Siegfrieda nodded, then asked: "Does Diona also know Mr. Arkz?"
Diona crossed her arms, wearing an arrogant little expression, and said: "Of course! When he first arrived in Springvale, Father let him stay for a meal. Back then, he offered to show off his cooking skills, and that taste..."
Diona wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, then said haughtily: "Since it's such a sincere invitation from you, Freya, I can't refuse to give face. Besides, I have to keep an eye on Father Duraf and absolutely cannot let him get drunk!"
"You all wait here for a moment, I'll go ask Miss Margaret for leave right now."
With that, Diona quickly ran towards the Cats Tail Tavern, disappearing in a flash before Siegfrieda and the others could react.
Watching Diona's retreating back, Ellin and Siegfrieda exchanged a smile and sighed: "Mr. Arkz's (Uncle's) culinary charm is really great!"
"Yeah! I didn't expect Arkz's cooking to be this good, Ah-choo!"
A voice sounded next to the three of them. They saw a green-clad Bard who had approached unnoticed at some point, greeting the three familiarly.
"Ah-choo! The little cat is finally gone. Sorry, I'm a little allergic to cat fur."
"By the way, you were just saying Arkz is hosting a banquet at the farm? How could I possibly miss that? Arkz and I are good brothers, close friends! How could I not attend such an important event? Of course I can't miss it!"
Ellin looked at the familiar Bard in front of her, her gaze gradually turning fierce, as if a murderous intent flashed in her eyes.
"You scoundrel! You actually dare to show up! You tricked me out of my allowance and then fobbed me off with a glass marble!"
Venti nimbly dodged Ellin's attack, moving with flamboyant footwork while explaining: "How can a Bard's words be considered trickery? Besides, that really was a Vision. It's just that it has been extinguished for a long time. As long as you can light it with a wish, it will turn back into a real Vision and restore its former glory."
Although Ellin looked extremely angry, she still maintained her rationality, controlling the force of her strike cleverly. Even if Venti hadn't dodged, the sword in Ellin's hand would not have harmed him in the slightest.
Although what Venti said seemed quite reasonable, Ellin, having been tricked by him once, wouldn't easily believe him. However, Ellin still put her sword away.
Ellin snorted coldly: "Hmph! I'll let you off this time, just because you're friends with Uncle Arkz."
"Next time I find out you dared to lie to someone, I will personally send you to the Knights of Favonius's jail."
Venti smiled and waved to the three of them. His original intention was just to say hello and make himself known. Now that his goal was achieved, he planned to head over to Arkz's Springvale Farm immediately. For such an exciting gathering, even if Arkz hadn't prepared wine, the other guests surely would have brought some.
Venti: "Hehe, more fine wine to drink."
"Getting fine wine for free is truly satisfying."
At the Cats Tail Tavern, Diona used cuteness and charm on Margaret, finally securing a day off. She wiped the lipstick print from her face, recalling the "humiliation" from earlier, and resolved to make up for this humiliation with delicious food.
After confirming there were no lipstick prints left by Margaret on her face, Diona tidied her clothes and walked out of the Cats Tail Tavern with an arrogant expression to find Ellin and the others.
Diona asked: "What are we doing next?"
Ellin raised the list in her hand: "Next, we go to Blanche's department store to buy some seasonings, sugar, pepper..."
Diona leaped up and snatched the ingredient list from Ellin's hand.
"Let me see what dishes you plan to buy ingredients for?"
Diona carefully looked at the ingredients on the list. It was written in detail, and the variety of ingredients was rich, but she didn't find any fish, which she liked to eat.
Diona frowned and asked: "Why is there no fish on this list?"
Amu scratched his head: "Because Arkz didn't write it?"
Siegfrieda nudged Amu. Diona wouldn't go easy on him just because Amu was a wooden man. Diona looked cute, but her claws were quite sharp.
Siegfrieda explained: "Because today is the time of the farm's carrot harvest, and Mr. Arkz plans to hold a carrot Banquet. Maybe carrots and fish don't go well together."
Diona shook her head and said: "Who says carrots and fish don't go well together? Steamed fish fillets with carrots, dried small fish fried with carrots, smoked fish stewed with shredded carrots..."
"All these dishes are delicious."
Amu wasn't interested in fish; it preferred eating carrots. It didn't care what else was added.
Diona glanced at Amu and completely ignored it, as Amu didn't look like someone who liked fish at all.
Seeing Ellin and Siegfrieda hesitating, Diona's eyes darted around, and she tempted them: "You guys don't know, right? That day when Arkz ate at my house, he made a very delicious Mondstadt roast fish. The taste was truly amazing."
"Roast fish made by Arkz, you haven't tried it, have you?"
Siegfrieda: "Slurp, roast fish that even Diona praises must be incredibly delicious."
Ellin: "Delicious, I want to eat it too!"
Seeing the two cooperating so well, Diona revealed a look of having executed her plan perfectly, then slowly asked: "So, should we buy this fish—?"
"Buy!!!" x 2
Then Siegfrieda suddenly raised a question: "Mr. Arkz gave us ten thousand Mora to buy groceries, but if we buy fish, this ten thousand Mora probably won't be enough, right?"
Diona put her hands on her hips and said: "Silly! Can't we just use our own Mora to buy it?"
"Don't worry, the Mora used to buy the fish, I, Diona, will cover it!"
"Yay!"
Amidst the cheers, the group of four headed towards Blanche's department store.
After buying the ingredients in Mondstadt, the four went to buy two big fish. Diona was an expert when it came to picking fish.
Then the group went to Ellin's house to pick up Ellin's parents. Knowing there would be another gourmet feast, the couple naturally wouldn't refuse. However, to express their gratitude, Herman and his wife specially bought many fruits as gifts.
Riding in the carriage, the group headed to Springvale Farm in Springvale. Ellin had originally planned to bring Venti along, but after waiting for a long time, they learned from a Knight at the entrance of Mondstadt that the Bard had already headed towards Springvale.
Upon arriving in Springvale, the three split up.
Ellin took her parents and the ingredients to the farm first to help Arkz wash and prepare the food.
Siegfrieda and Diona went together to find Uncle Duraf.
As for Amu, it went to invite its friends from the Patrol Team and Captain Grey.
Ellin's family, who arrived at Springvale Farm first, helped Arkz wash and process the newly bought ingredients. Preparing a carrot Banquet for so many people couldn't be done by Arkz alone. As the farm people gradually arrived, everyone joined the queue to help process the ingredients.
Everyone attending the banquet had prepared their own gifts. Captain Grey and Duraf prepared fine wine, the teammates from the Patrol Team prepared many ingredients like cured meat and sausages. Even Venti performed songs for everyone.
Oh, right, Venti also brought the Raspberry and sweet flower he picked along the way as gifts.
Arkz used the Raspberry to make the classic tea drink for everyone—Raspberry Mint Tea—while the sweet flower was used to make Mondstadt's classic famous dish—sweet flower Stewed Chicken, making good use of everything.
Of course, since the theme today was the carrot Banquet, the main star, the carrot, was indispensable. The honey glazed carrot fried meat was the grand finale dish for today.
Besides this main dish, there was also shredded carrot salad with tofu, shredded carrot stir-fried with meat slices, steamed carrot and egg custard, braised carrots, carrot cake, honey-glazed carrot slices...
So many carrots were transformed by Arkz's exquisite culinary skills into a dazzling array of delicious and tempting dishes.
Even the appetizer for this carrot Banquet was fruit carrots.
These fruit carrots were actually ordinary raw carrots, merely cut and polished by Arkz using exquisite knife skills into the shape of small carrots.
However, due to the high quality of these carrots from Arkz's farm and their sweet taste, not only did no one dislike them, but they were extremely popular. Soon, a large plate of fruit carrots was completely cleared by the guests present.
Because he was busy cooking and had no time to polish more carrots, Arkz simply took two carrots, sliced them, and had Ellin serve them up; the taste was the same anyway.
Finally, with the help of the wooden man, Arkz completed the preparation for the carrot Banquet.
The round table, which could accommodate over a dozen people, was filled with various fragrant and tempting dishes. The numerous guests could hardly wait any longer. Arkz wasted no words and gave the order: Eat!
Because Venti was allergic to cat fur, Arkz had to arrange him at the seat farthest from Duraf and Diona.
This made Duraf, who wanted to challenge the Bard to a drinking contest, regretful for a long time. The Bard looked like he could hold his liquor, and Duraf had hoped to take this opportunity to have a few extra drinks.
Unfortunately, with Diona watching, although she didn't forbid Duraf from drinking at such a lively banquet, it was certainly impossible for Duraf to drink to his heart's content. Diona didn't want to drag Duraf home in front of so many friends later.
Since Venti couldn't be his drinking buddy, Duraf still had Captain Grey to accompany him for a couple of drinks. Don't let Grey's age fool you; his tolerance for alcohol was quite high.
However, Grey was not a heavy drinker, and he preferred Arkz's Raspberry Mint Tea over alcohol. So, after accompanying Duraf for a few drinks, Grey started eating while sipping the delicious Raspberry Mint Tea.
As for Duraf, without a drinking partner and with Diona's death glare constantly fixed on him, Duraf had no choice but to put down his wine glass and switch to a teacup.
Duraf picked up the teacup and took a sip, smacking his lips. Hmm, the taste seemed...? Quite good!
Duraf lost a drinking companion, but Grey gained a tea companion.
Seeing Duraf and Grey put down their wine glasses and take big gulps of tea, Venti also curiously put down his wine glass and poured himself a cup of tea.
The moment the tea entered his throat, Venti's eyes instantly lit up.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[email protected]/Rexlent
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"