When the flying airship reached the highest point it could touch, the waiters brought out the dinner dishes from the kitchen, marking the official start of the second half of the gathering.
Perhaps it was because the topics discussed earlier were too intense that the conversations in the latter part seemed much more mundane. Of course, it might also be because everyone could sense that the star of the gathering—Emerald Sparrow—was not in high spirits.
Employees of the Magical Affairs Institute who could sit in such a setting were not people lacking insight. Even the few with slow minds would follow the atmosphere obediently and not stir up trouble. As a result, the gathering gradually took on the character of a social obligation within the Material Realm.
