Chapter 292: The Acclaimed …

Editor: Tseirp

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now…”

“Ryo…it’s amazing, isn’t it…”

“…”

Ryo and Amon were amazed, while Niels and Etho were totally speechless.

Incidentally, the three from ‘Room 11’ didn’t seem to get what was so surprising to begin with.

What all seven of them were currently staring at.

The reason for their bemusement….

“Why is that crepe shop even in this city…?”

The shopkeeper was an old lady who looked to be over seventy years old.

And customers leaving with their orders, which, as far as he could see from the side, was the same as the usual crepes he’s had in the Kingdom and the Empire.

Perhaps, even down to the recipe….

“Excuse me, can I have one crepe, please?”

“Sure, thanks for your patronage. That’d be one silver coin.”

Unable to resist, Ryo ordered, and the old lady deftly wrapped it up with whipped cream and bananas.

“Here you go.”

Ryo’s hands were trembling slightly as he received the crepe the old lady handed to him.

And then…innocently took a bite.

At that moment, his eyes widened.

His mouth opened and gobbled it up.

“So delicious…”

He muttered unintentionally.

For a taste of this, even an angel might defy God’s doctrines….

That’s right….

“I probably won’t regret becoming a fallen* if it meant having this.” (TLN: Fallen Angel)

Ryo’s muttering sparked a slight reaction from Etho.

And as Ryo predicted, it was the same blend.

Ryo arbitrarily named it, the platinum-diamond blend.

The same crepe shop that he came across for the first time in Whitnash, and then patronized in Rune city, the Royal Capital, and even Gilsbach city in the Empire…had expanded into the land of ‘Schulz’.

What kind of business philosophy did the management have…?

Ryo couldn’t even begin to imagine.

But there was no point thinking too hard about it.

“It is definitely the same crepe.”

Ryo announced emphatically to Amon, Niels, and Etho.

The three nodded and bought some too….

The second of the corridor countries, ‘Schulz’, is a city-state, just like the first country, ‘Ayteke-Bo’.

One city occupies its entire land.

The only major difference from Ayteke-Bo is that there is a large area of farmland surrounding the walled city, in other words, outside the city walls.

Ayteke-Bo was in the middle of a forest, while ‘Schulz’ is in the middle of a plain.

However, since it’s rare for even travelers, let alone large trading companies, to visit the area, there were no inns.

There were barely three lodgings that could be called guesthouses.

So, the delegation set up hundreds of tents in the town square to serve as temporary lodgings.

That was not well received by the civilian officials.

It’s not surprising.

Compared to staying entirely in the wild, it’s like heaven, but compared to staying in a proper inn…well, it’s plain awful.

Of course, there were no complaints from the escorting adventurers and soldiers.

During adventures and operations, sleeping out in the open was a norm.

Sometimes they slept in caves, in the hollows of large trees, or even in the trees.

For them to be able to sleep in a tent, it might as well be paradise… that was probably an exaggeration, but they didn’t have much to complain about.

Ryo, on the other hand, was grappling with some thoughts.

(But…if they don’t trade with any large trading companies, how on earth does a city, or rather a country of this size maintains its economy…)

“There are quite a few nomads, or equestrian tribes and the like, around the area, and it seems they carry out trades with them.”

Priest Etho answered Ryo’s question while looking at the acclaimed ‘Travel Guide’.

All hail the ‘Travel Guide’!

“But it contains some really disturbing info…”

“Disturbing?”

“Yeah. The current king has had a very bad relationship with these equestrian tribes since he became king.”

Etho frowned as he showed Ryo a passage from the ‘Travel Guide’.

“He stole the treasures of the equestrian tribes…?”

Ryo read the passage aloud.

It’s beyond disturbing, it’s already a flag for something catastrophic to happen….

Ryo shook his head slightly, lamenting life’s uncertainties.

“It says here that the Western Church has a founder.”

Ryo was a little curious, so he asked to see the ‘Travel Guide’.

“Yes, the one called Founder New.”

Etho nodded and replied.

In the Central Temple, they also learn about the history of the Western Church.

Although their doctrines differ, they share some things in common as people of faith.

“Is this Founder New a prophet or a child of God?”

Ryo’s question was based on the knowledge of Earth.

“Ummm, he couldn’t have been a prophet, I think?”

“Nor have I heard anything about him being a child of God or whatever, either.”

Priest Etho and Priest Zeke answered based on the knowledge they had learned.

It seemed that the Western Church was completely different from the Roman Catholic Church and the rest on Earth.

They only share the same ranks such as ‘Archbishop’….

Ryo nodded to himself.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Etho then asked Ryo.

“So, Ryo.”

“What is it, Etho?”

“What is that ‘becoming a fallen’ that you mentioned earlier?”

He seemed to be interested in the remark, “I probably won’t regret becoming a fallen if it meant having this”, that Ryo muttered after eating the crepe.

Although, he could hazard a guess seeing as the word ‘Heaven’ was involved.

However, Ryo couldn’t say if the concept of ‘fallen angels’ exists on ‘Phi’.

Wondering if the place where they’re to fall to even exists…in the first place.

‘Demons’ are not fallen angels, as Michael (pseudonym) clearly wrote in ‘Monster Encyclopedia: Beginner’s Edition’.

And ‘Devils’ are too weak to be what becomes of supernatural beings like angels after they fall.

And he doesn’t know of any other similar creatures….

“Fallen is the term used to describe something holy that then turned evil.”

In the end, that was the best explanation Ryo could come up with.

“Oh, so that’s what it is…”

Etho nodded a few times, as if he had something in mind, and said.

“Humans are weak creatures after all…”

The expression on Etho’s face was somewhat sad when he said that.

Before the sun went down, Ryo slipped out of the tent and headed to the crepe shop once more.

Not because talking about ‘Fallen Angels’ with Etho made him think about the crepe shop or anything.

Nor was he thinking about just satisfying himself alone.

He was going to include everyone and bring back a total of seven crepes.

But he ordered eight.

Huh? Well, of course, he would eat one on his way back, and after getting back to the tent, he would have another alongside everyone else….

However, Ryo’s plan was foiled.

“Huh? It should’ve been right here?”

It was there during the day.

And thriving too.

But the crepe shop was gone.

Not because it was closing time, but because it had completely closed down.

Everything was gone.

“What the hell…”

Ryo became depressed.

Beating himself up that he should have bought it all up during lunchtime when he had the chance.

He had no choice but to settle for the meat skewers in the next stall.

“Ohh! The sauce is quite good!”

Whether it be crepes or meat skewers, good food is justice.

In a dark place somewhere in ‘Schulz’.

“Are we still set for tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure about this? Delegations from the Central Nations are currently here. They showed up much later than they were supposed to and now their presence is coinciding with our plans…”

“Then I suppose it’s inevitable. The doors are set to open at ten tomorrow. Nothing can stop it now. And I could care less about who’s there. Everyone in the audience chamber will die…”

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