Side Quest: Light The Stone Oven

~At the Angel Church Consecration Room~

“Listen carefully, Svi. I’ll confirm this with you. We are now going to that troublemaker’s place to hand over a rental property.”

“Yes, Bishop-sama.”

Before a large vanity. Hair as white as packed, translucent fresh snow was being combed through the hands of a young girl.

“Nothing more, nothing less. We hand over the key, receive three gold coins for this month’s prorated rent, and say goodbye right there. Are we clear so far?”

“Yes, Bishop-sama.”

The Angel Church’s supreme leader, Bishop Kanosa Tier Field, and the Chief Saint, Svi Dakmarshall.

The two women who stood at the highest rank even within the Angel Church were preparing themselves.

“That greedy fox-eyed bastard is absolutely going to bring some kind of trouble. My sacrament is telling me so. I mean it, we’re going straight home immediately.”

“Yes, Bishop-sama.”

The mindset the bishop spoke of with her thread-thin eyes sharpened sternly was for the errand they were about to go on.

A rental property lease to a certain adventurer, one more troublesome in negotiations than scheming nobles.

It was an errand that did not seem remotely clerical, but she was putting quite a lot of effort into it.

“The answer to every negotiation is no. If I start getting drawn in by talk of money or money or money or money-making, Svi, carry me home by force. Understand?”

“……Is that really all right?”

Snap. The bishop declared it with a decisive expression as she snapped her fingers. The expressionless girl in a nun’s habit tilted her voice slightly.

“It is. The current me permits it. If the me several dozen minutes from now loses to gold coins, you’ll be the only one I can rely on, so I’m counting on you.”

“As Bishop-sama commands.”

“Sha! We’re going! Norn went to the nobles’ meeting in my place, so there’s no problem! Good! This time, Tier Field will completely ignore whatever trouble that damn dragon-seducing bastard brings in and leave coolly!”

“……It would be nice if you could.”

The bishop psyched herself up while still sitting before the mirror. Watching her, the saint murmured softly.

She probably wouldn’t leave coolly. However, the saint’s mutter never reached her tongue as a voice.

---

~At the same time, on a suburban street near a prime location in Agatra’s commercial district~

Everyone who passed by was looking at the strange group.

A black-haired man, a Lizardonian, a beautiful aqua-haired girl whose face made people catch their breath, and several children.

Their gazes seemed to ask, What kind of group is that?

They paid those gazes no attention at all and kept walking along the road beside the maintained waterway.

“Listen, Lazaar. We’re confirming the plan. We are now going to that troublesome sponsor-sama’s place to receive our new house.”

“Yeah, Naruhito.”

The black-haired man, Tooyama Naruhito, snapped his fingers and spoke. At those words, the lizard-man Lazaar nodded with his enthusiasm remaining flat.

“But that alone won’t do. Today, right here, we’re dragging that woman into our bakery business. Got it, Stolu?”

Snap. The sound of his fingers was next directed at the aqua-haired girl wearing silver armor and a cloak.

“Haah. The current me obeys the orders of Inquisitor Tooyama Naruhito, dis……”

The girl blinked her aqua eyes, the same color as her hair, several times and reluctantly nodded.

“OK. That money-grubbing slit-eyed woman has a high danger-sense ability. If she has grasped our movements, she may immediately flee. We have to stop that. It’d be bad if we just got the key, handed over the prorated rent, and said goodbye.”

“……Hey, Naruhito, but again? The previous pleasure-district matter worked out in the end, but, well…… won’t something unexpected happen again?”

“Laaazaaaar! Don’t say things like that out loud. Listen, don’t raise unnecessary flags! Got it? It’s not like I’m picking fights with that damn corrupt money-grubber because I like it. It’s her fault for always holding the money and power!”

At Lazaar’s words, Tooyama raised his arm in a broad motion and raised his voice.

“Right now, we have two tasks to clear. The development and ingredient costs for the bread we’re going to unleash at the Dragon Festival, and the ‘laws regarding bread’ set by the Angel Church occult weirdos! That entertaining woman is in a position to solve both problems at once! She’s the worst negotiation partner, but she’s the fastest shortcut.”

Two days earlier, after finishing the bread tasting at the inn they had now left behind, Tooyama and the others had finally reached moving day for the house they were renting from the Angel Church bishop.

The bishop would come to witness it.

During the previous night of raiding her nightlife, they had forced her, in a way almost like threats, to approve their participation in the Dragon Festival. This time, Tooyama was seriously considering the deranged idea of dragging the church into Lazaar Bakery itself.

“……Tooyama, why not just ask your dragon friends at this point, dis? If you asked them to pressure the church, I feel like those two dragons would do it, dis.”

Stolu sighed. She said it lightly, like a joke, but in truth, that method was possible only for Tooyama Naruhito, and it was also probably very likely to succeed.

But Tooyama shook his head without a moment’s delay.

“……No, somehow, that feels wrong. I can’t put it into words well, but relying too much on them isn’t good. How do I put it? I feel like moving from the start on the assumption that they’ll be there isn’t good. Sorry, it’s not logical.”

“I think those two would accept almost anything you asked as their friend, dis.”

“Even so, it’s give and take. Leaving everything to them isn’t friendship or anything like it. Well, I might have them help a little, though.”

In fact, if he asked those dragons, most of the things Tooyama was worrying about would probably be solved all at once.

But a relationship premised on that from the beginning would be unhealthy. A non-equal relationship where he only borrowed was not to Tooyama’s taste.

“……Well, a human who would easily borrow a dragon’s power here could hardly be recognized by a dragon, dis. I withdraw my statement, dis. As a knight, it was a statement that took dragons lightly.”

“Stolu, you somehow sound smart right now. Amazing.”

“……Lazaar, am I being mocked right now, dis?”

“Sorry. Naruhito probably means no harm. Please forgive him. Naruhito is already beyond saving.”

The three of them carried on their usual carefree exchange.

Two former slaves and a former Church Knight. Moreover, when they first met, they had genuinely tried to kill one another.

“Well, still, that aside. I’ve already sent Drako a letter about moving and invited her.”

“Eh?! The Hoarding Dragon-sama is coming, dis?! W-what should I do? I have to make sure I’m not rude, dis.”

“Naruhito explained it yesterday, didn’t he? Ah, come to think of it, Stolu, you were practicing subtraction and weren’t listening. ……Hmm, I only hope my bread suits that dragon’s palate. ……She won’t burn it, will she?”

But amid the days they spent in this other world, such exchanges had already become everyday life.

“Hehe, hehehehe.”

“What’s up, Niko?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just having so much fun. It really feels like a dream. A home. We’re going to our new home now, right?”

“Until just recently, a corner of the alleyway was our home. Honestly, Aniki, I still don’t really feel it at all. This whole moving thing.”

“……Well, I think it’s a good thing everyone can sleep without keeping a night watch.”

“Pero’s looking forward to the new home too.”

“Daw.”

The orphans, the children raised in the slums, murmured one after another.

“……Ah, you brats. Why are you getting all sentimental? You lot will have plenty of work to do after we enter the new house too.”

“Yes!”

Tooyama consciously threw blunt words at the children. They smiled and answered the adventurer who had taken them out of the slums.

“We’re here. This is it…… Seriously?”

He stopped. Comparing the map he had been given with the sketch of the property, Tooyama’s mouth fell open.

“Whoa, this is……”

“As expected of Bishop-sama’s assets, dis. This is more than a house……”

““““It’s a mansion!””””

The children shouted with sparkling eyes.

A mansion.

A large roof, apparently built of stone and wood, protruded over the stone wall surrounding the property. It was probably three stories tall.

“Seriously amazing. Let’s see, I think she said to enter through the front gate and wait in the courtyard. Huh, there’s a courtyard?”

Blankly, Tooyama’s group approached the mansion gate.

Before the heavy-looking wooden gate stood two large men in full-face silver armor, positioned left and right.

The armor construction looked somehow familiar.

“We have been expecting you, Inquisitor Tooyama-sama, Inquisitor Assistant Lazaar-sama, ……Inquisitor Attendant Stolu Pula-dono. Bishop Kanosa Tier Field-sama will arrive shortly. Please wait in the garden.”

“Ah, thanks……”

Clank, clank.

“Lazaar, Lazaar, this is bad. There’s security here.”

“I don’t know what that means, but it comes with guards, huh. ……As expected of the Angel Church bishop. This is no half-hearted rental house.”

“They’re unaffiliated members of the knight faction, dis. Well, they may also be here to monitor us, dis.”

“……If Stolu is saying something that sounds smart, then we probably shouldn’t let our guard down too much.”

“What does that mean, dis?”

“Wow, amazing……”

“S-so big…… I-is this really going to become Aniki’s?”

“……C-can we really live here?”

“Hey, hey, hey, this is a celebrity house in Karuizawa. That money-grubber is insane.”

The courtyard was amazing too. The large garden, covered in natural grass, had enough area to easily play futsal.

Wooden tables and chairs had also been prepared, and even rain shelters had been installed. It was close to a small park.

“N-Naruhito…… t-this……”

“Huh? ……Hey, seriously?”

At Lazaar’s trembling voice, Tooyama also choked on his words.

In the space like a campsite kitchen beside the park bench with a rain shelter, there was a dome-shaped kiln made of smooth stone.

“A bread oven. A one-of-a-kind piece I had a dwarf workshop make. For the stone, only high-quality materials were selected from the quarry in the Hieno Mountains, and the bottom of the oven is lined with wyvern membrane. There’s another one in the mansion kitchen. It has only been fired a few times, but it works properly.”

“……Junior, long time no see.”

A woman’s voice came from behind them. It was a languid but intelligent woman’s voice, and a small girl’s voice that seemed to come from deep within a tranquil forest.

“Oh, hello, Senpai. —And our Bishop-sama.”

Tooyama turned around.

Two women in nun’s habits. A slit-eyed woman with long white hair tied up, and a short braided girl stood there.

Kanosa Tier Field and Svi Dakmarshall.

The two highest-ranking people in the Angel Church.

“Hmph. This isn’t a public place, so you don’t need to force yourself to be formal. I heard about what happened in Mitra Forest. Apparently, you failed to die again, Dragon Slayer-dono?”

The bishop sat in a courtyard chair, crossed her long legs extending from beneath her long black skirt, and swung them loosely. She looked relaxed, as if this were her own home.

“Your ears are as fast as ever. Thanks to you, I’m still alive. Well, fine. Since the landlord-sama has gone out of her way to come here, let’s begin the procedure.”

Tooyama likewise sat in the chair opposite her. Even the wood felt nice to the touch; the furnishings seemed to have cost quite a bit.

“Indeed. Though the conditions have already been adjusted. As for confirming the state of the rooms…… Well, if you have complaints, tell me later. It was built half a year ago, so there shouldn’t be any particular damage.”

“Heh……”

Unexpected. Tooyama narrowed his eyes at the bishop’s words. Since it was this woman, he had thought she would thoroughly inspect the current state of the rooms.

For an instant, he wondered if it was proof of trust that they would not make false accusations, but there was no way. What this woman prioritized above all else was money and self-preservation.

Thus, the bishop’s words became a point of discomfort for Tooyama.

“Now, Tooyama Naruhito. Sign this document. Then this mansion will be yours. For now, the contract period is half a year. After that, we can renew it, yes?”

The bishop placed the parchment that the saint smoothly handed over onto the table and pointed at it.

Tooyama still could not read this world’s writing, but from the format, he could tell where the signature field was.

He tried to ask Lazaar to read it for him—

“Half a year?”

He tilted his head at the bishop’s words.

“Wait, you’re joking, right? Don’t tell me you forgot.”

The bishop spoke in an exasperated voice.

“The Church Pledge Scroll……”

Beside him, Lazaar muttered in a bitter, harsh voice.

“Yes. The first contract we made with you people. If by this winter you cannot pay the specified platinum coins, free will will be stripped from Lazaar and Tooyama Naruhito, whose names are written here, and they will become, let’s see, the church’s slaves. ……Did you really forget?”

“Ah.”

He had forgotten. So much had happened, from the bakery to deadly fights with monsters, that Tooyama had quite seriously forgotten that the reason they started all that in the first place was to raise money.

“Naruhito, are you serious?”

Lazaar also stared at Tooyama as if to say, seriously?

“……B-because I messed up……”

Rida, who had somehow come nearby, murmured. In the first place, the reason they had exchanged that contract that would make even a vicious loan shark turn pale—the Church Pledge Scroll—was because of the slum incident, when they made a deal with the saint to save the dying Rida.

“Ah, ah, I wrote it, I wrote it, I did write it. Man. That’s right, that’s right. A lot has happened recently, so I forgot a little. I see. Either way, if we screw up, by winter Lazaar and I will lose our minds if we can’t repay the money, and the house and everything else will be gone.”

“That’s right. Well, as my personal opinion, I would prefer you not end up that way.”

The Church Pledge Scroll’s effect was to deprive a debtor in default of free will. It was effectively something like a death sentence.

He did not know in what form their free will would be taken, but since it was a mysterious item from this world, Tooyama predicted that it would certainly be nothing good.

“Naruhito, I read through the contract, and there’s nothing particularly strange. It’s surprisingly conscientious. It even says the rent will be prorated when we move out.”

“Wow, an excellent landlord. Hehe, relax. We’ll pay the money properly. And we’ll also renew the house contract properly. Here, signed.”

He smoothly wrote his name with a feather pen and handed over the paper.

The bishop received it and muttered, “Don’t write your name in Ancient Divine Nihon Language like some intellectual wannabe,” but accepted it anyway.

“Well, I’ll look forward to it. Then we’ll be going—”

“Hold it right there. Now, now, now, Bishop-sama. You seem unusually eager to leave today.”

Before the bishop could immediately stand up, Tooyama rose from his seat first and seized the initiative.

The saint twitched in reaction, but Stolu held her in check, and no one moved.

“……I may not look it, but we’re busy. We’ve done what needed doing, so we have to go to our next job.”

The bishop murmured without changing expression.

Tooyama was certain. She had no intention of staying long. She was definitely wary because of the previous nightlife incident.

But he had already considered countermeasures. He had already researched the bishop’s preferences at that night shop.

“……Luca! Pero!”

Snap. Tooyama snapped his fingers.

“………Onee-san. Could we talk for just a little?”

“Wow, such pretty white hair! Onee-san, let’s chat.”

At Tooyama’s instruction, the cute-faced young boys that Lazaar Bakery boasted approached the bishop.

Luca’s expressions were not very rich, but he looked up at her pleadingly, while Pero directed an innocent beaming smile at her.

“Ngh, I’ve been thinking it from earlier, but c-cute boys…… A hat-wearing androgynous pretty boy and a blond curly-haired puppy-type pretty boy…… Damn you, Tooyama Naruhito.”

Gritting her teeth, the bishop glared at Tooyama while breathing roughly through her nose. If it truly seemed like it might become a problem, he intended to stop it.

“……Bishop-sama?”

At Svi’s cold voice, the bishop suddenly looked up.

“Hah, yes, I won’t lose. To think you would try to tempt me using pretty boys exactly to my taste. What a despicable man. I won’t lose to such a despicable man. I’m going home. I have an appointment—”

“With the Merchant Guild and the tax meeting, right? I believe that starts in the evening.”

Through Dromora Trading Company, he had also secured information.

“………You really are troublesome. Where did you get that information?”

The bishop’s voice lowered. In the narrow gap between her slightly opened eyelids, a purple color had seeped in.

“Oh, it’s also the Inquisition’s duty to grasp the schedule of our beloved Angel Church bishop-sama. Which one of us is harder to deal with, Bishop-sama? Don’t worry. I’m not planning to interfere with your nightlife like last time.”

Yes, this time it was not blackmail. He had little intention of exploiting the bishop’s weakness more than necessary.

“…………Nightlife?”

“Ah, crap.”

Svi reacted to Tooyama’s words. The bishop’s face turned pale.

“Hm? ……Could it be, Bishop-sama, you never told Senpai about that?”

Her nightlife. Could it be that the bishop had not said anything—that she had hidden it from the saint and it still had not been exposed?

And from that pale face, he understood from the situation that if it was exposed, it would be bad for the bishop.

“Ohohohohohohoho!! Tooyama Naruhito! I’ve changed my mind! Well, it is the story of a cute subordinate, after all. I shall hear you out!”

The bishop suddenly became friendly. Her judgment was still fast.

“………No. Earlier, Bishop-sama told me to immediately take her home no matter what she said.”

“Senpai, now that I think of it, did you know? The other day, when we were in the pleasure district—”

“Lie, lie, lie, lie! Really, honestly! I always say things like that so quickly! Right, Svi? It’s the goodwill of an important Inquisition member, isn’t it?”

“……If Bishop-sama says so.”

Urged by the bishop, the saint also took a seat.

“All right, one guest seated. Your power relationship is entertaining.”

“Hmph, be quiet, you inhuman man. I won’t forgive you if the story is boring.”

“It’s a fun story. To be blunt, it’s about financial investment and the church’s restrictions on bread.”

“Huh? What do you mean? What are you trying to do this time?”

“We’re going to take the Dragon Festival with Lazaar’s bread.”

“……Lazaar’s bread?”

The bishop tilted her head at Tooyama’s words.

“Yeah. It’s good.”

“Hah, Tooyama Naruhito. Honestly, I thought you at least understood the logic of things and the structure of this world.”

The warmth vanished from the bishop’s words. At the same time, they were terribly dry.

“Huh?”

“People have inborn talents and roles. It’s no exaggeration to say people live in order to wield them. Those given talent have a duty to make use of that talent.”

She leaned deeply against the backrest and folded her hands over her crossed legs.

That was a cold system, her form as the Angel Church bishop.

“Inquisitor Assistant Lazaar’s talent is being loved by shadows and evil deeds. His talent is meant to take from others. He is absolutely not a person meant to leisurely make bread.”

She was at the top of this world’s religious system. Demanding roles from people was also her role.

“………Bishop-sama, you—”

Stolu, apparently provoked by those words, stepped forward.

“It’s fine, Stolu. Wait.”

Tooyama restrained her. Stolu obediently withdrew, though her expression stayed stern.

The bishop, who had been watching that, smiled slightly in satisfaction.

“Heh, you’re holding Stolu’s reins properly. Tooyama Naruhito, that too is your role. An anomaly in this city. You are properly fulfilling your role as yourself.”

The bishop’s well-maintained finger pointed at Tooyama, then Stolu in order.

“Do you think I will lend a hand to an act that lets Inquisitor Assistant Lazaar’s talent rot?”

As the Angel Church bishop, the value she had found in Lazaar lay in his art of concealment. A talent for hiding in darkness that evaded a pursuit using the full power of the Empire and surpassed even the wings of the Inquisition, her own forces.

He was absolutely not in a situation where he should be making bread. That was what the bishop wanted to say.

Lazaar’s talent was as one who took—

“I see. You have a point. But, Bishop-sama, there is one thing you are overlooking.”

But Tooyama Naruhito’s view was different. The talent and role he had found in Lazaar were—

“Oh?”

“Lazaar’s talent isn’t something meant to take from people. It is something that can give to people. Lazaar’s role is different from mine and yours.”

“……And your basis?”

“I’ll show you now.”

The talent and role he had found in Lazaar were absolutely not those of one who took.

“Lazaar.”

“—Yeah.”

The Lizardonian answered quietly. He already knew. He knew the sight his friend had shown him and led him to reach.

The fact that people could eat his bread and call it delicious.

Tooyama stood from his seat and picked up firewood piled beside the stone oven.

“Light the stone oven.”

---

“Delicious……”

Blink.

Saint Svi blinked her emerald eyes and looked at the fluffy bread she had just stuffed into her cheeks.

Koppepan. She finished in two bites the bread that had just been baked in the garden’s stone oven.

And one other person. The slit-eyed woman who had been coldly talking about talent and roles until moments earlier.

The Angel Church bishop, Kanosa Tier Field, also took a small bite of the koppepan and froze.

“………………………………………………Money.”

A murmur. A small voice. However, her usually closed purple eyes, whose emotions could not be read, were now open and somehow sparkling.

Whether that was emotion from delicious food or because she foresaw the profit it would likely generate was uncertain.

“This woman is amazing. The first thing she says after eating something delicious is money.”

“When she’s this thorough, it’s almost refreshing.”

Tooyama and Lazaar nibbled their bread while narrowing their eyes at the money baby muttering, “Money……”

The empty eyes like a Tibetan fox and the narrowed lizard eyes had a similar atmosphere.

“It really is delicious…… Lazaar-kouhai, you are amazing.”

“I am honored by your praise, Saint-dono. There are seconds, if you would like some.”

Lazaar offered a basket piled with koppepan. Seeing the warm, crispy bread, Svi’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded.

“Saint Senpai is this pure, and yet……”

Tooyama looked at Svi, then turned his gaze to the bishop.

“……This taste. The outside is crisp, the inside is soft. No, it should be an unknown texture, yet there is a comfort that appeals to instinct…… Fermentation—no, there is almost none of the sourness generated during blessing. What exists is only a pleasant sweetness. But this isn’t the sweetness of sugar. Either way, this will sell…… A normal loaf larger than this costs five to eight copper coins, but with this taste, even this small size could sell for the same amount, no, perhaps even for one large copper coin…… sniff, sniff. Amid the scent of angel flour, mixed in with it is…… alcohol?”

“Seriously, this woman.”

She guessed it. Though she had knowledge of fermentation, she should have had no knowledge of yeast dough using sake lees, yet the muttering bishop had guessed it.

“……Tooyama Naruhito. This bread is certainly wonderful. Yes, I withdraw my statement. Inquisitor Assistant Lazaar’s talent is this. He has been given a talent for bread-making. I apologize.”

“N-no, those are far too gracious words, Bishop-sama.”

Kanosa honestly bowed her head to Lazaar. Tooyama knew that this flexibility was what made her troublesome when made into an enemy.

“Lazaar, it’s still too early to relax.”

So he did not think the conversation was over yet.

“However, as the Angel Church bishop, I cannot permit the existence of this koppepan.”

The bishop quietly declared it. There was pressure in it that allowed no argument.

“Yeah, I knew it.”

“You understand the reason, then. This koppepan may look little different from the white bread designated by the church, but there is a great difference in its production method. In church law, bread is a gift from the angels, so it is stipulated that it be made only from angel flour and water. But this is different.”

“……”

“It is probably beer lees. Judging from ease of obtaining it, perhaps beer? You mixed that into the dough and baked it. ……It is not a method approved by church law.”

Having neatly finished all the koppepan, the bishop wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and looked at Tooyama.

“Tooyama Naruhito, though you are affiliated with the church as an inquisitor, you are quite bold.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Well, we thought about various things too. Like secretly releasing this yeast bread into the world, or forcibly branding it by borrowing Drako’s name as a dragon, and so on.”

Receiving that gaze, the pressure of those thread-thin eyes, head-on, Tooyama wove his words.

“But we stopped. We decided on a strategy to persuade you head-on, fair and square, openly.”

“Haha, persuasion or not, this bread is not recognized by church law. I believe this conversation ends here.”

“………Hey, was this bread good?”

“Yes, that much is true. The faint sweetness and crisp, or as you would say, chewy dough, were very good. But no matter how good it is, rules are rules—”

He could not break this woman with the bread’s taste alone.

Even so, Tooyama intended to move the Angel Church with the bread’s taste.

“This bread is only the beginning.”

“………Excuse me?”

“Koppepan. This is certainly good bread. It’s easy to eat and, above all, easy to make. In other words, it’s bread for producing in large quantities.”

“……What are you trying to say?”

The bishop’s wording collapsed. It was proof that not as the Angel Church bishop, but as a money-grubber, she had become doubtful about Tooyama Naruhito’s words.

“Koppepan is not bread that prioritizes taste.”

“…………What a strange thing to say, Tooyama Naruhito. That makes it sound as if you and Lazaar—”

Tooyama did not miss the moment the bishop’s smooth speaking rhythm wavered slightly.

“We have preparations to make bread that is far, far more delicious.”

“………………Heh.”

“The recipes in my head, angel flour that ferments easily, and Lazaar’s bread-making talent. With those, we can make every kind of bread from all times and places of another world, bread that could not exist in this world.”

“That is far too dangerous, because—”

“If freedom is permitted in bread, someone will question the mechanism behind the ‘angels’ blessing.’ Then one day, someone will arrive at the fermentation you’re hiding. ……And if that happens, you don’t know what effect it will have on those creepy angels or whatever they are. Something like that, right?”

“Well, you understand, then. Yes, exactly. The truth of this world is that we humans merely live by the whim of some great something called ‘angels,’ whose true identity we do not understand in the slightest. You know what would happen if that became known to the masses.”

Yes, that was essentially it. What the church feared above all was that by recognizing free bread-making, “fermentation” would eventually be discovered through people’s own efforts.

If that happened, no one knew what effect it would have on the unidentified “angels.”

“Yeah, nothing good would happen. So, Bishop-sama, could you make Lazaar’s bread—this bread—a church purveyor product?”

“………Huh?”

The method to solve that was simple.

Tooyama Naruhito was absolutely not a good person. He was not seeking to distribute progress and profit to the many.

He prioritized himself and his people. In other words—

“After Lazaar’s bread comes into the world, there will definitely be people who follow after it and try to uncover the secret of this bread, right? So, to prevent that, we want the church to protect our bread.”

A monopoly on yeast bread. Tooyama had absolutely no intention of letting progress or discovery spread among the masses.

“……You want to twist the church’s laws on bread? For your business? Haha, there is no way such a thing could be allowed.”

The bishop stated coldly. Her slightly opened purple eyes were visibly dyed with disappointment and contempt.

But seeing that, Tooyama was certain.

She had taken the bait.

“Bishop-sama, you’re drooling.”

“…………Excuse me.”

“You’ve already noticed the tremendous value of this bread. And you know that you have the right to handle this bread as you like.”

“…………”

“With anything, great profit and gain are determined by whether you can be involved at the beginning or not, whether you get on board or fail to.”

“Specifically, what is your proposal?”

“We’ll directly give you thirty percent of Lazaar Bakery’s bread sales. In exchange, we want permission to put the ‘church seal’ on all Lazaar Bakery bread. With that, this bread can become bread recognized by the church and backed by the church.”

“Then all the faithful people of the Empire will think this. The secret of this impossibly delicious bread isn’t that it was made differently, but that it received the angels’ blessing more strongly. After all—”

“Because it is bread bearing the church’s seal…… right?”

The bishop completed Tooyama’s words. Her body was not moving even slightly. From her fingertips to the top of her head, she was frozen like a reptile sunning itself.

However, only the index finger she had placed on the table was regularly bending, extending, and bending again.

“Exactly. Bishop-sama, we want the Angel Church’s brand.”

“………………”

Silence.

The bishop’s reaction, which had only been rejection earlier, had clearly changed.

The final push remained.

People moved through logic and emotion.

The logic had been cleared. Only emotion remained.

“Lazaar, give me that.”

“Understood.”

Lazaar carefully took several more freshly baked koppepan from the stone oven.

“What are you doing?”

“A sales pitch. Also thanks to Saint Senpai. She ate Lazaar’s bread so deliciously.”

Saying that, Tooyama also took sausages from the basket they had brought. Since they did not have anything convenient like pouches, they had been lightly smoked so they could be preserved.

“What are you really doing?”

“Grilling sausages. Little ones, start the fire the way I taught you before. Use the burning firewood in the stone oven as kindling.”

“Leave it to me, Aniki!”

“Ah, I’ll do it too……”

“Eh, eeh……”

The children bustled around following Tooyama’s instructions.

Having been given a way to live and a purpose by Tooyama, they were very hardworking. Being recognized if they worked was also something as distant as a dream to them when they had lived in the slums.

“Niko, crush the tomato—ah, no, the pomodoro into paste. Pero, look after Shiro. Stolu, watch over the little ones.”

“Yes, leave it to me, Onii-san!”

“Okaaay, Shiro, over here.”

“Dau.”

“Understood, dis, Inquisitor.”

Each person efficiently fulfilled their own role.

What Tooyama and the others had certainly built up in their life in this other world was here.

“……Amazing.”

The saint murmured softly at the children’s work.

“They’re the excellent employees I chose. Lazaar Bakery has already finished preparing to open. We’ve come this far, Bishop-sama. I’ll absolutely make you fall.”

“You really are troublesome……”

With flowing motions, the already risen bread dough danced in Lazaar’s palms as he kneaded it.

While dusting it with angel flour, he rolled it on the cutting board and shaped it into cylinders. Then, with crisp, pleasant sounds, he cut it apart.

“Naruhito, the dough’s fermentation—oops, the degree of blessing—is just right. It won’t need even twenty minutes to bake.”

“OK, I’ll add a little more firewood. The temperature’s risen properly. It’s fine to put them in already.”

“Aniki! The fire’s lit!”

“Nice, Rida. Luca, skewer two smoked sausages and grill them slowly over indirect heat. Ah, use the gloves the dwarf old man gave us the other day. You’ll burn yourself.”

“……Understood, Aniki.”

Not one of them was useless. Everyone fulfilled their work.

“These children were from the slums, weren’t they, Tooyama Naruhito?”

The bishop asked quietly.

“…………!”

Rida flinched and his body trembled.

“Yeah.”

“……Do you think they were worth fifty platinum coins?”

That question. It asked about his choice in the slums.

“…………”

Rida and Luca, who had been listening closely, had lit a campfire with their own hands, and the flames were gradually, gradually spreading through the firewood.

The flames reflected on the glossy skin of the sausages being grilled.

“Well, I’d say it was a fair amount.”

There was no hesitation in Tooyama. That was his answer.

“I see. Then that’s fine.”

For just an instant, the bishop smiled.

Pop. The sausage skin burst as the flame licked it.

“……They’re grilled, Aniki.”

“Oh, they look delicious. Bread from earlier as a side dish for sausages? Are you going to treat me to lunch from a wealthy household?”

“No. I’m providing entertainment new to this world.”

“Onii-san, I finished chopping the pomodoro paste.”

“Thanks, Niko. Stolu, could you grab two bricks of a suitable size?”

“Will these do, dis?”

“Thanks, thanks.”

Tooyama brought the iron cooking utensil he had taken from the basket near the campfire. He received the fireproof gloves from Luca and began heating it over the fire.

“That is……”

“A frying pan I had a dwarf workshop make. Apparently it’s a cooking utensil that was made in a certain city in the North Territory recently and started becoming popular. ……Humans, you know, will always keep advancing if left alone. Toward more convenience, more abundance. For that, they always devise, discover, and advance.”

Scrape, scrape, scrape.

Using a small knife, Tooyama first shaved rock salt. He sprinkled salt over the tomato—pomodoro paste—spread thinly on the frying pan.

“That is called progress. No one can stop it. As long as people remain human, their steps will not stop. But there is only one method to make it stagnate.”

Next came a fructose-like substance he had made the other day by boiling down fruit. He scooped two spoonfuls of it from a bottle into the frying pan.

“A method……”

“Religion, Bishop-sama.”

He sprinkled a little of the precious spices obtained from the trading company.

“The era I know in which religious power was strongest. People’s progress was clearly obstructed by its overwhelming power and control, and by the human desire to believe in religion.”

Tooyama spoke of history. He spoke of the era called the Middle Ages in the modern world he had lived in.

“In that era, Earth was considered the center of the universe, capable women were called witches and burned at the stake, the wisdom of previous ages was called devil’s knowledge and burned away, and things created by predecessors that people could not understand were declared the work of devils and destroyed. Without doubt, humanity stagnated in that era.”

Many people who reached their hands toward the stars were burned at the stake, and women who thought of their families were called witches and drowned in water.

Facts brought about by religion.

An age that did not recognize human progress.

“The Dark Ages. Religion has the power to create that. It is probably the only existence that can take progress from humans.”

In Tooyama’s hands, the paste steadily simmered down. The scent of the red-burning campfire felt pleasant, but the fire was a little strong.

The greatness of embers became clear.

“Angel Church, your power is overwhelming. I know from history how terrifying it is to make religion my enemy. So I won’t choose that. I won’t make you my enemy.”

“Isn’t your goal obstructed by us?”

“Hehe, yeah, it is. But our chances of winning seem slim. So I’ll have you become our allies. This is a possibility that someone, somewhere in this world would eventually have reached. A new progress that had been stagnated by religion.”

He received Lazaar’s bread and moved the sausages the children had grilled away from the campfire.

In an age where human progress was permitted, a simple idea could sometimes change the world.

That was culture.

“A hot dog. A new bread that does not exist in the Empire, planned to debut at the Dragon Festival.”

Tooyama cut a slit along the side of the bread with a knife, smoothly inserted a sausage, and drizzled ketchup over it.

“Bread, with sausage…… This sauce is……”

“Ketchup. Well, an imitation. In truth, it needs more refined sugar and a long time to simmer down.”

Tooyama prepared the second one with practiced hands.

Warm stone-oven bread, piping hot sausages grilled over a campfire. Drizzle bright red ketchup over it, and it was complete.

“Bishop-sama, Senpai. Please, have some.”

““Gulp……””

The scent simply stimulated instinct, and the two of them swallowed.

“B-Bishop-sama…… this……”

“……Calm down, Svi. This is nothing more than a sausage placed in bread. Even a child could come up with something like—”

“But no one in this world has tried it, nor could they try it because the church forbade it. It is something that does not yet exist in this world.”

“……Don’t underestimate me, Tooyama Naruhito. Even so, Angel Church law is law. Don’t think there is some sweet story where only you get special treatment so easi—…………Ah.”

“Svi?”

The saint’s hoarse voice interrupted the bishop’s words.

“………Bishop, sama.”

“Eh, where is the bread you had earlier? Did you put it somewhere?”

“……….”

Svi weakly shook her head.

“Eh, then, don’t tell me you already ate it?”

“No, ……swallowed.”

“Huh?”

“I swallowed it…… The hot dog…… was a drink.”

With teary eyes, Svi lamented.

In an instant, she had devoured that new bread.

“Hehe.”

Tooyama laughed.

Got her.

“……Angels, grant your faithful believer your protection.”

Gulp. Kanosa also steeled herself.

She bit into the warm hot dog.

Pop. Crunch. Chew, chew, chew.

“——————”

“Uh.”

The bishop’s mouth stopped moving.

“Nal—”

Lazaar called Tooyama’s name anxiously.

“No problem, Lazaar.”

Tooyama merely smiled faintly.

“It’s so gooooddddddddddddddddddd!”

“Eh?”

“Yes.”

Lazaar stared blankly, while Tooyama clenched his fist.

“Huh? W-what, what is this, what? The instant I bit into it, the tiny sound it played with a pop—if I had to compare it, yes! It’s just as good as the sound gold coins make when they strike other gold coins!! And after that sound, the juicy meat juices that flow into my mouth!! A freshness and smoothness unimaginable from an ordinary sausage!! It’s such a shock that it makes me wonder if what I had eaten until now was grilled paper or something!!”

The bishop shouted with incredible force. Her eyes were completely wide open, and she looked at the hot dog held in her trembling hands.

“E-eh……”

“Good, good.”

“And after the impact and lingering taste of this sausage, I noticed it!! The bread, the deliciousness of this bread!! The meat juices overflowing from where I bit into it soak into the bread dough!! No! More than that, the crust! When I bite down, it crunches! The outside has a firm bite! The inside dough is chewy! It combines with the meat juices! Harmony, it’s harmony! And this red sauce on the sausage is…… pomodoro sauce? No, it’s different. It’s seasoned with salt, sugar, spices, and chopped onion, giving it an indescribable flavor……”

“When someone with a rich vocabulary gives a food report, it gets long.”

Gulp, chew.

And the bishop finished hers in no time too.

“T-Tooyama Naruhito, t-this is—ah, my hot dog, where did it……”

“Bishop-sama, you already ate it all.”

“—Ah.”

“Angel Church, the time has come to advance the age of this world that you were stopping. Whether you get on board with Lazaar Bakery or not, Bishop-sama, you decide.”

“……If the condition for the secret of ‘fermentation’ is placing the church brand on the bread, and only the church can be involved with this new bread, then leakage can be prevented…… perhaps.”

“Your answer?”

“…………………The secret of this new bread will be entrusted to the Inquisition. Very well. The church promises to protect Lazaar’s bread.”

“Bishop-sama……!”

“Yes, got her words!”

“H-haha, i-it really worked. M-my bread has been officially recognized by the church.”

“F-frustrating. As expected, it became troublesome. But if this bread becomes subject to the church’s Blessing Tax and is handled only by the Inquisition, then in practice, market monopoly will be completed by the church…… f-fufufufu, ……So much money.”

“Bishop-sama……”

“Oh, forgive me, Svi. Ahem. Tooyama Naruhito. In that case, let us immediately discuss the detailed conditions. And may I hear your future business plan?”

“Yeah, of course. Actually, the hot dog still has another gimmick. It’s a gimmick that works precisely because the Dragon Festival is an event.”

“Bishop-sama…… Kouhai. I, um……”

Just as Tooyama was about to talk about various things, the saint murmured restlessly.

“Eh? ……Ah. Right. Ahem. Ah, Tooyama Naruhito, and Lazaar. We recognize your bread. Therefore, um, may we have seconds of the hot dogs from earlier?”

“—Hehe.”

Hot dogs were amazing. Their reaction was far better than expected.

“Yeah! Gladly, our Angel Church’s wisdom and pride.”

Lazaar bowed happily.

““““Gladly!””””

The children also raised their hands and answered.

At a home party, the Angel Church’s law was destroyed.

“My apologies for interrupting your pleasant conversation, Bishop-sama, Inquisitor-sama. A guest is waiting at the front gate. What shall we do?”

Clank, clank. A gatekeeper appeared with heavy steps.

They were here. Tooyama had thought it was about time. He nodded.

“Huh? A guest?”

The bishop tilted her head blankly.

“Yeah, should be about time. Bishop-sama, may I let one person join this home party? It’s all right. It’s someone both you and I know.”

“Someone we both know? Who…… —Ah, don’t tell me you—”

The bishop seemed to realize something and trembled.

“Yeah, I called the Hoarding Dragon. I promised to invite her once I got a house. She’s helped me over and over, so I have to show her hospitality.”

Tooyama answered lightly, as if it were nothing.

“……Shamelessly. What if I had refused your bread proposal?”

“This is hypothetical, but if Lazaar’s bread pleased the dragon, I might have asked her to help a little. Drako and I might have talked with you one more time. The dragon and I, together.”

Tooyama grinned. He had no intention of being carried completely, but he had been thinking with the mood that talking with the bishop together with the dragon sounded kind of friend-like and fun.

“You really will be burned someday…… No, that doesn’t seem likely.”

“Well, it didn’t happen, so it’s safe. Sorry, I’m stepping away for a bit. Lazaar, give our Bishop-sama and Senpai the finest hot dogs. Also, a gold-shining dragon is coming with a slightly empty stomach, so bake some for her too.”

“Understood!”

Tooyama called out to Lazaar and left his seat.

He felt like it had been a long time since he had seen Drako.

“This way, Inquisitor-dono.”

“Yes, I’m coming right away.”

Accompanied by the gatekeeper, Tooyama headed toward the entrance hall. The unusually successful flow had made him a little buoyant.

With this, a major hurdle for opening the bakery had been cleared. His decision back then to approach the authority called the church had not been wrong after all.

If he had not belonged to the organization called the Inquisition, even if he had prepared benefits for the bishop, the conversation would probably not have proceeded this smoothly.

“Gatekeeper-san, will you people always guard this house?”

On a whim, while still feeling uplifted, Tooyama called out to the guard leading him.

“Yes. It is Bishop-sama’s instruction. Even after everyone from the Inquisition moves in, several guards will be stationed here.”

“Heh, that’s appreciated.”

“It is paid. Bishop-sama should discuss it with you later.”

“Wow, she really does things like that.”

Well, fine. Depending on the price, he was worried about leaving the children behind too. It would be better to have gatekeepers.

“She is beyond the gate. We will open it, so please wait.”

“Sure.”

The gatekeeper moved away to open and close the gate.

Tooyama stood before the gate and suddenly thought.

Now that he thought about it, it had been a long road to get here. He had started as a slave, killed a dragon, disposed of every other obstacle, and made it this far.

“Transferred to another world, became a slave, killed a dragon, became friends with a dragon, and now I live in a mansion, huh.”

Thinking about it, he might actually have done quite well. No, very well.

But he had nearly died many times. The previous white snake woman in particular had been dangerous.

The same thing might happen again from now on. That was why he needed more than now. Much more.

“Money, power. To reach it, more, more.”

For that, he joined hands with the church. For that, he accepted the strange existence in his dream.

But unease still remained. The reason he had survived until now was—

“I was definitely lucky. But that’ll hit its limit eventually. To survive in this world and reach it more, more certainly……”

He wanted power. To avoid losing, to advance, to avoid being taken from.

Tooyama’s desire was about to proceed to the next stage—

“Opening the gate! Opeeen the gate! Guest, please be careful not to touch the gate!”

The gatekeeper’s voice rang out.

Suddenly, he stopped his muttering and thoughts and regained his focus. Well, fine for now.

A dragon friend was coming to visit his mansion. Thinking calmly, as a fantasy nerd, it was an incredibly exciting event.

He had reached one thing after another. He would build things up one by one again. Tooyama shifted away from thoughts that felt like diving into a deep place.

What kind of reaction would Drako have when she ate a hot dog?

Imagining a dragon food report for a moment, Tooyama smiled.

—The gate opened.

“Yo, Drako, glad you came.

……………Huh?”

Tooyama’s voice trailed off. His soft, relaxed smile changed into a blank expression.

“Oh my, to think the master of the house himself would come out to greet me. I am humbled! Hehe, pleased to meet you, ‘Dragon Slayer’-san.”

“…………Huh? Who are you?”

The one before the gate was not Drako.

A green-haired woman wearing a smile. He did not recognize her, yet he had a feeling he had seen a similar face somewhere.

“Oh my, how rude of me. Visiting your home without even introducing myself is terribly improper, isn’t it? I wanted to meet you once, so when I was walking through this city, I happened to find this place. Yes.”

The woman laughed. What was so fun? What was so amusing? In contrast to the frozen Tooyama, she laughed lightly, like a girl at an age when everything that happened was fun.

“To think ‘Dragon Slayer’-sama would be in a mansion I just happened to notice. I was surprised. Hehe, truly—”

A smiling expression floated on her face.

For an instant, it stagnated. It felt as if snow had fallen for just a moment beneath the lovely spring sunlight.

“Fortunately, yes.”

Endlessly, endlessly. That woman simply laughed without listening at all.