771 Affinity Supper (2) - Appetizers

"Welcome aboard, everyone by the woods"

When we set foot in that room, we were to be greeted by the voice of Fermes.

It is a room on the second floor of Castle Genos. Although not so heavily decorated, the hairy feet of the carpet laid on the floor were deep, and the tapestries hung on the walls, the vases decorated with purple flowers and the framed landscape paintings served to weave a truly elegant and elegant atmosphere.

The size of the room would be about eight posts at most. As big as a rectangular table is placed in the middle, there is no other noticeable adjustment, so it feels so spacious. The ceiling was already lit with chandelier fire, bright as day.

"Please have a seat. At the beginning of the dinner party, there is still a little respite."

Fermes, sitting alone at the back of a vertically placed table, points to the left and right seats with his hands when it comes to white fish.

Guided by his lowest surname, George-Zaza and Tour-Din walked to the right side, and as we tried to follow it, he was whispered a gentle way by an elderly samurai.

"Do you guys mind if I come over here?

Apparently, the place to sit was decided from the beginning. On the left side, I, Ai-Fa, Gazran-Rutim and Raina-Rou were seated in order, and on the right, Tour-din and Georg-Zaza, were seated after vacating the three seats in the upper seat.

"If it's a dinner party between nobles, you'll be able to show your stature to the table, but today is only a dinner party of rapport, so I've set the order of seats."

"Hmm. You mean the Marquis Genos will be in your empty seat?

"Yes, because I thought Princess Odifia and Tour-Din would like a seat next door."

Tour-Din was bowing his head to Fermes with an indescribable face. I guess it's the fault of the joy of being able to sit next to Odifia and the apology of sitting in the upper seat, aside from deputizing for the chief.

But when I say it, I'm the best. I'm sure Melfried would sit on the front, and that the minutes were disproportionate, which was not better.

(Well, I guess the primary purpose of Fermes is me. Are you saying you're willing to hide it or not?)

Needless to say, I am most comfortable with Fermes. When exchanging words with Fermes, the expression of Ey-Fa on the opposite side seemed to be of concern.

"Still, you guys looked different. … attending the feast of Castel Genos as it is will not be long lost to the people around you"

"Don't let the fool out. You think we look like nobles?

"Yes," Fermes smiled when George-Zaza said back with the usual audacity.

"I'm sure that involves not only the sight, but also the presence of a clean and tough mind. If you are a well-known merchant, for example, you will have the opportunity to dine with the nobles in this way, but you may not be as calm as you are."

"Hmm. Does that include Tool-Din?

"Yes, Tour-Din probably has the most delicate temper in this, but still, I don't feel much of a whim about nobility or Castle Genos. I'm sure that's a testament to the fact that we've ever had a good bond with the nobility of Genos."

"That's right," Georg-Zaza laughed at Tour-Din.

Tour-Din is smiling, lowering his brow as troubled.

"The Marquis de Genos family should be arriving soon, so please relax"

Whether the word was a signal or not, the small surnames who refrained at the wall start pouring tea around. Poured into a white ceramic cup was Gigi's tea, which had a coffee flavour and aroma.

"Gigi's tea seems to be out more in Genos than in the Wang capital. I'm sure it's because Sims are close."

Smiling, Fermes also mouths his cup.

It is a very relaxed, graceful hesitation as usual.

By the way, Gemd stood behind Fermes, but no long sword had been lowered on his hips. Though two soldiers were waiting outside the door, no such person seems to be placed indoors either.

"To reiterate, today will be my dinner party, which I personally hope to deepen my rapport with. Still, you won't completely abandon your status as a diplomat, but it's only an informal meeting, so please do as you please."

"So the aug, the aide, isn't present either?

To Gazran-Rutim's words, Fermes nodded yes.

"Lord Aug also had a reluctant face at first, but he was convinced that my personal rapport with the Forestside and the Marquis should continue to have an impact as a diplomat."

"Really? We would love to deepen our bond with you."

Gazran-Rutim also smiled without giving him a glimpse of the thoughtful look on the road.

After a relaxing nod, Fermes finally fixes his gaze on me.

"I'm late to say hello, but good luck the other day, Asta.... and Ai-Fa and Tour-Din, too. As a diplomat, I would like to thank you for inviting me to such a wonderful feast."

"Yes, there are plenty of voices around the woods who would love to have had a feast with Fermes."

"Hehe. I'm guessing there were not many people who paid attention to me about what kind of a nobleman in the king's capital was obsessed with Asta."

Fermes did his hand on his mouth and smiled pitifully like a girl.

"As many times as I say, I'm not going to interfere with Asta's life. I just want to see how Asta affects the people around me and that. I hope you believe I never feel evil."

"But......," Ai-Fa remarked in a low voice.

Looking back, Ai-Fa stared at Fermes with such a strong eye that he was unsuitable for that beautiful outfit.

"I was told the other day by the people of the east who read the stars that obsessing with" The People Without Stars "was a pointless act. Isn't that how many words have been heard from you and that Arishna eastern people?

"The people of the east who read the stars?... Oh, you were talking about the arrival in Genos of the" pot of silver "chamber to which Schmiral-Lilyn belongs. Were there any human beings among them who read the stars?

Ai-Fa did not answer and kept staring at Fermes' graceful smile.

Fermes doesn't look uncomfortable, and "Right," he looks like he's having so much fun.

"But isn't it up to him or her to find meaning in the deed? At least for me, it's very important to observe and analyze the existence of the Starless People."

"... why?

"When asked why, I have trouble responding… it doesn't seem uncommon to say that an act that is meaningless to a certain human being can feel significant to a certain human being"

So Fermes did his hand on the chill mandible, posing like he was going to think.

"For example, right...... wouldn't that be a good example, such as a puppet play? Some people find great joy in seeing puppet plays, while others trump it as a waste of time. That doesn't seem to me to be the wrong opinion either. I guess the same thing happens if you poke around with a whistle, a board game, a feast or a festival at the end."

"Hmm? Whatever the puppet plays and whistles, no one can find meaning in a feast or festival."

When Georg-Zaza clasped his mouth, Fermes smiled "no" all he could get.

"I once lived as a bachelor in the 'Tower of the Wise' in Wang Du, but I thought few humans would find festivals and feasts enjoyable in that place. I am also a man who would have liked to have read many books and come closer to the truth in this world if I had the time to do so."

"Ho, that's a pretty, barbaric story!

"Yes. So I guess I, too, am still a strange category. Studying" People Without Stars "doesn't do you any good, but it doesn't give you great pleasure."

Hazel Eye in a strange shade compares me to Ey-Fa in equal parts.

"I am sincerely grateful to Western God that I was born in the same time as Asta. If someone shows up to do Asta harm, I'll be more angry than my heart. I want you to believe that there is no one else who wishes Asta a peaceful ending."

"No, you can't believe that word."

And, Ai-Fa hastily abandoned it.

"Because we wish Asta a peaceful end than anyone else because we are compatriots by the woods. One thing I can't give in."

"Oh, this has spoken a far-fetched word. Let me now correct my fellow Moribe compatriots."

Fermes grinned, grinning like a maiden embarrassing something.

Ai-Fa has a face near the top of the Buddha that lifts his long forehead.

That's when the guard's voice rang from outside the door.

"The Marquis of Genos is here."

Fermes stood up fluffy, so we decided to follow suit.

The door opens from the outside at a time like that when everyone was waiting to get up.

It was Melfried, Eurifia and Odifia, the first sons of the Marquis of Genos, who came into the room.

Melfried, dressed in a less formal white outfit than usual, and Eurifia and Odifia, dressed so gorgeously this way, walk silently. However, Odifia's eyes had been locked on to Tour-Din from the beginning.

"I've been waiting for you. Come on, relax."

Melfried and the others took their seats.

Wait for it, and then we'll sit back again.

"Thank you very much for listening to my unsolicited offer during your busy day. I hope you have a deeper rapport every day."

"Hmm. I am also pleased to be able to spend time with Lord Fermes and the people by the woods"

With a faceless look at the iron mask, Melfried responded first.

Then Eurifia overlaps words with her usual graceful and bright smile.

"I'm also so glad that I've never had to face people by the woods to keep standing up like this. I am truly grateful to His Excellency the Diplomat."

My mother looked me in the eye, and Odifia snorted and nodded.

"Besides, I'm Kanshin. I am also familiar with Tosayaka Asama."

"Thank you, Princess Odifia. Nothing is a formal gathering today, so just like the other day at the feast, please deepen your bond with the people by the woods."

When he was smiled at by Fermes, Odifia nodded one more time before turning back to Tour-Din.

Tour-Din smiles a little grown-up and responds accordingly. These days Tool-Din looked a lot like a sister when he came forward with Odifia.

"Besides, today, people around the woods can finally taste the dishes of Dia. From the tea party day we talked about the other day, I just didn't expect an opportunity so soon."

"Oh, you told me that story at the tea party?

"Yeah, it's hard to invite people from the woods to Castle Genos, but I was hoping that if you were a diplomat, you would activate your power."

"You're done. I never dreamed I'd be expecting that."

As Eurifia and Fermez smiled around, there was an air of aristocratic socialization.

And Eurifia smiles at us, too.

"Still, that's a nice outfit. Especially Ai-Fa and Raina-Lou, which is the beauty of your lady. My lords will not be able to praise the women by the woods, so let me praise them."

"No, not at all," Rayna-Lew smiled back behaving. Ai-fa is, of course, an unscrupulous expression.

I just glanced at me a little bit more, blushed my cheek on the pretend for some reason, and kicked me in the leg under the table.

"Oh my God, I didn't say anything, did I?

When I snuck in my ear, the usual word "obnoxious" was returned.

"Not really, don't stare at me. A little today... when you look at me, I feel uncomfortable"

My cheeks got a little hot, too, remembering the exchange I had when I was in front of them.

There, voices echo again from outside the door.

"Chef Dia is here."

The door opens and the dia, wrapped in white cooking clothes, reveals itself.

And afterwards, the lowlifes pushing the silver wagon have followed.

"It is now half the five moments down the road, may I begin my meal?

"Yes, please"

With the approval of Fermes, the surnames begin to serve dishes.

In the meantime, Eurifia called to Dia.

"They say it's not an official gathering today, so let me greet you, too, Dia. Because of this, people around the woods have had the opportunity to cook."

"Yes," Dia nodded.

Um, it's a very soft, gentle smile. Whatever imagination the i-fa's had, they would not be cautioned by this smile.

"My name is Dia, and I am working as a chef at Castel Genos. Best wishes to all who are in the first sight."

"Welcome and thank you for today. I was really looking forward to your food."

When I took the initiative to reply, Dia narrowed her eyes with pleasure.

Then Raina-Lou also speaks up after Tour-Din greets him for a reunion.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Raina-Lou, my next sister in the main house of Lou. We are partitioning our stall work in Inn Town."

Apparently, more than Tour-Din, Raina-Lou was a strained comforter. He glows his blue eyes hard and looks back at Dia's smile once and for all.

Still, Dia still smiles.

"I see, in Accommodation Town... only once the other day, we bought your Giva dish"

"Yes, I was very sorry to hear that they didn't seem to buy the food from the Lew's partition stall"

Dia only talked about our "Giva Curry" and Tour-Din treats that day, and then Mim's dishes.

"Really," Dia smiles at Rayna-Lew, who has a tight face.

"If you get a chance, and sooner or later... it will be difficult during Easter, but I would like to let you taste your Giva dishes"

"No, I can't ask you to... but I would be sincerely pleased if you could eat our dishes"

Apparently, Rayna-Lew was quite aware of this dia thing.

Well, when it comes to Vulcan and Michelle's mutual reputation, it's natural to think so. Me, Tool-Din, and I are conscious of Dia's existence.

"Then it looks like we're ready, so we'll start with an appetizer"

A small dish with a crochet is delivered to each person according to the voice of Dia.

When it opened with the hands of a small surname, a really colorful appetizer appeared before us.

"It will be a tau bean dish that you can buy from Jagal"

I was so intrigued to see if this was a tau bean.

If you ask me, this shape is rarely tau beans. It's an oval adorable figure, similar to the soybeans I know well.

Only that shade was different.

Those tau beans were dyed in five colors - pink, green, yellow, blue and purple.

They are all soft and have shades that I would like to call pastel colors. But what a strange comfort it was for the familiar tau beans to be so colorful.

It's just, somehow, it's a very beautiful shade.

Its shade feels very harmonious in a white dish burned with fine lines at the edges. Dia's manoeuvres seem to have developed from the beginning, where appearance is also important in cooking.

"Hmm, that's a lot of unfamiliar shades."

Georg-Zaza, who has been quiet for a while, takes up the silver spoon without looking frightened. That's how George-Zaza, snuggling up the tau beans in the plate and throwing them in his mouth, hoisted his eyebrows in strange shapes.

"Mm-hmm. It tastes as good as it looks, face demon.... Oh, I don't know the good or bad food in Castle Town, so I want you to listen to me appropriately"

"Yes, I would be honored if you enjoyed it at all"

Listening to that interaction, we decided to take up the spoon, too.

But no matter how much I value appearance, I don't think I would do anything meaningless to color code it. Could this possibly taste different from color to color?

Thinking about it that way, I only scratched up the pastel pink taupe beans.

Put that in your mouth, what a gentle sweetness spreads in your mouth. This seems to be the sweetness of Minmi, similar to Momo.

(But Minmi's juice should be transparent, not pink)

With that in mind, now I'll try to carry a pastel blue tau bean in my mouth.

From the tau bean, I felt a sober scent coming out of my nose. I guess I use more than one vanilla, but the main one seems to be a vanilla that resembles a mint called Yural.

As expected, they had flavors separated by color.

Pastel green is for matcha tea, bitterness and tannins.

Pastel yellow is as spicy as mustard and chili.

And pastel purple is predominantly berry-based acidity.

Each grain does not taste like a surprise.

It's just that eating it all together got me a big surprise.

This is also somewhat what I had imagined, but they were dishes that, by their combination of colors, could actually enjoy the harmony of different flavours.

There are two varieties for two, and three for three, and a completely different flavor emerges.

When we speak of all five species, it is an unbeatable complexity for Varcus.

Moreover, the combination of the five flavors is quite fragile. In the tau beans just prepared for this plate, it was unlikely that we could even try all of them.

"I've tasted this dish several times, but it seems very playful."

When Fermes commented that way, Dia smiled "yes".

"This is the dish I came up with when I was working at a restaurant in Ichii. I was wondering if customers would come to the store repeatedly to try all the combinations… such expectations were also hidden in a corner of my mind"

"That's an interesting attempt. So how did it work?

"Come on, how was it... I don't know what it was like to be stuck in the cook"

What a relaxed smile.

Raina-Lou, who was eating an appetizer in the face of seriousness itself, looked back at Dia with an ever more sharp look.

"You used to be a cook working in Castle Town, too. When were you invited to this Castle of Genos?

"Come on... when was it...?

Dia's narrowed eyes are loosely directed toward Eurifia.

Euriphia turned to Melfried to pass her gaze.

"By the time I was greeted by the Marquis, Dia should have already been the head chef, right? That wonderful feast dish of our wedding is something we will never forget. If it were you, you would also know when Dia was greeted by Genos, wouldn't you?

"It would have been about fourteen years ago that I welcomed Dia as a cook dedicated to Castle Genos, since it was the year I became an obedient knight"

"Oh, it's been so long. I'm completely old, too."

When Dia smudged and crushed, Eurifia smiled "well".

"But you're still a little over forty, aren't you? It's hard to imagine being greeted by Castle Genos in his mid-twenties.

"No, of course it was from a loading job in the castle, so it wasn't until a few years later that you took me as head chef"

"I see," says Fermes as well.

"But if you hadn't been invited to Castle Genos in those days, you would have been invited by the previous lord of Turan. Speaking of fourteen years ago, it would have been time for Mitsujin to consolidate his power"

"Oh, if you ask me, you're right. The Western god's is a tease."

Ever since I mentioned it that way, Eurifia has looked around at us.

"Speaking of which, you couldn't invite a daughter named Mime today, could you? I thought it was a little overwhelming."

"Yes, but Mim doesn't feel too obsessed with the Castle Town cook. It seems that I and Sheila-Lou have a stronger interest in Varcus."

"You are. Well, a daughter named Mime is also trying to get used to her new life by the woods, and eventually opportunities will arise."

Instead of those words being exchanged, Tour-Din and Odifia were also secretly spinning bonds.

"Tul-din, yummy?

"Yes, it's very tasty and I think it's amazing craftsmanship. Odifia says this delicious meal every day."

"Yeah. But..."

And, Odifia relaxed on the chair and leaned his mouth in Tour-Din's ear.

It's not hard to imagine what words you passed on to Tour-Din. "Thank you," Thur-din said in a small voice, smiling as if to haunt him.

"How about Asta?

and is called to Fermes from diagonal side to side on the pretend.

After carefully tasting the last mouth of the appetizer, I said yes.

"I think it's a very delicate, elaborately flavored, assembled dish. I can't think of anything like this, and even if I do, it's not going to happen to me."

"Really? I was also born in the King's Capital, but I don't remember speaking of this kind of dish. I'm sure the cook of Genos was going to build his own food culture in this neighborhood."

Although the term border seemed likely to include a discriminatory connotation, the Melfrieds are proceeding with their meals rather than the wind they care about. Well, if you think of the King's capital as the heart of the kingdom, then the furthest from it, Genos, is the periphery of the periphery.

(But that probably has the advantage of being close to Sims and Jagals. Yet it seems that there is a context in which it developed rapidly in about 200 years of history, so I guess that also influenced food culture)

When I was thinking that way, I let Fermes wander off his gaze to get a little lost.

"Didn't these dishes exist in Asta's hometown?... will the question make you uncomfortable, Ai-Fa?

Ey-Fa, who had just finished eating his appetizer, looked back at Fermes very well.

"Whether I'm offended or not, you don't have to worry about it."

"That's not how it works. You're one of our most important guests."

Ey-Fa tightened her mouth so that her lips could hold tight.

"You should exchange words without abomination in order to deepen your bond with us. So if anything offends you, let me point that out."

"I understand. Now, let me ask Asta again. What do you think?

I was worried about Ai-Fa's mood, and I said, "Right."

"As far as I know, I don't think it existed. It's just that I don't know all the dishes that exist in my hometown either, so I don't know the truth."

"I see. So many different dishes existed in Asta's hometown?

"My hometown... yeah, well, that's right. There were mountains of exotic things out there that I didn't know existed, so I think there were many unknown dishes in those places."

"Oh, but Asta was born in a small island country, wasn't she? Could it have known so much about the exotic presence outside the sea?

I even ate up to Eurifia, so I had to twist my head too.

"Yes. I've never left my home island country, but I've heard a lot about it. In my hometown, we had a pretty good deal."

"You are. Is that why Asta can bond with the people of the east and the south?

"Oh, I think there's that side to it. I thought I had no reason to worry about being an exotic people in this land."

"Yes... it's kind of a strange story"

As Eurifia breathed in reminiscence, George-Zaza looked back at it as if it was cursing.

"What's so strange? I didn't think it was a tough story."

"But that would be based on the premise that Asta was a distant exotic people, wouldn't it? How did such an asta all of a sudden show up in the Morga Forest... isn't that too strange a story?

"What, Eurifia thought Asta's words were false?

"No, that's not what I'm saying...... but you said Asta herself might be making a mistake in memory by hitting the head or something, right? Because if Asta was born and raised in such a distant exotic country that she didn't know the name of the continent Ameshorn, there's no way she could handle the West word like this."

"But," he raised his voice, was Melfried.

"I hear Asta developed Ameshorn's Breath a few months ago. If you are a human being born and raised in Ameshorn, it will develop at an early age and should never happen again. Given that, it should still be true that I was born and raised in an exotic country"

"Then why is Asta bluffing the West word? Besides, how did you end up waking up all of a sudden in this land far from the sea?

"That's unknown. If you dare to build a muscle path, Asta was born and raised in a distant exotic country, while only visiting the continent Ameshorn at any time. And then I was hit by some sort of strange disaster, and while I lost my memory of recent years, I was to be thrown out into the Morga Forest - let's just say"

Saying it that way, Melfried turned his eyes towards me when it was moonlight.

"Asta never utters a lie more than she was recognized as a compatriot by a forest folk guilty of falsehood. But how hard it is to believe the story of a once dead man gaining a new raw life in another land. Asta was struck by a great oddity, so she mistook that fear for fear of death and assumed false memories for truth - doesn't that mean?

"Right. There is no way for me to know for sure if my memory is true. I think it's quite possible that the words that Melfried said are true."

As far as I'm concerned, I just had to answer like that.

Then he laughed as Fermes dull.

"As far as I'm concerned, I fully trust Asta's words. For some reason," The People Without Stars "seems to come from something incredible."

"Well, that's a strange story either way. But I am truly delighted that Asta has appeared in Genos."

That said, Eurifia laughed at me without giving in.

"Thank you," he said, bowing his head, and then I turn back to Ai-Fa. The suggestion was that Ai-Fa looked very grumpy.

And then they follow the gaps that people turn to other topics, and they pop their mouths in my ears.

"... of course I wonder what I'm thinking?

"Yeah. I don't care about the stories of the past, I guess what matters is where they are and where they end up"

"I wish I knew," whispered Ai-Fa, gently kicking my foot under the table again.

Both Raina-Lou and Tour-Din are cleaning up the rest of their appetizers in a relieved manner. Because I don't care about my origins or anything, he would have remembered not to go in a direction that was difficult to talk about. I had been saved many times by such a large number of people by the woods.

"Now let me move on to the next dish"

and Dia declared to the lid as such.

We only had appetizers for six dishes. The fun was, from now on, the real deal.

(... Speaking of which, Gazran-Rutim is a lot quieter)

That's what I thought, peeking across the Ai-Fa, Gazran-Rutim was staring at Fermes as he put his spine straight up.

Somewhere, it is the kind of eye that is sneaking the sharpness into the depths of the eagle.

Perhaps the most stuck today was Gazran-Rutim, not me, Ai-Fa, or Raina-Rou.