lina hurried over to Leliana's house, knocking on the door impatiently. Nobody answered at first, but after a mont, one of Leliana's little sisters, Larah, opened the door, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Good morning, lina," she said with a yawn. "Are you looking for big sister?"
"Actually, I'm here to see Elowen," lina said.
"Okay. He's in big sister's room," the girl said, then leaned closer and whispered. "Just don't tell anyone that. It's supposed to be a secret."
"I… Of course I won't," lina assured, wondering just what those two were up to. Two of them alone in the sa bedroom. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened.
"I'll go get him," Larah said in a hushed voice.
"Uh… Just don't go inside. I wouldn't want to wake them. Knock on the door and see if one of them is awake," lina said.
"You can count on !" Larah said and ran off with surprisingly quiet steps.
lina waited nervously, praying that little Larah wouldn't stumble upon anything… untoward. Thankfully, five minutes later, Elowen appeared, looking surprisingly calm.
"Sa room as Leliana, huh?" lina drawled out.
Elowen coughed, attempting to hide his reddening cheeks and ears rather unsuccessfully. "We just remained up too late talking. Nothing unbecoming happened."
"You don't have to make excuses to . Just make sure you're not bothering Leliana's family," lina said.
"I… Yes. We're going to be careful," Elowen conceded.
"Are you free to walk right now? To Erina's, perhaps. For so breakfast. We have a lot to talk about," lina said. "So unusual events occurred this morning."
The elf must have sensed that it had to do with their larger problem and nodded. "I'll inform Leliana and co at once."
Leliana didn't seem all too pleased that lina had to steal her boyfriend away first thing in the morning, but lina explained that he was required to send an urgent ssage to Lord Eidranis. The red-haired woman must have sensed that sothing was amiss, and lina told her to ask Gilbert or anyone else in Sunglow for details. Pretty much everyone besides these sleepyheads knew at this point.
"What happened?" Elowen asked once they had put so distance between themselves and Leliana's ho.
lina didn't even get to answer, and other Sunglowers approached and asked whether she was alright. lina assured them that she was uninjured, which made the elf grow tense.
"Attack? On you?" He looked at her nervously.
"Unfortunately, yes. It happened before dawn when I was on my way to the bakery," lina began. She retold him the morning events while occasionally assuring people that she was indeed fine.
"How co everyone knows about this already?" Elf stared at the people in surprise.
"A few people saw everything, and you know how quickly news spreads here."
lina and Elowen arrived at the inn, where lina had to take a few minutes to calm the bawling Erina, who flung her arms around lina the mont she walked in. She and Barrett both looked over her, making sure she wasn't hurt.
It was only thanks to Elowen stepping up and saying that he was around to guard lina that Erina eventually cald down and allowed them to head into the cafeteria for breakfast. The innkeeper then loudly shouted, telling everyone that lina was fine and she was not to be disturbed during breakfast.
Thankfully, Sunglowers, relieved at the news, left lina in peace, while the few rare tourists stared at the scene in confusion.
Once lina and Elowen were seated with breakfast in hand, she created a soundproof barrier around them so they wouldn't be overheard. It was actually more difficult than lina imagined, as her magic still hadn't recovered since the incident.
"That mage was really dangerous…" Elowen stated, noting her strain.
"I don't think I could have beaten him," lina admitted, trying not to make her distress obvious. She had been hiding it most of the morning, assuring everyone that she was fine. But the fact was that the experience was terrifying. "If Alistair hadn't shown up with Knight… I'm afraid to think what would have happened."
Elowen's expression hardened. "His magic was truly stronger than yours?"
"No, I don't think it is. I think I might still be more knowledgeable than this man from Su Xien. But he is a battle mage, and this morning was nothing more than a warm-up. He was just poking around and testing my limits, and I'm afraid that he's found them…" lina admitted.
There was a mont of heavy silence while lina gathered herself enough not to think about the unpleasant incident. "I am certain that he's going to work with Heiliger and that she's going to co to Sunglow soon to retrieve the Sacred Treasures."
"I can believe that the mage would work for her. She would obviously need soone to replace you. But what makes you believe that she'll co to Sunglow soon?" Elowen asked.
"Because we've pushed her into a corner once. She won't play it safe anymore. Over the years, I've managed to pick up on her character. She isn't a patient person. If she believes she has everything she needs to accomplish sothing, then she'll push to get it done," lina explained.
"But she doesn't have everything she needs, does she?" Elowen questioned.
"She has the Chalice, she now has a skilled mage, and I believe Sunglow would prove the perfect location to enact the realm separation ritual. Previously, it wouldn't have worked because mana was rather lacking. But now when it's abundant…"
"She must know that you have the other two treasures by now…" Elowen added.
lina nodded. "But I choose to take this as an opportunity!"
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringent.
"Opportunity?"
"While it will be a chance for her to break realms apart, it'll also be a chance for us to end this once and for all. I'm going to destroy the Sacred Treasures," lina said.
"Destroy them? But the council of elders said it'd be better to—"
"Preserve them—yes. However, as long as they exist, sobody else might try to split realms apart. Do you think it's worth the risk? To have the world return to that slow, desolate hell?" lina asked.
"I…" Elowen's expression was conflicted for a mont. "I never want to see Leliana be sad again. She's… finally happy. She's smiling every day. Even now, during winter, she's working hard trying to grow Monster Realm fruit indoors…"
lina nodded. "I want to protect Sunglow. The people here don't deserve to suffer. So if we manage to destroy the Sacred Treasures, then we win. The fallout would be great. The Church would likely struggle for a while, as would many people. But I believe with ti, we would be able to convince most people that Monster Realm isn't this evil place the Church made it out to be."
"Yes, I've seen the change. I would have never thought it possible had I not witnessed it with my own eyes. But Alemahria is changing."
lina nodded.
"However… You will have to make a sacrifice. Are you ready for that?" Elowen asked.
lina faltered. She rembered the Architect's words as clear as day. Give up the past she clung to. lina had a pretty good idea what they ant. Her hands clenched.
"I… I will be ready. I'll do whatever is necessary," she said firmly. "I hope you'll inform the elders and Lord Eidranis of my decision."
"Of course. I'll depart for the Monster Realm right after breakfast and head to Euroa straight after that," Elowen said.
"Thank you. I can also tell you so good news that, while not useful imdiately, could help us to deal with the fallout."
"What is it?"
"Su Xien. The mage ntioned that he wasn't allowed to fight monsters freely and was outright forbidden from fighting elves and drow. I believe this country is far more open-minded to the Monster Realm than Alemahria is. Perhaps, we could learn from them."
Elowen humd in thought. "That is good news. I'll bring it up with the elders. Perhaps they know sothing more about it."
As Elowen promised, he headed to the Monster Realm soon after breakfast. Of course, he went to tell Leliana first, and lina wouldn't be surprised if the girl decided to tag along with him. But that was up to them.
lina returned to the bakery, where Leon and Adrien were eagerly awaiting her return. She began the magic lesson at once, pushing the two of them rather hard.
Leon was excited, learning the shield conjuration rather quickly. His control was superb, and at this point, he had beco a rather powerful mage. Adrien was… struggling. His shield fizzled out quickly and often had sparks going through it, which made it unstable and fragile. Quite often, a single rock was enough to shatter the shield.
Nonetheless, lina persisted in her lessons. They needed to learn as much magic as possible. Any magic would be indispensable in the upcoming events.
With all her heart, lina prayed that Heiliger wouldn't resort to force. But that was very unlikely. Last ti she brought quite a sizable force with her, in hopes of eliminating lina and the Monster Lord both. But it hadn't worked out. This ti, as the Archbishop, the woman wouldn't be holding back anymore. She would co at them with everything she had. So lina had to prepare for everything in return.
After the magic lesson, lina, Alistair, Arianne, and Gilbert had a eting in the Town Hall. Their discussion wasn't long. Everyone already knew what was coming, and the point of the eting was to understand what they could do to repel the force.
"I'm obviously going to prepare everyone in the Guild. Increase their training, hire more n. I assu you're going to help with that, Lord Sinclair?" Arianne said.
"Of course. I've already inford my father of what's to co. I have no doubt that he will send Sinclair soldiers to support us. Unfortunately, we can't just have a large group of them marching through Sunglow daily. We would have no place for them to stay, not to ntion the food they would require and the suspicion it would bring from other nobles," Alistair said grimly.
"So it's mostly up to us," Arianne sighed.
"Sinclair soldiers will be ready to co to Sunglow at a mont's notice, but I'm afraid that the brunt of the attack would have to be endured by Sunglow," Alistair said.
As lina listened to them, she couldn't help but feel that this was like a eting for an upcoming war. How did it co to this? She had only wanted to bake pastries and make everyone in Sunglow happy, yet now they had to prepare an army.
Would hos get destroyed? Would people… die? Just to defend Sunglow for Heiliger's inevitable attack. lina couldn't handle the thought of anyone in Sunglow dying.
"Calm down, lass!" Gilbert said, wrapping his arm around lina.
"lina, are you alright? You're trembling," Alistair suddenly realized, turning to her.
"I… I'm not sure… This shouldn't be anything new to but the thought of Sunglow turning into a battlefield is… horrifying…"
Gilbert smiled, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I see this isn't the right place for you. You're not a fighter anymore."
"I'm… not?" lina blinked in surprise.
"Of course, you're not!" Arianne said incredulously. "You certainly possess a lot of knowledge because of your past mories, but nobody ever expected you to fight, nor partake in battle preparations. All you have to do is bake those healing waffles of yours and perhaps cook up sothing to strengthen our forces further. But beyond that, sit still in the bakery along with other civilians."
Alistair nodded. "Guildmaster is right. You absolutely don't have to fight. In fact, I would much rather you go nowhere near any battles."
"I doubt you'll be able to accomplish that…" Gilbert sighed. "But don't try to bite off more than you can chew. You have to accept the fact that you're not the archmage anymore. You're an [Archpatissier]. One who brings smiles to the people with her baking, not her magic," Gilbert said, squeezing her shoulder once again.
"Yip-yip!" Mango agreed, jumping into lina's lap and nuzzling against her chest affectionately.
"Even you, Mango," lina muttered, patting the fox's cold fur. "You're right… I have to do what I can. I'm going to continue the cooking classes and the magic lessons."
"Yeah, you do that. You have no clue how helpful Leon has been lately. He's like a whole new mage. Whatever you're teaching him, please keep it up. He's actually reliable these days," Arianne laughed.
"I will," lina confird. But she wouldn't stop there. She was an [Archpatissier]. It was ti she actually took advantage of this class to its full potential.
[Na: lina Dufour]
[Level: 32]
[Class: Archpatissier]
[Familiar: Sienna — Hearthfire Wyvern Level 35; Mango — Two-tailed Ice Kitsune Level 6 (unique)]
[Intelligence: 40]
[Agility: 14]
[Strength: 10]
[Skill: 55]
[Charm: 15]
[Active Skills: 12]
[, , , , , , ; ]
lina had improved a lot in her baking skills during the past month or so. But the most important skill was the newest one. One she hadn't dared to look up until now, hoping that sothing like that wouldn't be necessary.
[Spellsealed Pastry – A master-crafted pastry containing a fully ford spell sealed within its structure. Upon consumption, the eater gains temporary access to the embedded spell. The spell’s effect is predetermined by the baker and draws upon the pastry’s stored mana as well as ambient mana to function. Access to the spell ends once all charges are expended.]
[Charges at Rank F – 1]
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