185-179 Traces left in the grocery store

It's a larder that stands still in time like a magic bag, so naturally I imagined that I had three choices: a pantry, a cool, dark place like a storehouse, or a black vortex with my hands in it.

But it wasn't what I expected.

''Ryu, dragon!

The moment I opened it, the blue dragon's face stopped to look at me.

I took out my illusory sword in a conditioned reflex, but that's where Nadia held me from behind.

''Luciel-sama, this dragon is dead.

Hearing those words, I calmly looked at the dragon and saw that it was floating in a fluffy state. No, it wasn't just the dragon, various demons looked as if they were floating through space.

''........Is it really a larder that I opened?''

'I'll have to look into it, but I suspect they're all edible demons.

If I'm accidentally trapped in here, is death the only thing waiting for me?

'No, it says it's set up so that it can't be closed if there's someone in here.

There was a brand new piece of paper on the inside of the door.

In it, as a warning, it was set up so that if anyone based on a person entered alive, it would not be shut down.

That was what it said.

''Well if this is true, it's okay. But to get into this....

I was hesitant to enter this space.

Nadia, sensing this, let go of her hand that was holding me and entered the pantry.

'Hey, we haven't even checked it out yet, it's not safe!

As expected, I couldn't let him go alone to a room like this, where I didn't know what it meant.

'It's all right. I'll come back once I figure out where everything is and where it is.

'Oh, I'll go too. Luciel-sama will have to wait here, just in case.

Lydia smiled and walked into the pantry.

When I got back, I decided to teach Lydia the proverbial curiosity is what it is.

I had no choice but to stay, and although it was easy to be blinded by the floating demons, there appeared to be several rooms in the back.

However, it's not safe for everyone to go inside, so I had no choice but to leave the two of them to explore the inside and look through the materials Orford-san gave me.

''I see. So that state of magical power clothed in your body was the same as dripping magic power?

It was written that the magic power that was visible like that steam was in a state of being held back as it tried to get out of the body from inside the body.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you can do with it. Huh?　But then, why did my magic power flow to the illusion wand?　I feel like the fact that it's flowing to weapons is something important...

As I was contemplating this, two of them came out of the pantry looking excited.

And that was with one big boa in their arms.

'What's the matter with you two, you look quite happy together?　And that big bore.... isn't it awfully big?

I've hunted and eaten big boas before, but they are two times bigger than that.

'Luciel-sama, there were many demons here that I had never seen before. I thought this was another big boa, but it's actually a phantom big pork that hasn't been confirmed to exist for decades.

Why a pig?　More importantly, why would this be a pig?　If you think of pigs in this world, it's orcs.

''Well I'm not too familiar with the ecology, but is this big poke a lineage of orcs and big boas?

There are a number of theories, but they say that over the years, there have been ecological changes in the environment.

'It was written in the Demon Book that he was not aggressive like Big Boa, but was timid and very cautious.

''Well I have the seasoning, I'd love to dismantle it and put it away in my magic bag, but unfortunately I can't use my purification magic.

When I told him that, he looked obviously disappointed.

However, it was awkward to dismantle and stain such a beautiful kitchen with blood.

If this was the case, it would have been better to bring one of the healers along, but there was a limit to the number of people in the room and it was impossible.

I'm sure there are many other unusual things, but it will all have to wait until later. Then I'll go check it out once, so you can keep an eye on it.

...yes.

They looked away, dreading it.

As I walked into the pantry with my back to them, gravity was lost from my body.

'Doesn't this taste bad?

Just by leaving the ground, somehow the sense of security disappears.

How were those two able to move freely through this?

I tried my best to move forward and began to go straight ahead as normal.

'Huh?　This thing can move by sheer force of will!

I was beginning to feel elated at the freedom, but then I suddenly remembered that they went in and didn't come out right away.

Then I thought that when the door was open, time must have passed here too, so I hurriedly moved to the back room.

'Looks like you're flying,'

I'm apparently floating around at the point where such a cliché is mentioned.

For some reason, there were condiments on the right side of the three rooms.

Not to mention soy sauce and miso, sugar, salt, and pepper, they had quite a bit of stock.

Obviously....masakana.

I decided to take the soy sauce and miso into the magic bag for a taste, and one turtle jar for each.

In addition, for some reason, there is a stock of ketchup, sauce and mayonnaise in the bag.

''...I don't know how much work went into making all this ketchup and sauce, but if it's not too much less...''

I quietly leave that room and try to move to the middle room.

And when I opened the door, I saw that it was stocked with a large number of vegetables.

''.........An unusual number. Well, even if we had this many, we wouldn't be able to save the world. One person or so might be able to live for a few decades or a few hundred years, but........

Even though it's a different time period, I've since learned that Lord Leinster is a man who would solve all my problems, wouldn't he?　It would seem so.

So, considering the time he lived in, surely he was seen as a kind of local god?　It seems so.

I guess the way of life was still a brave man, since he was getting results even though he was under such pressure at all hours of the day and all the time.

While thinking about that, I put a number of vegetables into the magic bag, but there weren't many vegetables that I didn't know about here, so it didn't seem to be a problem.

''Well, let's go to the last room, shall we?

Then I opened the last room and I was astonished.

'Why is there a jungle in the room?'

Paula created a pseudo-sun in the basement of Yenis and other things, but it's on a fundamentally different level.

First of all, you create a pseudo-space with space-time magic and fix it. Only a reincarnated person could create a room there, but I don't think it's a good idea to make a jungle appear there.

When I walked in, there were already a number of fruits that I could harvest.

''This isn't what Sir Leinster did. Only an elf would be able to make a tree grow like this. Then it's most likely that it was the Pope's mother who did this. I'll take it as a souvenir for the Pope when I leave.

I was just about to leave after looking around.

I suddenly saw a golden fruit in my field of vision, but when I got closer to a small tree that was farther back than that, I noticed a pure white fruit in the shape of an apple growing there.

If I make a mistake, it looks like a poisonous apple, but it's not poisonous to me, so I'll try it later.

I fumbled with the pure white fruit and then put it in my magic bag and let the magic flow into the tree where I fumbled with the fruit.

I'm not going to be able to get out of the larder with a sense of self-satisfaction because I felt my magic power had been reduced a little bit.

''Luciel-sama, it's been quite a long time.

Did you find anything inside?

I don't know what kind of ingenuity they used, but the big pork had already been dismantled and sorted into edible parts and other parts.

Even though it had been dismantled, not a single drop of blood was unusual, and I could only assume that the bleeding had been perfect.

But they were supposed to be talking about not dismantling it, and that's how badly they wanted to eat the big pork?

I could almost sigh at how much the women of this world love sweet and meat.

I decided to answer their questions, thinking that the demolition was done nicely and I had nothing to complain about it.

'It's about seasoning, vegetables, and one more piece of pure white fruit.

Did bright white fruit look good to you?

'No, it was just a poisonous apple, but I'm resistant to the poison, so I thought I'd try it. Would you like to eat it?

I'd rather not.

They refrained from humming and refraining.

Seeing such a normal reaction from the two of them, I was able to confirm that the larder was more than adequate and well stocked.

That was why they decided to cook here from now on.

We all thought about what we were going to have for lunch and dinner.

I'm definitely going to have gingerbread and pork miso soup, but the pork shabu is also hard to throw away, so I thought about this and that and headed for the grimoire.

When we arrived at the grimoire, the three men from yesterday were waiting for us to come.

''Good morning. Um, Mr. Meinrich.

'Good morning, Lady Luciel, you may call me Elinus, if you wish.

Okay, so what can I do for you?

Yes, I'm a bit of a stew and I was wondering if you could help me out.

'I'm sorry, but for the time being, I have orders from the Pope, so that must take precedence. Please let me refrain from doing so.

I said and was about to walk past, when Elinus blurted out something.

I turned around and looked at Nadia and Lydia, but they seemed surprised that they had stopped so suddenly.

They didn't seem to catch what I said, so I decided to listen properly.

If they said this was a diplomatic issue or something, I wouldn't be able to look at them.

''........What was said?　I'm sorry, but I didn't catch it, may I ask again?

Then she turned red and opened her mouth with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

''........I don't have any more money. I have no money to spend on research, and I can't even buy a ticket to enter the grimoire. Therefore, would you be able to lend me some money?

Huh?

That unexpected word makes me freeze.

As long as we're here, we should have the support of the state.

What does it mean that we don't have that?

I thought you sent the money from your home country.

Nadia asks for a change.

As expected of the motherland, she's probably wondering about this case.

''It's about...''

Elinus looks uncomfortable saying this, to which a woman standing behind him replies, "It's been about a year since I came to Nerdal.

It's been about a year since I came to Nerdal. We've spent about ten platinum coins, and the amount of money we were given as a deposit has been used up. We have not been able to obtain a single result of our research, even if we were to ask for an additional loan...

I didn't need to say more than that to understand.

'There are others coming from Brange, aren't there?

Then a woman on the other side of the room replies.

''In our country's aristocracy, we've been dragging our feet because we can't increase our fiefdoms...''

I didn't get to the end of the story, but I understood what I was trying to say.

As I was wondering what to do, Nadia and Lydia, for some reason, lowered their heads.

''For now, we'll study inside in the morning, so for once we'll enter the room together, but you can discuss future matters with Nadia and Lydia.

Oh, thank you. It's the Apostle of the Holy God, after all.

What's that?

"In Duchy Brange, Master Luciel is named after a street name. It is said that he took the leadership of the Healer's Guild by himself and rebuilt it. Normally, he wouldn't be able to make enemies with slavers and vicious healers. And many other things...

Shit, I don't want to hear it.

"Well, all right. Let's go inside.

I flee to the grimoire, but for some reason, the sight of the five of us staring at it with a bit of disappointment made me feel sick to my stomach.