225: Farewell
Walking into the dining room, I had to smile to myself as it looked like organised chaos. The people there had broken up into groups currently, with Elijah, Hari, Luis, George and Darren all chatting together, though I noticed Elijah kept sneaking glances at Huling, who was currently scratching Lily behind her ears, sitting next to Sylverith.
Kathrine looked to be engaging Clifford and his wife in conversation, to which Crisplet burst over there immediately, clearly wanting to say hello to his friend.
Then there was Micca with Milo and Jen. I wanted Archie to join us for dinner, but something told me that with the arrival of Marcus and Amber, the chances of Archie joining us were near impossible, so I’d just force food on him later.
I knew I should meet Marcus and Amber at the entrance, but if I wanted to truly keep this as informal as possible, I made the decision in my mind not to do that and let Archie show them in.
Approaching the table, I loaded it up with food I had stored, first pulling out baskets filled with still-warm bread. I used infuse on everything just so there would be mana in every item for Lily.
I placed a still-sealed razor crab pot at either end of the table, with the non-spicy one at the end where I knew George and Darren would be seated.
Infusing them both, I noted that the one I had made was very similar to last time, just missing the major earth potency, but Crisplet’s were incredible.
[Rare] Smoky Fire Crab.
- Fire immunity
- +4 Endurance
- +1 Charisma
- +2 Willpower
- +1 Luck
- Fire Conjuration
- Fire Magic Potency
- Flame Barrier
There was nothing special about the boar, and that to me made it special in itself. It reminded me of where this crazy journey began, and to me, that made it my favourite dish on the table so far.
Finally, I pulled out the sausages, mashed tubers, and several sauces, including a meat gravy, a red wine jus, a garlic grass cream sauce, and a mixture of roast vegetables.
Looking at everything, I had way too much food even for gluttons like Liane and Lily, but I looked at it fondly. Just as I was setting out the final item, I saw the doors to the dining room open, as Marcus and Amber walked in, flanked closely by Archie, who looked slightly panicked.
Marcus made his way directly towards me. “Trevor, thank you for having us at the last minute.”
He took my hand, giving it a firm shake, while Amber came alongside and gave a nod with a warm smile.
“You’re welcome. I apologise I didn’t invite you sooner. I didn’t want to turn this into a political event that would cause trouble,” I admitted.
“Understandable,” Marcus smiled before turning to the rest of the room, his eyes landing directly on Huling.
“Well, everyone you know, except for Sylverith’s friend, Huling.” I announced it loud enough for others to hear it as well.
When it caught Huling’s attention, she appeared next to me in what honestly seemed like a teleport, but the small breeze that blew past me made me think otherwise.
Marcus’s eyes were wide, clearly recognising the name and who it was, much like Liane did. I suppose if I read Morlin’s book fully, I might have seen Huling in there.
“Ah, the King!” she said, which I had to assume was to everyone’s mind, reaching out to shake his hand.
There was a small cough from Sylverith off to the side. “Huling dear, please give Marcus his rings back. We’re not going to cause any trouble here tonight.”
Looking down, it was only then I noticed all the rings that Marcus had been wearing were currently missing, and Huling had a mischievous smile on her face but placed four rings into Marcus’s hand.
“You’re fast,” Marcus laughed in good humour, putting them back on.
Turning back to the table, I did a double take as a familiar old man, with grey hair and a grey beard, wearing a light blue robe that should have stood out, with a blue metal blade strapped to his hip that was visible at the top of the leather sheath.
He was there with a plate in hand, and already helping himself to the boar, seemingly not noticed by anyone else in the room yet.
“Morlin?” I asked.
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“Hello! I hope you don’t mind the intrusion. This is a dinner I would love to attend,” he said with a smile.
It was only then that everyone else registered he was in the room, with Huling being the most surprised, it seemed, as she appeared next to him.
“I didn’t sense you. Most impressive,” she said again, so that I could hear as well.
“Huling, a pleasure to meet you again, though this time I do hope you’ll not try to kill me,” Morlin chuckled, still helping himself to the boar and vegetables.
“Oh! I’ve tried to trick you before, have I?” she laughed.
Poor Clifford and his wife looked absolutely terrified with both the arrival of the entire royal family, in addition to Huling, Sylverith, and now another name that I’m sure he’d recognise from history.
Now that everyone was here, I spoke up, “Uh, everyone, please help yourself. Crisplet, could you remove the seals on the pots?”
Taking a seat at the head of the table, I took a bread roll and roast boar for myself to start.
The coal sealing the lid on each crab pot vanished, as steam escaped and filled the room with the smell of spice and salty sea air. It was incredibly fragrant and already had my mouth watering, and I’d not even seen it properly yet, but I figured a warning would do.
“Just letting everyone know, the crab at this end of the table was made by Crisplet, and as such is particularly spicy. The one at the other end is very mild.”
I saw Darren and George grin as they dove straight into the mild one.
Off to the side, I saw Archie setting up all the drinks and filling jugs of ale and wine, bringing them to the table and filling glasses. I couldn’t help but notice all the other staff were not helping him, and I didn’t know if that was because the king was here, or just the combination of Sylverith and friends.
I was glad to see the table settled with any of the normal formal rules thrown out the window. Marcus was sitting to my right, with Liane and Crisplet on my left, but the rest of the royals were all mixed through the table. Elijah and Luis were at the end with George and Darren, while Clifford and his wife were sitting next to the King and Queen. Directly opposite sat Huling, Sylverith and Morlin.
“I heard you had quite the event at the temple today,” Marcus said with a laugh.
“Yeah, I made an offering and it was accepted by the goddess,” I said nervously.
Marcus laughed. “It’s amusing hearing the rumours from that, though no one knows who the recipient was. In fact, just before I came here, I received a message informing me that the goddess visited the temple and took two individuals who made the offering.”
“Took them?” I asked, confused.
“It would have been when Lily took us out of there. They would have seen two of us vanish and made the assumption that the goddess took us,” Liane chuckled.
“That’s a good thing. We got out of there as quickly as we could before people asked questions,” Milo said.
“Or realised what had happened. The whole place was stunned for a while, especially after he arrived and left,” Hari laughed, pointing to Morlin.
Morlin, who had stopped talking to Huling now, joined in. “It’s not every day, or well, century for that matter, that the gods answer prayers. That was quite the mana pulse that was released.”
Marcus looked concerned at that.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He waved it off, but Milo seemed to answer for him. “I’m sure the concern is that a large surplus of mana means the beasts will grow faster and likely reproduce more, which will have a knock-on effect of more danger.”
Marcus nodded. “Although there are three such individuals who’d usually be considered a death sentence for any regular adventurer sitting at the table here with us, so it’s hard to say what the actual effect will be these days.”
Marcus then leaned over and, in a whisper, “One of which has a long-standing bounty at the adventurers’ guild for several decades now.”
I couldn’t help but notice a smirk on Huling’s face.
“Well, no fighting here,” I let out a nervous laugh.
Marcus let out a boisterous laugh. “No intention of it. Though, Huling, I would ask that you stop killing adventurers if possible.”
The smirk grew wider. “I’m not killing them. Their own greed is their downfall.”
“I see,” Marcus said, now appearing to be in deep thought.
“Please, everyone, eat while it’s hot,” I suggested, trying to move the topic along.
It didn’t take much pushing before everyone had full plates in front of them, and it didn’t take long before Kathrine discovered the properties of Crisplet’s crab dish.
“If there is any left over, please let me buy it!” Kathrine practically begged.
Shrugging, I said, “I have no intention of selling it, but you can have it if there is some left over, sure.”
I was half expecting her to load her plate up, or ward off other people, but that never happened. Truthfully, it was too spicy for most people, with only Sylverith and Huling enjoying it.
Lily, surprisingly enough, ended up having half the boar.
The table had shuffled around some too, with Huling and Morlin seeming to be in conversation, although it was one-sided as you could only hear Morlin talking, as he was contesting the fact that he wasn’t being greedy.
Sylverith was speaking with Amber in hushed tones, though I did hear it was to do with Amber’s class. Something about its original rare class and subsequent evolutions had Sylverith intrigued.
Crisplet had started to tell everyone stories about his incredible fight against a horde of wolves, and there were two suspiciously George and Darren looking figures in the scene of flame that was playing out, hiding away and getting rescued. He even had little statues he was giving everyone, which just showed Crisplet punching a wolf into a tree.
I know I should probably stop Crisplet from telling lies, but his fight against these wolves was getting so grand now I couldn’t wait to see where it went next. Also, I doubt anyone actually believed this is what really happened. Even George and Darren were laughing about it.
As things slowed down, I pulled out all the berry tarts I had cooked along with lemon tea for anyone who wanted it.
Lily immediately perked up, as did Liane and Jen, none of them waiting before helping themselves, and luckily being very conservative with the number they took, leaving plenty for everyone else.
We were only a couple of bites into the tart when Morlin caught my attention.
“Seems you have another guest about to arrive.”
Looking up, I was confused, but when Sylverith said, “She’s just in time for dessert.”
I knew exactly who was about to show up.