Even the most ferocious Magical Beast, once its hide is peeled and sprinkled with cumin, is nothing more than a slab of meat.
But the meat of a C-rank Magical Beast is truly different from ordinary meat.
What’s more, this was meat that had received the full massage treatment from Saint Celery.
The earthy odor and abyssal aura had been cleansed, then roasted over a Fireball Spell—
Fat dripped onto the coals, and the scent of meat, tinged with a faint hint of herbs, filled the entire backyard.
Even those few Golden Potato Seedlings sprouting in the corner seemed to bend towards the grill.
Celia stared at the skewer of sizzling, juicy wolf ribs in her hand. Her once resolute heart for retirement wavered ever so slightly.
For a bite like this, working some overtime… didn’t sound so bad.
“Thank you for nature’s bounty.”
Celia opened her mouth and took the first bite.
First, the crisp, charred skin shattered between her teeth, followed by scalding juices bursting across her tongue.
No complex seasoning was needed—just a bit of salt was enough to draw out the pure, original sweetness of the meat itself.
Celia’s chewing paused.
At this moment, she felt as if she was dining in a Michelin three-star restaurant.
But a Michelin chef wouldn’t knead Fireball Spells, nor would they use Saint Celery to massage their steaks.
“Mmm, so good!”
Beside her, Lynn let out a blissful sigh.
Elent was even more exaggerated.
The Hero was devouring the meat in his hand like a whirlwind, crunching up the bones and swallowing them, tears streaming down his face as he ate, mumbling incoherently.
“It’s incredible! I can feel the power of the Demon Wolf when it was alive—it’s running in my stomach!”
“Shut up and eat. Don’t make lunch look like some cult ritual.”
The meal vanished as swiftly as a passing storm.
When the last piece of wolf meat was gone, Celia let out a satisfied burp and slumped back in her chair, unwilling to move.
Full was full—but perhaps a little too full.
Before Celia could lie down and digest, a rush of heat welled up from her lower belly and swept through her entire body.
“So hot!”
Elent’s face was flushed red, radiating so much heat it looked like he might catch fire.
“Priestess, I feel strength surging through me! I want to run! I want to jump! I want to go back to the Black Forest and slay ten more wolves!”
At this moment, Elent’s pupils had narrowed into slits, and even his usually brown, short hair was sticking out in all directions.
He radiated the energy of a husky about to wreck the house.
Looks like that’s the side effect of Magical Beast meat—an excess of energy.
“So this is youth,” Celia sighed like an old man, completely ignoring the fact that her body was only fifteen years old.
She checked herself over.
Strange. Why did I also eat the meat, but don’t feel like running naked around the yard?
Celia raised her hand and looked at her skin.
Her fair skin was actually glowing?!
Literally glowing.
Divine Glow of white light was pouring out of every pore, making her look like a lightbulb spirit who’d just descended from heaven.
“……”
Celia’s mouth twitched.
What was this—Saint Celery overload? Or had she become a walking light source?
Wouldn’t this make sneaking a midnight snack at night impossible?!
“Elent.”
Celia decided to send this over-energized husky away—and solve their financial crisis at the same time.
“If you’re so full of energy, then go handle something useful.”
She pointed to the bundle at her feet, which contained the freshly peeled, Saint Celery-purified Magical Wolf Hide.
“Take this and sell it in Baker City.”
“Remember, if you don’t get at least ten gold coins, don’t come back.”
“Yes, leave it to me!”
Elent grabbed the bundle, took a running start, and disappeared from view.
……
Baker City, Adventurer Association.
“This is the material you want appraised?”
A seasoned appraiser took the bundle Elent handed over.
A rookie Adventurer of E-rank—what good could he possibly bring? At best, a few scraps of rabbit skin, or some herbs dug up from a ditch.
The appraiser carelessly untied the bundle.
The next second, a silvery stream shimmered like mercury, sliding out of the bundle.
The once-bustling appraisal counter instantly fell silent.
It was the hide of a Demon Wolf, but not any ordinary Magical Wolf Hide.
The entire pelt was completely intact, with only a single, unbelievably smooth, fatal wound at the neck.
That meant a kill with a single strike.
And every silver hair was crystal clear, without a speck of impurity, emitting a faintly holy aura that soothed the soul.
“How is this possible?! Who processed this?”
“Huh?”
Elent was still wrestling with the urge to sprint laps around the hall. The question stunned him.
“The Priestess handled it,” Elent replied.
“She said it was too dirty and might stink up the backyard, so she just gave it a wash.”
The appraiser’s hand trembled. He looked up at Elent as if seeing a prodigal fool.
“Just gave it a wash?!”
“Do you have any idea about this Divine Glow? If you sold it to a noble as a pillowcase, it’d fetch a sky-high price!”
“What a waste—what a criminal waste!”
The appraiser roared so loudly that everyone in the hall turned to look.
But in the next instant, the seasoned merchant switched faces, putting on his best ingratiating business smile.
He quickly tied up the bundle, as if afraid Elent would snatch it back.
“Ahem, my apologies. We’ll take this at the Association—let’s sign the contract now!”
“Ten—no, twenty gold coins! How does that sound?”
“Twenty?!”
Elent’s eyes went wide. The Priestess said ten would be enough—now it had doubled?
“Deal!”
……
At dusk.
Celia was sitting in the church, staring at her reflection in the mirror, utterly defeated.
Several hours had passed, but the glow from her body had not faded.
In fact, after digesting more wolf meat, she was even brighter. Now, even without the lamp, she could light the room as bright as day.
“Don’t call me Priestess anymore. Just call me Miss Firefly.”
Just then, Elent’s shout came from outside the door.
“Priestess, I’m back!”
“I sold it for twenty gold coins! Twenty!”
With the crisp sound of clinking coins, Elent dashed into the church like the wind.
Celia’s eyes lit up.
Twenty gold coins!
“Well done, Mr. Hero.”
Celia turned around, her whole body shrouded in a gentle, holy glow. Her expression remained lazy, but in Elent’s eyes, the glowing Priestess was so divine he didn’t dare meet her gaze.
“Since we have money, tomorrow we’ll renovate the kitchen.”
Celia announced.
“I want to buy that Magic Stove that doesn’t need firewood, and that Alchemical Freezer that makes things cold automatically.”
“I want to drink ice-cold Happy Water!”
“Eh? But Priestess, those things are really expensive. Twenty gold coins might not be enough.”
“And, when I was coming back, I felt like someone was following me.”
Elent scratched his head, sounding unsure.
“Maybe someone from the Association. They were really interested in the hide, and asked me a lot about you.”
Celia stopped counting the coins.
“What did they ask you? What did you tell them?”
“They asked who purified it. I said you just gave it a wash.”
“……”
Celia stared at the coins in her hand and suddenly didn’t find them as charming.
Just gave it a wash?
Crap, trouble’s probably on the way.
Celia sighed, and even her Divine Glow seemed to dim with her mood.
“Elent.”
“Here!”
“Go lock the door.”
“No matter who knocks, don’t open it. Just say the Priestess caught a contagious case of Glowing Disease and is in quarantine.”