Chapter 277

I Wish I Hadn’t Looked
“Huh? You got summoned by the gods? And all three of them descended together?”

Father pressed his fingers to his temple and started rubbing it.

“They requested the dishes from last time and the works that placed first eighth in the exhibition, right?”

“That’s right, Brother Chris. Apparently, I never actually offered the buns last time, so they asked when I’d be doing that. They also told me to increase the quantity. And as for the small gemstones recently found in the Eminira Dungeon—they said they want even common folk to enjoy fashion, so…”

“They must’ve been inspired by the glass beads.”

Ah—Brother Chris’s guess feels spot on.

“In that case, Hardt, you’ll need to think up some uses for them.”

Exactly.
I’m already busy enough, but here comes a new divine request—one that can’t be postponed or ignored.

“Hardt, did the gods say anything else?”

“Anything else?”

Did they…? Wait.

“Oh, that’s right! Thank you, Brother Chris. I almost forgot again.”

I’ve been forgetting a lot lately. Too much to do. Maybe I should start keeping a schedule, though I really don’t want to.

I pulled out my stone slate and checked my stats.
—

Level
Water: 31 
Healing: 20 
Mana: 12,768
—

You’ve got to be kidding me.
My Mana’s gone up by 1,500!
When was the last time I checked?

Water 30, Healing 20—those are supposed to be slow to raise, yet I’ve done almost nothing!
—
Blessing
[Hot Spring] Rank: F
- Able to view the effects of hot springs.
—

The hot spring blessing went up a rank.
But how? I haven’t done anything with it.
Still, being able to see the effects sounds useful… except it doesn’t explain how to check them.
So now I have to start researching that too?

Then I saw the notes section.

—
(Notes)
If you want to increase the number of caterpillars, use Growth Acceleration.
We’re looking forward to your lacquer-painted watercolor calendar—spread more art to the people.
When will you make the obanyaki? You should also put effort into blacksmithing—like creating magical hot-spring bath additives.
—

…
I should not have looked.

So this is why they descended personally—they got tired of waiting for me to open this message.

I slumped back onto the sofa.

Still… two of those three messages clearly sound like they’re from the Art God and the Smithing God.

“What’s wrong, Hardt? Did something happen?”

Brother Chris asked, concern in his voice.

Still leaning against the sofa, I told him that my Hot Spring blessing had ranked up to F, and that I’d received messages in the notes section.

“Hardt… those messages came from the Plant Goddess, the Art God, and the Smithing God, right? Getting notes from gods other than the ones who gave your blessing—that’s unusual.”

I nodded, saying that during the summoning, the Plant Goddess had mentioned the other two were pleased as well, so what he said made sense.

“Hardt, what’s this obanyaki thing?”

“It’s a sweet similar to a dorayaki—made with red bean filling.”

“Oh my, when will you make it?” Mother asked eagerly.

“Mother, I’ll need to gather tools and ingredients first. I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“Oh… I see,” she said, sounding disappointed.

Sorry, but I really can’t do everything at once.

Still… how did the Smithing God even know I’d been planning to make obanyaki?

… No. I’m not thinking about it.
It’s pointless to waste time wondering about things like that.

“Hardt, did you ever thank them for the caterpillars?”

Ah—right. I completely forgot about that.

When I told my family, they all looked exasperated.
“The first thing you do is say thank you,” they scolded me.

But three gods descended at once! How could anyone stay calm in that situation!?

I decided to ask the head chef to prepare a larger food offering to make up for it and beg forgiveness.
But still, that’s yet another task added to the list.

Really… checking my status once a year should be plenty.

Three days later, thanks to the hard work of the kitchen staff, we managed to prepare thirty servings of each dish and sixty servings total of the three types of anpan and the bean buns I’d forgotten to offer before.

The moment I made the offering, everything vanished instantly—so I’m hoping that means it was accepted.

Since it was the first time Brother Chris had seen me perform a divine offering, he stood there, speechless.

“Every time I think there’s nothing left about you that could surprise me, Hardt,” he said with a sigh, “something even more extraordinary happens.”

… What am I supposed to say to that?

What do you think about this chapter?