Taking Part in the Inspection

The aroma of freshly baked bread and fried sausages filled the dining room at Thomas's residence that morning. Thomas and Pavel sat at the new wooden table, enjoying breakfast.

Outside the window, after a quiet night, Budweis City was slowly waking to greet a brand-new day.

A copy of the Budweis City Chronicle, still smelling of fresh ink, lay open beside Pavel. The front-page headline was the full text of Hozzenplozz's speech at the welcome banquet the previous evening.

The young gentleman held a piece of bread in one hand and a dip pen in the other, rapidly jotting something down in a leather-bound notebook. He looked absorbed, as though he were transcribing an important document.

Thomas glanced at him, picked up a glass jar, and poured himself a cup of hot milk. "What are you writing down those official pleasantries for?" he asked dismissively.

"They're like adding a little milk to water. It looks the part, but who knows how much water there really is when it comes down to it."

He had spent years immersed in the Duchy of Weissen's bureaucracy and had delivered countless speeches like that himself. He had long since developed a habit of grumbling about public remarks like these. To him, they were worth less than the decorative red tomato blossoms on a platter of roasted pig's feet in a restaurant. At least you could eat the blossoms.

Pavel didn't look up. His pen continued to scratch across the page until he finished a paragraph, then he set it down.

He put away his notebook and picked up a slice of bread. "Mr. Thomas, I understand what you mean."

"But I think these 'pleasantries' do have their purpose at certain times."

He spread jam on the bread and took a bite. After gathering his