OVERLORD- CH-54. Mother and Daughter

Without the host's leadership, the atmosphere naturally became quiet. Aya and Camilla didn't mind this situation. Camilla had no interest in humans, while Aya passed the time observing the behaviors and expressions of the people at the table.

"That's good, that's good."

At this time, it was almost 7:30 in the evening. Monica silently thought in her heart that her biggest wish now was for this dinner to end in silence without any further complications.

Better finish it before the Duchess returns!

Unfortunately, her wish was dashed when the doorbell rang. The maid's call was followed by the solid wood door of the restaurant being pushed open. The duchess, in a black dress and ten-centimeter-high golden heels, appeared, swaggering in.

Her eyebrows and figure were delicate and graceful, yet she exuded a majestic temperament. These two completely different characteristics existed in Operan without any conflict.

Except for the maid who was responsible for serving the guests, everyone present was much stronger than Operan, who was just an ordinary person. Even her daughter Angelina was a genius magician who had cultivated to the third level.

But at this moment, except for Camilla, who exuded the aura of a restrained warrior, and Aya, whose noble aura was not inferior to Operan, or even better, the rest of the people were suppressed by the Duchess's presence.

"Levi, good evening." Operan first nodded to the young man at the dining table. Their eyes met, and Aya nodded in return.

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Operan quickly looked away and glanced at another group of guests.

"Everyone from Moon Shadow, this should be the first time we meet." Operan said with a chuckle.

"You are a very famous adventurer team in Maple Moon Territory. You have made many contributions over the years. It was not until today that I had the opportunity to thank you in person. This is my dereliction of duty as a lord."

"Madam, you are too kind." Monica stood up hastily, "Adventurers are just paid to do things. There is no question of whether they contribute or not."

"Having said that, after years of risking your lives fighting monsters, the merits you have left behind are far more than a small reward can compensate for." Said Operan.

"When I was a little girl, I loved the stories of adventurers and heroes. Now a real hero is standing in front of me. It really makes me happy!"

It was really annoying to see a mature and elegant woman suddenly pretending to be innocent. Her seductive eyes suddenly flashed with a girlish look of admiration, completely stunning Monica.

'So beautiful.' She swallowed her saliva involuntarily, and just like that, she gave up the initiative to speak completely.

"I heard that you are all going to be promoted to the next level soon. As the lord, I also want to celebrate for you. I wanted to hold a celebration banquet for you, but after thinking about it, adventurers are risking their lives all day long, and practicality is the best thing. So I made a weapon specifically for each of you, including two pieces of magic equipment." Operan held Monica's hand.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

"This is inappropriate."

"Please don't refuse. This is made for you. You can throw it away even if you don't use it."

"Guh, okay." Looking into the other party's expectant eyes, Monica really didn't know how to refuse.

'What a terrible woman!' The moment she agreed, Monica felt regretful.

It was for this reason that she didn't dare to meet Operan's gaze. In terms of fighting ability, even ten Operans would not be her match. However, when it came to playing with psychology and power, the Duchess, who had been manipulating the power field for many years, was much higher in level than a mere adventurer.

Monica looked back at the boy who brought her here with a resentful glance. The boy was drinking juice, biting the rim of the cup with his teeth, and looking at her innocently.

Looking at such a beautiful scene, coupled with the pure expression of the beautiful boy, Monica could no longer be angry.

"How interesting." Aya watched the entire conversation between Operan and Monica with the mentality of watching a play. In just a few words, Monica had gotten the promise of equipment from the Duchess, but it seemed that Operan, who "suffered a loss," was happier.

This was the special status of high-level adventurers. As a powerful but uncontrollable armed group, they were a thorn in the side of those in power. But at the same time, the adventurers' force was necessary to maintain the security of the territory.

Love and hate—this contradiction reflected the relationship between adventurers and those in power.

In this tangled situation, there were roughly two options for adventurers, especially high-level adventurers above Mithril level.

One was to actively establish relationships with those in power, helping them consolidate their regime while gaining their help and convenience in action. The other was what Monica wanted to do, which was to avoid contact with those in power as much as possible and maintain her independence.

The purpose of doing this was to avoid getting into trouble and danger. To take a recent example, after Blood Emperor Gilkenifer of the Baharus Empire ascended the throne, he ruthlessly destroyed two adventurer teams that had close ties with the country's great nobles.

The members of the two adventurer teams had been doing well when the nobles were in power, but they were all executed or exiled the day after the new emperor took office.

Political struggle is so cruel that if you are not careful, you will become a victim of being swallowed up.

Of course, when it comes to the level of Elite Steel Adventurers, the situation is different. National treasure-level Elite Steel Adventurers are coveted by every country. They are not afraid of the whirlpool of politics because they themselves are a national-level violence machine.

However, Moon Shadow was not an adamantite-level adventurer, and now they were forcibly dragged onto the pirate ship because they accepted Operan's banquet and gifts.

If it had just been a banquet, it would have been fine, but accepting gifts, especially valuable magic equipment, meant that, even if they didn't agree with it, in the eyes of outsiders, they were already companions.

Moreover, Monica and her companions were not the type of people who would accept benefits from others without repaying the favor.

This was probably what the so-called sweet trap was.

Monica had thought that Operan would win them over, but she didn't expect her to do it so decisively.

"It's not like there is no solution." Monica thought, "As long as I repay the favor with property or money of equal value, I can barely get rid of the debt of favor."

Although magic items are expensive, the Mithril Squad can still afford them with their income level. So they can just think of it as buying equipment in advance.

"She must be thinking that she can return the money to repay the favor." Aya looked at Monica's profile and shook her head silently, "Alas, she is too young and naive."

After dealing with the matter with Moon Shadow as planned, Operan turned her attention back to her daughter.

"Mom, mom, that." Angelina lowered her head. This eldest lady, who always pretended to be arrogant and domineering in front of outsiders, was now just a little girl who had made a mistake.

"Everyone, please go to the living room and rest. We will be there later." Operan said, "Lena, take the guests there."

"Understood." The housekeeper bowed.

"Lina, come with me first~" With a gentle and elegant expression, Operan smiled and stopped the eldest lady, who was trying to follow Lena into the living room.

"Lina, your performance today was very bad. It seems that I need to punish you."

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Thank you all for supporting me.