205: Work

Getting the burst of sparks, I carried out bowls of soup to the table, placing it in front of everyone, but giving Darren and George a warning that it might be a little spicy.

Archie took over the serving of the meals from me. For the Galvonson, I put two whole cutlets on a plate for Lily, who happily ate them in a couple of bites, while for everyone else I added the cutlets to a plate with some fresh greens.

I ended up only infusing Lily’s, as I saw no real reason to infuse the rest just in case.

Lastly, I placed all the muffins we had prepared in two baskets.

“Sir, please take your seat at the table. I will finish serving these,” Archie said.

Looking it over, everything was ready to go, and Lily had already vanished again, so with a sigh, I made my way into the dining room where everyone was still eating their soup.

The table had shuffled, with Clifford and his wife sitting to my right. Across from them was Luis, and unlike everyone else, those three had not started eating yet. This was likely some etiquette thing I wasn’t sure about.

“Please, eat,” I said as I sat down, Crisplet giving off a burst of sparks as well.

Luis just let out a laugh. “For the dinner in two days, just remember not to eat until the host sits down.”

“Wait, two days?” I asked.

“You didn’t forget, did you?” he asked with a grin.

I just groaned. This was the last political event I needed to attend, and I was not looking forward to it at all.

I saw Liane lean over to Luis, whispering, “He definitely forgot.”

Even Clifford appeared to be holding back a laugh and trying to hide it behind his hand, quickly covering it when I noticed.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced you yet. This is my wife, Valorie,” Clifford said.

“It’s an honour to be here, sir,” she said formally.

“Please, just Trev or Trevor,” I tried to say, but I couldn’t help but notice the smirk on Jen and Liane’s faces at my attempt to avoid it.

The conversation subsided as everyone quietly ate their soup.

“This is fantastic. It’s so warming,” Clifford said to Crisplet, who just excitedly let off some sparks.

“My sister would kill for these buffs,” Luis laughed, taking another big spoonful.

Clifford’s eyes went wide as he undoubtedly checked the buffs himself, but he said nothing.

Before I knew it, the bowls were being cleared while everyone was complimenting Crisplet, who was currently puffing himself up and clearly posing, but I couldn’t blame him. I was incredibly proud that he was now cooking for himself.

“I remember these! They are great,” Luis said excitedly.

“What is it?” Clifford asked, looking over.

“They are breaded Galvonson cutlets,” I said.

“Galvonson?” Clifford asked.

“Giant angry birds that tried to kill us.”

There was a crunch as everyone cut into their cutlets, the meat was still tender and juicy, while the crumb on the outside stayed crisp, Clifford and his wife both seemed to enjoy the meal, even if they didn’t seem entirely comfortable at the table. I caught the tail end of a conversation Hari was having with Milo.

“…might have a job heading north in a month.”

I couldn’t help but feel excited by that! I had been itching to get back on the road again and go back to adventuring. It was nice having a house as large as this, but I felt trapped. But it also meant I would really need to focus on getting enough supplies for Micca so that she’d be sorted for the time we were away.

This news immediately lifted my spirits.

Turning to Clifford, I asked, “Clifford, what led you to go into statue making?”

“Oh, well, I used to work as a stonemason at a quarry near the southern cliffs, but when I retired from that, I took up stone carving since I already had the skills for it,” he explained.

“That’s amazing. Your statues were really good. That cat by the fireplace is in my room right now,” I said, as Crisplet let off a burst of sparks.

“You’re too kind, honestly.” He waved it away.

“Luis, who does your statues at the palace? I saw you had a couple there,” I asked.

Luis shrugged. “Honestly, no idea. They are all very old at this point, older than I am, that’s for sure.”

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“You should hire Clifford to make one! I can’t be the only person to have high-quality statues, after all. It’s not right that a manor is showing up the palace,” I said excitedly, and Crisplet burst into the biggest shower of sparks yet.

Luis seemed to be in thought, while Clifford was waving it off.

“It’s fine, sir. I couldn’t make a tree of fire like that anyway,” Clifford said.

“I’ll speak to my father. It’s actually a good idea!” Luis said between bites.

“If it’s in the next month, maybe you could take Crisplet with you and you could both make something together!” I laughed.

Clearly, though, Crisplet didn’t see that as a joke, but rather as the only option, because he immediately turned to Clifford to get the response.

“I’d love to make one with you. I don’t know how that would work, though, or if I’m good enough for the palace,” Clifford shook his head.

“Nonsense. If Trev and Crisplet vouch for you, that’s good enough for me,” Luis laughed.

It looked like Clifford didn’t know what to say, but Crisplet clearly took it as a yes, giving a large burst of sparks. I really didn’t know how they could work together on something. It was likely that they couldn’t. Perhaps when we returned, though, Crisplet could add a fiery touch to it.