TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 84

Five years later.

Coral Kingdom, Sea God Temple.

“The Holy Child of the Sun God Temple is coming?”

Staring at the letter that had just been delivered, a young man wearing a blue coat embroidered with gold trim—his figure round and lustrous like a pearl, with a wave-shaped holy mark on his neck—murmured in confusion.

Even the attendants beside him looked surprised, exchanging glances.

They asked in low voices, “Your Highness Barney, has something happened?”

Barney replied nonchalantly, “What could possibly happen? Our Sea God Temple doesn’t really have any dealings with the Sun God Temple. He’s probably just here on vacation. As the Holy Child of the Sea God, I’ll simply fulfill my duties as host and receive him properly.”

The attendants echoed him: “The Coral Kingdom’s golden beaches and its reputation for mermaid sightings are famous far and wide. Every year, countless nobles come here to vacation. Now even the Holy Child of the Sun God has come after hearing of it.”

Barney showed a hint of pride as well and began discussing with the stewards how to receive the guest.

One steward quickly produced a plan for confirmation. “This is last year’s menu and schedule for hosting the Holy Child of the Storm God. What do you think of using this standard?”

Generally speaking, the high priests of the temples rarely traveled casually. Matters of visiting and hosting mostly fell to the various Holy Children. As such, this was already the highest standard of reception they could offer—one that even the king himself did not enjoy.

Holy Children were more precious than kings.

Barney took the menu and skimmed it. Just as he was about to nod in agreement, he paused.

He examined the signature on the letter—the name and seal of Pope Zeman—and the final line: “Take good care of Albin.” Inevitably, his thoughts drifted back to his own visit to the Sun God Temple in the past.

At that time, it was Zeman—then still a Holy Child—who had received him. But the very first glance at Zeman had terrified him, and he had spent the entire trip on edge.

It was hard to imagine what the new Holy Child would be like.

Would he be as frightening as Zeman had been? People from the Sun God Temple were never easy to get along with.

His lips moved slightly as he swallowed, and he said cautiously, “No, this is one of the Three Supreme Gods’ temples—the Sun God Temple. I’ve heard Zeman values this Holy Child greatly. We should add more on top of this standard.”

The fact that even the letter of introduction had been personally written by Zeman spoke volumes about how much importance he placed on this visit.

In Barney’s eyes, this wasn’t a letter of introduction at all—it was a threat.

If they failed to take proper care of the guest, wouldn’t Zeman come knocking personally?

A chill ran down Barney’s neck. He decided that this time, he would oversee everything himself and monitor every step of the process.

The steward immediately revised the plan. “How about adding a few dishes of monster meat?”

Monster meat wasn’t tasty—its flavor was sour and its texture tough. But its rarity and the difficulty of hunting it gave it an exalted status, long regarded as a dish that added prestige to a noble’s table.

“No!” Barney rejected it outright.

“I remember that the Holy Child of the Sun God has always sneered at monster meat on noble tables. He believes that the monstrous transformations after poisoning are vulgar and stupid—like filthy rats crawling onto the dining table.”

Beyond that, the Holy Child of the Sun God had also questioned the supposed value placed on monster meat.

Nobles ate monster meat to prove their martial prowess—but when it came to the number of monsters hunted and the ability to hunt them, who could compare to the temples?

For a Holy Child, eating monster meat was easier than eating beef.

After all, beef required years of raising cattle, while monsters were everywhere. With a Holy Child’s abilities, catching one could be done at any time.

The Holy Child of the Sun God held an exalted status. A single remark from him could become a guiding trend among the faithful.

That “filthy rat” metaphor quickly spread. Commoners, who had never known what nobles looked like behind closed doors when eating monster meat, now learned that they were all like rats.

And who hadn’t seen rats?

So that was how pathetic those noble lords were?

All kinds of nursery rhymes and jokes mocking nobles for eating monster meat immediately spread, and in some operas, characters were deliberately shown eating monster meat to emphasize their vulgarity.

First scorned by the Holy Child of the Sun God, then scorned by common folk—the act of eating monster meat could no longer be associated with “nobility” or “heroism.” Instead, it became a source of universal ridicule. Naturally, fewer and fewer people were willing to eat it.

After the nobles’ overall willingness declined, the Holy Child of the Sun God pushed through related religious edicts to further restrict the practice.

This trend had already spread across the Western Continent. Although the Coral Kingdom was not within the Sun God’s sphere of influence, frequent merchant trade—and the refusal of visiting nobles on vacation to eat monster meat—had subtly led to its rejection here as well.

The steward hurriedly apologized, and the group racked their brains again over what kind of food should be prepared.

Barney also felt that if even monster meat was deemed unacceptable, this Holy Child must be a delicate, picky, and difficult person—requiring even greater caution.

With such refined tastes, he must be someone of extraordinary background.

“Which country is this Holy Child of the Sun God from? Let’s cook according to that country’s cuisine.”

Barney asked around, but no one could give an answer.

That’s right—the origins of this Holy Child of the Sun God were a mystery. All people knew was that he possessed top-tier talent. When he was first brought back to the temple, he had already displayed outstanding magical ability, was deeply favored by the gods, and could even cast magic silently.

When word spread that the Sun God Temple had produced two consecutive Holy Children with top-tier talent across all attributes, the other temples were green with envy.

In the silence—heavy enough to make one uneasy—the attendants spoke up one after another:

“I heard he’s very close to Edward, the priest of the God of Love, and goes to the Rose Kingdom every year. Maybe he’s from the Rose Kingdom.”

“No, I heard he has close ties with that tyrant from the Tulip Kingdom.”

“Isn’t it that he’s close to Padma, the new priest of the Wine God? I heard they often chat happily together at balls.”

“I heard he’s the pope’s illegitimate child.”

“And the new priest Mu’en from the Night God Temple seems to view him differently as well—there must be some connection…”

Barney felt his head spinning.

Why was the Night God Temple involved too? Weren’t they sworn enemies of the Sun God Temple?

But no matter what, it seemed clear that this guest was someone with an extraordinary background.

The steward suggested, “I’ve heard that Gold, the chairman of the Honeysuckle Guild, has some connection with the Holy Child of the Sun God. He happens to be in the city right now, and a few days ago he even wanted to meet you to discuss maritime trade. Why not summon him and ask about the Holy Child of the Sun God’s preferences?”

Barney nodded repeatedly and quickly had the man invited over.

Gold, with his golden hair, entered the Sea God Temple. After hearing Barney’s question, he broke into a wide grin.

“Have you heard of potatoes?”

“You mean that filthy, misshapen tuber full of toxins?”

Barney frowned. “What does that have to do with the Holy Child of the Sun God? Someone once offered me this so-called new crop. Are you suggesting putting something so unclean on the table of a Holy Child known for being picky? How could someone so refined possibly take an interest in that thing?”

He had taken one look at it and ordered it thrown away.

It was a tuber straight out of hell.

“Exactly,” Gold said with a smile. “But I’m sure the person who offered it to you didn’t explain that this crop was bred with magic by priests and then cultivated and planted by nobles. It is an extremely noble crop.”

Barney stared at him, dumbfounded, his eyes full of doubt.

“How is that possible?!”

“I believe you’ve heard that, as several temples changed to new priests, some priests and nobles unfortunately became criminals.”

“That is true.”

“Lord Albin believes that imprisonment alone does not lessen their sins. They should instead purify their guilt under the supervision of the sun, so he arranged for them to work the fields. And potatoes—the crop whose cross-section is as golden as the sun—were chosen. Under the magical hands of priests and nobles, they were continually bred, becoming the extremely delicious new crop they are after cooking.”

Gold continued, “Nowadays, across the Western Continent, this magical crop is extremely sought after. Estate owners are all scrambling to plant it.”

Barney had indeed heard that the Sun God Temple had revised its laws, exiling criminals to labor.

But he had never imagined that among those criminals there were priests and nobles!

So that was it—so that was it!

Since it was a magical crop cultivated by priests and nobles, it was naturally precious and noble. No wonder it had earned the Holy Child of the Sun God’s favor.

Still, he felt troubled. This new crop hadn’t yet entered the Coral Kingdom—where was he supposed to get it?

Gold thumped his chest and agreed to handle the matter, asking how much Barney wished to purchase.

Barney immediately placed a large order. The Sea God Temple was not short on money.

He wanted to taste for himself what this miraculous magical crop was like.

Gold smiled as he signed the contract with him, and said that next time he would also bring potato recipes, guaranteeing that the Holy Child of the Sun God would sing their praises after eating them.

—

A convoy with imposing presence passed through the city gates and slowly entered the Coral Kingdom.

The driver of the carriage wore a tightly fastened cloak, beneath which gleamed polished silver armor. This loyal knight asked the person inside the carriage, “Your Highness, shall we go directly to the Sea God Temple?”

From within the carriage came the clear voice of a young boy. “No, not yet. Let’s go later—give them some time to prepare the potato feast.”

The speaking youth had short snow-white hair, with two small braids tied by his ears, swaying gently with the carriage’s motion.

A pair of nimble crimson eyes gazed out the window at the scenery, brimming with interest.

“I hear the Golden Coast of the Coral Kingdom is famous. Take me there.”

Ever since entering the Sun God Temple, he had been endlessly busy. He had never even gone to the seaside to play!

Now thirteen years old, Albin maintained a calm exterior, while inside he was already bursting with excitement.

As he was admiring the view outside, he suddenly felt the bracelet on his wrist warm slightly, the runes upon it flickering.

He withdrew his gaze and fiddled with the bracelet.

In addition to the God-Slaying Spear, he wore a thin bangle as well—this was the latest communication wristband developed by inventors from the Temple of the God of Love.

For now, it couldn’t transmit sound, text, or images, but through the flickering of runes it could convey some simple messages.

“Dad sent me a message the moment I arrived. He’s not been calculating my itinerary this whole time, has he?” Albin chuckled and sent a reply to his father.

This trip wasn’t actually for a vacation at the Golden Coast—promoting potatoes was only secondary.

Potatoes had been spreading rapidly in other countries. Free farmers, with less ability to withstand risk, were more cautious about new crops. But persuading lords was much easier; at the very least, they were willing to try planting a few mu.

Especially once the labels of “magical crop” and “the Holy Child of the Sun God” were brought out, promotion went relatively quickly. The five-year plan had been perfectly completed~

Magic really was perfect for farming!

Albin thought smugly.

It wouldn’t work to make priests farm the land—but making criminals farm it? No one could stop him there.

Send all those bad priests and nobles off to plant potatoes~

However, while leveraging the influence of a Holy Child was useful in these matters, there were also times when it was inconvenient.

For example—founding schools.

How could a world of magic not have magic schools? They had to be the kind that allowed students with magical talent from across the entire continent to attend!

He had come to the Coral Kingdom precisely to discuss this with Gold.

But the magic school he wanted was one where everyone could focus solely on learning, without any religious nature attached, and without influencing the students’ faith.

The identity of the Holy Child of the Sun God wasn’t suitable for that. If he did it under that title, it would only become a church school of the Sun God Temple.

Should he find someone else to act as a proxy? That didn’t feel very convenient either…

Albin hesitated.

Or perhaps… he could fabricate a fake identity and become the principal himself?

Running a school would take several years—by then, his age should be acceptable, right?

Being the principal of a magic school—just thinking about it felt so cool!

Since the school was still only in the planning stage, Albin let his imagination run wild.

A fake identity sounded pretty cool too. What kind of alias should he give himself…?

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