"What do you think, Miss lina? A chance to work at the main branch of the Bakers Guild. You'll be taught all of our baking secrets and techniques, and you'll be treated as a full-fledged mber of the Guild and not just an apprentice," Lord Speziale said.
The crowd let out a gasp of awe. This kind of offer didn't co every day. Apprentices didn't get promoted to baker overnight. From the perspective of any young apprentice, this was a golden opportunity to get ahead in life. Only a fool wouldn't accept it.
Yet lina was thinking her hardest about how to reject it. She had no intention of leaving Sunglow and heading back to Tuvia. She had already established a good, strong reputation here, not to ntion that her views were much aligned with those of locals. In Tuvia, she didn't know a single person.
Aside from people in the orphanage and Lord Speziale, who had promised her protection from the Church. He clearly was capable of providing it. After all, he was one of the rare widely known System users who hadn't equipped a battle class, and the head of the Speziale household. As a Count, he had considerable power to his na.
But even so, I would rather struggle on my own than take the easy way out. Especially if it would an leaving Sunglow and all the people here behind. I can't even imagine opening the bakery and not having the adventurers co first thing in the morning.
"I…" lina began, pondering her words. How could she politely reject him?
"Count Speziale, why are you trying to take Grenardian talent away to your own region?" Duke Sinclair suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah, that's sneaky! If anything, I'm ready to make the sa offer to Miss lina in our branch in Pertia," Tobias said with a wide grin on his face.
"HEY, you can't take lina away! She's a Sunglower!" Remi scread from the crowd.
"That's right! She's our baker!" Erina added, and soon the whole crowd was hollering and booing at Lord Speziale.
"Hahaha! It appears I have been busted!" He said playfully. "Regardless, Miss lina is the winner of today's Baking Competition. Give her a round of applause, folks!"
lina noticed that he never retracted his offer, aning that it was still on the table. He had likely hoped to use the public space to leverage lina into agreeing, but he hadn't accounted for how vocal Sunglowers were. Master Gilbert was glaring at the Count so hard, lina thought the man might just drop dead.
The crowd slowly began to disperse, and Alistair, along with Charlotte, made their way up on the stage.
"That was amazing! You've actually won!" Charlotte praised and returned Sienna to her.
The wyrm chittered excitedly over her victory, appearing very smug and proud about it. As if she had been the one to win.
"lina, you don't have to feel pressured to follow Lord Speziale to Tuvia," Alistair said, giving the Count the sa death glare Master Gilbert had given him before. Gilbert, anwhile, hobbled his way to up them.
"He's right! That was just sothing a bully would do."
"So you're Miss lina Dufour," a cold voice resounded from behind, and lina instantly curtsied at the approaching person.
It was Duke Sinclair, looking at her with a cold expression. lina didn't dare to look the man in the eye.
"Your Grace! It is an honor that you speak on my behalf. I thank you deeply," she said, keeping her head low.
Gilbert bowed as well, as much as his old bones allowed him, and said, "Thank you for looking out for my apprentice, Your Grace."
"At ease," the Duke raised his hand, and lina dared to straighten. She still felt quite small underneath his scrutinizing gaze. "It is in my own best interests to keep Miss lina in Sunglow. I would like to discuss this matter in a more private setting with you."
"Father!" Alistair frowned.
"Of course, Your Grace! I'd be honored to," lina said and inclined her head.
"Father, you cannot bully her!" Charlotte said, glaring at the Duke.
This actually made the man soften, if only for a mont. "I had no intention of bullying her, Charlotte. I wish to know more about Miss lina and her future plans. I'm quite interested in young talents in our region."
Young talents? The Duke has always put the developnt and prosperity of Grenardia above everything else. He achieved quite a lot in this region before the ti rewind, but I get a feeling he was always restricted by the Church. Would it be possible to steer him away from them this ti? Especially since Alistair doesn't support them anymore.
If I could get the Duke to work separately from the Church instead of together with them, then it would be far more valuable than whatever protection Count Speziale could provide.
As if to prove that point, lina noticed Lord Speziale frowning at their group from afar. It was quickly replaced with one of his charming smiles, but it was clear that his plans had gone awry.
"I appreciate the ti you're giving my apprentice, Your Grace," Master Gilbert said.
The Duke looked at Gilbert in earnest, and recognition dawned on his face. He knew the old baker. His eyebrows creased in thought for a mont, but in the end, he didn't comnt on the matter. "We'll et tomorrow afternoon. How about 5 pm at my son's house. I'm sure he'll be able to provide us with a place where to discuss matters."
"Of course," Alistair said, but he looked tense.
Is he worried about what his father will say to ? I know Alistair worries for a lot, but this seems a bit much. It's not like I've done anything to warrant the Duke's scrutiny. Have I?
As the Duke turned to leave with his two guards following him, lina realized that there had been a lot of things for him to scrutinize. He hadn't comnted on it, but Sienna was an ember wyrm, and she was sitting on lina's shoulder. And previously, it was his daughter who was holding the supposed monster.
Nobody had complained about Sienna for so long that lina completely forgot that keeping a monster pet wasn't the norm at all.
Wait, is the Duke also a System user, just like Alistair? I'm pretty sure that Sparkle ringue Pie should have the sa effect as the Sparkleaf. The boost to lightning attacks would no doubt appear on his profile too.
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lina realized that she was likely in deep trouble.
"Miss lina, are you alright? You suddenly looked very pale," Charlotte asked curiously.
"Don't worry, Young Lady. The girl just realized what kind of trouble she's in," Master Gilbert said.
"lina, I could convince my father to—"
"No… I have to face him. Running away isn't going to solve anything," lina said firmly. She needed to convince the Duke that having her around Sunglow was more worthwhile than having her join the ranks of the Church. It won't be easy, but lina believes that she has enough argunts to sway him. Or at least so she hoped.
Alistair and other adventurers helped lina get her prize to the bakery. After that, Alistair excused himself, along with Charlotte. lina returned to the beachside along with other Sunglowers.
The rest of the evening passed by in a blur as more competitions took place. Leon and a few of the other adventurers participated in the fishing competition. Initially, the mage was winning by a landslide, catching fish left and right. But it was soon discovered that he was chilling the water near himself, making the fish lethargic from the cold and thus easier to catch.
He was disqualified, and in the end, Barrett won the fishing competition. The prize, a special freezer for keeping fish, Barrett gave to Erina, who looked incredibly touched by the gesture. lina could sense that lately their relationship was growing closer.
The swimming competition had a lot of elves participating, so in the end, the judge made two rounds for it, one for humans, one for elves. Among humans, the winner was a perforr from a circus who specialized in aquatic tricks. She would be putting on a show tomorrow evening.
But among the elves, Elowen had managed to secure a victory. lina was surprised to see that he even participated in a human festival. She guessed that he was trying to connect more with humans to understand his
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