Dream Life

The night of the twenty-fourth of January.

The Blacksmith Guild Branch in Ezarrington had a welcome banquet for the Lockhart family.

Duke Alexis Ezzarington and others dressed as cooks came along the way, so not only do we Rockhart family faces, but blacksmiths as well.

However, the banquet was once again in full swing due to the driving of Branch Manager Ivan Kemp and the bright character of the Duke.

Ivan sits in front of my seat, and the Duke in a cook sits next to him. It's very uncomfortable to just look here, but none of the Dwarves cared, and we stopped worrying about it one of these days.

The duke started laughing about the white fish fry.

"And you're really no match for Zacharias. The chef was confident that you would never know how to fry fish. You'll be surprised later, my chef. Hahaha!"

"But how did you know?" Ivan asks.

"If I had been advised by Viscount Radford, I would use the fish I can catch around here for today's dishes at this time of year. I'm not familiar with the cuisine around here, but there must have been steamed Hata (Poirette) in Teito's specialty dishes. It had a flavorful, flavorful texture."

"But then don't you know about white wine vinegar and vanilla?," Lord Etherlington asked.

"That's the same reason. I hear wine vinegar is commonly used. And at dinner last night the Duke of Ezarrington said that white wine was famous. If so, I wonder if vinegar is abundant as well. And that leads us to talk about using local ingredients."

The Duke and Ivan look hard to convince, but I like the comments Beatrice doesn't even follow because he's "Zach," and for some reason we were all convinced with that.

"We agree with Ignacious that we should use more local ingredients, and if we have good local food, we should actively spread it."

Lord Ezarrington is nodding, saying "um".

"It's this fried white fish, but I think this could be Ezarrington's specialty. I don't know how much it costs, but you can sell it in the street with this, and it should be delicious even if it's cold. And it goes well with beer and white wine."

After you have the face I see, take the fried chicken from the chicken's into a small plate.

"So how about this?" I have recommended it.

You don't know what this fried food is.

The Duke has said that to make the Dwarves enjoy themselves or something like that.

I don't know what you mean. But once, "Cooking is something you enjoy the taste of. The material is impeccable," he stabs the nail.

This is what I sincerely think. Not to make it an excuse to take it off.

The ingredients are a little fun, but I think the food should enjoy the flavour and aroma purely. Some people will want to brag about their taste and wealth of knowledge, but whatever the ingredients, if they are deliciously made, that's enough.

When I put the fry in my mouth, I felt I somehow understood what the Duke was saying.

(You're not a chicken. A little more prickly. I wonder what......)

I notice the Duke staring at my face and laughing unexpectedly.

(This guy has something surprisingly childish about him. Same thing happened yesterday... pretty much an actor if this is an act, but I guess it's vegan because the Dwarves don't care...)

I thought about that and accidentally laughed small.

"You're not a chicken. I also feel like a frog, but I also think it's some kind of demon I don't know about. Honestly, I don't understand this."

The Duke looked subtle and said, "It's the flesh of a frog demon,"

"It's still a little early, but it's using Giant Toad, a giant frog that breeds heavily on the Fatas River. Haven't you eaten before, Lord Ivan?

Listen to the Duke, Ivan's hand stops.

"Sure, but those aren't very tasty. Because it smells weird because it tastes thin."

They say Giant Toad is a gamma frog about a meter long. The northern Giant Toad flies a mixed body fluids of paralysis poison, but they're not toxic to anything around here. However, from the grotesque red and black colours and the unique numeri of frogs, they eat less, except for those who want more quantity than quality, such as young workers, or those who are poor and unable to buy meat.

The smell has disappeared due to the chef's ingenuity and tastes like unusual textured local chicken.

"I think this is delicious," he says, as the Dwarves reach out in unison.

"It does taste good. I don't think it's a frog..."

But the women, with the exception of Beatrice, blushed blatantly when they heard of frogs, and did not get any hands on them after that.

I grabbed a lager type of beer while pinching a little shrimp that made the salt stronger, and I said, "What do you think is the specialty of the Fatas River?," he asked.

"Exactly. This shrimp stinks a little too. They're not going to sell enough to get more. Plus, when this shrimp breeds, there will be more Giant Toad, and more big demons coming after it. Then there will be sacrifices for fishermen. But it's hard to hunt demons in the water. Then I thought we had to keep it from increasing."

"If you do fry it, the smell will go away quite a bit, and you might want to pick it lightly"

Considering the food chain, the Duke is trying to make some adjustments to the little shrimp on the Fatas River and to curb the reproduction of demons.

"It also has an impact on fish, so I don't think it's simple, but I think it's a good idea"

Talking about it, he said, "This is not the end of a difficult story. Drink! Drink!" and the Dwarves will suggest booze.

And the feast proceeded with complete disrespect.

Dan usually gets crushed early. But despite being equally targeted here, he restrained himself by the fact that he was the deputy captain of the escort and was not drunk an hour after the start of the banquet.

If I thought Dan was growing up a little bit too, he'd be crushed between about twenty minutes when I took my eyes off him.

Not only that, but also many young vigilantes are drunk.

The banquet flourished and the Dwarves, who began to move their seats, wanted to hear about the village of Rasmore and seemed to continue to be drunk in their place.

Liddy and I are going to hang the magic of detoxification, and we're going to call an official and have him transported to a separate room. Luckily, I discovered it early, so it would be to the extent that I would need a light hangover.

In that regard, the women are solid.

Even if Beatrice, who doesn't crumble no matter how much he originally drank, excludes him, Liddy is careful not to crumble by hanging the magic of detoxification on a regular basis.

Mel and Sharon often drink non-alcoholic beverages at Dwarf opponents' banquets, and if they think they've had a little too much to drink, they ask me to hang the magic of detoxification from them.

The reason for this is because I say teen drinking affects growth. I'm telling Dan the same thing, he's been hanging out with the vigilante a lot, and the fact that boys of his generation usually drink makes him seem to stick around too much.

My mother and sister-in-law Rosalie, and the samurai Angie and Elena don't drink as much as they get hungover either. Because they spend more time talking than drinking.

And neither were the two Duke's Ladies, who were the seeds of this worry. That strikes me as being educated at the Duke's house.

Then, somewhat calm, Ivan has spoken with a serious face.

"You've brought me so much booze. Let me thank you too."

"We just brought souvenirs to our friends. You don't have to thank me for that."

Ivan was still not convinced,

"Then I'm sorry about Nong et al. Can you say something?"

Apparently, I was impressed with the Zack collection and really wanted to thank you for it. It's just that our weapons are too awesome to be returned with the blacksmiths they specialize in. I guess that's why you came to talk to me.

"That being said. I'm already taking care of the light god thing. Besides, they're giving me a good beer, and they're welcoming me at the feast. That's too much."

When the story became parallel, Lord Ezarrington joined.

"I guess I won't even hurry back. There will be various trials in the Lockhart family. Shall we then give you a hand in union? Don't you think so, Zacharias?"

What the Duke is saying is concern for the Lockhart family, who have been overpowered for their upbringing. Grand Duke Langton of the Leopold prince faction, Lord Ingolslop of the Royal prince faction as well as even the neutral prime minister, are targeting the power of the Lockhart family. That's why I'm advising you to strengthen your alliance with the Dwarves.

"I thought you were absolutely right," he bows his head to the Duke. And give my father an eye. My father was listening, too, and he nodded quietly.

"I don't know many of us around here. In the future, when my loved ones need help, I just need a little help."

That's what I say and I bow my head.

I couldn't hide my surprise at what my father said about being an edger. Because I felt like I was talking about Luna in my assumptions, too.

"Uhm," Ivan roars, but you thought there was nothing you could do now, "I hope so," he convinced.

The feast went even more exciting. Lord Ezarrington is fully unraveled with the Dwarves and has a satisfying grin.

But it turned into a serious look in Ivan's next words.

"I'd like to ask Lord Alec what's going on in the village of Rasmore."

As was decided during last year's Dwarf Festival, for two courses: magic team improvement for veteran blacksmiths and training for young distiller manufacturers, the general headquarters in Ars was to decide on the allocation of each branch.

However, the Caerm Empire is at war with the Holy King of Lukes, with a fourth legion stationed here in Ezarrington in particular, an elite one.

"I don't know what the war is going to be. The General Headquarters says it will give precedence to another branch in the circumstances. If the Fourth Regiment were to leave, we wouldn't leave here..."

Currently, the Caerm Empire and Luke's Holy King continue to languish in the eastern part of Luke. There are so many rumors that the Third Regiment led by Prince Leopold and the army of the Northern Governor's Office are in Lark Hill, the stronghold of the troopers, and that they will hang up their offense in the spring.

"In this situation, Nong et al. can't go to the village of Rasmore for years. Lord Alec, can you handle it..."

That's right. The Duke gets stuck in words for a moment too. But soon the blacksmiths start explaining the circumstances behind whether they switched their heads that they could be trusted.

"I can't say, but the war with Lukes is going to last. Except for the Chancellor and me, we're all in favor of war..."

The Crown Prince, Lord Ingolslop and others, want their rival, Prince Leopold, to make a huge mistake before withdrawing. We also want the commercial guilds behind them to end the war quickly, but fear that if we decide to withdraw in this half-way situation, we will be chosen as our next target.

In the scenario I painted at Wellburn, Luke and the commercial guild led the plot against the Raswell Border House, which began this time. If the Royalists told us that the cause of the continued withdrawal and the failure of Prince Leopold to fight was the obstruction of the commercial guild, the commercial guild would be in even greater distress.

As a commercial guild, we want to withdraw in factors unrelated to ourselves, like the undead raid on the village of Rasmore, a situation in which we are gauging the timing.

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke of Langton and others of the prince's faction naturally want a glorious outcome before they triumph.

Prince Leopold is more popular with soldiers and civilians than Prince Gigismunt, but he has no eyes to be emperor unless he is just the prince of the concubine in question and has a scandal that will make the prince obsolete.

Essentially, however, the Royalists are all militants and do not like plotting, and have to rely on the prince's accomplishments.

"What would Sir do?" Suddenly the Duke asked.

"I don't think it's the kind of problem you can answer," he answers, looking firmly into the Duke's eyes.

"I thought if I was drunk, I could hear the truth, but I couldn't," the Duke grins bitterly.

"Jokes aside, it doesn't change what you have to do to make it work. This will have a huge impact not only on the blacksmith's guild, but on other countries as well. So think about the answer. The Honourable Prime Minister will surely ask you questions. If you give a bad answer in doing so, it will taste very bad..."

It seemed more like a loose alliance than Lord Ezzarington pulling us into neutrality here.

Sometimes within a blacksmith's guild, but I guess he's trying not to turn to his enemies rather than pushing ahead with what he's stubbornly saying no to.

Even for me, I don't want to be involved in the Imperial House commotion, and I'm sorry the Chancellor used me.

As for the succession of the emperor, the first candidate is naturally Crown Prince Gigismunt, but there are constant bad rumors about him, which would cause confusion to the empire if he remained emperor.

Another candidate for emperor, Prince Leopold, has a good reputation and is said to be the owner of an emperor's vessel. In common sense, it is better for the prince to be emperor.

But if Prince Leopold takes the throne, you can't say he won't storm off. His support mother is the Imperial Army, and there is a risk that the army will become enlarged in order to mount that support.

Conversely, if military action is suppressed in view of the Empire's finances and the army is to be reduced, the possibility of rebellion can also be envisaged.

What is more, even if we have successfully mastered the army, we may even speak of the unity of the continent and the crusade of the demonic tribe, and if we make a mistake, the Tria continent may become a world of war.

(The tyrant comes from you. Thinking about it, it's hard to say that it's best for Prince Leopold to be an emperor. Perhaps too much thought, but the despotic monarch of such a large nation does not need to be a hero. If Lord Ezarrington succeeds in taking over the bureaucratic mechanism created by Lord Feelobisher, he'd rather be an ordinary man. It just hurts that there are no ordinary people in the current candidate......)

With that in mind, Ivan asked me, "How's it going?"

"You've got nothing on me. I can only hope the Chancellor does well."

Ivans drop their shoulders in dismay at my words.

"Well, when the war is over, I'll tell Ulrich to turn it around first and foremost."

When I said that, I held Gassili's hand and lowered my head, "Please".

(It seems like it would be in your interest to bow your head to the Duke rather than ask me...)

I thought so, but that didn't come out of my mouth and I just answered "oh".

■ ■ ■

Returning from a banquet at the Blacksmith's Guild, Laurencia was thinking about a man named Zacharias as he chilled his alcohol lit cheeks in the night breeze.

(He's a really strange guy. You're not the type of person around me......)

She goes back to her day.

(I really enjoyed watching the ingredients at the Paston Chamber of Commerce. Seemed really happy to find new ingredients......)

And I couldn't hide my surprise at the intense training I've had since I got back. I had not originally seen soldier training or anything like that, and had never dreamed that I was training that intensely to the extent that I saw it in an elaborate parade or a censorship ceremony.

(As much as it hurts me to watch. But I didn't expect to beat that elgar...)

Roy Elgar is a swordsman that Uncle Rednapp took up as his own escort in anticipation of that arm. And even the Fourth Corps was heard to have arms that go into the fifth finger.

(And I've never been to a blacksmith's guild before, but it's a great place. With that said, maybe this is the first time I've talked to Dwarf...)

For her, the upper class, she has little chance to talk to the civilian population, even if she has one, a classmate attending an academy, or about a big merchant, and seldom with artisans. Even when tailoring dresses, the person in charge, such as the manager, is not an artisan, and does not exchange words directly. Well, there was no such thing as contact with a blacksmith.

(But you're so happy to just drink. If Sharon hadn't prepared the magic props, he might have passed out...)

And I remember Zacharias' wives.

(It sure is beautiful. Especially someone named Lydiane who may be the most beautiful person I've ever seen. Besides, a beast named Beatrice is incredibly strong. But I admire two of my fiancées in there. He reached out to me as soon as I was confused. As much as I want to be our samurai...)

She was often bewildered in a blacksmith's guild, but with high pride, she honestly couldn't ask for help. But Melissa and Sharon sat nearby, making food picks and beverage arrangements worthwhile.

If that's all, it's natural for her, but when she realized she was bored, she talked to me about episodes in Doctus and Lasmore Village, and when my sister Primrose felt like joining the story, she waved the topic of Sweet "Sweets".

(Especially a daughter named Sharon. I mean the second seat at the Tilia School of Magic, but there's really a lot to talk about. He explained the alcohol properly, and he taught me the magic easily. I heard you were one younger than me, but it didn't feel like that at all...)

And I was also reviewing Melissa.

(I was surprised to draw you from that Sky Squadron Commander during your evening training. I don't look that way at all when I see what I normally look like. It's very sweet and I feel comfortable...)

Bradley Skye is also the most elite First Squadron Commander in the Fourth Corps. In the riding battle, I heard he had raised a great deal of handles many times under his father's command.

It's pushing him into it and making him admit defeat himself.

(Best of all, don't flatter me. You're not the type to be around me...)

Few have spoken to each other equally because she is a Duke's maid and the current emperor has a blood connection. Even if I were there, I would never have liked it as much as the other Duke's wife would have taken a provocative attitude. Her friends also considered their relationship with the Duke of Ezarrington, whose next Chancellor's call was high, and were reluctant.

(It's fun to be with those two. Sir Zacharias can appreciate just the fact that he's making those two fiancées...)

Laurencia had been completely taken by Sharon by the balls. I may have no choice when it comes to differences in experience, but it was going exactly as Sharon thought.