Chapter 55: You call this a blessing? (Additional)

“Changing surnames… now that’s something that fellow would do.”

This is quite the amusing secret; even Edith herself hasn’t mentioned it to Vilyric, probably thinking it unnecessary.

Whether it’s Edith Meikailande or Edith Trelop, fundamentally they are both Edith. For the Guardian, who is charmingly described as open-minded yet somewhat lazy about trivial matters, surnames don’t hold much significance.

However, for the Meikailande and Trelop families, a transcendent ancestor is quite important.

No wonder Liliya, even as a queen, remains amicable towards Philena. If they trace their roots, they could say they are essentially family.

Though I have no idea how the Meikailande family mixed together, just based on the absurd resemblance between the princess and Edith, they must be directly related.

Philena’s behavior is likely a mimicry of that Guardian, meaning she knows Edith is still alive and might have even met her.

What on earth is that fellow doing all the time…?

Philena probably didn’t catch the black-haired girl’s quiet mumbling and earnestly warned,

“Please don’t spread this around, Miss Vilyric. It could undermine the dignity of our royal family. By the way, why did you suddenly mention Edith’s ancestor?”

“Uh, just… a little curious?”

After glancing at the knight princess’s serious expression, Vilyric decided not to reveal the harsh truth that the family legend of a certain kingdom’s Guardian was actually about a laid-back slacker.

“Hmm?”

Though looking somewhat doubtful, Philena didn’t press the issue further.

“Alright then, let’s talk about the next topic…”

“I’ll go first, it’s not really complicated.”

At that, the Priestess began to recount what she had previously witnessed to Philena, without delving into her past encounters with Kunier on the Western Battlefield, simply passing it off as a first meeting.

After all, not many had seen that fellow back then; only Fiery Blossom and a handful of Shadow Guards. Besides, beastmen all look somewhat similar from a human perspective, and a minor character who’s already dead might not be recognized by anyone.

“Really… a beastman envoy? Quite unexpected, yet understandable. As for why Hilda kept this from us, it’s easy to see. Our country has always been at odds with the Beast Kingdom, and the Winged People likely want to avoid trouble.”

Saying this, the Envoy Group Leader shifted the conversation.

“However, the place Miss Vilyric mentioned, the ‘Fragrant Retreat,’ seems to relate to what I was about to discuss. Could it be that the beastmen are already paying attention to it? When did these wild animals start using their brains?”

“‘Fragrant Retreat’? This place… wait, that does sound a bit odd.”

Initially, Vilyric hadn’t thought in that direction, but with Philena bringing it up, the clever Priestess immediately sensed something amiss.

First off, having a white-feathered Winged Person as the front desk staff was already quite unusual.

If this were merely a coincidence, then her and Xiao Guang running into Kunier and the group of beastmen at the ‘Fragrant Retreat,’ or those guys intentionally dining at that small restaurant and stubbornly waiting to eat, clearly felt a bit out of the ordinary.

If coincidences accumulate, then there must be some objective factor pushing their occurrence.

Once the thought process took off, several ideas clicked into place.

Those fragrant flowers were fresh, obviously changed regularly, and quite valuable. While the ‘Cooling’ lifestyle magic isn’t high-ranked, maintaining a large room of over a hundred square meters certainly couldn’t be handled by just a couple of ordinary Winged People.

Moreover, the cooking skill was superb, with precious ingredients and correspondingly high prices also raised questions.

If it were a large hotel, that could be understandable, but the ‘Fragrant Retreat’ merely occupies a hundred square meters. Why do they have the manpower and resources to maintain such a nice environment without expanding or renovating the establishment to attract more customers?

Despite all this, the ‘Fragrant Retreat’ was incredibly popular, to the point where Kunier and other Tiger-Humans had to queue just to get a seat.

Seeing the black-haired girl pensive, Philena nodded in appreciation with a slight, barely noticeable smile.

“It appears Miss Vilyric has realized that the ‘Fragrant Retreat’ is not a typical restaurant. I just received a report from our informants and took a trip to investigate.”

“What did you find?”

The Envoy Group Leader didn’t keep any secrets and directly took out a piece of paper filled with common written language of the kingdom, handing it to Vilyric.

“Take a look at this.”

“What is this, all mysterious…?”

Even though she said that, Vilyric obediently accepted the paper and began to read the text.

It was a list.

It contained a bunch of things that Vilyric had never heard of and couldn’t quite understand. However, she could at least tell that those items must be quite valuable.

Philena’s explanatory voice followed suit.

“You should know that the Island of Spris is an important commercial port for the Kingdom of Azure. Many inbound and outbound products pass through here, leading to the development of both commerce and tourism.”

“And ‘Fragrant Retreat’ was actually established by the Kingdom of Azure’s official organization, ‘Free Wings.’ On the surface, it’s a restaurant, but in reality, it serves another purpose.”

“Those items passing through the Island of Spris that can’t be identified or are too expensive for ordinary people to afford are periodically sold here.”

“In simple terms, it’s a rare goods auction.”

“Oh! An auction!”

Miss Vilyric immediately got excited; her favorite thing was this kind of uncertain treasure hunting, akin to drawing cards in certain games, making her heart race unconsciously.

Similar types of auctions are frequently held in ‘Mirage World.’

Though the official system offers players a convenient auction house, it charges considerable fees, and many truly rare and valuable items are held by high-end players who don’t lack conventional currency, so they rarely put them up for sale.

Thus, player-organized auctions emerged.

Unbound high-level equipment, all sorts of bizarre items and materials, player-made magical scrolls and tablets, pet eggs, and even the conditions for starting hidden quests could be traded.

This is far more interesting than the conventional auction house offered by the system, and one could often find treasures they genuinely need.

And this type of auction rarely involves players using game currency, generally utilizing bartering methods or negotiating prices between the two trading parties through intermediaries.

I wonder how the auctions in this world work?

Although most of the equipment and items Vilyric has seen so far don’t have immediate benefits for her, treasure hunting is just like that. Among hundreds or thousands of junk items, perhaps a treasure might appear, and that unpredictability is what makes it so enjoyable.

At least, just looking at this list, there were quite a few things that piqued the Priestess’s curiosity.

“It seems you are indeed interested. The restaurant aspect of ‘Fragrant Retreat’ serves as a filtering method for the auction. Whenever they hold a clandestine sale, the reception staff there provides a certificate to all customers dining that day, and only with this can they attend the subsequent auction.”

Philena shrugged helplessly.

“I thought you might need it, so I went to get a few, but it seems Miss Vilyric truly has the fortune of the privileged.”

   

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