The First Magic World War-Chapter 208 - 205, Whale Hunting and Lion Pills

Charles felt so drowsy watching the performance.

This period was even more exhausting than his duel with Retainer Lamarlock.

Emperor Alfred Guillaume, however, seemed quite thrilled and even bestowed some gold pounds on the dancers on the spot. Unfortunately, a bunch of ministers were dissuading him; otherwise, he would have liked the troupe to perform a couple more times.

After struggling through it, Charles was about to take his leave when he heard Emperor Alfred Guillaume say, "Lord Mekelen, does Fars also have similar dance troupes?"

Charles thought to himself, "Even if we did, I wouldn’t know!"

"Such an extravagant song and dance troupe that no one but the Royal Family could afford, I’ve seen one in England, but in Fars, when would I ever get the chance to come across such a thing?" Explore stories at novelbuddy

Just as he was about to reply, he suddenly felt countless eyes fall upon him.

The ministers from England all fixed their gaze on Charles, putting him under immense pressure. Charles could only give a wry smile and said, "In Fars, I am but a mere head of the Patrolling Army, not high-ranking enough to have seen such lavish spectacles."

This response greatly satisfied the senior officials of England, and Charles felt the pressure on him lessen somewhat.

Emperor Alfred Guillaume expressed his regret, "That’s right, your status is not high enough, it’s a pity I can only appoint you to an office in England and can’t promote your position in Fars."

"You must strive harder, Lord Mekelen."

Charles dared not respond; was this an encouragement for him to probe into Fars’ affairs and report to the Emperor of England? Wasn’t that akin to being a high-level spy? If he did a good job, he could be hanged, and the charge would not be taken any more lightly than summoning the Evil God.

He was in a split...

Probably his body would end up in a split as well...

Emperor Alfred Guillaume said contentedly to the officers around him, "Alright, don’t stare so at Lord Mekelen; I shall return to the Red Dragon Palace now, to deal with those state affairs."

He patted Charles on the shoulder, saying, "I will summon you again in a few days!"

Charles felt as if his shoulder was weighed down by a primordial beast -- not a mental pressure, but a physical one. He was shocked to realize, "Emperor Alfred Guillaume is at least of the Sacred Order."

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The Emperor departed with a group of ministers in tow.

Charles waited a good while before he prepared to leave, but was stopped by Aurora, who called out, "Mister Mecklen, you’ve truly been through a lot today."

Charles took a deep breath and circulated the power of Bloody Glory to drive away the physical oppression left by Emperor Alfred Guillaume. He managed a faint smile and said, "I did receive a generous reward, didn’t I?"

Aurora said, "Let me take you out to dinner as a way to thank you."

Charles readily agreed, "I have no problem with that."

The two of them got off the Notruden Bridge, and Aurora, not taking a carriage, took Charles by foot to a restaurant on the banks of the Severn Tisse River. This restaurant was exquisitely decorated, extending over the water on the side facing the river, allowing guests seated there to enjoy their meal while admiring the beautiful view of the Severn Tisse River.

Aurora ordered a few authentic Englimar dishes, and Charles had thought that a high-class restaurant like this one wouldn’t serve food that was too bad, even though Englimar cuisine was notoriously unpalatable.

But he realized he was wrong when the first course arrived.

The dish consisted of a mushy basin of mashed vegetables, around which fried fish heads were arranged. Not to mention the presentation, the smell alone was rather off-putting, with each fish head staring out with bulging eyes as if to communicate to the guests how pitifully they had died and that they couldn’t rest in peace even on the dinner table.

The second course seemed normal enough, a gigantic pork knuckle—but the preparation was rather unusual. Charles prodded it with his dinner knife and confirmed it was raw.

Aurora explained, "This is our famous Englimar dish, salted pork hand. It uses no seasoning other than salt and is not cooked. Instead, it is coated with salt and left to air dry. Then it must be stored in a cave, to develop a unique flavor—often taking years to produce a single piece."

Encouraged by Aurora, Charles cut off a small piece and tried a bite, only to find his tongue going numb from the saltiness.

As the following courses were served, and upon trying each one with Aurora’s introduction, Charles felt that few things in the world could be more painful, even more so than watching classical dances at the Emperor’s side.

He had known that Englimar cuisine was terrible, but he didn’t expect it to be this bad. Each dish used quality ingredients, but their preparations were mind-boggling, with creativity that seemed to soar beyond the heavens—it would be nearly impossible for a normal person to make something so inedibly inventive.

As Aurora casually brought up dueling, Charles was putting all his effort into dealing with the "hard dishes" and couldn’t afford to be distracted. Seeing that he had no interest in duelling, Aurora changed the subject, saying, "What do you think of His Majesty’s dance troupe?"

Charles, having just managed to swallow a bite of salted pork hand, replied, "I always feel it’s strange to have a dance troupe but no assassination attempts."

"Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t a princess with a genocide grudge be making her appearance as a female assassin?"

Aurora couldn’t help but laugh out loud, "An assassin? Do you know how many members of the Sacred Order are at His Majesty’s side? Probably more than Fars has invested in Ferlanden. If an assassin appeared, it’s likely not just the assassin, but the organization the assassin came from, the patrons who hired the assassin—all would be uprooted."

Charles exclaimed, "There was more than one Sacred Order member present today?"

He had never actually seen what it was like when the Emperor traveled.

But upon reflecting on the young Emperor, it made sense that the protection around him was stronger. That should be normal. However, Charles couldn’t help but secretly sneer, "With the Emperor’s formidable strength, probably not many on the Old Continent can compare. Does he really need any protection?"

Meanwhile, the Fars embassy was bustling with activity. Charles had not returned, but Taoles, Anatasiya, and Belisa had, and they brought back Charles’ spoils of war—the Knight’s Spear of Ban Lanmalock.

Since he had to meet the Emperor, of course, Charles couldn’t carry any weapons. His unicorn, Blood Rose, the Magic Stabbing Sword given by Aurora, as well as the Withering Rose and the Knight Lance Collapse Mountain, were all taken back by Taoles and the others.

Everyone at the embassy was passing around the Knight’s Spear of Ban Lanmalock, which was quite famous in Notruden and called the Whale Slayer. It was said that when Count Ranmalock was young, he had used this spear to kill a giant whale, hence the name.

Later, as Count Ranmalock’s cultivation improved, he switched to a Knight’s Spear more suited to his stature, and the Whale Slayer was passed down to his son, Ban Lanmalock.

Armed with the Knight’s Spear, Ban Lanmalock had defeated over a hundred opponents in duels, earning the spear another nickname, Lion’s Bulge, also symbolizing the status of Notruden’s youngest lion.