"Is that so...?" Iri pondered the problem while taking the pastry Bell offered, then absentmindedly put it into her mouth.
"!" Deliciousness warning!
"Bell! You are not allowed to touch that box of pastries again! Keep them all for me!" Iri immediately swallowed the pastry in her mouth, then quickly told Bell, who had already eaten one and was reaching for a second.
"Huh? Didn't you say they were all for me?" Bell turned back, looking very sad.
"Then I'll give you one more piece, but you keep the rest for me!!" Iri quickly got up and snatched the pastry box from in front of Bell.
"Why like this! There are still several boxes! This goat milk pudding can't be stored for too long, and with so much, you can't possibly eat it all by yourself, can you?" Bell asked.
Hmm? It can't be stored for too long? Then my earlier speculation about Gelos's friend giving them to him can pretty much be ruled out.
And with so many boxes, Bell just said that this pastry is only produced in that village. To bring so many boxes at once... well, no reward without merit... The reason I asked Gelos for offerings was partly to trouble him, and partly to bluff him, saying that my so-called ultimate move required food to recover. It seems that foolish Gelos must have honestly reported it to the high-ranking old geezers of Theocracy, and those old geezers must have fallen for it.
Otherwise, why would they bring such high-quality goods to me? Bell just said that one box is worth half of her salary... Leaving aside everything else, just this pastry that I like, there are about four boxes, which is two months of Bell's salary.
It's worth noting that Theocracy is a peculiar country; to prevent corruption... the higher one's position and power, the lower their salary, and the Black Scripture is no exception.
Although the Black Scripture receives some extra bonuses for completing certain missions, the amount isn't very large. With Gelos's salary, buying this pile of things would still be a bit difficult. Of course, this doesn't rule out the possibility that he used his wife's savings to buy them.
Considering that he came with the Director of the Magical Research Institute, these pastries must have been specially approved by Theocracy's high command.
That means they really believe that my ultimate move requires food to recover... Truly an alternate world, where such absurd nonsense can fool them! If that's the case...
"If that's the case, Bell... you'll be responsible for eating all of these! I only want this one box; the rest are all yours," Iri said with a smile.
"Eh! You promised! No backing out now!" Bell became happy again when she heard Iri say that.
"Of course!" Iri said, then opened another box, took out a pastry, and put it in her mouth, thinking that Bell was getting bolder and bolder, daring to talk to her like that. It seemed she needed to teach her a lesson.
"I won't go back on my word, but... you must finish all these pastries today." Iri once again lay across the sofa, propping her head with her hand, and said to Bell.
"You said 'finish'? How should I finish them?" Bell's face immediately changed. Such a huge pile of pastries and fruits, wouldn't it be a waste to get rid of them all?
"I don't care how you finish them, but you are not allowed to take them out of this room, and you are not allowed to throw them away. After all, they are food that people worked hard to make, no wasting! Understand?" Iri said with an incredibly sunny smile on her face.
"You mean? You want me to eat all of these by myself?" Bell's face immediately turned green. She knew that this huge pile of pastries had been brought by several priests together.
Piled next to the table, they were almost half a person's height. To eat such a huge pile in one day, even with several more people, might not be possible.
Making Bell eat it all by herself in one day was clearly meant to make things difficult for her.
"You've been running around a lot these past few days, and it's been tough... Consider this your reward! You don't need to go anywhere today, just stay here and deal with these pastries!" Iri ignored Bell's tearful expression, stood up, and stretched.
"Clementine, this... I... I can't do it alone. I can't eat all of this," Bell said with a mournful face, very honestly.
"Hmm? Don't you like them? If you like them, they're all yours. What's there to be dissatisfied about?" Iri said to Bell with a smile, though her eyes weren't smiling.
"Clementine, I know I was wrong, please let me off!" Bell immediately conceded and apologized.
Well! It was just to scare her a bit anyway; she didn't really intend for her to finish all those things in one day, after all, she wasn't a devil!
"Alright! Then I'll let you off!" Iri walked to where she had dropped her coat, picked it up from the floor, and intended to change clothes.
Seeing Iri let her off, Bell breathed a sigh of relief, still thinking that Elizabeth was all bark and no bite.
"I'll cut it in half for you; I'll take care of the other half," Iri said while changing clothes.
"H-half??? No! Clementine!! I can't handle half either!!" Bell now realized that this Elizabeth was not a good person at all; she was a devil!
However, in the end, Iri didn't actually leave half for Bell; saying those things was merely to scare her.
Most of the pastries were unpacked by Iri and put into her spatial bag. She also instructed that in the afternoon, all the empty boxes should be thrown out, and the more people who saw them, the better. However, Iri herself intended to go to another place to handle a very important matter. Bell offered to come along, but Iri refused.
Thus, Iri used Self-Time Acceleration several times in a row, secretly slipping out unnoticed.
Iri's destination was the same deserted alley where she had previously frozen Bell.
After activating Despair Aura to drive away nearby people, Iri decisively darted in and then took out a Teleportation Scroll.
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