Legend Thirteen
The game of food
Or
(Bro, we have no chance at all, I have no idea how to cook!)
And just like that the night passed into day and each party member awoke to a knock on their door. They were each visited by a different maid who informed them that the first game would begin soon and to meet Master Rauly in the dining room in thirty minutes. Each of them took different times to get ready of course with Barric and Akaihana being the last ones to arrive.
Breakfast had been served at the long dining room table and each pair sat near the end with Master Rauly at the head. Barric and Hana had made it just in time, for as soon as they took their seats, the Master of the house began to speak.
"Good morning everyone and thank you for joining me right on time."
"Good morning sir," all of the house maids said all at once.
"How proper," Barric said just so him and Hana could hear. The demon nodded.
"As you know, we will be getting started today, so I'll explain the game."
The room grew noticeably quieter as everyone paused eating to pay just that much more attention.
"It's a pretty simple game really. Today we will start with…" Master Rauly paused and began to imitate a little drum roll on the long table, though all the house maids joined, making the sound almost thunderous. They all stopped at once and the Master opened his arms in a joking display of showmanship.
"The game of food!" he announced.
The room was filled with a few low 'ah's' or 'oh!', but nothing too excited.
Master Rauly continued.
"I know, the name could use some work, but it gets the idea across. It's just how it sounds, a competition of food, but with a bit more added. All of the maids, your maids that is, will be cooking a dinner for everyone in the house. Each of them must cook something different, but enough to feed a few people. Each Master will be supporting them, not just financially this time or morally, but physically. You will help your maid gather the food, prepare, and cook it. This a chance for the Masters to learn what goes into the meals that are made for them. Everyone in the house will then vote after trying a bit of each meal and of course that will determine the winner. You will find many fresh ingredients in our greenhouse that is attached to the kitchen and everything else in the pantry. And that's about it. Any questions?"
The room was silent for a moment.
"Well then, in that case, please follow Momo to the kitchen. You have one hour, starting now!"
The goblin maid was already at the door that led from the dining room to the kitchen. She held it open and gestured her hand towards it as the maids and Masters began to jump up from the table and file into the kitchen.
The party may have been divided into their pairs but they all sort stuck together as they entered the room. The kitchen itself was all modernized with some of the newest magic tech wares, and all of it was spotless clean, making everything appear even newer. Momo walked through the bright room full of steel and pointed out where all the tools they could possibly need were located. She came to a pause at the back of the room and opened another door.
"And if you'll follow me, the green house is right here," she said, holding the door open.
As if on a guided tour, everyone filed into the greenhouse, though Momo did not join them. She stood in the door frame with a big grin on her wide mouth.
Barric may have been the only one to notice this as the rest looked about the room in awe. The green house was a huge room with a dome ceiling, the entire thing made of metal framing and glass. Within it was a huge collection of crops that were already ripe with their respective fruits or vegetables. There were plenty in here Barric had never seen, much less tasted.
"This is amazing! They even have gupa gupa fruit!" Layla said, wondering about the green house like an orc in a butcher's shop.
"A beautiful garden, and it's all ripe just in time for us, how lucky," the white rabbit woman commented.
"Any idea what you'll be preparing darling?" the wolf man asked her.
She smiled a bit.
"I do actually," she said.
Barric and Akaihana had made their way towards the middle of the green house where a massive plant had grown all the way up into the dome of the building. It had a thick purple stock that thinned and then supported a bulbous round head. There were many other rope like vines sprouting from the base of the plant that curved and seemed to somehow suspend themselves upwards.
"This damned thing needs pruned," the King said, looking over the strange plant.
"What fruit does this thing render? Everything else in here has a purpose," Hana said, staring up at the huge bulb of the strange plant.
"I'm sure you'll find any fresh fruit or vegetable you need in here. Meat and everything else will be in the pantry back in the kitchen. Also please be careful of the Sqenis guy trap, it's been sleeping, but all of the noise might wake it up," Momo warned them, closing the door a little too hard with a noisy slam!
"The what?" Barric asked, just as she left, though the huge plant behind them began to stir. It's tall vines began to sway through the air and it's bulb opened up to reveal a sort of mouth filled with even more of the tentacle like vines.
"What in the fuck?!" Layla yelled.
Her brother looked right at her to see what she could be possibly cursing so loudly about and found that she was looking directly at him or perhaps past him.
"What is it sis?" Barric asked.
"First of all don't call me that, second it's right fucking behind you!" she yelled back.
The King stood there for a moment as the plant's vines grew closer.
"Of course it is," Barric sighed, and was immediately snatched up by the purple vines.