122. Sacrifice, Bread

 

* * *

 

Ko, ko, ko, ko……

I am currently descending the staircase leading underground that was inside the shrine.

A long, long staircase.

The air feels heavy, damp, and chillingly cold despite the summer season.

No light from the outside reaches here, only deep darkness surrounding me.

Yet I can advance without issue thanks to my 【Mana Sensing Threads】.

By spreading the threads several meters ahead, I can sense the terrain despite being unable to see.

The white-robed man who suddenly appeared.

An extremely suspicious existence.

With a high possibility of being dangerous.

And yet, the reason I chase after that man……

…………

What is that reason, I wonder?

Truthfully, venturing into this incomprehensible space to pursue an enigmatic being fills me with dread.

I have confidence in my abilities to overcome most adversities.

But fear is fear.

I want to immediately climb back up those stairs and return to the bright wheat fields.

I’m scared, finding myself contemplating retreat so readily.

And yet.

Something within me screams.

Keep pursuing. Don’t avert your gaze.

That’s how it feels, like a voice desperately urging me onward.

Compelled by that voice, I continue advancing for several minutes.

My surroundings gradually changed.

A faint light became visible ahead.

Those are……magic lamps.

The staircase is illuminated by magic lamps.

But the changes aren’t limited to that.

A scent lingers.

Previously only a damp, earthy smell, but now an unmistakable odor has joined the mix.

A scent I’m all too familiar with.

……The scent of blood.

Dismissing my 【Mana Sensing Threads】, I activate 【Presence Concealment】.

Carefully, ever so carefully, without a sound, I descend further down the stairs.

After walking for maybe one or two minutes.

The staircase finally ended, leading to a short hallway and a door at its end.

The door seemed improperly installed, not fully closed, with light leaking through the gap.

I quietly opened it a bit and peered inside.

 

* * *

 

It was a fairly spacious, brightly lit white room illuminated by magic lamps.

However, it could hardly be called clean.

The stench of blood was overwhelming.

The source of that odor was a mound of monster carcasses piled in one corner.

……Those were the large rabbits I had hunted yesterday.

The large rabbits, each the size of a large dog.

Classified as monsters due to their crop devastation, the villagers had requested I hunt down and exterminate any encountered without exception.

Yesterday, I had discovered a massive herd and, following those instructions, hunted them all down.

Of those hunted large rabbits, I consumed half on the spot while the other half was offered before the god’s statue in the plaza with the villagers’ assistance……

Ah, right.

The next time I passed by the plaza, all those rabbit carcasses had vanished without a trace.

I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I see, so they were brought here!

Eh?

Wait a minute?

I didn’t think much of it?

Why not?

Surely the disappearance of that many rabbit carcasses would be concerning, no?

Why didn’t I find it strange?

Come to think of it, what about the Giganto-Boars I hunted previously?

That meat, what happened to it?

A boar of that massive size, practically as big as a hut.

Yet the boar meat distributed to Otta’s house that day seemed rather scant in portion, didn’t it?

Even if shared among all the villagers, there should have been far more meat allocated.

But the amount only allowed for a single pot of stew before it was depleted.

Strange.

Considering it, this is quite strange.

Where did all that meat go?

“Then, let us commence the ritual.”

A woman’s voice pulled me back to reality from my thoughts about the missing meat.

Startled, I peered back into the room.

There was the mound of carcasses.

And there were three people dressed in those same white robes I had seen earlier.

One was the man I witnessed before.

Another, judging by their physique, was likely a woman.

The voice from earlier belonged to her.

And the third person.

A child of small stature.

They all concealed their faces with white cloth.

Even the child hid their face, but I could tell.

I knew that child’s name.

The cloth didn’t cover their hairstyle, after all.

Brown hair tied into two bunches with a hair ornament.

That girl is Fetti.

The baker’s daughter, Fetti.

“Is this all we have for today’s sacrifice?”

The robed woman said that while pointing at the carcass mound.

At the tip of her finger……Granny Grute’s remains had been carelessly tossed onto the pile.

“It would seem so.”

“What about the hunt?”

“Unknown.”

“Sometimes the hunt fails. Is that what happened?”

“Perhaps.”

The robed man and woman conversed indifferently.

Devoid of any emotion, their chillingly cold voices sent shivers down my spine.

“We still have yesterday’s leftovers anyway! That’ll be fine, right?”

Fetti’s voice rang out, sounding somewhat brighter and more human compared to the adults.

“Indeed, no problem there.”

“We have yesterday’s leftovers.”

Saying that, the trio approached the carcass mound and began relocating the bodies one by one.

The carcasses’ destination……was atop a golden, glowing magic circle inscribed on this room’s floor.

They unceremoniously piled the carcasses onto the magic circle.

At one point, Granny’s remains were added to the pile, further covered by more rabbit carcasses.

Her body quickly vanished from sight beneath them all.

“Now then, let us begin.”

“Let’s begin.”

“Let’s begin!”

Having finished relocating the entire carcass mound onto the magic circle, the trio knelt and pressed their heads to the floor in a dogeza-like posture.

Then, in unison, they began chanting something……No, an incantation?

In any case, they chanted in harmony.

“””`……O harvest god Muwidgi who reigns in the heavens, golden deity. Bestow your blessings upon your devout followers. Grant us your blessings……'””‘

The very instant they chanted those words, the entire room was suddenly enveloped in a blinding golden light!

“…………!?”

Startled, I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, but the surprises weren’t over yet.

Reopening my eyes, the sight that greeted my vision left me utterly dumbfounded.

The mound of large rabbit carcasses, along with Granny’s remains, had vanished entirely from the room.

Even the putrid stench of death had been completely erased.

Instead, within the room……atop the magic circle lay……

Bread.

The very “blessed bread” we always ate.

Bathed in the magic lamp’s illumination……no, the bread itself radiated a golden glow from within as it lay piled atop the magic circle in great quantities.

Its aroma was so incredible that merely the scent wafting through the door made my mouth water uncontrollably.

“We give our thanks.”

“Our thanks to the harvest god.”

“Thank you very much!”

After conveying their gratitude to their deity, the robed figures began collecting the bread scattered around the room into baskets.

However, their work was soon interrupted.

Because.

Gugyuururururururu……

That rumbling sound came from outside the door.

……Yes.

My stomach had inadvertently growled loudly.

“Who’s there?!”

The robed man shouted as he rushed toward the door.

“!!”

Immediately realizing my blunder, I began retreating.

Using the 【Grasshopper】 stride technique, I swiftly fled the area.

Somehow managing to sprint up the dark, difficult staircase, I reached the shrine.

Flinging the doors wide open, I tumbled outside.

The hot summer sunlight instantly enveloped me.

Raising my face, wheat fields of green stretched before my eyes.

The boundless azure sky.

Drifting white clouds.

“Myogon, Myogoshugomyonshugoh! Myogon, Myogoshugomyonshugoh!”

The Myogomyogoshugo cries sounded nearby, yet somehow felt distant.

“Hah……hah……”

Wiping the cold sweat, I tried to catch my ragged breath.

Turning back toward the shrine.

There was only a deep, dark staircase.

The robed figures hadn’t given chase yet.

They didn’t seem as mobile as me.

“…………”

My heart still pounded violently.

Unable to process the events I had just witnessed, confusion overwhelmed me.

<……Zzzzzz…………>

“!?”

Then, I suddenly heard a noise-like sound.

Frantically scanning my surroundings revealed only the wheat fields.

Nothing that could be the source of that noise.

……I don’t understand.

In any case.

I should leave this shrine.

I began running.