Chapter 455 After the Tribute to the G.o.ds, Return to Carelina

Gumihou: The general edit here is mostly smoothing out paragraphs and making the chapter more lively.

My familiars went to rest early.

Tomorrow, we will be on our way back to Carelina.

As for myself, well, Id like to go to bed early too, but I still have one more job to do. I sat in the living room with boxes of tribute around me and called out, Thank you for waiting, Everyone~

Ive been waiting and waiting!

Im looking forward to this~

Oh, hey! Youre here!

youre here.

Alright! Weve been waiting!

Fuhahaha! Youre here!

The replies bombarded me from all directions. It certainly felt like they had been sitting by the door, waiting for the delivery man to arrive.

Speaking of which, thank you for donating to our churches in this town, said Kishar-sama.

Ou!

Thank you.

Well done, you!

Came the voices of other G.o.ddesses.

From us too,

Yeah!

Since they do not have formal churches or temples, it was rare for Hephaestus-sama or Vahagn-sama to receive monetary support.

For some reason, I suddenly felt a little awkward receiving their grat.i.tude.

No, no, I mean, money is no objection for me, and well, I ought to give back a little to society.

if you have that much money, you should increase our budget

Im going to pretend I didnt hear that, Ninril-sama. [1] In the first place, I already feel bad feeding you 40,000 yen worth of sweets each month. From what I hear, you consume the three boxes of desserts and candy within two weeks. Youre just a black hole for sweets. Consider this my way of taking some responsibility for your health.

Ah, speaking of which, I found a church (?) of Pharmacology? Is there a G.o.d of Pharmacology?

Ah~ yes, there is.

Hoho, I nearly forgot about him.

Its been a long time since Ive seen him.

That fellow just shuts himself in his temple and never comes out.

Okay?

Its been 500 years since Ive seen him, said Hephaestus-sama.

He does nothing but conducts research in his rooms, said Vahagn-sama.

Okay?? So, G.o.ds could be shut-ins too, huh?

Um, so, Id like to know. Is there a G.o.d called Rubanov?

Nah,

Thats just a human-made thing to cheat money off people.

Nope.

A cult

Wahahaha! Well said, Rusalka! Indeed, they are a b.l.o.o.d.y cult! Those d.a.m.n cultists are always trying to persecute my main followers, the dwarves.

As G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses of this world, we accept the wors.h.i.+p of all sentient beings, said Kishar-sama. Take the Fenrir for example, hes a follower of Ninril.

I see, since the religion, no, no, the cult was man-made, they could just say whatever they want about the Rubanov religion. I guess I should keep a wary eye on them for the moment.

Thats right, one other thing. Is there a church for the G.o.d of Creation? For a G.o.d powerful enough to punish this whole pantheon, I was surprised not to find a single church dedicated to him.

Ahh~ well~~

I supposed thats because Demiurgos-sama seldom meddles with the world below?

Thats right, very few people were ever blessed. [1]

Demiurgos-sama is almost unknown to the humans

local legends

We did ask the Creation G.o.d if it bothered him to only be known in local legends, but well

Demiurgos-sama really did not seem to care about it [1]

W-well, since G.o.d himself did not care about it, lets not think about it anymore!

Ahem, I shall hand over the offerings in the usual order. Ninril-sama?

Yes! Here, here, here! Ive been waiting~! My cakes and dorayaki~! [2]

Ninril-sama, I dont want to say this, but dont you think youre overindulging a bit?

W-what are you talking about? Dont you know the luxury of eating one whole cake by yourself?

Haahhh.

Anyway, for anyone interested, Ninril-samas offerings included the following:

Whole cakes: Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Cake

Also, since Fujiya was having a Local Fruits Fair:

Limited Edition Pineapple Chiffon Cakes, Sweet Summer Tarts, j.a.panese Melon Roll Cakes etc

Finally, as many and varied kinds of Dorayaki as possible with whatever remaining budget.

After placing the cardboard boxes of desserts on the living room table, I put my hands together and said, Please accept this, Ninril-sama.

My long-awaited desserts and sweets~~ Kyaa~~ [2]

Hey, are you seriously going to eat them here?

Why not? I cant wait, ufufu, lets have one Dorayaki first~~

Lets ignore that Deplorable-sama.

Kishar-sama, here are my offerings to you.

The much smaller box felt heavy. However, most of the weight came from the gla.s.s containers of the special ST-III lotions as well as their st.u.r.dy and stylish packaging. This G.o.ddess clearly knew what she wanted and ordered large bottles of everything she likes. Its slightly more economical (?) but still too expensive for my taste. [3] [3]

Ufufufu, I shall use you well tonight~~

That was the last I heard from her.

Right, moving on.

Agni-sama, your beer.

As usual, in addition to the G.o.ddess of Fires usual regular beers, I included a tasting set of local and imported beers. Just for a little variety. I also included a case of a special, slightly more expensive premium beer gift set.

Since Agni-sama was clever enough to get her servants to make the beer snacks, she could dedicate her entire budget to just beer.

Nice! came Agni-samas excited voice. What a haul! What a haul! I shall drink well tonight~!

Aaaaand, she was gone.

I am next. My cakes and ice-creams, please.

Ah, Ruka-sama is always polite, even though I can hear the undercurrent of excitement in her voice.

Yes, Ruka-sama. I have included all of Fujiyas Limited Edition cakes as well as a variety of ice-creams from the standard [Net Super] and Fujiya market. Please enjoy.

Thank you, I shall accept it.

The boxes of desserts disappeared. It was followed by a fading pattering of footsteps. Ah, Ruka-sama must be running off to enjoy her desserts~~

Now

Us next!!

Fuhahaha! Lets see what you have for us!!

Well, in addition to their standing order of Best Whiskey in the World I have included [4] 6 bottles of high-end, higher-quality whiskeys. The remaining budget was spent on compet.i.tively priced goods.

After placing the heavy boxes on the table, I put my hands together and said, Here are your much-awaited whiskeys. Please accept them.

Ou!!

Finally! Lets drink up tonight!

Lets drink till morning!

Lets goo!!

Phew, these G.o.ds certainly were energetic.

Finally, theres Demiurgos-samas share.

Since I have a bit more time and budget thanks to Demiurgos-samas tips, I decided to be more generous.

Sake:

5 bottles of Daiginjo

5 bottles of Niigata sake

A tasting sake (dry) set from all over j.a.pan

Plum Wine:

A long-selling product for over 50 years

A special product with a peach like aroma and strong taste.

Fragrant plum wine made with Koume brandy

Plum wine made with cloudy sake and enriched with sugar and honey

Snacks:

Premium Canned Goods (a.s.sorted)

Right, after placing the heavy bottles and cans on the table, I put my hands together to pray, Demiurgos-sama, thank you for waiting. Please accept these gifts.

Fuoh, fuoh, fuoh, as always, Ive troubled you~

No, no, I have received many things from you. Rather than that, at the lowest floor, there was a

Fuoh, fuoh, fuoh, indeed, indeed, well, I never thought he would end up as your companion~ Fuoh, fuoh, fuoh.

No, no, I mean, hes an Ancient Dragon, you know? What am I supposed to do with an Ancient Dragon? [5]

Well, well, things have become even more interesting, eh?

What do you mean by that

Oho, perhaps amusing is a better word? Fuoh, fuoh, fuoh.

Wait for real?! Did you give me that oracle for your entertainment?!

Oh my, the connection seemed to be breaking up. Till next time~ Fuoh, fuoh, fuoh~~

what the heck?

Whatever, Im not going to think about it anymore.

Lets go to sleep.

Finally, it was time to return to Carelina!!

First, I made a stop at the Merchants Guild to drop off the keys before heading towards the Adventurers Guild as promised. I found Tristan-san and Bartolomeo-san there.

Thank you both for your a.s.sistance during my stay, I thanked them formally.

Well, well, enough about that. Thank you for dropping by, but Carelina is a long way away, I expect youll want to leave quickly? said the ever-practical Tristan-san.

Well, I think it should be fine? Grandpa Gon will be flying us there. I expect to reach Carelina on the same day, if not, by tomorrow at the latest.

Hic!

Both Tristan and Bartolomeo looked very shocked at this.

Wh-whaaaaatttt??? C-contact! Contact everyone, quickly nowwww!!

Eh? I watched, baffled as Tristan-san ran out the door. Whats wrong?

Hahhh Bartolomeo-san sighed.

Eh?

Ahem, you understand that Grandpa Gon is an Ancient Dragon, right?

Yes?

That he that if you intend to return to Carelina by flying wouldnt he be seen by the ma.s.ses? [2]

Yes ack!

I see you understand.

Indeed, indeed I do, ahem, apologies

No, no, no apologies needed, really, said Bartolomeo with a wry smile. Only, I ask that Mukouda-san please inform the Adventurers Guild in advance whenever you travel via dragon

Yes, yes, I understand

Goodness, I never even thought of this. Well, luckily Tristan-san was sharp and caught on to it before I committed a social faux pas and caused everyone to panic unnecessarily.

Anyway, there was nothing I could do to a.s.sist Tristan-san, so after a final farewell to Bartolomeo-san, my party headed outside the city walls. We found a nice bit of gra.s.sy area with no Adventurers around and stood back, away from Grandpa Gon.

Right, I shall now return to my original size.

With that, Grandpa Gons entire body was suddenly suffused with light. In a flash, he was suddenly that gigantic pillar from before.

How this is not scientific at all!!??

Master, do get on my back with everyone.

[6] Humph, but before that, Fer jerked his snout at me. Get on

my

back first, Ill take you up.

[6] Indeed, even with the Ancient Dragon crouching down, Id have difficulty climbing up. Not to mention it would look awfully clumsy

[6] Ill take you up on that offer, I said and climbed onto Fers back with Sui in my leather bag.

Fer leapt nimbly up the dragon and soon, we were sitting at the shoulder blades area. [6] [2]

Right, hold tight, said Grandpa Gon as he straightened.

Wait, no! I cried.

What now? muttered Fer.

I mean, if were going to reach Carelina in a day. Wouldnt that mean really, really high speed? I could get blown away?!

Its fine, Ive already put up a barrier, Fer sighed. My master is so weak

Hey, I heard that, I grumbled as I slipped off Fers back to sit on the polished, scaled body.

By the way, this barrier only blocks the wind. Youd do well to avoid falling.

FER?!

[6] Look, look, the city looks so small from here~

Sui!! Sui get down here! Get down from the dragons shoulder- eeekk!!!

And off we go, said Fer with a satisfied smile.

NOOOOO!!!!

[Gumihou: Deleted over 150 words from the ending. Its mostly yay, yay~ were so high~ forced comedic moments]

[1] Reduce the rather pointless talk about Demiurgos-samas being wors.h.i.+pped or not by humans.

[2] Random deletes

[3] Deleted 300 words on cosmetics. It was mostly repeats of bought 50ml instead of 30ml~

[4] Deleted 200 words of x.x.x whiskey and yyy whiskey

[5] Rather circular conversation around the Ancient Dragon that literally went nowhere.

[6] Adjust climbing onto the Dragons back scene to something more dynamic than, wow, yes, great.

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