People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 522 Lin Feng: I'm not some kind of devil, I was just having a little dessert, Miss Kujo Sara…

The next day, in Inazuma Castle, in the town, at Fuchigami Confectionery Shop.

Open the door,

The desserts prepared for the castle tower are placed in an exquisite wooden box decorated with three layers of tatami seals.

While waiting for someone to pick up the desserts, this dessert shop, which was "personally approved by the general," officially opened for business under these special circumstances.

The abyss has struck, and the army is suffering losses.

Aside from Inazuma Castle, which is still functioning normally, the monster incursions from the outside world have become extremely serious.

To avoid those dark monsters that samurai and soldiers alone could not handle.

Many residents of small towns and villages left their ancestral homes and began migrating to Hanamizaka, near Inazuma Castle, seeking the protection of the Shogun.

"."

I've gradually gotten used to this kind of routine that can't quite be called routine.
Kalibel feels that every day is filled with hope these days.

He waved to the prince who was coming to work, and placed the dessert he had just made on a tray, asking his prince to take it to the "boss" in the backyard.

"It was baked at the same time as the one for the castle tower, and it should be at its best right now, so please eat it as soon as possible."

"Yes, there is some tea here. Could you please take it with you? It might be a bit too dry to eat desserts alone."

It absorbed an extremely large amount of abyssal power hundreds of years ago and once existed as a "key tool" within the Order.

But after the fate loom that could weave the earth's veins was no longer a necessity, Calibel, who never imagined she would be where she is today, finally got the ordinary life she had dreamed of countless times.

"."

"Phew, it's about time to get to work. I'll try making some new desserts today."

"After closing the shop, I'll ask the other apostles to help deliver this to the Hilichurls, and I'll also tell them the story I recently saw in my dreams."

Although he can only unleash a fraction of the power of the Loom of Fate, few can resist Calibel's ability to interfere with memories.

I thought I would be assigned some work, but I never expected that after arriving here, I would only be responsible for the store's disguise as "the most talented pastry chef among the Abyss Apostles".
Shaking his head, he banished the unnecessary thoughts from his mind.

I have told countless times to the Hilichurls who have been found why they were able to be saved.
Recalling the changes in the Order before and after a certain point in time, Calibel had never been so grateful that her prince had been captured before the restoration plan was officially implemented.
"."

"Something feels off. The way the cult members and those Hilichurls have been looking at me lately."

"It's probably just my imagination, since nothing special happened."

Taking the pastries and tea from the table, I reflexively helped carry them to the backyard.

She vaguely felt that something was wrong, but with work to report today, she shook her head and chose to put this trivial matter out of her mind.

Behind the dessert shop, at the edge of the courtyard, is a covered walkway.

He placed the first batch of pastries of the day on the table in front of him and sat down opposite a young man with black hair.

As is customary, the number and types of invading monsters will be dynamically adjusted based on the current strength of the Shogunate army.

Centuries of reconnaissance and intrusion had given the Order a wealth of experience in this area, making them particularly adept at summarizing battle situations.

"Shadow spends time every day clearing out monsters in the surrounding wilderness. You guys find it a bit troublesome to carry out these operations, right?"

"...That's pretty much what I expected."

"No matter how many ordinary monsters and filth there are, they pose no threat to her. In terms of combat alone, her talent and skills are undoubtedly top-notch."

"However, not everyone on stage has arrived yet, so the real challenge isn't here yet. Let's be careful for now."

He doesn't personally handle every invasion, big or small. With a high-quality worker like the "Abyss Prince," most of the harassment is left to Sora.

To avoid unnecessary casualties, some religious groups are equipped with detection compasses that can display the real-time location of deities.
However, the shadow flies very quickly, and even if it can be sensed in advance, the originally planned intrusion will be affected to some extent.

"The gods here are not adept at sensing large areas or blocking abyssal teleportation, so avoiding them for now shouldn't be a problem."
The apostles are building more teleportation routes, which should make hiding easier later on.

"However, the ships from Haiqi Island are already on their way, and you did not specify the intensity of the attack on them beforehand."

With the ability to detect their location in real time, avoiding the gods in advance wasn't too difficult for their subordinates.

Having obtained such a convenient tool, Sora only mentioned it casually.

What has truly made the cult somewhat undecided so far are the rebels from Haiqi Island.

Faced with the resistance force accompanied by his sister, Kong was certain that small-scale harassment would have no significant effect.

"A little bit of panic is enough; there's no need to aim for too many actual casualties."

"Being completely safe and sound will naturally cause some overly protected people to have some inappropriate thoughts."
So, by creating an atmosphere and using surprise, without directly confronting your sister, you can instill a sense of crisis in these people.

He took a sip of tea and responded to Kong's question.

Having crammed too much equipment into herself, Ying's combat power is no longer as negligible as it was at the beginning.

So since a direct attack is difficult and unrewarding, it's enough to make the scene more thrilling.

"Well, let's leave the reports here for now. By the way, has the frequency of Ying's visits to the store decreased significantly recently?"

"Although we still order desserts every day, they are usually brought back by people from the magistrate's office."

"Considering how she used to seem to have nothing to do all day, it seems that Ying has been taking her work quite seriously lately."

Lin Feng knew very well what that homebody girl had been busy with lately. From Lin Feng's perspective, Ying and the General were practically working non-stop.

Her work efficiency was so low that even after she delegated most of the work to the goddess, the remaining tasks were still enough to overwhelm her.

After a long day, simply keeping the number of files from increasing is already the limit; forcing myself to keep going is truly difficult. Those few hours each day spent out hunting monsters are actually considered rest.
Basically, the general was in charge of taking action, while Ying recovered her mental state in the Pure Land of One Heart.

"The situation in the army is indeed improving. It's not just because of divine intervention, but also because the general himself is very capable. The speed at which the troops are being reorganized is much faster than we expected."

"Your judgment is entirely correct."

"It seems that gods often don't need to make brilliant decisions; their own power is the foundation of everything."

"As long as the gods show concern for a certain area or matter, even if no actual problems are solved, the effect will far exceed the wholehearted advice and suggestions of ordinary people."

His tone carried a hint of emotion, and Sora, who stood on the opposite side of the shogunate army, was the one who could best feel the changes that had taken place in Inazuma in such a short period of time.

A deity who is completely indifferent to any actual work, and whose abilities are extremely limited, meaning that in most cases they can only observe.
Although they did similar things, the latter had a much greater positive impact on the country's progress than the former.

"Heh, after all, power is the best deterrent. The sense of pressure of knowing that the gods might be looking at you is much stronger than fooling your superiors."

"However, Shadow does have some advantages in governance, namely that it will not fill out reports it is unsure of arbitrarily."

"No matter how much work is piling up, I'd rather write 'I don't know' on it than give arbitrary instructions just to meet deadlines."

The only redeeming quality of the shadow was positively acknowledged.
After all, as long as the gods don't cause trouble, many countries will have the ability to run on their own once their political systems mature.

Although, based on my observations, the vast majority of effective decisions were made by a certain fox who was working overtime and the two siblings from the Kamisato family.

But going from zero to one is already a great breakthrough, so a slight dip in skill level is understandable.
"The dessert shop has lost a lot of its regular customers lately. The customers who used to come and sit down are all working overtime."

"The fox trying to shift the blame probably never imagined that, even though she only handled half the work, she would still have to help her review all the instructions prepared by her boss."

I'm so busy that I don't have time to come to the dessert shop at all.
When a fox discovered that Shadow had written a bunch of "I don't know" in the reply, even the luster of its fur dimmed a little.

Those who are used to slacking off are now stuck in a situation where they can't slack off at all, and are forced to deal with all sorts of accumulated problems one by one.

Although Lin Feng appeared somewhat gloating, after recalling the fox's consistent behavior, he actually found it quite amusing.
"Hmm? This is the dessert shop that the General has taken a liking to?"

"Desserts can relax the mind and body, causing one to unconsciously become complacent, which is a major taboo for soldiers. However, the general's words and actions are beyond my comprehension; there must be a deeper reason behind them."

Before the agreed pick-up time, in front of the dessert shop.

Unlike the shogunate soldiers of the past, the one standing in front of the gate today was a young woman with a tengu mask hanging on her head and wings on her back.

Thanks to the general's daily efforts to eliminate the monsters.

After the magistrates gradually relocated villages to the vicinity of Inazuma Castle, the pressure on the army was greatly reduced.

Having finally gotten a chance to return to the city to rest, Kujo Sara remembered the information she had gathered from the shogunate and volunteered to take on the task of fetching food during her rest time.

"Yuanshang Dessert Shop. Five characters, hmm, not a bad name."

"I wonder what the owner of this business has that has earned the General's approval."

I am very wary of desserts, because the fact that they can make me feel relaxed can easily lead me to make unnecessary mistakes.

I had heard long ago that after hundreds of years, another shop had received the General's personal approval, but I never had the chance to come and see it for myself.

Some time ago, after the Tianling Envoy suffered a great upheaval, he was granted the supreme honor of taking command of the army by the General.

To repay this trust, she worked tirelessly day and night until she finally had some free time these past two days.
"Let's go in and take a look. Desserts are ultimately too dangerous. No matter the reason, we should eat less of them."

"To prevent the General from being misled by treacherous officials, we must at least find out the reason behind it."

Looking at the sign in front of me, I took five deep breaths on the spot.

Ever since I tried desserts a few times when I was a child, I've never allowed myself to eat them.
With utmost caution, Kujo Sara stepped into the confectionery shop ahead.

"Miss Kujo Sara, please, here are five servings of three-colored dumplings."

"Those who can complete our challenge will receive a unique piece of General's lacquerware as a gift."

"."

Yuanshang Dessert Shop, in the center of the main hall.

I came a while early to explore the magic of this store.

But after entering, and facing the shop owner who was said to be someone who didn't appear very often,

Because I was unconsciously drawn to the lacquerware of the general placed to the side.

I don't know why, it was as if there was some kind of magic in the other person's words, and the situation ended up like this.
"Really, if I just eat five plates of three-colored dumplings, they'll give me that statue of Lord Mitakenami, who uses a technique lost five hundred years ago?"

"This precious thing, no, this treasure."

"Please rest assured, the lacquerware in the shop was acquired by chance, and very few people can recognize its value."

"Since Miss Kujo Sara has such discerning eyes, then this 'Statue of the Supreme Lord Takenori,' said to have been personally sculpted by a close friend of the Shogun, is naturally the perfect choice for you."

"Of course, to show your respect for Lord Oogami, I hope you will do your best to complete this challenge."

He looked at the usually serious tengu in front of him with a slight smile.

Lin Feng had not forgotten the "interesting story" that Yae no Miko had once told him:
—According to a certain pink-haired fox, the tengu in the Heavenly Territory actually loved sweets when it was young. It was easy to lure it into a trap by simply teasing it with some desserts or similar treats.
But perhaps because she did this so many times under different identities, the little one started to equate desserts with danger, which unfortunately made it less fun.
Kujo Sara: "."

A visible struggle was evident on the face of this Tengu general, and even the wings behind him trembled slightly.

He glanced at the most exquisite lacquerware he had ever seen, then at the five portions of tricolor dumplings exuding a sweet aroma on the table.

She had been determined to never touch sweets again, but her body tensed as she faced the shop owner, who had a kind face but insisted on not changing the terms.
Because of the conflict between "danger" and hobbies, she felt like a raccoon dog seeing delicious food in a crowd, experiencing unprecedented struggle and pressure.

(End of this chapter)