Wortenia Senki (WN)

Volume 6 Chapter 20

That day, Viscount Gerhard had been sighing a lot.

Currently, he was inside Salzberg family mansion, located in the corner of the royal capital Pireaus.

Though speaking more precisely, it should be called ‘former’ Salzberg mansion.

(I looked at the tonight dinner party from the corner of the venue, that was indeed well managed… There were servants who had served in the days of Earl Salzberg, but I didn’t see any agitation. Apparently, their desire for revenge is low…)

Thus, Viscount Gerhardt sighed again.

(Anyway, that dinner party was indeed a masterpiece… Confronted with that, any aristocrats would be keenly aware of Baron Mikoshiba’s economic power.)

After all, the nobles who had a discerning tongue had flocked the table as well…

The Baron should’ve no time to organize such party since he was still battling the Imperial Court.

(But I guess it is also natural for him to do it… Anyone wants to show how much power one possessed.)

Because of Viscount Gerhardt decided to just stand on the corner of the assembly hall, he didn’t taste the food himself, he only got the information from those who ate the food.

However, he could easily imagine the level of the dish presented from the smell which drifts from the table.

The dish and alcohol presented on the table was indeed a first class. -

Spices imported from other continents were being used without hesitation.

Some of the spices were said to be worth more than gold of the same weight…

That alone was comparable to the banquet held by Duke Gerhardt when he was still holding his power.

Furthermore, the dishes were presented creatively.

There were grilled and soup-styled dishes common to this country, but there was also dishes such as fried foods that oil consumption was so intense that it was hard to say anything about it, and there was also steamed kind of foods which bring out the cooks ability to the maximum.

Also, what caught his eyes especially was the deep fried seafood smeared with spices.

Except for the fruits, all the basic ingredients were rare even in this world.

Viscount Gerhardt had heard that such rare foods have existed in the coastal area of the western continent, but he himself never had the chance to taste it before.

That alone could be called a masterpiece already…

(I never thought there would be that many splendid fish being presented…)

Who would have thought when there was a noble make a mistake and dropped that huge fish on the floor, it was immediately being replaced with a new one. -

Baron Mikoshiba Ryouma himself apologized for his bad service, but everyone knew what was going on.

Moreover, the plate had become empty would be replaced with other new dishes.

Some might think of it bad if all the dishes were being presented in one go, but that might cause the heat of the dishes to disappear by the time they were being introduced.

And such an excuse was kind of vain since this time dinner party was also limited.

(No, I think it was already included in his calculation… Which also means he can get any kind of dishes no matter how much he wanted…)

Viscount Gerhardt shook his head once again.

(Certainly, that man territory was surrounded by sea. And because it has evolved into trading port with neighboring countries, he had more opportunity to get any kinds of seafood compared to us who lived inland. But… Even so…)

The Royal Capital Pireaus was far from the coastal area.

Of course, naturally, the foods on the table were mostly meats.

Fish dishes were not wholly absent, but mostly it was made with river fishes or shrimp.

Among the influential gourmet nobles, some of them might’ve tried to carry some seafood from the sea, but by the time it had arrived mostly the fishes had turned bad.

There was even a joke about how much nobles died because of that.

However, the goods presented this time showed a different kind of freshness…

As far as he had observed, there was no bad smell coming from the seafood dishes.

However, the problem was not that…

(The plates used to distribute the food, the bowls… those are pottery that skilled craftsman made. The quality was not bad either. It was at the level where it was enough to entertain high-level guest. But, it was not over…)

Foods taste get worse over time, that was the fundamental problem with cooking.

Hot noodles became warm with time, and along with that the taste also changes.

However, the story would be different if the tableware was created to be able to be used with endow magics.

By pouring prana on the tableware, the warm food could be kept warm and the cold food could be kept cold as long as they wanted. -

But, to make such tableware was not easy.

Those who learn endowment magic was considerably scarce, even within the western continent.

Not only one need to have the knowledge of magic chant, but one also need to have the ability to carve the complex magic design on the targeted tools.

Also, due to the time needed to achieve that, it took more time compared to those who only learned magic arts and martial arts.

Not to mention many of the bestowing magic users were exclusive.

Most of them who were able to use it usually only teach their own descendant.

A technique such as reducing the weight of the armors was considered to be a secret. -

The only exception was the coercion magic, used to manage slave.

In any case, only a few magic users were capable of bestowing magics.

(Usually, without the holder intentionally pouring their prana, the magic won’t be activated… Mostly because of the prana usage… Which showed how skilled the craftsman was…)

Bestowing magic technique could be activated by anyone.

Therefore, as long someone could control prana, anyone could use it.

It was also true that a normal human who was not a magic caster might be able to use some prana, but the amount of prana inside normal human should be not enough to activate the bestowing magic.

However, the tableware used in today’s dinner overthrown such common sense.

In fact, the reason why Viscount Gerhardt had realized that was because the alcohol in his glass, despite not being given ice remained cold until the end of the banquet, which caused him to feel suspicious.

(I don’t know what means Baron Mikoshiba Ryouma had used… However, it is certain in the eyes of the people come today, he has the power to provide such tableware for the hundred of guest…)

What kind of significance that was, Viscount Gerhardt understood.

After some time he indulged with his thought.

The door was tapped lightly, and he could hear a woman’s voice.

“My master wishes for Viscount Gerhardt to come to his office…”

Viscount Gerhardt nodded, and raise his body from his chair.

He then drinks the alcohol in his glass to wash away his throat and took a deep breath.