Once the Death Knight incident was safely resolved, the test automatically concluded.
"This is undoubtedly divine power!"
"The power of God that heals all things!"
"You truly are a saint!"
Seeing him heal even the undead, the priests, convinced he possessed divine power, acknowledged him as a saint. This meant that with the existence of someone possessing God's power itself, other candidates were no longer meaningful.
"No way, this can't be happening..."
Naturally, Ailan, the other candidate, looked completely dumbfounded.
"Con-congratulations."
Hairel, who had been supporting Ailan, offered congratulations verbally, but her face wore an expression of utter ruin.
"Now that it's confirmed, we'll be on our way. We will report this to the Temple, and you'll be contacted again later."
As if unwilling to look at me any longer, she said only what was necessary and left. She would surely plot something else in the meantime, but I had no grounds to detain her now.
I had planned to go home and prepare for the next thing, but...
"Ceres, since we're already out, shall we go somewhere fun?"
Ares's sudden suggestion changed our destination.
Near the Land of the Dead, there was a city. Unexpectedly for a place near an area teeming with undead, it was a port city famous as a travel destination. Ares had dragged us here, saying it was a fun place to visit.
“How is it? It may not be as grand as our territory, but it's quite prosperous.”
“It seems so."
I agreed with Ares's question. Looking around the city, I definitely felt that way. I could tell immediately it was a rather affluent place, but the problem was the sheer number of people.
“Is-is that?"
"Could that be Lord Ceres?!"
As soon as I appeared, all those people recognized me and started making a fuss.
“My goodness. He really is the Empire's greatest beauty, just like the rumors said!"
“Honestly, I thought the rumors were exaggerated..."
“If that's Lord Ceres, then the person next to him must be...?"
“Silver bob cut. It's Countess Ares!"
Once they figured out my identity, they naturally recognized Ares too. With two celebrities appearing, even more people flocked towards us, and Ares smiled.
“Oh dear, this is troublesome. Ceres, you're so dazzling that everyone recognizes you.”
Troublesome? She was probably just feeling proud that her son was attracting everyone's attention. Acting uncharacteristically giddy, she casually took my shoulder and led me somewhere.
“Ceres, it's too noisy here, let's go somewhere else. Shall we have a meal first?"
The place Ares took me was an enormous and luxurious restaurant.
“Here?"
Just looking at it, I could tell it was the most prestigious place in the city, so I spoke hesitantly.
“Don't places like this usually require reservations? We probably can't just walk in and get a table.”
"Don't worry about that."
What, did she make a reservation before we came? Ares nonchalantly led me into the restaurant.
“Where is the manager?"
"Gasp, Countess Ares!"
When she called for the manager as if summoning her own subordinate, he rushed over in surprise.
“What brings you here so suddenly? I didn't expect you to visit without a reservation.”
“I came out on urgent business with my son, so there was no time to make one.”
“Ah, your son... Lord Ceres?!"
The manager, finally noticing me, exclaimed my name in shock, causing all the restaurant patrons to look at me.
The manager, having drawn all eyes to me, examined me as if in wonder.
“I heard rumors that you'd recovered, but I never imagined you would come here in person!”
“Indeed. My son, the Empire's greatest beauty, has arrived. You wouldn't refuse us just because we don't have a reservation, would you?"
“How could I possibly dare? I'll prepare a table for three immediately!”
The manager moved to prepare the table, but Ares stopped him.
"Wait. Not a table for three, a table for two. This one isn't with us."
She pointed at Hames, who had been following us the whole time, leaving the manager bewildered.
“Then, who might this person be?"
“I am High Priest Hames.”
“The High Priest!"
“I don't have a reservation either, but I'd like to come in. Can that be arranged? I'm willing to pay.”
"Pl-please wait just a moment!"
Although at a different table from ours, Hames also managed to get inside the restaurant without issue.
"Persistent, isn't she."
Ares muttered in annoyance as we were led to our table, noticing Hames seated nearby. She had intentionally tried to separate from Hames, but her opponent was the High Priest. A figure with power comparable to Ares herself, so it couldn't be helped.
“...Ceres, what would you like to eat?”
After glaring for a moment longer, she gave up as Hames remained unfazed and asked me what I wanted.
“Tell me whatever you'd like.”
“Hmm, maybe some meat?"
“Meat?"
“Now that my body's a bit better, I'd like to try a meat dish.”
My condition had been so terrible that everyone forbade it even after I started recovering, but surely it would be okay after this much time.
“Don't try to eat too much.”
As I insisted I wanted to try it, Ares handed me the menu with a troubled expression.
It wasn't my intention, but since we were in a high-class restaurant, I thought I'd order something expensive.
But this is too much?!
Seeing the prices, I was horrified. What on earth were these dishes made of for the base price to start in gold coins? A gold coin is literally gold, and that's the starting unit? Seeing me frozen by the absurd prices, Ares looked puzzled.
“What's wrong?”
“Th-the prices are too high."
“Expensive? Not particularly."
Ares looked at the menu and spoke as if she genuinely didn't understand. So this kind of money is just loose change for a prominent Countess...
“Then, I'll have this steak.”
I resignedly ordered the cheapest option.
This restaurant also showed the cooking process when you ordered. After a flashy fire show, a thick steak was served.
Hehe, how long has it been since I had real meat!
I'd been going crazy thinking about meat, and now that I could finally eat it, I couldn't hide my smile. Grinning foolishly, I cut the steak and put it in my mouth.
This is it! The thick yet tender meat melted on my tongue, releasing its juices. Being expensive, it tasted far better than anything I ate in my original world. I could eat two plates of this!
· Urp. '
But after just a few bites, I couldn't stomach any more. My stomach felt queasy, like I'd eaten several greasy dishes, and my body was rejecting it.
What? Why is this happening after only a few bites? It wasn't even a particularly greasy dish. In fact, it seemed less greasy than a typical steak.
Could it be that Ceres's body originally couldn't handle meat well?
“Ugh.”
"That's enough, stop eating.”
Ares stopped me as I tried to force down the rest of the steak.
“Didn't I tell you not to overdo it?"
"But I can't just waste something I ordered.”
"It's fine. How much could that possibly cost?”
Ares told me not to worry and took the plate, consigning the steak bought with gold coins to the trash.
“It seems you'd be better off having soup like usual. Manager, one 'Treasure of the Sea' here.”
She ordered a soup called Treasure of the Sea. The cooking process was visible for this too. The chef brought a huge pile of ingredients and put them in a pot: lobster, crab, large shrimp, abalone, oysters, and so on. After putting in a heap of expensive-looking seafood, they boiled it for a long time, then scooped out all the solids, discarded them entirely, and made the soup using only the broth. I was dumbfounded by the absurd recipe, but Ares was nonchalant.
“A soup made with fresh seafood should be easy for you to eat without burdening you.”
“What about the solids?"
“Since you weren't going to eat them, it doesn't matter."
Ares replied casually as the finished soup arrived immediately. Taking a sip, it was certainly delicious, but was it really worth such an extravagant waste of money? Feeling like I was eating gold coins, I meticulously finished the soup. I couldn't leave any of this expensive stuff behind!
"Excuse me for a moment."
Just as I was finishing every last drop, Hames suddenly pulled her chair over to our table. Ares, who had been watching me eat with a happy expression, hardened her face and spoke.
“If you think you're intruding, then just leave."
"I came to discuss something important, so don't just push me away."
"How impudent." Ares frowned. "Unnecessary meddling and now defiance. Do you know I'm ten years older than you?"
“Good for you, being older. And yet, despite your age, you're wary of someone ten years younger."
"What did you say!"
As Ares started to rise, Hames gestured for her to calm down.
“There are other guests, shouldn't you maintain your dignity? As the honorable Countess Whiperion. Besides, the one I wish to speak with is Ceres, not you.”
Hearing this, I put down my spoon.
“You want to talk because of the Death Knights, right?”
“Correct. After what those things said at the end, I couldn't just let it go.”
Hames spoke with a hardened expression, and I agreed with her.
Back then.
When I healed the Death Knight, its commander and comrades stopped attacking us. But it wasn't out of gratitude.
‘This is definitely divine power!’
'No matter how much time passes, there's no way we'd mistake this...'
'But how?'
'Those people are affiliated with the Whiperion family.’
‘Could it be... atavism?'
'For the true lineage to revive now!'
They gathered amongst themselves, muttering incomprehensible things, and I couldn't understand either. These were things that hadn't appeared in the original work, saying things I'd never heard even once in the original.
“I was curious too, but I couldn't ask.”
I was indeed curious since they were looking at me, mentioning Whiperion, and saying important-sounding things, but the opponents were Death Knights. Moreover, they weren't ordinary Death Knights but a monstrous group composed of Sword Master and Expert-level beings.
'Since our subordinate is healed, there's no reason to be hostile now, right? Well then, farewell!'
'W-wait!'
I took advantage of the moment they were busy talking and quickly fled.
“...So we couldn't go ask them, leaving us in a difficult spot.”
“However, based on what they muttered, we can roughly guess the situation."
As I pondered, Hames asked heavily,
"Ceres, could it be that the divine power you possess is an ability your Whiperion family used long ago but has since disappeared, only to re-emerge in your generation?"