lina woke up early. Alistair was peacefully sleeping next to her, with a satisfied smile on his face. She admired his handso features for a minute, then slipped out of the silky bedsheets, tiptoeing to pick up her clothes, which were left discarded haphazardly on the floor.
Afterwards, she quietly descended downstairs, washing up in the bathroom. Sienna noticed her moving around and ca to greet her with cheerful chitters.
"Did you sleep well tonight?" lina asked.
Sienna chittered approvingly.
"Good, then let's head to the bakery. We have a lot of preparations to make for tomorrow."
She was about to head out, but noticed Mango still sleeping in the sa spot as yesterday. For a mont, lina wondered if she should wake up the fox. But she didn't have it in her heart to do so. Alistair could take care of her.
Despite the early hour, it was already warm and the sun had risen. Birds were chirping busily, but the town still slept. lina decided to take the opportunity to let Sienna stretch out her limbs. She allowed the wyrm to take on her large form, and together they made it to the bakery in no ti at all.
It was odd that she had to enter from the back door, using a key. Almost as if she was sneaking into soplace she shouldn't. But when she entered the kitchen, she saw Master Gilbert already preparing breakfast and Roxie dutifully sitting at the table. The girl looked tense and awkward; she didn't know where to look.
"Good morning, Grandfather, Roxie," lina greeted them.
"Morning," Gilbert grumbled, not even sparing her a glance.
"G-Good morning," Roxie said, her shoulders relaxing at the sight of lina.
"Busy day today. Are we going to get supplies straight after breakfast?" lina asked and gently urged Gilbert away from the stove, taking over the breakfast preparations.
She didn't even need to light the stove. She heated the pan with fire magic, cooking the bacon and eggs to perfect crispiness in record ti. Roxie watched her with amazent.
"How did you do that?" The girl asked.
"She just likes to show off," Gilbert grumbled.
"It's just a bit of fire magic, and I'm not showing off. Cooking with magic is more precise and gives this nice aftertaste," she explained as she put the breakfast in front of Gilbert and Roxie. She didn't forget a plate for Sienna either, making sure to add chopped up scorchvine pepper to hers.
"I wonder if I could ever learn to do that?" Roxie muttered.
"There is a chance…" lina said thoughtfully. "It wouldn't be difficult if you awaken to the System later, but even without it, it's still possible. Leon managed to learn magic all by himself, even without the System."
"Really? Wow!" Roxie gaped.
"For today, let's focus on the bakery, not rush off to more magic lessons. Starting with supplies," Gilbert said, giving lina a significant look.
"Of course," she confird.
"C-Could I co along too?" Roxie asked timidly.
"I don't see why not. You'll get to see a bit of Sunglow along the way," lina nodded.
They ate breakfast leisurely, and Gilbert began explaining where he usually went to get supplies. lina was surprised to learn that Leliana's farm was one of the places he frequented for fresh produce. He apparently went to many places, hence why the supply runs usually took him so long.
"Best we get started then. But… Are people even going to be up so early?" lina asked as the three of them went outside.
"Farrs rise early, don't worry, and by the ti we get to everyone else, they'll be awake," Gilbert said, and let out a whistle to call for Knight.
The nightmare didn't co. Gilbert whistled a second ti, and this ti he did trot out of the stables.
"Why are you so slow this morning, Knight?" lina chastised.
"Don't bla him. I'm used to calling him over with our bond, but it's been severed. It'll take a bit of getting used to," the old baker said, patting the nightmares' neck affectionately.
"T-That's a very big horse…"
Knight glared at the girl with its red eyes, digging the soil in front of himself in displeasure. Roxie yelped and hid behind lina.
"Don't be a bully!" lina reprimanded the nightmare, but it just snorted.
"Knight, behave," Gilbert added, and this ti Knight did look a bit apologetic. Just a little bit.
But Knight wasn't the biggest issue. The biggest issue was securing the cart. To do that, lina had to pull it out of the shed first. Gilbert had been the one to do it before, but without System, his old hands weren't strong enough for the task anymore. lina wasn't strong enough either.
She and Roxie both pulled with all their might, but they were just a pair of weak girls. This task was beyond them. But then lina realized that she didn't have to pull the cart with her hands at all.
"Step back. I think I got this," lina told Roxie. She then took hold of the cart with her mana and pulled it out of the shed.
This principle was the sa as levitating a rock, except on a larger scale. lina felt silly for not doing it straight away.
"You're just going to solve all your problems with magic, aren't you?" Gilbert muttered.
"I don't see why not?" lina shrugged, securing the harnesses to Knight.
"It is very convenient. I'm not sure how we could move the cart without it," Roxie agreed.
Gilbert didn't answer and instead clambered onto the front seat of the cart. lina sat next to him, while Roxie sat next to her. With everyone ready, Gilbert tugged on the reins and Knight pulled the cart forward.
The first stop on their way was Leliana's farm. The red-haired girl was already awake, carrying boxes filled with fresh vegetables and fruits. She waved when she saw their approach.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Good morning, Master Gilbert, lina, and… Who is this?" Leliana asked curiously, peering at Roxie.
"Morning. This is Roxie. She'll be helping out in the bakery from now on," lina explained, hopping off the front seat.
"Really? Welco to Sunglow. I'm Leliana. It's nice seeing another girl with fiery hair," Leliana flashed her a smile, twirling her red hair for emphasis.
"Nice to et you, Miss Leliana," Roxie inclined her head politely.
"I assu you'll be picking up the produce from now on," Leliana said, addressing lina.
"Yes. I'm especially keen on those fruits," lina nodded, then asked. "How are the Monster Realm fruits doing?"
"No luck with the lon or the zephyr root. Elowen and I will try grinding up so bones and sprinkling them into the soil. See if that helps. But at least there's progress with feyfruit and scorchvine peppers," Leliana confird. "I don't think I'll get a harvest from feyfruit this year, but there is so hope for peppers. In either case, it'll be a valuable learning experience for next year."
"That's good to hear. I'm ready to help out with that, too, if you need," lina offered.
But Leliana instantly shook her head. "Worry about your own problems and leave the plants to us. You're no farr. You're a baker."
lina smiled and nodded. Leliana didn't want to burden her with more work—lina could appreciate that. "Then let's get those fresh fruits and veggies loaded up. I can't wait to cook with them."
"I can't wait to try them out in pastry form. I'll be coming to the reopening tomorrow, so be sure to save a tart," Leliana said.
It took them a bit of ti to load up the produce since Gilbert insisted that lina do so hard work herself. He worried her muscles would grow completely weak if she did everything by magic. He did have a point—so physical activities were necessary.
After that, they moved from one place to the next, getting the things they needed—milk and butter from the dairy farm, eggs and at from a chicken and pig farm. They visited the miller to get the wheat and rye flour, and then headed to the port.
Master Gilbert had agreed with a few of the rchants who stopped in port to buy more exotic flours and ingredients from them. By the end of it, their cart was full, their wallet empty, and lina's arms ached from all the boxes she had to lift. It was a good thing that she would cook using magic.
With supplies gathered, they headed back to the bakery. It was late morning, and the town was bustling with life. People waved when they saw lina and Gilbert pass by, and they stopped by the inn so Roxie could say goodbye to her father before he headed back to Pertia. The two talked about sothing for a long ti.
In the anti, townsfolk gathered around lina, asking her all sorts of questions about the bakery. She just shrugged and invited them to check the bakery tomorrow. However, through all this supposed rrint, she couldn't help but scan the crowd, searching for the man in black. He was nowhere in sight, but lina still felt uneasy.
"Were you searching for soone back there?" Gilbert asked.
"No. Just being cautious," lina replied.
Gilbert gave her a long look, but didn't say anything else. Perhaps, he had already guessed what she was worried about.
When they arrived at the bakery, Alistair greeted them, Mango zooming around the garden in excited circles. The fox ran straight at the cart when she noticed lina, nimbly jumping into her lap.
"Since when can you jump so high and far?" lina laughed, catching the fox.
"She's far too agile," Gilbert grumbled.
"Hey, lina!" Alistair greeted her with a brilliant smile. When the cart stopped, she hurried up to help lina out.
"Good morning," lina greeted him, kissing him on the cheek.
"How was the supply run?"
"All good, we got everything we need," she confird.
"I still have ti until my patrol. Let help you unload everything," Alistair offered and grabbed four crates at once, carrying them inside as if they weighed nothing.
"Your husband sure is strong…" Roxie stared after Alistair in awe.
"He's not my husband quite just yet…" lina admitted, but a smile inadvertently blood on her face.
Suddenly, Gilbert hobbled closer to her and peered at her face.
"What?" She asked.
"Be careful, you two. I don't want to be a great-grandfather just yet!" He muttered and hobbled away.
"Grandfather!" lina exclaid indignantly, her face flushing bright red.
"Which would you like first? Great-granddaughter or great-grandson?" Alistair asked as he passed by with another stack of crates.
"Alistair!" lina exclaid. She was certainly not ready to think about children yet. Even if it wasn't out of the realm of possibility anymore. There were too many things she needed to accomplish.
But Alistair looked completely unapologetic with a giant grin on his face.
lina decided that she would instead focus on preparing for the opening. There were lots of things to be done.
"Co, Roxie. We'll start preparing the dough," lina motioned the girl to follow.
"W-What about the supplies?" She asked nervously.
"Alistair has it covered. Let's go."
lina actually wanted to see how good the girl was in the kitchen. Not to ntion that lina also wanted to see how good she herself would be at working with sobody else besides Master Gilbert. She was worried that she'd feel lost without him in the kitchen.
"Alright, let's start with sothing simple. We'll prepare bread dough," lina said.
"How much are we preparing?" Roxie's ek attitude seed to vanish as the two of them put on aprons. lina wondered whether everyone had greatly overestimated her clumsiness.
"One tub for the regular white bread," she instructed. lina nad the amount of ingredients needed and showed how to use the magitech scales.
"Oh, we have similar scales in the Guild Bakery, and I think these tubs are standard size," Roxie said.
"Great! Makes it all the easier."
They prepared bread dough without any issues. lina was initially using , but once the skill ti ran out, she switched to magic. Roxie gaped at it for a mont, but quickly returned to work, kneading dough with practised movents. She did struggle after they had made several batches, so lina did all the kneading by magic until could be used again.
As the two of them continued their preparations, lina really couldn't see why Guildmaster Beck had been so worried. Roxie was great. She was familiar with most bread doughs. She did get a bit nervous around puff pastry, but lina figured that with practice, it wouldn't be an issue either. The girl understood the main principle–butter couldn't be allowed to lt.
"I don't understand," lina finally voiced during their afternoon break.
"Don't understand what?" Roxie asked, sipping on so cool orange juice.
"Why did your father call you clumsy? I haven't seen a single mistake all day."
Roxie chuckled awkwardly. "That's because I'm familiar with bread dough. I get nervous when making new things…"
lina nodded. That made sense. It ant that the biggest hurdle would co the next day.
"I'm sure we'll manage. Just don't worry if you ss sothing up. It's the first day tomorrow, and we'll try to take things slow," lina assured.
Roxie nodded, and they enjoyed a peaceful mont together, when suddenly Adrien burst into the kitchen.
"Miss lina, look, I managed to make the rock fly!" He said excitedly and then concentrated on the rock in his palm.
lina could instantly sense that in his excitent, he was pouring way too much mana into it. There were even barely noticeable sparks at his fingertips.
Even Roxie noticed sothing wasn't right. "Wait… Sothing—"
BOOM!
lina created a protective field around Adrien, catching the bits of exploded rock. There was still a small discharge of electricity from Adrien's fingertips, and his hair puffed out in every direction as static coursed through it.
"I think you got a bit too excited there," lina said, suppressing a chuckle.
Roxie was just barely holding herself from laughter. Adrien did look quite silly with his hair like that.
"I'll show you! I can do it!" The boy said with a huff and left the kitchen.
"Is it alright to leave him on his own?" Roxie asked.
"I'm afraid I don't have ti to spare to look over him. Co on, I'll show you how to make pastry cream."
"W-Will I have to make it myself?" Her voice trembled slightly.
"No, not yet. I just want you to get comfortable with the process."
The two continued their busy preparations, and lina's heart beat faster and faster as the grand reopening hour approached. Will she be able to pull this off?
User Comments
0 comments from readers