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When Karem turned back to Catherine, who was right where he had left her, she was on her second gigantic egg tart, and Mary was dutifully attending to her.

The custard inside retained a creamy texture with a hint of cheese, and the buttery, multilayered pastry boasted a crispy yet soft finish topped with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Catherine was casually devouring something magnificent, which would easily surpass the daily caloric intake of an average adult male.

“Sir Atanitas.”

“Umm. Little one. Back, are we?”

“Yes. I think your explanations so far have been sufficient.”

“Do I not need to keep an eye on you from the side?”

Catherine asked, casting a look laced with suspicion as Mary wiped the powdered sugar from her lips.

Of course, Godwin was enforcing a strict diet.

And strict oppression tends to breed rebellion.

Her question hinted at a need for a watcher.

“No. I probably won’t need it.”

Karem shook his head in denial.

“Compared to the bland, flavorless dishes you used to eat, you wouldn’t want to give up these dishes now.”

“I have to admit, even I found the salads with boiled meat and a few fruits a bit excessive.”

“And besides, there’s at least one watcher around.”

“Huh?”

The attendant, Viktor, was down there, she thought? Catherine couldn’t help but acknowledge the figure Karem subtly gestured toward.

“The Duchess is keeping watch. But she has been rather… passionate.”

“I imagine she’ll stay that way until Sir Viktor returns.”

“Hmm. I suppose at a banquet, the menu could have been postponed to tomorrow.”

“Isn’t that something only Sir Atanitas, who is enviously watched by every man and woman at Felwinter Castle, could pull off?”

Karem carefully served the last remaining gigantic egg tart onto his plate.

It was a delight to the senses.

“I seriously can’t manage such pastries, Mary.”

“You were late for your meal because of your training. Just eat now.”

“But I am eating! Still, how much has Sir Atanitas had thus far?”

“Hmm, let’s see.”

Mary folded her handkerchief and quickly scanned the table.

“You’ve tasted all the main courses that have been served at least once, and items that have tugged at the hearts of every man in Europa, like the porchetta, you’ve had three times.”

“Wow. Is that really true?”

“And if you count the desserts you were fed in between, the amount is—”

“Stop! Why on earth are you curious about that?!”

Catherine felt a flush of embarrassment. It was as if Mary was about to list every food she had consumed so far.

But Karem understood it all too well.

“It’s truly astonishing every time I see it. Where does all that fit in your body?”

“Well, reaching the level of a Grand Wizard has its perks; I suppose all this thinking makes one hungry very quickly. By the way, it’s been a year since I got this used to it.”

“Will you ever get used to it though?”

Of course, Karem knew people famous for their insatiable appetites, like a human-shaped elephant. Naturally, that knowledge came from memories of his past life.

Usually, those individuals had large stomachs or short digestive tracts, but Catherine seemed to show no signs of that whatsoever.

Where exactly could all that fit inside that body?

The sheer mystery of Catherine’s eating habits remained an eternal enigma for Karem.

Fantasy never fails to exceed my expectations.

Ideally, Karem should be attending to her as her attendant, but thanks to her generosity, he at least had the time to fill his own empty stomach, starting with the gigantic egg tart.

As Karem cut through the porchetta, his eyes naturally drifted to the center of the Great Hall.

Amidst the rowdy crowd, he spotted Gordon chugging beer straight from a barrel.

“That’s no way to get me drunk either—”

“Truly, the Swordmaster! He’s downing that huge barrel!”

“Good grief! Is the Swordmaster a monster?”

“Those who bet on his failure, hand over your money!”

Wasn’t that bullying? Yet the reactions from those surrounding Gordon felt akin to fans idolizing a wrestling superstar.

Whether they were placing bets or chucking various crowns and seals into the helmet offered by a servant, no one seemed overly annoyed.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s being bullied.”

“Huh? Who do you mean?”

“The guest of honor at dinner. I thought he might get a welcome speech or something.”

“Hmm. I suppose I’ve never seen anything like that myself.”

Karem thought of Gordon as a heavy drinker, as he consumed just as much drink as food since the banquet began, chatting and boasting all along.

“Wait, is talking and boasting while eating not the same as taking a break?”

“You can’t measure the Swordmaster with ordinary logic.”

“Sir Atanitas?”

“You think the power I exert comes free? I’ve mentioned this before. Before the magic, the body must be reinforced, and fuels are required to exert that power.”

Catherine pulled out a parchment and quill, but then waved her finger at Karem.

“Wizardry is the same. Do you know how much food is needed to think? Do you think wizards die just because they dared to read a spellbook beyond their means?”

“Oh, aren’t you simply saying that a spellbook would dare to kill someone if they were too weak for it?”

“Ah, of course, sometimes with higher-level spellbooks, that can happen.”

“Scary.”

Ultimately, to utilize both body and mind, a significant amount of energy is required.

It was well known that famous athletes or bodybuilders consume several thousand to ten thousand calories a day.

Not to mention how immense the food intake of farmworkers must be; Karem experienced this firsthand through his serf life.

But why did they end up hunting rats and bugs in the woods?

If they had been fed normally, they wouldn’t have needed to brave the dangerous forest.

Still, while he may have eaten rats and bugs, protein is precious.

As Gordon stepped away for a moment, and Karem, having filled up somewhat, noticed Catherine, who was still focused on the parchment after some time had passed.

“Huh? What’s going on? Little one. Is this what you’re curious about?”

“No, I thought your stomach might be full by now, but you’re still hanging onto that parchment, so I wondered what was up.”

“Ah, I’ve been working on a Cold Resistance Potion since last winter.”

“Oh, is it the recipe?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, finally.”

With curiosity and anticipation, Karem fixated on the parchment.

Catherine was ambitiously pursuing the Fire Witch Finger project, which the Duke of Iceland had been pushing for.

The fruits of that enterprise, to dominate markets across Iceland, lay before them.

“I had hit a roadblock somewhere. But Little one, I think you’ve given me a breakthrough.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Catherine tapped the parchment with her quill.

“If I reduce the ingredients, the duration will shorten, but increasing them will make the body temperature rise too high and cause fainting. However, if I swap ingredients, it’ll just become for nobles only. What a pain!”

“Ah, price is indeed important.”

“Then, I saw the table of Godwin, Prince.”

“Oh, inspiration from His Highness’s menu?”

“More precisely, it was the Giant’s Rose that led me to think.”

Catherine gasped in exasperation.

“Yes, yes. If reducing the ingredients lowers the effect, I just need to simmer the solution gently to preserve the effect, and then increase the dosage for one use. Why couldn’t I think of this simple idea?”

“Um… Thank you? Does that mean I’ll get a bonus?”

“Yes. Look forward to it.”

“Oh?”

Catherine had never made a half-hearted statement in her life.

That meant Karem could truly look forward to it.

‘Well, it probably won’t be money.’

He could guarantee that much.

After all, he was already overflowing with money, and any time he spent a handful of it on bonuses, it would perfectly return to him.

At least if it were a stimulating game or novel from his past life, he could find it intriguing, but those in the present felt too mundane and boring.

In the end, his hobbies and spending habits always circled back to cooking.

And whenever he spent money on various meals and experiments, that money would somehow come right back to him.

So, how about magic tools?

That made sense, considering Karem recalled their conversation about the self-defense magic tool Catherine had brought up before heading out of the castle.

Magic tools indeed seemed the most promising.

Thus, he decided to keep his mouth shut as a good gift receiver.

His heart raced as much as when he visited the Treasure Vault.

Having chatted and taken a break, Karem’s stomach was slightly subdued, but just as he was about to resume his meal, Gordon reappeared, coming back from where he had briefly disappeared.

After graciously accepting greetings from the people, Gordon plopped down in the seat next to Karem.

“Ha! Having drained the beer, now I need to fill my belly with food…”

“Are you saying that after downing all that like a whale?”

“You really don’t know anything yet, Karem. Beer makes your belly empty fast. It’s just liquid to whet your appetite. Hey, can you serve me some freshly made cold dishes? Ah, not the dessert, though.”

During his absence, the cold dishes had been cleared away.

Then, shortly after, hot dishes were served anew, and having gobbled up all the leftover desserts, Gordon carried on with his meal.

“What a surprise. I didn’t expect to exceed my goal this much.”

“Exceed your goal? You mean the title you received?”

“Yes. To be honest, I’m still a bit in shock.”

Gordon wiped his mouth after quickly finishing a clam chowder spiced with plenty of pepper.

“I always dreamed of being a moderately high noble, snagging a territory and a beautiful, kind wife, and locking myself in a castle living happily ever after.”

“Huh, that’s a rather modest dream for a Swordmaster.”

“No, I actually had unexpected chances, but it was my skills that continually interfered with that dream.”

“Ah, I see what you mean.”

A Swordmaster is indeed a Swordmaster.

Coming from a demeaning background as a mercenary serf meant he wasn’t entangled in the intricacies of powerful nobles’ interests.

Instead, that may have worked positively for the powers that be, but for someone wishing for a peaceful life without worries, it was often a hindrance.

Even if you didn’t want it, many would insist you reconsider your choices.

“Yeah, well. If all powerholders were like Your Grace, I would have achieved that dream long ago.”

“So, is that why you left Europa and came here?”

“Well, to be honest, yes. Before coming to the Kingdom of Seophone, I had been tangled up by a nobleman who wanted to shove his daughter into my bedroom.”

“…Pregnancy trap?”

“Ha! It’s not the first time I’ve been subjected to such nonsense. But who would have thought they’d seal off an entire area of buildings with magic? Just thinking about it gives me cold sweat.”

Hahaha! Gordon laughed heartily as he cut into his Wellington steak, drizzled with gravy.

“Is that something to laugh about?”

“Hahaha!”

Gordon kept laughing vacantly until Karem finally succumbed and returned to his meal.

Summer was coming to an end.

 

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