The Little Witch’s Daily Struggle – Chapter 1306

Chapter 1306: God-Given Items

“Well, then let’s eat,” the cultists looked at the food before them, a rare hint of hesitation showing on their faces. As believers of Beelzebub, they usually ate anything and were almost immune to all side effects. They had never been afraid of eating.

But facing the food bestowed by their god, they hesitated. It wasn’t just because these were ingredients from another universe, but crucially, it was from Beelzebub himself!

It wasn’t a matter of disrespect. However, Lord Beelzebub, as a Demon King, carried plagues that mortal bodies could not withstand. It was precisely because of their trust in their own deity that they all suspected they might die on the spot if they ate it.

But who dared to refuse? This was food from their god; refusing it would be seen as disloyalty. An awkward silence fell over the scene as everyone looked at each other, and finally, their gazes turned to the Pope.

“Why are you all looking at me?” For the first time, the Pope seemed a bit flustered. He shared their worries. Although he was the one who presented the dishes, he had merely followed instructions to prepare them. Whether they were truly edible or what sequelae they might cause, he had no idea.

“It’s nothing, just hoping the Pope will have the first bite, Your Eminence. That way, everyone else can start dining,” Lavias said, implying that the leader should lead by example. If he didn’t eat, the brothers below wouldn’t dare.

His reasoning wasn’t flawed. According to the noble etiquette in many places, the person of the highest status would eat first, and only then could others begin, otherwise, it would be considered impolite.

So, a group of cultists, holding their cutlery and feigning eagerness to eat, stared at the Pope, urging him to set the precedent.

In reality, we don’t have such etiquette. The opening feast ceremony before each gathering of the Church of Gluttony was always a scene of ravenous eating, like reborn famished ghosts, with no etiquette whatsoever.

Now, what with ogres, fly-men, and the Ghoul King all acting like cultured gentlemen, it was truly amusing.

The Pope was amused by them and could no longer maintain his solemn demeanor. He chuckled and scolded, “Tsk! As if you lot would stop eating if something happened to me! Besides, in the time it takes to take one bite, what could you possibly figure out?”

Everyone let out an awkward laugh. The Pope, being magnanimous, knew he couldn’t escape this ordeal. He picked up a piece of blue, flour-like substance.

“At worst, we’ll die together, and it will serve as our pass to see our Lord!” With that, under our admiring gazes, the Pope took the entire thing, which resembled a mochi ball, in one mouthful.

He was certainly brave. We all watched the Pope intently, waiting to see if there would be any adverse reactions. But the Pope let out a sigh of satisfaction, “Delicious!”

“Huh?” We were surprised. This didn’t sound like the Pope’s usual reaction. But he ignored our stares and quickly grabbed other foods beside him, devouring them ravenously once more.

This was, in fact, the normal reaction of a believer of Gluttony. We exchanged glances again. It seemed the Pope was indeed fine, and as he claimed, these foods from other worlds were truly delicious?

If it’s a blessing, you can’t dodge it; if it’s a disaster, you can’t escape it. Soon, someone else couldn’t resist and took a bite, immediately exclaiming, “This is too delicious!?”

More and more people joined the ravenous eating spree, and I could only follow suit. As the food entered my mouth, an intense wave of flavor assaulted my taste buds, reaching straight into my brain.

Could such deliciousness exist in this world? No, it didn’t exist in this world originally. This was something Beelzebub brought from another world, like a local product.

The aroma, the taste, could not be described in words. It was pure bliss, as if being in a paradise. It was true that when food reaches its peak of deliciousness, it felt like being in a dream.

As I unconsciously reached out my hand, I found it empty. The exquisite food before me had been eaten up in the blink of an eye. Looking at everyone else, their plates and cups were also empty. Some had even eaten their bowls and plates.

Everyone felt a sense of longing, unsatisfied. It was too little. This amount was hardly enough to appease gluttonous believers. But then, to their dismay, they discovered they could no longer enjoy normal food. Compared to the god-given delicacies, mortal food was like pig slop.

They had told me before that if a believer of Gluttony wanted to curb their appetite, besides endless eating and drinking to temporarily satisfy themselves, they could also eat extremely high-end, delicious, and unparalleled delicacies to lose interest in ordinary food.

This was exactly the case now. Although not fully satisfied, everyone had temporarily lost interest in ordinary food. Moreover, now that everyone had eaten, even if there was a plague, no one could escape it.

“Alright, now that everyone has eaten, let’s get down to business,” the Pope said, tapping the armrest of his chair to draw everyone’s attention. “Our Lord bestowed not only delicacies but also some magic apparatus and scrolls. Since the recent work was the result of everyone’s joint efforts, everyone should receive a share.”

With a wave of his hand, a large pile of miscellaneous items appeared before him: weapons, spell scrolls, and some strange-looking devices or artworks.

Everyone was initially excited and expectant upon hearing they were gifts from their god. However, when the Pope brought them out, they seemed to be ordinary items. While not worthless, they were truly mediocre to them, and some disappointment set in.

No wonder the Pope was so decisive in bringing them out instead of hoarding them for himself. Perhaps some cultists had sacrificed the spoils of war after defeating their enemies, and these items were useless to Beelzebub, so he had simply thrown them to the Pope like garbage.

However, they couldn’t show any displeasure or disdain, as these were, after all, god-given gifts. They could only feign happiness and begin distributing them.

“Wait, the Saintess and General bore witness to our Lord consuming the Swarm and have been the most arduous and in danger recently. They should get to choose first,” Lavias suggested.

“That makes sense. You two, pick first,” the Pope agreed. The others had no objections, as there wasn’t much worth fighting over.

The General didn’t seem to want anything in particular and casually picked a piece of jewelry, a golden pendant. It seemed like he was just picking something to fill the quota.

I, on the other hand, took a serious look at these items and actually found something useful: a satchel imbued with space magic, capable of storing a large number of items.

“I’ll take this one,” I said, taking the satchel. Its appearance wasn’t very beautiful, even a bit crude, looking like a herb-gathering girl’s satchel. However, its internal space was quite large and even compartmentalized, perfect for storing my vast collection of materials.

After that, everyone else also took one or two items. Their commemorative value outweighed their practical use, but they were, after all, god-given gifts.

“Alright, let’s talk about our experiences recently.”