NOVEL NEXT Chapter 388
Mary, having returned to the refrigerator once more, nonchalantly brushed past Karem, who was sinking into pain and regret from wounds that never seemed to heal.
“Then, let’s get started right away.”
With a light wave of her hand, countless sesame seeds, which had been lying in bowls and bags, soared into the air as if they had a will of their own.
Swish, swish—
The waves of sesame undulated in the air like a snake swimming through the sky and began to twist in a spiral.
Rumble—thud, thud, thud—
Before long, some of the sesame seeds rained down like a shower beneath the waves, forming a pile of hollow, worthless husks.
“This is a spell for filtering out the husks. Now then—”
As Mary spoke, extending only her fingers from both hands to trace a circle on her chest, an immediate change occurred in the waves.
The sesame seeds that had been swirling like a snake with its tail in its mouth gathered into a single sphere, tightly packed, and began to spin in all directions.
The friction generated began to create a rich aroma of sesame, slowly filling the air.
Karem could only think one thing.
‘I envy magic.’
Despite having this thought each time, Karem found no use for magic that could call forth rain or summon sharp gales and hellfire.
What he wanted was more mundane, trivial spells.
Spells that could dry hair, do the dishes, or stir a ladle automatically—everyday magic was what he dreamed of.
How convenient it would be if he became the god of logistics, perhaps for that reason he called the desire for telekinesis a triviality.
Of course, Karem didn’t intend to fully entrust every aspect of daily life, especially cooking.
If he relied entirely on magic for that, it would be like handing over all the work to Mary, who would always be looking for a chance to take his job.
Convenience was nice, but cooking should have the joy of personally preparing the ingredients.
“Is it really that much of a longing for something overflowing with divine power?”
“Honestly, I know it sounds unreasonable.”
He had indeed seen the effects of divine power changing depending on the deity he believed in.
Mainly in situations like ice cream, cooking, cooling ingredients, or when he made Catherine’s waist feel better.
Yet still, Karem wanted to master magic over divine power.
The absurdity of borrowing divine power from the Three Gods, especially Skadi, remained a thought that stayed firmly on his tongue.
“Even if you envy it, Karem, you can’t learn it.”
“I know. I’ve said it before; it’s magic only house fairies can learn.”
“That’s correct.”
Mary lifted her head with pride, even though she rarely used it. Karem, watching her with a discontented expression, turned to Catherine and asked.
“Is there such a thing as everyday magic?”
“Magic itself, aside from magic tools?”
“Yes.”
“Is there any chance there is?”
Catherine waved her hand dismissively as if it was absurd.
“Do you think someone would exert that much effort to develop their magical skills just to use them for mundane tasks? They’ll scoff at the waste. It’d only amount to the development of telekinesis at best.”
“But there are plenty of everyday magic tools in the treasure vault.”
“Don’t you remember how they were all covered in dust?”
Seeing Karem sigh with envy, Catherine couldn’t help but find it absurd every time.
Did this guy even realize that by merely expanding on his inherent divine power and delicately utilizing it, he could become a presence greater than even a sage-level grand wizard or a swordmaster from the faith?
Naturally, he wouldn’t know. This guy, who didn’t understand the potential of the power he wielded, was already on the level of a divine being.
“This seems sufficiently heated now.”
“Oh, then—”
“Yes.”
At this moment, Mary received all of Karem’s attention and answered lightly.
“Let’s begin.”
With that, she joined her hands, compressing the sesame seeds that had gathered perfectly into a sphere, causing them to collide and start to break apart.
The sound that followed was much heavier and duller compared to the previous sound of sand trickling down.
Krrrik—
It sounded like a wet rag was being squeezed to the limit until the fibers began to break, yet the core remained, holding its ground.
A strangely irritating yet addictive sound. The source of it came from the disintegrating and crushing mass that had now come together into a single point.
As the center gathered, a fluidity imbued liquid began to moisten it, reminiscent of groundwater rising from the earth.
As the sesame hulls were pressed, the clear, transparent brown sesame oil began to emerge, floating like a liquid in space.
In that instant, the kitchen filled with the fragrance of sesame oil.
Every breath in, every breath out, carried the essence of the last life’s.
The aroma that encapsulated the richness of toasted sesame to the limit.
“…This is beyond my imagination.”
Catherine gasped in surprise at the unexpectedly familiar yet different appearance of the ingredient.
“Sesame is technically a seed, so it’s no surprise it produces oil, but… I didn’t expect this much aroma…”
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
Catherine nodded slowly, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“But ultimately, it seems you just went out and returned with a task for us. So it’s just Mary who reaps the rewards, isn’t it?”
“A task? What do you even mean?”
“Look, this is a task.”
Pointing with a finger, Catherine indicated the now giant sesame oil and the core that was the sesame hulls, which had swelled like slime just before splitting apart.
“What use is that?”
“Well… it’s for cooking, of course?”
“The thing inside it too?”
“The hulls? Oh no. You can’t eat those. They’re just livestock feed at best.”
“Anyway, the dedicated chef managed to go out and come back with a few bags of cooking ingredients and all you bring back is just sesame oil… Yeah, that’s indeed something you’d use for cooking.”
“Well… it would be a waste to use it for anything else.”
No way should sesame oil be used for frying or as lubricant.
‘… Now that I think about it, that’s a bit excessive.’
Recalling the amount spent made him reflect on the money he had used.
Even though money was overflowing, spending 100 gold coins seemed a bit overboard upon reflection.
Especially since it wasn’t just any gold coin, but an aureus from the fallen Palatino Empire. Its value was not merely based on the weight of gold but rather the historical and cultural significance contained within, likely worth several times more? It must be incredibly expensive.
Still, since he had established a reliable merchant alongside Zigmeser—
“Wait, the price?”
However, Karem had overlooked one thing.
Catherine, narrowing her eyes, tapped on the table.
“Now that I think about it, you must have definitely bought that with money.”
“…Do you really think I’d believe you if you told me now that this is what you accepted as a bribe?”
“Hah. I distinctly saw you take your purse with you.”
Damn it. Karem had forgotten that he shared a room with Catherine.
“I’m just asking in case. If you mention the price—”
“Why wouldn’t that be normal?”
Catherine’s expression was one of disbelief, as if she were watching an apple drop to the ground.
“I bought it for a public purpose, not for personal use. So it should fall under public expenses.”
“…I only impulsively bought this for personal reasons.”
“Who’s the dedicated chef making the food I eat?”
“That would be me.”
When Catherine looked at him as if asking if he really meant what he just said, Karem decided to approach this differently.
Sometimes, the truth can be a greater weapon than a lie.
“If you just ask Mary, it might take a little time—”
“A hundred aureus gold coins.”
“What in gods’ name did you just say!?”
Bang! Catherine slammed the table in shock.
“I must have misheard you. A mere hundred crown gold coins would be a shocking amount, let alone—”
“Yes. That’s right. It’s a compensation for the treatment.”
In utter shock, Catherine scratched the table with her nails.
Though the subject was not stated, the only entity that could fill that gap was singular.
“Are you out of your mind!!!”
Catherine’s exclamation was explosive.
“You bought only this sesame for that much money!?”
“I’ve heard that because it was imported from the Kingdom of Adobice, crossing both land and sea, it’s more expensive than I thought.”
“Are you really calling that a statement—”
“The recipient has not wiped their mouth either.”
As Karem calmly mentioned while Catherine found herself wordless, he hurriedly added.
“However, receiving that much money from someone I believe in as a god feels irreverent, so I’ll be calculating the costs and bringing them regularly.”
“…”
“It’s a long-term contract. Once in spring and once in autumn.”
Yet even so, it’s too much just for sesame alone, so they will also bring items of common interest together, he casually remarked, feeling a strange sense of pride.
Catherine, upon hearing this, had lost the capacity to respond and covered her eyes with her hands.
Experiencing a particular item’s value exceeding imagination wasn’t rare for Catherine; it was rather familiar.
Bones of dragons, feathers of phoenixes, unicorn horns, and hydra venom were things you couldn’t obtain even with several times the amount of gold equivalent to the same weight if the opportunity didn’t present itself.
Even she had only tasted wine from a brewery tracing back to the early days of the ancient empire once.
Yet, without a doubt, sesame wouldn’t compare to that.
And finally, Catherine understood why Karem had chosen such a price.
“…Just tell me honestly one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Do you feel even a fraction of guilt for thinking I wouldn’t authorize that from public funds?”
“…You won’t get mad if I say honestly, right?”
“Of course not.”
As Karem received a response from Catherine, he discreetly averted his gaze.
“About a third, I guess.”
“…I expected it to be at least half.”
“Two-thirds was irrationally spent once I saw that sesame.”
Although it was less than expected, it felt accurate.
Upon hearing this, Catherine held true to her promise and refrained from getting angry.
“You fool.”
She just lightly shook her head as if she couldn’t quite believe it.
“To think that I could possibly care so little about that amount in public funds.”
“…Huh?”
Karem, relieved, suddenly widened his eyes.
“Seems like you… have a severe misunderstanding about the budget I can mobilize from the Mage Tower.”
The Mage Tower in Winterhome was the central headquarters of the wizards employed by Alfred, who spared no expense (half-heartedly fleeing, in a sense).
“What do you think my daily earnings might be?”
“Wait! Catherine was shocked too.”
“Absolutely. One hundred aureus gold coins. It’s certainly not a small amount. But—”
Catherine retained a cynical smirk, tilting her head to the side.
“When divided monthly—”
“Ahem, ahem, you two.”
Seeing the conversation stretch on, Mary interrupted.
“I have one good news and one bad news.”
For two pairs of bewildered and curious eyes turned towards her, Mary understood it as an invitation to proceed.
“One, we’ve extracted all the oil from the sesame.”
With Mary’s gesture, as four jars flew over to the table, strands of oil began to flow from the golden droplets clustered together.
“And the bad news?”
“The bad news… well, I’m not sure if it counts as bad news.”
Placing the solidified sesame hulls, now as hard as rocks, in an empty bowl, Mary raised her head to gaze out the window.
“What is this… huh?”
Turning his head to see what Mary was looking at, Karem stepped aside, and naturally, Catherine could see the scene they both gazed upon.
Nuzzle, nuzzle—
The enormous face of a hamster pressed enthusiastically against the windowpane, licking it repeatedly.
“Fluffy Cloud! Get down from there, right now!”
A loud, booming voice echoed from outside the tower, and it was none other than Alicia, furious with the situation.