reached a shocking conclusion.

"It’s not him either."

Standing by the window, the surprisingly unsettled Armand Benhart’s hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly, indicating his inner panic:

"How can this be? I’ve checked all the local high-bloodline clans, and only these five people are the most suspicious. How could none of them be suspicious?"

"Either there are clans here you don’t know about, or your detection method is unreliable."

Shard and he gazed out at the manor’s night scenery, in recent days Moon Bay City hadn’t seen rain or snow, and correspondingly the night temperatures were a lot more normal, with many people strolling in the manor garden:

"As for exactly how... try a different method, please wait for me a moment, I’ll be back in a few minutes."

Saying this, he walked towards the corridor, and quickly returned to the banquet hall disguised as a ’cousin’. Amid the Noble Ladies’ suggestive smiles, he discreetly called Miss Belindel aside, reappearing ten minutes later in his stranger’s outfit to reconnect with Mr. Benhart.

The two continued standing by the window overlooking the manor garden at night:

"Of the five people, one has extremely strong anti-divination methods. Although the way you detect blood origin isn’t divination, if there are anti-divination methods present, then anti-bloodline tracing methods should exist as well, shouldn’t they?"

Shard asked, Mr. Benhart didn’t question how Shard got the conclusion but nodded in agreement:

"Then who is it? Captain Rudolf or Baron Chandler?"

Shard looked at him in surprise:

"You’re really perceptive. It’s not Captain Rudolf; he’s genuinely afraid of getting involved in troublesome matters. It’s Baron Chandler. The diviner who performed the ritual for me said that the anti-divination setup on him isn’t just to hide his tax evasion secrets.

Also, you don’t need to rush to find him now. I heard from the maid at the manor that he left the manor twenty minutes ago."

"Did we startle him?"

"No, we were successfully deceived by him. He must be quite pleased with himself now.

He left for personal reasons. His factory caught fire, and the person who delivered the message said it’s related to the ’Eternal Light.’ It seems the organized workers finally couldn’t bear it anymore. I don’t think this is something he set up to escape. Look to the southwest; your dark vision should be no worse than mine. Do you see the flames?"

Mr. Benhart squinted for a while, then slowly exhaled and emptied the red wine from his glass:

"So it was him. Tomorrow, I’ll take people to find him. No need for your help. Including Ptolemy, there aren’t few from the same clan who want to find this rule-breaking guy locally, and now I have a warrant from the Order; manpower is definitely not lacking.

This is our own matter; we’ll handle it ourselves. Of course, the information you need, we’ll definitely get it for you."

The lively banquet should have been an attractive place, but after drinking that glass of red wine, Mr. Benhart left in a hurry. Shard thinks he probably won’t sleep tonight, wanting to contact the vampires throughout Moon Bay and prepare for a battle that might involve the ’Dragon Feast Cult,’ which is definitely not an easy task.

Although Mr. Benhart doesn’t intend to let him participate, Shard still wants to join in the excitement. Since the attack is likely happening tomorrow morning, it will probably occur near Baron Chandler’s manor or factory.

Shard doesn’t know the exact time, but arriving there in advance shouldn’t be a problem.

Mr. Benhart’s departure also means Shard completed one task for the evening in this banquet. After bidding goodbye to Mr. Benhart, he switched back to his ’cousin’ attire and found Miss Belindel again.

Moving through the women in gowns and men in tailored suits, Shard didn’t feel the city’s widespread fear and unrest over ’the dragon and disaster.’ The piano’s soothing tunes continually echoed throughout the banquet hall, and even if Moon Bay were to be destroyed by disaster, these people would be the first to escape.

At this moment, the Countess was seated with Margaret in the rest area of the banquet hall, surrounded by the usual noble ladies and a few noble girls.

Such a welcome banquet isn’t a formal political event, which is why Margaret can sit down; otherwise, she usually has to maintain a smile and standing posture for several hours to tackle those dull conversations.

Of course, Lecia rarely has such troubles, given her exceedingly large family of siblings.

"You were quite long in the washroom this time."

Shard sat beside his female companion when she covered her mouth with a fan and laughed. The surrounding married women all laughed, and Shard explained:

"I just ran into a friend and talked for a bit. Ladies, what are you discussing? Do you mind if I join?"

They were certainly not discussing this summer’s fashion trends; those qualified to sit beside Margaret at this banquet were mostly ladies like Miss Belindel, who are involved in politics or at least representing certain figures.

Just now, Margaret was listening to the Earl of Hawthorn’s eldest daughter speak about the current construction progress of the Moon Bay Bridge. If everything goes smoothly, this bridge should be completed before winter, and there will be an invitation for royal family members to attend the completion ceremony.

After Shard sat down, he hadn’t found a chance to speak; he merely held his wine glass and used his peripheral vision to observe the people in the banquet hall.

And before the dance began at nine o’clock, finally, a manor maid carrying a letter walked up to Shard:

"Sir, a black-haired lady asked me to deliver this letter to you."

The white envelope bore no words, only a red lip imprint at the place where a wax seal should have existed. Upon opening it, there was just one line on the letter:

"I’m waiting for you in the garden."

Shard held his breath for a moment, then slightly tilted his body to the side to show the content of the letter to Miss Belindel. She affectionately tapped him:

"If you want to go, could I even stop you? Men only know how to fool around. When rejecting that girl, don’t be too harsh with your words."

Thus, under another round of laughter from the ladies, Shard took the letter and excused himself.

Weaving through the crowd at the banquet, exiting through the main door, he followed the gas-lit gravel path to the rear of the manor. Carefully avoiding disturbing couples secretly meeting amongst the flowers and sidestepping men clearly engaged in confidential conversations.

Eventually, in front of the angel-shaped fountain statue in Margaret’s manor’s rear garden, Shard slowed his pace and saw the black-haired girl standing with her back to him, her hands behind her back.

Her hair wasn’t styled in the elaborate fashion of most women attending the banquet today; it was simply tied with a hairband. The blue and white dress she wore, despite being relatively unadorned, harmonized beautifully with the summer flowers, and her posture gazing up at the moon inexplicably stirred a feeling of melancholy in Shard.

He gradually came to a stop, and he knew she sensed his arrival. Shard simply gazed at Miss Eles’s back, and she allowed his gaze upon her.

Moonlight cascaded with a faint glow from above the mist and clouds onto that black-haired girl. Sometimes Shard wondered whether the moon Chloe, Miss Feliana, Miss Violet, and others saw in the Fifth Era was the same as the one he saw in the Sixth Era.

This question was previously answered only by Grace and Helen, but now, there’s another girl who can unravel Shard’s mystery.