Chapter 179: Traces left in the food storehouse
Since it was a food warehouse that was said to stop time like a magic bag, I naturally imagined it was one of three choices, either a cool and dark place like a pantry or warehouse or even a dark vortex where you thrust your hand into.
But it was different from my expectations.
“Dra, dragon!!”
The moment I opened the door, a blue dragon was facing our direction.
I unsheathed my Illusionary Sword by conditioned reflex but Nadia stopped me from behind.
“Luciel-sama, that dragon is already dead.”
After hearing that, I calmed down to look and saw that the dragon was lightly floating. Rather, there wasn’t only the dragon, there were various monsters floating about as if in outer space.
” … Was what I opened really a food warehouse?”
“We won’t know without checking further but aren’t they all edible monsters?”
“Can we do nothing but to wait for death if we mistakenly get trapped inside here?”
“No, it’s written that this place can’t be closed if there are people inside.”
A brand new piece of paper was stuck on the inside of the door.
Written on it was a note that said that the place is set to not close in the event that a living individual with the base race of human is within.
” … It would be alright if that is true. But, entering here is a bit …”
I was hesitant to enter that void space.
Nadia guessed so as she removed the hand that was grabbing me and entered the food warehouse.
“Hey, we’re still investigating so it’s dangerous!”
As expected, I can’t let her go into such an unknown room alone.
“It’s all right. I’ll roughly find out what’s where, get a grasp of the place and return.”
“Ah, I’ll go too. Luciel-sama, just in case, please wait here.”
Lydia entered the food warehouse with a smile.
I decided to teach Lydia the proverb – the curiosity killed the cat, once she comes back.
I had no choice but to keep watch over the door as I was instructed to but while my attention was grabbed by the floating monsters, there seemed to be several rooms at the back.
But it would be dangerous if all three of us entered so I had no choice but to leave the search of the inside to the two of them and I read through the materials I received from Orford-san.
“I see. That state whereby the body is clad with magical power is the same as discharging magical power out huh.”
It was written that the steam-like magical power that can be observed is in a state of being held back as it leaves the body.
“If I raise my magical power endurance, it seems possible that I would be alright even if I face off against an opponent that casts magic. Eh? But if that’s the case, then why do I pour my magical power into the Illusionary Cane? I feel that it is somehow important to channel magical power into weapons though … ”
Just as I had that thought, the two of them came out from within the food warehouse with excited looks.
And the two of them were carrying a Big Boar.
“What happened, the two of you look quite pleased? Moreover that Big Boar … isn’t it overly large?”
I have hunted and eaten Big Boars before but this one was two times larger.
“Luciel-sama, there are plenty of monsters here that we’ve never seen before. I also thought that this was a Big Boar but it is actually the phantom Big Pork which existence could not be confirmed for decades.”
Why is it called pork? Or rather, why is this a pig? In this world, pigs should refer to Orcs.
” … I am not really familiar with ecology but is this Big Pork the ancestor of Orcs or Big Boars?”
“There are various theories around but it’s said that the organisms transformed after a long time due to their environment.”
“It is also written in the monster book that it is similar to Big Boar in the sense that it is not aggressive, has a timid personality and has extremely strong wariness.”
“I see … I have seasonings so it is possible to dismantle it and store it in my magic bag but … unfortunately, I can’t use purification magic.”
When I said that, they clearly showed disappointed expressions.
But I was hesitant to dirty such a clean kitchen with the blood from dismantling.
If I knew beforehand, it would have been great if I brought along a Healer but that’s impossible with the limit to the number of people I could bring.
” … We’ll eat it after I regain my Holy Attribute Magic. There seem to be various other rare ingredients but we’ll postpone it all. Then, I’ll take a look around too so please watch the door.”
“” … Yes.””
The two of them sent me off downheartedly.
When I turned around and entered the food warehouse, I felt my body enter weightlessness.
“Is, isn’t this bad?”
For some reason, my sense of security disappeared just because I left the surface.
How did the two of them freely move about in this place?
When I tried hard to go forward, I started moving straight forward like normal.
“Eh? So it’s possible to move with the power of intention!”
I felt euphoric from that sense of freedom but then I realized the two of them didn’t immediately come out after entering.
That meant that time passes here when the door is open so I quickly moved to the rooms at the back.
“I feel like I’m flying.”
It felt like the moment to say those customary words as I seemed to be floating.
For some reason, there were seasonings placed in the third room to the right.
Not to mention soy sauce and miso, there was quite a considerable stock including sugar, salt, and even pepper.
” … Were the ones who made these the Magic Guild staff? Clearly … no way.”
It was such a rare chance so, for tasting, I took and stored the soy sauce and miso in my magic bag in separate earthenware pots.
Other than that, there was also ketchup sauce and mayonnaise stock for some reason.
” … I don’t know how much effort and time must have been spent to make so much ketchup sauce but the fact that not much has decreased means that …”
I silently left that room and moved to the center room.
Then, when I opened the door, I saw a huge stock of vegetables.
” … This is not an ordinary amount. Well, the world can’t be saved even with this amount. Though it might be enough for a person to live for decades or centuries …”
Even though it’s a different era, after coming to know of Sir Rainstar’s existence, I ended up thinking ‘Isn’t he capable of solving all the problems?’
And I also ended thinking that in the era when he was still alive, he was most probably seen as a local god-like existence?
Even though he was continually subjected to pressure all the time, he could still turn up with results so he was probably a heroic existence.
While having such thoughts, I stored a couple of vegetables in my magic back and I had no problems since there were almost no vegetables that I didn’t know.
“Now then, let’s go to the last room.”
And I was shocked when I opened the last room.
“Why is there a jungle in the middle of a room?”
Paula created a pseudo-sun underground in Ienith but the level here was fundamentally different.
Firstly, a pseudo-space was created and stabilized using Space-time magic. Even if the person who created the room was a reincarnated individual, I wondered why did he make a jungle appear in the room.
When I entered the room, I saw several fruits that could already be harvested.
“This was not made by Sir Rainstar. Only Elves can make trees grow to this extent. If that’s the case, there’s a high chance that it was the Pope’s mother who made this. Maybe I should take something back as a souvenir for Pope-sama when I return?”
It was when I was about to return after looking around.
A golden fruit suddenly entered my sight and behind it, I noticed a small tree and when I approached it, I saw a pure white fruit similar to the shape of an apple growing on it.
” … A fruit that somehow has more presence than a golden fruit, it looks like it might be of help to me. It would be a misstep if it is a poison apple but poison is ineffective against me so I’ll try eating it later.”
After harvesting the pure white fruit and storing it in my magic bag, I channeled magical power into the tree I pluck the fruit from.
Doing so, I felt my magical power decrease just slightly and while soaking in my own self-satisfaction, I left the food warehouse.
“Luciel-sama, you were inside for quite some time.”
“Did you discover something inside?”
I don’t know what kind of ingenious method they used but the Big Pork was already dismantled and the edible portion was separated from the other portions.
Even though they dissected it, for there to not be a single drop of blood, I could only think that they perfectly performed an extraordinary blood draining process.
Even though our conversation leaned towards the direction to not dismantle it, did they want to eat the Big Pork that badly?
I almost sighed from how much the women in this world love sweet things and meat.
They cleanly finished the dismantling and I could not think of any complaints so I decided to answer their questions.
“I gathered seasonings, vegetables and one pure white fruit.”
“Did the pure white fruit look delicious?”
“No, it’s just like a poison apple but I have resistance to poison so I wanted to try eating it. Would you like to try?”
“”No thanks.””
The two of them decline in harmony.
While looking at their ordinary reactions, we were able to confirm that the food warehouse was well-stocked to an extraordinary degree.
For that reason, I decided to cook here from now onward.
We all thought about the menu for lunch and dinner together.
I definitely want it grilled with ginger and have miso soup with pork and vegetables … but it was also hard to discard the thought of pork shabu so I thought about that as we moved towards the Magic Archive.
When we arrived at the Magic Archive, the three-person group from yesterday was waiting for our arrival.
“Good morning. Um, Meinrich-san.”
“Good morning, Luciel-sama. You may call me Elinas.”
“I see, so, how can I help you?”
“I’ve reached a slight impasse so I wish to request for your help.”
“I’m sorry but at the moment I have an order from Pope-sama so I have to prioritize that. Please allow me to decline.”
I said and was about to pass through their side when Elinas-san muttered something.
I turned back to look at Nadia and Lydia but they had suddenly stopped with astonished expressions.
I couldn’t catch what she said so I asked her.
It would be disastrous if she told me some kind of diplomatic problem.
” … What did you say? Sorry but I didn’t catch it so could you please repeat it once again?”
When I asked, her face turned bright red and she spoke while looking like she was about to cry.
” … I have no more money. My research funds have reached rock bottom and I can’t even buy the ticket to enter the Magic Archive. So could you please lend me money?”
“Eh?”
I was shocked to hear that unexpected request.
She should be receiving monetary support from the country as long as she is here.
What does it mean if she doesn’t have that?
“Shouldn’t you have money transferred from your home country?”
Nadia asked in my stead.
Since it was their home country, they were probably curious about this incident.
“That …”
As Elinas looked like she was having a hard time answering, the woman waiting behind her to the side answered.
“It has been about one year since we came to Nelldal. We have used about 10 white gold coins and the grant money that was delivered has been used up completely. We want to receive additional financing but without a single result to show …”
I could understand even if she didn’t continue.
“There should be others who came from Blange as well?”
When I asked that, the woman on the other side answered.
“The nobles in my country hold each other back so that the other person’s territory does not increase so …”
She didn’t complete her sentence but I understood what she wanted to convey.
While I was troubled by what to do, Nadia and Lydia bowed their heads for some reason.
“For now, we’ll be studying inside for the morning so we can enter together this time but please discuss with Nadia and Lydia for the future.”
“Tha, thank you very much. As expected of the Apostle of the God of Healing.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“In the Principality of Blange, Luciel-sama’s name is attached to that title. You declared that you would lead the leadership of the Healer’s Guild and reform it. A person who is capable of making slave merchants and corrupt healers his enemy which can’t normally be done. There are also various other …”
Shit, I don’t want to listen to any more.
“It’s fine. Let’s enter.”
I escaped to the Magic Archive but my stomach hurt for some reason from looking at the appearances of those five people who looked like they found it a little regretful.
Author’s note:
Thank you for reading.