That's right; Tsuraguki, Selvih, Anno, and Saraya's expressions showed that they really enjoyed the cakes.
Hikaru also tried to eat some. He put a piece of cake in his mouth, and he felt that it was delicious and similar to a real cake.
That's right, whether it was the tea or the cakes, it was not the same as the tea and cakes on Earth.
But in a world without spices or anything to make cakes, Nekomaly was still able to create cake-like dishes, and it was an extremely wonderful thing.
Hikaru asked, "Nekomaly, does the era you live in have sweets?"
Nekomaly nodded.
"In my time, people didn't pay much attention to farming, as they mostly only focused on hunting animals. The agricultural produce was also obtained from other kingdoms, and the kingdoms that focused on agriculture were also poor."
"Why? Didn't people use agricultural products?" Hikaru asked; he knew that at that time the world was not covered by fog, so it was easier to develop agriculture and many other things.
So why didn't they focus on agriculture?
"Like what is happening right now, people were only focused on finding medicinal herbs and growing herbs to make energy pills."
"At that time, the Pope said that farming allows plants to absorb the nutrients of mother nature, and that's why he did not allow agriculture to expand."
"Even though he just didn't allow or ban the expansion and development of agriculture, people were blinded, and they completely gave up on agricultural development."
"Therefore, the food source at that time was based entirely on gathering, medicinal herbs, energy pills, and animal meat."
Hikaru frowned even more; he felt that this was extremely unreasonable. Yes, why would a Pope have such a bizarre thought?
He asked, "Did everyone believe what he said?"
"That's right." Nekomaly nodded: "At that time, there were several kingdoms in faraway lands that tried to develop their agriculture, but they were constantly plagued by natural disasters."
"There was even an erupting volcano right below a kingdom that was among those that were trying to develop agriculture."
"They felt that what the pope was saying was right and that the development of agriculture was making Mother Nature angry. Because of that, they gradually abandoned agriculture."
"At that time, the cakes were made with a little animal meat and medicinal herbs. Also the tea consisted of dried medicinal herbs that were then processed into tea."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"However, those things are extremely precious, and only the super rich nobles or people in the cathedral could use them."
Hikaru suddenly asked, "Was the cathedral in charge of everything at that time?"
"That's right, the Cathedral governed all the countries and the major clans. In general, everything was managed and operated by the members of the Cathedral."
"Even the decisions of all the kingdoms, clans, guilds, or any other organisation must be presented to the staff of the cathedral, and they have to agree, before it can be implemented."
Hearing that, Hikaru felt that the cathedral was like a giant monster that manipulated and directed everything in the direction it wanted.
"Didn't anyone stand up against the Cathedral and the Pope?" Hikaru asked.
Nekomaly shook her head: "No! At that time, the Pope was the strongest person in the world, his rank was that of a Half-Saint, and he was just one step away from becoming a Saint."
"Half-Saint? How strong is that?"
Upon hearing Hikaru's question, Nekomaly tilted her head in thought for a long time, her cat ears on her head twitching like a real cat.
"I don't know either, but I've only heard from others that he can appear anywhere in the world, ressurect people that are dying, and level up other people. There were also many other magical things that were said about him."
"However, I don't know for sure if those stories were true because I have never met him and have never set foot in the Cathedral."
Hearing that, Hikaru asked, "So… what happened to him?"
He had a feeling the Pope still existed. He didn't know how strong the Half-Saint class was, but if he had once been the strongest in the world, then his lifespan was certainly not low.
Nekomaly shook her head: "I don't know. I only know him as the one who made the rule that mixed-blood people should become slaves."
"What?!" Selvih was a little startled. She asked: "He was the one who made this rule?"
Anno also frowned upon hearing that; she felt that this was not normal at all.
"That's right. He said that mixed-blood people don't deserve to exist because they are of non-pure blood. Then he declared that mixed-blood people could only be slaves."
"Because I didn't want to be a slave, I… committed suicide."
Nekomaly said this and fell silent, her hands gripping her skirt so tightly that it wrinkled. She seemed to be remembering terrible things from the past.
At this time, Saraya suddenly patted Nekomaly's head, smiled, and said: "It's okay, now no one can force you to become a slave anymore. You've got a house, and you've got a master."
When Nekomaly heard that, she looked at Saraya with teary eyes, and then looked at Hikaru. Suddenly she blushed, lowered her head, and spoke, her voice as small as a mosquito's cry: "I…I know."
Everyone was silent; Hikaru also wanted to know more things, but that would trigger Nekomaly's bad memories.
It seems… The person who was called the Pope was really terrible. Hikaru speculated that that person must still exist or that he had reached a level where he could escape from this world.
On earth, the first nation of mankind appeared in 6,000 BC, although humans did not possess magic. By 1969 AD, they could already set foot on the moon.
But this world was different, Nekomaly existed 30,000 years ago, but by the way she dressed, there was a civilization like that of old Europe at that time.
But after 30,000 years, the civilizations of this world seemed to have stopped developing, or, to be more precise, the civilization had receded.
Up until now, the inhabitants of this world didn't even know about sweets and condiments, and if it weren't for magic, life would have probably been even worse.
Perhaps… the Pope, in Nekomaly's story, was the cause of this. His bullshit decisions made this world's civilization go backwards.
Hikaru suddenly asked, "Nekomaly, do you know how the caste system was arranged at that time?"
Nekomaly nodded and replied, "I've heard it many times too. In fact, the caste is sorted from 1 to 99 just like it is now. However, after level 100, the rank is called King rank."
"King rank is also divided into different categories, but I don't know them. After the King rank is the Pseudo-Saint rank."
"Then there's the half-saint and finally the Saint."
"I also heard that after a person reaches the saint rank, they could become a true god, and they would be able to control this world. But there are also people who say that after becoming a saint, you will have to leave this world and go to another world."
"There are many legends; however, no one has verified them because no one has ever reached the rank of Saint."
Hikaru frowned after hearing this, and he thought in his heart: "Looks like I still have a long way to go."
He glanced at everyone, and their expressions were not the same. Saraya totally didn't care about what Nekomaly just said, as she was still enjoying the cake and tea and looking at him with those pink heart-shaped eyes.
Tsuraguki showed an all-knowing expression, like she had expected this. But he thought that Tsuraguki's expression was correct, since she was already strong enough to escape Bloodmoon and wander outside the infinite universe.
Perhaps… She was saint level in the past .
As for Selvih and Anno, their expressions were the most special. Confusion, fear, expectation, and all sorts of emotions were shown on their faces.
Hikaru knew that what Nekomaly had just said nearly overturned what they once knew.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIncluding him, even before the fog invaded this world, people's life in ancient times wasn't much better than it is now.
The cathedral was like a hand covering the sky, and everyone had to live under its shadow.
Hikaru sighed and said, "Okay, don't worry about it too much, because worrying about it won't change anything."
"Use this as motivation to level up. As long as you reach the highest level, all the secrets will come to light."
"You can start by setting a small goal and become the most powerful people in our territory, then in this world, and finally everyone in our large family would aim for the King rank."
Hikaru said while smiling, his words made everyone smile, but no one felt that it was impossible.
Saraya's tier is SUR, and since she is a fallen loving angel, her limit will be much higher than King or Saint level.
Tsuraguki had already broken through the limits of the Blood Moon world and gone out into the vast universe, so she was also able to reach the Saint rank easily.
Hikaru had also helped Selvih by evolving her tier to UR, so her potential was also huge.
Anno is the most special among them, as he possesses an extremely powerful hidden buff, and Rika once said that Anno's hidden buff is related to a lot of powerful existences.
Even if they didn't have great potential, he had the ability to help them reach that level. At least, he didn't want to see his woman die before him.
His lifespan was gradually increasing, and he wanted theirs to be the same.
Besides, Hikaru didn't think he would just stop in this world. The universe was vast, and he wanted to see everything .
Everyone knew what Hikaru was thinking, and they all had it in their hearts that they would go with him to the end of this almost infinite journey.
Suddenly, Tsuraguki lay face down on the tabletop, she was unconscious, her eyes wide open, and her nose was bleeding.
"Tsuragaki!" Hikaru yelled, "What just happened?"
He glanced at the cakes and hurriedly said, "There's a problem with the cakes, don't eat them anymore."
"Heh?! Impossible. During the baking process, it was just me, Amia, and Saraya who made it." Nekomaly said fearfully, and her body began to tremble.
"Then what happened? It's a symptom of being poisoned, but Tsuraguki didn't eat anything but cakes… Wait!"
Hikaru suddenly glanced at Nekomaly, he seemed to guess something, and asked: "You said… Saraya also helped you make the cake."
"That's right, she and Amia also helped me make the cake."
Hikaru: "..."