[crow]

Fabian and Streil gave him looks that suggested that they didn't quite follow his logic, but that didn't make much of a difference to Core. With a small flourish of his hands, a banquet table appeared in the bleak and empty shrine. A pristine white tablecloth spread itself over the whole, draping neatly over the table, which was then joined by candles and a plethora of table settings.

And then the piece de resistance... The food. Dish after dish sprang into existence from nothing, arranging themselves along the table in an almost opulent presentation.

[crow]

Whole birds roasted, mashed potatoes, glazed fruit, rich pies both sweet and savory, a couple of cakes here and there, and a suckling pig as the centerpiece. Each one looked as though it was cooked to perfection, and the flickering light of the candle made the whole thing seem more animated, somehow.

It was also completely at odds with the temple's cold, desolate atmosphere. The three NPCs blinked, staring at the result as the proverbial dust settled on it. Core, by contrast, was already admiring his handiwork with a deeply satisfied expression.

[crow]

"Isn't..." Fabian looked as though he wasn't sure whether to voice his doubts or not, but in the end he went for it. "Isn't the tradition at these autumn feasts to roast a large bird?"

"Oh, is it? I didn't know! I can change that," said Core. Before anyone could stop him, he clapped his hands--- or rather, he clapped Ren's hands--- and the suckling pig transformed itself to an enormous roast bird.

"Is that one of the monsters from the starting fields?" said the gunman. "I didn't know you could cook those!"

[crow]

"... I don't think you can," Fabian said. But Core could do as he liked within the confines of the game... within reason, anyway. Many of these food items were probably not even real items players could get in the game, even though cooking was a job they could pursue, and recipes for consumables like this really did exist.

"There! Doesn't that look better already?" said Core. "Do you feel festive yet?"

"I don't know if 'festive' is..." Fabian trailed off. After a pause, he frowned. "What kind of emotion is 'festive' anyway?"

[crow]

"Ah, that was a loaded question, wasn't it? Maybe you guys don't have that yet... Hmm." Core adopted his thinking pose again, trying to find a way to explain it.

In the meantime though, the gunman had already moved past the lot of them to get a closer look at the table itself. "Whoa," he said. He was the only one so far who seemed to really appreciate the display, staring at each dish in turn and even poking at some of the ones that caught his particular attention.

[Wild Pet Found]