Chapter 510: Everyone Arrives

“Thank goodness. I don’t know if we would have found you if we hadn’t smelled it from the other side of the temple,” Edgar stated with a drooling smile as both he and Derek approached.

Julius opened his mouth and closed it. He guessed he had indeed magically lured the two of them. He had been joking, but clearly it worked.

Not even half an hour after he started prepping the food, they showed up. It wasn’t just them either. He would say it was just a coincidence, but ten minutes before them, Irene and Liam had shown up. The pair had sniffed out the campsite and spotted Julius before making their way over.

Aubrey hadn’t been very thrilled to see Liam, but she didn’t give the other boy as much shit as Julius thought she would. Julius thought she would demand that Liam leave, but instead she said they were welcome to stay.

A couple of minutes after that, Lyra and the handsome weirdo showed up. They were both delighted to see Julius, even if it was for different reasons.

Now, with Derek and Edgar finding them, he really thought something was going on. It was like watching a bunch of moths drawn to a flame. Did his cooking have some kind of luring effect?

He was committed to testing his theories later; in the meantime, he was making more food since the number of guests had increased.

Julius also felt like it would be wrong for him to send them away. Even the weirdo was welcome. He was odd and seemed to have ulterior motives, but the way he looked at the food helped convince Julius to let him stay.

Both he and Lyra looked like they would appreciate it, which made a big difference.

Julius gave the meat one last flip and set down his tongs before heading over to reunite with his friends alongside Aubrey. He wanted to sit down and talk with them some more, but he had a lot of other stuff on the stove as well. Thankfully, he had already made a little extra in the hopes that Derek and Edgar would show up, but he hadn’t been expecting four other people to arrive as well.

The smell of savory grilled meat filled the campsite, and he saw that other nearby campers were staring at their group enviously. He didn’t blame them either. From what he could tell, they didn’t have much of anything when it came to food.

Most of them had rations that would stay preserved for long periods. So while they were gnawing at their semi-stale bread and dried meats, they were forced to smell of Julius’s food.

He could tell they wanted to come over and ask for food, but Julius wondered if they recognized Derek or something, because once Derek showed up, they seemed less inclined to do so. Instead, they just occasionally snuck forlorn looks.

Julius took the grilled meats off the grill and onto a sheet tray. The juices were literally flowing from the morsels, and the surface glistened magically with rendered fat, looking ever so tantalizing.

He was forced to slap Aubrey’s hand away from the meat when she reached for it.

“It’s not ready yet. Give it some time to rest,” he said sternly.

“Rest? Why can’t we just eat it now?” She said with a pout.

“Because you will be glad later. Now stop bothering me and let me finish the other stuff. The longer you interrupt me, the longer it will take for us to eat,” he said threateningly.

That seemed to do the trick, because she quickly scurried away and started collecting some plates and utensils. Edgar helped her, setting up a seating area for all seven of them to eat together.

While they did that, he tossed a quick salad together with some surprisingly tasty vegetables he had gotten from Derek’s kitchen. He didn’t know what the farmers did to these vegetables, but everything was so flavorful and had a unique brightness that really emphasized their freshness. It made for a delicious salad and barely required any dressing.

He also checked on the bread he had made. He opened up the oven, and the scent of freshly baked wheat wafted across the campsite, making him drool over the flames. He didn’t even bother to use aura to grab the bread. He reached in with his bare hands to take them out.

After he did that, he took out the rest of the side items.

With Edgar possibly arriving, he had made potatoes three ways: roasted, mashed, and some of the leftover potatoes from the night prior. He knew how much Edgar loved his potatoes and wasn’t surprised when Edgar stopped what he was doing to watch Julius place them on the table with an excited grin.

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Julius had also thrown together a large assortment of roasted vegetables when Liam and Irene showed up, realizing that it would be safer to make some extra food. So he also finished up glazing some of them with a nice, sweet, herby sauce.

All in all, he was pleased with the spread so far. He gave himself a firm nod of satisfaction and started inviting them over to eat.

He was surprised at how fast they all came running over. They already had their plates in hand and were salivating at the mouth. He was a little nervous when he saw their hungry stares and subconsciously backed away with his tongs.

***

They were all laid out on the ground. Half of them were in food comas, and the other half was begging Julius for more cake. They already had a slice but were greedy for more. How shameless could they be?