I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 125

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 125. Beneath the Surface (1)
“I’m sorry? Could you repeat that?”
“You heard me correctly.”
Rohan spoke as though proposing something perfectly natural, without the slightest hesitation, yet this was anything but ordinary.
The inauguration of an Elder.
Perhaps those without faith might dismiss it as unremarkable, but this was the installation ceremony of the leader of the nation’s largest church by congregation size.
To entrust me with the bread called the Eucharist at such a symbolically significant event was no trivial matter.
“Are you certain you can make that decision? I’m just a baker who bakes bread, but I suspect it carries a different meaning for the congregation.”
“That consideration is precisely why I’ve made this decision. There is no cause for concern on that front.”
This wasn’t some university festival, and yet he was telling me not to worry while entrusting such a task to a neighborhood bakery that had gone somewhat viral.
I wondered if my skepticism had shown on my face.
“To explain my true reasoning, might I ask the two of you to step away for a moment?”
“Of course. Certainly, Rohan… brother.”
The two Holy Knights rose and departed through the door they’d entered.
Once their presence could no longer be felt, Rohan finally spoke.
Or rather, before that…
Thud.
He knelt first.
“What are you doing right now…?”
“I bow before the Light. Before one who comes to convey the will of the one who sent you.”
Before I could respond, Rohan clasped his hands in prayer, bowed his head, and spoke.
Uttering words that made my skin crawl—”Light.”
And what? Conveying the will of whom?
Even as I felt the sting of embarrassment, his words continued without pause…
“During purification activities on the Pilgrimage Path, I heard the teachings of the one whom Seung-hyun follows.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. I’m simply the Bakery Owner…”
“I am aware that you made substantial aggressive investments in Witch Food when it had yet to produce any products. Knowing that the founder of Witch Food is the Light, this too must be the Light’s will.”
“That’s not… what I mean…”
“I also know of the miracles accomplished by the Light, whom the world calls Yeon-gi. By preventing the Gate Break and becoming the shepherd of the lambs, and through Witch Food, awakening those who committed sins, and illuminating even the blind world—”
Rohan spoke with genuine reverence, his words measured yet flowing swiftly, and he opened his eyes.
They gleamed, glistening with tears.
The moment I saw them, I understood.
Ah, this was hopeless.
Those were the eyes of fanaticism itself.
“The madeleine, shaped after the scallop that symbolizes Saint James, infused with your power—this too is grace and teaching.”
“Ah… yes…”
“Indeed. Since that day, having abandoned arrogance and narrow-mindedness to practice compassion and love, I have felt my own strength increase.”
“Is that so…? Wait?”
His strength increased? What was he talking about?
Could a Hunter’s skill actually grow in such a manner?
But in the next moment, as I asked for his understanding and caught sight of the spear of light Rohan had conjured in his hand, I couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.
“Why… why is it so massive?”
“I have abandoned the previous skill’s name. This is, in its very existence, proof, compassion, and love. This entity is inevitable.”
It was a size that could no longer be called a spear.
It was simply a pillar.
It looked exactly as if someone had extracted a thick column from some cathedral and substituted it with light.
Moreover, from what I heard, he could unleash it in nearly unlimited quantities.
“Have you undergone re-awakening?”
“This too would be grace, would it not?”
No, it wasn’t a re-awakening.
The effect I had imbued in the bread from the start was merely to awaken memories.
Which meant this was something he had accomplished through his own strength.
To overcome the limits of his own skills through faith that had become so incredibly powerful.
Truly, wasn’t this fanaticism of a terrifying degree?
“After that, I wished to express my gratitude to the Light in any way possible. In the midst of this, permission descended, and I came running with all haste.”
“Permission, you say?”
“The madeleine bestowed upon my father. If that were not permission to express gratitude, then what could it be?”
My head began to throb.
Well, of course, my intentions had taken hold to some degree.
Distinguishing between me in the state of the Witch who had become smoke, and me as the Bakery Owner.
This had already succeeded.
Moreover, summoning Rohan through the madeleine was also my intention.
But in that process, much had become twisted.
To Rohan, I in the Witch’s Cottage had become the Light—an angel, in other words—and he was calling me his apostle.
Yes, I’ll think about this later.
“First, please get up.”
“How could I dare to stand at eye level with an apostle of light….”
“You were doing fine just a moment ago. Come on, sit down. I’ll bring something for you to eat.”
“Ah. This too is grace….”
“I’m going insane….”
Fortunately, Rohan was so overwhelmed with emotion that he didn’t hear my last words.
Leaving him there, I hurried into the Kitchen to escape.
“He’s a madman. Master.”
“Don’t speak so harshly.”
“You’re not denying it, though. Meow.”
“….”
I decided to ignore Noir’s words, which had struck the mark.
A feeling of apology began to creep up as I thought of Seon-woong, who had just been happy saying his son had improved.
I’m sorry, his son has escaped from spiritual corruption, but instead he’s headed down the path of fanaticism.
“Sigh. Anyway, communion, you say.”
“This is quite a grave matter, Owner.”
“Indeed, it seems so.”
Whether past or present, the Eucharist carries profound significance.
If I were to judge it purely on physical grounds, one might call it dry and tasteless bread, yet I cannot ignore the symbolism it embodies.
“And yet you entrust such a thing to me….”
“Of course, part of the reason lies in the misunderstanding that I am the servant of an angel with eyes covering its entire form, but that is not the only reason.”
“That would be true.”
If the reason were merely that, there would be no need to approach it in such a manner.
There must be a clear reason why I myself must bake this bread.
More precisely, it means I must feed it to someone.
“The question is, who that someone is.”
“Why do you ask this body such a thing, Owner?”
“Well, I have no choice but to ask directly.”
Given the thorough misunderstanding he had graciously provided, there was no way he would refuse to answer my question.
I placed a tray bearing a plate of madeleines and a beverage before Rohan.
“Oh! This radiance! This grace! How can I possibly bear such emotion….”
“Please eat quietly.”
“….”
So when told to eat quietly, he truly ate without uttering another word.
Yet watching Rohan shed tears of emotion as he ate, I asked him:
“Is there someone who must consume the Eucharist?”
“There is.”
Rohan answered, placing a small piece of madeleine into his mouth as though it pained him to cut it so small.
“I believe the Light already knows all things, but I shall tell you everything.”
What Rohan then revealed was quite shocking indeed.
Had even a portion of this matter been reported, it would have drawn unsparing condemnation from the public.
“Such things occurred?”
“I am ashamed. I only learned of this after investigating following this incident….”
Rohan said that upon returning from completing the purification activities on the Pilgrimage Path, he had agonized over all other matters, omitting them entirely.
Whether the deeds he had done were truly righteous.
The conclusion he reached was ‘no,’ and in seeking to correct this, he investigated not only internal matters but external ones as well, and thus discovered it.
The corruption of those called Elders.
“Of course, not all Elders are such. It is merely that most of them are.”
Rohan explained that this was why, when he attempted to change the criteria for Holy Knight dispatch, they rose up like wildfire in opposition.
Actions taken to avoid relinquishing their own gains, he said.
“Those who claimed to follow the will of God have been blinded by power and money, grasping hands they should never have touched.”
“That is….”
“Government officials and corporate entities are backing them.”
Those who embraced corrupted clergy for the sake of popular support.
And likewise, those who permitted this very thing for the sake of money.
“After giving those three—whom I hesitate even to call Elders—a chance at repentance, the rest have fallen silent… but.”
“They’re surely plotting something.”
“As expected of an Apostle of Light. My thoughts align with yours. Since they have not witnessed the light, change will be difficult. That is why I made this request.”
Now the puzzle fell into place.
Rohan wanted to build a Church that truly followed God.
In that process, he wished to excise all the corruption, but practical operations made it difficult.
So his conclusion was to let them experience what he himself had felt.
“If they feel the light, wouldn’t they be able to repent sincerely?”
“It’s difficult.”
Regardless of whether I did this or not, it was a request bordering on impossible.
Rohan had walked a crooked path, but he had only followed what he believed was right.
So he could find his original purpose simply by retracing those dulled memories.
But from what I heard, the other Elders were different.
“They didn’t do what they did believing it was right. These people know full well the weight of their actions.”
“Then what should be done? Please, illuminate even a fragment of the path forward…”
“I’m sorry.”
How would I know the answer?
I apologize, but people don’t change easily.
How simple could it be to reconstruct values one has built over long years?
Even if those values are immoral and senseless.
“Then you must have another intention. Though I am still too inexperienced to comprehend it.”
“You’ll manage it well, Rohan.”
I meant that sincerely.
How many great figures exist who, having found their original purpose once, could investigate the Church’s ailments, uncover them, and excise them?
A capable person like this would produce results regardless of whether they had my help.
It was while I thought this.
“But I am anxious. I am afraid. Because those connected to them clearly desire to defy God’s will…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly as I say.”
Rohan clenched his fists so hard they turned white with rage, his voice final and different from before.
“They want a Gate Break.”
* * *
“They’re insane. No, the word ‘people’ itself is wasted on them.”
What I heard from Rohan was something that made even me, who wanted no part in such affairs, shudder with revulsion.
“How can they do such things without hesitation for their own profit?”
They trigger a Gate Break in the district where they hold power.
Afterward, they leave the resolution to the Hunter Association and attack the Association by citing the resulting damage.
The corrupt Church Elders exploit the destabilized psychology to extend their reach into that district and secure their influence, while corporations monopolize the reconstruction projects.
This was the reality of their vile alliance.
“Do not despair, Master. Humans have always exceeded expectations, yet they have also become monsters beyond imagination. But there is another matter to concern ourselves with.”
“Exactly. They’re deliberately triggering Gate Breaks.”
Despite all the research conducted on Gates, the exact cause that triggers them has never been clearly identified.
All they knew was that powerful mana fluctuations might have some influence.
Yet here was an organization built on the premise that Gate Breaks could be made to occur.
There was only one thing this could mean.
“They possess the ability to trigger them. And there’s only one thing that could do that.”
A fragment of the fallen Witch.
I don’t know why, but they’re using it.
Or perhaps….
Ding
[Beneath the Surface]
The fact that a Quest arrived suggests they might be the ones being used instead.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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