Chapter 55 Waking up early 3

They looked for a vacant table and took their seat.

Stella: "Have you been here before, sir Nicholas?" She finished looking around and asked Nicholas.

Nicholas: "Yes, a few times actually. Is it weird?" he replied.

Stella: "Well... This isn't the type of establishment nobles usually go to," she said.

Nicholas: "Well, if you feel uncomfortable with the noise, we can just go upstairs; it's much quieter there, or if you really want, we can change venues." He looked at her with a concerned look.

Stella: "No, no, no. I was just surprised; it is my first time dining at a crowded place like this, that's all. I didn't mean to phrase it that way; I apologize," she quickly said to Nicholas to clear the misunderstanding.

Stella: "Well, this is quite a novel experience for me, so thank you, Clarice, for bringing us here." She then looked at Clarice, who was startled with her sudden compliment.

Clarice: "Thank me? What happened? Did I do something?" she confusedly replied to Stella since she didn't hear what Nicholas and Stella were talking about earlier because her focus was captured by the nearby aroma of food.

Nicholas: "It's nothing, Clarice; lady Stella was just thanking you for your great choice of place."

Clarice: "Huh, we haven't had our food yet. But you're welcome, lady Stella," she said to her.

The four started their conversation while waiting for their orders to arrive. They waited for a few minutes before a barmaid with a large bowl of aromatic soup filled with tender lamb meat came to their table and was placed in the center. She then came back with another tray of utensils, bowls, and the rest of their orders.

Maria then did her duties as a personal maid of Nicholas and began to portion the large serving of lamb stew into several smaller bowls.

Stella: "Woah... This smells nice." She got a whiff of the stew as Maria was portioning it for them.

Clarice: "Yeah, its aroma is really unique and satisfying. The rumors are the chef uses rare herbs only found in the Praetorion Empire in combination with a locally found assortment of herbs such as bay leaf and star anise to create this."

They waited for Maria to complete her task before saying their grace and digging in on their own bowls.

Nicholas: "Mmm-hmm. This is really the best food right after a busy day of work." He couldn't help but comment.

Clarice: "Lady Stella, eat some fresh salad to cut out some of the richness of the broth." She notices that Stella was overwhelmed by the flavor of the stew.

Nicholas: "HAHA, I also experienced that the first time we ate here." He laughs while reminiscing at his surprised reaction when he tried lamb stew here for the first time.

Stella: "Oh, the fresh greens really cut down the richness and overpowering flavor of the stew. Also, that lamb is so tender that it melts before you can even chew." 

Clarice: "Well, lady Stella, you're not supposed to eat the stew alone; that is why it's always accompanied by a side of bread or salad," she said to Stella.

After commenting about the taste, they began to go back to their usual talks and began eating in earnest. They ate and finished the huge bowl of lamb stew, and after that they accompanied Clarice to her home before going to the Curtana estate.

0-0-0

The next day, after at the training ground. The four of them were just finishing their workout and have decided to try a dungeon for today. It was an impulsive plan that Stella suggested.

She said she wanted to experience the dungeon of the county. At first, Nicholas was a bit apprehensive about this idea since he didn't want to babysit Stella around the dungeon. Also he had a lot of things to do rather than visit dungeons.

But as time passed by in the practice, Stella managed to convince both Clarice and Maria to do adventure. In truth, she only managed to convince Clarice, and Clarice convinced Maria since Maria is still a bit apprehensive of Stella. She just didn't show it because it might result in her disrespecting Stella.

Clarice reasoned with Maria for a bit, saying maybe you will get to know her better in the dungeon and you guy will grow to like her, and at last Maria didn't want to look like a bad in front of Clarice, so she buckled and agreed.

The three of them convinced Nicholas to go, but he still refused, only a bit of a threat from Stella saying he would tell her father that Nicholas didn't want to accompany her.

Nicholas begrudgingly accepted, however. Not today

Since today he will come with the duke and his father to the construction site of the new biogas factory to explain the process. So even if he wanted to come with them, he couldn't.

Stella: "Hey, how about we just go in the three of us?" Stella suggested.

Nicholas: "Hmmm." Nicholas thought maybe

Nicholas: "Fine, only if you had your father's permission. I don't want to get the bad side of the scary old dude. At least not for now."

Stella: "That's decided. I will ask for Father's permission."

Nicholas: "Fine fine."

They continued their training until noon; after that, they went back to the mansion to eat lunch.

Well, it was not commonly stated that they ate at the mansion, but they had the most amount of time eating at the mansion.

The food at the mansion is impeccable; the quantity is plenty, and the quality is guaranteed. They arrived at the cafeteria where the soldiers commonly eat; of course, Nicholas and his friends have a separate table quite far away from the hustle and bustle.

Commonly, Nicholas and his friends eat in the dining room in the mansion. Though he only seldom eats here since it is quite lively and most of the time Nicholas wants to eat in peace, since he was here to let Stella experience different things, he chose to eat here.

When they arrived they were greeted by the soldier.

???: "Long time no see, young master."

???: "Hey how's it going, young master?"

They greeted him as they passed by the tables. He grew up with some of these people, so he wasn't a bit tense with their friendly greetings.

They were served food on the table and ate

The food.comment.the atmosphere

After eating, both Nicholas and the girls went their separate ways; they waved goodbye, and Nicholas was on his way to the office of his father, while the girls were to find the duke to get permission to dungeon dive.

Nicholas arrived at his father's office, knocked, and went inside. There he found the duke and his father chatting.

Nicholas: "Did I arrive late? Sorry for the late arrival."

Duke Ian: "It's fine, its fine."

Count Claus: "Are you ready to go?"

Nicholas: "Ah, yes, yes, let's go."

Nicholas: "Wait a minute. Duke, I think your daughter wants to talk to you. Let's wait for a bit till they arrive."

Duke Ian: "Fine."

After a while, the trio arrived at the office of the count.

There, Stella convinced his dad to let her out with her friends to do dungeon diving. He was apprehensive at the idea not to bring guards, but Stella managed to convince him.

There is just a condition.

Duke Ian: "Since the count guaranteed the skills of these girls and will protect Stella in case of danger. I will allow you guys to go dungeon exploration; however, you should go to a familiar dungeon; you guys don't do more than 2 dungeons today; return home before dark; and a level recommended to Stella."

Stella was some level behind Maria and Clarice, even though they are a year younger. This was the general average level of nobles who are great but not geniuses.

Stella hugged and kissed her father goodbye and dragged both Maria and Clarice out of the office.

Stella: "quickly before my father changes my mind."

Right after, the trio of guys also went to the site on the on the outskirts of town. Yesterday, the duke visited the experimental land where the 'essence' is used, and when they arrived, the duke was surprised at the quantity of growth. Nature elemental users can enhance food quality and even imbue crops with mana, increasing the quality of the food. However, according to his quick observation, the 'essence' fertilizer, however, can increase the quantity of crops and harvest, which is a different league than mana.

They rode a carriage to the outskirts of the city for about several minutes. And when they arrived, they saw an almost finished factory in the 'essence' factory.

The carriage entered the gate, and Nicholas began his tour of the site. The duke had known that Nicholas was the source of the well; he was known to the noble society to be a bit of a nerd since he was constantly buying books of different kinds.

0-0-0

He began to explain the process of making the 'essence'. On the entrance, there are several metal tanks.

Nicholas: "This metal storage will be used for storage of the carcasses and will be sealed for a period of time while being controlled in temperature to avoid creating a plague."

Attached to the tank are several metal tubes that led to the warehouse inside the factory.

Nicholas: "As you can see, there are tubes that would slowly extract the 'essence' and it would transfer it to a separate storage for purification since it will initially be 'crude essence'."

After explaining the process in an easy-to-understand way, he began to guide them inside the warehouse where the actual product is made. As he entered, Nicholas began to point at the machines and explain their uses.

Nicholas: "This is where the 'crude essence' is collected and will be purified by a filter. The purified essence will then be collected here, which an Ice skill user will condensate the 'essence' by lowering the temperature using Ice skills."

Then he guided them to the mixer, which is also a closed container where the product will be mixed. And after that is where the final product will be placed before packaging.

After two hours of touring, explaining, guiding, and answering some of the dukes queries, they returned home. When they returned, it was time for dinner, so everyone gathered in the dining room to eat.

When the dinner was served, the evening talks also began to start. Everyone on the table participated except for one person. The duke then decided to ask about their time in the dungeon to Stella. There was weird but brief silence, but Stella managed to reply.

Stella: "It was fine. I enjoyed hanging out and the dungeon exploration."