I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Northwind City, Solo Castle.

Count Solo had held a rather solemn banquet in the castle for Lis.

The banquet invited all the prominent figures of Northwind City, including important officials from Count Solo's Territory, directors of various guilds, advanced professionals, and the young ladies of various families...

Lis even saw a dwarf master with a big brown beard on one side of the banquet hall, holding a barrel of malt beer and going "thump, thump, thump".

The banquet's cuisine was also quite abundant, but unlike Bright City, there weren't many desserts or fish dishes; it featured mostly various specialty dishes of beef and mutton.

This was perhaps due to the grasslands around Northwind City being more suited for grazing.

With a little stimulation and setting from some spices, both the barbecue and the stewed dishes highlighted the rich, tender, juicy flavors of lamb and beef, their deliciousness dancing on Lis's taste buds, recounting this wonderful freshness.

This was a delicacy not found in Bright City, only available in this Northern Territory.

Just like the Yalu Plain, closer to the southern countries of the Kingdom, known for its delicious desserts and dishes made from special fruits and vegetables.

While savoring the food, Lis also conversed with the notable figures of Northwind City under the accompaniment of Count Solo.

Although Lis did not particularly enjoy such socializing, it was an indispensable part of noble life.

More importantly, unlike when he first attended a banquet at Mora's house, Lis was now the center and focus of the entire banquet, naturally attracting people who flattered Lis, hoping to draw closer to this influential great noble.

Particularly, the representatives from Feis Chamber of Commerce and Bright Light Chamber of Commerce were quite enthusiastic and respectful towards Lis.

Lis knew their motives but did not mind, for this was the confidence that came with being a Marquis of the Kingdom.

However, among these people, one did catch Lis's interest.

"Lord Lis is truly learned and talented, even aware of the Northern Wind Eagle, which is quite a rare magic beast."

A middle-aged man dressed in a black suit complimented Lis while introducing himself:

"I am Uer, the president of the Cold Pine Chamber of Commerce. My guild, of course, cannot compare with Feis Chamber of Commerce, but we do have some specialties of the north. Are you interested?"

"Oh?"

Hearing this familiar name, Lis took a closer look at the middle-aged man claiming to be Uer, and smilingly said:

"I indeed want to bring back some special gifts to Bright City."

Uer's face lit up with joy, and he hastily said:

"Then you've made the right choice with the Cold Pine Chamber of Commerce, whether it's rare mink magical beast skins or special herbs. They make great gifts, and our guild has plenty in reserve, which will definitely satisfy you."

Lis nodded in satisfaction, raising the wine glass in his hand to gesture a toast and said:

"Then I look forward to a good experience tomorrow."

"Lord Lis, you are too polite; I'll go back and prepare well right away." Experience new tales on empire

Uer respectfully said, raising his glass and carefully clinking it against Lis's before draining the wine in his glass and then hurriedly excused himself from the banquet.

Many in attendance watched Uer with some envy.

This guy is really lucky, just like that, he linked up with Marquis Kane.

How did I not think of that? Those goods may be rare in Bright City but aren't too uncommon here in Northwind City.

Too bad!

The crowd surrounding Lis, after a brief moment of regret, introduced their local specialties to Lis even more enthusiastically.

But Lis merely sipped his wine lightly, showing no interest in the treasures they mentioned.

The specific reason was clear only to Lis himself.

Having decided to cause some trouble in Northwind City, Lis had carefully recalled the game's storyline relating to Northwind City from his previous life.

And the names of the Cold Pine Chamber of Commerce and its president Uer were very clear in his mind.

That was part of the main storyline of the war in Northwind City, known as "Removing Dillon Kingdom's Undercurrents."

In the game, players had to follow numerous clues across different maps, eventually discovering that Dillon Kingdom's hidden agenda in Northwind City was indeed Uer and the Cold Pine Chamber of Commerce.

The Cold Pine Chamber of Commerce, founded by Uer, quickly took root in Northwind City by relying on the relatively inexpensive specialty products from the Dillon Kingdom. Meanwhile, it established outposts in other cities in the Northern Territory of the kingdom and leveraged the guild's influence to gather intelligence.

This time, Lis's target was the Cold Pine Chamber of Commerce, but he didn't expect to run into him so proactively.

Good fellow, quite clever!

Or could it be that my luck has improved?

Glancing at the attributes panel, my luck was still at 7 points.

Not to say that, when Lis wasn't using the "Lucky" skill of the Luck Brooch, did not feel his luck improve.

Could it be that 3 points of luck still aren't enough to escape the factual circumstances of being incessantly unlucky?

...

While Lis was lost in his thoughts, Uer had already left the castle and got on the carriage, heading back.

At this moment, his face lacked the near-sycophantic smile from earlier, and instead, was stern.

"Lis Kain..."

Uer gently tapped the armrest of the carriage, frowning.

Why would this newly appointed Marquis from Bright City be here in Northwind City now?

According to the intelligence he gathered, Bright City has not been at peace recently.

This Marquis Kane seemed quite active in it.

Some things, even if the kingdom wanted to reduce their impact and limit the spread of news, they couldn't keep everyone's mouth shut.

Uer, who had been deeply engrossed in the fields of intelligence and espionage for many years, understood clearly that the more the kingdom wanted to suppress the news, the more important the intelligence was.

He thought it best to update Lord Seth, to see if he could extract some useful intelligence from this Lis Kain tomorrow.

Uer sighed quietly, feeling the shadow of war looming over the land of the Northern Territory ever since the Feis Kingdom declared war on the Boditch Kingdom.

War oh war—hopefully, Lord Lukar could lead us to victory.

Uer reassured himself and then tried not to think too much about it.

---------------

At Solo Castlen/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The party was over, and both the hosts and guests had had a great time.

The invited guests, attended to by the castle servants, left for their homes one after another, but the two most important people of the evening had not shown themselves.

Lis was sitting in a luxuriously decorated reception room in the castle, beside a fireplace that softly crackled, the burning flames dispelling the early winter's chill inside.

"I wonder if Lord Lis is satisfied with tonight's party?"

Ande smiled, sitting directly across from Lis on the sofa.

Ignos, who was nearby, filled two glasses with cream liqueur that had been prepared, then stood silently to the side.

This was the moment for serious talks!

Lis smiled and said,

"Thank you so much, today's party allowed me to experience a charm quite unlike that of Bright City, truly captivating."

"Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it,"

said Ande, laughing and waving Ignos over.

The butler brought out a small box wrapped in red silk and gently placed it in front of Lis.

"I am very sorry about the preceding issues. This is a small token of compensation; I hope it pleases you,"

Ande pointed to the small box and said, smiling.