"We have enough food for a week, sir," Madam Arizona said, sipping her glass of fresh juice she had brought with her.
We were in my chamber's study, having called an emergency meeting of the heads of department.
Maya was the only one who hadn't shown up yet. I had also not seen her at lunch. Madam Arizona had said she wouldn't leave their room. Something about the arrival of our guests had upset her.
Seeing as she was not heading any department, I had proceeded with the meeting anyway.
"That is factoring in the guests' meals?" Ramon questioned in his measured tone.
Arizona shook her head.
"With guests, it may reduce, depending on their appetite of course."
"What she means, sir, is that if we get a bunch of customers who don't play with their food, that week might turn into days."
"Thank you, Ramon," I smiled lightly. "But I think a week is our estimate. In any case, if we are to get this guest, even if they have a voracious appetite as you put it, they will be paying, so we can still afford it."
"Trouble is, most don't know we are open yet, and honestly, I don't think they care."
This cold statement came from Octava, obviously. The guy seemed to find gloom in everything around him.
This time though, he had a point. I mean, if the Supernatural community had learned of our temporary closure, it only made sense to bring to their attention that we had reopened.
I turned to the last head of department who had been sipping his drink in silence.
"Is there anything we can do about that, Mr. Nejo?"
He seemed to wake from whatever daydream he had been having. Of all the four heads of departments, Nejo Mahn was no doubt the oldest of them. He literally made Octava seem like a teen, which was scary seeing Octava had begun his tenure about 250 years ago.
It wasn't so much in looks, well, there was a bit there. The biggest tell, however, was the behavior. Nejo was someone who could zone out on you quite quickly, and his attention span seemed to be rivaled by that of a toddler.
"Certainly, sir," he grumbled. "With your permission, we can send word around the nearby community, though I am of a different opinion from Mr. Octava."
Octava's scary face stretched as if someone contradicting him was something he was unaccustomed to.
To me, however, that was a positive sign that the old guy was keeping up.
"I can say from experience that the minor Supernatural communities are closely knit groups regardless of the factions."
Nobody interrupted him, not even the daunting Octava. The moment he said 'from experience,' there was simply no higher authority in the room than himself.
"Since you served three of the most talkative species, I would say that half the Supernaturals within the city will know by sunset that we are open."
"I agree," Madam Arizona chipped in. "Brownies are quite interactive. It shouldn't take long before we start receiving more customers."
Octava sat upright like the consensus between his two colleagues was a danger to him.
"Still, we wouldn't want to leave it to chance, would we? I mean, it's also a known fact that brownies are one of the busiest creatures alive."
I had to admit both sides made a valid argument. Still, Octava had a stronger point. Even if we could rely on the brownies' word of mouth, it should only be an advantage to us, not the main means.
"Send some of our emissaries, Nejo," I said, snapping the almost dozing diplomat. "In fact, don't just send them to the minor Supernaturals, have them inform all of them regardless of their power level. We will, after all, be opening level two soon if all goes well."
Maya chose that moment to arrive. Surprisingly, she didn't look gloomy or upset at all.
"Sire is opening level two already? Impossible."
She looked almost terrified as she jumped on the only seat remaining.
"Not now, but if we get guests fast enough, it's only a matter of when."
Octava was eyeing her suspiciously, and I wanted to tell him off, but then Octava eyes everything suspiciously, so Maya should be used to it.
She seemed a bit relaxed.
"Maya would advise sire not to rush to level two. Sire should stock up enough points and unlock as many abilities as he can," she added while cautiously pouring herself some juice.
"I agree."
I almost looked like I had heard a ghost speaking. Octava was agreeing with Maya?
"Level two Supernaturals are much more powerful than level one, like most of us here will attest. They are also prone to causing skirmishes."
Here he eyed Maya as if he was specifically addressing her. Maya, on her part, completely ignored him.
"That is a sound plan, especially seeing no one in recent history has gone past level two," Madam Arizona declared.
None of them seemed to see anything out of the ordinary in what she said.
But in fact, she had just answered the question I had contemplated for a while. Maya had not gone past level two.
Of course, it said nothing about Octava and Nejo Mahn. Those ones had served way back in the mediocre days.
I also played it down. I didn't want them to think Arizona had betrayed anything, though technically she hadn't discussed anyone's tenure.
"That reminds me about something else I wanted to discuss with you guys. I have to leave the hotel for a few hours today."
"Impossible, sir. You don't have an assistant," Madam Arizona reminded me.
"Hardly the problem," old Nejo added. "You have to receive a clemency prompt first before you can think of an assistant."
"And I did," I announced, and suddenly all of them sat upright.
It was true.
Just after satisfying my curiosity with the range of my minor room control ability, another prompt had surfaced shortly after.
I had expected it to be another task or challenge, but to my surprise, it had turned out to be the thing Octava had come to discuss just the previous night.
I had put it off, thinking I at least had some time to study things before it came, but I was wrong.
It was like I was being reminded that I couldn't be certain of anything in this place.