When Zack and the others arrived at the banquet room, everyone present was sitting chatting, drinking wine, and enjoying the food.
The banquet venue was like everything else in the castle: extravagant.
Good quality curtains and decorations adorned the room, and in the middle was a long table with a long embroidered tablecloth.
The places where everyone sat were divided by status.
While the archmage went to the end of the table where the king and Yamato sat and the most influential people of the kingdom among whom were the prime minister, the pontiff, and some elderly nobles who were present at the ceremony.
In the middle of the table were the rest of the nobles who were talking with Tatsu, Seto, and Lorelei, the hero's companions, although due to the noise and the distance Zack couldn't hear what they were talking about.
At the other end of the table were his companions who seemed to be more focused on the food than, what was happening; except for a few like Miss Kaede, who wanted more information about what was going to happen to them.
One thing Zack noticed is that there were fewer people than should have been. All of those who were here had at least a tier 2 class.
Excluding the 'hero' and his companions, of the twenty-eight people who had been summoned, seventeen had tier 1 classes, and only two people had a tier 3 class.
That means that in the hall right now fifteen people were missing from the initial thirty-two, not counting Austin and Zack, a little less than half. Obviously, the students who had tier 1 classes were in another place, perhaps they were not even given something to eat.
If it hadn't been for the archmage who took care of the ceremony, Austin and Zack wouldn't be in this place either.
Zack and the others found a space among the rest of their classmates and went to eat.
For someone accustomed to the tastes of the modern world, the food served here was nothing special it was extremely unbalanced, still, it was food served to the nobles and the king of a kingdom; Indicative, to some extent, of how developed they were., and the tastes of their culture.
It had nothing to do with the control of the fire or the quality of the ingredients, but with their preparation.
Each dish was flooded with spices and aromas without any control or limit: some dishes were flooded with salt, while others were infused with very hot spices, and the sweets were white due to the amount of sugar they contained. Only wine and fruit were edible.
It was as if this food was prepared for people who had no sense of taste.
Still, it wasn't all bad.
Due to having eaten a dish prepared by a Master Chef: Str +1
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The moment this message appeared, Zack understood why his companions, except for one or two who hadn't touched his plate, were eating like pigs.
Zack was speechless, this was becoming more and more like a video game.
(If I'm not mistaken, this unappetizing food must have been prepared by a tier 3 class holder)
At this moment he remembered the words of the archmage. Any high-ranking class, no matter how useless it seems, is extraordinary.
The conversations the nobles were having were also nothing special. Most of them praised each other or the heroes with fake smiles while the younger ones talked about which girl is the most beautiful or what they have done lately.
Frankly, it was quite boring, but as someone used to banquets and parties, Zack sat in silence without people noticing anything strange while he paid attention to what they were talking about and tried to memorize the faces of everyone present.
When the meal was about to end, the king asked for a moment of silence. At that moment all noises in the dining room ceased and total silence enveloped the place.
"Attention, please. I would like to make a toast to Yamato and his companions, who have come from far and wide to help us with the threat that hangs over us. Health!" said the king as he drank from his cup overflowing with wine.
"For the heroes!"
“You are the hope of the kingdom and the king”
The nobles followed the king and drank from their cups while praising the king and the heroes.
The king then rose from the table and said:
“On both sides of the room are servants who will guide you to the place where your training will begin. The best instructors in the kingdom will help you become stronger" The king looked at Yamato and said "Hero Yamato, the hero class is a special class that can learn all kinds of arts, it is because of this that your training and that of your companions it will be supervised by the great archmage, our beloved pontiff and the captain of the castle guard.
They are all professionals who will put the maximum effort into your stay in the castle. I know it's not much, but we will support you as much as possible to face the demons. Just tell them what your type of class is and they'll take you there."
Saying this, the king left the room followed by the prime minister and the rest of the nobles. It's still early, they probably have obligations to fulfill.
Upon hearing this, Zack's eyes shone.
It is evident that the education and resources that will be allocated to the tier 2 classes are superior to those of tier 1.
(No one knows that Austin and I are tier 1 classes, if we manage to infiltrate ourselves we could become stronger) Zack thought. It may sound crazy, but it really isn't.
The only people who know the class that he and Austin have are the archmage, who just left with the other nobles, his two companions, and a few guards who are in the throne room.
It's common sense that the archmage would inform the king of the classes we have, under normal circumstances, but that's completely true.
Looking at the attitude of the king and the other nobles the only important classes are the hero and his companions, and the tier 3 classes.
Seeing the attitude of the nobles towards the king, he does not seem to be a person who takes care of 'unimportant matters', so having only tier 1 and 2 classes in our group the archmage will not inform the king of our classes.
Most likely, he will say that the ceremony ended successfully and there were no surprises.
As for the guards, their only function is to guard the throne room, not only do they not have the authority to speak to the king, but since the archmage is present they will not even inform their superior of him. Since they are in the throne room, the possibility that they are present in the place where they would train would be negligible.
(If we were chosen to train in 'magical arts', most likely they would take us to the place where the archmage is, but seeing the attitude he has towards us and the king's orders, most likely he will only teach Seto and the rest would be taught by someone else)
The only risk is that the wizard teaching Zack and Austin discusses his progress with the archmage but it doesn't seem like the archmage is interested in anyone but the heroes. If the instructor talks about the three 'heroes' he's in charge. But that may happen only after a significant period of time, in the best case that would be when their apprenticeships have finished.
Even if they were caught, Zack would rather go to prison than to the battlefield.
(It's a risk, but I'm sure it's better than what was prepared for the tier 1 classes. The only problem would be convincing those two not to say anything) Zack thought as he looked at his classmates.