I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 136

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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 136. The Sound of Truth Weeping (2)
“I’ve never faced anything like this before.”
When the Witch’s Cottage requested something of me, it naturally took the form of a Quest.
However, this was merely a proposal.
Because of that, failure was something that couldn’t exist in a Quest.
But not anymore.
“A penalty… it’s accounting for failure.”
Which meant this wasn’t a request or proposal from the Witch’s Cottage, but rather an obligation imposed upon me.
If I failed to find the Previous Witch, my memories would be erased exactly as written here.
Though it didn’t specify which memories, I could deduce it.
“My memories as a Witch would disappear.”
That was likely the extent of what the Witch’s Cottage could manipulate.
My chest felt suffocating.
I was already overwhelmed trying to process the information I’d just learned from Noir, and now this situation arose.
“There must be a reason for this, but…”
Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to trust everything anymore.
I forced down the creeping anxiety and gazed out the window.
A medieval landscape like something from a novel or comic book.
But this wouldn’t be time travel to the past.
The medieval period as commonly imagined was actually something modern people had conjured through imagination.
The true medieval era would have been streets littered with filth and people walking about with dark expressions.
“I should think of this as a kind of Gate.”
The Witch’s Cottage and Noir said they wouldn’t search for the next Witch as long as a Witch existed.
The position could only pass to the next generation if the current Witch either fell or met death.
But this created a contradiction.
“Asking me to meet the Previous Witch doesn’t make sense.”
Meeting a fallen Witch would be telling me to die, and meeting a Witch who was already dead would be physically impossible.
I was exhaling heavy sighs, utterly bewildered, when it happened.
“Have you organized your thoughts? Master?”
Noir returned from somewhere, grooming his fur before settling beside me.
Perhaps it bothered him that he’d just delivered such shocking truths to me.
He made a show of grooming himself casually.
Yet the way he kept glancing over at me was quite endearing.
“A Quest arrived.”
“The Witch’s Cottage made another proposal?”
“Yeah. But this time it’s not a proposal.”
“Meow?”
As Noir listened to everything that had happened, his expression grew increasingly dramatic.
His eyes widened at first, and by the end of my explanation, his mouth hung wide open as he stared at me.
“So this is blackmail.”
“That… that shouldn’t be the case. Master. The Witch’s Cottage always works toward what you desire, it doesn’t coerce….”
“How is erasing memories not coercion?”
“Meow….”
Noir lowered his head deeply, as if acknowledging the point even in his own thoughts.
Yet the creature refused to abandon his faith in the Witch’s Cottage.
“The Witch’s Cottage is far removed from something that acts with its own volition, Master.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s like a signpost that indicates the most efficient path forward.”
This was Noir’s explanation.
Since I now desired to know the Witch’s true identity and the broader truth surrounding her, she presented the most efficient method to resolve what I sought.
“In that process, it indicated that your memories might be erased. Meow.”
“But it said it would erase my memories?”
“That is… it may have judged that it would be better if your memories disappeared instead. Perhaps… if you fail, it could be that your fate is already predetermined to have your memories erased….”
Either way, it wasn’t a favorable direction, was it?
In any case, the future where I had to meet the Previous Witch to prevent the calamity approaching me was as good as decided.
“But how am I supposed to meet her?”
“Given that such a proposal was made, I believe you’ll encounter her naturally, Master. You don’t need to force destiny into being.”
“Hmm….”
I couldn’t trust everything, but there was nothing I could do about it right now either.
Right, for now I should focus on what I can do.
“Let’s work. Work.”
“Meow. Are you alright, Master?”
“I’m not alright. But I can’t abandon my responsibilities either.”
Both the Bakery and Wichi Food had mountains of work waiting.
As a self-employed business owner, I couldn’t afford to let tomorrow’s operations fall behind.
“Besides, there aren’t many days left until the promised date.”
“You mean the Holy Feast, Master?”
“Right. I need to make plenty of it generously.”
The day I promised Rohan was drawing near.
From now on, I had to bake the hardtack with all my might.
“Let’s handle this first, then deal with the rest afterward.”
* * *
Time passed swiftly.
Or perhaps it wasn’t swift at all, merely flowing forward.
That it felt swift might be because I was gazing upon the past.
“Still, it’s good to move forward.”
Sitting in his office with his eyes closed, Rohan murmured to himself.
He had prepared so much to reach this point.
He had checked the Elders who pursued only their vested interests without change, and had finally created an opening.
The process of gathering those who sought to commit sin in one place had also come to an end.
“The Holy Knight Order is prepared as well.”
The faithful Holy Knights under my command have completed all their preparations.
And….
“Finally, there is this bread.”
Even with my eyes closed, the savory aroma seeps through, filling my senses.
Why does it feel like a warmth that soothes a wounded heart?
As if light descended and wrapped around me gently, I opened my eyes.
“Is this truly….”
Before me lay a single loaf of bread.
It was honestly too humble to be called bread.
Rather than the soft, pillowy feel of a well-risen dough, it resembled a hard, flat brick—a hardtack.
Yet I could sense it.
The powerful aura radiating from it.
“How on earth was this made… No, no. I must not doubt.”
Reproaching myself for harboring even a moment of suspicion at such an unbelievable aura, I shook my head.
As an A-rank Hunter, I was sensitive to mana, and I could see it.
The brilliant light emanating from the hardtack meant for the Holy Feast.
Even the elixirs released by the Miracle Guild did not emit such light.
This meant that this bread, marked with a cross pattern, contained far more mana within it.
“I simply cannot believe it… Kugh! How sacrilegious to doubt again!”
Had I not witnessed it with my own eyes?
When Yeon-gi extended his hand, the wicked and treacherous ones vanished.
Had I not felt it?
When his bread arrived, the reverent faith I had nearly forgotten was rekindled within me.
“Therefore, this too must surely be true.”
The Bakery Owner, Seung-hyun, who is surely an apostle, delivered this bread and spoke thus.
‘Everyone must eat this without fail.’
‘I will see to it… but is there a reason?’
‘Once you taste it, you will understand. You will be able to sense what will happen and who will cause it. All of you present there.’
As he turned to leave after speaking only those words, I, as an Elder, told Seung-hyun that he could participate in the Holy Feast ceremony of the inauguration.
Normally, one would show interest in an experience that might never come again in a lifetime, but here Seung-hyun gave an unexpected answer.
‘Then I can watch what happens right beside you. I’ll arrive on time.’
“Ah. Truly, he is an apostle. The apostle has come in light.”
It is already a blessing that he provided a solution, yet he does not stop there and says he will be with us.
How could this not be light?
“All the more reason it must be certain.”
Rising from my seat, I gaze out the window.
Crowds gathered, eager to catch even a distant glimpse of today’s Elder inauguration ceremony.
To become a shepherd worthy of those young lambs and guide them on the path, today’s work must lead to success.
“The time draws near now.”
Rohan stepped out of his office, clad in solemnly draped vestments befitting his station.
The members of the Holy Knight Order followed him in single file.
They displayed their unwavering faith through the clinking of steel.
The moment they arrived at the venue where the ceremony would take place, a voice called out.
“How have you been faring, young Elder Rohan?”
A man approached with a tone that blended formal respect and subtle condescension.
His sagging cheeks fluttered like a tattered flag, and greed pooled between the wrinkles of his mouth.
No matter how many times one looked at him, he seemed less a believer than a creature poised to drain the lifeblood of others.
“Surely not so long ago? I distinctly recall you voicing strong opinions just last week regarding the Holy Feast agenda, Elder Kim Sung-bok.”
Kim Sung-bok—an Elder suspected of orchestrating the Gate Break alongside the Oseong Group and the Gongju Market.
Just last week, he had vehemently opposed the matters concerning the Holy Feast.
While breaking a promise abruptly lacked logical justification, his true reason for opposition could only be one.
“Might I inquire once more about your relationship with the Oseong Group?”
“Heh heh. What use is there in asking? The Oseong Group are merely faithful lambs, nothing more. And even if they were—”
Kim Sung-bok nodded while wearing an unusually large ring on his finger.
The ring’s color—a sickly blend of red and dark gray—was deeply unsettling.
“Even if your suspicions were correct, nothing would change. Such inquiries are equally futile.”
“You speak as though you know everything.”
“Heh heh. At my age, one comes to understand such things. Why do you seem so uncertain, Elder Rohan? Is that not precisely why you brought the Holy Knight Order here directly?”
He regarded the Holy Knight Order with evident displeasure.
“I already worry that my faith might be tainted by standing up for these faithless wretches, and now you bring those creatures into the inauguration itself.”
“You twist your words. Hunters are those who dedicate their lives to protecting the nation and its people.”
“Tsk.”
Kim Sung-bok even scowled at the Association Hunters who had ostensibly come to participate in this display of unity.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, the female captain of the Hunter Association’s Special Investigations Team 1 and the girl who appeared to be a high school student under her command also seemed displeased.
Judging by the density of mana they emanated, if those two were to act, Kim Sung-bok’s head would fall in less than a second. Yet he seemed utterly confident.
Dong~ Dong~ Dong~
The church bells tolled, announcing the hour.
The sun hung solitary above the spire.
The crowd fell silent as the inauguration began.
At the same moment, the Elders rose from their seats.
“We shall commence the inauguration.”
The proceedings did not take long.
The designated Elder-to-be would walk forward amid the crowd’s welcome, receive the acknowledgment of all Elders, and take his seat in the vacant position.
Yet for Rohan, this moment stretched into an eternity.
‘The Holy Feast is about to begin—when will he arrive?’
Seung-hyun, who had promised to be present himself, had not yet arrived.
Of course, the plan would proceed without him, but the anxiety in his heart could not help but grow.
‘Breathe. Calm yourself. Trust in this bread he provided.’
The unleavened bread, distributed to all present in emulation of divine mercy.
It was the very moment the Holy Feast was about to commence.
“Wait.”
An elderly man’s voice resonated through the space.
Though it stretched forth without force, the owner of that damp voice continued all the more deliberately.
“Before the Holy Feast begins… I have something to say to all of you.”
The blood-red ring adorning Kim Sung-bok’s finger gleamed.

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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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