Despite the big burden hanging over lina's head, she couldn't exactly do anything at the mont. Alistair had sent the letter to Count Speziale. Elowen and Leliana were working together to grow the fruits from the Monster Realm.
Apparently, they had managed to get scorchvine peppers to sprout by putting the seeds in a miniature greenhouse in the sunniest available spot and watering them very sparingly. The feyfruit seedlings were growing steadily as Elowen was supplenting them with mana, although lina was worried that as they grew, he wouldn't be able to keep up with the plant's demand.
lina herself put her whole attention into renovating the bakery. With Sienna's and Alistair's help, she removed the old counters and recolored both the inside and outside of the bakery.
The progress was palpable. Five days later, the bakery had a fresh coat of paint. They used gentle yellow and orange colors to match Sunglow's overall aesthetic. The weather was working in their favor as well, since the warm sun rays dried the paint quickly, giving them ti to apply multiple coats.
"It's almost like a different building!" lina said proudly, looking at the newly painted bakery.
"It's amazing how much different it looks now," Alistair humd, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
His clothes were covered in splotches of paint, and so paint had gotten on his skin and hair, too. He wasn't exactly an expert when it ca to painting, and neither was lina. She, too, had paint in places where it shouldn't be. But together they managed to repaint the whole building.
"Wow, you guys have outdone yourselves! I barely recognized the place," Milo called, lugging a cart behind him. In the cart, there were large sothings covered with cardboard.
"Hey, Milo! What brings you here?" lina asked, curiously peering at the cart. Her heart was beating with excitent, because it must be her order that he was bringing along.
"Finished your order for those display cases you wanted," he announced proudly. "This isn't all of it. I still need to grab the rest of the stuff and then install it."
"Isn't that heavy?" Alistair noted.
"It is. But thankfully, my shop isn't too far," Milo said, although lina could tell that he was struggling with each step.
"How about we get Knight to pull the rest?" Alistair said and let out a whistle.
Less than a minute later, the nightmare trotted out of his stables, neighing excitedly. He and Alistair got along like two peas in a pod. The nightmare would seek him out whenever he was around, and Alistair, too, seed to enjoy brushing the beast and occasionally taking him out for rides.
"That would be a great help!" Milo nodded and began to unload the furniture wrapped in cardboard.
Alistair helped him and then tied Knight to the cart. The three of them went back to Milo's workshop, while lina fidgeted excitedly, waiting for them. Before long, they were back, and then the real work began as they assembled everything inside.
First ca the display cases by the window. There were two of them, and they were relatively small. Their main job would be to showcase the pastries on sale, not store them. The real display cases within the bakery were much larger.
lina was honestly amazed by how thoughtful Milo was with them—thinking of every detail. The bottom of the display case was sealed from the front, while from the back, it could be used as storage space for pastries. The top was a glass display with several transparent glass shelves for displaying pastries. Best of all was that Milo had installed little magitech lights to bring even more attention to the pastries.
He had even gone as far as to create a service counter—it was relatively small, but could fit two people standing next to each other. The best part was the hidden compartnt underneath with a formidable lock where they could store the money.
"This is amazing, Milo! I can't believe you managed to make this in just 5 days," lina praised once everything was put into place.
The bakery was barely recognizable at this point, with the old shelves being only remnants. Everything slled distinctly of freshly cut wood and paint. Decorations and curtains were still missing, but the base of the bakery was much more modern than before.
"To be honest, I have been tinkering with glass displays for a while now. I wanted to illuminate the displayed items properly. The smaller cases and the counter were the only things I had to make from scratch," Milo pointed out.
"It's as if you knew I would order them," lina pointed out.
"Haha… I may have hoped that you'd buy them once you saw them," Milo admitted sheepishly.
"Then I can only thank you for your foresight," lina nodded.
"If I had more ti, maybe I could make it so these are refrigerated to so degree, but with ti so short…"
"Don't worry about it. My pastries have a long shelf-life," lina replied, thinking of her .
"Really? Well, I won't argue with that. I'm no pastry expert," Milo chuckled.
"So how much do I owe you for all this?" lina asked.
"Five gold coins," Milo answered.
lina was shocked. "Just five? But this is so much work. I would expect at least seven."
"I'd expect no less than ten," Alistair said, and lina winced. That would be a huge chunk of their current savings.
"As I said, I already had those cases made. You taking them off my hands is a relief, actually. I do want to ask sothing else in return for my discount," Milo said.
"What?" She asked curiously.
"If anyone needs any furniture done—you send them my way!"
"Of course!" lina nodded.
"Aweso. Also about that refrigerator…" he winced, scratching his ssy hair. "It might be a while until it's done. I don't think I can finish it within the week. Glittershale bark is a bit difficult to work with."
"That's alright. It's not a rush order—as long as we get it eventually, I won't complain. If anything, how about I give so other work before then? Could you make new shelves similar to these?" lina asked, pointing at the old shelves.
Initially, she thought it would be alright to keep them. But against the new coat of paint and the beautiful glass cases, they stood out like a sore, old thumb.
"No problem! I could definitely get these done this week," Milo said. "Just let get the asurents."
After Milo took the asurents of the shelves and bade them goodbye, Alistair and lina were left on their own.
"We should probably wash up," lina suggested, pointing at the paint splotches on her clothes.
"We probably should," Alistair agreed, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes. He shuffled closer to lina, making her heartbeat quicken at the proximity. "You know I have so paint in very hard-to-reach places. Maybe—"
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"lina, co here!" Gilbert bellowed from sowhere within the house, cutting off Alistair.
lina reacted instantly, worried that sothing might have happened to Gilbert. Ever since he's been left without a System, his movents have beco noticeably more shaky, and in general, he's been moving around less. lina worried that his health might have deteriorated trendously because of that.
"In here!" Gilbert said, his voice coming from the storage room.
lina, followed shortly by Alistair, rushed into the storage. Gilbert was hunched over the chill box, pointing at it.
"Is sothing the matter?" Alistair asked, looking a bit peeved by the interruption.
"Listen!"
They all went quiet and listened carefully. A soft shaking ca from the box.
"The egg!" lina exclaid and opened the chill box.
The egg within looked the sa as it always did, but there was a tiny crack at the very top. Sienna, having heard the commotion, ran into the storage room, peering at the egg from above.
"It's about to hatch!" Alistair exclaid.
"Oh! Finally!" lina said in excitent. "Wait… What do I need to do for hatching? Towels? Water? We might need to wash the little creature."
"I suggest taking it to the bathroom upstairs. You got both water and towels there," Gilbert noted.
"Does it need food? I imagine the baby monster will be hungry when it hatches," Alistair pointed out.
"We don't even know what it'll be. Let's worry about the food later," Gilbert noted.
"What about feyfruit? All monsters seem to love it," lina said.
"Okay, bring the egg upstairs, I'll grab a few feyfruit and sothing to cut it with," Alistair said.
lina carefully took the egg, making sure to hold it firmly against her body, so it wouldn't slip out. She carried upstairs, taking slow and deliberate steps. She felt the slight scraping from within the egg as she held it, and occasional squeaks. She couldn't tell what creature these noises could belong to, but it sounded mammalian.
Sienna kept up with lina, sticking to the walls and ceiling to keep the egg within her view at all tis. Gilbert slowly hobbled after lina.
Once in the bathroom, lina carefully placed the egg in the bath, securing it in place with several towels. Alistair soon ca into the bathroom too, carrying a bowl with feyfruit and a small kitchen knife. He set them aside, and the four of them peered at the egg.
"I wonder what it could be…" Alistair said.
"I don't know. In all my years, I have never seen a monster egg like this. Not that I'm an expert," Gilbert admitted.
"Finding a monster egg is rare. Usually, mother monsters guard them within a safe den," lina added. "I wonder what happened to this little one's mother."
"Killed most likely," the old baker said.
lina nodded. There was a possibility of it being stolen, but monsters were usually good trackers. Stealing a monster egg while leaving parents alive was equivalent to suicide—they'd track the thief down. Especially if it's a mammalian type of monster with a strong sense of sll.
The egg suddenly shook, and parts of the eggshell cracked away. A soft whimper ca from within the egg as the little monster begged for help.
"You can do it, little one," lina encouraged. Sienna chittered in agreent.
It appeared that the little monster heard her. More scraping could be heard against the eggshell as more and more bits of it ca apart. Movents could be seen from outside, and everyone leaned closer to take a look. It was impossible to tell what was inside with the opening being as small as it was. But then, a little black nose poked outside.
"It's definitely not a bird," Alistair chuckled.
The little creature began gnawing at the eggshell with its teeth, slowly breaking out of its prison. Light blue and white fur slowly ca into view, as well as a canine-like snout.
"Ice wolf?" lina asked nervously.
She has no clue what she would do with a wolf. One might think that a wolf was just a larger dog, but that wasn't the case at all, especially with monsters. Ice wolves were excellent predators and very proud to boot. Even if lina raised one from babyhood, there was no guarantee that she'd be able to keep it under control. Not without resorting to so drastic magic.
"No, I don't think so…" Gilbert muttered, a smile appearing behind his beard. "I see what Etrian ant now."
lina wanted to ask more, but the creature suddenly pulled its snout back and went silent.
"Did… Did it give up?" Alistair asked.
There was a loud crack as the top part of the shell was pushed open. Adorable, orange eyes peered at lina as she took in the creature sticking out of the half-destroyed egg.
It was a fox. Or rather, it looked like a fox, although it had mostly ice blue fur with a white underbelly and feet. But she recognized the monster as a snow kitsune—a monster known for its shapeshifting ability and great control over magic.
She'd only ever encountered it once in her lifeti as an [Archmage]. It was a magnificent adult fox with nine tails and incredible magical ability. Unlike this little one, the kitsune lina encountered was that of a wielding variety. She never managed to defeat it. She barely escaped with her life.
While it did happen when lina had just beco an [Archmage] and her powers weren't anywhere near their peak, the encounter always stayed in her mory. After all, she had even defeated dragons without so much as breaking a sweat, but the fox monster had proved too powerful.
"A kitsune…" she muttered, unsure how to feel about the little creature.
Sienna chittered excitedly, looking at the little fox. It looked around, unsure where the noise ca from. It then peered up, but leaned too much back, causing the remaining half of the egg to tip over and crack over the bathtub.
lina hurriedly grabbed the little fox, looking for any injuries. Its fur felt cold, but not unpleasantly so. More like fresh snow on a warm winter day rather than ice.
"Are you alright?" She asked the fox, looking over its body. Thankfully, she didn't see any injuries.
"Yip-yip!" The little fox exclaid, its little tail wagging with delight as it looked at lina with bright eyes.
[ wishes to form a familiar contract with you. Do you accept?]
"You don't even know what that is," lina accused.
"Yip-yip-yip!" The fox answered.
"What?" Alistair asked curiously.
"It wants to form a familiar contract," she explained.
"More likely than not, it sees you as their parent. The System just interpreted it as a familiar contract," Gilbert explained.
"It's quite cute though," Alistair noted, reaching out to pet the fox.
It leaned into his touch, squealing with delight. Then Alistair flinched. "Wait, it offered the familiar contract to as well. Can a familiar have two owners?"
"I don't know. I never heard of such a thing," lina frowned.
"This is not what I had in mind when I was told to prepare for great-grandchildren," Gilbert huffed in disappointnt.
"It's a monster, not a child," lina pointed out.
The fox whimpered at lina, as if she had said sothing really an. Alistair looked a bit disappointed as well.
"Maybe we could try both accepting the familiar contract. See what happens?" He looked at her with pleading eyes.
lina looked at Alistair, then at the fox, both of their eyes pleading. There was no way she could say no—her heart wouldn't endure it.
"We could try…" lina finally said, blush creeping in her cheeks.
"At the sa ti, then," Alistair cheered. "Three, two…"
Accept the contract.
[You have accepted a familiar contract with together with .]
[Unique contract recorded.]
[Please na your familiar.]
"It worked," Alistair cheered.
"What's with the unique contract bit?" She asked nervously. She'd never seen anything like that before.
"I think it just ans it's one of a kind," he replies.
"Once again, you two bring nothing but trouble," Gilbert grumbles. "Even in such a simple matter."
"I don't really see what could go wrong," Alistair objects.
" neither. Nothing that we can change now. Let's see what we could na—" lina curiously lifted the fox, peering underneath its fluffy tail. "What do we na her?"
He scratched his chin thoughtfully, then exclaid. "How about Gwyneira?"
"Gwyneira? That sounds very fancy," she replied thoughtfully.
"It's a na from the old tongue. My mother used to read a story to when I was a child. It was about an ice princess who ruled over the north, and her na was Gwyneira. I thought it would suit an ice monster."
lina thought it over for a mont. Gwyneira was a beautiful na, but a bit too fancy for a monster. She felt like sothing simple would suit her better. The fox stared at her expectantly, blinking her yellow-orange eyes. The color reminded her of ripe mangoes.
"How about Mango?" lina suggested.
"Yip-yip!" The little fox cheered.
"Mango?" Alistair cocked his head.
"Her big eyes look like ripe mangoes," she defended.
He looked at the fox, then nodded. "They really do. Very well, Mango it is."
"Great, good luck with child rearing, you two. Because I'm not helping," Gilbert said.
"It's not a human child. How hard could it be?" Alistair chuckled.
But just as he said that, the little fox's tummy rumbled. It let out a sad yelp and then began screaming.
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