Chapter 11: 11: Banquet

Getting up from their table, the Noragis and the Mitsuyas began walking over to where the Royal Family was sitting.

Seeing that Erina didn't know which family was the Royal Family, Yuiko nudged her before whispering, "You see that family over there at the center table? That's them, they are pretty down to Earth and dress normally, so it's pretty hard to pick them out of a crowd."

Looking over to where Yuiko was pointing, Erina saw 4 people sitting at a semi-circle table. Erina was a little confused because there were 2 males and 2 females, however, they all looked like siblings except for the man with black hair.

Because they all looked similar, Erina leaned towards Yuiko and asked, "Ne Yuiko, I see the black-haired person, who should be the King, but where is the Queen? Is the Queen not here today?"

Chuckling Yuiko corrected, "Actually the Queen is right there, you see? She's the second one from the left."

Stunned, Erina exclaimed, "Whaaat? But she just looks like the older sister to the other two!"

Nodding in agreement, Yuiko added, "Yup, I thought that too. I also overheard that it's a running joke that soon the crown princess will look older than her mom, and the crown princess is only about to start attending her 3rd year at the magic academy."

Frowning slightly while continuing to move up in the line, Erina asked, "But isn't it kind of rude to say that to the crown princess?"

Reassuring Erina, Yuiko responded, "No it's fine to mention the joke, just not at formal gatherings like this. That's because the joke was started by the crown princess herself while at school."

Nodding in understanding, Erina and Yuiko stood up straighter having reached the front of the line.

Following the example of the people in front of them, they curtsied slightly and thanked the Royal Family for inviting them.

After moving off to the side to wait for their parents, Erina shifted around after being scrutinized by the crown princess. Under the piercing gaze of the crown princess, Erina whispered, "U-um, Yuiko? W-why is she staring at me?"

Unaffected by the gaze, Yuiko replied with a nonchalant tone, "Probably because she hasn't seen you before, the crown princess is good at remembering faces and names. So she's probably just a little confused about who you are."

Having finished greeting and chatting with the Royal family for a few minutes, the parents of the two girls along with Suzuki and Shousuke went to find a table to sit at. Electing to sit at one of the tables near the center of the banquet hall, the two families began chatting while waiting for the rest of the families to finish the greeting.

Looking around the room and seeing many unfamiliar faces, Erina turned to Yuiko and asked, "Ne, Yuiko? Can you point out some of the families for me? I don't recognize a lot of the people here."

Scooting her chair a bit closer to Erina's, Yuiko began pointing them out one by one, "Let's start over there on that side okay? The family with predominantly green hair is the Yoshidas, they are famous for their contributions to the medical field, being responsible for many of the recent developments in medicine."

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Moving along, Yuiko continued, "The family with the light blond hair next to the Yoshidas are the Kuznetsovs, who are known for their research into magic and weapons. Because of this, the Kuznetsov family is pretty military heavy."

Pointing to the next family, Erina interjected, "Wait, wait! I know this family! They have silver hair like me! So they must be the Seigi family where my Mama is from! Oops... sorry I got excited and interrupted you."

“Hm? Don’t worry about it, we interrupt each other all the time anyway,” Yuiko reassured with a smile, "Yeah that's the Seigi family, but how did you know from just the hair color?"

Shrinking a bit from being noticed by the Seigi family, Erina replied, "Well my Mama once told me when I asked why I have silver hair, that each of the 17 pillar families have their hair color naturally. However, she said, if children from the two families marry each other and have children, there's a relatively even chance for the child to have one hair color or the other. She also said that if someone from the 17 pillar families marries someone who isn't from the families, most of the time they have the hair color of the pillar family parent, not the other parent. She said it was something to do with magic along with dominant genes, but I'm not sure what she meant by that..."

Going through the rest of the families, Erina and Yuiko stopped when the royal family stood up to get everyone's attention.

Standing up, the King began, "Hello! I am happy to see that all of you have arrived safely at the banquet today. I am also happy to see that there are some new faces in the crowd."

Taking the King’s place as he moved to the side, the Queen continued, "As today is the day that many of our children will take the magic measurement test, I hope you all enjoy yourselves tonight! So let's feast before we test okay?"

Saying this, several large doors opened at the sides of the banquet hall, allowing several long tables laden with food to be pushed into the banquet hall. Marveling at the exquisite amounts of food that had been laid out, everyone rushed to form lines for getting food.

Lining up at the end of one of the lines with Miyuki and Suzuki, Erina's mouth was watering just from looking at the food that had been laid out.

Having gotten her food, Erina took a bite and drooled as she felt like she was in heaven, "Amazing! Is the food always this good Mama?"

Sitting back down at the table, Suzuki replied after swallowing a large bite of food, "Yup, it's pretty much always this good. The Royal family pulls out all the stops during these banquets."

Eating their hearts out while chatting, everyone at the banquet enjoyed themselves, many spending some time to catch up with some of the other families.

Having finished eating, the Queen stood up to get everyone's attention, "Now that we are done eating, let us relocate to the testing site!"

Saying this, everyone shuffled towards the door, excited murmuring about the Magic Measurement Test echoing throughout the hall.