Chapter 160: Chapter 143 – Living Among the Dead

"It is an odd land that managed to seem like both an Utopia and a Dystopia at the same time, yet Ptolodecca managed it somehow. Perhaps it owes that distinction partly from being the only major nation that primarily worships Tohrmut, the Deity of Death, and had been run by the Bone Lord from ages undocumented by history.

 

On the Utopian side, it is a land of plenty, where taxes are notably lower than what most other nations would have collected. Crimes were near nonexistent within its borders, owing to the ever present security force spread throughout the land. The land remains clean, both in the physical and the metaphorical sense as well.

 

Yet at the same time, many of these were made possible by the Bone Lord's presence, long suspected to be a lich of some sort, who had reigned as a tyrant for uncountable years. Most of the local populace were fanatical worshippers to the Deity of Death, to whom the Bone Lord himself was the highest priest of, and that fanatical worship was naturally extended to him as well.

 

Corruption never succeeded to set in, because nobody even knows what to bribe an immortal lich with, while those in lower positions were often his disciples, or disciples of his disciples, and they all fear his wrath far too much to risk taking any bribery. The aforementioned security force was in the shape of undead soldiers stationed at literally every intersection, where they forever stood watch.

 

Yet at the same time, the people who lived there had not minded the constant watching at all, nor did they mind the guiding hand of their benevolent - to them - tyrant. Should people dislike such a life, all reports indicated that they were simply permitted to leave wherever they felt like going.

 

Ptolodecca remained a land of stark juxtapositions to this day, and the Bone Lord remained firmly seated on his throne in the Palace of Bones. None of the neighboring nations trifled with Ptolodecca, as lessons from history had long ago taught them that when incensed, the Bone Lord was not above annihilating entire nations in his wrath." - An excerpt from "The Great Nations of Ur-Teros" by Garth Wainwrought.

After a friendly chat with the Bone Lord, he offered to take Cal around the city, an offer Cal accepted. They fetched Mimia, Éirynn, her nieces, and Ying Xiao on their way out of the palace, while Drietven stayed because he wanted to arrange things for his absence when he went with Aideen to visit paradise.

 

The incongruence of seeing undead at every intersection of the streets still bothered Cal, although it obviously didn't bother any of the local residents one bit. Many doffed their hats or greeted the skeletons as they passed by just like they would have done for a living guardsman, even.

 

As an entourage they followed the Bone Lord to a rather crowded store, one that was frequented by many locals, clearly a popular eatery of some sort. The owner, a middle aged man with a bushy mustache greeted them warmly when he spotted them coming.

 

"Young ladies Fiachna, Lourdes, and deVreys! It has been a while! An honor to have you all visiting my humble shop again," said the proprietor enthusiastically as he greeted Éirynn, Mimia, and Aideen respectively. Apparently Aideen came to Ptolodecca pretty often that people recognized her by sight. "Please have a seat! I happen to have a really ripe one today, I will bring it over post haste!"

 

They seated themselves around a large table, designed for large parties like theirs, and Cal looked questioningly to the Bone Lord, who seated himself near her, as he had seemed content to be utterly ignored earlier.

 

"One of the best things about being in my mortal guise is not just how I can enjoy food, girl, but also because next to nobody knows who I am," said the Bone Lord in a conspiratorial tone as he gave a chitter-like laugh. "I like doing so from time to time, just strolling around the city and seeing how the people live, while none are the wiser of who just walked by them. Those who know of this guise of mine, keep their mouths shut, so do keep it a secret for me, okay?"

 

"I will, definitely," Cal said as she nodded. They had conversed in low voices that not even her half elven nieces could hear them - they were chatting with Mimia and Éirynn at the moment - and the Bone Lord had just introduced himself as their guide for the city, so they had no suspicions, probably thinking him just an acolyte at the cathedral.

 

"There is a rather curious odor at this shop, Shīfù," said Ying Xiao from her seat beside Cal. "I wonder what they serve here?"

 

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"Oh, it's a local specialty here," Kino said in reply to Ying Xiao's question from across the table. "Foreigners tend to get scared off by it, but any local would swear by the taste. Give it a try yourself, I think he's coming."

 

Indeed, two maid servants were headed towards their table. One of them distributed large mugs of what smelled like strong ale before each person on the table, while the other placed a large flat wooden platter, with several kinds of sliced bread and cold cuts lined up around its circumference, while the middle remained empty.

 

The proprietor himself arrived right afterwards with a large wheel of cheese in his hands, which he gently placed at the center of the platter. Cal could smell a strong, pungent aroma from the cheese, and curiously noted that the upper side of the wheel seemed indented and had many small holes in it.

 

When the proprietor opened the top of the cheese wheel with a sharp knife and peeled the rind away, what greeted them was a surprising sight. The insides of the cheese wheel was mostly churned like cream cheese, and crawling all over them were tiny, fat, golden hued maggots.

 

Cal soon realized that they were not served rotten, maggot infested cheese as an insult, but that it was the actual form of the local delicacy when Aideen, Kino, and the Bone Lord all scraped some of the soft cheese inside along with some writhing maggots with a spoon, spread it on a slice of bread, and bit down happily.

 

Out of curiosity, Cal also scraped some of the cheese along with writhing maggots and spread it on some bread, while her nieces watched with obvious trepidation. She bit down on the bread, and soon the overly rich taste of the soft cheese overwhelmed her tongue, only slightly mellowed by the bread. When she chewed, she realized that the maggots in the cheese also tasted exactly like the cheese, and just gave it a textural component instead.

 

"Try it with some meats as well," Mimia said as she spread a small amount of maggot infested cheese on a wide slice of ham, then folded it into a neat package before she popped it into her mouth. "Also tastes great that way~"

 

Cal tried it as Mimia suggested, and loved the results. The lighter cuts of meats mostly mellowed the flavor of the cheese, while the more heavily spiced cuts blended their flavors well with it. Her favorite was with a cut of spiced lard that made for a very rich, yet very flavorful bite.

 

Her nieces watched with trepidation at first, but as they watched everyone else enjoy it, they were also tempted to give it a try. The last straw was when Ying Xiao gave it a try and seemed to enjoy it greatly, given how her eyes seemed to shine as she chewed.

 

In the end, they all gave it a try as well. Elaina and Leila found it a bit too rich, and couldn't eat too much of it, satisfying their bellies with bread and cold cuts instead. Sidonie on the other hand seemed to enjoy it greatly, and happily ate the cheese together with everyone else.

 

By the time they were finished and left the eatery with satisfied stomachs, the only thing left on the wooden platter was the hard, inedible rind of the cheese, as the insides of the large wheel had been scraped clean down to the very last maggot.

 

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