The Librarian blushed to the tips of her elongated ears as thoughts spun through her mind, but she was on her feet and racing over to Karl in the surprisingly large shop.
"Of course. We have entire sections dedicated to both Divine and Nonmagical cooking. Which one were you looking for?"
"Divine Cooking sounds wonderful. What we normally use is called Mystic Cooking, but it should be similar enough that it's patible. It's certainly far superior to nonmagical cooking."
"Oh, I know what you mean. It's the introduction to Divine Cooking, the apprentice level book is called Mystic Cooking.
In that case, I have just what you need.
We have the Journeyman level books for Divine Cooking here, since you already have the apprentice level. Then we can get you set up with just the right cookbooks. How many are you cooking for?"
Karl thought about it. "Well, it would be ten of us at the minimum, and then possibly another two hundred, if we include the dragons from the orphanage, the Nature Priestesses who live by the lake and the hatchlings."
The Librarian's mind was clearly running overtime trying to understand what sort of harem Karl had going on at home.
A minimum of ten suggested that he had a wife and eight children waiting for him at home. But there were also Nature Priestesses involved? Was he a farmer? Ooh, a whole farm full of lovely lusty ladies...
Yes, that was something she could see a Divine Fox doing.
A whole harem of hippie Forest Elven Priestesses and a Divine Fox...
The Librarian's mind had clearly wandered off, and she had stopped leading them to the book section. So, the Elf acpanying Karl took them both to the shoulder and guided them towards the cooking section.
He was a mage, and quite familiar with the bookstore itself, so he knew what they should be looking for.
"Librarian, snap out of it. We're here."
"Right, sorry. I'm weak to fox charm. Now, this is the Skill Book for Divine Cooking, you'll need that to start. And then we've got three essentials from Elder Sandra. They are Event Catering Essentials, Home style Dining with Royals, and fort food of the myriad races.
That last one is a great one for use at home, as she includes fort food recipes from twenty different cultures into a single book, as well as ways to adapt them to be more palatable to Elves and beastkin.
Some do prefer more meat, or none at all."
Karl nodded. "Many of the Priestesses simply don't like to eat the meat. But that's fine, we can acmodate them all. In fact, I have dedicated a large portion of a pocket dimension to growing specialty crops for just that reason."
The mage covered his face and shook his head. "You're definitely doing this on purpose. Stop teasing the Librarian and pick out the cookbooks."
Karl laughed, and the Librarian giggled as she realized the Fox was playing up the effect he had on her for his own personal entertainment. Most Divine Foxes tended to go for the "Ice King" personality, to avoid giving people the wrong impression.
But not Karl.
He actually acted like a Fox in front of people, teasing them and playing pranks.
That was a rare thing for his species, and she wondered just how much power he had. Even here in the Elven lands, there was still a very real chance that someone with power would try to capture him and keep him for nefarious purposes.
"Tell me, does your Guild Have a powerful backing? It's rare to see a Divine Fox acting so unreservedly," she asked carefully.
Karl laughed. "Even without that, I don't have much to fear. Avatars of the World Dragon are not easy to capture. But yes, the Darklight Host is a Divine Guild, with Demigods among our Ranks."
"Oh, that's solid backup. I was concerned that some Supreme might get ideas about keeping a pet Fox."
Karl winked and ran a finger up her neck to the tip of her chin, forcing the shorter elf to look up at him as he smiled and let fox charm slip a little.
"Oh, they're not ready for that. My wife is a Divine Fox, and I'm not sure that even I'm fully capable of such a feat."
The Librarian made a hysterical noise that Tian associated with Opal when she got a super exciting new idea, and Karl released the Librarian and retracted his aura. Then his attention was pulled to the door, where a group of men in shining armour were standing.
They all looked frozen in shock, as if they had seen something that they couldn't prehend.
"Now, I suppose I should purchase those books and head back home. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Librarian."
The mage sighed. "See, this is precisely what she was worried about. You're not going to get to finish your shopping because being an unacpanied fox in public has attracted attention. I suspect that one of the Nobles is strongly requesting your presence."
"Is that so?" Karl asked the armoured men at the door.
"The Lady Silverwood requests your presence for a private dinner," the soldier agreed.
"Please inform that Lady Silverwood that I have a Soul Bonded mate, and such an intimate dinner with another woman would not be appropriate."
The man placed his hand on his sword. "I'm afraid that I must insist."
Karl sighed and turned to speak casually to the mage. "You know, the last time this happened, they were trying to take my wife."
"And how did that end?"
"With four Clans annihilated, two Supreme Ranked Clan Leaders dead, and a Blood Stripe for a Peak Immortal Challenge victory added to my Guild Tabard."
The guards paused, while the Mage looked shocked.
"Pardon? I don't think that I heard that right."
Karl laughed. "When the Darklight Host raises the War Banner, things tend to spiral out of control in rapid fashion."
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