The Catalyst

Chapter 3: Avocados

Kyros spends the entirety of the next day sleeping and thinking over the best plan of action for the days ahead. He doesn't feel tired, but he knows his body would benefit from rest and would recover faster. He needs to make sure that he's one step ahead of everything.

On the second day, he spends his time wandering around the castle and observing the routines of everyone in it. During his wander, he encounters the Duke, who was forcibly smiling while holding a handful of avocados. There is a man babbling amicably in front of him, proudly presenting another avocado to him that was impressively large in size, and stuffs it into the Duke's arms.

"Why thank you, Baron Marcos, I'll definitely enjoy these scrumptious avocados and be sure to let everyone know of your fruitful harvest!"

"Yes yes, of course! There's plenty more where that came from, so if you're ever craving some more avocados, I'm your man!"

The Duke lets out a strained chuckle, and Kyros couldn't help but be amused by the scene before him. The friendly Baron gives a small bow and walks off. The Duke drops his act, letting out a heavy sigh.

He then spots Kyros out of the corner of his eye, and quickly goes up to him. "Ah, Messenger! So sorry for the other day, it was simply a big misunderstanding. Here, take these as an apology!" He shoves the avocados towards him, but he quickly steps back.

"Go on, no need to be modest! Take them!" He steps towards him again, and Kyros takes another step back.

"No thank you. Though, I heard that the dining hall could use some more avocados." Kyros suggested sarcastically.

Duke Gilsburry's eye twitches, but he keeps on his smile. "Unfortunately, the cooks are no longer accepting avocados due to the sheer amount that they've already received."

"Well then, I'm sure the common folk would be more than happy to receive some free food, you could go and hand it out."

The Duke lets out a frustrated grumble, trying to forcefully give them to Kyros yet again. "Just take them!! It's not like you're allergic to them or anything, are you?!"

"..."

"...Are you??"

Kyros stays silent and quickly walks away, leaving the Duke staring after him with a scrutinizing look.

"Huh..."

•   •   •

"But what about the corn, man?! It's not like they should just keep letting the trolls eat the whole harvest!!" Corbin stabs his fork into a piece of chicken.

"Yeah!!! Someone needs to get rid of them, I miss the corn from Gardena! No more avocados!!" Argus complains.

The dining hall is bustling with chatter from guests and staff, happy to wind down after a long day. The warm glow from the candles and torches create a cozy and lively environment, while a bard lightly plays their lute, sitting on the edge of a table.

"I think you two had way too much to drink... Who said anything about trolls eating the corn?? We aren't getting any crops from Gardena because there's a damn drought happening there. Trolls don't even live in places like Gardena where there aren't any caves or dense forests! You guys clearly forgot all your monster hunting lessons." Ari points her fork at them.

Solaris chuckles at the banter, utterly confused as to how the topic of conversation became about corn and trolls. A yawn bubbles up in his throat, and he looks out the window to see how dark it has gotten. He quietly retreats from the table, muttering a 'good night' to his three friends who have now gotten into a heated argument about whether or not fairies and centaurs actually used to exist.