Benjamin, Skira, and Ritzy were walking together to a pre-war banquet to wish for good luck in the upcoming war. Following behind them were their personal knights except Skira's.
Skira didn't have a personal knight to guard him because Grasso, Skira's father, is trying to impress people by having as many guards as he can have so he can try to impress people. He wants to show that he needs many knights to protect him even when its only a party.
They were all dressed fashionably for the occasion. Ritzy had a unique yellow suit that demonstrated power, Skira had a white suit with gems to show he was a higher wealthy class, Benjamin had a brown and white suit that presented himself as a wise person.
The knights had a light color armor with bold red triangle flags on their chests showing the family flag that they belong to.
As they continued walking, they saw a beautifully decorated tents that were intricately connected together to create one massive tent. The tents were outlined with many different kinds of flowers and temporary but still eye-pleasing fences.
On the entrance to the tent were many knights on guard and taking names to see who was allowed in.
Many of the nobles were lined up to go inside. Many of the nobles were men and any women present were being ogled by the men.
Since they were heading to war, women weren't assigned to go unless they were high-level mercenaries, magicians, or they provided a special service like nurses. The women were the only ones allowed to go to the banquet no matter the status since there were so few of them. Plus, they didn't even have to wait in line for identification.
Getting closer, people saw the young crowd that consisted of Ritzy's group. Skira was currently leading them straight to the front of the line and straight into the entrance.
One of the nobles was getting angry that a couple of youngsters were skipping the line so he was about to go talk to them.
Luckily his friend put his arm in front of the noble and said in a hushed but serious tone,
"Don't do it, don't you see the emblem on the guy leading them and the one with the brown suit?".
The noble started looking closer and realized what he almost done.
"Oh thank god, I didn't notice it was the Benedire child and Cinghiale child. A second longer I would've reprimanded them. Luckily you saved me. If it wasn't for you, I could've been executed for enraging a higher noble".
Commoners aren't the only ones scared of nobles. Nobles are scared of higher nobles.
Once they got to the entrance, the guards quickly let them pass through as they bowed and said in unison,
"We greet Vice-Captian Benjamin!".
The knights completely ignored Skira but Skira understood. In reality, he was glad they greeted Benjamin first. As Skira is a lower noble, he should never be mentioned first before the higher nobles. If an occurrence like that occurs, the higher noble can see this as an upfront in retaliation. That the lower noble doesn't recognize him as a fellow noble and as a higher rank person.
Not recognizing a noble's position is the greatest taboo one can commit. It can result in a gruesome death and the stripping of one's title. If one title is low enough, the higher noble can even strip nobility from their entire family.
Letting them go through, the knights ignored Skira and Ritzy. They clearly recognized who they were since Skira and Ritzy are unique and high-ranking enough but protocol made them not to.
Inside, they were greeted by a female servant in a beautiful and revealing uniform. Even though there was a female deficiency, the kingdom would still provide women to work as distractions.
It's long be learned that men can't be too long far away from women so kingdoms deemed women as necessities for the war effort.
Servant,
"Right this way gentlemen, since your all high ranking people from the machinery division. You'll be seated together with the Captain".
The servant recognize each and everyone one of them because they were prime targets. Meaning that women who came to this banquet were targeting Benjamin, Ritzy, and Skira.
They were being targeted for many reasons. First of all, they were the heirs to the highest-ranking nobles in the kingdom. Even Ritzy the lowest ranking heir had a very desirable nobility rank. In the entire kingdom, there were only 10 marquess. Meaning that there were only very few people higher ranking than them.
The second reason was they were young men. Young people are known for easily being doped so many women find it desirable to have a boyfriend they can control easily while also the boyfriend has great power.
The final reason is that they were attractive men. Most of the people in the Banquet were experienced men so they were already in their mid-thirties on average. They couldn't really compare to the vibrant handsome youngsters.
The servant led them to a grand dining table. The table was many meters long and could hold more than 20 people on each side. On the table were many fruits that anybody could grab to satisfy their hunger while they wait for the main meal.
Soon they arrived at their spot on the table. The servant pulled out a chair so Benjamin could sit easily.
Two power-hungry female servants saw their opportunity and quickly grabbed the other chairs. They pulled out the chairs and showed beautiful smiles.
At the same time, they said with a high pitch voice to look cute,
"Please take a seat gentlemen".
Ritzy was a bit surprised by their hospitality but quickly ignored it. He felt that they were trying to honeypot them like back in his days while he was an assassin, but he ignored it and wrote it off as noble treatment.
Once they sat down, the girls didn't leave. The girls started flirting with them instead.
The girl next to Benjamin gave a cutesy smile and showed a bit of cleavage.
Servant 1,
"If I'm not wrong, you are Benjamin, right? No, you must be Benjamin. Who else has such a strong body and manly jaw".
The servant already knew it was Benjamin but for more obvious reasons. Benjamin was the only young person that was dual blessed in the entire camp. She just wanted to use compliments to dupe him.
Hering her words, Benjamin was enchanted. He showed an innocent smile and continued conversing with her.
Skira was faring no better as well. The servant next to him was now sitting on his lap and feeding him grapes.
Servant 2 said in a cutesy voice,
"Aww don't bite to fast, you'll accidentally bite me. Here, go one by one slowly".
She started speaking sensually,
"Enjoy the grapes. Feel the juices squirt out with every bite. It's about enjoying yourself".
She gave a little giggle to pretend that she barely realized what she said sounded sexual.
The third servant saw all the girls already taking their shots so she started as well. She slowly walked closely around Ritzy while her fingertips dragged on Ritzy's arm. Arriving behind Ritzy, she wrapped her arms around Ritzy and pressed her bosom on the back of Ritzy's head.
She said slowly but in an enticing voice,
"Ritzy, Ritzy is such a"
She dragged out the next word,
"Deeeep"
She then went back to enticing,
"Name. What does it mean?".
Ritzy was now sure that they were trying to seduce him so he decided to end the charade.
Ritzy said in a toneless and bored voice
"It means cool in an expensive way. Sorry but I gotta end this conversation"
Ritzy then turned to Skira and Benjamin but spoke in an apologetic tone,
"Sorry Skira and Benjamin, I will be right back. I got some business to do".
Servant 1, 2, and 3 said in unison in a depressed tone,
"Awww".
The servants would fight each other tooth and nail to catch a man but if they already caught someone. They would help each other.
Skira and Benjamin were about to say something but then they started thinking. They thought that Ritzy wanted to go to the restroom so they didn't say anything and let him go with a simple goodbye.
Leaving, Ritzy found he had nothing to do so he decided to walk around. Walking around, he saw that many of the high ranking nobles and attractive nobles were being honey potted by servants. The less attractive ones and lower-ranking nobles were going over to the regular women and fawning over them. Trying to get a good standing with them.
Feeling a bit endangered by the scene before him, Ritzy decided to activate his magic presence. He wanted to be on guard just in case of anything. Ritzy was used to the idea of no one ever knows what can happen. It's best to be overprepared than underprepared.
Ritzy left the tent but was still inside the fenced area. It seemed like a designated area for people to get fresh air without leaving. Sadly though, there were more tents that were separated from the main tent. As he walked out further, his magic presence sensed what was inside the tents.
Inside people were committing adulteries. The tents were big enough to stand in comfortably but disconnected, unlike the main tent. It served as separate rooms so people can do private actions.
Disgusted, Ritzy placed less mana in the air so the magic presence radius could be lowered. Finally, not seeing anything sensual or hearing anything disturbing, he was finally in peace.
Enjoying the peace and quiet, he looked at the stars in the sky.
Ritzy,
"Huh, I can't believe this is my first time truly admiring the stars. I can't believe I lived my whole two lives so busy that I almost ignored even the simple thing of enjoying the scenery. I gotta enjoy my second chance more".