Night fell, blanketing all of Buena Village.
The warm, yellow glow of oil lamps lit up the Greyrat dining room.
Incidentally, the Greyrats' living room also served as their dining room.
It was nothing like the astonishingly large dining room at House Boreas in Roa City.
At House Boreas in Roa, a separate, spacious room held a rectangular dining table over ten meters long, large enough to seat more than twenty people.
In Paul's house, a somewhat square wooden dining table sat in the right-hand corner of the ground floor. It looked rather old and could seat seven or eight people.
At that moment, the center of the table held a hearty, home-cooked spread prepared by the lady of the house, Zenith, and their maid, Lilia:
A roasted Hobir Rabbit, its skin golden and crisp, sizzling with fat;
A thick broth filled with Wild Boar meat, plenty of vegetables, and spices;
A tall mound of mashed potatoes sprinkled with herbs, along with several colorful plates of pickled vegetables to whet the appetite.
The staple was thickly sliced black bread with a rather coarse texture.
It reminded Cui Ciyou of the Red Beard Adventurer Party, who might currently be in the royal capital, Ars, or somewhere in Fitoia Territory.
During his stay at House Boreas, he had eaten relatively refined white bread.
The first black bread he had eaten had been with Carl's caravan.
Looking at the food on the table, plentiful though it seemed, Cui Ciyou couldn't help thinking:
No wonder Paul looked troubled in the original story when Rudeus asked him to pay for both him and Sylphy to attend Ranoa Magic University, and said, "We only have enough money to send one person to school."
*Looking at things now, he made Rudeus go out and earn the money