Chapter 608: Dreamy Delicacies
“Ugh! Looking at the pile of giant insects on the table, I feel like I’m going to vomit. He actually transformed them with magic. If my Spirit Vision hadn’t advanced significantly today, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.”
“I remember reading fairy tales where a lost man stumbles upon a cottage. Upon entering, he finds a table laden with various delicacies. When he’s starving and about to eat, a fairy or elf appears to warn him not to. Finally, the true nature of the food is revealed through magic, showing a pile of insects and rotten meat. That kind of story.”
“They even named it ‘Dreamy Delicacies.’ Such a pleasant name for such a deception. It’s surprisingly fitting, too. Truly dreamy delicacies. After learning the truth, the whole world felt surreal.”
“I say, is there something wrong with the ingredients for this banquet?” I asked.
“Hmm?” Some people stopped eating upon hearing that, but most couldn’t resist feasting, their gluttonous desires too difficult to control.
“As expected of the Saintess, you saw through it at a glance. I wanted to give everyone a little surprise and a joke.” To my surprise, the Pope didn’t deny it at all; he admitted it directly.
“What’s wrong? Saintess, are there any issues with these ingredients?” A Female Cultist asked.
“Dreamy Delicacies. These ingredients are made from insects.” I didn’t bother being polite with the Pope and exposed him directly. Thinking about the last gathering where I also ate such food made my stomach churn.
“Made from insects?” Everyone looked at the chicken legs, dragon ribs, and skewers in their hands with suspicion. They couldn’t tell at all that these were insects, only that they were very normal-looking, delicious, aromatic, and visually appealing foods.
“That’s right, they are made from insects. I only learned this spell not too long ago. I didn’t expect to be seen through by the Saintess the first time I used it, and you even know the name. The Saintess is indeed knowledgeable and talented. However, this is originally Witchcraft from the witches, so it might not be strange that the Saintess has heard of it,” the Pope admitted shamelessly.
Learned it recently? First time using it? I thought he had been using it all along. That put me slightly at ease. It wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed it before, but the ingredients back then were normal. This time, the abnormality was spotted by yours truly.
“Pope, what do you mean by fooling us with these ingredients?” a believer asked indignantly.
But it seemed not everyone was displeased. I saw many people still feasting despite hearing our conversation. Like that two-headed ogre, who was still holding a roasted deer, devouring it with both heads slick with oil.
“Don’t say that. I said it was just a surprise and a joke for everyone. As believers of Gluttony, doesn’t eating anything amount to the same thing?” the Pope chuckled.
His words made sense. Trying to trick Gluttony Believers with such a method would be completely ineffective. We are immune to poison. Even if these delicacies were made from蛊虫 or filled with parasitic eggs, they would simply be completely digested by Gluttony Believers.
Therefore, I didn’t suspect the Pope intended to harm us by having us eat insects, such as by poisoning or implanting eggs. In the Beelzebub Church, “diseases enter through the mouth” does not exist; we are the avatars of disease and consumption.
“This joke isn’t funny, and there’s no surprise in it either,” said the Old Officer. The Church of Gluttony also had two types of people: one type, like the ogre, would eat anything raw or cooked, eating ravenously. The other type, like the Old Officer and the nobles, pursued fine dining.
They could not accept that the delicacies in their hands were actually made from insects, even if they couldn’t see it like I could.
“You say that and it hurts my feelings. Last time, didn’t that fellow say he was being encircled and lacked food in the mountains? And many friends from branch churches complained that their subordinates’ appetites were too large to sustain. That’s why I specifically sought a solution to your food shortages,” the Pope said.
“Wait a minute, you mean feeding these to our subordinates?” Everyone suddenly realized something.
“Indeed. These Dreamy Delicacies only require insects as raw materials, and insects are what we have in abundance. We just need to cultivate enough insects to feed our subordinates, and they wouldn’t be able to tell. Not everyone is a Saintess,” the Pope said proudly.
Heh heh, you flatter me. However, it’s true that normal people wouldn’t be able to tell. Let alone those low-ranking believers, none of the other Cultists present besides me noticed.
“We can eat insects directly, but we get tired of eating insects all day. Using this to change our taste is also good,” said the ogre’s two heads alternately, still feasting.
I believe that even if it were real insects, some of them could eat them without hesitation, let alone in the form of delicacies. And I roughly understood this spell.
It’s not an illusion; it truly transforms insects into delicacies. My knowledge within my brain tells me that if one masters it, not only the taste, smell, and appearance can be perfectly restored, but even the nutritional content can be replicated.
Unfortunately, my Spirit Vision is too high. I can directly see the essence of this food, so these delicacies are beyond my enjoyment. However, it’s useless only to me; for some others, this is a blessing.
“Excellent! This is the spell I need. We are almost at our wits’ end, and some subordinates have already started defecting. With this, we can be resurrected!” said the believer from last time in surprise. “Teach me quickly, I’ll pay any price!”
“Indeed. With this, we won’t have to worry about being suspected for purchasing too much food. This is truly useful. I want to learn it too. Pope, name your price.” Others also expressed their desire to learn.
“This spell is related to the future development of our Order. Therefore, I will only charge one gold coin per person to share it with everyone,” the Pope said. Given the value of this magic, one gold coin was almost a giveaway, but it was still necessary to maintain the symbolic exchange, as knowledge has a price.
However, some people still looked embarrassed. It wasn’t because they couldn’t afford even one gold coin, but because they happened to not bring money to the party. Some proposed to pay later, while others offered treasures as collateral.
Although I already knew how to use this spell, I still produced one gold coin. The Pope glanced at me, accepted it without saying anything, and then informed everyone of the method for using Dreamy Delicacies.
After everyone had finished learning, it was time for the reporting phase. Everyone shared important matters and recent movements they felt were significant.
Among them, the most attention-grabbing news was what the Plague Master reported: his Order had recently clashed with the Baal Order.
