Did I make a mistake? No, it's impossible...
Because white oak barrels are used for aging instead of ordinary oak barrels, Oakland Manor Cellar is also called "white oak wine". The grassy sweetness that penetrated into the wine was so unique that Catalina thought it would be impossible to mistake it.
The Oakland family never sells white oak wine to outsiders. They only occasionally give it to guests, and it is rarely available on the market.
I hope it's not what I thought...
A bad premonition had already arisen in her heart.
"What's the matter, miss? Is there something wrong with the wine..."
Just as Shishio was about to ask, a slightly neutral male voice interrupted him.
"ladies and gentlemen--"
The lights in the hall suddenly dimmed, a crystal spotlight cast a focused beam, and a man with a feminine figure and brightly colored clothes appeared in the most conspicuous position of the banquet hall.
The sound in the venue gradually weakened until it became quiet. Everyone maintained due etiquette.
"As usual, please allow me to introduce myself: I am the owner of the club, "Juice." I was supposed to be the one delivering the banquet speech tonight, but as you all probably know, this gathering is due to the return of a distinguished guest in the club. "
"This distinguished guest is not only my friend, but also made outstanding contributions to the establishment of the club. It can be said that without this gentleman, there would be no desire club. Moreover, all the expenses of tonight's banquet will also be borne by this gentleman Therefore, I think this honor should belong to him tonight. I would like to invite Mr. "Shipworm" to give a speech. "
applause. Catalina has experienced such speeches countless times since she was a child. This has almost become an instinct to a certain extent. Once someone starts to deliver a speech, she will automatically start to feel sleepy——
But this time she didn't feel tired at all, because she was almost sure that this distinguished guest was her uncle...
Jellos Oakland.
The slightly bloated man wore a robe and mask that looked like an ancient theater actor. The expression on the mask was both painful and exaggerated:
"Good evening, my dear friends. As you can see, I have not been back to this city for many years."
Mr. Shipworm opened his arms and said. His voice was clear and gradually overlapped with the character in Katarina's mind. Everyone put down their knives and forks and listened to the "distinguished guest"'s speech.
"My name is Shipworm." He raised his neck as if recalling the past, "Or you can call me Jaros Oakland. Like you, I am also an ogre."
There were scattered sounds of astonishment in the audience, and then it fell silent again.
Sure enough it was him. Catalina knew that Uncle Jaros had a naughty character, but she never expected that he would degenerate to such an extent.
"But who isn't? This world is full of ogres. Look at everything happening around us: factories grind men into minced meat, women sell their bodies for a copper plate, children live on the streets, scavenging Eat fruit peels on the ground to satisfy your hunger.”
"What do you think of this world? It's terrible, isn't it? But those who set the rules of society, those horse bandits, pirates, and snitches, still pretend that nothing has happened, and that the world is still as they imagined it to be. Operation."
"What do they say about people like us? Ogres, heretics, scum, maggots. But they are also maggots, parasitic in the beams of society, and they eat more people for their own desires than we do. There are many, but they are not ashamed to talk about it and still flaunt themselves as moral role models."
"But who has the power to determine the moral standards of a society? I know that on some islands far away from the mainland, there are certain indigenous societies: in that society, people are raised and slaughtered like animals, and fathers and daughters intermarry. Children will kill their old and helpless parents. These are just the most normal codes of conduct in that society. Perhaps in their eyes, our society is equally barbaric and evil."
"From what I see, the so-called moral system is just a man-made lie. No one can use morality to judge our behavior, absolutely not!"
The more Jaros spoke, the more excited he became. The foam that flew from his mouth looked like a swarm of white flies under the light, flying in all directions with the sound:
"I know I am hopeless, but at least we are still loyal to our own desires and unwilling to deceive our hearts. I would rather be called an ogre than a hypocrite."
Having said this, he took off his mask, raised the wine glass in his hand and shouted:
"Here's to the ogres!"
Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and people raised their glasses to applaud this unorthodox speech:
"Here's to the Ogre! Here's to Mr. Shipworm!"
After some exchange of drinks, the atmosphere was heightened to the highest point. Even Mr. Shishio next to Catalina stood up and clapped and cheered.
Catalina clenched the wine glass in her hand. She wanted to stand up and refute something, but for a moment, the speculations taught by the philosophy teacher became muddy. At this moment, she could not sort out any organized thoughts to defeat her own. uncle.
For a moment, she wanted to just walk up to the stage and continue the unfinished duel this morning.
She would never agree to such fallacies, even if she would die.
But kids die too, and Burke Orton. And maybe Ed and Miss Quinn.
She can't do this.
Duty pinned her to her seat again.
Jaros showed a cruel and weird smile, and raised his glass in agreement:
"The reason why I say all this is because tonight I brought a special gift."
He raised his hand and two waiters brought the gift up——
A man's hands and feet were tied to a thick wooden pole, and he was carried in like a suckling pig waiting to be roasted, with a green apple stuffed in his dislocated mouth.
Burke Orton.
