"A dinner?" Bloed furrowed his brows when he heard the butler's words.
"Yes, young master Bloed. Our master invited you tonight to thank you for saving his daughter."
Bloed frowned. His first reaction was to reject him, however, he thought better afterward.
Bloed knew a bit about politics, and rejecting the invitation of a city lord without a good excuse was not a good idea.
He looked at Regina beside him and used their mental link to ask for her opinion.
[What do you think?]
[… I'll follow master's decision.]
Bloed smiled wryly. That was not a very useful opinion.
In the end, he heaved a sigh and nodded to the butler.
"I understand, tell the city lord we will be there for tonight. By the way, can I bring another person?"
"Is it miss Liu Ying? No problem, the city lord's invitation is also for her."
After the butler left, Bloed told Liu Ying about the invitation and asked her if she wanted to go. Liu Ying seemed reluctant at the start, but in the end, she agreed.
Anyway, she was getting bored of staying in the house.
It was soon night, and the time for the dinner approached. Bloed and the girls rented a carriage and took it to the city lord's mansion.
For tonight, the three of them were dressed elegantly. Bloed was wearing a black cape with a light blue shirt and dark blue pants. His blue eyes were shining brightly, and his hair was combed elegantly, giving him the vibe of a handsome young master.
Regina wore a grey dress with golden flowers embroidered in the sleeves. The golden flowers were of the same golden as her eyes. On her neck, she was wearing the necklace Bloed gifted her. Regina was already very beautiful, but she was even more stunning tonight.
As for Liu Ying, she was dressed rather simply. A light red sleeveless dress without decorations with a red rose in her hair. Strangely, though, these simple clothes brought forth Liu Ying's fiery beauty. She was even as beautiful as Regina, in a different way.
When the group of three arrived in the city lord's mansion, all the people that saw them were briefly stunned.
"Bloed, here!" They were greeted by the city lord's daughter, Erika, Once they arrived. She walked towards them followed by Sara. Both of them were dressed adequately for the occasion, with a blue and a gray dress respectively. Unfortunately, they were greatly overshadowed by Regina and Liu Ying.
"Miss Erika, good night." Bloed greeted her back.
Erika smiled brightly. She then started searching behind Bloed, but when she failed to find Tito, she put on a disappointed expression.
"Tito is not with you?"
"Well, it was not appropriate to bring him on an occasion like this."
In truth, Tito and Leto had been put in Regina's storage equipment. Tito and Leto were Bloed's armor and weapons, so he was not planning to come to a potentially dangerous place without them.
"Is it so?" Erika slumped her shoulders. But then, she seemed to remember something and put on a curious expression. "By the way, I saw Tito turning into an armor yesterday. He can do it?"
"He can." Bloed admitted it frankly. Anyway, many people had seen it already. "Tito is a special kind of lifeform that can turn into armor at will."
Liu Ying rolled her eyes hearing Bloed lying so easily.
The group entered the city lord's mansion and followed Erika to the dining room. Once there, they met with the city lord and Gerald, who were already seated in the table.
"Bloed, nice to meet you again." Gerald stood up with an enthusiastic smile. Almost instantly, though, he was captivated by Regina and Liu Ying's looks. "M-Miss Regina and Miss Liu Ying too, nice to meet you."
Liu Ying smiled slightly in reply but Regina ignored him completely, making Gerald a bit awkward.
Bloed could not help but cough briefly. "How are you, young master Gerald? Thank you for inviting us tonight. Also, city lord, nice to meet you."
"Mm." The city lord just nodded.
Gerald smiled awkwardly seeing it, but as the city lord's son, he knew what to do next. So, he invited the group to the table.
Bloed and the others sat down.
The dining room was decorated luxuriously, with many delicious-looking dishes, and silver cutlery. The tableware was made of an expensive-looking crystal, and the tables and chairs were decorated with magic beasts' leather.
To describe it with one word, it would be 'expensive'.
However, neither Bloed nor the girls were surprised by this. The three of them were people used to living in luxury, so this dinner was a most just slightly extravagant.
The city lord did not talk at all for a while. Instead, he observed the group of three carefully.
But when the group started to eat, he frowned.
Of the three of them, none seemed satisfied with the food.
Although Bloed hid it very well, it was obvious that he found the food's taste lacking. Regina and Liu Ying, on the other hand, frowned openly.
In other words, the three of them were used to eat better food than this.
"How is the food, Bloed?" To confirm his suspicions, the city lord asked.
Bloed smiled. "It's good. Just a bit different than the food I'm used to."
"Is it so?" The city lord nodded, confirming his earlier conjecture. "That is good. Right, I have a question. I heard you are called Bloed Norman. However, I have never heard of the Norman surname in the surrounding countries. Is it perhaps from a faraway place?"
"Very far away." Bloed replied without pausing. "Norman is not a common surname, so it's normal if you have not heard about it."
"So you are not from this country, huh. How did you finish here?"
"Well, my mother asked me to leave and explore the world. Calice city is just one of my stops."
The city lord nodded and did not ask anything else.
Bloed, however, was wary. It was obvious that the city lord was interested in their origins.
Although Bloed did not show it in his face, he had started to wonder if anything was wrong. Of course, there was the possibility that the city lord was simply interested in the people that saved his daughter, however, it was not wrong to be cautious.
Fortunately, the city lord did not ask anything else after that. So Bloed soon relaxed.
The rest of the dinner passed without anything interesting. Only Erika asked them some things occasionally. In truth, Erika was talking mainly to Bloed, which displeased Regina.
That detail was quickly caught by Gerald. He put on a pensive expression and looked at Regina.
"Miss Regina, are you and Bloed lovers?"
For an instant, the atmosphere froze.
...
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