Brain bloom

"In short, I've thought it over. That place is the sphere of worship of the sea god. If you're going to conquer it, take me with you on the way. Let's see if the so-called Four Seasons are real or not."

"To defeat the sea god?"

"Didn't you say that the Evil Mist that emerged from beneath Silvermoon City was going to find the Sea God? I thought you True Gods already had a plan."

It was only then that Sen Shi realized she did indeed have such a burden on her shoulders, and she wondered when the owl would come to invite her on a long journey.

……

(It's so hard to get through without rants, sob, I have no motivation to write...)

Volume 1, Chapter 281: The Proposal

When Master Woodpecker mixed the chopped ingredients with various spices and some inexplicable powder, and then put them all into the pot, its cooking process became even stranger.

Like a shaman performing a ritual, or a bird picking up melon seeds on the ground, it hopped around the pot, muttering incantations that were hard to understand, which was quite annoying.

Mori was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, but when a morning breeze blew in through the window, carrying the smell of the pot into his nose, Mori stopped talking.

Because of its flavor, it has a very special charm.

It's not the kind of aroma that makes your stomach rumble; in fact, it lacks any "delicious" elements and has no fragrance whatsoever. Yet, it effortlessly makes your soul feel satisfied.

But a few seconds later, the soul was plunged into an even greater hunger.

Craving more.

Therefore, Mori couldn't help but be attracted by this strange smell and walked to the pot to smell it again.

“This taste is far more valuable than five thousand gold coins.” Upon seeing her, Master Woodpecker was exceptionally serious. “After you’ve eaten the breakfast I made, let me go.”

"Unless you give me money."

"I've given you so much information... Greedy Four Seasons."

Master Woodpecker's reaction was much calmer, partly because he had anticipated that offending the Four Seasons wouldn't be so easy to escape. On the other hand, he focused most of his attention on the cooking process and didn't have much time to argue with Mori.

The way it was cooked certainly had the air of a master chef.

"Oh, right, the girl from the pastry shop."

"Ah... um?" The freckled girl heard the sound and hurriedly ran over from the front desk.

"I want a timer to keep track of the cooking time."

"...I...I don't have it here."

"Ha, no? I won't ask for clocks or anything like that, but at least you should have an hourglass, right?"

The freckled girl shook her head, blushing slightly.

This infuriated the woodpecker master, who wanted to launch into a tirade of mockery. After all, she was a bread seller; using a timer to control the heat was common sense, but she hadn't…

Ke Sen suddenly stood up and blocked their way, interrupting the impending sarcasm and criticism.

"Does a master chef need a timer?"

"You...you don't understand."

"Alright, don't get so angry, I'll lend you one."

There are no cell phones in this world, but Mori Toki never worries about time because it has a time spirit. Mori Toki is very proud and takes out the time spirit, San, who lives in the broken pocket watch.

Shan looked completely bewildered when she was suddenly brought out.

Meanwhile, the probe peeked out from between the stalled gears, its body light and soft.

"Impressive, right?" Sen Shi said smugly, and casually patted Shan.

"really……"

Upon seeing it, the woodpecker master was startled and quickly took a closer look.

"I have to admit, you've got something really powerful... Alright, fine. Time Sprite, remind me to turn off the fire in ten minutes."

Shan asked Sen Shi for his opinion, and the latter nodded.

While cooking, Master Woodpecker, unable to contain his curiosity, asked Sen Shi, "Where did you get this time sprite?"

"Pick it up."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it. So you probably keep it because..."

"No, it can't be called raising... This little guy didn't say he wanted to go anywhere else, so I kept him by my side."

Mori took a spoon and secretly tasted the sauce that Master Woodpecker was making. The taste was still strange, and his tongue couldn't detect any deliciousness. Only then did Mori answer.

"As for carrying it, it's for accurate timekeeping; it's really convenient," Mori said casually.

“Indeed, throughout history, time spirits have always been celebrated because they can accurately give countdowns.” Master Woodpecker was extremely serious. “This is of great significance.”

Although Shan was praised, she didn't seem very happy; she seemed to be paying attention to something else.

Afterwards, while chopping vegetables, Master Woodpecker asked Mori a question—

"Four Seasons, it's probably not good for us to keep dragging this out. I'm setting off tomorrow to prepare for the banquet, so let's settle our score as soon as possible."

"Should we start a fight?"

"No, I've thought about it carefully. I'll provide you with a way to make money, and then you can let me go once you've made some. How about that?"

Mori scoffed. Although they both had feathers, could fly, and had impressive origins, woodpeckers were far inferior to owls, and she didn't believe his nonsense at all.

As for any "way to get rich"? Mori didn't hold out much hope.

Master Woodpecker, perhaps sensing her agreement, continued speaking—

"Although you're quite annoying, your steel forging skills are the most terrifying I've ever seen. Just like my culinary skills are shining brightly, it's a waste to let your skills go to waste. Here's what we'll do: an organization I have connections with happens to be looking to procure weapons..."

"An organization?" Mori thought to himself, this was getting more and more suspicious.

"I can't say much, but it's safe, reliable, and there are no follow-up dangers. As long as you provide enough weapons or blueprints, they will pay you a large sum of money, at least several hundred gold coins."

"It's still missing a zero."

"Wait, I'm not finished yet. To make communication easier, I'll find the city lord here and host a reward banquet. It'll be a feast where I give the food I made to those important figures, and they'll eat it with tears in their eyes and kneel before me. How about we team up and do something good?"

Although the woodpecker was lying on the chopping board slicing fish, its eyes became cunning.

Sen Shi understood what the other party meant and felt a chill run down his spine, exclaiming that it was truly too vicious.

She criticized, "You bird are truly evil. Is this your plan? You cook, I poison them, first threaten them with a non-existent antidote to force them to hand over all their assets, then poison them to death, and then ransack their bodies?"

It stared at Sen Shi with disdain and remained stunned for a long time.

"I never even thought of this kind of tactic."

"What? Is it even more vicious than this?"

"Honestly, I'm not that bad! I just wanted to hold an auction during dinner... You make a few knives that are slightly inferior to mine, then decorate them with expensive materials, do some false advertising, auction them off, and it'll be easy to make at least a few hundred gold coins..."

"Oh, is that all?" Mori felt a little disappointed.

"So, are you going to do it or not? There are quite a few wealthy people in Silver Ring City, and many people like to collect weapons. I'm not kidding you."

Sen Shi thought about it carefully and felt that the suggestion was really good. There was also plenty of time, after all, the Holy Coffin Kingdom had not yet invited her, and she had only been in Silver Ring City for a day. It would be good to be able to take a look around and gain some gold coins.

"Time's up, ten minutes are up, please turn off the stove," Shan said weakly.

"Okay, then I'll go prepare the items for the auction."

"Oh?" Master Woodpecker hadn't expected Mori to accept so easily. "Aren't you afraid I'll trick you?"

"Go ahead and trick me, then I'll have an excuse to eat woodpeckers."

Volume 1, Chapter 282: The Primal Evil

Mori left the kitchen, intending to borrow someone else's stove to make some extravagant but practical luxury items to sell.

Just as she was thinking of auctioning off a few more healing scrolls, she noticed that B was standing by the window, gazing solemnly into the distance.

"what happened?"

"Hello."

"What are you looking at, my lovely little believer?"

Even after being praised like that, B acted as if he hadn't heard it, which indicates that the situation is serious.

She respectfully invited Mori to her side, then pointed out the window to the enormous statue of the coffin bearers. Mori immediately understood, patted her shoulder, and offered her some words of comfort.

"It's alright. Although that design is completely different from mine, it's still a creation of your faith over the years, so don't worry about it. There's no need to tear it down and rebuild it."

“Okay, okay, but that’s not what I was thinking about. Look, the fingers of your statue.”

"ring?"

"The light has dimmed."

Mori squinted, noticing that the ever-shining ring seemed to have dimmed somewhat. Perhaps, in the presence of the true god, the imposter had learned its lesson? But she immediately dismissed the thought, for she had seen through the magical structure contained within it.

"That thing can monitor the concentration of evil?"

"Yes, the level of evil across the entire world. If the Evil Mist or other troubles become too powerful, then it will dim."

B spoke with a hint of disappointment, and his hand, which had been resting on the hilt of his sword, seemed unsure of where to go next.

"Somewhere in the world, evil is beginning to rise?"

“Yes, yesterday the light was as bright as usual. But this morning… I think it might be the ominous mist beneath Silvermoon City…”

Senshi recounted to B what they had seen and heard at the underwater ruins. When she heard that Ewu was going to join forces with the evil sea god, she nodded in understanding, but became even more somber.

This is understandable; paladins cannot laugh in the face of such bad news.

"The banquet should be stopped. I need to return home to discuss with the Pope whether we should organize a Holy Expeditionary Force. Perhaps, like the eve of that war, it will be shrouded in darkness."

"Don't worry too much about E'wu," Mori said. "Just enjoy your banquet."

This was also what she truly felt, because a mere wisp of evil mist forming an alliance with a rural god wouldn't create much of a ripple, let alone a tsunami. Even if such a trend emerged, the Ancient Demon King and the Primordial Evil Dragon would likely strike first.

"The woodpecker has made breakfast; bring me a bowl."

After saying that, Mori returned to the kiln to prepare for blacksmithing.