They all followed the smiling Viscount, with Pearl taking the last gulp of her cup and rushing after the others. As they were walking along the main corridor, Alex asked:
“Uncle, what happened to those Nobles that tried to come here? And what did they want?”
“They told in the Chamber of Lords that they only wanted to recover their commoners, but many knew that they also wanted to spy. Two of those Nobles were condemned of high treason because they were the instigators, and they convinced the other three to join them against the laws of the Chamber, by trying to invade the lands of another Noble without being approved by a majority vote. Those two lost all their lands that are now being taken care of by the Chamber of Lords, their families got a downgrade of their title and they still live on the same lands as keepers for the Chamber without all the fancy luxury they were used to. The other three Nobles got a downgrade of their title and lost half their lands to the Chamber as well.”
Alex made a slight frown:
“That’s not very common, is it? The Chamber of Lords administers the country, how do they manage to have time to take care of lands?”
“It happened a few times in the past. Every decision about the lands that belong to the Chamber of Lords is done by a majority vote, and the keepers of the lands obey their orders. Sometimes things get slower because of that, but it’s working so far.”
“You should have told me about that invasion attempt, I could come and…”
Viscount Finley raised one eyebrow:
“Come for what? You forgot it was for taking care of everything in your absence that you chose me, Miss Olive, Earl Kayden and Viscount Tom West as your keepers? With us and your huge army, not even if all the Nobles gathered their armies, I would bother you! No, in that case, I would because we could use your help. But it was just a handful of Nobles and their laughable army, nothing we couldn’t handle with our eyes closed!”
“Ok, but try not to anger them too much, things were already difficult in the Chamber of Lords, with all those angry Nobles.”
The Viscount tapped Alex’s back, reassuring him that he would be careful enough not to put him into any difficult situation, and after he left to a perpendicular corridor that led to the meeting room, Pearl asked:
“What kind of wine was that, by the way, Alex? It was quite good, I never tasted anything like it. In my village we also make wine, but nothing like that!”
Alex answered while being held on each arm by a very happy Mermaid and a Fairy, that had her cheeks very red because of all much they drank during lunch:
“That’s a variety of wine we make around here. We use a certain type of grape and a by-product from my distilleries to change the fermentation process of the wine. My uncle named that wine ‘Alexer’, and all the Nobility in Beliersia lost their mind with it. We sell each bottle for a ridiculous amount of money, and every time we make a new batch, it’s sold out in a matter of days. It seems we are also shipping some bottles to other countries, escorted by two or three Parties of Adventurers, just in case some bandit has a weird idea.”
Pearl slowly nodded while licking her lips to gather the last of the flavour of that tasty wine. She then remembered something:
“What about those weird tubes that had meat inside? I think it was pork, but I am not sure.”
“The tubes? Oh, the sausages! Yeah, those are made by stuffing grinded seasoned pork meat with aromatic herbs, inside the scrubbed, cleaned lengths of pork intestine. The meat inside can also be chicken, cow, deer or boar. All sort of meat can be used to make sausages, actually. The seasoning is a secret, and there are some special equipments in the kitchen to make the sausages. If you try to do it by hand, you will make a mess, and you will have a ton of work. With the equipment in the kitchen, they can make hundreds of sausages in a matter of hours, and there is also a way for the sausages to be preserved inside a closed metallic jar, that can make them last for a couple of months. Good for travels, along with dried meat.”
Pearl had her mouth wide opened:
“No way! You even devised new plates and methods to preserve food? And new kitchen equipment? How do you even think about that?”
“Well, I had to find a way to use all the meat we were getting from the Orcs that my army killed. Not to mention all the chickens, cows and pigs in my farms. I suppose most people never tried to make sausages, because everyone likes roasted meat, and without the proper tools, it’s a lot of work. As for preserving methods, it’s easy to use Magic to freeze the meat. Not so easy if you go on a travel and have to constantly use Magic to preserve your food, instead of saving your Magic for defence in case of an attack. With my method, you can preserve food more naturally without worrying about saving your Magic.”
Pearl went silent, thinking on his words, despite having some trouble keeping her concentration with the walls moving and her legs wobbling. She put one hand on the nearby wall and said as she followed Alex and the other three women:
“It’s a strong stuff that wine of yours, Alex! It was so tasty that I probably took one cup too many. Can we go outside for a while? I am having some trouble keeping my balance.”
Alex stopped and Anika put her arm around Pearl’s waist as they all walked side by side, with a big smile on her red face:
“Here, let me help you, you cute thing! Your face is all red, and your eyes look weird. That wine was very good, right? I can still taste the sweetness of it.”
They went to a side corridor, and Alex guided them to the door at the back that led to a huge garden, with fruit trees and a maze made of thick bushes. Wenammy looked up and smiled:
“It’s my eyes, or those apples are moving? So many…”
Alex looked to where she was pointing:
“They are not moving. It seems you three are a bit drunk. I should have warned you about the wine, but I was more or less distracted with the dancers and I failed to notice how much you were drinking. Maybe if I do this…”
Alex touched the forehead of each woman, placing a good amount of Healing Magic on them, to help them clear all the alcohol from their bodies. When he finished, they were all feeling a little better, and he guided them through the garden and stopped near a section that had lines of aromatic herbs. Pearl crouched and stared at the plants at her feet, sniffing the scent in the air. Alex then took them inside the Castle again where they visited the library, with an astonishing size and hundreds of bookshelf’s filled with books from every country in the alliance. After that, a detour to the kitchen, where the main cook and his helpers were already taking care of the preparations for dinner. They all bowed when they noticed Alex, and continued their work when he waved at them. Pearl saw a group making the meat tubes that she liked so much, and she approached them to have a better look. The servants and apprentices went nervous, by being watched by such a beautiful Elfian woman, and they did their best to continue their work, even with her asking a bunch of questions about what they were doing. Alex almost had to drag her out of the kitchen to let the servants work, and she walked through the doors to the main corridor again while looking back at the weird equipment in the kitchen.
Alex showed them a bunch of rooms, richly decorated, and others in a simpler way. After some minutes of walking along several corridors and many rooms, he guided them to the basement, with two guards stationed in front of the stairs that led to the lower level of the Castle. As they approached, the guards made a deep bow and let them pass.
Along another corridor, Alex showed them a cellar filled with bottles of wine, beer and whiskey, and at the end of the corridor, there was a big wooden door. When they entered, Pearl almost fainted. Piles and piles of crates full of Magic Orbs, glowing with Magic and showering the room with myriads of different shades of blue. She stumbled on her feet to a pile of tiny Magical Orbs on a corner and sat right on top of it. She looked around with a big smile and put her hands on the pile, taking a bunch of Orbs that she let cascade on her lap. She then noticed another closed door, and pointed at it:
“What’s in there? More Magical Orbs?”
“Not exactly…”
Alex opened the door and Anika frowned at the several piles of closed crates. Alex opened the nearest one, and she gulped. She put her hand inside and looked at the several gold coins as she mixed the content of the crate. Wenammy stared at the slow tornado of coins that Anika was making and asked:
“Is this your treasure room? How rich are you, anyway?”
Alex shrugged:
“I don’t consider any of this mine. All these coins gathered here will be used to pay the workers, servants, farmers and maids in the next months. Some will be sent to Churches and Orphanages, and others will be used to buy ingredients. The Magical Orbs outside will be either sold or used somewhere. Even the Magical Orbs that lost their Magic are useful, because I know some artisans that make fine jewellery with them, that I then sell and put the money in this room. I have a smaller room in the cellar of my manor, and in the manor of Earl Kayden, there is also a small room filled with coins and Orbs. I also have manors and big houses in other countries with a room like this. Not this big, but with enough money to pay my workers in that country, for several months.”
Pearl entered the room, playing with a big Magical Orb on her hands:
“Why don’t you spend all this money with you? You could have a lot of fun with only one crate!”
“I have plenty of fun without the need to spend any of this money. What worries me is the number of Magical Orbs in that room. There weren’t so many the last time I was here, and that confirms what those soldiers said, that there was an increase in the number of Magical Voids appearing over these last months that I was in Bouria.”
Pearl looked to the crate that Anika was still stirring:
“I don’t care much about money, but even I can tell that you have a crazy amount. Anika seems hypnotized by the glow of these gold coins, but I prefer the piles of Magical Orbs you have stashed in there. I found this enormous Orb on a shelf on top of some sort of a pedestal with a number two engraved on it, next to several others. This thing is almost the size of my head! Where did you get this?”
“That is from a Wyvern. I hate those flying things! They are way more dangerous than Harpies, but at least their meat is very tasty. Sweet, like deer meat, but so much better.”