Chapter 51 : Chapter 51
Chapter 51.The Drunkard
Inside the auction hall, the atmosphere was so heated it nearly lifted the roof.
One gilded parchment contract after another was solemnly signed.
《Northern Territory Railway Phase I Investment Letter of Intent》.
《Winter City Mineral Joint Development Agreement》.
《Magitech Talent Introduction Cooperation Treaty》.
Grayson, the Financial Director, could not stop smiling. His face, usually tight from constant calculations, had blossomed into a wrinkled grin like an old chrysanthemum in full bloom. He held the final statistical ledger as if he were cradling a newborn infant and drifted unsteadily toward Sylvia.
His voice trembled.
“Your Highness… the first phase… the total investment… thirty-two million three hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins!”
The moment that number was announced, the entire hall fell silent for a second.
Thirty-two million three hundred thousand!
With that amount of money, not only could the impoverished Northern Territory be revitalized, it would even be enough to repave the entire Winter City with gold!
In Sylvia’s usually calm silver-gray eyes, a tidal wave of ecstatic joy surged instantly. Her tightly pressed lips could no longer hold back as they curved upward uncontrollably.
All the long-standing pressure, scheming, and exhaustion she had endured transformed into pure happiness at this moment.
She suddenly raised her hand, and her clear voice rang throughout the hall.
“Tonight, the Duke’s Manor will host a banquet!”
“No one leaves until they are drunk!”
…
Night fell, and the celebration banquet dispelled the chill of Winter City.
The banquet hall of the Duke’s Manor was illuminated as bright as day by brilliant magitech lamps. Long tables were covered with steaming roasted meat, delicate pastries, and bottles of expensive “Moonlight Wine.”
Sylvia made a rare exception and invited everyone.
Victor, the core general of her faction, Grayson who was still trembling with excitement, and the young mage Aaron.
Even Alectos and Alice, who were regarded as “special allies,” as well as Lilith, who was still nominally a “servant,” were invited to take their seats.
Logaris originally felt that such a noisy occasion was simply a waste of life and had been preparing to find an excuse to slip back to his laboratory.
The moment he turned around, however, a warm hand firmly grabbed his wrist.
“Logaris.”
Sylvia had somehow appeared behind him, wearing a smile that allowed no refusal.
“You are the greatest contributor today. Where do you think you are going?”
Logaris pushed up his glasses and attempted to reason with her.
“My research has reached a critical—”
“Your research can wait.” Sylvia tightened her grip slightly and dragged him directly toward the main seat. “The celebration banquet cannot proceed without you.”
Logaris was forcibly seated beside Sylvia. Surrounded by the lively atmosphere, he felt uncomfortable all over.
The banquet began, and the mood quickly reached its peak.
Veterans like General Victor and Grayson raised their glasses with reddened eyes as they reminisced emotionally. They had witnessed decades of decline in the Northern Territory and had never imagined they would live to see such brilliant hope.
The demi-human prince Alectos found this kind of warm, human celebration banquet extremely novel. Holding his wine glass, he listened seriously to every speech, his face full of longing.
Alice, on the other hand, showed absolutely no awareness of being a guest. While scanning the hall with a gaze that clearly said, “The pomp of nobles is truly foolish and wasteful,” she shamelessly dragged a massive roasted beast leg onto her plate and devoured it until grease covered her mouth.
In the corner, Lilith looked as if the words “I came here to eat” were written across her face. Her cheeks bulged like a hamster hoarding food as she tried her best to eat enough before the banquet ended to make the trip worthwhile.
As for the star of the banquet, Sylvia, she completely discarded the calm and self-controlled mask of a politician she usually wore.
At first, she drank elegantly in small sips.
Later, she simply picked up the bottle and filled her own glass.
The schemes of the royal capital, the fierce verbal battles in the council, the life-and-death crisis aboard the magitech train, and the internal and external troubles after arriving in the Northern Territory…
Everything she had carried on her shoulders, every taut nerve in her body, was released completely at this moment along with the clear, burning liquor.
Her beautiful silver-gray eyes were now tinged with a hazy drunkenness. A charming blush spread across her pale cheeks, and her entire presence radiated a dazzling brightness that carried a dangerous edge.
After several rounds of toasts, Sylvia’s swaying figure finally locked onto the target beside her.
Logaris was holding a glass of juice that looked suspiciously similar to wine, clearly attempting to pass it off unnoticed.
“Loga.”
With a slightly arrogant smile, Sylvia swayed toward him like a lioness that had spotted its prey.
“You made the greatest contribution today. How can you not drink?”
Logaris sensed trouble. He quietly leaned his body backward and calmly explained.
“Alcohol interferes with the precision of thought. Tomorrow I still have twelve alchemical experiments and three spell model simulations.”
“Oh?”
Sylvia’s smile widened even further.
She did not listen at all.
In the next second, Logaris only felt a blur before his juice glass was snatched away.
As a fifth-tier knight, Sylvia’s strength revealed itself fully. With one hand, she grabbed both of Logaris’s wrists, leaving him unable to move.
Then she picked up a brand-new bottle of Moonlight Wine from the table, pulled out the cork, and poured it directly into Logaris’s mouth.
“Mm—!”
Logaris struggled in vain.
He was a mage devoted to theoretical research. In terms of physical strength, how could he possibly compete with a knight who trained intensively every day?
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, the most esteemed advisor of the Northern Territory, the genius archmage, was forcefully fed a large mouthful of wine by their noble princess as if he were being given medicine.
The strong liquor made him cough violently. Wine stains splashed across his normally immaculate formal attire, leaving him in a rather miserable state.
“Today I make the rules!” Sylvia declared triumphantly with her hands on her hips. “Drink!”
Alice watched with schadenfreude, chewing on a piece of meat as she shouted indistinctly.
“Pour it! Pour it hard! Let him keep pretending to be so refined every day!”
However, her enjoyment did not last long.
After several glasses of wine, Sylvia was already becoming somewhat delirious.
She swayed as she turned around. Through her blurred drunken vision, she noticed Alice’s distinctive black hair not far away.
“Hm?”
Sylvia tilted her head and tried to focus.
“Why… is there another Logaris?”
Some absurd idea probably appeared in her mind, such as Logaris using a clone spell to slack off.
“Well now!”
Laughing loudly, she grabbed another bottle of wine and rushed forward.
Alice’s smile instantly froze.
“Hey! Look carefully! I am not him!”
Sylvia did not listen at all. Like a drunken hooligan, she wrapped an arm around Alice’s neck and shoved the bottle toward her mouth in exactly the same way.
“You have to drink too!”
Alice was small in stature. How could she possibly compete with Sylvia? She was quickly forced to drink until her face turned bright red. Tears nearly came out as she coughed desperately and begged for mercy.
“Your Highness! That is not me!”
“Alec, save me!” Alice cried as she cast a pleading look toward Alectos.
Seeing this, Alectos immediately stood up to intervene.
As a fourth-tier Dragonblood Knight, he was confident that separating a drunk woman would be effortless.
Then he froze.
He grabbed Sylvia’s arm and pulled with force.
It did not move at all.
He increased his strength until the veins on his arms bulged.
Sylvia merely swayed slightly while still firmly pinning Alice in place.
Alectos was completely stunned.
He felt as if he were not pulling a person, but a mountain rooted in the earth.
Was this reasonable?
It was absolutely not reasonable.
In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Alice was forced to drink until she became completely disoriented. Finally, she collapsed limply, and he dragged her helplessly to a sofa in the corner to lie there like a corpse.
The entire banquet hall had become both ridiculous and chaotic.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Logaris also began to behave strangely after being forced to drink several cups.
The obsessive competitiveness that had always been suppressed by his absolute rationality was ignited by the alcohol.
He looked at Sylvia, who was still proudly showing off her strength, and narrowed his eyes behind his lenses before suddenly speaking.
His tone was smug and even slightly boastful.
“Sylvia, this kind of crude behavior of yours only proves the backwardness of knights.”
“They only rely on brute strength. They are far inferior to the elegance of us mages.”
Sylvia’s triumphant pose with her hands on her hips suddenly froze.
The banquet hall instantly fell silent.
Logaris pushed his glasses up again. A hint of provocation suddenly appeared in his eyes.
“Mages are the true drivers of the world,” he continued. “A seventh-tier spell can permanently change the terrain of an entire region. Can your knights accomplish that?”
Sylvia stared at him with drunken eyes, the blush on her face deepening further. She slapped the table with her hand, her voice loud and clear.
“A seventh-tier knight can break through an entire army alone. Can your mages do that?”
“I can calculate the trajectory of the stars.” Logaris spoke with obvious pride.
“I can drink this entire bottle of wine in one breath.” Sylvia said as she picked up a full bottle of Moonlight Wine and began pouring it straight into her mouth.
Logaris froze.
Wait.
Could those two things even be compared like that?