Chương 189: Chapter 172. Dinner With The Nyx Royal Family 2

" How do you find the food, Matthew?" The Queen asked me my impressions after taking a sip of the red wine she was enjoying with the chicken-like dish we were served. A boneless white meat breast of some type of bird with onions and peppers, along with a delicious gravy, was served with a dry bread with the obvious implication to dip the bread in the gravy. To be honest, I do find the food delicious, and I plan to say as much." This meal can go toe to toe with any meal I was served in the Blackstone Royal Palace.

It's really good!" I smiled as I spoke." Still, I wonder why you've turned down the wine? It pairs so well with the Cockatrice meat."" Cockatrice?"" Ah, you've yet to run into 1, I assume? It's a B-Class Monster, it's a giant bird, the size of a bull, it can fly and even shoot flames out of its mouth. Our People tend to call it the "Coward's Dragon". Seeing as it has the head of a rooster."" I see." I nodded to the Queen's explanation. However, I still had to answer her question.

It was somewhat awkward as only Sarah, Anna and I turned down the alcohol." The reason I turned down the wine is because in my original country, a person needed to be 21 in order to consume alcohol. I'm currently 19."" My, so young. And I assume that Sarah and Anna wish to follow their husband's decision?" Sarah and Anna nodded to the Queen, while looking bashful the entire time. I wonder where that confidence from our guest room went? While I was thinking about that, a voice called out to me."

Say, Matthew, what is this "dessert" you mentioned?" Charlotte asked the next question, the look on her face tells me that she likes sweets." Well, it's something we call "ice cream". Since I haven't shown it to the public yet, I'd appreciate it if you keep this to yourselves."" Ice cream?" Charlotte seemed more interested in the dessert than anything else I said. She's almost like a kid who knows they're getting a present soon." It's a cold and frozen dessert. It uses milk as a base ingredient."" MILK!?"

The King exploded at my mentioning of milk." Ah, right, I haven't had to explain this in a while." I spoke with a bit of mild surprise as I forgot that milk is still seen like puffer fish to people in Gaia." You're trying to poison us?" Charlotte asked this as she seemed to think the world was ending. How much was she looking forward to a new dessert?" No, let me explain, but first. I'll say this now, Paradise's people have already started to consume milk daily with no adverse effects.

Ice cream is completely safe to consume. My Wives and I will happily demonstrate it after dinner if you still feel some kind of way about milk and other dairy products." After assuring the Royal Family about the safety of my ice cream, I began to explain what pasteurization was, and how instead of just using Magic to do it, I focused on using science and tools to make sure that the milk would always be made right.

Then I told them about how we figured out how to safely enjoy milk and about the cheeses I've been able to make. OPf course, some of this was hard to keep secret, since it involves knowhow from my world. With all of the Guards, Maids and Butlers around us, not even going into the Kitchen Staff coming in and out to clean the dishes that Sarah and Anna were packing away, it was hard to bullshit my answers without announcing I'm an Otherworlder." So, this "pasteurization", how does it work?""

Unfortunately, Leonard, I can't share that since its tied to my business and its products."" So, if we end up liking it, we'd have to go to you for more? Quite a shrewd businessman, aren't you?" Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I shrugged my shoulders as I bit into the cockatrice meat." So, what does it taste like?" Delcan asked an important question." It's unlike anything I've ever had, so it would be hard to describe to you in all honesty.

All he could tell you that would make some kind of sense is that it's sweet and cold." The question, which was meant for me, was answered by Sarah. I don't really mind, since I found explaining what ice cream was like to be futile at this point. Since dairy products weren't around, describing something as "creamy" made no sense to the people who've avoided milk. It was like trying to describe color to the blind.

Things became significantly easier when I actually was able to create ice cream and have others taste it." This certainly does sound interesting!" The Queen, thankfully, had an optimistic outlook on the whole thing. Which reminded me, I think I've shared enough of my secrets. Time for the Royal Family to share some of theirs. As we ate the meal, I decided to just ask if it was okay." Say, since I've been answering quite a few questions, would you mind answering some of mine?"

I looked at the Royal Family as I spoke. They seemed to freeze up at my words. The King was the first to answer with a somewhat concerned look in his eye." What kind of questions?"" A few personal ones, I don't think it would be tied to any state secrets. If they are, you can just tell me they are and not answer them. Honestly, the questions are just things I'm a little curious about." The Royal Family listened to my words and the King seemed to relax his demeanor after hearing what I had to say." Okay."

With the King's permission, I asked the first question." Why do Delcan and Crystal seem to not have any bias towards us in comparison to everyone else?" Again, the Royal Family froze at my words. It's almost like a special ability of mine." Well..." Delcan was the first to speak. I listened intently." I think the way Our Culture treats outsiders is kind of... Old fashioned."" Didn't you shackle me this morning?"" This and that were different.

Don't you check for strange or suspicious people who show up at Paradise's Gates? That worry is exasperated when it involves a God." Delcan explained his reasoning." Fair enough."" Besides that, well... I guess it's not my story to tell, but my Mother and Charlotte helped form my thoughts on the idea of open distain for foreigners. I'd like to think, that through my actions, we can change that slowly, but who knows really? The masses are a fickle bunch at the best of times."

I nodded to Delcan's words, that was 1 down. I turned to the Queen to listen to her answer." Well, my answer is quite simple. A Human helped me return to the Forest when I ran away from home one day when I was young."" So, you don't have any negative feelings for Humans in general?"" No, I quite dislike that Church of theirs."" Ah, the Human who helped you was Blessed by a Dark God?"" Correct, Matthew. She was a Shadow Archer."" Shadow... Archer?"" Yes, it's a Job that does what it sounds like.

The Basic Skill is using the shadow of an arrow as a 2nd arrow to hit the enemy. The highest Skilled of the Shadow Archers could summon a thundering rain of arrows out of nowhere that could cover the sky if they wanted to. Or just create arrows from their own shadows without needing a physical arrow to form them. My Friend... She was capable of that."" Was?" That word had my attention. The Queen didn't seem confused by my question." Yes, "was". She passed away around 700 years ago. I miss her quite a bit."

Queen Crystal had a nostalgic look on her face as she answered my question." Oh... Right... Dark Elf." It dawned on me that I was talking to a long-lived Race." But wait. You said you were a kid 700 years ago. You look like a woman in her late 20s to me. How do Dark Elves age?" The King answered my question for me." We age till around 23 to 26 years of age. Then we age rather slowly. Granted, it also comes down to personal choice, for instance, I look like this, but in Human years, I'm only around 29 years old.""

But you look like you're in your 40s Leonard?"" My Wife likes this look."" But-"" We have Magic to artificially age or make ourselves appear somewhat younger for certain features. I aged my face a bit. My son aged his face as well to appear older to help gain the respect of his fellow Soldiers in the Army."" Don't look at me. He means my Older Brother, Donatello." Delcan hurriedly denied it was him as I was looking to see what looked aged on his face."

It's actually somewhat funny, the men of the Royal Family used Cosmetic Magic while the women just allow themselves to age gracefully. Though, on the bright side, I haven't looked like I've aged in 500 years! Hahaha!"" So, how old are Delcan and Charlotte? Since Leonard and Crystal are around 700 years old?"" I'm 23 and Charlotte is 18. My Older Brother is 232 I think? And my Older Sister is 179."" Delcan! You shouldn't just reveal a woman's age!"" I thought you were a "Warrior", not a "woman"?

Or were you just saying that to avoid talks of Marriage?" Delcan teased Charlotte with a happy smile as she glared at him." Wow, so you guys were pretty much born one after the other? And there was a 50-year age difference between your older siblings. That's amazing. Do you treat them like siblings?" A question popped into my head as I responded to Delcan." What do you mean? Family's Family, right?"" Well, when Human siblings have a gap like that, I think it would be hard to connect as siblings.

I'd imagine the relationship would resemble something like an uncle or aunt with a niece or nephew. At least in Humans." Delcan seemed to understand what I was saying." Well, luckily, we don't really have that issue. Char and I love our Siblings. I wish they were here... Though they'd probably would've joined Charlotte in trying to fight you back in the Throne Room." Delcan rubbed his chin as he thought about his siblings. This conversation answered 2 of the questions I had, now I had 1 more.

I looked at Charlotte as I began to wonder how to say it to not offend anyone... Why did she look away after making eye contact with me?