Clink.
Plates were set out on the table one after another. He wasn't especially picky about food, but there was no one who disliked delicious meals. Enkrid was no different.
This was a dining hall exclusively for the Knights, built separately from the barracks mess. Krais had it made when he expanded and remodeled the barracks. Though he normally ate the same meals as the soldiers in the barracks, serving proper cuisine whenever guests visited was a sort of courtesy.
It was a culture that spanned the Empire and the surrounding kingdoms, a way of saying, "We welcome your arrival." In the west, if you respected someone, you would cook even a small dish yourself or serve food made by your own family. The culture in the central continent, however, was like this.
The old man had asked for an invitation, and Enkrid had nodded in agreement, which led to this moment. According to Jacksen, this man felt strangely faint in presence, which was odd. And when something akin to killing intent was shot at him, he had deftly received it.
In that process, Enkrid felt something similar to Anu, King of the East. That is, he was likely someone who could fight at the level of a knight. But strangely, standing before him now, there wasn't the faintest hint of that.