novelonline Chapter 2796 Afternoon Tea Party
Chapter 2796 Afternoon Tea Party
Chapter 2796 Afternoon Tea Party
"Even if it's not to make tonight's operation more convenient, investigating the group that attempted to overthrow the Southern Kingdom's regime is also to consider whether their death will have an impact on the current situation. In Tobesk City, I asked Carina to help get some information about Lady Shatara and Sir Wayne from MI6, but at present, there is no doubt about the two except that their early experiences cannot be found.
Miss Bell, have you figured out the itinerary of these two people today? Is there any chance for me to meet them? For example, a Rhodes card game or something. "
The witch apprentice whose name was mentioned immediately took out her notebook:
"There is no Rhodes card game for now, but there are other opportunities. We are very lucky. Madam Chatara and Sir Wayne will both attend a tea party this afternoon. The tea party is organized by Mr. Ronan, the mayor of Vista City. He has invited local famous wealthy businessmen to discuss the expansion of the local train station next spring."
"What a coincidence that they are all here? Could it be that group of people are going to cause some trouble?"
Shade asked again, and Miss Bell lowered her head and turned back a page in her notebook:
"Miss, you got the information from Her Royal Highness Margaret. The Gray Gloves have already found out that the target of the Derinor Restorationists gathering in Vista City is the royal family. Therefore, the agents speculate that their actions today are related to Prince William of Anjou."
"I've got the invitation, but it's not in my name this time. I'm not a businessman. It's thanks to Sylvia's connections. Her business is booming now."
Flora said, and Shade nodded:
"That's fine. I'll go to the tea party this afternoon. Who's willing to be my female companion?"
Flora originally thought that since she had been going out with Shade so often recently, Miss Danister would have a problem with staying in the hotel all the time. After all, people who stayed behind would indeed feel bored. However, she did not expect that the red-haired girl would not speak at the first time. Instead, she waited for a few seconds until she saw that she did not speak before she said to Shade:
"Let Flora follow you. She is more familiar with this kind of social occasions with ordinary people than I am."
The witch was touched by the solid friendship between the two, but Shade asked hesitantly:
"Miss Danister, you are not secretly studying how to activate the door to 1821 while we are away, are you?"
Then the rose-red eyes looked at him:
"Although I may have done something behind your back in order to see the teacher again, I wouldn't do something so dangerous alone, right? Xia De, do you really think I'm only eighteen?"
Judging from her tone, it was indeed a girl talking to her close friend in a reproachful manner.
The scale of the afternoon tea party hosted by Mayor Ronan was larger than Shad had imagined. The participants included not only the local wealthy businessmen mentioned by Miss Bell and socialites like Mrs. Chatala, but even members of the local church were invited.
It seems that Vista City Hall attaches great importance to the expansion of the local railway station.
Because they were not using their own identities, Shade and Flora put on some makeup and disguises after lunch, and used witch's eye shadow before setting off.
The location of the afternoon tea party was in the city hall, which was also located in the center of Vista. However, when the two of them arrived in front of the city hall in a carriage, they found that many people holding banners were gathered there.
When Shade jumped off the carriage, he took a look and found that they were protesting against today's afternoon tea party. This was not because they hated the gathering of wealthy businessmen, but because people seemed to think that the purpose of expanding the local railway station was not to promote the prosperity of urban trade, but to enhance the ability to dispatch troops in the surrounding areas of Willendel, so as to better prepare for the next war.
"We don't want to become a military base for the kingdom!"
"We want peace, not war!"
"We don't want to be dragged into a world war by the warmongers of Willendel!"
"Riverwood never needed a king!"
Some of them even shouted out some pretty remarkable words.
The crowd gathered here was far less than the number of people from both countries who marched that Shad saw during the Green Lake negotiations, but considering that there were not many local residents, the fact that they could gather here was very telling.
Although they were protesting, they were very polite and did not harass the merchants who were preparing to attend the afternoon tea party. There was no need to enter through the main entrance. After Shade took Flora's hand and let her get off the carriage, he went directly into the town hall through the side door.
"But how did these citizens know the purpose of this afternoon tea party? Didn't Miss Bell say that this tea party was not made public at all because it involved fundraising and transactions between the City Hall and local merchants?"
Shade was still a little confused, but Flora, who was used to seeing the methods of businessmen and politicians, was not surprised:
"Of course it was leaked intentionally. Winter is getting closer and closer, and someone can't hold back any longer. But don't think that leaking the news to get people to gather is to oppose the war. I think it might be to stir up conflict. You'll know the situation in tomorrow's newspaper."
There was already a waiter waiting at the side door to lead the way. Xia De handed out the invitation, and Flora naturally took Xia De's arm. Although she had to disguise herself today, she still specially picked a very beautiful black and purple dress.
Most of her dresses are dark-colored, which is her own aesthetic characteristic.
The invitation that Miss Sylvia helped to obtain belonged to a "stocking marketer" that she had fabricated using a business partnership. This fictitious company had already obtained the exclusive sales rights for her beautiful products in the southern part of Delairium through her fictitious network, so it would definitely make a fortune in the future.
Of course, if they investigate further, they will find that this is a fraudulent company, and Margaret and Sylvia actually know nothing about this business partner, so no matter what Shad and Flora do with this identity, it will not affect them.
Afternoon tea parties are different from ordinary banquets, and the layout of the venue is naturally different from that of banquets. However, since Xia De and his companions were not here to attend the meeting, after entering the venue on the second floor of the east side of the City Hall, he only glanced at the Carsenrick flag hanging in the hall and the portrait of "Lion Ryan" hanging on the wall facing the gate, and then lost interest in continuing to observe:
"If I hadn't known that this tea party was to discuss the local railway station, I would have thought it was a draft pep rally."
The layout of the venue was indeed a bit too serious, which surprised Flora:
“So the construction of the Vista City train station wasn’t really intended to prepare for war, right?”
This is not impossible. If the kingdom needs to mobilize in the central part of Carsenrick, then the best place for the preparation and training of the recruited soldiers is the Vesta Forest. This place is large in area and sparsely populated. It is easy to hide and is not far from the king. It is said that the king of Carsenrick chose Willendel in the beginning, which is also related to the Vesta Forest.
In short, no matter what role the local train station wants to play, it is not something that Shade needs to worry about. The process of the afternoon tea party is very simple. After the guests arrived at around 2 o'clock, Mayor Ronan asked the servants to push a huge Vista Woodland sand table and put it in the center of the hall.
Then, the gentleman wearing a black silk hat, a monocle, and a beautiful mustache opened the reception in front of the sand table. He did not make any long speeches, but only encouraged everyone to contribute to the city of Vista.
When the free discussion session started, Xia De and Flora were still standing in front of the sand table, holding their tea cups. Although he had many local maps, this was the first time he had seen such a detailed sand table.
"To be honest, I prefer the black tea that Tifa makes for me."
Seeing that Shade was frowning, the gray-black-haired lady thought he was thinking about something important, so she laughed:
"Don't compare Jialina's head maid with others. That girl is considered excellent among all the apprentices of this generation. I remember you mentioned that your relationship with her seems to be more than just making tea."
She opened the decorative feather fan in her hand with a swish, covering her red lips that were raised because of her smile.
Although Lady Chatala and Sir Wayne had both appeared during the mayor's speech, they both left during the free exchange session to chat with acquaintances, so Shad had to wait a while before joining them.
With the identity given by Miss Sylvia, naturally many people who had heard about them gathered around and wanted to talk to Shade about the export business in the south of Draerion. Nowadays, the export of any goods will be controlled by the kingdom's policies, so everyone is short of channels.
Flora originally thought that Shad would be embarrassed by this, but unexpectedly, Shad could not only explain the types of goods and material characteristics of the space witch in detail, but he could even say a few words about the business environment in southern Draurion - Shad often heard Karina and Lecia talk about this.
He acted like a perfect businessman, and although he always tactfully avoided anything of practical significance when dealing with people, even Flora had to admit that he was a good actor.
When people had dispersed a little, Xia De, who had brought a cup of black tea, asked the witch with a smile:
"I'm doing pretty well, right?"
The latter nodded, but raised his eyebrows again:
"Come to think of it, I've never asked about Sylvia's inventions. She always said that they were not her own ideas, but the product of collaboration with others. The other people she's talking about here, aren't you again, right?"
"Yes."
"I find I'm not surprised at all, but young sir, what brought you to the idea of doing that kind of thing with Sylvia?"