As soon as we approached one of the rare, stone buildings in the entire place, Leicar stepped forward to the guards standing at attention near the gate that separated this small mansion from the rest of the town.
"Your reason?"
While the guard responded in a drilled manner that I would normally attribute to more modern and developed military units, the way he acted with leisure despite serving as the first shield between his lord and potential dangers lurking around, proved that he was just following some strange orders that he couldn't really make sense off.
"I would like to introduce a traveller that I happened to met during the pacification of the rebels."
As if they were discussing the recently rising price of the eggs on the local market, two people tasked with strictly military function, continued to talk for a while in a semi-official manner, before the guard finally nodded his head and entered the open space surrounding the mansion through a small gate to the side.
"Now, all we can do is wait. I can't help but hope that we will get lucky with breakfast!"
Stepping from one leg onto another, Leicar seemed to be unable to hold his excitement. But that's strange… What kind of noble or primitive autarch would invite his lowly retainers to a meal?
"Are you sure it's okay? I don't think the lords like to have their meal interrupted by…"
"I don't think its for others to decide whether I like to invite others for the meal!"
Out of nowhere, as if space suddenly broke apart allowing him to appear in an instant, a brawny man in his prime age interrupted my words with a kind smile on his face.
"Speaking of which, would you like to have breakfast with me and my family? We could talk about whatever you came to discuss with me, there."
Just the fact of the overlord appearing in person was surprising enough, but now he was personally inviting me for a meal? Seriously, what was going on?
"I wouldn't dare to refuse such a kind offer!"
It didn't matter whether this man turned out to be an amiable and compassionate leader thinking about unifying his people, or just a wolf in a sheep guise. With the three men from the faction opposing him already living in my small world, unless he accepted the reality and fulfilled my demands, we would end up at odds with each other.
After following the man into the mansion, I realised that despite how nice it looked in comparison to all the other temporary-like buildings around, its interior left a lot for one's imagination.
With only a few paintings or sculptures decorating the walls and corridors, it could hardly classify as a noble mansion, but I could easily explain the lack of valuables by how poor overall the island was.
Just a few moments later, we arrived at what was supposed to be a dining hall but was replaced with an inner, open courtyard.
In there, a small group of cooks was continuously filling the bowls with the various dishes taken fresh from the multitude of pots hanging over the fire. From the familiar aromas, I could discern some of the spices used in the dishes, but just a few seconds in the place dulled my nostrils, making me unable to smell anything else anymore.
As my sight moved to a long table located in the central point of the plaza, I could see quite a big group of people, jovially eating and talking.
From the furthest point with the currently main chair being empty, there were two women, one around thirty and one around twenty years old, but that was just my rough guess based on the estimated quality of life those people lead.
I learned that there was no point in judging one's age by their appearances long ago. With just the cultivation alone, one could reach the lifespan of one hundred years without breaking through to the spirit realm at all, while the length of one's life increased at a far greater rate, the higher cultivation stage one managed to reach.
Then came various herbs and medicines, with effects far greater than what modern medicine could ever achieve! While it was an only half-truth since without a developed hospital system that could recognise and classify various illnesses, there was no way in which one could, for example, recognise lethal matters like cancer or aids!
But in spite of this, the average lifespan still reached one hundred years in a mortal realm, two hundred fifty in the spirit realm, and over a thousand in a saint realm!
There was no point for me to ponder over how long damn immortals could linger on this world. It could only bring me despair and additional worries, that would need to be put into a queue of matters that I had to agonise over!
But it didn't change the fact that as I looked momentarily at those two females, I could easily state that one of them was the lord's wife (or mistress, depending what kind of traditions did they have here) while the other one was his daughter, of which I learned from the Leicar rumours.
Right next to the main seat left, a group of highly tanned people sat, currently feasting on the various pieces of meat from the table while engaging in a leisurely talk with the friends around them and on the other end of the table. While I would never call myself an expert on social behaviours and nuances, there was a clear feeling of awkwardness between those main parties participating in the meal!
"Since the left side of the table is already filled with the esteemed guests from the Latra tribe, I can only offer you to accompany us while keeping the company of my daughter. Come on, silly! Introduce yourself!"
As I scanned the remaining people in the area and confirmed that they wouldn't be able to pose any threat to me, I directed my attention to the Overlord, only to be forced to look at his daughter.
I wanted to assess how much I could allow myself to say or do, not engage in small time with some bitch from such a backward place like this!
"Hello, my name is Elea. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."
Just like the annoyance started to spread through my mind, I heard the most angelic voice in the world, soothing my humour. Taking a look at the girl who just spoke, I only then realised how much of a beauty she was! If I were to take her voice, manners and overall look into consideration, she could scale at least nine out of ten or three on a scale from one to Eve!
Chapter end
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