The Granoir family residence stood on Pastoral Street. The newly purchased five-story detached mansion was tall enough, spacious enough, and, most importantly, sufficient to receive the future Count Granoir's guests. Yet tonight, only five people sat at the long dining table built for twenty.
Besides Granoir at the head of the table and Francois beside Rorschach, there were the prospective countess and the prospective count's younger daughter.
"Good thing we have flowers. They make the table look less empty. These Valuana tastes do have some merit." Carefully layered flowers filled the center of the table, adding considerable color to the white tablecloth, though a closer look revealed that they had wilted somewhat. Granoir had not used candlesticks, but rather somewhat ostentatious Magic Lamps—not ones that produced light themselves, but ones that cleverly used circuits to make a Light Spell last longer.
Most of the decorations in this house were like that: clumsy imitations of high nobility on one hand, and exaggerated displays of magic on the other, all meant to prove to visitors that its owner was an Archmage.
He was already an Archmage, yet he still did all this. What a conflicted man. Compared with the carefree Master Kano, Rorschach could only shake his head inwardly.
During the family dinner, Granoir asked about the Sub-plane, then finally circled around to Rorschach's opinion on the Sub-plane gold mine.
"To be honest, the only evidence is that apprentice's results. Maybe he was simply exceptionally lucky, while most of us had rather bad luck during those three days." At this, both Rorschach and Francois laughed.
"Frankly speaking, Master Granoir, I am an Imperial citizen. The gold mine in the Holy Kingdom's territory has nothing to do with me, and I will never make rash comments on such a sensitive matter." Rorschach neither