Chương 117: 116. A Meal For Nobility

After Kigeir put his wooden plate in front of him when he reached the first serving stall, the maid standing behind the table put a generous helping of a meat stew in a bowl and after putting it on his plate, she gestured him to move further to the next serving stall on the right. Giving a thankful nod, he walked to the next stall, where another maid gave him mashed potatoes and pointed him to the right again.

All that rich smell was making his stomach growl in hunger, but with not a small amount of willpower, he controlled himself to not start eating right there, a nd waited for everything to be served before he began to eat the wonderful meal. On reaching the next stall, he was provided a medium sized part from a loaf of freshly baked bread, and then it was a walk to the next stall.

Eventually, he had gotten everything that was being given, and he found an empty place where he sat with his wife and his older son, while waiting for the children to arrive back from their own separate line. Looking at his plate which was full of so many types of food, he tried to remember when was the last time he had eaten something like this, and it turned out to be... never.

He had visited an inn in Cinran once in the past, and that was the last time where he had seen so many kinds of foods being served, but that day he had been unable to buy more than a simple bread and soup. But it seemed he would finally get to taste the meals for nobility tonight, since only nobles could possibly afford something like this! In his plate, there were three kinds of soup and stew, two kinds of bread, some mashed potatoes, and there was even a small amount of butter and cheese!

But it didn't end there - at the last serving stall, he had been given a very small part of something called a Toloraberry Pie, which the maid had advised him to eat after he had finished everything else. That was the only thing which smelled sweet, and with the villagers nearly never getting to eat anything like that, he had really wanted to devour the small part of pie immediately, but somehow he had told himself that he should do what the maid said. She was the one providing the food after all.

However, he saw that the children were still some time away from the front of their line, and being unable to wait, he took a wooden spoon and took a sip of the fish stew, and it tasted out of this world! Next, he tried the mashed potatoes, and it was slightly salty and buttery - just like it was supposed to be! Then he tried the other things one by one, all of which tasted better than anything else he had ever eaten.

As he took a moment to look around him in the light of burning braziers in the nearly freezing weather, he saw that nearly every villager - including his family sitting next to him - were doing their best to savor the taste of the unexpected bounty as long as they could. Who knew if they would ever get to eat something like this ever again in their lives? They had to try their best to remember this night, when Lord Kivamus hosted a feast and provided them food which must only be eaten by nobility!

Giving a happy smile to his wife and elder son, he delightfully took another spoonful of the meat stew, and closed his eyes in wonder at the marvelous taste of it. Thank goddess for sending Lord Kivamus as the new baron of the village! Kigeir chuckled as even he couldn't stop himself from wishing the young baron's reign to be long and prosperous!

~ Kivamus ~ ~ Outside the gates of the Baron's Manor ~ Wiping his forehead of the sweat which had gathered there after he gave a speech in front of so many people for the first time, Kivamus climbed down from the bench and walked towards the gates of the manor. At least it had gone well enough, he thought. It was a daunting task for him to speak in front of that many people, and he wasn't sure how he had accomplished it.

"That was a good speech, my Lord," Duvas complimented with a smile.

"Indeed. You did well," Gorsazo said.

"The speech was neither too short nor too long." He smirked, "Although you won't be defeating any seasoned statesman in a debate anytime soon." Kivamus laughed.

"I don't have a lifetime experience of teaching and speaking to a lot of people like you have, Gorsazo. I'm just glad that it's over." He looked back towards the crowd of people, and saw that the lines had already started moving. After getting the meal on their plates, it seemed like some of the villagers had closed their eyes in enjoyment of what they were eating at the time. He smiled looking at the satisfying scene.

However, he noticed an old man walking slowly towards him, his long white beard noticeable immediately. He had expected the guards to stop anyone from approaching him, but when he saw a guard bow to the old man, he became curious about it. As he looked carefully, he saw that the old man was wearing a white robe of some kind, with a thin rope serving as a belt around his waist, although it must have been years since that robe could have been called new.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. As the man came closer into the light of a brazier burning nearby, Kivamus realized that the robe was already patched over in many places. There was also some kind of loose cowl or a hood on the robe, but the old man wasn't using it right now. The man seemed to be older than even Duvas, who was probably approaching sixty years himself. Stopping in front of Kivamus, the old man gave a nod to him.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Lord Kivamus." Kivamus gave a nod as well, but raised his eyebrows in confusion at the person whom he hadn't seen before.

"My apologies milord, I should have introduced myself first," the old man said, his long wide beard moving as he spoke.

"I'm Father Edric, and I have been the ordained priest of the goddess' temple for this village since Tiranat was founded."

"Oh!" Kivamus exclaimed.

"I've heard about you. You were the one who took care of the orphans and the elderly in the village, when no one else did."

"I am just doing the goddess' work," Father Edric said with a grandfatherly smile.

"But please don't fault the villagers for not helping them, since most people here could barely afford to feed themselves." The old priest continued, "The recent times haven't been good for the village. Although I tried my best, my efforts weren't nearly enough for the villagers. But it does seem like the goddess has finally heard our prayers, since she sent someone like you here."

He added with a smile, "I also heard your speech earlier, and I could tell that you were neither lying nor boasting about having enough grain for everyone this winter. And probably for the first time since this village was founded, I am fairly sure that no one will die of the cold or hunger this winter. So I thank you for that, milord." Kivamus shook his head.

"No, no, I'm not doing anything special. This is simply what any noble should do for his people." Father Edric nodded sagely.

"That's certainly true enough. And yet, what you are doing is not common at all." He gestured towards the villagers, every one of whom seemed to have a rarely seen smile on their face.

"Just look at them, milord. I have probably never seen the villagers this happy in the past few years. Believe me, milord, you are doing the Goddess' work here." Then Father Edric gave a bow to him, his snow-white beard nearly touching the ground in the process, before he added, "You have my sincere gratitude for easing our work to take care of those at the bottom of the society." Kivamus wasn't sure what to reply to that, since he didn't know anything about the beliefs of the goddess' followers.

So rather than saying something odd and upsetting the priest and others, he just returned a short bow as well. After standing straight again, Father Edric added, "I won't take any more of your busy time, milord. May the goddess bless your path in the future." And with that, the elderly priest turned back and returned towards the crowd of villagers. Kivamus smiled looking at everything going so smoothly.

"It was a good idea to give the feast, wasn't it?" He asked no one in particular, as he and others started walking back inside the manor, the clamor of the villagers fading slowly. Gorsazo nodded.

"I'd say so, my Lord. It will certainly boost the villagers' morale by a lot. And it will give them a reason to keep working hard even in this freezing weather."

"That's true," Duvas said, while stroking his short beard.

"I think the most important announcement for them was when you said that now we have enough grain to feed everyone for the winter. That has basically never happened in Tiranat." The majordomo continued, "While in some good years, the manor did have more than enough grain to feed every villager in the winter, the previous baron never allowed us to give it for free to those who couldn't afford to buy it.

But this year the villagers know that they and their children won't go hungry, whether they can afford to buy any grain or not. I think that fact will keep the villagers' morale high throughout the winter."

"Let's hope so..." Kivamus muttered, while thinking about the miserly bastard who ruled this village as the baron before him. Shaking his head, he said, "I will do my best to ensure that it remains so in the future as well." Looking towards the kitchen of the servants hall, he saw that the servants were loading another cart with steaming buckets - likely containing the next batch of food from the kitchen, before starting to push it towards the gates of the manor.

A couple of maids were also following the cart with ladles in their hands to serve the villagers. But even more importantly, all of them seem to have a smile on their faces. As he walked further, he noticed that the manor looked nearly empty from inside, since nearly all of the servants and off-duty guards were outside the gates to either serve the villagers in the feast, or to help in controlling the crowd. It was rare to see the manor so empty, but it was for a good reason so he didn't really mind it.

He reached towards the manor house with others, eagerly waiting for his own meal from the feast - which would also include Madam Helga's much vaunted Rizako stew, unlike the villagers' feast - not to mention the Toloraberry pie which he couldn't wait to try. Thinking of the Rizako stew, he remembered that Feroy, who really liked it, should be able to enjoy it as well tonight, since he was unable to eat the Rizako stew the last time when he was out with the caravan.

Looking around, he tried to see where the ex-mercenary was, but he couldn't find him. Thinking about it, he realized that he hadn't seen Feroy since the morning.

"Where is Feroy?" he asked the others.