“How noisy. Temples shalt be silent.”
When I returned to the temple with Karion in tow, some sort of commotion was going on.
“I wonder what happened?”
I caught one of the priests, who was bustling around in a general panic, and asked what was going on.
“I-it’s terrible! All of the priestesses passed out at once!”
“Is that what all this uproar is about?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m told that before the head priestess collapsed, she cried out Goddess Karion’s name in a desperate plea. Such a thing has never occurred, even when we received an oracle message about the return of the demon lord. It must be an omen of a disaster even worse than a demon lord!”
“Stop! Why are you telling an outsider all this when we don’t even know the truth of the matter yet?!”
A serious-looking priest scolded my loose-lipped informant.
“You there—don’t tell anyone else what you just heard. Those who spread rumors that may not even be true are subject to divine punishment.”
“Nay. Divine punishment is not doled out so lightly. It costs a great deal of divine power.”
“And who are you?”
Yeah, this is the goddess that you all worship.
“Kari—”
“More importantly, about this commotion…”
I stopped Karion from introducing herself before I could find out what I wanted to know.
“Is it only the priestesses of Karion Central Temple who collapsed? What about those of the other temples?”
“Such insolence. Thou shalt apologize at once.” Karion was pitching a fit behind me, but I ignored her and waited for the serious priest to answer.
“The other temples haven’t said a word. It’s only here in Karion Central Temple.”
Well, that answers that.
I turned to Karion. “Looks like you’re the cause of all this.”
“Aye. Logically speaking, thy conclusion is sound.”
“What do you mean, you’re the cause?! Did you do something to our priestesses?!”
The serious priest misinterpreted our exchange and moved to grab Karion.
“Such insolence. Let it be known that thou art in the presence of thy most hallowed goddess.”
As soon as Karion said this, everyone in the temple chapel immediately fell silent and dropped to their knees, prostrating on the floor. It was like the afternoon’s incident all over again.
“Well then, if you’ll excuse me…”
“Thou hast served me well. Thou shalt return to me tomorrow when the sun hast risen.”
Despite my attempt to leave the rest to the priests and make myself scarce, apparently I was supposed to come back and show her around the city again the next day.
That was fine, I supposed. It wasn’t that hard, and I did get to learn more about the divine realm.
I left the chapel and changed out of my priestlike robes, heading for the hall where the statues were on display.
My goal was to find out if the statue I made really had turned into a vessel for Karion.
“Young master! Bad news!”
“Your statue’s been stolen!”
As soon as they saw me, the wood-carving brothers started shouting.
Another man chimed in to protest. “No, it wasn’t! I’m telling you, it suddenly glowed with red light and turned into a person!”
Wow, there was even a witness. So my statue really did become the vessel of a goddess, then.
“You’re still spouting that nonsense?!”
“It’s true! I swear it!”
“I believe you.”
“Young master, please, there’s no need to humor him…”
“Well, I did just meet a girl who looked exactly like my statue.”
“R-really?”
We even went sightseeing together.
“Wow, Big Brother! It’s like a myth or a fairy tale.”
“R-right…”
The elder brother was stunned into silence at first, until the pair announced that they wanted to make a statue of that caliber someday and ran off to acquire more lumber.
Apparently this incident only lit a fire in their artistic souls.
I contacted Arisa with the Space Magic spell Telephone on my way back to my room.
“Arisa, Karion returned to the temple. You can all come back now.”
“All righty. What about our armor?”
“You don’t need to wear it. Just keep some anti–Psychic Magic accessories equipped, please.”
“Okey-dokey!”
Based on the afternoon we spent sightseeing, my fears that Goddess Karion might hurt my friends seemed unfounded. A little bit of protection against her divine commands was probably good enough.
“We’re hooome!”
“Welcome back.”
Once my companions returned, I told them about Karion as we headed to a cafeteria.
“You don’t have any food?”
“Just give us a bit more time! All of the cooks got summoned to the main hall. All we have is soup and bread, so you can eat that while you wait.”
Evidently all of the chefs had been called away to cook for Karion.
“Lulu?”
“Right away, Master.”
“Master, if it’s all right, I would be honored to help as well.”
Lulu and Liza immediately caught on to my intentions and agreed to assist me.
“We’d be happy to help. Could you tell us what’s on the menu for this evening?”
“Oh, thank you so much! As long as you can make it with the fish and veggies we have here, anything is fine. We don’t know how to do anything more complicated than peeling and boiling potatoes.”
Since the girl promptly dropped all the responsibility in our laps, we picked some dishes that were easy to make in large quantities, split up the work, and got cooking.
“Tama will help, toooo?”
“Pochi can help, too, sir!”
Pochi, Tama, and Mia all joined in on peeling potatoes, while Nana helped out by skimming the scum off the stew.
“Boo-hoo…”
When Arisa realized she was the only one who couldn’t help, she curled up on a chair to sulk in solitude.
Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, you know?
I decided to ask her to help with taste testing later.
“Master, what should we do with these potatoes?”
“Hmm, good question…”
There were tons of those same cassava-esque squirreltail yams here. I prepared them in a few different ways: French fries, a recreation of a dish I enjoyed while walking around and snacking with Karion, a spin on a dish I learned in Parion Province, and so on.
“The food’s real good today.”
“Is there a different head chef than usual?”
“I wouldn’t mind eatin’ this every day.”
The finished dishes seemed to go over well.
Relieved, I turned my attention to mass-producing the dishes, until…
“G-Goddess Karion, please wait. This is the cafeteria used by the common people…”
“Nay. I sense tasty morsels here—aha.”
Karion’s eyes locked with mine.
The next moment, she suddenly appeared directly in front of me, as if a few frames had dropped in the process.
“Thou shalt offer me the morsels at once.”
“I only have the same food we’re serving to everyone else. Is that all right?”
“Aye. Tasty morsels. Quickly.”
I produced a somewhat nicer plate from Storage via the Garage Bag and piled food onto it.
Somehow, the priests had already turned one corner of the cafeteria into luxurious VIP seating, so I brought the plate there.
“Here y—”
“Tasty.”
Karion brought the spoon to her mouth without waiting for me to finish speaking.
“I hereby appoint thee as chef to the goddess.”
When Karion spoke, notifications appeared in my log.
> Title Acquired: Divine Chef de Cuisine
> Title Acquired: Karion’s Personal Chef
Hang on, I don’t need these titles that sound like they came out of a cooking manga.
On closer inspection, I realized that before Divine Chef de Cuisine, I’d also acquired sculpture-related titles like Divine Sculptor and Carver of Sacred Statues at some point without even noticing.
Okay, I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see that.
“Thank you, but I must respectfully decline.”
As soon as I said this, the priests and priestesses around me all started exclaiming things like “Insolence!” and “Sacrilege!” until Karion silenced them all with a look.
“Why? Thou shalt present thy reasons.”
“I’m not worthy of such an honor. Besides, I am not a follower of the Karion faith.”
“Unbelievable.”
Karion’s eyes widened in surprise.
Then she frowned, looking as if she’d noticed something.
“Thou dost smell of Parion. And something else, too…” She paused, tilted her head, and muttered, “An adulterer?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mia and Arisa nodding gravely. But I’ve always been devoted solely to Miss Aaze.
“Please eat before it gets cold.”
I changed the subject, gesturing to Karion’s food.
“Tasty. The shine of the honey tempts one’s appetite and envelops the savory chicken in sweetness. This shall be served at formal banquets henceforth.”
Karion praised the food like a reporter on a gourmet dining show as she ate.
Despite all the snacks we’d eaten that afternoon, her appetite apparently knew no bounds. Maybe a goddess’s stomach is bottomless.
“Tasty. Bring the next plate.”
“Goddess Karion gave you a command, chef. Prepare the next dish immediately!”
Maiyah, the head priestess with fox-like eyes, demanded another course.
“I brought out all of the dishes we can provide.”
“Nay. I smell unknown morsels yet. Thou shalt provide the next dish.”
Karion teleported from the VIP seats directly into the kitchen.
Unknown morsels?
I looked around the kitchen uncertainly. Pochi had a plate of Hamburg steak, Tama had a dish of Lisork jumbo shrimp stewed with tomatoes, and Mia had a dish of Lisork mushroom steak.
I’d forgotten that I made them each personal meals.
“You can have a little bit of Pochi’s Mr. Hamburg, sir! It’s super extra delicious, sir!”
Pochi held out her plate, and Karion took a forkful without even sitting down.
Head Priestess Maiyah looked like she might faint at the sight and shouted for someone to bring a table and chair for the goddess.
“Unbelievable! So tender! The savory meat melts in my mouth and mixes with the sweetness of the onion to create an unknown tasty morsel. This is a revolutionary meat dish!”
Pochi smiled happily at Karion’s praise.
However, her smile turned to shock when she saw how quickly her Hamburg steak was disappearing.
“You can try Tama’s shrimp, too?”
Noticing Pochi’s distress, Tama offered her own dish.
“It’s rather tough.”
The shell of the shrimp stopped the goddess’s knife.
“A-allow me to remove the shell for you.”
“No need. Shell, thou shalt remove thyself.”
Karion waved the head priestess away. She tapped the shell gently with the back of her knife, and it promptly peeled away from the shrimp on its own.
“Wowiiiie?”
Tama’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Tasty. This red sauce gives the shrimp more depth of flavor, and a faint acidity that doth improve the aftertaste.”
Goddess Karion smiled in deep satisfaction as she chewed on the exposed shrimp.
“Want some?”
“Hrm, what brings an elf here, pray tell? Thou art bound to the World Tree, no?”
“She’s traveling the world to expand her knowledge. The high elf in charge of the World Tree gave her permission.”
When Mia held out her mushroom dish, Karion looked at her suspiciously, causing Mia to draw back. I stepped in and explained on her behalf.
“Understood. If thou hast permission of thy responsible party, then all is well. I accept thy offering of tasty morsels.”
Karion beckoned to Mia and cut off a piece of her mushroom steak, bringing it to her lips.
“Tasty. ’Tis simple, yet the butter, salt, and pepper draw out the flavors of the mushroom most amply. The chef shalt receive my praise.”
> Title Acquired: Favored by Karion
I don’t know how I feel about receiving a goddess’s favor just for that.
Pochi, Tama, and Mia sharing their food with the goddess seemed to make her less intimidating to the others; Nana, Arisa, and the rest all let her taste their meals, too.
Karion and Head Priestess Maiyah requested that I make more dishes, so I agreed to provide my own ingredients and cook in exchange for permission to visit the temple library.
“Yummy, yummyyy?”
“This is really delicious, too, sir!”
“Agreed. Yet another unique and tasty flavor.”
For some reason, Tama and Pochi were eating with Karion.
Since the goddess had given them permission, Maiyah and the other priestesses couldn’t protest.
“Unadon is extra delicious if you add this powder, I declare.”
“My tongue is tingling…”
“I think you added too much. I’ll remove a little.”
At Nana’s suggestion, Karion piled wasabi onto her eel donburi, then puckered up her face. Lulu, who was bringing out the next dish, removed the excess wasabi from the rice bowl to a smaller dish. The head priestess looked incredibly disappointed to have missed her chance.
“This is stew made from sheep sinew. Please try it—it has a wonderful mouthfeel.”
“’Tis tough. Let it be known that this body’s jaw is not that strong.”
Liza looked a little disappointed that her favored dish was rejected.
I’ll eat some with her later.
“Now I feel kind of silly for being so wary of her,” Arisa remarked, popping up next to me while I wielded my frying pan.
“That’s a good thing though, right? Better safe than sorry.”
I wouldn’t want to regret not being more careful after someone got hurt.
During the meal, Karion used her divine commands a few times, but they didn’t affect my kids much—presumably thanks to the anti–Spirit Magic accessories they equipped.
Now that I knew it worked, it’d be nice to find some slightly more effective ones.
“That’s true. Maybe my judgment was a bit clouded by certain preconceptions.”
Come to think of it, Arisa mentioned that she was warned in a dream to be very careful if she met any other gods and goddesses or “God’s Apostles,” and that they would be likely to attack her if they realized she had inherited an ability from a different goddess, so she should run away or fight back for all she was worth.
But in reality, Karion hadn’t really reacted at all when she saw Arisa.
And while Arisa was hiding the purple hair that proved she was a reincarnation with a blond wig, surely that couldn’t have fooled a goddess who could read other people’s thoughts.
For that matter, Arisa was with me when Goddess Parion gave her thanks to me, too.
Based on these examples, maybe whoever appeared to Arisa in her dream was the one we should be most wary of.
“Goddess Karion…!”
I turned around at the sound of Maiyah’s cry to see Karion slumped over the table.
Uh-oh. Maybe I used ingredients that didn’t agree with her?
“Thy fear is needless. Carry this body to the sanctuary,” Karion commanded the head priestess in a dismissive tone. “I shall sleep for three rotation cycles for optimization. Let it be known that thy pious prayers shall accelerate the optimization…process…”
Sounding like she was fighting to stay awake, Karion managed to finish her statement before she fell asleep completely.
From the sound of it, she would be sleeping for three days or so. I’d better take care of everything I wanted to do in this kingdom in the meantime.
“Business seems to be booming.”
“You’re right, Big Bro.”
Since I had a rather eventful day, I decided to go to a bar to blow off some steam after I put the girls to bed. Rather than go out drinking alone, I invited the wood-carving brothers, who seemed like they couldn’t sleep anyway.
I listened in on the chatters in the bar. The descent of Goddess Karion was nowhere to be found among the many topics of discussion. I guess rumors hadn’t reached the streets yet.
“Heya, Joppe. How ’bout you invent us a cask that makes infinite beer?”
“That’s impossible, you idiot! Save the gibberish for your sleep-talk!”
As soon as we sat down, the customer next to me started arguing with the drunk seated across from him.
“Ga-ha-ha, you’re askin’ way too much of a guy who can only make transforming trinkets.”
“No kidding. A loser who can only make devices that pointlessly change shape could never create a magic tool of any actual use.”
“With a weirdo like him around making transforming trash, people might think Kalisork and its Tower of Wisdom are just a den of loonies.”
Transforming…?
“Wait, are you Mr. Joppentelle?!” I asked.
Before he could silently lunge at the drunk across from him, I grabbed the hand of the man next to me.
As he looked at me in confusion, the name Joppentelle appeared in my AR display.
“Erm, yes… And you are?”
“My name is Viscount Satou Pendragon, Vice-Minister of Tourism of the Shiga Kingdom.”
“What could a foreign noble possibly want with me?”
“I saw your work in Parion Province and was deeply impressed. In fact, I hurried to your workshop today hoping to meet you and have a chat with you in person.”
Mr. Joppentelle looked like he didn’t quite believe me.
“Hold your horses, Mr. Noble. I can make you a way better magic tool than this talentless hack who can only make useless transforming toys.”
“Yeah, this guy’s a disgrace to the magic tool association. Why, just today he went crawling to the association to beg for money to research some stupid transformation or other, and they sent him packing right away.”
Apparently the men who were badmouthing Mr. Joppentelle were magic tool craftsmen themselves.
“That moronic association! I don’t need their damned money anyway!” Joppentelle snapped back at them.
“In that case, I would be happy to invest.”
“You would…?”
Joppentelle blinked at me doubtfully. I nodded.
“Do you have any idea how much magic tool development costs? We’re not talking about ten or twenty gold coins here, you know?”
“Yes, I dabble in magic tool research myself, so I’m aware of the market prices. Just tell me how much you need, and I’ll make it happen.”
I once dismantled one of his transforming magic tools that I acquired in Parion Province, and it was full of unfamiliar mechanisms and brand-new uses of monster parts. I could learn a lot from him.
If all he needed was one or two thousand gold coins, it would be worth investing on the spot.
“Three hundred gold coins, then. If you can give me that much, I’ll even move to Shiga Kingdom!”
Ooh, he’s willing to come to Shiga Kingdom? In that case, I’d love to introduce him to the “Rotation-Mad” Professor Jahado and see what kind of chemical reaction they produce together.
“Very well. Here’s an advance payment of three hundred gold coins. If you don’t mind, I’ll come to your workshop to discuss the details tomorrow.”
With that, I placed a pouch full of gold coins on the table. Mr. Joppentelle and even the men who were harassing him all stared at it with their jaws dropping to the floor.
Come on, magic tool craftsmen should be used to seeing that amount of money.
“What a fine day indeed! I didn’t know how happy I would be to find someone who understands my works of art at last! Let us move to another venue. I know the perfect pub.”
Mr. Joppentelle tugged me out of my seat. It was then that I remembered I’d left the wood-carving brothers behind; luckily, they were already deep in a heated discussion about sculpture with a group at another table who were evidently wood-carvers from a different kingdom.
“Miss, take this to pay for that table over there, please. If there’s any left over, you can give a round of beers to everyone else on me.”
“That’s very generous, mister!”
I handed a few gold coins to the waitress, along with a large silver coin for a tip.
Hopefully that would make up for inviting the brothers out to drink only to abandon them.
“Heya, Joppe. No luck with the association, huh?”
“Don’t just assume it didn’t go well.”
“But it didn’t, did it?”
As soon as we entered Mr. Joppentelle’s chosen pub, a few men around his age greeted him with a sympathetic air.
According to my AR display, they too were fellow magic tool craftsmen and alchemists, with dishonorable-sounding titles like Dismantling Expert and Explosion Expert.
“The association turned me down, but I did find funding, after all.”
With that, Mr. Joppentelle introduced me to his fellow researchers.
“Damn, I can’t believe a noble from Shiga Kingdom scouted Joppe.”
“Yeah, now our down-and-out researchers’ club will be down a member.”
I prompted the grumbling researchers for more information and learned that each of them had gotten far too preoccupied about a single subject as well, and could barely find any supporters, let alone commercial success.
When I asked about their research subjects, they all described fascinating fields of study. The “Explosion Expert” in particular was working on such advanced technology that he probably would’ve been invited to work for a military kingdom by now—if it weren’t for the huge amount of magic power required for his experiments, and the fact that they couldn’t be controlled.
However, since he was doing the equivalent of developing nuclear weapons in a kitchen, he couldn’t present much proof of his theories.
The ideas he was using were very similar to those of the atomic bomb–like forbidden spell I acquired in a banned bookstore in Shiga Kingdom; if his research proceeded, I was worried that it would result in a weapon of similar capacity to that forbidden spell. I would prefer if he did his research somewhere where I could at least keep an eye on his progress.
“Would all of you like to come to the Shiga Kingdom as well?”
When I made this proposal, all five of the researchers agreed to the transfer.
I planned to ask the Echigoya Company to prepare to receive them and arrange for a lab and testing sites where no one else would be harmed.
I spent the rest of the night drinking with the researchers and their assistants and friends until dawn. In the midst of the festivities, I was able to ask them for ideas about curing the chimeras.
“If you can’t separate juice that’s been mixed into water, why not mix in more water until you can’t taste the juice anymore?”
“You mean reduce the chimera elements, and inject them with more human elements?”
“Indeed. I once saw such a thing described in a book from the ancient Lalakie dynasty era in the Tower Master’s collection.”
“That’s very intriguing.”
It just so happened that I knew a place where I might find some Lalakie-era materials.
I decided to visit Paradise Island for the first time in quite a while. Karion wouldn’t reawaken for another three days anyway.
“Master, I delivered the letter to the Tower of Wisdom’s reception desk.”
“Master, we have secured rooms in the best inn in Kalisork, I report.”
After I drank all night and got scolded by Arisa and Mia accordingly, I sent Arisa and Nana out on some minor errands. The goal was to change Viscount Pendragon’s official lodging to an inn.
“A bigwig at the reception desk said that the Tower Master is busy dealing with an urgent situation and won’t be able to have any meetings for a while.”
“It’s too bad we won’t be able to go into the great library, but I don’t mind not having to do that whole song and dance.”
Apparently the earthly visitation of a goddess was a historic event, and it sounded like it’d be a pain if word got out that I was involved. I was going to try to pass off the version of me in the temple as someone different from the “Viscount Satou Pendragon of the Shiga Kingdom” who showed up at the Tower of Wisdom.
Luckily, the only times I’d introduced myself as Satou since arriving in this kingdom were to the tower guard, Karion, and the researchers. I was hopeful that I could still get away with it.
As for the great library, I could probably get permission to visit it as Kuro once we started a Kalisork branch location of the Echigoya Company.
“So try not to call me ‘Satou’ while we’re in this kingdom, okay?”
“Mm. Got it.”
Mia is the only one of my group that refers to me by name anyway.
“Okay, shall we visit the temple library now?”
With that, I led my companions to the temple library, which I’d just gotten permission to enter yesterday.
Just to be safe, I dressed the same way as the day before so that my face was difficult to see.
“So many books, sir.”
“Très bieeen?”
The library was lined to bursting with bookshelves; there were even more enormous collections on the second and third floors.
We were looking for the rest of the information on the research topics that were written on the red salt statues in the chapel.
“The children’s books are right this way.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I wanna see, too?”
A librarian kindly directed Pochi, Tama, and Nana toward the picture book section.
“I’m not a big fan of religious texts…,” Arisa murmured.
“Oh, this one is about temple cuisine! And there are eight whole volumes, too.”
Lulu seemed to have found a book series that captured her interest.
“Found it.”
“Master, I believe Mia has located the research texts from the red salt statues.”
I went over to where Mia and Liza were beckoning me and found three shelves crammed with string-bound books.
“Won’t it be hard to find what we’re looking for in here?”
“Not at all.”
Making sure that no one was looking, I took the opportunity to use my magical telekinesis “Magic Hand” to put the books briefly into Storage, shelves and all. Then my built-in OCR function converted them into strings of text, allowing me to use a search to find the books I wanted.
“Okay, that’s just ridiculous.”
“Pretty convenient though, right?”
“Can’t argue with that.”
Arisa rolled her eyes and shrugged, then picked up one of the books.
“Hmm, I can mostly read the ones in Saga Empire Language, but I can only pick out a few words when they’re in the Inland Sea Common Language or Flue Empire Language.”
“Mm. Difficult.”
I forgot that their translation rings only work for conversation.
“Well, I can translate them for you later. Just let me know which titles sound interesting to you.”
I started reading off the titles to them.
Then I used the Picture Recorder spell to photograph the books that they requested, as well as the ones I was curious about, and quickly conveyed the contents of the outlines.
“Hmm, a lot of those don’t have much evidence to back them up.”
“Disappointing.”
Arisa and Mia seemed disappointed that none of the theories seemed to offer hints toward new spells as they had hoped.
Personally, I was plenty satisfied just to have learned from the “Changes and differences from primitive magic to modern sorcery” thesis that modern magic was given to humanity by the gods, and that before this there was something called “primitive magic” that was entirely different.
On the other hand, the “On the relationship between modern sorcery and the Evil God” thesis, which proposed that this modern magic was brought about not by the seven goddesses but by the Evil God, was a little forced. It referred to inscriptions from several ancient ruins as proof, but later investigations discovered that those were made much more recently than the time of the gods.
Another young researcher’s thesis, “Did levels and skills not exist when the world was first created?”, suggested that the mysterious powers in question weren’t around when this world initially came into existence. Rather, they were created by the gods later or, perhaps, even brought about by the Evil God. The basis of this claim was that the only god that appeared after the genesis of the world was the Evil God.
“…Ooh, what about this one? It says, ‘The gods’ magic as related to heavenly punishment.’”
“Hmm.”
“Ugh, isn’t that just another made-up religious myth?”
“No, apparently heavenly punishment is a real thing.”
Although the term was a little different, Karion did mention that “divine punishment” cost “a great deal of divine power.” Mukuro mentioned something about it in the bottom stratum of the Celivera Labyrinth, too.
“What does it do, then?”
“Apparently it brought down natural disasters and climate change on an ancient empire that used to exist around here.”
“An ancient empire? Does that mean the Flue Empire?”
“Judging by this description, I think it’s a different empire entirely.”
Given that it was consistent with what Mukuro told me before, it must be the empire that he built long ago.
“It also gives an example of a small city-state that committed taboo and was turned into a pillar of salt—people, buildings, and all.”
Apparently the remains of the city that was transformed into salt were discovered underneath some sediment.
“I wonder what chemical change could possibly cause that, don’t you? I thought the same thing when I saw the ‘Cradle’ collapse.”
Now that Arisa mentioned it, I remembered that “Cradle of Trazayuya” turned into a mass of salt and collapsed at the end.
“Chemi-call?”
Mia furrowed her brow, prompting Arisa to explain the basics of chemistry.
“Arisa, Mia, apparently the other volume of this research text is in the forbidden library of the Tower of Wisdom. And it says it contains records of research to try and reproduce divine punishment with modern magic.”
“Wow, that’s a little scary… I am a little curious, though.”
“Mm.”
I doubted they’d give us permission to see it very easily, but it was worth a shot.
After that, I read a bunch of other books that interested me, until we wrapped up our investigation of the temple library around lunchtime.
While we were busy researching, the librarian generously read picture books aloud to Pochi and the other kids who couldn’t read the text. I decided to send her some delicious pastries as a thank-you.
“…There you are, Apostle. We’ve been looking for you.”
As we left the library, we ran into the serious priest.
“Please, I’m not an apostle or anything so dramatic as that. I am but a humble wood-carver and chef.”
“No, no. I am told you created the statue that served as Goddess Karion’s vessel, and even served as her attendant. We would love to have you join Karion Central Temple as a—”
“More importantly, weren’t you looking for me for some reason?”
I rudely interrupted the priest, mostly to stop the conversation from taking a bothersome turn.
“Ah, yes. My superior, the archbishop, asked me to seek you out and inquire as to whether you have any requests in exchange for your noble work as an Apostle.”
Requests, huh? Since we already got permission to visit the temple library, I didn’t really have any.
“In that case, I don’t suppose we could have permission to peruse the great library and the forbidden bookshelves and such? We’ve been asked to investigate something, and the temple library didn’t have the books we needed.”
“Good heavens! I had no idea you were given such an important mission! I shall inform the archbishop at once and secure all the permissions you need.”
The serious priest hurried off to talk to the archbishop in a panic, probably thanks to Arisa’s deliberately misleading phrasing.
There were no popes or cardinals at the Karion Central Temple; the archbishop was the highest-ranking clergyman here.
Evidently the archbishop at this temple also served as the head priest and was referred to interchangeably by either role.
Rather than stand around waiting in the hallway, we decided to go have lunch in the same cafeteria as the day before while we waited.
“Whoa, the table and chair are on display as relics.”
“Yes, Arisa. The goddess’s used silverware is on display as well, I declare.”
There were ropes around the table Karion had eaten at to forbid entry; holy men and women were gathered around it, praying with serious expressions.
“I don’t see the bigwigs. Maybe they’re in the other dining hall where the goddess was eating at first?”
“No, it looks like they’re praying in the sanctuary where Karion is sleeping.”
I told Arisa the information from my map search.
While we were trying to decide whether to eat in the crowded cafeteria or go out to eat somewhere, the serious priest returned, gasping for breath. I was especially impressed since I didn’t even tell him where we were going.
“My deepest apologies for the wait, Apostle. I was able to acquire permission for the great library right away, but I’m afraid an ordinary priest such as myself could not qualify for the forbidden shelves. The archbishop is going to negotiate with the Tower Master now.”
“Thank you, and please thank the archbishop as well.”
I tried to imitate the politeness of the priests from the evening before.
By the time we finished eating lunch in the dining hall for the higher-ranking priests, the serious priest told us that we’d been granted permission to view the forbidden shelves, so we decided to head over there right away.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t get permission for the whole group at once, so I brought Arisa and Mia with me while I sent the others to go on a food tour under the pretense of searching for ingredients and supplies.
“Are you quite sure you’re all right with wearing priest robes?”
“Yes, I think bishop or pastor robes would get in the way of browsing books.”
Since I was visiting the Tower of Wisdom as Karion’s “apostle” this time, I wore a priest robe, while Arisa and Mia put on the robes of priestesses in training. Since Arisa and I had already shown our faces, we pulled our hoods down over our faces.
The serious priest led us through the gates of the Tower of Wisdom.
We entered a building near the base of the biggest tower, where we were greeted with an entrance hall full of scholars and students earnestly exchanging opinions.
“According to documents from the Flue Empire era, the magic circle carved into a fire rod must be…”
“Modern Magic Guns and the Magic Cannons found in Lalagi: the Kingdom of Sorcery have several major differences, such as the magic power capacity…”
“It is my strongly held belief that the use of necromancy would allow us to clear out monster territories for habitation without any loss of human life!”
“In order to effectively use water stones for production of water in desert regions, the use of kelpies as a catalyst is…”
Though this was a garden of knowledge and learning, there were an awful lot of theories with possible military uses.
Considering that there was a real threat of monsters in this world, military technology for reinforcing city defenses was probably more immediately relevant than on modern Earth.
“Look.”
“There are red salt statues here, too.”
The same statues we saw in the temple were displayed here and there throughout the halls.
“Yes, these were originally votive statues used for Goddess Karion’s trials, but now the pedestals are engraved with the prefaces of thesis statements that the elders and sages deemed worthy of being passed down to later generations.”
“I’m impressed you know so much about them.”
“Well, before I became a clergyman, I was a scholar under the tutelage of Reverend Robson.”
The serious priest added that when he was young, he worked in the Tower of Wisdom.
“Before we go to the forbidden shelves, Apostle, the Tower Master wishes to meet you.”
“Really? A meeting with the Tower Master?”
“Yes, the condition for allowing you to enter the forbidden shelves was to meet you in person first.”
“Very well,” I responded diplomatically, since I had a feeling this might happen.
“Elevator.”
There were several old-fashioned elevators on the tower’s first floor.
“You know of them? Yes, the tower’s history books state that they were modeled after the ‘ele-vaters’ of the elves. Here in the tower, we refer to them as lifts.”
“By elves, do you mean the ones of Bolenan Forest?”
“No, the elves of the Bulainan clan, or so it is said. Once every decade or so, Lady Sebelkeya the elf comes to do a routine maintenance check on our lifts.”
Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.
I wasn’t expecting anyone to mention Miss Sebelkeya, the guildmaster’s advisor in the Labyrinth City Celivera explorers’ guild, in a place like this. I did remember that she was from Bulainan Forest, so it must be the same person.
That must be quite a commute, although she probably used the dryad’s teleportation.
“Simply ring this bell, and the doors will open.”
The serious priest rang the very analog doorbell with a clatter, and the lift doors opened. It wasn’t a magic device sensing it—there was just a lift girl inside. Actually, the person was male, so I guess you’d call him a lift man?
“This lift is exclusively for the top floor. Do you have written permission?”
“Yes, right here.”
“A-an invitation from the Tower Master?!”
The serious priest held out a card that prompted the lift operator to exclaim in surprise before beckoning us inside.
There was even a convenient bench to sit on while the lift was going up; perhaps they had a lot of elderly visitors.
“We’ll be going up now. If this is your first time, please hold on to the handrail.”
The lift operator rang a little bell as he began bringing the elevator upward.
Evidently the lift was powered from within; the lift operator charged magic power into a complex magic device to control the elevator’s speed. I kept watching him work until…
“Outside.”
“Master, look this way.”
I turned around to find a view of the outside through a round glass window.
Witches flying past the tower on wooden Pegasi paused to wave at Arisa and Mia.
“That’s quite a magnificent sight.”
“Yes, it’s wonderful.”
I was talking about the scenery, of course.
By no means was I referring to the witches’ impressive cleavage or the way their skirts fluttered in the wind.
So why, I ask you, did Mia and Arisa have to say “guilty” and shoot me accusing glares from either side?
As we watched, our elevator completed its ascent and we arrived at the floor where the Tower Master was waiting.
The hall had a vaulted ceiling some three stories high, with several high-level mages and magic swordsmen standing on guard.
While none of them were as powerful as my companions and me, a few had levels in the high 40s.
A young man who was introduced as the Tower Master’s aide guided us up a spiral staircase to the Tower Master’s office.
“Tower Master, presenting Goddess Karion’s Apostle.”
Waiting in the office were a friendly-looking old man with white hair and a busty woman who looked stunning in a tight skirt.
Normally, you’d assume that the old man was the Tower Master and the woman was the secretary, but my AR display told me otherwise.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Tower Master.”
I bowed to the pretty woman, who burst out laughing.
Honestly, even without my AR display, I could tell from the gleam in her eye that she was clearly no ordinary Tower Master.
“Very impressive. I didn’t think you’d be able to see through what I concealed with a top-class recognition-inhibiting item.”
The beautiful woman crossed the room in a few long strides, had the old man stand up, and sat down in the luxurious chair. She crossed her legs in a decidedly sexy gesture. They were so long and lovely that I had the urge to give her a pair of stockings.
“Welcome, Apostle. I am indeed Rama Kalisork, the Tower Master. This bearded fellow is my top apprentice, Karyuu. Since he’s so sagely-looking, I let him take care of most of the public-facing work. If you have any problems, you can come crying to him, not me.”
It was strange to hear the youthful Ms. Rama refer to the elderly Mr. Karyuu as her apprentice, until I noticed her real age. Although she looked like she was in her mid-twenties, my AR display informed me that she was over three hundred years old.
Incidentally, both Ms. Rama and Mr. Karyuu had the title of “Sage,” just like Sorijeyro from Parion Province. Ms. Rama was level 57 and used Practical Magic and Wind Magic. Mr. Karyuu was level 49 and could use Practical Magic and Lightning Magic. In short, they were both seasoned sorcerers in their own right.
“May I ask why you’d like to see the forbidden shelves?”
As she asked her question, Ms. Rama radiated a violent aura at us.
I didn’t react in the slightest, and thanks to the Spirit Magic resistance equipment Arisa and Mia were still wearing to deal with the goddess, they didn’t seem to be fazed, either.
“I promised to help some people.”
“I see… So the three of you aren’t as young as you look, either.”
Ms. Rama nodded thoughtfully at my response, along with my unbothered expression.
“You have a keen eye,” I answered.
It was true that our ages weren’t as we appeared, after all.
I heard a thud behind me and turned to see that the serious priest had fainted. A servant had heard the noise and came to look after him.
Turning back, I noticed that Mr. Karyuu was looking pale as well. Ms. Rama ought to show more respect for the elderly.
“Very well. I’ll grant you permission. But you are forbidden from spreading any information you gain here to the outside world. Traditionally, you would be bound with Contract Magic, but I’m not so conceited as to think I can bind a God’s Apostle. If you’ll swear on your god to uphold the rules, then I’ll take you at your word.”
“Swear.”
“I swear, too.”
Who is my god, exactly?
I’m not really religious, so I don’t have any particular god to swear on…
“And you? Do you swear to Goddess Karion?”
“Yes, I swear.”
Oh, right, my backstory here is that I’m an apostle of Karion.
“All right, Karyuu, take ’em to the forbidden shelves… Don’t let ’em near the mass-killing spells or the research that falls under divine taboo or anything like that.”
Ms. Rama gave Karyuu an order, though the latter part was whispered so quietly that even my “Keen Hearing” skill barely picked up on it.
While I was a little curious about this “divine taboo” research, it could be a big problem if I learned about it and Karion found out. I decided to reluctantly let it pass me by this time.
“Mrr.”
“Nothing.”
“There’s a few that are close, but not quite…”
There were plenty of fascinating documents, and loads of magical encyclopedias, rare spellbooks, alchemy textbooks, and other such material that Arisa, Mia, and myself had hoped to read. Other must-reads included a book about the monster materials of the western continent. However, our most important goal—a method to cure the chimeras—was nowhere to be found.
“Might I inquire what you’re looking for?”
“We’re looking for documents from the era of the ancient Kingdom of Lalakie. Is there anything here like that?”
I figured it was worth asking Mr. Karyuu, even though my map search already indicated that there was nothing of the sort.
“Ah, that would be in the great library or the Tower Master’s personal collection. I’m afraid most Lalakie-related documents are simply transcribed from inscriptions found in ruins, with precious little support to back up their theories.”
We proceeded to the Tower Master’s library and found the book we were looking for.
“It’s exactly like what the expert said.”
What I really wanted to know was what came next. Unfortunately, there was nothing on the most important subject.
Just to be sure, the three of us searched through the other documents; Ms. Rama and Mr. Karyuu even took an interest in our quest and shared their knowledge. But even then, we still didn’t find any way to turn chimeras back into humans.
In the process, I also found some research on otherworld summoning. However, since it was largely based on conjecture, I didn’t get much out of it. It seemed like I was still going to have to investigate the Hero Summoning circles in Saga Empire myself if I wanted to learn more.
The sun began to set while we were knee-deep in research, so we had no choice but to leave the tower and rejoin the rest of our group.
“Master, my egg, my egg…”
Pochi came running over and clung to me teary-eyed, so distraught that she even forgot her usual “sir.”
Her egg…?
Looking down, I saw that her egg belt was gone from her waist.
“A pickpocket stole it in the market. We managed to catch the culprit, but…”
While they were capturing the pickpocket, he threw the egg to the ground in a moment of desperation and broke it, the girls explained.
“Where’s the thief now?”
“Master, calm down. Your face looks scary.” Arisa reached up and prodded my brow.
“We’ve already handed him over to the guards.”
Apparently the culprit would have to pay a fine or become an indentured slave.
“Tama couldn’t protect the egg…even though I’m the big sister…”
Tama looked heartbroken, too.
I learned later that she’d been preoccupied with a beautiful picture book when the thief stole Pochi’s egg.
“Don’t cry, Pochi. I’ll get you a new egg.”
“I don’t want a new egg, sir. Pochi’s Mr. Egg is gone now, sir.”
Pochi wept even more.
“I’m sorry, Pochi.”
I guess that was a little insensitive of me.
We went to the park, where I let Pochi cry as long as she needed to.
When her sobs started to subside into sniffles, Liza knelt down in front of her and spoke to her gently.
“Pochi, a life that’s been lost will never return.”
Pochi looked up at Liza with red-rimmed eyes.
“So what do you think you can do about it now?”
“What can Pochi do, sir?”
Pochi tilted her head.
“That’s right. Is crying all you can do for the broken egg? Isn’t there something else?”
“A graaave?”
“A grave, sir…?”
“Exactly. We’ll bury the egg and mourn for it.”
“Good idea, sir. Pochi will make a grave for Mr. Egg, sir.”
Pochi rubbed her tear-swollen eyes and stood up.
We dug a hole at the base of a large tree in one corner of the park and gently buried the egg, which Arisa had recovered.
“Good-bye, sir.”
Each of us scattered a fistful of dirt over the egg, followed by a small gravestone that read HERE LIES MR. EGG.
We held a moment of silence around the gravestone, and I placed flowers and a stick of incense there at Arisa’s request.
“…Young master? What’re you up to in a place like this?”
It was Pippin, the former Phantom Thief who worked as an intelligence operative for the Echigoya Company.
“It’s been a while, Pippin. What brings you to Kalisork?”
“Just a little errand.”
Behind him was a pretty young girl with red hair, clad in a black robe. My AR display told me that she was named Serena, a pupil of Sorijeyro the Sage. She had the Unique Skill Safety Hibernation. Since she didn’t have any other skills typical of a reincarnation, she probably wasn’t one. Most likely, she received the skill from a reincarnation in the “Aptitude Transfer” ceremony.
“‘Here Lies Mr. Egg’…?”
I explained the situation to the confused-looking Pippin.
“Gotcha. Sorry to hear it.” Pippin patted Pochi’s head, then paused. “Hey, I know. You wanna raise this one instead?”
Pippin produced an egg from his Item Box and held it out to Pochi.
“No thank you, sir. Pochi’s egg is gone forever, sir.”
Pochi pushed the egg back toward Pippin.
“C’mon, don’t be like that. This little egg’s lost and alone. It got separated from its mom, y’see.”
“It doesn’t have a mommy, sir?”
Pochi looked up at Pippin.
“Yeah. So can you look after it till we find the mommy?”
Pochi’s gaze fell back to the egg.
…Uh-oh.
My AR display revealed its true nature.
“Pippin, is this real?”
“Whoops, you caught on quick, huh? Yep, it’s a genuine ‘White Dragon’s Egg,’ the real deal and no mistake. Some real pieces of work are after it, though…”
I see, so yet another group is up to no good.
“Hang on, are you trying to drag us into trouble or what?” Arisa raised her eyebrows.
“That’s not our intention.”
“Hang on, Serena. Let me do the talking.”
Pippin gestured for the girl to step back when she started to explain.
“See, I can’t get into the details, but some nasty fellas are trying to use dragon eggs for their evil deeds. We’ll take care of them—we just wanna ask you to keep this egg safe until the dust settles.”
“You don’t need help with that?”
“Nah, we got this. If it gets out of hand, I’ll just go crying to Lord Kuro.”
“All right. Let me know anytime if you need help.”
With that, I gave Pippin a rough outline of our schedule and the places we were planning on visiting next.
Besides, he also had an emergency communication device, which meant he could send Kuro a call for help anytime.
According to Pippin, some of the sage’s students were running wild, and he was working with the female student Serena to stop them.
“That’s the short version anyway. So will you take care of it for me?”
Pippin turned back to Pochi, who was still holding the egg.
“Okay, sir. Pochi will take care of this egg, sir,” Pochi responded, speaking as much to herself as Pippin. “This time, I promise I’ll protect Mr. Egg no matter what, sir.”
“Tama will help, too.”
Pochi clenched her fist, and Tama too gazed at the egg with determination.
“Great, thanks. Sorry for the trouble.”
After that, Pippin and Serena disappeared using “Short-Range Teleportation.”
I decided that I would make a more serious egg protection belt that night, perhaps using orichalcum fibers or silver hide, to make sure it didn’t get stolen or broken this time.
That being said, it might not even be necessary: The Dragon Egg’s shell was harder than a mithril alloy or even a grown dragon’s scale.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login