No. 23 Hmington Street, Sule District, inside Arno's Exquisite Tailor Shop.
Arno, dressed in an exquisite brown suit, stood tall by the door, waiting.
This was originally a very elegant posture, but the atmosphere was completely ruined by the black cat perched on his head. However, the cat's presence also made him appear more approachable.
Unlike the morning, in the afternoon, customers continuously pushed open the tailor shop door. Each time the door opened, the Barrier on the door frame would light up, scrutinizing the newcomers.
"Good afternoon, Old Wolf, today's wine is definitely potent."
"It's been a while since I've seen you, Miss Minotaur. Uh... today's yak mask is very unique, did you get it from another empire?"
"Esteemed Mr. Taker, it's a pleasure to see you. I'll trouble you with the appraisal at this afternoon's Salon. Of course, I'll give you 150 currency as compensation."
"Yo, Peak, want to grab a drink after the Salon?"
Arno skillfully greeted every customer entering the tailor shop. He had a different set of remarks for different people, striving to make everyone feel comfortable.
This was a skill he learned from his maid.
Most visitors wore various strange masks. Of course, some more powerful individuals, like Mr. Taker, attended without masks.
After entering the tailor shop and greeting Arno, the customers skillfully walked towards the back door, where there was a staircase leading to the second-floor banquet hall.
"Hmm... looks like she didn't come."
After most of the familiar faces had appeared, Arno shook his head, somewhat disappointed.
It seemed the new member was very cautious and didn't quite trust this gathering.
Just as time was running out and Arno was about to turn and follow them upstairs, the main door opened again, and a familiar figure wearing a silver bird-beak mask appeared before Arno.
"Oh, Miss, you're here." Arno smiled at Syl. "To be honest, this outfit really looks good on you. I don't mean the tailoring is good, but your demeanor is excellent."
"It's getting late, let's go up." Arno walked, looking back to see if Syl was following.
Only after seeing Syl catch up did Arno let out a sigh of relief.
What a serious young lady...
He wondered if his compliment just now had made her even more annoyed.
As Arno walked, he introduced Syl to the people attending the banquet and their general personalities.
The Salon's process was generally not long. After exchanging pleasantries, people would directly sell or seek to buy items they needed.
The authenticity of these items would be appraised by the knowledgeable Mr. Taker.
After the item exchange segment, it was free conversation, getting to know each other, or discussing magic.
As the two were about to reach the second floor, the last step of the stairs made Syl feel a sense of trepidation.
This was the same feeling as when she saw Aishala in her Glorified One form, though the trepidation was much weaker this time.
"Don't worry, Miss," Arno said, seeing Syl stop, as he took out a purple card from his jacket pocket. "You just need to show your invitation to pass."
With Spiritual Sight not activated, Syl had no idea what was ahead. She just took out the card but didn't act rashly.
Then Syl watched Arno walk over with the card, stepping onto the last step of the stairs as if entering another space. He completely vanished. Before her, there was still an empty, slightly dilapidated wooden staircase.
Suddenly, Arno's head emerged from the void, looking at Syl and smiling, "Come in quickly, I can't wait to introduce you to everyone."
Syl hesitated for a moment, then gripped the card in her hand and stepped onto the last stair.
Nothing happened. Syl smoothly passed through the staircase and arrived on the second floor. Arno stood not far ahead, waiting for her.
Syl looked back, and the long bird-beak of her mask seemed to poke into some space as she turned, the front half disappearing directly.
Behind her, there was clearly only the staircase she had just ascended.
Was this something like a Barrier? Or some strange spell?
Syl didn't ask further and simply followed Arno.
The decor on the second floor after passing through the Barrier was clearly much grander, and the space was wider than the first floor. It looked as if the second floors of two neighboring shops had been opened up and combined to form this large banquet hall.
No one would have imagined that the second floors of several clothing stores would be connected to form such a banquet hall.
Stepping on the thick red carpet, Syl followed Arno to an area with many long tables. These tables, covered with yellow cloth, held a variety of fresh foods and fruits. There were also many small round tables and chairs nearby, convenient for acquaintances to sit together and enjoy food or chat.
Many people were already inside. Most of the round tables were occupied, and people were softly chatting amongst themselves. When Arno and Syl entered, the conversations stopped.
Almost everyone turned to look at Syl, then at Arno, seemingly waiting for an explanation.
"This is a newcomer recommended by Old Kelly. She likes magic but hasn't learned it yet. I hope everyone can be friendly with her." Arno smiled as he introduced Syl to everyone.
After the introduction, Arno also smiled and turned to Syl, saying, "Please feel free to find a seat, don't be shy."
Upon hearing that Syl was a newcomer who knew no magic, most people lost interest in her, even though she was a girl with a seemingly good figure.
Syl nodded at Arno and looked around.
Almost every table had people sitting around it, mostly wearing masks. Syl didn't know where to sit for a moment.
Suddenly, Syl spotted a particularly striking girl wearing a large cow head mask, who was currently taking a small, off-white fruit and stuffing it into the nostril of her mask.
Pfft...
The scene was too bizarre. Although Syl showed no outward reaction, she was already laughing inwardly.
Moreover, the lady with the cow mask was sitting alone.
Syl looked around and walked towards the woman with the cow mask.
Seemingly noticing someone approaching, the cow-masked lady, who was about to stuff another fruit into her nose, her hand trembled, and the fruit fell onto the table.
"Three seconds... three seconds..." The cow-masked lady muttered something as she quickly reached out to pick up the fruit and stuffed it into the cow's nose again. "Munch."
After quickly chewing and swallowing the fruit, the cow-masked lady raised her head and looked at Syl.
"Hi, hello... oh no, today is... Moo—" The woman mooed at Syl, imitating a yak.
"…" A drop of cold sweat ran down Syl's forehead beneath her mask.
"I thought it was raining, turns out she rendered you speechless ^^"
"No, intelligent mages generally wouldn't be so... naive, right? Perhaps this is a default rule in the Salon? After all, many people are wearing animal masks," Syl quickly thought to herself.
Subsequently, Syl also decided to respond in the same way. Since she was wearing a silver, crow-beak-like mask, Syl sat down, looked at the cow-masked lady, and greeted her.
"Caw... caw-oh?"
It was so embarrassing that Syl's face beneath the mask felt as if it were burning.
But Syl's response seemed to greatly excite the lady opposite her, who happily said:
"Moo~ Moo!"