562 Dinner with the Delarosas
Compared to Vaan's advancement to Mid-rank Earth Spirit Body when he consumed the Divine-rank Stalactite Milk, Linetta and Lillias's advancement took much longer during their absorption.
However, they consumed less Stalactite Milk and of lower quality on top of that.
In terms of overall resources expended, Linetta and Lillias consumed less than Vaan to achieve the same advancement in their Earth Spirit Bodies.
This was despite Vaan having the system to help him optimize the potency of the Divine-rank Stalactite Milk.
As expected, witches with natural earth affinity would reap more benefits with minimum expenses when they consume earth-attribute resources due to their innate earth talent.
Nevertheless, Vaan had nothing to complain about.
Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses, and his strengths were the biggest cheats in the world - a system and the heaven-defying ability for learning.
Given these two overwhelming advantages, it would be strange if he couldn't grow quickly.
Furthermore, it didn't matter if it cost him more resources to raise his Earth Spirit Body. He had more Divine-rank Stalactite Milk than he could use for himself.
By the time Linetta and Lillias finished raising their body's earth affinity to Mid-rank Earth Spirit Body, the darkness of the night had already covered the skies.
The two ladies had taken a third of the day to fully absorb the potency of five vials of Transcendent-rank Stalactite Milk.
"It's already dark?" Linetta uttered with astonishment, noticing the absence of sunlight.
When Lillias heard that, she also gasped with surprise. Neither of them had been aware of the passage of time.
At that moment, a line of servants could be seen carrying trays of extravagant food from the cookhouse to the main dining hall.
Perhaps due to the high demand to maintain Vaan's powerful body, the lovely fusion scent of spices and herbs easily whetted his appetite.
Within moments, a person's stomach suddenly rumbled in protest of hunger. But it did not come from Vaan; it came from Lillias.
"Hehe, who's hungry?" Lillias asked, scratching the back of her head abashedly.
"Let's head to the dining hall. Food should be ready shortly," Linetta suggested with a relaxed smile before adding, "I don't think Vaan has tried our Delarosa Marquisate's signature dish, the honey-glazed flaming pork roast yet."
"It's something to die for," Linetta boasted.
"Then, I have to try it," Vaan calmly said with a smile, seemingly interested but actually wasn't all that eager.
Although he enjoyed good food, he wouldn't go out of his way for it unless it provided medicinal benefits that could improve physical conditions and mental states.
In other words, unless they were spirit food, food was nothing more than a nutritional necessity for survival.
After all, he used to live as a street rat, scavenging and fighting others for leftover food in the slums of Blackmoon City. Edibility was not a concern back then as long as the food filled the stomach.
Even if he no longer needed to eat garbage food to survive, the experiences of those times stuck with him.
If it was necessary, he could eat anything - Vaan believed.
When Vaan and the two ladies entered the main dining hall, a large assortment of extravagant, high-quality food was already laid on the dining table.
At the same time, Belline Delarosa was already seated.
"You're all here. That's great. I was just about to call someone over to fetch all of you," Belline stated receptively, gesturing to the empty seats at the dining table. "Come, take your seats. Let us dine together."
"Thad the chefs make the best dishes our territory has to offer. I hope you will find them palatable, Lord Vahn," Belline sincerely expressed.
The food on the dining table was already enough to feed half the people in the Delarosa's estate. Yet, more dishes were still being brought over by the servants.
Some people wouldn't even get the chance to look at so many mouth-watering dishes, let alone taste them.
It was certainly more than four people could finish.
However, Vaan was long aware that the nobles of every country usually upheld such tradition or standard of procedure.
The food that couldn't be finished by the master of the house and their guests would be given to the servants after they were done with it.
It was normal that the servants only dined after their masters finished.
"I'm sure everyone is famished, saving their stomachs for tonight's feast. There's no need to hold back or uphold any formality at this table. Please dig in," Belline urged Vaan and her daughters to start eating.
Despite Belline's permission, Linetta still maintained certain dining etiquettes at the table, eating neatly and cleanly with a fork and knife.
Lillias and Vaan, on the other hand, directly tore off drumsticks from a whole roasted chicken and ate with their bare hands, easily greasing them up.
They didn't hold back at all.
"Ahem!" Belline coughed awkwardly.
She didn't expect her youngest daughter to show such an unruly and unladylike side in front of their guest of honor. She feared her youngest daughter's actions would cause the person to lose interest in her.
However, seeing as their benefactor acted the same way, she couldn't really reprimand her youngest daughter on the spot.
"What do you think of the food, Lord Vahn? Is it to your liking?" Belline inquired with a wry smile.
"The food is great, Lady Belline. It's definitely the best food I've eaten in my life so far," Vaan honestly answered in a casual manner that was neither overly polite nor disrespectful after sampling twelve different dishes.
Unfortunately, despite all the food on the table being spirit food with medicinal benefits, none of them could improve Vaan's physical attributes like they did in the past.
His body had grown to a level that such a level of spirit food could no longer support.
"I regret not knowing of a better way to repay the great kindness you have bestowed upon my household, Lord Vahn," Belline suddenly said apologetically after noticing her best dishes weren't enough to amaze her benefactor.
"I'm well aware that a single meal is hardly enough to repay your favor, Lord Vahn. So, if you need us for anything, please don't hesitate to ask us. My Delarosa Household will do its best to meet your demand"
"Actually, there is something I could use your household's help with, Lady Belline," Vaan casually admitted with a slight smile.