Chapter 133: Messiah (5)

A snowy winter night, with blizzards howling.

A shabby traveler arrived at a certain village.

The traveler, who had gone days without food, wandered the village hoping to find something to eat.

But no house would share any food with him.

So the traveler came up with a clever plan.

“I shall cook the rare soup that His Majesty the King enjoys. With only this magic button, it can be made!”

The traveler placed an old button into the pot and began making soup.

The villagers gathered one by one out of curiosity.

Bubble bubble bubble bubble—

As the soup began to boil, the traveler tasted a spoonful.

The villagers swallowed hard, drooling.

But the traveler murmured as if disappointed,

“Hmm, it’s good. But if only ‘those things’ were added, it would be even more heavenly……”

The villagers asked what those things were.

The traveler answered casually,

“Sugar and salt, and a little pepper.”

One villager quickly brought carrots.

After adding the carrots and tasting the soup again, the traveler still tilted his head.

“It’s still a little lacking……”

The villagers competed to speak up.

“What else do you need? I can bring potatoes.”

“How about throwing in a few pieces of hard black bread?”

“Need more carrots? I have a few extra.”

A savory, fragrant aroma began to rise from the pot filled with various ingredients.

The villagers who tasted the soup cheered.

“I’ve never eaten soup this delicious!”

“It really is fit for the King!”

“Heh heh, warm and tasty.”

The villagers shared the soup warmly with one another.

The traveler ate one bowl, then left on his way again.

Leaving the magic button behind.

As time passed, the magic button wore out and disappeared. Only then did the villagers realize something.

The secret to making delicious soup wasn’t the magic button at all.

It was the warm hearts that shared even the smallest things.

***

“……And so, the villagers remembered the taste of button soup and lived happily ever after, helping one another for a very long time. The end!”

The button-soup storytime (?) ended, and cute applause burst out.

“Wow! That was fun!”

“Tell us another story, mister!”

“I want the magic button…… I want to eat delicious soup too…… I’m hungry……”

“What did you even hear? There is no magic button. The traveler tricked the villagers and profited from it. That’s why adults are—”

The children huddled in front of me.

With chocolate smeared all over their mouths, they chattered away among themselves.

Then I showed them the button I had taken from my pocket.

“……Here, this is that magic button I mentioned.”

“Wow! Is it real? The magic button!”

“Were you that traveler, mister? Amazing!”

“Will you make delicious soup with it?”

“Will you trick us and profit from it? That’s why adults are—”

Their reactions were all over the place, as expected from kids.

The chocolate I’d given them earlier had definitely helped raise their favorability.

At that moment, Guard Captain Hyal approached with an awkward expression.

“Um…… Benefactor……”

She whispered softly so the children wouldn’t hear.

“I’m embarrassed to say this, but…… our village isn’t like the one in the story with bad people. We are truly suffering from extreme food shortages.”

“Huh? I know.”

“Eh……?”

The guard captain blinked repeatedly.

I flicked the button into the air and said,

“With just this one, I can make soup that everyone here can enjoy deliciously. I told you earlier, right? Um…… could you bring the person in charge of making food for the villagers?”

Someone walked over from the village square.

“I’m the one who prepares meals for the residents…… May I ask what this is about……?”

It was a skinny man with an honest face.

“I have a few questions. What kind of food do the people here usually eat, and how often?”

“Well…… we serve meals twice a day, morning and evening. Mostly we make a thick soup with mushrooms and moss. Sometimes when a rat gets caught in the traps in the passages, we clean it and add that too.”

An effective way to feed as many people as possible with scarce ingredients.

Just throw everything edible into the pot and boil it.

The man continued,

“Oh, and recently…… we’ve been adding the food the soldiers brought back. The soldiers’ food always tasted great, but some people got stomachaches when they ate it as is.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I nodded.

After eating only thin soup every day, suddenly eating rich food would naturally cause issues.

Even I hadn’t imagined the situation inside the citadel was this bad.

Well, anyway.

The main food of Hecate’s residents was mushrooms and moss.

High in dietary fiber and water content, but terribly lacking in other essential nutrients.

Especially mushrooms—only 4 grams of protein per 100 grams.

Moss was even worse.

Of course, the mushrooms and moss here in the magic spear might be more nutritious than those in our world.

Otherwise these people couldn’t have survived this long.

Extreme calorie deficiency.

It was like the emaciated people were eating diet food for every meal.

“……Okay, situation understood.”

I knew what menu to make.

I took out a cauldron from my inventory.

It was large enough to easily feed dozens of people.

But the guard captain still looked troubled.

“Um…… Benefactor. I’m really sorry to keep saying this, but……”

“Yes?”

“There are over three hundred residents in Hecate, including the soldiers. With that, there’s no way we can……”

It wasn’t nearly enough for three hundred portions.

That was what she meant.

But.

Flutter—

“It’s fine. This isn’t an ordinary cauldron.”

<Eternal Soup Cauldron>  

– Storage Number: MRG-612  

– Storage Grade: Safe  

A cauldron blessed with the Gift of Abundance.  

Long ago, the Goddess of Abundance gave one cauldron to her starving followers.  

The mysterious cauldron never decreased in volume no matter how much was taken out while it boiled, and the food always stayed as fresh as if it had just been made.  

It is said that the followers who survived the terrible famine gave thanks to the goddess and kept the cauldron’s fire burning for ten thousand years.

With this, I can feed thousands or even tens of thousands.

I filled the cauldron with water and started the fire.

Bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble—

Right when the water began boiling vigorously,

I dropped the button I was holding into the cauldron.

Plop—

The button sank straight to the bottom.

Soon the water in the cauldron turned a pale yellowish color.

Bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble—!

Steam rose thickly from the cauldron.

A savory aroma spread in every direction.

The villagers began gathering around the cauldron one by one.

At that moment, the guard captain who had checked inside the pot jumped in shock.

“H-how…… how is this……!?”

A milky broth, as if meat and bones had been simmered for hours, was bubbling away.

The villagers started murmuring too.

“What? That smells like meat soup?”

“Was the magic button real?”

“Oh my god…… This is a miracle……”

The magic button I had put in the cauldron.

Its true identity was, of course—

……the legendary item known as chicken stock.

A seasoning made by concentrating broth from chicken, chicken bones, and vegetables into solid form.

Just a tiny amount could create deep, rich flavor.

One famous chef had even called it “the item that makes you think you’re a great cook.”

Bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble—

The appetite-stimulating aroma filled the entire village square.

The villagers stared at me with stunned faces.

Even the children watched the cauldron with sparkling eyes.

Then.

“Just what…… is happening right now……”

An elderly woman wearing a faded brown robe walked into the square.

Hair streaked with white, back bent.

A face covered in age spots and deep wrinkles.

The woman, who looked at least eighty, had eyes full of worry.

“Hyal…… what is all this commotion?”

The guard captain approached the old woman and said,

“High Priestess, you’ve returned. How is the condition of the shrine?”

“It seems the time has come. By the way……”

The old woman called the High Priestess stared in our direction.

“Aren’t those two outsiders? How could you bring them into the village without consulting anyone?”

“High Priestess, these people……!”

“Have you already forgotten what kind of disaster happened because of outsiders? I warned you again and again!”

The old woman let out a deep sigh.

“Taking in suspicious outsiders and even making suspicious food……”

She looked at us and said,

“Outsiders, please leave our village. Right now. I beg you earnestly.”

With those words, the old woman turned and left.

A heavy silence fell over the village square.

Then the guard captain spoke with a dark expression.

“Benefactor, and Princess. I apologize on her behalf. That person is the High Priestess of Hecate Village. She has guided our people with wisdom and virtue for a very long time. She is a wise person.”

Guard Captain Hyal continued,

“Three years ago, food thieves broke into this place. They slipped in while the guards were changing shifts. The thief was caught while looting the village storage and thrown into prison.”

The guard captain spoke with a gloomy face.

“But the thief started wasting away in prison and eventually died. From that day on, a fever began spreading throughout the village. Healthy people recovered after a few days, but pregnant women, children, and the elderly couldn’t overcome it.”

Pregnant women, children, the elderly.

A deadly fever that only killed the weak.

“And the problem is…… just when it seems to be dying down, it breaks out again somewhere else. It’s almost as if the disease is trying to wipe us out……”

The guard captain struggled to speak.

“The High Priestess lost her son and daughter-in-law to that fever. The only family she has left is her granddaughter. And…… a few weeks ago, the High Priestess’s granddaughter started suffering from the fever.”

“Where is that granddaughter now?”

“Fever patients are isolated and treated in a tunnel far from the village.”

“Hmm.”

There was no way people living in this environment would have proper medical knowledge.

I looked at the guard captain and said,

“Guide me to where the fever patients are.”

***

A cave quite far from the village square.

Patients lay packed together on beds made of dried moss and mushrooms.

Cough— cough— cough— cough— cough—

Coughing and groaning filled the air from all directions.

We entered the cave with thick cloth covering our noses and mouths.

“This child is the High Priestess’s granddaughter, Benefactor.”

The girl the guard captain pointed to was about eight years old.

Her face was flushed bright red.

Her whole body was drenched in sweat.

When I touched her forehead, it was burning hot.

Cough…… cough……

The High Priestess’s granddaughter coughed dryly with difficulty.

I asked the guard captain,

“Fever, chills, cough, headache, redness on the face and body, dehydration. Are these the main symptoms the patients show?”

“Yes, exactly! Do you know this disease, Benefactor?”

It was a disease that spread easily through the respiratory system, had terrifying contagiousness, and had killed countless humans throughout history.

The guard captain’s face turned pale.

I continued,

“It weakens overall respiratory function—nose, mouth, throat, lungs—and high fever and headaches make normal activity almost impossible. In the worst cases, it causes multiple complications.”

“W-what is the name of this terrifying disease, Benefactor?”

I looked straight at the guard captain and said,

“……A cold.”

It was just a cold.