Lucas didn’t receive any further Soul Sense transmissions after that, but he could sohow tell that the mysterious old man nad Linus had gotten the ssage.
As for whether they would truly et again in the future, only ti would tell.
.....
"So," Eris, after swallowing down another mouthful of at, asked the questions on everyone’s mind, "Who exactly was that old man?"
"Grandpa Linus?" Sharon, who was also happily feasting on the toasted flatbread, tilted her head in confusion, "Grandpa Linus is Grandpa Linus. He and Brother Eugene moved here and set up their shop about 2 years ago and they’ve been cooking there ever since."
"Do you have any idea where they moved here from, Sister Sharon?" Christina asked.
Pondering the question for a mont, Sharon eventually shook her head, "I’m sorry, Sister Tina, I don’t think Grandpa ever told that."
"Well, they’re certainly not from around here," Allina comnted, a contemplative look covering her face, "I couldn’t sense any kind of aura from them at all."
"Could it be that they were just Body Tempering Mortals?" Eris asked.
Shaking her head, Allina corrected herself, "It wasn’t just that I couldn’t sense any kind of cultivation aura from them, I couldn’t even detect their Life Auras. The only possible explanation is that they were using Spirit Tools to conceal themselves."
"You an, like my Aura Concealing Cape?" Christina wondered.
"Similar," Allina nodded, "But whatever Spirit Tool they were using, it was much, much higher Grade."
"However..." Allina hesitated, her brow knitting ever so slightly, "Call it instinct, but I felt that both that old man and his assistant were stronger than ."
Solemn expressions appeared on everyone’s face when Allina made this remark. Allina was a Peak Spirit Initiate, so soone strong enough to give her a sense of intimidation would at least have to be a Spirit Adept.
There weren’t many Spirit Adepts in the Rockwell Kingdom, and each of them was famous, so since Allina didn’t recognize Old Man Linus or his ’young’ assistant, it could only an they were from so other nation.
After a mont of silence, Lucas gave up thinking about this point, bit into the skewer he was carrying, and shrugged, "It seems that old man is also a Spirit Chef; and not a low-level one either by the taste of it."
"Agreed," Allina concurred, "This food seems simple at first, but the techniques used to prepare it are more exquisite than anything you can find in an ordinary noble’s kitchen."
"If I had to take a guess, I’d say we just encountered a wandering Spirit Professional. Soone who left ho to search for inspiration and further hone his craft. Though why such a master would co to this specific city, I have no idea," Allina hypothesized.
"Well, he did et us," Sasha chid in, taking another bite of the salad, "Or more specifically, he t Lucas. So, I suppose his travels have paid off."
"Hehe," Eris giggled proudly, "Senior Brother Lucas does it again!"
Blushing furiously, Lucas lowered his head in embarrassnt, while all the girls, with the exception of a very confused Sharon, laughed at him.
The things these new clients of hers were talking about flew right over the young woman’s head, but from years of experience dealing with various types of custors, Sharon knew exactly what to do next.
"Well, now that we’ve eaten the best food in Southbridge, would you like to try the best desserts?" She offered, completely ignoring the previous conversation.
Sotis, when you hear things you don’t understand; or worse, that you shouldn’t have heard at all, the best thing you can do is pretend it never happened!
Sharon followed this motto religiously in all her service jobs, and she felt it had kept her out of quite a lot of trouble, unlike so of her more curious friends who had stuck their noses where they didn’t belong and gotten burned as a result.
Understanding what the young woman serving as their tour guide was trying to do, Sasha smiled gently, patted Sharon on the head, and nodded, "Sure. We’ve walked around quite a bit; I don’t see the harm in having sothing sweet."
"Great!" Sharon cheered happily. And why wouldn’t she? These new clients of hers were both extrely easy-going and generous, so she had no doubt that if she took them to the best bakery in Southbridge, they would again treat her to so free food!
Sharon and her family lived on a tight budget, so any day she could eat for free was a good day in her mind.
.....
Christina, who was chewing on a soft, bread-like pastry that was spread with so kind of fruit paste had a sowhat awkward look on her face, and she wasn’t alone in that regard.
Eris and Yuki were also looking disappointed, while Lucas, Allina, and Sasha maintained relatively neutral expressions.
As for Sharon, although she was thoroughly enjoying the very, very expensive pastry her clients for the day had bought from the most upscale bakery in Southbridge, she also noticed that the rest of her group wasn’t as enthusiastic as they had been when she took them to Old Linus’ back-alley restaurant.
Wondering if they weren’t happy with her suggestion, or if she had done sothing else wrong, Sharon quickly swallowed what was in her mouth and asked politely, "Lady Sasha, is sothing the matter?"
"Hm?" Sasha, who seed to be deep in thought, lightly shook her head, "No, everything’s alright. It’s just... compared to the food we just ate..."
"Ah," Sharon imdiately understood, "I’m sorry about that, Lady Sasha. There really is nothing like Grandpa Linus’ cooking in this city when it cos to dessert."
"I an, it’s not like this is bad or anything," Christina comnted, "But, compared to the sponge cake we made recently..."
Eris and Yuki both nodded in agreent. The light, airy, sweet, and creamy sponge cake from the banquet a few days ago was certainly better than this... this... sweet fruit bread?"
Sharon, of course, didn’t have a clue what the young girls around her were talking about, but since they were her custors, she naturally nodded along, supporting whatever opinions they had.
"Well, the bread they sell here really is quite good," Allina ntioned, alluding to the true claim-to-fa of this bakery, it’s soft, white bread.
"That’s true," Lucas agreed, "They seem to have mastered the use of ferntation here, and sohow managed to keep it a secret."
""Ferntation?"" Sasha and Christina, the two cooking enthusiasts asked inquisitively.
"En," Lucas nodded, "Baker Jerry back in Redwood Town ntioned it to once, that there was a bakery here in Southbridge that made fluffy white bread. I suspected they had sohow discovered ferntation, more specifically with yeast, but I wasn’t certain until just now."
"Wait wait," Sharon, who couldn’t contain herself this ti, abruptly cut in, "Little Brother Lucas, are you trying to tell you know what the secret ingredient in Cloud Bakery’s famous Cloud Bread is?"
"Hm?" Lucas, who was in the midst of trying to search for a thod of producing yeast from his inherited mories, looked up to see a bunch of faces staring at him, so in awe, others in exasperation, and realized he had spoken too much once again.
Thankfully, his Master wasn’t around, so he wouldn’t...
*Whack!*
"Ow! Tina! What was that for!?" Lucas crouched down, clutching his aching head.
"Hmph," Christina snorted, "Master told to give you a good knock on your head any ti you ssed up like this."
Damn it, even when she’s not here, Lucas grumbled to himself.
"Don’t mind him, Little Sharon," Sasha moved to smooth the situation over, "Sotis Lucas gets so strange ideas into his head and starts talking nonsense. It’s a bad habit that we’ve been working to... correct."
"I... I see," Sharon, who was still sowhat dazed, again decided she hadn’t seen or heard anything out of the ordinary today.
That’s right, I didn’t hear that a random client I picked up to show around the city knows the ultimate secret to Cloud Bakery’s success! Nope, nothing of the sort! Sharon repeated to herself like self-suggestion.
"Ahem, in any case," Sharon cleared her throat awkwardly and bowed her head, "I apologize if the Sweet Fruit Cloud Bread doesn’t et your expectations."
"Don’t worry about it," Allina patted the young girl on her shoulder, "We aren’t blaming you or anything; after all, none of this is your fault."
Lifting her head cautiously and seeing that no one was giving her an angry look, Sharon breathed a sigh of relief and quickly put back on her business smile, "Thank you for your understanding. Now, is there anything else you’d like to see in the city today, honoured guests?"
Checking the position of the sun, Sasha thought about it for a mont before shaking her head, "No, we’d best be getting back to the ships. There are a few things we’ll need to take care of before setting off again."
"Very good, Lady Sasha," Sharon nodded politely, "In that case, let show you a shortcut back to the port. It’s a little bit further to walk, but it’s much, much less crowded than trying to travel along the main roads."
Thinking this young girl really was quite good at her job, Sasha smiled and motioned for Sharon to lead the way.
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