"Help them with my rolls?" lina asked in horror as she looked down on her vile creations. There were so many reasons going through her mind to let Sienna incinerate the damned things where they stood.
The flavor for one—she had never eaten anything as putrid before. No, not even when she was starving on the brink of death and rotten food was her only option. It was an absolute affront to the culinary arts.
Second, if lina started handing out these rolls to other people, they would begin to question how she made them. Very often when sobody could do sothing amazing or extraordinary people would attribute it to the System. Nine tis out of ten, no, perhaps even more often than that, they'd be right.
The mont lina said "I'm not a System user" was the mont she confird that she was one. People would naturally start to watch her more carefully, trying to find clues that pointed to her being a System user. The fact that the only other person with access to the System in Sunglow just so happened to be hanging around her on a regular basis didn't help matters.
Only one thing stilled lina's hand—the rolls did in fact heal. They worked like an extra nasty potion which ant that normally, nobody would even look in their direction. But what was she supposed to do when there were injured people who needed healing?
Alistair noticed her apprehension, and realization dawned on his face. "You're worried sobody might discover you're a System user?"
lina nodded. It felt shaful to admit that. She was being selfish, she understood that. These people needed all the help they could get, yet her only thought was to keep her secret. But even if it was selfish, lina couldn't help but stick with it. For she knew the disaster that would follow if the Church were to discover her.
"But you made those unusual tarts before using Master Gilbert's recipe, so why can't you say that this was his recipe too?"
"How many hidden recipes do you think people will believe he has?" lina countered. Not to ntion, that she didn't want the old baker to take the fall for her each ti.
"I suppose that's a valid point," Alistair said thoughtfully, looking at the pastries. "Why don't you just give them to ?"
"Just give them to you?" lina cocked her head quizzically.
"Yes. I'm not obliged to tell them where I got them from," he humd, looking rather pleased with the solution he ca up with.
"Even if you choose not to tell them, wouldn't it be clear that they ca from our bakery?" lina said.
"Then how about we say that we made them together?" Alistair suggested.
"Together?"
"Yes. I did the part only System users can and you did the baking."
lina thought about his suggestion for a mont. It could certainly work, especially since she had used the common healing potion ingredients. The emphasis could be put on those ingredients rather than the way the rolls were made. But even so, it would no doubt draw more attention to lina—she had already done a great job of doing that lately.
But if Alistair had gotten such a nasty injury, then what about others? The situation must have been dire.
"Very well. We'll tell them that you had the idea of incorporating healing potion ingredients into pastries," lina nodded resolutely. She just couldn't remain on the sidelines when people were hurt.
"Excellent! Let's go then," Alistair removed the tart from the box and stuffed the healing strawberry rolls inside. He grabbed lina's hands and pulled her along. She felt surprised by the sudden gesture but allowed him to pull her all the way to the Guild. He probably would have broken out into a full sprint if it wasn't for her.
I really hope I made the right decision here. If I'm discovered as a System user by sobody else, then I'll have to leave Sunglow.
When lina and Alistair arrived at the Guild, the place was still roaring with activity despite the late hour. Pained groans ca from the infirmary. It made lina feel better about her decision, but her heart was still pounding nervously.
"It'll be alright. I'll make sure that nobody questions you," Alistair said reassuringly.
The Guildmaster ran out of the hospital room, looking tired and angry, the veins in the temples noticeably pulsating. "I swear if I hear Leon whine one more ti—"
She was startled a bit when she saw lina and Alistair and exhaled a slow breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I hope you two have a good reason to be here right now. We're a bit busy at the mont."
"Guildmaster, we've co to help," Alistair said resolutely, and lina nodded. She decided to adopt her ek persona again, letting him take charge. That way people would be less likely to suspect her, thinking she was just obeying the nobleman's orders.
"You're injured yourself. Go ho and rest. As for you, Gilbert's little apprentice, while I appreciate your concern, I believe this place isn't suited for little lambs such as yourself."
I'm pretty sure I've seen more gore than you ever have, but I suppose it's a good thing my acting skills are holding up.
"I was injured! Not anymore," Alistair said, lifting his arm and rolling it around at his shoulder to demonstrate that it was in top form.
Guildmaster gaped at him in shock, then shook her head. "I suppose you found a spare healing potion at ho. Good. At least we will have our strongest fighter at the ready, in case anything else decides to crawl out of the forest."
"No, Guildmaster. It wasn't a potion that healed . It was these," Alistair opened the box, revealing the little buns to her. They looked unassuming aside from the glitter on top.
"Bread?" Arianne looked at Alistair as if he were crazy. "Did one of those hobgoblins smack you on the head or sothing?"
"No. I had this idea of creating healing potions myself, but obviously, I do not know how to brew potions. So I asked lina to cook the ingredients into bread," he said with such confidence that nobody would ever dare to suspect that he was lying.
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"And you're telling that it worked?" The woman raised her eyebrow suspiciously.
"The System helped the process, of course," Alistair added.
Guildmaster's expression softened. It was a good thing that Alistair happened to be the only known System user in Sunglow. There was no way for the Guildmaster to verify this claim. She took one of the buns in her hand and sniffed at it experintally. "I can't believe this little thing would act as a potion. But I suppose it won't hurt anyone to try."
She motioned them to follow her into the infirmary, where they were t with loud and dramatic wails. One would think that sobody was having their limb slowly sawed off with how pained they sounded. But the source of the noise turned out to be Leon who was clutching at his leg. "It hurts! Oh, how much it hurts! I don't think I'll live until tomorrow."
The remaining patients who clearly had more serious wounds than him looked ready to make his words a reality, glaring in his direction with intense ferocity. But the mage either didn't notice or pretended not to notice, instead continuing to complain as loudly as possible.
"Oh, will you stop already? The arrow rely grazed your knee. It's no worse than a scrape," Guildmaster berated him.
"You didn't see it! That damned goblin's arrow hit my knee. I'll never be able to walk again. No, in fact, I'll be lucky to live until tomorrow!" Leon fell dramatically back into his bed.
"For all of our sake, I hope those buns work," Arianne said, taking one of the rolls. She then walked up to the mage and unceremoniously stuffed it into his mouth. "Eat this and stop wailing like an old widow at her husband's funeral!"
Leon was forced to chew the bun, however, his complexion quickly turned pale. The Guildmaster looked concerned. "Why does he suddenly look so ill? This isn't poison is it?"
lina slunk back, her cheeks turning red from embarrassnt.
"No, it's not poisoned. But I'm afraid that due to the ingredients I made lina add to the buns, they do not taste quite as good as they should."
"Miss lina made this?" Leon muffled out with a full mouth, looking shocked by the fact. But sohow, he managed to force the bun down his throat. Leon hiccuped, got up on his feet, and then rushed away, to what lina assud was the direction of the bathroom.
"Look at that! Good as new," Arianne let out a satisfied laugh, then looked at lina. "That's quite an amazing thing you've achieved."
"Oh, it's nothing. Most of it was Lord Sincla—" lina stopped mid-sentence as Alistair shot her a dissatisfied look. "I an, most of it was Alistair's work. I just baked it like I usually do."
She tried to make herself small and unassuming, using to strengthen the appeal.
"In either case, we owe you two. Just because you managed to get Leon to shut up!" Arianne humd in satisfaction. "Now, let's distribute these buns to everyone who is still injured."
"I'm sorry I couldn't make them taste better," lina muttered, feeling genuine sha. She felt like she had failed her task as a baker, instead sticking to her knowledge as [Archmage] for a solution.
"Don't worry about the taste! As long as it heals, who cares?" Guildmaster said and began distributing the buns among the patients.
Soon the room was filled with sounds of retching and gagging and many of the patients made their way to the bathroom to empty their stomach contents. lina wanted to bury herself deep underground whenever she heard soone gag.
"Don't worry about it, lina. They'll be fine soon enough. Let take you ho," Alistair offered, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently guiding her out of the Guild. She heard so weak thank-yous as she left, but there was no sense of pride about what she had done.
If I'm going to make healing pastries, then I need to make them taste good. Otherwise, what's the point? I might as well return to potion-making. I'm pretty sure that with the mana Sienna can provide, I could make so decent-quality ones. But that is not the path I chose for myself this ti. I will make a healing pastry and I will make it taste good!
"This will work! I am sure of it," lina muttered, putting six small rolls into the oven, each looking a little bit different. Her apron, hands, and even hair were covered in various cooking ingredients—flour, fruit juice, and butter.
Sienna didn't look convinced by lina's statent in the slightest, instead glowering at the buns. lina couldn't bla the wyrm as each batch seed worse than the last. She had tried the potion ingredients together with different fruits and nuts. She had tried reducing the amount used as well as using only one of the ingredients, like drakemint for example.
But no matter which combination she tried, the end result always turned out to be rather vile. Not quite as bad as the first one which every patient in the Guild got the "pleasure" of tasting, but still vile enough.
This was her last attempt at making the healing rolls taste decent and if it failed lina would have to start from scratch. She paced around the kitchen, waiting for them to cook until finally, notifications flooded her vision.
[You've made . You've gained 2 exp.]
[You've made . You've gained 3 exp.]
[You've made . You've gained 2 exp.]
[You've made . You've gained 3 exp.]
[You've made . You've gained 2 exp.]
[You've made . You've gained 10 exp.]
The result of her experint was clear from the notifications alone. Half of them didn't have enough healing ingredients in them for them to be actually useful. Perhaps, they had a minor healing effect, but they could probably heal only minor scratches.
The low rank indicated that they all probably tasted vile, except for the feyfruit roll. But it had been nothing more than a control pastry. It didn't contain any healing ingredients used in potions, instead the only magical properties it possessed ca from feyfruit and .
She took the rolls and headed upstairs to Gilbert's bedroom, knocking on the door. The baker opened his door with a groan, having already been expecting her. "Please, tell this is the last batch for today."
"Yes, I promise it is!"
"Let's take a look then," the old baker grumbled, assessing the effects of the pastries with his skill. "The pastries with healing in the na have a dium healing effect, strawberry and custard rolls have a minor healing effect, but the feyfruit roll recovers mana."
lina groaned. "I was thinking so hard about it healing too! I suppose I cannot just override feyfruit's natural qualities with intention alone."
"Of course not, girl. Now will you give this matter a rest? Many have already tried what you did here, but the matter of fact is that you cannot make a tasty pastry from potion ingredients. It's the sa as trying to make a pastry out of sand. You can twist it in whatever shape or with whatever filling you want, the fact that there's sand in the pastry will instantly ruin it."
"I had to try at least…" she muttered, dejectedly.
"I understand. But you've tried and failed. Enough wasting ingredients. Go get so rest. We have a lot of work tomorrow," Gilbert said, and lina nodded, taking her failed creations back downstairs.
Sienna greeted her there with a knowing look as if she too had predicted that lina would fail.
"Don't look at like that. I had to try," lina grumbled, tossing the feyfruit pastry to Sienna. The wyrm began munching on it eagerly, scarfing down the roll in a matter of seconds. "If only I had more healing ingredients to pick from. Perhaps I could find sothing among them that could work with pastries and wouldn't taste so vile…"
As lina cleaned the kitchen and storage room, she noticed that she had only two feyfruits left. Without it, she won't be able to create any more magical desserts.
"I need more of these…" she muttered, taking one of the feyfruits in her hand. It shimred faintly, signifying its magical, otherworldly nature. It was sothing that could only grow in the Monster Realm. "I wonder if there is sothing in the Monster Realm similar to feyfruit, but for health recovery."
Much of what was in the Monster Realm remained unknown to the humans. After all, they only dared to explore a small area near the largest, safest passageways.
"I wonder what I could find in that passageway near Sunglow…"
A plan was forming in lina's mind, and she was sure that it was a horrible one.
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