The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 736

Chapter 735: Christina’s Predicament

Leipzig was still brightly lit at eleven o’clock late at night.

In a manor on Bronze Avenue, in the heart of Leipzig, guests were beginning to depart.

A middle-aged man with thinning black hair, neatly combed back to a near-gleaming finish, held a glass of red wine, smiling and nodding as he bid farewell to his guests.

Just then, a young girl no older than seventeen or eighteen, with long, wavy light-gold hair and wearing a yellow dress, boldly stepped forward and bowed. “My Lord Count!”

“Mm?”

The middle-aged man smiled gently, his tone almost doting. “What is it, our star of the party? Are you having a good time, Christina?”

“I’m having a wonderful time, Count Dawn! Thank you so much for inviting me to your banquet…”

The girl wore a bright and innocent smile. “So I was thinking… about what you said before, does it still count?”

“What do you mean?”

Count Dawn chuckled. “I don’t remember very clearly.”

“It’s just—”

Christina seemed a little anxious. She paused and lowered her voice. “You were very optimistic about me before and wanted to hire me as your secretary…”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate, Miss Weber.” Count Dawn smiled. “But I’ve already found a secretary. She’s from Helsing University, just like you. However, she’s a doctor. You must have heard of her, Miss Zoe Ravens.”

“I-is that so… She’s also interested in that…”

Christina Weber clearly knew the name and showed a hint of fear and unwillingness. It was evident she didn’t dare compete with that girl named Zoe.

…Is this going to be my last time attending a banquet of this caliber?

Christina subconsciously bit her lip.

As an Alchemist, without funding, there was essentially no possibility of further advancement.

It was ironic. Alchemy, from the very beginning, was a study of turning lead into gold. Later, it could easily bring wealth and status to great Alchemists. But to study Alchemy, one needed a lot of money…

Her parents were just ordinary company employees. It was already difficult enough for them to support her through university, and even more than half of her tuition was covered by loans. The price of extraordinary materials was beyond their means… But if she just graduated like this, she wouldn’t be able to find any lucrative work!

—The dress she was wearing to the banquet was borrowed from her senior, who came from a noble background!

Although there were scholarships at the university… they were quite out of reach for Christina. Just barely managing to pass her classes, keep up with her studies, and become an Extraordinary was already exhausting for her.

In high school, she was almost a prodigy, and many admired her—but at Helsing University, everyone around her was either a true genius or an Extraordinary who had been exposed to Alchemy at a very young age.

Among her classmates alone, there were over a dozen Alchemists of the Third Tier. In the next class, there was an Extraordinary who had already reached the Fourth Tier. There was even one senior who, two years ago, had founded his own company using numerous Alchemy patents from his university days!

It was said that his current company had nearly a hundred employees, and he himself had joined the Third Alchemy Group—one of the Alchemy groups personally controlled by Count Leipzig!

Christina couldn’t even understand the things these geniuses discussed. Just maintaining a fake smile and pretending to be curious and enlightened was enough to make her feel pain.

—And now, she was graduating in less than a month.

Helsing University had a six-year integrated program, automatically granting a Master’s degree upon graduation.

If things continued like this, forget about becoming a prominent figure or making a fortune…

She couldn’t even repay her student loans and might struggle to graduate—the minimum requirement for graduating from Helsing University was Second Tier, but her first Ascension Ritual had already failed seven times!

…She absolutely did not want to go to the White Dove Opera House and wear those ridiculous clothes to sell herself.

After all, there were some junior students who admired her and were frequent patrons of the White Dove. She couldn’t afford to lose face.

If she couldn’t repay her debts, she would likely have to sell her family’s house and sheepishly leave Leipzig. But now, Star Antinomy was short on funds everywhere, and Leipzig was the most hopeful place… At least her parents could still find work.

And she was considered fortunate—she had a junior student from out of town who had just enrolled. Because of her excessive spending at the White Dove Opera House… it was said that she went to the VIP lounge on her birthday and pretended to be familiar with the other nobles as she played cards.

But she had never played cards before, so naturally, she was no match for the seasoned regulars. She easily lost an amount of money she would never be able to repay in her lifetime. And she refused to work at the White Dove Opera House to pay off her debt. After all, Helsing University was quite close to the White Dove Opera House, and many students would come here to play when they had no classes…

…As a result, she had now gone to the Spirit Tower to become a “sub-assistant” who was not officially employed and earned several times the salary of a formal assistant.

Given the generous salary and the huge gap in Spirit Tower’s recruitment of assistants, the “consumption” of assistants there was probably quite rapid…

Fortunately, Christina was blessed with a beautiful appearance and received a fairly good education in her childhood.

During her ballet performance at school, she caught the eye of this Lord Count.

Count Dawn claimed that his current secretary had to return to her hometown for personal reasons and wanted to hire her as an intern secretary for a period of time, offering a generous sum that she could almost not refuse—

For just one month, not only could she repay her student loans, but the remaining money could also support her Ascension to the Third Tier!

Christina was not a fool, of course.

After all, Helsing University was the best university in Leipzig and ranked in the top three in all of Star Antinomy. The fact that she could enroll through her own efforts proved her abilities.

This was clearly an invitation to be his lover—or perhaps not even a lover, but merely a temporary plaything.

This was a bit too stimulating for the conservative and proud Christina.

She was already twenty-four years old and had never even been in a relationship… Before university, her peers were too immature for her. After starting university, she was so focused on her studies that she had no time for social events.

She hesitated for a moment, and at the risk of angering Count Dawn, she refused the Count’s invitation.

Fortunately, the Count had a good temperament and did not get angry even when rejected. Instead, he invited her to a banquet at his home.

At this banquet, Christina met influential figures she had never seen in her life.

There were over a dozen nobles of Viscount rank or higher. They were all crammed into this small Leipzig, complaining that Count Leipzig didn’t allocate more land to them, while shamelessly discussing the future of Star Antinomy, widespread unemployment, the damned Goblins, soaring prices, and hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins in investments with merchants whose names she didn’t know.

She also saw the senior whom she had admired when she first enrolled, now closely following a beautiful and seductive noblewoman. Several of her mentors were also invited to the banquet and were surprised to see her, which pleased her. Several handsome and well-dressed men and women invited her to dance, praising her beauty in various words.

However, no one, like Count Dawn, invited her to spend time with them.

Christina had even planned that if just one person invited her, she would definitely accept. It didn’t matter if they were a noble or a merchant, an Alchemist or a Demon Scholar… even a foul-smelling Necromancer, she would be willing to spend time with them.

…Perhaps it was from that moment on that she began to regret her decision.

And now, Count Dawn’s words made her feel even more ashamed.

She knew Senior Zoe, of course.

She was the dream girl of many male classmates back then. Now, at less than thirty years old, she had reached the Fourth Tier and had been invited to become a director of the Royal Alchemical Association. And such a person had become Count Dawn’s “secretary”… What was her previous reserve then? Was it foolish?

But just as Christina was about to bow and bid farewell to the Count, Count Dawn changed the subject. “However—”

“—You said?”

Christina’s eyes lit up, and she eagerly followed up.

(End of Chapter)