Dinner Time

"Please follow me, then", Greem said in a confident manner.

Laylah might have higher status than him, infinitely so, but the servants and soldiers in the manor were all very appreciative of him. He memorized the name and trivia about each and every person he crossed the path with. Although it was very simple thanks to his soul being that of a shadow demon, thus possessing photographic memory and high intellect, it was a contrast compared to the standards of the illeteracy and dumbness of the human world.

Even nobles could barely write and read, with the exception of acolytes. To the average servant, being called by their name was a privilege already. And Greem did it with every individual he knew. 

Unknowingly, it had caused his reputation to soar, which doubled down the reputation benefits of training incredibly hard and displaying swordsmanship that bested some of the strongest veteran of the Lion Manor Guard.

As Laylah, followed, she could not help but be pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the place. She had already noticed the city being well organised and burstling with activity, but the manor was on another level altogether. The halls were clean and handmade carpets were covering the ground, providing a nice and elegant footing to stroll around the manor. On the walls, many historical paintings were displayed, most of which had been hand picked by Greem, who wanted to know more about Marsaskala and the previous owners of the Lion Manor.

The gardens were also taken care of by Albert, who grew some magical plants alongside flowers of all variety. Botany was both a hobby and a necessity to supply Greem with the medicinal plants he needed to sustain his training.

Without a doubt, this display of wealth and art taste surprised Laylah, who did not expect anything by coming to such a rural place. It was certainly lacking compared to the ancestral keep of Valeria owned by the Steelguards, but it was very calm and soothing, like...a home.

In Valeria, she would cross the path of her older brother who wished her dead out of envy for the patriarch position, or her supporters who wished the same. Branch family heirs would try to please her at all costs out of fear for her temper and power, or instead, try to block her path. Every word had to be calculated, and interpreted. It was intense, stressful, frightening even, which constrated infinitely to this small, rural and fancy manor which was bursting with good feelings.

As she approached the dinner room, she was shocked once more, seeing delicated meals fuming with spices and magical grain. Although it was not very expensive, enough for Laylah to know about the ingredients, it was not so common to find. Even if she wanted to, she would have trouble finding it to the market at an appropriate price. It boosted one's physical recovery, and was especially useful after training to increase the benefits. Naturally, Greem made investments for Albert to grow them in the gardens as well, enough to sustain not only his, but all of his soldiers and knights as well.

Yet, a dozen servings were laying in front of her. The guests bowed in respect to Greem. Despite being knights, their fiery aura had been tamed and replaced with pure respect towards the lord they had sworn loyalty to.

Laylah looked at the relationship of Greem and his knights, and pondered if she had ever seen such pure loyalty before. 

"Thank you for waiting. This is Laylah Steelguard, my cousin and a direct descendant of the main family line. Please treat her with respect, as she is an intermediate realm acolyte", Greem said to introduce her, "Shall we begin to eat?"

Laylah sat, and the servant from before started to serve her food. She was surprised by abundance of meals, but she soon realized that Greem and his knights were devouring it. After tasting a bite of the boar meat, she instantly felt a flurry of emotions. It was...good.

However, even if it did not match the standard of food she could get at the main family castle, the five of them were eating in silence. There was no political discussion, exchange of favours or trying to guess what the other person was thinking about.

This dinner was all about food. Since none of them broke the silence, she continued to eat. One mouthful, two...and eventually, she finished her first plate. After a good hour of eating, the 12 portion of food had been completely emptied, as knights ate a lot. Surprisingly, though, Greem was the one who ate the most.

After finishing the dinner, the knights bid farewell, except for Lady Emma, who interrupted Greem:

"Sir, can I talk to you for a second? It is not urgent, but you told me to keep you updated every day", she asked

"You can talk in front of Laylah. She might be an outsider to Marsaskala, but she is definitely trustworthy and has the Steelguards' interest at heart", Greem said, causing Laylah to smile slightly. It looked like Greem had a good image of her, a rare trait these days among Steelguards heirs due to her temper.

Laylah then proceeded and took out a book, where she kept notes of tasks handed by Greem personally. As she was the leader of exterior operations, she possessed a small elite troop of cavalrymen trained to handle bandits and fire ants.

"We have found a net of fire ant growing 12 kilometers south of Marsaskala. The scouts survived but estimated it to be a medium-sized nest with approximately 280 fire ant warriors. If they decide to attack Marsaskala, damage will be unavoidable", she said, showing a rough map

Greem smiled: "Continue to surveil the nest and tell the blacksmith to reinforce the walls' foundations. As much as I would like to go and attack it, I think it is much better for use our defence in case of an attack"

Laylah nodded from the side. The reason why the Steelguards appointed a manor to Marsaskala was due to the fire ant threats. Past experiences showed that politics hindered the interest of Marsaskala military. However, with a manor with the Steelguard surname, Greem possessed political power far surpassing any of the officials in the city, allowing him to coordinate defences with an efficiency that could only be dreamed of. 

Even if he did not act, Greem only had to say to listen to Emma for her to display formidable efficiency when handling the threats. 

His words were also wise, as he did not rush and risk his men's lives with offense. Since Marsaskala possessed walls and trained archers, it was much better to reinforce their defence and prepare for it rather than trying to swarm into uncharted territory. Lady Emma also nodded, impressed that her lord was improving at a frightening speed in terms of strategy.

"But...", Greem continued, "Since there is a growing influence of mercenaries in the city, some of which are under the fallen Baron Bryan, put an attractive order to hunt fire ants with the location of the nest. We will lose some gold, but we will lessen both Bryan's and the fire ants' forces. We will be killing two birds in one stone"

Lady Emma's eyes flickered slightly, before bowing and nodding, a bit ashamed she did not think of this in the first place. Meanwhile, Laylah's lips curled upwards.

'Is this why Mother told me to come here...?', Laylah thought silently as the unfair punishment of going to the small and rural port city Marsaskala was slowly turning into a surprising discovery.