"Buuuuuuuurp!"
"Ahh. That was probably the best lunch so far."
After his bath, Daren consumed about three bowls of rice, a bowl of stir-fried chicken, and 3 fillet mignons. He had filled his stomach to the brim. Of course, Celina ate about double that amount which made everyone think about where that food was going.
Her appetite is a black hole that cleaned up more than 2/3 of the table by herself. Chloe is also a glutton but she apparently is only like that for sweets. She ate a normal amount of food and was even trying to eat less so he could have space for more dessert.
Daren had seen through her plays and had made sure she ate enough for a growing child. Chanela seemed to be the most reserved and normal person. She at just half a plate of rice, a quarter plate of chicken, and a quarter plate of vegetables.
Unlike the heavy or unhealthy diets of the other three, she ate balanced meals, and her way of eating was not as barbaric as the rest. She at quietly and elegantly. A true representation of a girl from a noble family.
"The banquet will begin 6 hours from now. Is there anything that the young master or misses would like to do in the meantime? The bedrooms have been readied if you wish to rest."
A maid with light blue hair and an innocent face spoke to them in a mannered way after lunch was done. Daren contemplated what he wanted and was unable to decide.
"Getting some rest would be bad since I'll need to be in top shape in case something goes wrong during the banquet like it always does." Daren thought to himself.
He didn't feel like doing anything at the moment as he was someone who only worked hard when fully motivated. Times like these where he is very relaxed tend to make him keep a concentrated mindset and focus on work.
He then looked towards the girls for any suggestions as he was stumped.
"I'm going to take a walk in the garden. Would you like to join me?" asked Chanela as he got off her seat.
"I'll go! Let me take a couple of cookies to munch on first." Chloe decided to join her aunt instantly. She went to the other end of the table where there was an assortment of colorful treats.
Apparently, the empress heard that Chloe was liked sweet treats so she specially curated these for her. At least, that's what the maids told them.
"I need to walk off all the carbs. I'll go with you too." Celina decided to join as well since she wanted to have some light conversation with the girls.
'That's the one suggestion I didn't want to hear.' Daren was never fond of gardens. He disliked the smell of flowers and such for no real reason. It's just a completely baseless pet peeve of his.
"I'm a little curious about what happened to that precious crystal. I'll go and see how they're investigating. Seeing that they are mages, I might see some interesting magic."
Daren was not ever going for a walk in the garden or he might just turn everything into ice. He was a bit curious about how exactly the Royal Investigation Ministry really uses their mages. Daren had not seen a mage actually perform spells yet.
A group of 6 maids then followed and guided the girls to the back of the manor where a small garden was maintained. It not only had a variety of vibrant flowers picked by the empress but even some of her favorite animals.
Daren didn't want maids hovering around him as he is someone who likes his personal space and doesn't like crowded spaces. He only had 3 permanent maids in his massive estate when he was a cleaning products entrepreneur. Those maids only took care of him and his personal villa.
Everything was handled by people he wouldn't even see as his secretaries would make sure to adjust his schedule in a way that he only ever saw his 3 maids.
When Daren got to the end of the flight of stairs that took one to the third floor, 3 mages in bright red robes stood in front of him with their backs straight, expressionless faces, and long staffs. They were blocking him from seeing past them in the hallway.
"Yo! Mind if I see how you guys work. I'm a little interested since I haven't seen much magic in my life."
The intimidating old man, also known as the Magistrate Alexander heard the newly familiar, deep voice of the young man. He was standing in the room with the stone altar. There were many strange flashes of lights and magic spells flying around the room. they were all cast by his subordinates.
'Hmm. There's no way someone as strong as you at this age has never seen magic. Your background has to be impressive enough for you to have seen plenty of magic. What is your real purpose?' the magistrate thinks.
"I'm sorry. We can not let outsiders into crime scenes." replies one of the men in red robes.
Swooosh!
The three men feel a rush of wind against their backs as they turn around to find the magistrate standing right behind.
"It's fine. Let him in. What can even he do when all of us are here already?" Alexander wanted to test to see what Daren's reaction to his team's magic would be.
"As your highness wishes." The mages then move aside as Daren looks at the magistrate with a smirk and curious and curious eyes. He steps forward and greets the magistrate.
"Thank you, magistrate Alexander. I really would love to see some rare magic. I have a habit of trying to learn more about the world around me. I come from a small village and have been amazed by how expansive the world is ever since."
"No problem young man. As a guest of my dear nephew and someone who has an insane talent for. cultivation, I am more than glad to fulfill such simple wishes."
The two did not seek any more words to each other after that They just walked towards the room as they each had their own thoughts to tend to. Both of these men are people who don't like wasting energy talking unless they have to.
Daren has always been an outgoing person and likes to make friends but if he doesn't like you, he won't ever spare any pleasantries.
'You came from a village? Don't kid me. There's no way anyone without enough background and resources can reach Level 8 of body strengthening at such an age, without being some sort of monster.' Alexander will continue to have dubious thoughts about Daren's background until he finds something that solidifies his doubts or strongly refutes them.
"What?!" Daren was instantly blinded by numerous flashing lights of all colors. The room that originally housed that ostrich egg-sized red crystal was basically hell for people with epilepsy. It's like some rave concert was going on in there.
"Ah, my apologies. I forgot that you haven't seen much magic. Here, wear these." Alexander gives Daren, who had turned away from the room, a pair of harry potter glasses.
"What are these for?" asked Daren as he looked at the seemingly normal glasses.
"Well, people who have not trained to be mage can't look at a large number of powerful spells. This is because human eyes are very sensitive to the particles that make up magic. The glass that these glasses are made from helps block out the things that make normal people sensitive. It's like having a pair of mage eyes." explained Alexander ash eh looked at Daren who was inspecting the glasses.
After finding nothing wrong with them and the system telling him it was safe to use, he plops it on. He feels nothing different and his vision does not budge as well. Then he turns around and faces the open room.
This time, he isn't blind. Daren looks at the strange magic spells floating around the room. One earth mage casts a spell that shoots tentacles of dirt out the ground and uses them to move to pick up the altar and places it midair.
Then there's a water mage that summons 12 translucent dolphins made of water. These dolphins then smell the ground, the walls, the ceilings, and even the altar.
The fire mages were all standing in a corner, forming what looked like a cult ritual. They were chanting in a low, mumbling tone. Daren could easily hear what they spoke and it turned out to be Japanese.
'Hmm. Magic spells are in Japanese. This makes things quite broken.' Daren thought. We will learn later why he thought it was broken.
Boom!
A red, magic pentagram was formed on the ground covered in numerous magic circles. Out of it spewed out a periodic burst of fire.
"Che. This one is a fail. Let's try again." said one of the red-robed, fire mages. He was clearly pissed off that the spell didn't work out.
"What kind of magic is this? It is nothing similar to what I've read." asked Daren.
Based on the stuff he read in the marquess's library, magic was basically stuff like giant fireballs that cause explosions and water balls that blast a person into pieces using water pressure.
"You are right. This isn't traditional magic. It is the imperial family's specialized ancient summoning magic that is currently in development." replied Alexander. For some reason, he had a proud look on his face.
"Ahh. So this is the experimental magic that the rumors were about."
"Yes. The noble families that have been helping the imperial family in developing this magic 'accidentally leaked information about it." Alexander clearly had a moment of anger in his eyes when he mentioned these nobles.
"Quite the unfortunate 'accident'. did you find who did it?"
"Yes, we did. They will be exposed publicly in four days along with their punishment." Alexander sneered.
"Oh. Is it too rude to ask who they are?" Daren knew he was overstepping his boundaries but he couldn't help himself.
"No problem. It's not much of secret as all noble families know about it. It's only the commoners who we leave out until the last second. Its the Hendrix Clan."
"Huh?" Daren showed visible shock when he heard this.