281 Mid-day Banquet, Part 2

The venue was decorated well despite the rush, thanks to every crew working well with each other. 

On the venue hall, four long tables were arranged in two sets of parallel lines, together with a small table, facing all four long tables. The small table only had three chairs, compared to the long tables filled with chairs to maximize capacity. The three chairs were reserved for Jun, Marvin, and the main chef.

There were only two to four people per long table. It was unexpected but it was extremely rare for big families to have most of their members survive for this long. Mia Logro forgot about that matter, but couldn't do anything about it when the guests started appearing.

Next to the small table was Mia Logro with a wide smile on his face.

When Jun got closer, Mia Logro bowed slightly and said, "I apologize in advance. I didn't get to cook everything that I wanted to serve you. In the future, I would make sure to make all of them."

At first, Jun didn't recognize the old man who was smiling brightly in front of him. He didn't even know he was a chef. For him, saving the old man was just a casual thing, and didn't even pay him any attention afterward.

Even so, he couldn't just ignore the man, so he responded nicely. "It's fine. I'm not really a big eater, but I always look forward to eating deliciously cooked meals." Afterward, he took a seat and waited for things to flow naturally.

The banquet was a small event he created to get acquainted with influential powers residing in the town. It was to gauge whether future rebellions could rise up from any of these families. Also, he had some announcements to make and this event would serve as a good place to start.

Marvin already asked the crew to prepare another long table for the Dream Fairy's group. The Dream Fairy was a popular elite agent group, who volunteers on defending the wild portal when Evolved Carriers attack.

The catering crew joyously prepared another long table and took their chance to speak with the Dream Fairies.

After getting everything settled, Marvin rushed back to Jun's table.

While Marvin was settling some matters, Mia Logro looked towards the kitchen entrance and gave his signal. Followed by the next scene where carts after carts of food were pushed out from the kitchen.

Although additional guests arrive, his assistant was able to react quickly and prepare another set of meals. Thankfully, they weren't like other caterers who only prepare the exact amount of dishes required to them.

Everyone got their plates of food served to them and yet, no one moved to eat their food. They were waiting for Jun to speak.

He calmed himself as to not terrify his future allies. Most of the people here brought their families, while some could only bring their friends, who they consider as family. It was an important event and them being able to seat here was a great fortune for them.

Even before Jun came, these families were already observing each other. In the back of their heads, they need to maintain good social interaction with these groups of people.

After getting a good look at everyone, Jun finally started to speak. "I gathered everyone here to thank you for helping me stabilize this town. Each and every one of you played your own roles whether they were big or small. Also, I would like to extend my invitation to everyone here to be the first batch of people who takes oath for becoming citizens of Black Haven."

"We have Mister Rene Galicia over, on that table," Jun pointed and Rene Galicia stood up, making everyone turn to him. Although he was a bit embarrassed, he didn't immediately sit down and allowed everyone to get a good look at him. "He was a lawyer who created a balance oath for everyone to swear on and abide. He will give everyone a copy of the Oath and you may read it before the ceremony later on. If anyone has any feedback after reading the oath, they are welcomed to speak up and point out any problems."

"I'm not really sure if you were already acquainted with each other, but let's introduce ourselves to each other. My name is Jun Reyes, Black Haven's leader..."

Everyone already heard of each other, but only in name. They weren't close to any one of these families since they can be considered rival powers in town. The introduction went on quite smoothly and a relaxed atmosphere was established. 

Afterward, Jun announced that everyone could eat. "This banquet was made so everyone could get closer to each other. I hope it would serve as a way to establish a stronger connection with everybody. Please eat as long as you can, and let's not waste food."

As if the floodgates opened, Reena was the first to grab a piece of crab from their table. Also, she was already eating sneakily before Jun could even announce the start of the banquet.

The Castro family had three people. The family head, together with his wife and daughter. It was with great luck that they were able to survive together. The only unfortunate thing that happened to their family was the loss of animals when wandering carriers attack their farm. Also, their caretakers died while reinforcing the defensive perimeters of the farm. 

It was a fortunate thing that their animal farm was established far away from the populated part of the town due to the smell of animal feces. It helped maintain a high animal population and the animal noise didn't become much of a problem.

The Montano family had four people. Three men and two women. Since they were a metalworking family, they have a lot of tools on hand when the apocalypse happened. They were trapped in their workshop but were able to fortify it, making it a fortress where they could hide from the carriers prying eyes. 

The three men were father and sons, while the two girls were the sons' post-apocalypse girlfriends. Both son were muscular and robust. They could fight carriers with ease but has trouble with fast enemies.

Rene Galicia brought his pre-apocalypse neighbor to the party. He received a lot of help from this man a lot of times, and he could repay him with this opportunity to make friends. Also, the man has become his trusted aid like a personal secretary.

Aries Nicor pointed on several dishes that he liked and waited for the mutated Golden Retriever beside him to answer. It was his personal pet that mutated from defending him from carriers. It was also the reason why he received the ability to communicate with animals through feelings.

When his dog got bitten, he tried his best to speak with it while performing first-aid. He knew that first-aid might not do anything to help his dog, but with a streak of luck, his dog survive.

Aries was already 42-years old and were already used to peculiar stares coming from people all around him. He doesn't care about anything else, except for his dog.

After the Golden Retriever pointed on several dishes that it liked, by hovering its paws over the dishes, Aries divided the food and conceded some dishes that both of them liked. The dog wasn't greedy and new that his owner still had to eat. It only chose food that appealed to its sense of smell.

Jun watched everyone before eating the dishes in front of him. He grabbed a regular-sized steamed crab and started sucking the meats out of its body. 

Marvin and Mia Logro waited for him to chew his food before smiles blossomed on their faces.

Jun felt that something was wrong upon seeing the two's reaction, however, he didn't sense any evil intents, and both men had green nametags above their head.

He couldn't be poisoned, right?

"Is there something wrong? Why are you guys looking at me?" Jun asked in puzzlement. If the two decided to be mysterious, he might flip the table and cause a scene.

"Something good will happen when you finish the dish. I was also surprised when I first ate his dish." Marvin responded with a smile, followed by Mia Logro nodding his head.

Seeing Marvin's look of encouragement, Jun forced himself to finish the steamed crab.

What came after shocked him.

[Satiation increased. Bonus effect: Energy Recovery increased by 10% for one hour.]

Jun grabbed a fried milkfish and started devouring it. After eating almost every edible part of the fish, a new notification appeared.

[Satiation increased! Bonus effect: Speed increased by 1 for one hour. Energy Recovery increased by 10% for one hour. Total Bonus: Energy Recovery increased by 20% for two hours.]