Chapter 70 Team

"Hah, Roland, were you eavesdropping?" Zayne smirked, holding out his hand.

"Of course not! I actually noticed you first and wanted to say hello, but as soon as I got closer I heard my name!" Roland exchanged a handshake, "By the way, you wanted to see my date, didn't you? Well, you have that opportunity right now."

Roland turned his head, and Zayne's gaze fell on the woman in the tight black dress that accentuated all her curves, then Zayne's eyes went wide.

"Veronika..." Zayne muttered in disbelief.

"Good evening." Veronika said seriously, gripping Roland's hand and continuing with a slight smile on her face, "You didn't seem to expect to see us together at all."

"Well... I couldn't agree more... I wonder who Rina came with?" Zayne muttered as he suddenly smelled a strong smell of wine coming from outside.

"Looks like practically everyone's here, doesn't it?" Alden's voice spread to their group, making everyone feel strangely better.

Zayne turned around and saw Alden in a gorgeous suit and Rina, who was the true epitome of modesty. She walked slowly beside him, trying to keep up with Alden's confident stride.

'Damn... somehow I guessed that's what I was going to see.' Zayne inwardly muttered.

"How do you like my banquet? I hope you're happy with everything?" Alden asked with a smirk on his face, then his gaze fell on Zayne and his eyes narrowed, "Oh... I didn't expect you to come here together. Lucia, I thought you wanted to talk to Zayne after the banquet.

Lucia smiled and snuggled up to Zayne and said, "I planned to, but I was lucky that Zayne needed a suit, so we met at Sanches's atelier and never parted ways again."

"I see." Alden extended, "Zayne, have you tried the wine yet?"

"No, I haven't..." Zayne replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hah, in that case, let's all do it together. Kyla, you too, here you go." Alden handed his sister one glass.

"Brother... Are you sure?" Kyla asked uncertainly.

"Of course, after all, we're at a banquet, and we're supposed to have fun and relax! The last few days have been difficult for many of us, but we have to move forward, and tonight's event will be a great reset!" Alden spoke as he put his hand on Kyla's shoulder, showing her a genuine smile.

It seemed that this was exactly what Kyla was missing, as her gaze immediately became softer, and her mood improved.

Everyone took a sip of wine at the same time, for Zayne, it was one of the few times in his life when he tasted alcohol, but the wine was soft, so he just enjoyed the taste. Lucia watched his reaction, and when she saw the pleasure on his face, she smiled.

Step. Step. Step.

As Zayne emptied his glass, he heard cumbersome footsteps gradually approaching them, as if from a titan.

"Hmm?" Zayne was puzzled when a shadow fell over him, though the entire hall was fully lit, even the farthest reaches.

"Geir... Though I have known you for a long time, I still doubt that you are human and not the son of a giant..." Lucia muttered looking at the massive man who stood behind Zayne.

Zayne's height was above average, however, Roland was taller than him in the same way that Geir, who looked up-down at everyone, since there was no one at the banquet who was the same height as him.

Geir was a muscular man with tanned skin and black hair. Next to him was a short girl in a cute dress, and Geir's height created a strong contrast.

"Hey everyone, I see a new face here!" Geir said vigorously, as he looked at Zayne and held out his hand, "Even though Mrs. Lucia has already introduced me, my name is Geir, nice to meet you."

Zayne looked at Geir's massive palm and hesitantly responded with a handshake, he thought that if Geir used even a little strength he would just crush his hand.

"Oh, not a bad grip, you seem pretty strong, don't you?" Geir smirked.

Lucia hurriedly took Zayne's hand and said, "Geir, your intuition never fails you. This is Zayne, and he's going on a mission with you."

"Wait... He's the guy who defeated the Terror Grade Monster...?" Geir was puzzled as his eyes went wide in disbelief, "Hah, now I want to go there even more. It's going to be unbelievable! Hahahahahaha!"

Geir's laughter spread throughout the hall like thunderclaps attracting everyone's attention, and it seemed like Geir wasn't going to stop since he was enjoying it.

Crackle.

The girl next to him elbowed him sharply in the stomach, causing his face to twist in pain for a moment.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "Hey... Liza, what's gotten into you...?" Geir asked as he gulped.

"You're being uncivil. We're at a banquet, not a bar celebrating the graduation of the Knight Academy!" Liza frowned, fixing her pink hair.

"Got it... sorry." Geir bowed his head guiltily, rubbing the back of his head.

'Agh... This is both strange and somehow natural. Now I understand why they came here together.' Zayne pondered, watching this unusual couple who seemed to be united beyond the banquet.

The banquet continued at its usual pace. Zayne was not a fan of large groups of people, but he enjoyed talking with Roland, Alden, Rina, and the others. Lucia sometimes took him aside to get all his attention for herself, but gradually Zayne went back to the others.

Crackle.

At one point, the sound of broken glass was heard. No one paid any attention to it, because once in a while a similar thing had happened, but this was not quite the case. The glasses kept breaking, which caused everyone to take notice.

"Bitch! How much longer do I have to try to get you to pay attention to me!" The man in the expensive suit exclaimed, waving his hand and knocking many glasses off the table.

'Damn, I didn't expect anyone to drink so much... That's not good, for some reason he's too aggressive.' Zayne inwardly muttered, taking a sip of wine, then he froze in place, and his eyes went wide, "What the hell...?"

The man yelled at the girl in the exquisite red dress that matched her hair and blue eyes perfectly.

"Elin..." Zayne whispered and placed his glass in Lucia's hand, automatically, without even giving her time to object.

Despite the barrage of not-the-most-flattering words, Elin didn't answer anything, she just stared at the floor, not knowing what she had to do.

"Hmm? Now you don't even want to talk to me? Well... You're just forcing me!" The man clenched his hands into fists and walked menacingly toward Elin.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Roland's suit began to tremble due to his muscles expanding with anger. He was about to lunge forward, but Veronika's palm, falling on his chest, stopped him.

"I understand how you feel, and in another situation, I wouldn't have stopped you, but right now your help is not necessary." Veronika said calmly.

"Agh? What the hell do you mean?" Roland frowned.

"Can't you see that yourself? Elin has someone ready to save her, and he's already made his move." Veronika's corners of her lips went up, forming a sly smirk.

The man walked over to Elin, "Don't blame me for this, you brought our relationship to this!"

The man clenched his fist and brought it down on Elin, then a silhouette with a cold, piercing gaze appeared beside him.