The Serpent Church (8)
The Serpent Church (8)
"No matter how you look at it, this is..."
"Eating a monster..."
"Oh, just be quiet for a second."
First, I boiled it. This wasn't meat. Which meant my skill wouldn't work properly on it.
I lit a fire in my hand. I started heating the shell. The amount of innards was staggering.
First... should I at least add some water?
If I'd known it would come to this, I should have actually studied a cookbook. I shoved ice into the shell as it began to boil. The ice melted into water, and...
A fishy stench began to fill the ice cave.
"Ugh."
"Brother. This is a bit much."
"It's still a test batch. We can't exactly starve."
I almost sneaked a taste of the sizzling test batch, then stopped myself.
Ah, shit.
Why is it so fishy?
"The fishy smell... getting rid of the fishy smell..."
If I could just get rid of the fishiness, it seemed like it might be edible somehow.
Spices... maybe?
I glanced over at the Serpent Church. There was no unspoken line between us, but this was almost the first time we'd talked outside of combat.
But so what.
I had already dropped the formal speech with Isabella!
I stood up and strode toward the Serpent Church. The inquisitors blocked my path.
"Brother! Where are you going!"
"Those wretches are wicked heretics!"
"The only time we can trust them at our backs is in battle!"
"There's no way I can make this edible on my own. Just stay back for a bit. You're all nothing but cowards."
Radatok waved the inquisitors aside. His eyes, looking at me, were brimming with enormous trust.
"Leave Brother Zahard alone."
"B-but... it's dangerous..."
"He must have some idea."
His favorability felt like it had blown through the ceiling and punched a hole above it.
The trust of Radatok, one of the big shots.
My whole body was tingling.
"Hey there."
The sprawled-out Serpent Church members flinched. They immediately grabbed their weapons.
"Who...!"
Then they saw me and quietly set their weapons back down.
"Ahem. What is it?"
I'd built up no small amount of trust with them too. Compared to the other inquisitors who kept hesitating, I'd openly helped them.
"Is Isabella here?"
"...Why the captain...?"
"I'm trying to make this edible."
I held out the shell. A Serpent Church follower recoiled and clutched his nose.
"Food waste...?"
"It's not that bad. Anyway, is she here?"
"What does that have to do with the captain?"
"It does. Among the food you're carrying, you've got some spices, right?"
"......"
"Come on, don’t be stingy. Seriously. We fought together, didn’t we? I know you have more spices than food."
"How do you know that?"
"Isabella used to bring snacks with her."
"...What?"
"Anyway, let's cook this so we can all eat and survive together."
"That's a monster..."
"Monster or not, once it's in your stomach it's all the same."
"......."
. . .
Isabella joined the cooking research group.
"You really..."
"What’s wrong, Big Sis?"
"Watch how you address me."
Isabella, who had been clearing her throat and fumbling over her words in front of Radatok, lowered her voice.
"I'll lend you the spices. But there's a condition. We take half of the monster carcass."
"Agreed. However..."
Radatok frowned.
"Can this even be called cooking?"
The fishy smell surged up. I took out some of the spices. The ones that would suppress that awful stench.
The first thing I took out was whole peppercorns.
"Aren't those a bit big to just toss in?"
"They probably need to be ground..."
"I'll do it."
Isabella tossed the peppercorns into the air. Her sword flashed—shhk, shhk, shhk.
The powdered pepper was scattered over the shell. As the pepper's aroma suppressed the fishiness, breathing became much easier.
"Hoo."
Now then, let's see...
"Who wants to taste it?"
"......"
"......"
Everyone my gaze landed on averted their eyes. I casually pointed at one of the serpent believers.
"Eat up."
"Wh-why me?!"
"Because the person researching the cooking has to survive to the end so everyone here can eat their fill!"
I scooped broth into a piece of shell and held it out.
"Please savor the flavor before you die."
"Before I die?! Did this bastard just say before I die?!"
"Oh, come on. Just eat it."
"It's not like you'll actually die."
"You bastards! It's easy for you to say...! No! No! Nooo...!"
I poured the broth into the man's mouth. The serpent believer's eyes went wide.
"De... deli..."
"Delicious?"
"This tastes fucking insaaaaane!!!"
The man's eyes rolled back. He thrashed on the ground, drool spilling out. Then he passed out.
Still not enough. The fishiness wasn't the only problem. The taste itself seemed to have issues too.
The inquisitors quietly healed him. Fortunately, his life didn't seem to be in danger.
"If it's enough to make someone faint, what kind of taste is it?"
"It's definitely not something that should be eaten."
"Could it be poisoned?"
The three of us whispered, then tossed in different spices this time.
"If we keep adding things, it'll work out somehow."
People dropped like flies.
In droves, even.
. . .
Hunger drives people mad. That was established academic doctrine.
We were slowly going mad. The shells had begun to look like nothing more than lumps of food.
"Kill it!"
"We need to kill at least one more to keep researching!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! I'd rather die than eat that shit!"
"Crayfish! Hunt crayfish too!"
"Those little bastards might taste better!"
"After you take them down, don't let them take the corpses!"
The inquisitors and the Serpent Church paladins were working better together by the day. By now they guarded each other's backs as naturally as a single team.
I pushed forward with the cooking research. Fortunately, the spices were fairly plentiful.
It felt like we'd used a lot, but when I actually counted, it was only a small portion.
"Test subject 164..."
I scooped up some shell and fed it to the serpent believer next to me.
The man's eyes rolled back and he fainted.
"Recipe failed."
Nearly twenty days had already passed. And yet that damn Stage 3 hadn't appeared.
What the hell was going on? Had someone been tossing food to that damn giant octopus bastard ahead of time?
There was no time to dwell on the question. We were surviving on these unbelievably fucking disgusting shells.
First, making this into something a person could actually eat.
Isabella muttered vacantly. Her eyes, after surviving on the foul shells, had lost all focus.
"I'd rather just die..."
Radatok was staring blankly at the wall. Each day, he spent more time repeating meaningless actions.
"Divine Judge... you mustn’t..."
The peculiar taste of the shells could break down even the most formidable willpower.
['Sun God's Prayer' activates.]
[Blocks mental corruption.]
The only reason I hadn't broken down was my skill. My tongue was going numb, but I was still alive.
"Test subject... 227..."
I changed the recipe again. And at last, I found it.
"Test subject 328."
Before the shell gleaming in brilliant colors, tears welled in my eyes.
"Suc...cess..."
[You have acquired Seafood Cooking (F).]
[The rank of Seafood Cooking (F) increases.]
[Seafood Cooking (B).]
-You can make those things, infamous for tasting awful, into this...? What kind of miracle...?
I slowly pushed the food that had astonished Sun God Ra into my mouth.
Proper spices and a control of fire that only I could achieve.
The broth of the shell, made under exquisite control of Sacred Power, spread through my mouth.
"This is... this is...!"
My whole body trembled as if it would explode.
"It's... delicious...!"
I immediately began distribution. I took care of Isabella first, who was crawling on the ground.
"Big Sis, try this."
"Please... stop... the torture..."
"Just try it, I'm telling you."
As I pushed it into her mouth, Isabella's eyes changed. She shot up and latched onto the shell, shoveling it down.
"Insane!! Fucking delicious!!!"
Radatok was no different. Tears streaming down his face, he latched onto the shell.
"Brother."
"Yes?"
"No matter what happens, I will protect you."
I'd even gotten an oath of loyalty out of a single dish. I really am the best.
Watching the people I'd saved, a sense of pride washed over me. But I couldn't stop here.
I smiled benevolently like a saint and personally grilled the shells for them. The Serpent Church members, who had been wolfing it down, eventually began calling me priest.
Reputation Up!
"Priest... ahh..."
"May... light... be upon... the priest..."
Ra clicked her tongue at the bizarre atmosphere.
-If Naga had seen this, she'd have been shocked.
"Isn't she watching right now?"
-...Probably. She may not be able to make contact because of me.
Ra whispered.
-She probably wants to thank you. Naga may not look it, but she’s surprisingly warmhearted. She must have felt terrible watching Isabella die.
"...So?"
-I'll step aside for a moment. Reach out to Isabella. The churches dislike each other, but that's of little concern to us. She likely bears you no hostility. Rather...
"She'll want to give me something?"
-Exactly.
Ra laughed ominously.
-We should take whatever we can take. To save my world, we'll have to make use of the other gods too, won't we?
"Heh heh. As expected of my god."
-Demand every bit of causality she possesses. If things go well, you might even be able to wring a Sacred Relic out of her.
"That goes without saying."
Watching the Sun God grow more wicked by the day filled me with pride.
Yes!
That's what a proper backer looks like!