Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

After composing herself again, the Second Queen continued, "Lucas is correct. The man I am referring to is currently in the direct employ of the Sovereignty’s Royal Family as one of their private Spirit Doctors, a position he was specially granted largely for developing this restorative treatment."

Hearing this immediately brought a frown to the faces around the table.

Just getting an audience with a Spirit Professional contracted to such a force wouldn’t be easy, as for hiring him...

"Even so," Lucas, however, wasn’t cowed, "Your Majesty would not have brought this subject up without reason."

With all eyes focused on her again, Natasha’s smile broadened slightly, "Indeed. The Spirit Doctor in question is actually an old friend of my Ancestor, so having him restore Little Eris’ arm may not be impossible."

"By Ancestor, I assume you’re referring to Vast Ocean Trading Company’s Supreme Elder, Kendall Summers, yes?" Celestina raised her brow slightly.

"En," Natasha casually acknowledged.

"And how do you expect us to convince a Peak-Rank Spirit Elite who sits atop one of the most powerful forces on the Blue Sky Continent to do us this favour?" The Balfour Marquess continued in a tone that was neither sarcastic nor accusatory, but rather just genuinely curious.

Celestina knew Natasha well enough to understand that she never spoke or acted in vain. The Second Queen must have some kind of plan to make this work or she wouldn’t have suggested it to begin with.

"It’s quite simple, actually," sure enough, Second Queen Summers grinned, "Grandmother Kendall is the most sociable and approachable of the Supreme Elders, but she is still a businesswoman through and through. As long as you can provide her with enough benefits, anything is negotiable, even something as precious as a personal favour."

As she spoke these words, Natasha reached for a nearby jar of jam and spread a little on one of the Redwood Buns she had saved up until now.

To those not in the know, this was just an innocuous gesture, the Second Queen helping herself to a small, sweet treat.

However, to Lucas, it was like a flashing golden signal, one that caused him to snicker at to himself, Seems like being businesswomen runs in the Summers Family’s blood.

Celestina also got the message loud and clear, though she showed nothing on her face and just nodded, "I appreciate you bringing this to our attention, Your Majesty. We will consider carefully what we can... offer, to the Summers Family to convince Supreme Elder Kendall to assist us."

"En, en! Thank you, Aunty!" Eris, the one who this conversation mainly concerned, added gratefully.

Originally, she thought she would have to break through to the Martial Initiate Realm before seeking treatment for her arm, but it now seemed she wouldn’t have to wait nearly that long.

As for the so-called ’price’ they would need to pay, Eris had absolute confidence that her little brother would have a way, he was so smart after all!

The servers entering the hall with tonight’s fourth and main course brought this brief interlude to a conclusion, leaving everyone at the hall’s head table much to think about.

.....

As with most noble banquets, the star dish of the night was always made from some kind of high Order Beast, and the Balfour Family New Year Celebration was, to no one’s surprise, not an exception.

What was surprising was just how high the Order of the meat was.

Three-Eyed Boar was what Lucas would call an ’invasive species’ of Wild Beast in the Rockwell Kingdom.

Originally, this type of Wild Beast only lived in the harsher, colder climates of the far northern kingdoms of the Blue Sky Continent where their population was kept in check by an abundance of strong predators and sparser food sources.

However, once removed from that environment and placed in a warmer, less hostile lands like the Rockwell Kingdom, Three-Eyed Boar immediately became a menace due to their highly aggressive nature, voracious appetite, rapid reproductive cycle, and impressive peak strength.

When it first appeared a few hundred years ago, the boars perfectly adapted to the warmer southern forests of the kingdom and their population exploded, causing all sorts of problems.

In response, everyone from adventurers to high-ranking nobles were tasked by Royal Decree to hunt these pests down whenever they were found.

Unfortunately, although they were extremely belligerent, Three-Eyed Boar also had annoyingly sharp noses and when confronted with threats they couldn’t defeat, didn’t hesitate to flee into the dense woodlands, making it impossible to completely wipe them out.

And so, as a stopgap measure, every few years, large-scale boar hunts would be carried out across the southern provinces to thin the wild boar population.

Taking out Fourth Order individuals wasn’t much of an issue with enough planning and preparation, but when it came to hunting the Fifth Order Alphas, things became much trickier.

Finding such powerful beasts in the depths of the dense forests was already a challenge, much less trying to take down a hulking beast that could stand well over 2 metres tall and weigh in excess of 6 tons when fully mature.

The only plus side to these boars was that, when cooked properly, they were quite tasty, their flavour becoming richer with age.

It wasn’t unusual for Third Order Three-Eyed Boar to grace the tables of banquets in Misty City, with Fourth Order specimens being less common but still seen from time to time.

Tonight, however, all 3,000 plus guests at the Balfour Family New Years Celebration were offered a choice of Peak Fourth or High Fifth Order Three-Eyed Boar steak for their entrée!

Everyone knew that the Balfour Family would never serve old, frozen meat for their biggest annual celebratory event, which could only mean they had somehow managed to hunt multiple Peak Fourth Order Three-Eyed Boars in recent days!

That alone would have been an impressive feat, but the fact that they had also managed to take down a High-Rank Fifth Order Boar Alpha was simply shocking.

Experience had taught that in order to hunt such a powerful beast in the southern forests required a team of at least 5 High-Rank Spirit Initiates!

Such a luxurious lineup just to procure a dinner item seemed excessive to most, until they recalled that tonight was not a normal New Years Banquet, it was also a ceremony for Celestina Balfour taking her first True Disciples.

Thinking so, most simply felt the Marquess had decided to go all out for today.

What they didn’t know was that none of the Balfour Family’s masters had participated in this most recent boar hunt at all.

In fact, the ones responsible for bringing down this High-Rank Fifth Order Three-Eyed Boar and its entire pack weren’t even present at the banquet tonight; instead, they were being treated to large, roasted cuts of meat out in one of the Manor’s biggest stables.

Frey, Bron, and the other Snow Spirit Foxes normally ate their meals raw, but at Yuki’s insistence, they reluctantly decided to give human cooking a try.

They weren’t disappointed.

All of the Snow Spirit Foxes agreed that the medium-rare Three-Eyed Boar steaks seasoned with generous amounts of salt and herbs were definitely much tastier than just eating it raw.

.....

Needless to say, everyone who was capable of digesting the Fifth Order meat requested it, while most at or below the Core Formation Realm had to settle for the Fourth Order roast.

"Your family’s chefs have improved dramatically, Marquess Balfour. I’ve had higher Order and Tier dishes before, but when it comes to taste alone, tonight’s banquet exceeds any I’ve ever had in my life," Natasha Summers praised as she elegantly placed a cut of juicy, marbled meat into her mouth.

"That is high praise indeed coming from you, Your Majesty," Celestina laughed happily, her eyes unconsciously drifting to the young boy who was stuffing his face next to her.

Aging, dry brining, marinating, tenderizing, slow-cooking, reverse searing, Lucas had introduced a very wide variety of new techniques to the Balfour Family’s cooks, all of which were used to further enhance tonight’s meal, and clearly this had a noticeable effect.

The Second Queen grew up in one of the wealthiest families on the Blue Sky Continent, so her declaring this was the most delicious meal she had ever eaten spoke huge volumes.