What should I do if the hero is resurrected in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia?

Chapter 169 Dinner Party
Rescateye.

The country, named after its founding hero, is also the most powerful military and religious nation on the mainland today.

The Senate, composed of high-ranking members of the Catholic Church appointed by the Holy Land, along with deeply entrenched local nobles and high-ranking priests, firmly held power.

In this country that reveres martial virtue and honor, most powerful people form their own knightly orders to demonstrate their strength and status. Even Priestess Emni, who has now become a laughing stock in high society, has never disbanded her remaining Flameweaver Knights, even after losing everything in the cruel political infighting. She understands this principle well.

If we lose the Flame Knights and our only remaining hero, Kieslfield.

She was no different from a lame old dog on the street, about to die of old age and ignored by everyone... This was her last act of dignity and perseverance.

Currently, the most powerful and fearsome knightly order in Rescade, attracting many young people with dreams and noble children with ulterior motives to scramble to join, is naturally the Rescade Holy Ice Knights, which was founded and controlled by the powerful Northculim family.

And the strongest member of the Holy Ice Knights is...

“Wilmarina Noskurim”.

Loran's voice rang in Mirad's ears.

Using a telepathic magical artifact imbued with illusion magic, she was able to communicate with Mirard from her distance. This intricate artifact, disguised as a lapel pin, was slightly warming with Mirard's breath. It could communicate by transmitting her innermost thoughts, making the content of their conversation completely unknown to others.

As for why not be more direct and adopt Siolitta's approach, using magic to convey feelings... the magical artifacts that your partner painstakingly created should naturally come in handy at crucial moments.

Mirad raised his cup without changing his expression and saluted the girl with short, light blue hair and a bob haircut not far away.

Wilmarina Northculim stood beside her father, dressed in a sharply tailored silver-white gown that exuded an air of military bearing. Her icy blue eyes were calm and serene, and her gesture as she raised her glass to Milard was so precise it seemed as if she had rehearsed it thousands of times.

At this moment, he was at a banquet arranged by the Northculim faction to welcome his visit, with only Sileotta by his side. Loran, on the other hand, stayed in his room at the embassy, ​​claiming that he was too lazy to deal with stupid high-ranking people.

During her last few days in Cretia, using the racial talents of the little monsters and her own intelligence, Lorenzo created many unique devices... many of which Mirad felt were a bit too powerful.

So Mirad wasn't worried at all about the danger of leaving her alone in the room.

The invitation sent by the priest of Northculim specifically noted that it was a simple banquet, and the venue was chosen to be one of the less luxurious mansions in the capital, with the banquet hall being just a small side hall.

But those invited were all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, the lifeblood of the religious order, and they almost filled this small hall, which was by no means small.

The men were dressed in dark-patterned suits, the women adorned with jewels, and the air was filled with the scents of perfume and grey amber. Their gazes, amidst their lively conversation, occasionally drifted towards Mirand… though they thought they were doing a good job of concealing it.

"That's why I say attending these banquets is a complete waste of time... The conversations are all roundabout, two out of three sentences are flattery, half a sentence is spying, and the remaining half is wrapped in metaphors... The amount of information is shockingly low. In Cretia, Bishop Patrice and His Majesty the King... and other nobles, old and new, don't have this problem. When they go to banquets, they eat meat and drink wine, talk about what they have to say, sing songs, and occasionally get into a fight shirtless."

Loren's voice reached Mirad's ears through the magical artifact, tinged with impatience. Quite a few nobles had already tried to strike up a conversation with him, but Mirad had dealt with them all with just the right amount of aloofness... It wasn't exactly impolite, nor did it create an atmosphere conducive to continuing the conversation. Holding their wine glasses and having already thought of topics to discuss, they had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Now no one dared to step forward easily, so he could remain calm and watch as Hiolitta struggled with a piece of cream cake decorated with strawberries on her plate.

She shifted the knife in her hand, her brows furrowing slightly, unable to find the right angle to cut. Finally, her face flushed red with embarrassment, and she tugged at Mirand's sleeve, her voice barely audible.

"Lord Mirad, please cut this cake for me. Not too much cream, my stomach isn't very healthy, eating too much might..."

Mirand's lips twitched for a moment, then he took a knife, cut off a small, bite-sized piece of cake, and placed it on the siolitta plate.

"...Luo Gen, did you record everything just now?"

He glanced at Hiolitta, who was eating her cake in silence with her head down, and felt a little scared.

Luo Gen chuckled over the comms channel, "It's been recorded, hehe. Sister, you acted well. Let's analyze your acting frame by frame when you get back. Teach me a thing or two, I want to improve too."

Hiolitta carefully licked the remaining cream from the silver spoon, her long eyelashes drooping, giving her a delicate appearance as if she were cherishing food. However, her voice was somewhat distorted over the communication channel, "...Did I portray the delicate image well? Ugh, this cake is awful. The cream is so cloying... Not to mention it's worse than Lady Mirad's, it's more than ten times worse than the one my third sister gave me... Ugh. I need to eat something else to cleanse my throat when I get back."

As she spoke, she scooped up another small piece, put it in her mouth, and her movements were natural and smooth. After savoring it, she revealed an innocent smile.

"That's too much of a sacrifice, sister. I won't fight you for it tonight."

"...If you don't help me snatch it, how am I supposed to beat that female snake? She's going to take special care of me tonight... Ugh...! The last time she said that, I was careless and got petrified for an hour, and could only watch helplessly as I was covered in your celebratory cream, you know?"

"Don't worry, that was probably my limit last time. This time... 59 minutes should be enough?"

"...What's the difference?"

Mirad remained unfazed. "I remember you said at the beginning that you wouldn't use the communication channel for casual chatting, and that special operations should look like special operations."

"Little Xi, Little Xi, this is Luo Gen, please reply. This person is so pretentious, they're clearly about to burst out laughing." "Luo Gen, Luo Gen, this is Little Xi, received. I also really like Lord Mirad's ability to maintain his hero's demeanor at all times."

"Alright, alright, let's get back to business. You should know what it means that your first public appearance in Darrescote wasn't a royal reception at the prestigious palace, but rather a private dinner at the Northculim family's house, right?"

Milad swirled his glass, but the liquid level didn't drop at all... He didn't want to drink in this situation.

"As a guest, not a state guest."

His gaze swept over the Northculim priest who was chatting and laughing with other nobles not far away. He was a middle-aged man with a gloomy face. Although he had the same water-colored hair as his daughter, it was as murky as a frozen lake with impurities and bubbles under the ice, unlike the clear hair of Wilmarina.

"To downplay their political status...while using private receptions for important foreign guests as a way to demonstrate against other forces."

A secluded location, ordinary dishes... a dinner deliberately made to appear simple.

It can be interpreted as a pledge of allegiance to demonstrate one's simple and unpretentious daily lifestyle, or it can certainly be interpreted as a less than friendly declaration.

Ultimately, it was all a test of Mirad's attitude.

Mirand didn't seem to care much about these blustering political games.

However, he had originally planned to speak with the priest of Nosculim when he was alone after the banquet. Now it seemed he could save himself the trouble... and he figured the conversation wouldn't yield any meaningful results anyway.

But it was still rather boring. Following Luo Gen's suggestion, they decided to visit the orphanage where Qisfiel grew up that evening; it would obviously offer a better understanding of the country's true nature than this hypocritical banquet.

Wilmarina walked gracefully towards him, holding a wine glass. She stopped in front of Mirard, her icy blue eyes looking directly at him.
"Lord Mirand seems rather dissatisfied with tonight's hospitality?"

...There was no change in expression or tone.

Every move he made conformed to aristocratic etiquette, neither overstepping the bounds nor being impolite.

Mirad felt as if he were talking to a puppet.

The puppeteer was quite satisfied with this and wanted to show the world how exquisite his puppetry skills were and how naturally the puppet moved in accordance with his wishes.

He just felt awkward.

Where did this girl's true feelings go?

After a long silence, Luo Geng finally managed to say, "...It feels like a teenage girl who has been forced into hundreds of tutoring classes and whose phone has been taken away by her parents, who forbids her from going out with her friends."

"Hmm... I see, I see."

Hiolitta hid behind Mirad, obediently eating her cake and playing the role of a shy little nun, while chattering incessantly on the communication channel.

"Wilmarina... a girl Fourth Sister is particularly interested in. Now that I see her, she really fits Fourth Sister's requirements. So repressed and confused, oh my, she even has someone she likes? Since she's suppressing her feelings and hasn't gotten what she wants... I guess their backgrounds aren't a good match. A rich girl and a commoner boy, oh ho~ a classic combination, it makes me want to enlighten her... hehehe..."

"Sister, tone it down a bit, don't laugh so wildly. Mirad is still listening, if he can't help but laugh along with you now, his image will be completely ruined."

"Cough... I'll try my best."

Ignoring the comments of the two people around him, Mirad looked back into Wilmarina's eyes, "...Let's put the banquet aside for now. Miss Wilmarina, are you the strongest warrior in Rescade?"

All her carefully prepared remarks vanished. Wilmarina couldn't understand why this renowned saint, whose fame spanned the entire continent, would suddenly ask such a question. She could only nod blankly.

"Hmm... Ah, yes."

"very good."

Mirad placed the untouched wine glass back on the table.

"I'm quite curious about the strength of the current generation of heroes. This is a rare opportunity... Shall we give it a try?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the banquet hall fell into a deathly silence.

Even Wilmarina, who maintained perfect composure throughout, showed a hint of surprise in her eyes and couldn't help but turn her head to observe her father's attitude and expression.

(End of this chapter)