Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 517 - 486: Magic Association

A banquet is not considered a particularly notable event for the Victor Empire.

After all, even with the impending doom and scarcity of various resources, noble banquets are still held almost daily in the Empire’s homeland.

However, compared to the decadent luxury of the past, the nobles’ tables are now missing many delicacies from overseas colonies.

For example, the once star of banquets, roast peacock, has disappeared because peacocks can no longer meet the nobles’ needs, replaced by traditional roast lamb or a giant roast fish.

For the nobles, the lack of resources does affect their extravagant lifestyle, but it doesn’t stop them from continuing to pursue opulence.

This merely shifts their dining focus from seeking novelty and peculiarity to a return to traditional banquet culinary styles.

Yet, no matter how lavish the banquets hosted by ordinary nobles are, they cannot compare to Perfikot’s coming-of-age celebration.

The difference in status and wealth between the two is evident, not to mention the caliber of guests one can invite, which is a stark contrast.

Inviting a few nobles of equal status is already the limit for ordinary noble banquets, and one or two higher-ranked nobles often become the absolute stars and core of the event, sometimes even overshadowing the host’s influence.

However, Perfikot’s coming-of-age celebration, in a certain sense, lacks nobles of higher status than her, except for the Empress and the Eldest Princess; perhaps the Count of the Northern Territory isn’t the highest in rank, but his status as the Northern Guardian and a key figure in the Imperial Center is among the most prestigious within the Victor Empire.

Additionally, Perfikot inherited Prince Edward’s legacy, giving her in a certain sense a part of royal status and succession rights to the throne.

Of course, this so-called succession right is only theoretically possible; for Perfikot to inherit the throne, she would need to eliminate all existing direct heirs and clear out all members with royal bloodlines, direct and collateral, before her turn comes.

After all, she has no royal bloodline, only inheriting Prince Edward’s legacy.

But this does not diminish the current honor of Perfikot’s status and the enormous impact of her declaring to host a coming-of-age celebration.

The most straightforward manifestation is the Empress herself has explicitly stated she will attend Perfikot’s coming-of-age celebration, and Eldest Princess Annie will accompany her.

The three major Duke families eligible to act as chairs of the Noble Council have all indicated that the family heads, the Dukes themselves, will attend the banquet.

Though Duke Gloster has served as the chair of the Noble Council for seven consecutive terms, breaking the tradition of rotating the position among the three major Duke families, this doesn’t imply the other two Duke families have declined.

They have merely lost certain political influence and capital, not disappeared from the Empire’s political scene.

From a political perspective, the greater their decline in influence, the more they need to appear at such events to demonstrate their impact.

The three Dukes and the Royal Family are already the top echelon of aristocracy in Victor Empire; in the entire noble circle, there may be no family with greater influence and status than Perfikot herself.

It is conceivable that the top aristocracy circle is almost entirely mobilized; what kind of expression other nobles will have?

Not to mention, the military has consistently supported Perfikot staunchly; this time, almost every prominent figure in the Military Department is attending, and the event among Navy and Army high-ranking generals can be described as a gathering of stars.

Besides this, merchants, bankers, and factory magnates with a certain status and power in the Empire are making every effort to secure a banquet invitation.

For them, receiving an invitation equates to joining the Empire’s elite social circle, becoming members of high society.

Naturally, those who did not receive invitations end up being a level below those who did.

As a result, those who were not invited but desperately wish to attend have begun to try every means to get an invitation.

Providing financial sponsorship, beverages, food for the banquet is already basic operations, and some even attempt to offer a custom-designed large Flying Airship for banquets as the venue, which has stunned many.

A portion of these individuals did indeed successfully establish connections with the Lord of the North’s mansion, with their sponsorship being accepted, thereby gaining a ticket to the event.

But this is only a minority; after all, it’s just a banquet, no matter how lavish, for top merchants, it’s within their capacity to fund entirely; thus, only a few merchants or factory owners with evaluated strength and impact end up sponsoring.

As for that large Flying Airship for the banquet, after careful consideration by Perfikot, she declined it primarily because it was open-roofed, making an open-air banquet somewhat inadvisable given the current weather in the Northern Territory.

On the church’s side, moreover, they sent three cardinal bishops to personally attend the banquet, one of whom is confirmed as the next patriarch candidate.

It’s safe to say the church has maxed out the treatment they can offer in their courtesy to Perfikot; not only that, they formed a Knight Order composed of knights from a Judicial Court’s division, claiming it as a coming-of-age gift for Perfikot.

This move by the church caught many off guard, while also leaving them puzzled about what the church intends to do.

Some truly confidential information hasn’t been widely circulated, with only the highest echelons knowing, presenting a peculiar situation; mid-to-low level aristocrats are speculating about the Knight Order sent by the church, while the top-level aristocrats with decision-making power remain silent.

Yet at this time, Perfikot isn’t concerned with the banquet’s preparations, handled by her loyal old butler with collaboration from Northern officials, leaving Perfikot without the need to worry herself.

Her attention is drawn entirely to a technical report submitted to her from Langton, carefully examining its contents.

Specifically, it discusses constructing a thermal boundary on the Energy Tower, using the tower’s energy to maintain the boundary’s operation, thereby realizing the concept of open thermal energy heating fields.

"Magic Association? Why are they suddenly emerging now?" Perfikot ponders while interpreting the technical report, curious about why the Magic Association has surfaced at this time.