Chapter 329: Methods of Making Food

The docks of Sevia.

Rekdun sat beside the fireplace of a café, writing and pausing on a sheet of pale yellow paper.

"Do you know how to summon a messenger of your own?"

Is Miss Messenger about to make her appearance? Looking at Klein's question on the pale yellow paper, Rekdun slowly curled the corners of his mouth, then wrote his reply:

"Given your status, even if you just casually pick some incantation, creatures of the spirit world will scramble to come sign a contract with you."

A moment later, new writing surfaced on the pale yellow paper:

"A Seven Lights of the Spirit World delivering a letter in person?"

"Is this really just delivering a letter, and not intimidation?"

Paying no mind to Klein's doubts, Rekdun casually wrote:

"Why don't you use 'a unique existence willing to become your messenger'? Let the spirit world creatures apply for the position themselves—their internal competition will weed out the weak and the not-smart-enough ones. You'd most likely gain a demigod, or even an angel-level messenger on the spot."

Far away in Bayam, Klein, who had already changed to a different inn, felt his mouth twitch slightly, but quickly suppressed it.

A demigod, or even an angel? Is this finding a messenger or hiring a thug... Let me wait for Mr. Azik's reply first. If that doesn't work, I'll try the method of letting spirit world creatures come to apply on their own—though it doesn't feel very reliable.

After a brief moment of thought, he wrote new lines on the letter paper:

"The Storm Church has put a bounty on you across the entire Rorsted waters—it's been raised to 150,000 pounds."

"We intercepted the characteristics of Kavitua, which is enough to enrage all the upper echelons of the Storm Church. Don't be too conspicuous lately—that 'Sea King' might even come after you personally."

In the café in Sevia, Rekdun looked at Klein's reminder and replied with a touch of helplessness:

"I already know..."

Setting down the fountain pen in his hand, Rekdun leaned back in his chair and took a sip of this shop's signature 'sea salt coffee.' Hmm, on the salty side, slightly bitter, the taste was a bit odd, but not bad.

While he was savoring his coffee, two figures walked into the café and sat down directly in the two chairs opposite Rekdun.

"Good afternoon, you two~"

Rekdun set down his coffee and greeted Ethan and Phoenix with a light smile.

As he spoke, he raised his right hand slightly, spreading out his spirituality, and without a sound, created a wall of spirituality that isolated the inside from the outside.

As soon as he sat down, Ethan couldn't help but complain:

"We haven't seen each other for just one night, and your bounty from the Storm Church has gone up over a dozen times... Do you know what a temptation that is for a poor person from the Southern Continent?"

"You could try reporting me—even just some information should earn you a portion of the bounty."

After thinking quite seriously, Rekdun offered a suggestion.

"He's just making a joke." Phoenix explained in a calm tone, then asked curiously:

"You took Kavitua's remnants?"

Rekdun shook his head gently:

"It's related to me, but I certainly didn't take it."

"Kavitua's characteristics were mixed together with those of its believers, forming a mystical item with negative effects so strong it's virtually unusable. It's already been sent away for sealing."

Phoenix nodded gently without dwelling on the question, and asked instead:

"'Sea God' has once again responded to believers. It—no, he now—has changed his image and delivered a new covenant..."

"Your information channels are impressive!"

Less than half a day had passed since it happened, and they'd already gotten this much information... Rekdun supplemented in his mind what he didn't say aloud.

Phoenix gave a noncommittal, gentle nod and said:

"Wherever there are spirits, I have my informants."

"On the vast seas, I can command more nature spirits. They like to blend into nature, are sufficiently concealed, and can easily obtain information that isn't too secret."

A lot of explanation, very organized—not much like his personal habit. It must be a habit left from prolonged association with people of the Church of Knowledge. While pondering this, Rekdun smiled and said thoughtfully:

"The sudden fall of the Sea God will inevitably cause its fanatical believers to fall into a process of self-doubt and self-redemption. They will hold mass living sacrifices to evoke the Sea God's response, which would be an unnecessary trouble and disaster for the Rorsted archipelago."

Ethan, sitting diagonally across, leaned back against the chair, narrowed his eyes slightly, and in a flat voice supplemented what Rekdun had left unsaid:

"Moreover, by taking in the believers of the 'Sea God,' you gain more channels at sea, and can also limit the Storm Church to a certain extent—while conveniently harvesting a batch of faith!"

Rekdun merely smiled lightly, making no response to this topic.

After a moment of silence, Ethan changed the subject and said:

"Mr. Plac has agreed to your previous proposal, but—we want to know your true purpose for involving yourself in the Southern Continent's conflicts."

"True purpose..." murmuring softly, Rekdun leaned back, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"To establish a new faith, develop civilization, and spread knowledge."

"To be precise, faith is actually secondary. Advancing civilization and knowledge is the primary goal... This involves certain rituals—rituals after reaching the higher sequences."

Ethan and Phoenix exchanged a glance. He frowned slightly and asked:

"For something like this, wouldn't the more developed Northern Continent be more suitable?"

Rekdun shook his head slightly and explained:

"The Northern Continent's foundational conditions are indeed better, but the landscape there is already set. Unless a devastating Divine War breaks out among the seven gods, there's simply no opportunity for me to intervene."

After a brief silence, Ethan continued asking:

"What do you think of the faith in the Death God of the Southern Continent?"

Rekdun unhurriedly took a sip of coffee before answering:

"The Death God? I have no opinion on it. The Death God can no longer appear—a Sequence 1 angel is already the ceiling of this pathway."

"Because of the existence of the Goddess of the Night?"

Phoenix asked curiously—this was something he'd happened to hear his father mention.

"... The Lord of Slumber and Silence?"

"That one is trying to seize the authority belonging to death? Don't the other six gods stop it?"

Ethan murmured with slight puzzlement; in his understanding, the other six gods would never allow the Goddess of the Night to dominate alone.

"Some will try to stop it, some will support it — it depends on each of Their choices of allies."

Rekedon did not elaborate much on this topic, only touching on it briefly before changing the subject:

"If you have no other questions, you can wait two days for me. I'll settle my affairs, and then we can go to the Southern Continent."

Ethan exchanged a glance with Phoenix beside him, then nodded gently and replied:

"That's fine."

Silver City.

After receiving the grain through the bestowal ritual, following inspection by the six-person council and professionals, and confirming there were no problems, they still cautiously chose to have a small group of people try it first.

Derrick was among this group; he took his own share of grain and returned to his dwelling.

Setting down the snake-skin sack that was a little less than half full of grain, he gently rubbed his fingers together, producing a pale golden flame that lit the remaining half-stub of a candle on the table; dim yellow light instantly illuminated the entire room.

He took out the parchment he kept in his chest — it was the rewritten list of various grain names, along with instructions for consumption.

"This is flour? And dried meat? Dried meat can be eaten directly, or boiled in soup; flour can be used to make bread or noodles? What is bread?"

Derrick stared at the white powdery flour before him, and the dried meat that looked like strips of desiccated flesh, lost in thought. He had no experience preparing any food other than black-faced grass, and for a moment did not know where to begin.

After a moment's hesitation, he chose to pray to Mr. Fool:

"Fool who does not belong to this era, mysterious Sovereign above the gray fog, King of Yellow and Black who wields good fortune."

"Respected Mr. Fool, I wish to seek from the members of the Tarot Club some methods for preparing food. In Silver City our only food is black-faced grass, and we do not really know the techniques for turning grain into food."

Above the gray fog, he had just completed a Sea God act, calming a storm for Sea God believers who had encountered a shipwreck.

The deep-red star representing the Little Sun suddenly brightened, rippling out layers of deep-red, water-wave-like undulations; the Little Sun's prayer echoed in his ears.

Methods for preparing food? Sure enough, the people of Silver City, living in the Forsaken Land, simply could not understand the simple instructions Al had written. Or rather, it was not that they could not understand, but that they had no concept of many of the terms.

After pondering for a moment, Klein left the space above the gray fog.

He had no intention of having the members of the Tarot Club collect recipes for the Little Sun — it was the same nature as the instructions Rekedon had written before; the people of Silver City, lacking the relevant common knowledge, would probably find it very hard to understand. A practical demonstration would still be necessary.

As he was thinking, he pushed open the door and walked over to Daniz, who was lying in a lounge chair.

Under Klein's icy gaze, Daniz leapt up from the lounge chair as though his hackles had been raised, and with a stiff expression looked at Klein before him and said:

"Do you have any orders for me?"

Why did I say that so submissively! My dignity... is it completely gone now!

Klein looked calmly at Daniz and said:

"Can you prepare food?"

"Prepare... food?"

"Y-yes, I can. We mix among the sea, and we don't always have a cook available. Uh, though it definitely won't taste very good — just enough to fill the stomach, really."

Daniz responded with a slight stammer. It really was about preparing food? Not about making poison or explosives or something?

Whether it tastes good doesn't matter, as long as he can make it; otherwise, if I specifically went to find a chef to demonstrate his culinary skills in front of me, they'd probably think I was there to steal his techniques. Klein muttered to himself, then said in a flat voice:

"Go find a house with a kitchen, and buy some ingredients — buy a little of each. You don't need much, but the variety must be sufficient."

"Huh?"

(End of this chapter)