Work Prophet

"Why should I bring you, a foreigner, to attend the family meeting where the Arias family decides on their heir?"

Ireya had slept until the next morning and opened the door with panda eyes. She showed resistance before Li Yu could finish speaking outside the door, yawning as she spoke.

"Because I am your advisor."

"..."

"This is what you told the Guard Captain named Levin yourself. If we're going to put on an act, we might as well do it fully," Li Yu said as he adjusted his suit and tie, calmly.

In his not so lengthy career, he had seen too many clients and colleagues who either were unfit for their roles or never intended to act humanely. Miss Rabbit's slight rebellion was really nothing in comparison.

If he couldn't handle even this, he would have been driven insane by his previous jobs long ago.

Pausing, Li Yu added, "You don't have to bring me, but remember to make the election public. I will go there myself to listen and will provide help when necessary."

"Why," Miss Rabbit retorted instinctively, completely ignoring Li Yu's mentioned "help".

She was fully prepared for this election and fundamentally didn't believe that Li Yu, a dubious foreigner sheltered by her goodwill, could be of any help. After all, he had avoided a tragic fate of losing his head because of her protection.

How could you expect anything from someone who couldn't even secure his own safety?

"This matter concerns our Arias family's internal affairs. It's embarrassing enough that it had to involve the Marquis. We should settle this privately if possible, and besides, I do not enjoy appearing in front of so many strangers. It makes me nervous."

"You are about to be a lord; you'd better get used to these matters," Li Yu said. "Moreover, once there are disagreements about the heir, no matter who the winner is, rumors will inevitably arise. Although making the election process public won't eradicate those rumors completely, at least your version of the story will have more supporters and be more advantageous for your rule in the future."

"It's the truth, not a story," Ireya corrected him.

However, after that, Miss Rabbit looked at Li Yu differently, as if she had rediscovered him. She evaluated him up and down, clicking her tongue in amazement, "You clearly know nothing, yet you can still come up with decent suggestions."

Li Yu didn't mind Ireya's choice of words but reminded her again, "Remember to make the election process public."

"I know, I know, I'll bring it up during the meal," Miss Rabbit nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken.

The so-called 'formal meal' referred to lunch, which was the first meal of the day.

In the Bratis Continent, there's no such thing as breakfast. Most people only eat two meals a day, while laborers involved in heavy physical work might snack on cold bread in the morning to fill their stomachs.

Moreover, commoners and nobles dine separately.

Li Yu didn't know how Ireya and the others were eating, but the food on his table looked quite good.

The main dish was freshly baked white bread, steaming hot with slightly burnt bottoms. The side dishes included braised pork, fried salmon, sausages, and a suspicious-looking black pudding from outside. Drinks were unlimited supplies of honey wine.

All these dishes were served together, but Li Yu soon faced his first problem—it seemed the Marquis Mansion provided food but no cutlery.

Almost everyone here carried a short knife, about nine inches long from hilt to tip, some carved with patterns and family crests. These were their eating utensils.

Such a knife was handy for cutting bread and meat and could also be used for self-defense when traveling.

Li Yu had no knife, and it wouldn't look good to start eating directly under everyone's gaze.

Fortunately, someone soon resolved this issue for him, as a human maid approached him carrying a beautiful small knife embedded with rubies on the handle.

"Miss Ireya asked me to tell you—this is just a loan, and you must return it. Ha, ha, make sure not to lose it, or selling you won't cover the loss," the maid relayed, not softening her words at all.

Whether it was Miss Rabbit's instruction or not, the maid delivered the message exactly as it was given, without any discount.

Li Yu accepted the ruby knife, politely thanked the maid, and walked over to the wooden table where the food was placed. He cut about a third of the white bread, skewered some salmon with crisped skin, and poured a cup of honey wine before finding a spot to sit on the bench nearby.

As for the stewed pork and sausages, Li Yu was unsure whether the boars here were castrated and didn't want to take the risk. Additionally, he skipped the black pudding due to unknown ingredients.

Fortunately, the taste of the fried salmon wasn't bad; these were all one hundred percent wild-caught with delicious, tender meat. Back in Li Yu's world, a single fish might sell for over a thousand, and with minimal processing at a sushi restaurant, it could fetch twice that. For most ordinary wage earners, including Li Yu, eating this would be quite painful.

Of course, if he had to pinpoint a flaw, there was one—the seasoning was sparse, with just a bit of salt and a small symbolic sprinkle of cracked pepper.

However, this approach maximized the preservation of the salmon's fresh flavors.

Li Yu noticed that most people here didn't show great enthusiasm for the salmon meat, suggesting that they probably weren't lacking in it on normal days.

The taste of the white bread was also not bad, although the variety of wheat was different from what Li Yu was used to. The gluten content was much lower, the flour not as finely milled, making the texture quite distinct. But modern people who were almost tired of refined grains were increasingly favoring such minimally processed whole grains.

By contrast, the honey wine was rather disappointing. The alcohol content was low, probably not exceeding 5 percent, and it was too sweet.

Interestingly, up to this point, most things Li Yu had encountered in this plane were things he could identify by name.

Even if he had never seen them in real life, he had at least learned about them through television and internet, except for the Half-Beasts who still retained some wild beast features.

Moreover, there was no magic here, and as his stay had been short, Li Yu was still unsure whether the Bratis Continent was home to even more peculiar creatures.

Perhaps because of the starkly out-of-place black suit he wore, the seats next to Li Yu remained vacant while he ate, with no one choosing to sit next to him.

Even though the other tables were packed.

The direct relatives of Marquis Kuren were few, consisting only of a wife, two sons, and a daughter, yet the Marquis Mansion housed nearly a hundred people in total.

This included guards, maids, cooks, coachmen, tutors for the children's literature, swordsmanship, and etiquette, as well as stewards, accountants, and more, along with a large group of accompanying personnel from the Arias family making it quite lively together.

And this only highlighted the isolation at Li Yu's end, with many sneaking glances at this strange man in the corner with complex gazes.

However, the person concerned did not seem embarrassed about his situation, nor did he show any discomfort. He simply continued to quietly eat the food on his plate.

Li Yu was still not accustomed to the rough way of eating with a knife in one hand and grabbing with the other, and he had to be careful not to get grease stains on his suit.

After all, suits cannot be hand washed, and if it got dirty, it would need to be taken to a dry cleaner, assuming he could see a dry cleaner again in his remaining life.

If he couldn't return, this suit might be the most valuable possession he had left, necessitating careful upkeep, as it could fetch a better exchange value if kept in good condition.

In any case, Li Yu thus leisurely finished his first meal in this alternate world. When he set down the ruby knife, a thoughtful look flashed across his eyes.

Once Miss Ireya wrapped up the luncheon on her end, the Marquis Mansion finally geared up for the day's main event—the adjudication of the rights of succession of Green Field.

With the unexpected passing of Ruse Blood-eye, the Arias family had lost their Family Head, and Ruse's two offspring, his youngest daughter Ireya and youngest son Blanco, both claimed to have rights to the family's domain Green Field.

Supporters from both sides bickered endlessly, unable to persuade one another.

Long before the first Emperor Alexandre of the Red Lion Empire rose to power, the ancestors of the Arias family had sworn lifelong loyalty to the Figrola family, so this conflict over the successor had ultimately been brought to Marquis Kuren.

In deference to the Arias family, the latter did not rush to a decision but proposed an election to choose the final candidate, with Marquis Kuren merely serving as a notary to ensure the fairness and integrity of the election.

The seven people who had the right to vote were all respected elders within the Arias family or represented authoritative factions.

These seven voters were also recognized by both candidates, for whoever would become the lord of Green Field would need their support to govern this land well.