Brain bloom

But now... there's a salty, fishy taste in it—that's obviously not right.

At the same time, Mori, who was about to put Fukufu back in his pocket because Fukufu was complaining that it was "too cold," felt a murderous intent and froze.

The wolf's howl, a warning of danger, echoed through the forest.

Mori prepared for battle, inwardly grumbling that he'd gone to so much trouble to try and save a girl, only to get himself into this mess. Dandelion, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief, pulled out her staff, and smiled, for she now had a legitimate reason to kill this "dangerous" character who clearly had a story to tell.

"Is anyone home?" the girl asked.

"Nobody's here..." Since he'd already been discovered, Mori complained through gritted teeth.

It's best to explain it clearly.

But the girl chuckled first: "...Then, I'll pretend I didn't find you. Hmm, you can leave now."

"Aren't you a robber?" Dandelion asked, looking disappointed.

"We only rob bad guys."

"Tsk."

The girl soothed the wolves, saying, "I know you are very, very powerful... so please don't bully me. If you're looking for treasure, it doesn't actually exist. I'm telling you the truth."

"Are you from the village?" Mori asked, intending to inquire about lodging in advance.

"...Do I look like it?" The girl found it amusing and laughed.

"Hmm, a wolf-raising village?"

"...Haha, you're such an interesting person."

The atmosphere seemed to be improving? Dandelion sensed something was wrong, and she immediately straightened her back and stepped forward—

"Thank you, young lady. It's best to avoid conflict! Enjoy your meal, and we'll be leaving now! Farewell! No need to see us off!"

Volume 1 #369 - Let's forget about it then

Although Dandelion trusted Mori, and considering common sense, the Four Seasons Ones wouldn't pay too much attention to people of other races, Dandelion still sensed a potential crisis. Her own strawberry was a coffin bearer, and this place was her country.

So, fearing that Moritoki might relapse into her divine urges and inadvertently reveal the majesty of her divine status, she might gently try to enlighten the seemingly miserable girl before her. She immediately grabbed Moritoki's skirt and forcefully pulled her back. Moritoki could only hold her skirt to prevent it from billowing up and silently follow behind.

The low growls of the wolves gradually subsided as the atmosphere calmed down.

At this moment, the girl in the red robe suddenly reminded her—

"By the way, if we need to stay overnight in the village..." A gust of cold wind blew, pausing her gentle words.

"...What's wrong?" Mori asked, turning around. "Will there be any trouble if I stay overnight?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, let's hurry up and get going!"

"—Don't mention me." The wind sank into the snow, and her voice became clear once again.

This puzzled the dandelion, causing it to stop walking.

Before the two could ask any questions, the other man pointed to the bandit's corpse, which had been devoured by wolves and reduced to a skeleton. He then pulled down his hat brim to cover his face and eyes: "I've already said it, I'm a bandit, so of course the people living in the village won't like me. On the contrary, the villagers would be happy to welcome tourists."

"So mysterious..." After thinking for a while, Dandelion said, "Are you some kind of powerful alpha wolf, transformed into a human using magic? Dressed up as a charming girl, specifically to lure humans to eat you, hmm... there are quite a few of these kinds of things."

"Princess, you know so much."

"Being well-informed and knowledgeable means you understand that the world is very complex."

"I think it's possible that they were abandoned babies raised by wolves or something..." Mori Toki used his habitual way of thinking to explain the tropes he had learned from various movies and TV shows, and that such things were quite common.

Dandelion glanced at her and questioned in a voice so low it was almost inaudible: "So, the coffin bearer is doing charity work again, saving orphaned girls?"

"Since those who believe in sending off the coffin should be treated equally."

"No, I don't believe in that kind of cheap god."

The girl in the red robe did take Mori's words to heart. Originally, the two should have parted ways and let it go, and the next day she would have forgotten what the person she had met the day before looked like... But she had a feeling of disgust towards the god "the coffin carrier".

She called the coffin bearers cheap gods.

In this country—and indeed in the entire human world—it is blasphemous.

Sen Shi looked embarrassed, while Dandelion breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that since there was a conflict, there was no need to keep dragging Sen Shi along while she held onto her dress. She could relax and listen to what terrible things this girl had gone through, as a rare pastime in the cold winter.

"This is the Kingdom of the Holy Coffin. Are there people like you who don't believe in the coffin bearers?" Mori asked.

"Of course."

"Hmm... I understand. But what about the so-called cheapness? The coffin bearers are wealthy, powerful, and noble deities. They can use countless gold coins to build castles. How can that be cheap?"

In response to Mori's serious question, the girl in the red robe pulled back her hood, revealing her face completely beneath her golden curls, but her youthful beauty was filled with sarcasm.

"Without restraint, they bestow countless amounts of gold upon humanity, and shamelessly create religions to glorify themselves. Distributing such invaluable gold... equally and arbitrarily to the poor—isn't that cheap?"

"Little sister, your thinking is very extreme."

But this seemed to have angered the other party.

She bared her sharp fangs fiercely, her red eyes brighter than ever before. The pack of wolves, having just eaten, pricked up their ears and thick fur, silently lowering their bodies, ready to pounce.

But she still retained a sliver of reason, and complained in a tearful voice—

"When you've lived for forty years and painstakingly saved up five gold coins, finally able to buy the forest where your ancestors have lived for generations, you excitedly run to the lord, only to find that even the poorest beggar has received ten brand-new gold coins to buy food..."

"...Back then, the economy was indeed in a terrible state after the shock."

"Damn coffin bearers."

Mori crossed his arms, pretending it was none of his business.

"Investment requires caution..."

"Gold coins need to circulate in order to maintain and increase their value. This is a common sense principle and a kind of wisdom. You are still very young, Granny Wolf."

"What? What wolf grandmother?"

"Aren't you very old? You even lived through that era..."

After a moment of silence, the other party became even more displeased: "Not even two hundred years old is considered old? Don't be ridiculous! If you keep mocking me, you'll really die here..."

The wolves' gazes grew even more intense; they seemed eager to feast on the girl's delicate skin and flesh. But this appetite didn't last long, as Dandelion removed the hood of her robe, revealing her perfectly grown dandelion.

An invisible pressure emanated from her casual posture. At that moment—the forest, still tinged with the stench of blood—seemed frozen for a few seconds. Sen Shi also wanted to make an appearance, but since it was inconvenient to remove his hat, he simply gave up.

The dandelion's threat was enough—Grandma Red Robe retracted her sharp teeth, squinted, and peered in with a playful expression.

"...The Four Seasons?"

"It's good to know."

The old wolf waved her hand, calming the pack's anger, and had to give way: "Four Seasons... I've learned about you from my ancestors. Since that's the case... we really shouldn't fight. But there's something else..."

Mori ignored her and instead asked thoughtfully, "In an era when wealth fell from the sky and was distributed to people to drive away hunger, were you already an adult and had any contact with the human world? Granny Wolf."

"You...you all have to say I'm old? I...I'm really still very young." She lowered her head in frustration, seemingly having forgotten how to get angry.

"That's not what I meant. If you've seen everything from that era, could you tell me about it? I'd be quite interested."

This wolf grandmother was the first life Mori encountered in the Holy Coffin Kingdom, and her life spanned across history, even before the Kingdom was established; she was already active on the social stage. This is firsthand, fresh knowledge from a first-person perspective.

Mori was very interested in everything about that era.

"Sorry, I can't."

"Why? This is easy to discuss. We're not enemies. We, the Four Seasons People, are kind and friendly and love nature the most. You, on the other hand, are the gentle wolf girl who rules this forest. We're good friends."

As Dandelion watched Sen from the side, a sense of crisis resurfaced.

Fortunately, the other party wasn't fooled so quickly: "Four Seasons, it's no use even if you say nice things. You called me 'Grandma' so many times before, now you have to pay the price before I can help you."

"...Oh, never mind then."

Book 1, Chapter 370: Pilate

Mori felt very sorry because his pockets were empty.

Although Dandelion carried quite a few gold coins, even a fool could tell she wouldn't spend money on something so trivial. Night was falling, and they should head to the village to settle down.

As for matters of that era, there are actually quite a few people one could ask. Given her status, she does know several truly formidable figures, old monsters who could be considered grandmothers. Unlike this little she-wolf who lives in seclusion, those people possess knowledge that is far more useful, having a profound understanding of the world and a deep sense of the big picture.

Okay, those are all excuses.

The key point is that Mori couldn't stand the increasingly cold weather and wanted to change out of this silly outfit as soon as possible.

"We're leaving now...bye-bye."

"Huh? You're just leaving without even asking what the consequences will be?"

"Bye-Bye."

Dandelion turned around and waved.

Watching the two Seasons Keepers gradually walk away, she felt a little anxious.

"Please, don't go yet."

"...It's so cold. I hope that village has some ale to warm me up."

"Who told you to wear so little? Come here, I'll get you a vine that can breathe hellfire to keep warm."

Without looking back, Granny Wolf could only lead her followers and hurriedly chase after them. She still had things to discuss with these Four Seasons Beings who should have been extinct but had unexpectedly appeared before her.

"Wait... I don't want money, I just want a little bit of your help."

Mori turned his head: "You're so cheap too?"

She paused, recalling the minor conflict at the beginning of their conversation: "The Four Seasons One, how can you be such a devout believer, holding a grudge over something like this? You actually defend the true God..."

"What do you want the Four Seasons to do for you?" Dandelion asked curiously.

“I can tell you anything you want to hear. But, could we talk? Since you are the Four Seasons, I… I just want to ask about farming methods. I… I’m afraid of going hungry, and the harvest has been bad lately… A few more gold coins would be even better.”

Sen Shi thought this was something worth discussing, and after a brief discussion with Dandelion, he turned away.

"How are your living conditions there? Is it warm?"

"I have very good living habits, so I have a very clean wolf den. It's quite warm when you light a campfire. If you want to eat something, there are many animals hibernating this season. Whether you eat them raw or grilled, they're all delicious."

Mori nodded, thinking that this was acceptable.