Cornflower Witch

Chapter 406 The Fox's Feast

On the weekend, Hiltiya and her two companions slept in their dormitory.

Because they had been studying intensely all week, the three of them didn't go out to play on the first day of the weekend. Instead, they chose to continue sleeping and resting, but each of them slept in a different way.

Luo Wei'er likes to change into her pajamas, cover herself with a blanket, and sleep on her specially customized luxury little bed. A light gauze curtain is placed on the bed, and only her cat will come in and out from time to time, occasionally lying on her pillow and sleeping on her body.

Aurora would wake up normally in the morning, eat something, then casually flip through a book for a while. When sleepiness came back, she would hug her stuffed animal and go back to bed, lying on her side to continue sleeping for a while.

Hiltiya liked to spread a blanket on the windowsill, put two stacked cushions there, read books, occasionally daydream, and when she got tired of reading, she would lie down on the windowsill to sleep. She liked the warm feeling of the sun shining on her, and occasionally hearing the birds chirping and the faint sound of carriages outside would make her feel at ease.

In the afternoon, the three energetic people gathered together, sat at the table in the living room, and ate fruit and snacks.

"Is Hedra going to a banquet tonight?" Lover asked after hearing about the Fox family's invitation.

“Yes, I guess I’ll have to change into something more suitable.” Hilti thought for a moment and picked out a black dress that she hadn’t worn in a long time from the closet.

The three then talked about the Fox family.

"Does Aurora know this family?" Sylvia thought that Aurora came from a prestigious family in the Mage Alliance, so she should have heard of them.

"I've heard of them, but I don't know much about them." The other person nodded, guessing that in the upper echelons of the mage circle, the Fox family was just barely above the threshold, while the Helt family, where Aurora was, was the true prestigious family.

"Their family runs a well-known business in snacks and food, and they often host banquets. It is said that their ancestors got their name from the 'Fox Banquet' they hosted," Aurora recalled.

"The so-called 'Fox Feast' is just the name of that banquet; what really mattered was the successful holding of the 'Feast Ceremony'."

"A banquet ceremony?" Luo Weier tilted her head, puzzled.

“Yes, ‘feast ritual’ is a category that includes many different ritual legends, the most well-known of which is ‘feast of flesh and blood’,” she explained slowly.

"Eating, or eating, is an activity that accounts for a large proportion of all ethnic cultures, especially in ancient times, and there are many rituals derived from eating."

"For example, the 'Peacock Oath' of the monarchical school, the 'Hunting Feast' of the shamanistic school, and the 'Basket of Fragrant Fruit' of the elves, etc., are all related to eating."

"However, the most important and widely used banquet ritual in history is probably the 'feast of flesh and blood'." She picked up a pen and sketched on the paper.

"The origin of this ritual is actually very difficult to verify, because there are too many related legends, and they have all become mixed up in the end. This is because many powerful creatures from ancient times relied on devouring food to gain power."

"However, after being passed down for many years, it has been summarized into a relatively stable and replicable process."

"The 'Feast of Flesh and Blood' requires three main ingredients to be prepared at the banquet. These are the three attributes of the same rank: 'Blood Law,' 'Beast Fang,' and 'Dragon Eye.' In addition, twelve different side dishes need to be prepared, including scales, skin, blood, meat, internal organs, and bones, all of which are of the next lower rank: 'Blood Law,' 'Beast Fang,' and 'Dragon Eye.'"

"This ritual originated in the Sixth Era and reached its peak in the Eighth Era. At that time, dragons lost the protection of the Divine Beasts and were hunted by various races, allowing people to collect the rarest of the three: the 'Dragon Eye' attribute." "Many orcish barbarians relied on the 'Feast of Flesh and Blood' to improve the strength of their tribes and promote many high-ranking and powerful warriors. The Blood Dynasty also used this ritual to promote many high-ranking nobles. This situation only became less common as dragons gradually became extinct."

"In addition, according to the rules of the 'Feast of Flesh and Blood' ritual, the Golden Honey Dynasty also developed another alternative feast ritual, the 'Honey Fragrance Fruit Feast,' in which the three main ingredients were replaced with 'Emerald Honey, Insects and Moths, and Snails and Fish.'"

"The Golden Honey Dynasty itself produced a large amount of high-quality honey with the characteristics of 'insects and moths' and fruits with the characteristics of 'emerald honey'. All you needed to do was find high-quality 'snail and fish' to match them. Therefore, 'fishing' was a very lucrative profession in that era. Several fishing secrets that are still circulating today are also legacies of the Golden Honey Dynasty."

"The ancestors of the Fox family were minor nobles in the country. They were not wealthy, so they had to engage in small-scale trading, traveling to various places, and gradually accumulating a sum of money and becoming rich."

"It is said that he advanced to the fifth rank when he was in his fifties, but that was his limit. His talent was actually limited to the fourth rank. The reason he was able to reach the fifth rank was because he had accumulated a lot of wealth through his business and used luxurious and precious resources to force his way up."

"But once he reached the fifth rank, many of the previous methods and resources were no longer effective. At that time, he thought of the famous 'feast of flesh and blood' and began to prepare for it."

"When he was in his sixties, his family had grown to more than a hundred direct blood relatives. At this time, he gathered everyone together and announced that he would hold a grand banquet and asked everyone to send invitations to their friends and acquaintances to attend."

"The final banquet brought together nearly two thousand celebrities from all walks of life. Each table was set with rare delicacies of the third or fourth tier, while the largest table in the center, which was surrounded by his family members, was set with extravagant delicacies of the fifth or sixth tier."

"At the beginning of the banquet, the guests did not find anything unusual, because the food consisted mostly of meat with the characteristics of 'blood law' and 'beast teeth', and none of the 'dragon eye' characteristics. Although everyone was surprised, they were just envious."

"However, when the head of the family finally announced that it was time to eat, a bell rang, and then a huge fire fox leaped in through the window. It was enormous, and its curled tail could touch the ceiling of the hall."

"This enormous fire fox carried in a piece of dripping dragon meat and placed it on the central table, thus completing the final piece of the 'feast of flesh and blood' puzzle and establishing the ritual."

"Afterwards, he, his family members, and the giant fire fox shared the food on the table, and then he completed his advancement, reaching the 6th rank."

"Thus, the news of this grand banquet spread rapidly throughout the land, and because of the enormous changes brought about by the giant fire fox, as well as the astonishing and unforgettable scenes, it was eventually recorded as the 'Feast of the Fox'."

After Aurora finished speaking, Lovell was completely engrossed in listening.

"Sigh, is that all? What happened to that giant fire fox afterward? And where did the dragon meat it was carrying in its mouth come from?" The blonde young lady couldn't help but ask with curiosity, tugging at Aurora's arm and acting coquettishly.

"I don't know about that." Aurora shook her head.

“But Hedra is going to the Fox’s house tonight, so let’s go and find out. Maybe they’ll tell us a different version of the story.” Aurora held up a finger, looking mysteriously at the black-haired girl beside her.

"Alright, I'll go find out for you." Hiltiya was both amused and exasperated. She had thought it was just an ordinary banquet with a brief chat with Miss Walnut, but she hadn't expected there to be such a long and complicated story behind it.

However, I am indeed very curious about the legendary 'Feast of the Fox'.

(End of this chapter)