Episode 463: The Increasing Number of Slaves (3)
In the royal kitchen, he has been giving cooking lessons all day long.
Of course, it’s not like they’re stuck in the kitchen idly.
‘Because the disappearance of a large amount of ingredients from the royal kitchen might have something to do with the Black Room.’
Didn’t I tell you to beat the stone bridge?
A royal cook brought him some vegetables.
“I trimmed the ingredients as you asked.”
The thorns of the stem are visible.
No matter how good a royal chef is, it is far from easy to remove all the thorns from the stem with just a knife.
Ray glanced at it and shook his head.
“Do it again.”
Three days to teach cooks in the royal kitchen.
Now his tone had become that of an instructor.
The royal chef turned around without a word.
“All right.”
They saw another side of the saint, but they rather liked it.
When you teach without being formal and needless, you do it with all your might.
Also, after experiencing a knight whose skills increase just by following his words, he could no longer disobey the saint’s words.
Ray, the person in charge, is boringly guarding the kitchen, but the chefs around him are making progress thanks to him.
“Ugh. This is strange.”
The polite cook with a shaggy beard tilted his head.
“What happen?”
“I think the ingredients have changed a little. I think there were three baskets this way this morning…”
He says and points to a corner where the vegetables are lined up.
Then, only one remaining basket of potatoes was left alone.
On the surface, it didn’t seem like much of a problem.
But this is the royal kitchen, not another place.
As it is the place where food is delivered to the king, it was a place to pay more attention to than anything else.
Several cooks who doubled as inspectors clung to the potatoes.
With a magic tool in the shape of a knife that can detect the presence of poison, it crushes and cuts potatoes.
Eventually, they nodded their heads in relief when they felt no reaction from Mana.
“There is no poison.”
“There is nothing particularly suspicious about the interior. I think you can rest assured.”
After the inspectors said that, the chef let out a sigh of relief.
If poison comes out of food ingredients, even if it is noticed in advance, discipline is bound to follow.
On the day you get a pay cut, you won’t even be able to drink your favorite drink.
When the relieved chef tries to put away the ingredients.
Sensing something strange, Ray stopped him.
“Wait.”
“yes?”
“Would you like to give me that potato?”
When he spoke in a serious tone, the chef was also frightened.
“Here you are.”
Ray was handed a basket of potatoes and put mana into the potatoes.
But even though his mighty mana should have penetrated, the potato was fine.
Even if it was original, it would not be inferior even if it exploded.
Ray laughed bitterly.
“Someone put a curse on the ingredients. That’s why they didn’t even react to magic tools.”
“yes?”
Do you cast magic on food?
It was the first time he had ever poisoned food or wells, but cursed them.
“It can’t be. All food materials dedicated to the Celia royal family come in through the main altar at the upper half of the harp. With the escorts of the top half of the Hafman guarding themselves so tightly, there would have been no time for someone in the middle to curse the ingredients.”
“It would be if there were no ganja inside.”
“Are you saying there is a ganja at the top of the half man?”
“I do not know either. Is it at the top of the harp or is it here in the kitchen.”
When I glanced around at the cooks, they waved their hands in bewilderment.
“I am not us. In addition, ingredients are always on duty and kept every day…”
While talking, the royal chef exclaimed ‘Ah’.
“There was a brief empty time a week ago!”
If it was a week ago, it was before the incident where a large amount of ingredients disappeared.
At this point, the doubt turned to certainty.
It is clear that someone intervened.
“Throw this away. If I pick up even one and eat it, I will vomit blood and die. Don’t even think about using it as fertilizer on the land.”
Ray gave a bluff and left the kitchen.
Rumors that there was a problem in the kitchen in charge of meals in the royal castle quickly spread to the royal family of Celia.
When the ingredients were said to be cursed, chefs were punished and some cooks risked being held accountable.
The grumpy-looking aristocrat who defended the leader of the Knights Ronel said while spitting.
“The cooks must be sentenced to death right now! You can’t even properly guard the ingredients that are served to His Majesty the King! It is a sin worthy of death!”
He raised his voice and Ray clicked his tongue.
“Why do strict cooks bother you?”
“Strictly speaking, this is clearly an assassination attempt by the cooks! Otherwise, how could the knights have been able to go in and out of the food storage warehouse with their eyes on!”
“Think about it. The fact that the food warehouse was guarded by knights means that the knights could also be criminals. Besides, a week ago, something happened while I was distracted by the driver and the cook. In a broader sense, everyone in the royal castle could be the culprit.”
Most of the nobles frowned at the saint who said that there could be a culprit among them.
“It will not be, my lord. How could he betray the royal family by virtue of being an aristocrat?”
At the Count’s words, Ray shrugged.
“It turns out that the person who was already coaxed into the alliance with the Black Room was eating the leader of Celia’s knights, so is there any way not to do that again this time?”
The nobles who once belonged to Ronel’s faction shook their shoulders at the word meaning leader of the Ronel Knights.
King Deogard, who had been quietly listening to the story, also had a serious expression.
“If another ganja comes out, I can never condone it. Can I ask the saint for this?”
Finally, the words I wanted came out.
Now that the king’s permission has been granted, everything that gets caught is gone.
Ray smiled brightly.
“Can you pretend not to know the danger of Celia? Of course I have to help.”
When things went smoothly as he had hoped, the laughter came out, but in the eyes of the other nobles, it was the laughter of a saint himself.
He helps those in need and does not hesitate to do troublesome work.
He even smiled pleasantly, and it was as if a halo shone over the saint’s back.
Some nobles were greatly impressed by him.
“If you are in trouble, I will help too, my saint.”
“Just tell me anytime.”
Ordinary people would have welcomed the intervention of the nobles, but Ray found them annoying.
“I’ll take only my heart.”
From the moment the nobles intervene, the game widens.
Any attempt to investigate secretly could fail because of their presence.
The nobles arbitrarily interpreted Ray’s thoughts.
‘It is clear that the help of the nobles will be of great help. But even so, you’re a great person if you’re trying to solve it yourself without asking for help!’
‘It is Celia’s blessing.’
Once I thought good, his actions looked good.
Unaware of the fact that Celia was slowly forming a force to support her, Ray started the battle with a smile on her face.
* * *
A family embroidered with the White Dragon’s crest and a mysterious force wearing only white robes met.
white dragon.
It was a family that was saved by Ray in the past, and had quite a reputation as a guild, albeit in a remote area.
A figure in a white robe took off his hood and asked for a handshake.
“nice to meet you.”
“I don’t know what to do because you invited me. To meet the satellites with a reputation as a rising force.”
“This is an undeserved compliment. We also welcome allies at any time, so you don’t know how happy we are to meet you like this.”
He says so, but his face doesn’t even show a smile.
I couldn’t even guess what he was thinking, so the family head was a little nervous.
I’ve met quite a few people in my life, but this was the first time I’ve ever encountered such an elusive person.
After taking a sip of tea, he brought fortune to the householder.
“However, inviting the head of the household today is not a proposal as an allied force.”
“Hmm?”
As I drool as if I didn’t know, a figure in a white robe emerged from the darkness and entered the room.
The woman handed over a piece of parchment and disappeared.
“My lord, please come to our satellite base. We are only repeating our steps in the dark, but we may need to be active in the light in the future. In order to do that, we need the power of the family head. If you were saved by the Holy Son, shouldn’t you repay that favor with this opportunity?”
The householder was taken aback by his words.
“Come into the satellite tower… doesn’t that mean abandoning the family?”
“To put it bluntly, yes.”
“…a family that has worked hard all their lives. No matter how insignificant a family is in a small frontier, I never thought of giving up the family either in my father’s generation or in my grandfather’s generation.”
“As long as there is a family head, the family can be raised at any time. If you have faith, even a family made of rice straw will not lose its authority. The head of the household has both, so what are you worried about?”
“…”
“It is difficult to raise a family once it has been ruined. But raising the world is even harder. Please make the right decision.”
He looked stiff, but he lowered his head with a faint smile.
After pondering for a while, the householder sighed.
“Give me time to think. It doesn’t seem like an issue worth deciding on hastily…”
“I see. But I don’t think we can give you a lot of time either. I’ll give you the end of two days. Please decide within that.”
“Two days…”
It’s too short a time to decide the fate of a family.
I was happy when I was invited by the satellite unit and went out on the road, but now my heart is stuffy and heavy.
‘How can I do this?’
When he couldn’t get up from the table, he put on the hood of his white robe again and got up first.
“The names of the satellites will spread across the continent in the future. I promise I won’t do anything that will make the head of the family regret it.”
He left the meeting room with that one word.
Inside, only the grunting voice of the head of the house, left alone, remained.
