Brain bloom

It seems this guy was just using drugs to fool people, but she's resistant, Mori thought. What an unreliable charlatan, what a load of rubbish! Luckily, she had the foresight to pull out some leftover bread from someone else's stall; it's better than going hungry.

"I will keep this a secret, coffin bearer."

"That's good. I won't hold it against you for lying to me. I hope you'll use that kitchen knife well."

"Let's get down to business."

"Yeah, when does the auction start?" Mori tapped her fingers on the table, her voice full of impatience. Only the gleaming color of the gold coins and the familiar feeling she had for the Holy Letter could bring her joy.

“I mean… the primordial evil.” Master Woodpecker’s tone was serious for the first time. “What do you intend to do?”

"Find two helpers and take down the Sea God."

"helper?"

"The ancient calamity dragon that tore apart the truth, and the ancient demon king."

"You...you really intend to help?" It was clearly incredulous. "You are a Four Seasons Being...but I'm relieved that you're helping, yes, I'm really relieved."

Mori didn't intend to pay attention to this kind of seasonal discrimination. Although it was true that Dandelion was like that, she was different and very kind.

Besides, a long time ago, I made a deal with the owls to purify the primordial evil in exchange for information about Eden Bank.

It was a strange place name, and it connected to many things she had experienced since then. Even after the restoration of her country, if she wanted to find a place to live in seclusion, she couldn't do it in a muddled way.

She wanted to know about the meteor shower that destroyed her world, and the mysteries of this world.

Besides that, she understood even more clearly that something existed right beneath her feet, deeper than those ruins.

Even though the ruins inhabited by traveling souls were teeming with ominous mists and bizarre guardian monsters, they shouldn't have been enough to scare that lovely young lady from the black cat family to death. She never spoke of it, but the matter lingered like a dark cloud, weighing heavily on her mind.

Since you've remembered, why not ask?

"Eden Bank".

"……What's wrong?"

"As a former true god, do you know anything, Master Woodpecker?"

“Just call me Neil. After all, you're not one of those stupid humans. As for Eden Bank…”

Seeing its hesitation, Mori took a bite of the undercooked rice and forced a charming smile: "Delicious."

Master Woodpecker froze, taking several steps back with his claws before finally laughing for a while at Sen Shi's witty remark.

"I'm not quite sure either, it's a very old... very old place."

"...Damn it, it really tastes awful."

"But I know something else."

"Well... let's stick to the taste."

"You know that the world is three interlocking rings, just like the foundation of magic, the Barahbrot Triad. The realm of demons, the human world, and the world of gods—these three worlds are all circles, overlapping and merging."

Mori nodded in understanding, because the structure of any magic is built on the foundation of the "Barahbrot Third Rank Array." And the structure of this world is exactly the same.

"But Eden Bank is a bit strange. The 'traveling souls' have long believed that the true God resides in Eden Bank and want to find the true God."

"Why do we need to find the true God? And specifically, which true God?"

"A true god who is much older than you and me... and of a higher rank. As for the purpose, as far as I know, it seems that this true god and the 'traveling soul' had some kind of special agreement that was not fulfilled... For more details, you should ask the ancient king of demons."

Sen Shi shrugged; receiving such an ambiguous statement didn't help much.

Its words immediately piqued Mori's interest.

“But…we all know that God resides in the realm of the gods. Why would He be associated with a place called ‘Eden Bank’? That’s very strange.”

"Yes... I also have doubts." Although I'm only starting to have these thoughts now.

"Therefore, there have always been three schools of thought on the 'soul of travel,' who believe that there are other mysteries in the human world, something deeper... something that exists beneath the deeper earth, that is the Bank of Eden. So most of them are digging into the world beneath our feet."

Upon hearing this, Mori's eyes lit up, confirming his own thoughts.

Three factions? That's new information.

"Another faction believes that the so-called Eden Bank is the realm of the gods, so they try to reach upwards."

“Hmm, Lord Balzac…” Mori muttered to himself, arms crossed.

"Besides that, there's another faction, which, as far as I know, is the oldest. Their views are a bit strange."

Before speaking, Master Woodpecker scanned his surroundings. Everyone was still lost in the afterglow of his cooking, numb as statues, before continuing the conversation.

Volume 1 #293 - What a farce!

"This faction believes that the so-called Eden Bank may not exist at all."

Sen Shi was not surprised by this news.

Rather, it felt peaceful and normal. This peculiar place name, which is mentioned from time to time, is full of mystery, but after so long, even the gods seem unable to find its location.

Perhaps it once existed? But it has now completely disappeared.

Perhaps, this is the world she lived in.

The game world doesn't have the word "bank" or the concept of it, but the term has taken root and developed here, even being given the name Eden. And Eden, likewise, isn't part of this world's mythology.

From the moment she heard it, Mori had deduced from the nostalgia she felt that Eden Bank was the world she lived in... Perhaps there was some connection, but now that it had been baptized by the meteorite, it was meaningless no matter what.

At least... that's what Mori thought.

The next step is to verify whether this line of thinking is correct. This is not difficult; as long as the seemingly serious "primordial evil" is resolved, the answer to the problem can be obtained from the ancient demon king.

“Perhaps, I come from Eden Bank,” Mori said out of the blue.

"Uh?"

"But I don't know if it is... um, whatever."

Master Woodpecker stared at the knife in bewilderment for a while, then finally gave up on the topic. It had already given too much; it could barely be considered to have paid the price for the kitchen knife.

“I’m going back to the kitchen. The shock value of my cooking will be revealed soon, and the auction will begin. I estimate that your sacred blade can sell for at least a thousand gold coins… Tsk tsk, something crafted by the true god himself, given the name of a sacred relic, to deceive believers… As expected of the Four Seasons.”

"They're just blind."

Master Woodpecker smiled, flapped his wings, and silently returned to the kitchen.

……

Gradually, the people at the banquet seemed to awaken from a dream.

The unprecedented feeling of fullness lingered in their minds, making it difficult for them to clear their heads. Fortunately, Master Woodpecker had specially arranged for them to drink some refreshing mint tea afterwards.

"What incredible food..."

"really……"

"I've heard that some people have eaten Master Neil's cooking and then starved to death because they couldn't swallow other mundane things... It seems that it really wasn't a lie."

After a brief exchange, the organizers seized the opportunity and mysteriously set up a stage.

"You, the one who carried the coffin, once saved a man." A complex and deeply affectionate voice suddenly rang out.

These people finally came to their senses and listened politely.

Making noise before this deity is highly impolite. But some uninformed people, their faith overshadowed by curiosity, bring up the coffin carrier at this juncture. Does this mean the upcoming auction is related to this?

Mori listened with curiosity.

"That man was very pitiful. He had no parents when he was a child. He was a prostitute in the street who picked him up after his parents threw him into the sewer... and raised him to adulthood. He suffered a lot in his childhood and was also humiliated by vulgar yellow-toothed prostitutes."

The storyteller slowly emerged from behind the curtain, and together with many hired strongmen, escorted the auction items to the front of the stage.

"After that, he fell into despair and descended into depravity. With a stolen knife, he killed the man who had humiliated him. Then, driven to despair, he would kill a vile person every night and wail incessantly. His life became corrupt, and his soul decayed along with it."

Is this an auction? Mori stood there, stunned.

What's the story behind this?

"Later, he killed a total of seventy-nine villains, both men and knives corroded by vulgar blood. His bounty once reached one hundred thousand gold coins; he was a monster feared throughout that country... What a terrifying man! A deranged serial killer!"

The crowd whispered among themselves, while Sen Shi stared in disbelief.

What is all this stuff...?

Suddenly, the storyteller raised his hand and exaggeratedly traced the outline of the alphabet across his chest.

But then the coffin bearers appeared!

All eyes were drawn to them, and they even forgot what they had just eaten.

The coffin bearers extended a helping hand to the depraved killer, saying, "Even in death, your sins cannot be atoned for. I can give you a difficult path, but at least you can atone for your sins."

The crowd buzzed with excitement and curiosity, their emotions fueling the increasingly lively atmosphere.

Seeing this, the storyteller waved his hand and pushed the object lying in the exquisite box to the forefront. Several beams of light magic immediately shone from all directions, and the box was finally opened.

The blood-stained, rusted blade, with its simple design, clearly showed that it had stabbed countless people in the stomach.

But a rich, pure, and sacred aura permeated the air, gentle and refreshing, reminding everyone of their mother's embrace.

It can purify everything and elevate the soul.

"This...this level of sacred artifact!"

"It was worth the trip! It was definitely worth it..."

"It's unbelievable that they're going to put it up for auction."

"Yes! The coffin bearers saved that sorrowful man, pulling him out of the mire. The man spent the rest of his life praying and saving others, thus elevating his soul and atoning for the sins of his earlier life! Praise be to the coffin bearers!"

Sen Shi suspected that his face had been twisted into a stupid expression.

How did this story turn out like this? If it weren't for the gold coins, she would have liked to run all the way and jump into the sea, swimming to some dark, sunless place, so as not to be embarrassed.

But she still held her hands, very curious about how much her things would fetch after all this hype.

The organizers came out and said, "This relic will be auctioned off last. There's one more thing: whoever buys it must hand it over to the Pope. It is a magnificent cultural treasure of our country, of extraordinary significance."

Some foreign guests, not understanding, hesitated and asked, "Is it a rule set by the seller?"

"No, it was an order that the current Pope and His Majesty the secular king immediately sent someone to convey after hearing the news of the relic's appearance in the world."

"...The Pope?!"