"Hey everyone, thanks for coming, I'm back from my trip, and we thought some of you might like to see what we saw. If you'll follow us into the entertaining room, we'll start a brief presentation. Nellun has already prepared snacks should any of you feel peckish while the meal is being prepared." Around the table, picking themselves up, were Dentrag, Piersa, Avalline, Syrtis, Kantrina, Mariwolfe, Indjab, Linnaeus, Lusitania, Lunqui, Maelle, Flora, Jima, Andei, Juraian, Mikhala, Dan and Shibué. Oh, and me, Nellun Frangibald, his factotum and majordomo. The executive chef of Platinum Redoubt had travelled from Alessia with us, intending to take a vacation in the country of his employer's birth, and was currently making sure I had nothing to do. The entertaining room was similar to smaller rooms at less... spacious estates, but certainly bigger. The projection theatre would have fit 50, but unlike commercial showrooms, the screen was outsized for the crowd, indeed, a projection screen of this size would have adorned a projection room of five hundred without comment in Megamisama.
"So nice of you to invite us, and with a world-famous chef!" Indeed, Gunther Zilwicki had been picked by his chef peers as the recipient of the Queen Marie-Ange award, awarded annually to the best executive chef in all of Arnd. I can't say I can tell between his cooking and the next 20 candidates for the award, but I can say I am thrilled when I get to partake of his preparations. Since he works for my lord, that is both frequent and convenient to arrange.
"Yeah, thank you Gunther." Blurted Flora, who was already snacking on air-cooked corn.
"Thank you Sun'ga." Added Piersa, more gently, her hands around Dentrag's arm. A local restaurant employee, if not of Gunther's calibre, he would jump every time someone said the local word for 'host' for, indeed, he was quite used to being that person.
"You're welcome, please make a space, I'm coming with your meals." Dishing out the fragrant, spicy pasta over the green, seedful fruits he had combined them with, then he withdrew back into the kitchen. Likely working on dessert, which he normally handed to a specialist, but since the specialist was in another country, he'll likely have to make do.
"Here, this is the first picture, I'm here with Flora at the Montaco-di-Cassino Opera, surrounded by fancy people." I could tell my lord was remembering what happened on his trip.
"Are any of them nice as well as fancy Amarat?"
"As Flora can tell you, most of them have more arms than one should find on a squiddley."
