After entering the room, Jeremiah glanced around.
At the center of the banquet hall stood a long table stretching dozens of feet, draped in a pristine white linen cloth. It was laden with silver plates holding exquisite pastries, golden-brown bread, and an abundant spread of food.
At a glance, Jeremiah spotted roast suckling pig, venison pie, and all manner of dishes and soups he had never seen before. Wine, champagne, and Sweet Fruit Wine were poured from silver decanters into gem-studded goblets, then delivered to the guests by attendants.
"Damn nobles."
Muttering under his breath, he walked straight to the table, grabbed several pieces of fruit from a plate and stuffed them into his mouth, then picked up a glass of wine and gulped it down.
The seawater had been rather cold at night. After climbing out of the sea and standing in the cold wind for so long, he desperately needed something to warm himself up.
Just as he reached for a steak directly from a plate, another hand suddenly beat him to it and speared it with a fork.
Jeremiah narrowed his eyes and followed that hand upward.
Alexei was smiling at him as he forked the steak into his own mouth.
"What wind blew our Captain Jeremiah here?"
Jeremiah had come to demand an explanation, but the Tattooed Man's inexplicable retreat and Theus's unhurried attitude had made him uneasy. He paused, his mind racing as he tried to come up with an excuse.
"Looks like you also came to inspect Castel's goods."
Goods?
Jeremiah blinked, somewhat confused by what the man before him meant. What goods did Castel have?
Sweet Fruit Wine?
Oh, that was indeed quite good, but surely that count wasn't planning to fob Gem Bay off with that?
Ever since he had spread the