Chapter 78
Allen Carter
“…I know you’re waiting for someone here. I mean… is the person you’re waiting for also a member of the club? Our club is by invitation only.”
A curly-haired youth dressed in a white suit, with a somewhat artistic air, stood before Princess Isabel with a pained expression. He confirmed, “If not, could you please wait on the other side…”
The Princess, who usually did not interact with people, suddenly stood solemnly at the entrance of the White Dance Shoe Club.
Her posture didn’t look like she was waiting for someone; rather, it looked like she was confronting them.
Students passing by gathered nearby, some watching the excitement in the club’s hall. As for the alumni who had already graduated, they were even more nervous, some even hesitant to enter and loitered around the vicinity.
However, the question posed by the curly-haired youth stumped Isabel.
The person she was waiting for was indeed not a member of the club, but she was currently planning to join the White Dance Shoe Club.
—Broadly speaking, she knew her sponsor should be the underclassman with the blue long hair who was taller than her. But the problem was, Isabel didn’t know her name.
Therefore, she merely pursed her lips, seriously contemplating how to reply.
…Should she start from the beginning?
What a hassle.
Isabel remained silent for a moment, then gave an affirmative answer, “They are a member of your club.”
Hearing this, the curly-haired youth seemed surprised.
Someone actually dared to invite this Princess!
As the curly-haired youth was about to inquire about the person’s name and invite Isabel inside to sit down, a voice he hadn’t heard before came from the other side:
“We’re here, Isabel.”
The curly-haired youth turned his head and saw an unexpected person.
Wasn’t that Eivass Moriarty? That famous playboy from Du Lac Middle School?
He had disappeared after graduation and only recently solved a major case, landing on the front page of the Glass Steps Herald. However, his leg seemed to be broken. Rumor had it his girlfriend’s brother broke it because he was dating two women… Others said he went abroad to play cricket, but his leg was broken by his opponent in an ambush.
…When did he return to school? He even went to the Seminary…
How come there was no news about it?
And how did he get entangled with that eccentric Princess?
“Eivass!”
Upon hearing Eivass’s voice, Isabel’s eyes lit up.
She stopped waiting at the entrance and hurried over with small steps.
The curly-haired youth was even more dumbfounded.
—Were they so close that they could call each other by their first names?!
At this moment, the curly-haired youth realized something else.
The five or six people Eivass had brought with him were all formal members of the White Dance Shoe Club. Yet, they were gathered around Eivass as if he were their center.
Just then, the blue-haired girl who had been following Eivass stepped forward with a smile and greeted them.
She had a dignified appearance and a cheerful smile, with dimples when she laughed. She exuded a vibrant energy.
“Senior Xisiteng, Princess Isabel was invited by me!”
“Angela…”
The curly-haired youth hesitated.
He shook his head and decided not to get involved.
Instead, he directly asked, “Is this Eivass, classmate? Is he also a new member you invited?”
“Eivass and Miss Lily were both invited by us, senior,” answered Aiden, who was beside Eivass. “Eivass was invited by me, and Miss Lily was invited by him.”
He pointed to another classmate beside him.
Aiden then added, “Actually, Princess Isabel came with Eivass. Strictly speaking, Eivass is the one who invited the Princess.”
“I’m just a nominal sponsor!” Angela explained with a smile.
Xisiteng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He quickly opened the door and let the whole group in. He didn’t verify their invitation qualifications—the priority was to get them inside and stop them from making a circus out of the entrance.
After ushering everyone in, he immediately closed the door, blocking the curious gazes from outside.
If all went as expected, the news that “Princess Isabel was invited to join the White Dance Shoe Club” would spread after today.
As soon as they entered, they heard faint music flowing from within.
Isabel stayed close to Eivass, looking around curiously.
But to her disappointment, the place was much smaller than she had imagined and not as grand.
The interior of the White Dance Shoe Club resembled a music restaurant with a bar.
Upon entering, one could see a spacious hall. At the front was a rather large stage, spacious enough for an opera troupe and dance ensemble to perform, and also for over a dozen couples to dance on. Musical instruments covered with cloths were placed in a corner of the stage.
At the moment, a white-haired elder stood alone on the stage, playing the violin with his eyes closed. Behind the curtain behind him, a handsome young man was engrossed in playing the piano.
To the side was a long bar, and on the other side, stairs and restrooms. Occasionally, young students carrying wine and tea could be seen walking upstairs—working in the club also earned wages.
Besides these, one could only see rows of sofa seating and round tables.
The second floor was open-plan, with protruding balconies with silver armrests. There were scattered people over there, leaning on the armrests and chatting quietly with others.
On the second floor, there were also semi-open private rooms, from which people could be vaguely seen from the first floor. Some rooms had their curtains, resembling cloth drapes, drawn down. This setup clearly lacked soundproofing, and the privacy was obviously not good. People in the private rooms likely couldn’t see the performance.
But precisely because of the poor soundproofing, they could hear sounds—however, from the perspective of watching a performance, sitting on the first floor was clearly better.
The students who brought Eivass and his group in were greeted by acquaintances as soon as they entered, or they actively found friends sitting somewhere. Only the sponsors stayed with them and found the young man sitting behind the bar.
He had bright blond hair and deep, poetically melancholic eyes. He was handsome, with a clear facial contour, and had the semi-long ears characteristic of half-blood elves. However, his cheeks were somewhat thin and a bit long, making him look slightly like a horse-faced individual.
He was not a bartender, but simply sat behind the bartender, leisurely drinking by himself.
Upon seeing Eivass and Isabel from afar, his face showed a look of surprise.
He immediately stood up. His thin and tall body rose from behind the bar, and he meticulously adjusted his bow tie. His back was straight, and he stood well over 1.9 meters tall. His quiet and swift rise indicated his control over his physique.
“Senior Allen,” a few people behind Eivass politely greeted him and stated their roles as inviters.
After greeting him, Aiden quietly introduced to Eivass, “This is Allen Carter, the top male student in the third year. He is also the current President of the White Dance Shoe Club.”
Then, he introduced to Allen, “This is…”
“I recognize them, Aiden. Thank you,” Allen gently interrupted Aiden. His voice, much like his appearance, was deep and had distinct bubbly undertones, giving him a distinctly elven poet’s aura.
He placed his right hand on his chest and bowed slightly towards Isabel, “Princess Isabel, it is an honor that you have joined the White Dance Shoe Club.”
Next, Allen smiled at Eivass and nodded in a friendly manner, “Mr. Eivass Moriarty, it is also an honor to see you here.”
Eivass raised an eyebrow.
He did have an impression of this person… both in the game and in his memory.
He was the third son of a minister, a half-blood elf. He was also the faction leader and reputation merchant of the “White Dance Shoe Club,” an organization in its version 0 state.
Eivass’s main memories of him were his melancholic aura and his long face. And also, his memorable death.
During the Autumn of Cruelty event, when the Star Antimony people invaded, Allen put up a brave but ineffective resistance—
He had ridden his Gryphon to cover the players, Eivass, and Isabel’s retreat. He had solemnly cast a series of Law Spells at the Golem, with very cool visual effects. But he clearly hadn’t dealt any damage at all and hadn’t even controlled the Golem for a single moment.
Then, he was swatted out of the sky by the thirty-meter-tall Golem.
…Although one could see he was very brave, the string of “0000” and “Immunity, Immunity, Immunity” was frankly hard to stomach.
But after all, he used his own life to consume one attack frequency of the Golem. In terms of results, he had indeed provided very crucial cover… The protagonist group was just one second away from being crushed by the Golem.
Looking back, it was precisely this attack drawn by Allen’s “face” that made the difference.
At least when facing an irreversible defeat, Allen, unlike the scions of other Knight families, did not surrender to the Star Antimony people. Instead, like a true, ancient knight, he fought until the very end.
Eivass’s impression of him was “he’s a good person, loyal, and brave, just a bit weak.”
Or rather, too weak.
Because Allen was not interested in the path of the extraordinary but focused on his cultural studies and political career, his level was not high. Even among his graduating peers, he was considered relatively weak. At the time, players wondered how he graduated early and obtained his Gryphon, all saying he used his father’s connections.
He became the top male student of that year purely because his grades were exceptionally good. Allen had a talent for linguistics and a deep understanding of law. Had he not met with an accident, he might have become a lawyer or a judge in the future.
Thinking about it now, this precedent was likely set by Haina.
She was the first to obtain a Gryphon in her fourth year, theoretically graduating early but still studying at the school.
—Although Haina never appeared in the game, likely dying long before being noticed by players, the impact she had on others had been silently preserved.
