Spending My Retirement In A Game

"Oh man, no matter how I often I eat this stuff, I just can't get over it..." Brody groaned after swallowing the food he had stuffed into his mouth. The old man stood next to him just laughed lightly.

"Do you really find it that good?"

"Do I- yes, of course! I can't cook for shit. I mean, I can, but just at the same level as over there. All the fancy cooking techniques use mana here," the half-orc said with an annoyed voice, and Eisen looked at him with an empathetic smile. It was true; almost all sorts of craftsmanship-based skills used mana, and since Brody didn't have any, he couldn't really make use of those techniques.

Though, it did seem like Brody managed to figure out his own techniques in the past where he would be able to use his internal and external energies for some unique crafting and cooking techniques, the current Brody had been unable to recover the memories of how to use those so far.

Eisen patted his friend on his back, "Don't worry, I'll make you all the food you need. You guys are feeding me over there, after all."

With a scoff, Brody shook his head, "Nah, that's just natural, ain't it?"

While wiping away some crumbs stuck to the sides of his mouth and tusks, Brody turned around and away from the standing-table, looking at the crowd. The banquet was going quite well thus far. It almost seemed like people were making friends, and Eisen couldn't help but be grateful for the mood-affecting items, spells, and art she had placed around the hall.

They weren't strong enough to call it mind-control; rather, they worked in a completely different way. But even so, they were extremely useful in making all of this go by smoothly.
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It seemed like the others on Eisen's side were having a good time as well. The kids were mostly sticking around each other, but Evalia was using her break to play with them a bit right now. Bree was being social and talking to everyone.

Her and her lover Dien, the monster-blooded frost mage that was Xenia's assistant, were happily speaking particularly to the giants, though some of the people from the central continent seemed to be opening up to them as well.

Sky was talking a lot to Aaron and some of the giants that ended up returning back to planning, and Kirisho was speaking with Xenia and Jyuuk, also having a great time with them.

Things were going pretty well right now, though it did make Eisen a bit nervous. Everything was going almost a bit too well. But then again, he really shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If nothing was going to happen just yet, then that was a good thing.

Though, the idea that anyone would try anything in here with all five Originals gathered around and intermingled was sort of ridiculous to begin with. Anyone that would do that would be a complete maniac, not only because they would be taken down immediately, but because the Originals would be able to diffuse any sort of consequence.

That was why, right now, Jyuuk had sent some of his 'babies' around to search every single room and the luggage of every envoy.

Of course, they were secured with magic, and many of them had placed detection magic into their bedchambers as well, but these were monsters that had specifically been bred for stealth and surveilance, on top of the fact that each of those little shadow-cats was equipped with a collar made by Eisen to ensure that they could never be spotted by anyone or anything.

Though, it didn't seem like they managed to find anything yet. If they had, Jyuuk would come and let Eisen know immediately so that they could take care of it somehow. Maybe Eisen was a little too paranoid. Or at least, that's what he thought until Brody suddenly stopped chewing.

"Yo, Eisen?" he let out, and the old man turned toward his friend.

"Yes, something wrong?"

"So, like, did I suddenly develop an allergy to spinach or were these things poisoned?" Brody asked, and Eisen's smile immediately dropped.

"Oh, come on, the spinach puffs? Really?" Eisen groaned, picking one of them up. He didn't have Brody's '1000 Poison Immunity' ability, but he was still able to handle a little bit. After nibbling the corner of the puffs, Eisen could feel an immediate numbness spread over his tongue, coating the inside of his mouth.

Rolling his eyes, Eisen pushed his hand onto the table where he had created an opening to his item storage. From there, he grabbed a small metallic frog. After infusing it with some mana, the creature came to life, widely opening its mouth, and Eisen quickly placed the poisoned spinach puff inside. The frog's mouth quickly snapped shut, and the old man turned to his side.

Brody had already returned after running through the room with his 'Silent Steps', snatching up all the spinach puffs, none of which seemed to have been eaten yet, together with the platter that originally held all of them in the first place. But of course, Brody just continued eating the spinach puffs.

"Are you seriously just going to keep eating them?"#

Brody shrugged, "It's not my fault they're good. The poison actually gives it this very unique tanginess that works surprisingly well. Plus, I'm already developing immunity, and after my last racial skill rank-up, I got the 'Orc's Gluttony' passive..."

Eisen sighed lightly, "No wonder you've been eating so much."

"It ain't so bad. Just gotta take down a couple large monsters and have my fill," Brody replied, "Though I really, really want to learn how to cook properly... without the right techniques, monsters just taste so bland."

"Don't worry, you'll get there," Eisen replied, as the frog's mouth quickly opened up again. Where the spinach puff sat just a few moments earlier, Eisen could now see a small, dark green bead. After picking it up, Eisen put the frog back into the item storage.

"I'll be right back," Eisen said, as Brody nodded and just continued eating. The old man quickly made his way over to Jyuuk, Xenia, and Kirisho. After letting his hand run down Kirisho's back for a second, Eisen looked at Jyuuk while holding the bead toward the beastman, "Someone poisoned the spinach puffs.

It doesn't look like a synthetic poison, so I figured you could figure something out about it."

Curious, Jyuuk immediately grabbed the small bead, rubbing it inbetween his fingers and smelling it. He even touched his tongue to it for a moment, "Ah, yes, I know this one!"

"Could you not... just... eat poison in the middle of a banquet?"

"Brody's doing it too!" Jyuuk pointed toward the half-orc currently stuffing his face with the poisoned food, but Xenia just patted her husband's back and shook her head silently, "... Fine, but for this one I needed to do it. It's the poison from a Aragea Maligda, it's a small flower that you can only find in the central continent's highlands.

Its scent is similar to some other flowers, and the effect isn't super special either, but the taste is kind of sweet and tangy so that was the only way to narrow it down!"

"The highlands, huh?" Eisen muttered, looking over to the envoy whose country the highlands belonged to. It was probably a bit too easy to just say that it was him, especially because he didn't seem to be acting in any particularly suspicious way.

Of course, it could always be him, but it would be stupid to use a plant-based poison with Jyuuk here, especially considering that it wasn't even that strong.

Eisen slowly looked toward the corner of the room. Specifically, toward the Cloud Giant envoys. It could be them. It didn't make much sense for the poison to come from the central continent's side, because that would only put them in a worse position during the meeting.

But if it came from the Cloud Giants, and they found some sort of poison in the food, they would at least have the justification to oppose the peace treaty, even if Eisen and the others somehow managed to calm the situation down. The old man sighed lightly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

It seemed like this night was going to be a lot longer than he thought it would be.