Chapter 88: Aadityapals Situation (1/2)

The feast of the banquet was quite tasty.

Alex was served a platter of whole-wheat flatbread that they referred to as Chapati.

Biting into the bread, Alex was astounded by the taste.

'It's chewy and has the right amount of fat...' Alex savored the Chapati alone but Ashoka whispered to him, ”The Chapati also goes great with the side dishes.”

Alex rubbed his head in embarrassment and Hermes laughed at him.

There were, in fact, many side dishes presented upon the table.

A lot of the people seemed to be vegetarians, so there were very few meat dishes, and the monks didn't eat too much either way.

Alex served upon his Chapati a cheesy stew that he didn't recognize.

As he tasted it, he was surprised at the taste.

It was a tomato puree that was entirely coated with this extremely rich and salty cheese. It tasted fresh and at the same time quite rich.

”Ashoka, what's this cheese?” Alex inquired, and he decided to drop the formalities.

Ashoka seemed pleased by his colloquial speech, and he rubbed his mustache and replied, ”Paneer, it's one of the great points of pride of our lands. The farmers do an excellent job at making it.”

Alex thanked him for the information and moved on to another side dish.

The Chapati went well with every dish, but Alex particularly liked an eggplant and tomato spiced puree.

There were still flavorful chunks and the texture was just about right.

”Ashoka, I've got to say, I'm definitely going to learn a thing or two from your chefs...” Good food could bring even the strongest god to his knees, and Alex was tamed by this feast.

Ashoka laughed loudly and seemed happy and he said, ”I think I'll get the same reaction when I eat some of your local delicacies.”

Alex laughed off with Ashoka for a bit and the two felt like they were close friends.

Hermes commented, ”You two instantly hit it off, making me feel like an outcast right here, Alexei-boy...?”

Ashoka seemed to get a sudden insight and clapped his hand, attracting the attention of the banquet-goers.

He stood up and said, ”Our two guests right here should have a lot of stories on the mysterious western lands, would you like to share any?”

Hermes volunteered and coughed, and then recounted a famous festival back in Greece and Italy.

”The Saturnalia or Kronia is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Father of the Olympians, the Titan Cronus, and is held in....”

”During the Saturnalia, people eat good food, have fun and spend a lot of money...”

The story was interesting, and even Alex listened attentively.

Following that, the banquet was soon over, and Hermes told him, ”I'm going to look around the city, alright?”

”Go on, but don't splurge on tea, you know we didn't bring a lot of currency....”

”Well, don't cause any trouble,” Hermes winked at him.

'Am I that untrustworthy...?' Alex glared at the former.

Hermes proceeded to leave the palace and Alex left the banquet hall.

Upon entering the corridor, he perceived that there were many Brahmins who were discussing amongst each other. When they detected him, they quieted down, but they didn't realize that Alex had an incredible hearing and could still hear everything.

”Ashoka expressed his preference for Aarush and Ranya of the Madurai and Varanasi Brahmins respectively, what shall we do?”

”We have to be less gentle in our approach, send your son to the training temple in Tamil Eelam, I'll send our daughter to the colossal Himalayas for training.”

”We don't have a lot of time...”