Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Angsar's Dream (4)
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[One Trusted by the Forest]
[You are the trusted agent of Linshaka, the goddess of forests and earth.]
[The divine power of Linshaka dwelling within you reaches its maximum.]
[The forests and earth under Linshaka's care will trust you.]
[The forests and earth under Linshaka's care will protect you above all else.]
[The impure will fear you even more.]
-Meow.
-Myaaaaaooow.
-Nyaang.
I stroked the heads of the cats gathered under the cat tree while carefully reading through the description of my newly evolved title.
As the trait [One Loved by the Forest] evolved into the trait [One Trusted by the Forest], the divine power of Linshaka within me had reached the absolute maximum a human could handle.
It wasn't at the level of a saint or holy knight. But for someone who wasn't even a priest to attain this much divine power was next to impossible. It was only achievable through the direct favor of a god!
To survive as a druid, I'd need Linshaka's steady help going forward. So, even if Donar was a bit displeased, there was no helping it.
Besides...
If anything, Donar bore some responsibility for the disaster that struck Dihid, so he could suck it up.
Donar was a god with influence rivaling the sun god Arjan. But Donar wasn't content as second-in-command and was aggressively expanding his forces to claim the throne of supreme god over Arjan.
That's where Donar's unexpected "problem" arose.
Having bulked up so hastily, his faction lacked solidity. He'd focused solely on numbers, neglecting to properly manage the core priests who formed its backbone...
'Stagnant water turns rotten.'
The Crows had surely sniffed out that rot and come crawling.
Humans weren't beings sustained by faith alone. In a way, they were as complex as gods. What made up a human wasn't just positive energies like faith, love, friendship, and hope.
Desire, distrust, anger, hatred...
Those were elements of humanity too.
The priests of Donar Temple and Dihid's lord were no different—beings driven by desire.
But the gods remained oblivious.
Or perhaps they turned a blind eye despite knowing.
That's where so many tragedies began.
After the gods destroyed Angsar, the nations vying for continental hegemony gradually restored order after long years of strife. The continent returned to peace. At least, it seemed so for now.
But evidence proving otherwise was cropping up everywhere—traces of the one inciting this world's doom.
"...Linshaka. Do you know about this?"
No answer came. Instead, a leaf glowing faintly with divine power rustled lightly in the breeze.
Well, whatever.
Unlike the people of this pseudo-medieval land, I had no intention of leaving everything to the gods.
This was reality, but it was still a game.
No game gets resolved with NPCs handling everything.
If the player sits idle, the game never reaches its ending.
So why would I just sit back and watch?
"With that said, I look forward to your continued support."
I placed my hand on the cat tree and slowly infused it with mana. The tree, which I'd thought fully grown, swelled even thicker and larger upon receiving the mana, soon reaching the size of a house. I planted several purification trees around the massive cat tree, filling the empty spaces densely with moonflowers. Once I erected a statue of Linshaka in front, it would make for a fine shrine.
I'd told Donar I had no plans to build a "temple," but if enough people frequented this shrine, it would naturally evolve into one. The thought of how furious that would make Donar brought a grin to my face. But it wasn't me building the temple, was it? What could he do?
'If you're bitter, you should've managed your temples better from the start.'
I finished tidying up around the garden, then returned to the castle.
* * *
"It's finally done."
El wiped the sweat beading on his forehead and grumbled as he neatly stacked the empty grain sacks.
"To be honest, Master. Even if you declared yourself Dihid's lord today, no one would bat an eye—not even His Imperial Majesty."
"Watch your mouth, El."
"Yes, yes. But you know I'm right. Preparing the city's reconstruction, handing out every last bit of food... Sometimes I wonder how you manage all this, Master."
That's because I'm a fine young man who completed mandatory education back in Korea. I can't stand seeing others starve... But El wouldn't get that. I just laughed it off in lieu of an answer and helped him gather the empty sacks.
He was right.
Though Adena was procuring grain and supplies on her way back from the Barak Empire's capital, Dihid already had a huge number of people who'd starved for ages. And we'd burned all the contaminated rations...
For now, all I could do was distribute what little food I had. Of course, it wasn't a free handout—I planned to bill Adena properly for everything.
In any case, hunger wasn't exclusive to Dihid's folk. We'd endured hardships too, barely filling our bellies with jerky and energy bars. A proper meal was sorely needed.
"Quit grumbling. We're having a real meal today too."
"...For real?"
"For real."
We'd given away nearly all our food to the domain's people, so not much remained... But what could we do? No feast tonight—if chicken can't replace pheasant, we'd make do with what we had.
"Let's prepare dinner before Lloyd gets back."
"Yes."
Lloyd was patrolling the city with a volunteer patrol of locals. Plenty of time before he returned, so we'd prep dinner in advance.
"Let's see... Eggs are completely out."
What was left: dried rabbit meat, a salmon Ayla had caught, and a few veggies like eggplant and zucchini.
The castle storeroom wasn't stocked with anything impressive. Butter was about the most usable thing.
"Rabbit stew, salmon steak, and ratatouille it is."
For the rabbit stew, toss the meat bones and all into boiling water. Add chopped potatoes and tomatoes, then a generous—very generous—helping of butter. Throw in all the herbs without sparing any, and now just let it simmer. The longer it goes with the bones, the richer the broth, and the dried meat will tenderize beautifully. A bit of dried chili—something locals didn't eat—would add a spicy kick to warm us up.
Ayla's salmon was thicker than Lloyd's thigh. Slitting the belly revealed juicy, orange flesh dripping with fat! I was tempted to slice off some sashimi right then, but eating raw fish in this pseudo-medieval land was suicide. Steak it was—safely grilled.
I heated an iron pan with herbs and butter, laid on thick salmon slices, and soon the sizzle filled the air alongside a salty, savory aroma. While the steaks browned nicely, I whipped up the ratatouille.
Slice eggplant and zucchini thin, layer them, ladle rabbit stew over, smother in ground tomato puree, and boil vigorously. When it looks nearly done, blanket with cheese for a rich ratatouille.
"Shame there's no bread to go with it..."
"Something smells good."
"Oh, Lloyd. Back already?"
Lloyd peeked at the golden salmon steaks, then turned to me.
"Need any help?"
"Grab some utensils and plates, if you would."
"Sure."
It was amusing watching a warrior who swung massive swords handle forks and plates so delicately. With the cooking mostly done, I whistled for Ayla and tossed her the remaining half salmon. She rushed in, plopped in a kitchen corner, and started crunching from head to tail.
"Alright, let's eat."
"Finally!"
El whooped and scrambled to his seat. It felt like ages since we'd sat down to eat as a trio like this. I plated a salmon steak for each...
*Theo. Me. Forgot?*
"...Ugh, no way. As if I'd forget you."
I quickly set my plate in front of Legion, then transferred the last steak to another. Legion blinked her red eyes, inspected the steak from all angles, then chomped in with crunching sounds. A palm-sized lizard devouring a steak bigger than herself...
'Cute, but...'
Phew, thank goodness this wasn't her true form. If it were, she'd devour the whole castle...
*Theo. Tasty.*
"Suits your taste? Try this too. Ratatouille."
*Theo. Tasty.*
"Good, glad to hear it. Eat up."
*Theo. Me. Want more. Lots more.*
"Hm, sorry, but make do with this for today. I'll let you gorge soon."
*Theo...*
"...Fine. Fine."
I patted the sulking Legion's head, then scooped half my steak onto her plate.
'Ah, is this what it feels like raising a kid...?'
I watched her polish off the steak, then savored my remaining half bite by bite. Suddenly...
'Why am I thinking of Mom...?'
Mom spreading mackerel on my rice—did she feel like this? To reminisce about Mom's love watching a tiny lizard—no, dragon.
*Theo. Me. Happy.*
"...Yeah, yeah. Want more?"
Guess living the long haul in this fantasy Sergeant Yuse world has its moments.