On the Seven Towers

The lights were bright in the big banquet hall of the Earl's castle. This was a banquet hosted by Xiao Chen, and the venue was provided by the Earl.

The banquet was in the traditional long table format. Three tables occupied the east, west and north sides of the banquet hall. The main table of Xiao Chen and the Earl was located in the north of the entrance. A long table and six chairs facing the hall were placed on a low platform about one foot high to show that this was the seat for the host and the guests.

Count Arias and Xiao Chen sat in the middle, with Serinda, Li Jia and two big businessmen sitting on the sides. Their table was covered with a light gray linen tablecloth embroidered with simple patterns, and the dishes and knives and forks were all made of silver. The wine glasses and wine jugs were glass products from Earth. Such tableware was not considered luxurious among the nobles. However, the rainbow fruit wine in the glass wine jug changed colors from red to yellow under the illumination of magic runes and candlelight, and it was a top-grade product at first glance.

A steamed swan was placed on the middle plate, decorated with clean white feathers, with small red fruits as eyes, and waves made of lettuce leaves under it. On the side were roasted herring, roasted squid and oyster soup. In places not close to the sea, these seafoods often need to be frozen by magic to be eaten, which are very precious. The other dozen dishes were mostly meat, including wild boar, veal, venison and lamb, some of which were made into steaks, some into pies, some were smoked, and some were cooked with cheese to make a thick sauce. There were also some vegetables and beans, which were made into paste or cakes, and some were ground into mud and mixed with flour, and kneaded into cute little animal cakes. Compared with the tableware, these dishes were much more delicate, and they were the work of famous artists.

At the tables on the east and west sides below, the Earl's knights, Xiao Chen's guards and merchants from all over the country were sitting together. Ye Zi, Shi Hao, Roger, Xi Luo and others were also sitting among them. The table for these people was more than ten meters long, with two rows of long benches on both sides of the table, and people sat opposite each other. There was no tablecloth on the table, and the food was much simpler. The swan was replaced with a pheasant, and the meat was simply cut into pieces, which was fragrant and tempting but less delicate. Although the pastries had the same taste, they were made into simple round cakes. The drinks were wine and malt liquor in pottery jars.

A five-member band played cheerful music on one side of the main table. The main instrument was an elven flute, which had been popular in the kingdom for a long time. The concerto was a seven-stringed harp, a ramos violin and a northern desert bagpipe. The singer was a half-elf bard, who beat the tambourine and hummed an inaudible tune in a low voice, creating a very warm atmosphere.

"The seats are really clearly divided into high and low positions. Xiao Chen and his friends are doing well. They always sit in the upper seats wherever they go." Shi Hao used an iron table knife to laboriously cut off a piece of bacon and stuffed it into his mouth. On the stage over there, a meat-cutting waiter helped Xiao Chen cut the meat into small pieces and sent it to him.

"Now is the feudal era. These lords are very harsh to their subjects. I have seen what the farmers around eat every day. It is really 'rich people have wine and meat, and there are frozen bones on the road'. I don't know if they feel guilty for eating so much now." Ye Zi responded, also in Chinese.

"I don't think you can't eat it." Shi Hao couldn't help laughing when he saw Ye Zi criticizing the poor for not having food and stuffing meat into his mouth.

"I'm eating this for nothing. If I don't eat it, can these things be sent to the mouths of those farmers? Don't let these nobles get away with it." Ye Zi wiped his mouth and took a sip of wine.

"Ahem." Roger coughed twice and said in Chinese: "Ms. Ye, although you speak in magic language, most people can't understand it, but well-educated wizards, scholars and nobles can still understand it."

Ye Zi looked around and saw that no one paid attention to what he said, including some knights and merchants with relatively exquisite clothes. She shrugged and said: "It seems that the people here have not received the same education as you."

"Ms. Ye, most of the people here are merchants and warriors. There is no chance to learn magic language. Some people can understand words, but not sentences. I admire you very much. You learn our language so quickly." As a member of the business group, Xi Luo spent a lot of effort on learning Chinese and could communicate in a few months.

Ye Zi smiled: "Spanish, um, it's your local language, it's not bad to learn, after all, we have night school, textbooks, and teachers. Moreover, we who are out and about have more contact with local people, so we naturally know more. People who have been staying in school all the time are a little worse."

"Well, you all know how to read, that's amazing. There are not many people in the kingdom who can read, and it's even harder to learn magic language and magic script." Xi Luo said this with some pride. Although he is already middle-aged, he is definitely the fastest in learning magic script in Floro Town, even a little faster than his son Garcia.

"The cultural heritage of the Iberian Kingdom is still far behind that of the Empire. Our Purple Eagle Empire has a unified territory and a large population. A lot of the knowledge of our ancestors has been passed down in the library and magic tower. If you are in the capital of the Empire, you will find many people who can speak magic language." When talking about their motherland, the knights of the Empire always have a sense of pride.

"However, the officials of the Empire are much more corrupt. Merchants all know that the money to fill one Imperial tax collector is enough to deal with three King tax collectors." Xi Luo said. As a citizen of the Kingdom who had been fighting with his northern neighbor for many years, it was difficult for him to have too much good feelings towards the Empire.

"The late emperor spent a lot of effort to rectify the tax system, and many good policies have been retained until today. Although your Majesty is young, he is very smart and will definitely lead the empire further in the future." Roger said.

"Who cares?" Silla shrugged. His Chinese was not good enough for him to discuss too profound topics.

At this time, Roger's adjutant, Jacob, spoke in the local dialect: "Sir, do you still want to speak for those bastards?"

"Don't say that."

"If they weren't assholes, we wouldn't be sitting here!"

Compared with the people at the table below who were noisy, laughing and even drinking, the atmosphere on stage was much quieter. Xiao Chen thanked the attendant for the swan meat. The sliced ​​barbecue has been topped with sauce and accompanied by several spices that he can't distinguish. It looks very tempting.

"Alberto was originally the royal chef of the royal capital. He was taken in by me because he committed some crimes. He often complained that I didn't have any distinguished guests worthy of showing off his skills. Today he got his wish." The Earl picked up a piece with his hand. The swan meat, both sides were dragged on the sauce, and then stuffed into the mouth. "However, he has no need for these skills in the palace. Our king is famous for being a thrifty person."

"Isn't saving a virtue?" Xiao Chen said.

"But occupying a genius like Alberto and then talking about saving is a waste of resources." He got closer to Xiao Chen, and then lowered his voice and said: "That old man always likes to do such things, you have There is a very good saying, I heard Li Jia said, 'You don't shit when you occupy the pit'."

"It seems that my meal money is worth it." Xiao Chen said with a smile.

"This is still the price of friendship, for the sake of friendship." The earl raised his glass and clinked it with Xiao Chen. The glass made a crisp clang, making Xiao Chen feel like he had returned to the light and shadow of that world.

The attendant poured wine for Xiao Chen again, and Xiao Chen still said: "Thank you!"

"You are a humble and polite person. Such a person is really rare among magicians. I have never seen a person of your status care so much about the waiter."

This is the respect brought from the original world, or in other words, according to Xiao Chen's education, workers are the most worthy of respect. But here, he could only explain: "I heard that most of these waiters are the sons of the nobles under your rule. They come to you to learn how to become a real noble."

"Indeed, does our meat-cutting attendant Diego Bedinyani sound familiar to you?" The count pointed to the young man standing beside Xiao Chen in front of the chopping board with a meat cleaver in his hand.

"Viscount Ruiz?"

"Well, the eldest son. There..." He pointed to the young man who was coming in from the side, carrying a tray of roasted suckling pig, "Antonio Bediniani, his younger brother. These little guys do have a good family background. But before they inherit the title, you don’t care about them, they are just young people who need to learn a lot.”

"I remember Miss Selinda already has a knighthood."

"Ah, my little Selinda." The Earl looked very proud. "When these brats were still playing in the mud, she was already practicing swordsmanship in my barracks; when these guys liked to lift the maid's skirt, she She has been studying in the magic tower in the royal capital. Although she is still a very innocent child and sometimes has wild dreams, she is a member of the Arias family after all."

When the earl compared her with Selinda, the butcher's face immediately turned red.

"It is indeed very outstanding." Xiao Chen praised.

"Later, the old guy in the royal capital gave her a knighthood after she completed her studies. You know, this is not a kind intention. The wise king, the dissolute and decadent earl, the neglected legitimate daughter, The female knights who have returned can write knightly novels."

"You have nothing to be proud of. Everything I have is the result of my own efforts." Selinda's cold voice came from the side. She did not wear a skirt today, but wore a shirt and vest on the upper body, trousers and boots on the lower body, a neat casual outfit. Even her hair was only tied into a simple ponytail, which made her look very heroic.

"Look, I said she is still very childish." The Earl shook his head.

"Selinda..." Li Jia over there persuaded her in her ear, preventing her from continuing to refute.

But soon, Selinda threw down the knife, stood up and said, "I feel a little uncomfortable, so I'm going back to the room first."

"Is it important? How about I accompany you up?" Li Jia asked.

Selinda said in his ear, "You know, women are always in a bad mood for a few days every month, and they are even more upset when they meet some shameless old guys. I just went back to rest early, what do you have to worry about? Yes. Men should focus more on business.”

Li Jia blushed and sat back down again, watching Selinda quickly walk out of the banquet hall from the side door.