Chapter 605 605 Dinner Meeting
Chapter 605 605 Dinner Meeting
605 605 Dinner Meeting
Minister William escorted them to a large hall where a single long table was set up with a throne at the head, and dozens of ministers in elaborate formal wear milling around, waiting on the signal to sit for the meal.
“William, so good of you to fetch the Magi, but who is this lovely young lady? Has the Patriarch found himself a consort already? It hasn’t even been a day.” One of the attendees asked.
“That is Investigator Rail, who has been assigned to accompany him for the duration of his stay with us. You should recognize her by now, she has been investigating incidents in the castle for over a decade.” William replied, and the man did a double take.
“It really is you. My apologies, Investigator. I didn’t recognize you in that outfit. Tell me, has the change of duties led to a change of fashion sense? If so, I wholeheartedly approve.” The man told Rail with a lewd wink.
“I will have you know that my standards of professional conduct have not changed. But I thank you for the compliment, perhaps I will have the Magi dress me more often, he has wonderful fashion sense.” A number of the men in the room gave Wolfe a discrete thumbs up, and Rail was strutting about with a tremendous level of confidence, while allowing Wolfe to escort her with her hand resting on his bent arm.
Many of the ministers wanted to speak with Wolfe, and they began to crowd toward him when a bell rang at the door, and everyone had to hurry to their assigned seats. The names were on the table, though that was mostly redundant, given that most of these people would have regular assigned seats, and except Wolfe, they all knew each other.
They barely managed to find their seats, halfway down the table on the far side, when the King entered along with his Guardian and a pair of guards.
Everyone stood in unison, and remained silent until the boy King had taken his seat. “Thank you all for coming today, please sit.” He greeted the room, and smiled in Wolfe’s direction.
Wolfe heard a few whispers about the King looking more relaxed than usual, but most of the ministers hadn’t realized the extent of the new [Kind Intentions] barrier yet. They obviously hadn’t gotten into any physical altercations all day, and they hadn’t been out of their offices to listen in on the gossip yet, so the changes in the castle were mostly a mystery to them still.
The first course was brought out, and the ministers next to Wolfe began to chat, while the man across from him struck up a conversation.
“I heard that you have agreed to take on some repair tasks to get the castle back up to its previous standard. Are you sure that you can manage it at Rank Five? A lot of the spells are very complex.” He asked with what sounded like genuine concern.
“I am certain that there are some arrays and spells that I won’t be able to recreate. After all, no Magi can use every Element, so my skills are somewhat limited, as is my knowledge. I’m still a young man, especially compared to many in this room. But, for the basic defensive spells, it should be enough, and even if they are breached, they will at least give a warning.”
The minister, whose nameplate called him the minister of foreign trade, nodded in acceptance, and turned a smile toward Rail. “Hanging around him is doing you a world of good, Rail. Look at you, all dressed up in a fancy ballgown and out of your business suit. Next thing you know, you’ll actually relax and have a drink.” He joked.
Rail rolled her eyes, but Wolfe took the opportunity to learn a bit more about her.
“I take it that Rail always puts business first?” He asked.
The minister nodded his shaved head. “She is a very vocal proponent for a change in the treatment of Succubi. She is very professional, and despises the lewd stereotypes that Succubi have been saddled with over the centuries.”
Wolfe was genuinely impressed. As far as he knew, lewdness was in their very nature. “Well, I will have to see if I can help her with that. A nice update to her wardrobe and some brainstorming with a willing helper should do a world of good for her cause. After all, I have a bit of time on my hands, and it can’t all be spent refining spells and doing favours.”
A few of the Demons chuckled at the mention of [Favours]. Everything that they did had a structured payment system because they never wanted to owe an undefined [Favour] to someone.
“You should take some time to visit the training grounds. We have a dedicated set of lanes for magical practice, and they are very well enchanted. It would give you a chance to work on your more experimental spell craft, and perhaps meet a few interesting people.” A massive Demon, on par with Minister William, suggested.
Wolfe noticed that somehow they were all the same height at the table, and activated [Detect Hidden] to see what was going on. What he found was that the seats for the larger demons were actually recessed into the floor like a staircase so that every size could sit comfortably at the same table. They were at the natural floor level, but only a few seats down, Wolfe would have had to stand to reach the table at all. It was a brilliant solution to a uniquely demonic problem, which gave Wolfe hope that there would be more new ideas here that he could take home to help everyone blend more easily. Many of the Fae were of odd sizes, and not all of them were easy to accommodate with standardized furniture.
“That sounds wonderful. Once I am finished with the request from Minister William and some other urgent requests, I will be certain to make time to come practice my spell craft.” Wolfe agreed.
That seemed to satisfy the minister, but it was still early in the meal, and it was obvious that all of them had some sort of plan to try to get something for themselves.