c107
TL/Editor: raei
Proofreader: Pickhead7
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: None.
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In the middle of the vige, arge pot was boiling, emitting clear steam.
However, inside the pot, instead of human food, there was just arge rock.
That''s right.
What was being boiled in the middle of the vige wasn''t food but just a stone."Ha... it looks delicious."
"Soup made from stone? What could it possibly taste like?"
"I wish I could have just one taste!"
Everyone knew there was a stone in the pot.
The Northerners knew, Ian knew, and so did Kira and Belenka.
But when Kira, who had be the exclusive advertising model for Ian Co., tasted the stone broth with relish, the onlookers couldn''t help but swallow their saliva.
Wow! How delicious must it be for her to make that face!
The innocent Northerners couldn''t have imagined that Kira''s expression was 100% acting.
Even if a modern person reincarnated as a Northerner were among them, they wouldn''t have noticed.
Who in the world would pour water over a perfectly fine stone, boil it, and then insist it''s "stone soup"?
When faced with something so outrageous, people tend to think, "Is it true?" rather than "It''s a lie."
It''s simr to how "stories of giving a bitter drink to an annoying sister-inw" on the inte are fictional, but "stories of losing a fight to a military tough guy" often have a real victim.
So, instead of thinking it''s a ridiculous scam, they believed he was really making soup from stones!
''I feel a little sorry.''
But the stone soup Ian prepared was... simply a scam.
It was no different from the scams that old-time quacks used to pull.
The only difference between Ian and a quack was that if caught, people wouldn''t hate him enough to want to kill him.
Frankly speaking, [Project - Stone Soup] could fail.
In that case, he''d just feel a little embarrassed and then find another way.
After all, Ian was a wizard, so even if he did something crazy, people would just think, "Ah, wizards are just like that," and move on.
Looking around, Ian sensed that the time was ripe.
It was time to start making the soup in earnest.
"Gunnar, do you really want to try the soup?"
Ian called Gunnar''s name.
Gunnar, who had been staring at the pot with his neck stretched out, was startled and replied.
"You, you''ll give me some?!"
Wasn''t it sacred food that couldn''t be given away?
Ian looked at the pot and tilted his head with a vague expression.
"Well... in principle, only those who have God''s permission should eat it, but...e to think of it, Gunnar, you also helped me on my journey, right?"
"Uh... uh? Right! I helped!"
As Ian slowly began to speak, Gunnar focused on his words as if he were a person possessed.
The wizard''s tongue was as cunning as a snake.
"It looks like more food wille out than expected. Look at this pot. Doesn''t it seem too much for the three of us?"
Though he was speaking to Gunnar, it wasn''t just for Gunnar.
It was meant for all the vigers to hear.
When Ian threw out the bait, the vigers, already eager, snatched it up like hungry fish.
"Yes! It does look a bit much!"
"How can three people eat all that?"
"You have to share it, of course! Absolutely!"
Everyone said this because they wanted to put the stone soup in their own mouths.
It was exactly the reaction Ian wanted.
After all, human greed is the fundamental reason people fall for scams!
Ian shouted loudly in front of the pot.
"Oh, heaven! Is it okay to share your food with this young man?"
"[Fire! Burn brightly!]"
Simultaneously, Kira chanted from the side.
The vigers didn''t know Kira was speaking Maronius.
They just thought, "Oh, it''s simultaneous trantion!"
Whoosh!
The mysterious fire erupted like an explosion.
The vigers, startled, stepped back.
“The sky…!”
“Answered!”
Ian shouted loudly.
“The Sky has said that if we offer a worthy sacrifice, The soup will be shared!”
“Ohhh!”
“Those who follow the will of the Sky! Gunnar! Go and fetch an offering for the Sky!”
“Of-offering?”
Ian whispered quietly.
“If you have any leftover food at home, bring some. Edible stuff. I''ll offer it to the Sky.”
“Got it! Ian!”
Gunnar ran off as if flying.
A littleter, he appeared with some dried vegetables.
“It''s dried radish... will this do?”
Ian crossed his arms.
Hmm. Dried radish.
It will give a refreshing vor to the soup.
“Alright. Hand it over.”
As Ian tossed a handful of dried radish into the pot,
[You''re up to something fun again, Ian. Hehe, would you mind if I help a little?]
A bright light shed and shot up from the pot!
‘... Huh?’
Ian looked at the pot in confusion.
This is simr to when we brewed coffeest time…
“Did God ept the offering?!”
“Gunnar, you’ve been devoutly believing in the Sky God, and today you see the light!”
Though it felt a bit strange, the Northerners clearly saw the Sky God''s response with their own eyes.
That was enough.
“Here. Have a taste. It''s definitely delicious.”
Iandled out a scoop of broth (in water) and handed it to Gunnar.
Gunnar, with a pounding heart, took arge spoonful of the soup.
“...!”
“How is it?”
“I’m not sure… it just tastes like water…”
“The end taste is crucial for stone soup. Did you drink it all?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you''re tasting something delicious.”
“???”
Huh? This is the feeling of ‘delicious’???
Gunnar made a face like a character from a light novel who first discovered the taste of ‘delicious.’
That''s how scary gaslighting can be.
But Gunnar, a follower of the Sky God, couldn''t openly say it tasted weird.
How could hein about food bestowed by the Sky God?
“Well, now that you mention it, it does taste fresh and delicious…”
“Let me see.”
Ian took a sip of the soup and spoke tly.
“It definitely hasn''t developed vor yet.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“The ingredient is a stone, after all. It takes a long time to bring out the vor. By dinner time, it should taste much better.”
Aha! I see!
Gunnar was fully convinced.
It''s just in soup now (true), but by dinner time, it''ll taste good (false)!
Gunnar showed a lukewarm reaction to the stone soup, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that one of the vigers had shared in the soup.
“Hey… I believe in the Sky God too. Can I share the soup?”
“Me too! I''ve prayed before!”
As the expectation that they, too, might be able to share Ian''s stone soup spread, the vigers rushed to Ian, shouting.
But Ian answered coldly.
“You can''t taste the soup.”
“Why not! I said I believe in the Sky God too!”
“Stone soup is a special food that the Sky has bestowed for my journey. Only those who have helped me on my journey can taste it.”
“Ha! I''ve got some leftover food at home too! If I donate it to you, can I have some stone soup?”
“Oh, donate to me? You''re offering it to the Sky, aren''t you?”
As Ian subtly provoked them, the desperate Northerners each ran home and came back with food.
People spend money when they''re pissed off.
When the item I wanted was right in front of me but I couldn''t get it, I spent money even more aggressively.
Driven by a singr desire to share Ian''s stone soup, the Northerners donated their food to Ian.
Ian put all the food given by the Northerners into the soup, without leaving anything out.
“Meat, huh? I wonder if it''s alright to ept something this precious…”
“Potatoes! Potatoes are delicious. I''ll enjoy them.”
“Barley? Where did thise from…?”
“Aha! This is a fresh leather armor… no, hey. Are you kidding me? Are you offering this junk to the Sky?”
The Northerners closely watched what ingredients went into the pot.
They no longer expected the stone soup to taste like nonsense.
Meat, vegetables, salt…
What’s this? This is all familiar, isn’t it?
The Northerners licked their lips.
For real, the stone soup was starting to look delicious…!
Ian smiled contentedly as he looked at the stone soup, which was now giving off a delicious aroma.
Congrattions! Your [Stone Soup] has evolved into [Eternal Stew]!
---
---
“Well, well. This is something.”
Helga, the chief of the Sky w tribe, let out an incredulous chuckle as she watched the bustling vige.
Since the morning, when some wizard had shown up spouting nonsense about making soup with a stone, she had sensed something was off.
By the afternoon, the wizard was indeed making soup.
Soup with a stone right in the middle of it.
“He''s really making soup with a stone.”
It''s bewildering.
But it didn''t feel like a bad thing.
The vigers who had invested their food in Ian''s stone soup waited for it to be ready, sitting around the pot and starting games.
“Someone who doesn''t know love~ is a heartless person~”
“Aah~ so heartless~ so cruel~”
The red-haired wizard, Kira, sang in a soft voice.
It was Ian''s trick to keep the vigers entertained so they wouldn''t get bored and leave halfway through.
Before she became a wizard, Kira had been a medieval entertainer who made her living from performances.
With such a professional performer setting up a yground, it was only natural that people couldn''t leave the pot.
“Chief!”
The vigers who spotted Helga ran over and shouted.
“Chief, you should offer food to the Sky too!”
“To the Sky?”
“Yes! Then you can share the stone soup too!”
The vigers who had already put their food into the pot were now determined to recruit new members.
‘Come on~ the more members we have, the richer the stone soup will be, right~?’
Doesn’t this structure look familiar?
That''s right.
Humanwork marketing.
It''s the same principle as multi-level marketing…!
Existing members bring in new members to put food into the pot, making the food supply richer!
‘Hmm… if only we had a little more vegetables, it would taste so much better…’
‘The Sky wants vegetables!’
No one knew when Ian became the Sky, but whenever Ian hinted at what was missing in the stone soup, the “members” would go out and actively conduct human marketing to find a household with those ingredients.
That''s exactly what they were suggesting to Helga now.
Helga chuckled.
She wasn''t particrly curious about the taste of the stone soup. But the vigers were so excited.
They had forgotten all about the pressure of war and the failures of hunting.
Together, they sat around,ughing and chatting, waiting for just one dish.
“Then should I offer something too?”
“Meat! Please offer some meat!”
“No, no! We already have plenty of meat! We need more vegetables!”
“Wouldn''t barley be better than vegetables?”
By now, the vigers treated Ian''s stone soup as a feast.
Everyone had added various ingredients under the pretext of offering them to the Sky.
Helga was the vige chief.
She couldn''t just toss in a measly handful of dried meat, so she generously donated a whole basket of ham.
“Wow! Chief, you''re the best!”
Ian greeted Helga with a smile.
“Thank you for your donation, Chief.”
“At first, when you said you were making soup with a stone, I wondered what you were talking about… but now, it looks like it''s going to taste amazing.”
Helga abandoned her work and joined the festivities.
With Kira performing and the vigers all out waiting for the soup, other residents who had been cooped up at home began joining one by one, curious about what was going on.
And as they all gathered and yed together…
It was just a st.
It had all started with Ian''s entric behavior, but by now, it was no different from a vige festival.
In the end, the entire vige came out, drinking and singing while waiting for the stone soup to be finished.
Everyone had donated food to Ian, so everyone deserved a taste.
“Gregory! Come out and make a donation too!”
“Why me?”
Gregory, who had holed himself up at home, was having a miserable time.
Had everyone suddenly gone mad???
Why on earth were they all throwing a festival for the Sky God?
We''re on the brink of war!
Everyone should be frowning at home!
Why! Why is everyone so happy?
Stop being so cheerful!
“Hey! Aren''t you one of us?”
“Trying to keep everything to yourself again, huh?”
Gregory quickly fell out of favor with the public.
He was already unpopr, but seeing him refuse to join themunal spirit made him even more unlikeable.
Once someone is disliked, nothing they do is well received.
In the end, Helga stepped in personally.
“Gregory! Hand over some food!”
“Chief, have you lost your mind? You want to offer food to the Sky God?”
“Yes. Our tribe has always believed in the Sky. There''s nothing wrong with that.”
Gregory was dumbfounded.
Since when were they such devout followers of the Sky God?
“Tsk. If only we had some more sausages…”
“The Sky wants sausages!”
This had be amunal religious event.
It wasn''t true, but they decided to make it that way.
So, Gregory had no way out…
With tears in his eyes, he shouted.
“You cunning wizard! Fine! Take it! Take it all!”
“Oh, really? Thanks.”
Ian led the neighborhooddies and emptied Gregory''s food storage thoroughly.
The vor of the stone soup grew even richer.
As the sun set and a chilly breeze blew in,
“Alright! It''s ready!”
Ian finally dered the stone soup finished.
The vigers each brought their bowls and received adleful of stone soup.
And the taste of the stone soup…
Was indescribably fantastic.
How could warm stew after a night of revelry not taste good?
“To be honest, this isn''t the vor I expected…”
“What kind of vor were you expecting?”
Ian sat with hispanions and tasted the stone stew.
“It''s supposed to be divine food. I thought it would taste heavenly…”
Gunnar grumbled.
Ian smiled and said,
“You don''t get it. This is the taste of heaven.”
Kira and Belenka also smiled and nodded.
The wizard was right.
Soup made with stone tasted truly magical.