Felix, Matthias’ predecessor, had gone so far as to cultivate trees that had the truffle fungus. He’d even planted an orchard of hazelnut and oak trees, inoculating them with the fungus that produced black truffles. This was a lucrative cash crop for the family and allowed them to build and consolidate their holdings, but they still relied on peasant labor to work their land, and for their own food. When the Baron suggested to them that they could have a new SNAP bureau in middle Europe, perhaps Ukraine, Matthias just laughed and said they didn’t know the first thing about the media, didn’t want to learn, gathered his bodyguards and walked out. “Neither Stefan nor I thought that was a productive talk,” Jean-Louis shrugged. Being immortals, they figured this was just an opening sentence. The Kandeskys were looking at making this a change that would produce peace for centuries to come. After Matthias stomped out, the Kandeskys and their demons spent the rest of the night responding to Huszar feints and forays.
