I cannot go to the Monster Realm. I cannot go to the Monster Realm. I cannot!
lina kept repeating this chant in her head from the mont she opened her eyes in the morning. She knew it was an awful idea. Absolutely horrendous idea. Not only was she forbidden from going beyond the wall without proper escort—which probably ant she had to talk to the Guildmaster about it first—but she also had no guarantees that she would even find any useful ingredients in the Monster Realm.
After all, it was a world in its own right—huge, unexplored, and dangerous. Even as an [Archmage], she had not ventured there often and when she did, it was only around the closest vicinity near the passageway. Except for one ti. But that ended in disaster.
But surely I could handle the dangers together with Sienna. She's a high-level evolved monster—not many things could threaten her and by extension .
lina vehently shook her head. No, this was the fearless [Archmage] within her speaking. The one who jumped into danger without a second thought, because she had a spell ready for every occasion. lina was not that [Archmage] anymore—her status screen clearly stated her class as [Cook].
re [Cook] has no business going into the Monster Realm just to search for ingredients. No, it is absolute madness.
So she kept trying to subdue the curious person within her. But possibilities swirled in her mind, filling her with excitent. It was difficult to temper it, but she did her best by considering very realistic bad outcos for this excursion.
[You've made . You've gained 3 exp.]
The notification brought lina out of her contemplation, and she thanked the System. Otherwise, it was likely she would have burned the tarts. The repercussions would have been disastrous as people were now signing up in a queue ahead of ti just to get one.
She pulled the tarts out of the oven one after another when she was greeted by a different notification.
[Congratulations! You've reached Level 30.]
[You've unlocked advanced class . Would you like to equip it?]
lina almost dropped the tart she was holding, barely managing to set it on the counter.
"What's wrong, lina? Did you burn yourself?" Gilbert asked, noticing the sudden shock on her face.
"Master… Have you ever heard of a class called [Arcane Baker]?" She asked, although she already knew the answer to that question.
"What? [Arcane Baker]? There isn't such a class," he said firmly, but when he saw the look on lina's face, he didn't appear so certain anymore. "Is there?"
lina looked back at the System screen and demanded it to give her an explanation of the class, reading it aloud to Gilbert.
[Arcane Baker: Master of magical bread and pastries. Arcane baker uses their mana as well as magical ingredients to enhance their dishes with magical effects and properties.]
They were both silent for a while. lina wasn't sure what to think. She had wanted to just beco a regular baker and slowly grow the Sunglow bakery—living a simple life. Yet here she was presented with a class that would most certainly make her life anything but simple.
"What should I do, Master?" she asked, looking at him helplessly. He scratched his beard thoughtfully.
"I'm honestly not sure. This class could bring you a lot of new interesting and useful skills. But on the other hand, it sounds like magical pastries will beco the norm for you. I'm not sure if it'd be wise, especially if you still want to stay hidden from the Church."
lina was torn. She wanted to accept the class. It was new and unknown, and she had always yearned to learn and study everything new, especially if it was in any way related to magic.
"Hold back on deciding for now. It's not like the option will disappear just because you didn't decide right away. We'll talk about it so other ti."
"But then all the experience I could gain from the remaining pastries will go to waste," lina pouted. Once you reached Level 30, you'd be stuck at it until you chose an advanced class. She hated this part of the System because if you wanted to unlock other advanced classes, you'd be stuck without gaining experience and levels. It wasn't the end of the world, but lina hated being wasteful.
"It's just one day's worth of experience. Don't worry about it so much."
With a heavy heart, lina nodded and resud her work. As she stacked the fresh bread and pastries on shelves, she realized that if she accepted [Arcane Baker] as her class, then she'd basically be forced to head into the Monster Realm to seek out magical ingredients.
When lina opened the bakery in the morning, her first custors as always were the people from the Adventurer's Guild. They waved at her from afar as she lit up the sign.
"Good morning, Miss lina!" Leon greeted her, running to the front of the line. Despite how her healing rolls had forced him to learn the intricacies of the toilet bowl, he had been extrely grateful to her—often exaggerating by saying that she had saved his life.
Other injured were also grateful, although for different reasons. They definitely regarded the bakery pastries with suspicion initially. Of course, their worries were quickly laid to rest. lina was only getting better at making regular pastries.
"Good morning, everyone," she returned the greeting with a smile. The adventurers smiled back—an odd feeling bubbling within lina. It's not like she had been scorned as an [Archmage]. Far from it. Masses of people would greet her with adoration after she had returned from a dangerous mission.
But that was different. They smiled at her and they cheered about her accomplishnts, but they also feared her. They feared her power and their happiness ca from the fact that lina chose their side. But the smiles lina saw on the adventurers' faces were genuine. They didn't fear her. She was that petite baker's apprentice who could make slightly unusual pastries.
"It's always so refreshing seeing Miss lina first thing in the morning."
"It gives energy to fight for the rest of the day."
"How could it not? lina fills both our bellies and our hearts," Remi said, pulling lina into a deep hug. She returned the gesture—the elf's closeness helped her ease her troubled thoughts.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I made an extra batch of lamb bundles this morning," she told them, untangling herself from Remi and holding the door open for the adventurers.
"Oh! I'm definitely taking at least three of those."
"Five for !"
"Don't forget about , Miss lina!"
"There should be enough for everyone," lina replied, hurrying behind the counter to take their orders. Gilbert was busying himself organizing the shelves, not even bothering to stand behind the counter. n often complained that they wanted to be served by lina, so Gilbert allowed her to handle the adventurers.
She didn't really mind and she didn't bla the adventurers either. Not because Master Gilbert was an old man, but rather because he couldn't force a smile in front of custors to save his life. lina had already grown used to it, and could sotis even handle the whole morning of service without activating . On the good days at least.
"Are you planning to sell the healing pastries in the bakery?" Leon asked when it was his turn to order. lina's hands which hadn't stopped for even a mont froze.
Keep calm. It was just an innocent question.
"I don't think they'd be a good addition due to their… taste. Not to ntion that I can't make them without Lord Sinclair's assistance," lina said calmly. But her calm exterior was only thanks to which she had activated in a hurry. So much for one of the good days.
"You should recruit him as an assistant because I swear those healing rolls are more effective than healing potions. What was it that they said about dicine? The nastier it tastes, the better it heals," Leon laughed, and so of the other adventurers muttered in agreent.
"It was really effective. I wouldn't mind stacking up on a few."
"Perhaps, you could plead Captain to help you out soti."
"The number of potions we receive from the main branch is limited so extra healing options would certainly help," Remi added. lina felt the crushing weight of the expectations on her shoulders.
I can't add healing pastries to the bakery's regular stock. It is madness—I'll be discovered the mont sobody from Church arrives here.
"Don't be ridiculous, Remi. We couldn't afford to recruit a noble to help us bake pastries," Gilbert interjected.
"Maybe there is a way to make the healing pastries without the help of the System!" Leon said excitedly. "Perhaps a bit of magic could help!"
lina grew pale at the ntion of magic. Keeping a calm exterior was becoming harder and harder as everyone grew more excited by the idea.
"There must be a way!"
"You managed to ta a beast with just a tart!"
"We'll help in any way we can."
lina's smile wavered. Their enthusiasm and willingness to help made lina happy. But she knew this feeling was dangerous because it made the prospect of becoming an [Arcane Baker] so much more tempting. This was the perfect excuse to go to the Monster Realm.
"Oh, sod off, will ya? Don't ask for the impossible. Giving a beast its favorite snack to calm it is one thing. Creating a healing pastry without ingredients or magic or System is just plain impossible," Gilbert reprimanded.
"I'm sorry," lina added, downcast.
The bakery went silent, the previous cheer gone. lina felt almost as if she was betraying them. She knew that she could create the pastries they desired—the only problem was getting the ingredients that would taste good. But then her secret would be exposed for sure.
"Perhaps, I could help," Leon suddenly said, breaking the heavy silence.
"How do you intend to help?" Gilbert asked suspiciously. "If you're offering to act as our freezer box then I'll gladly hire you."
"Will you?" Leon seed interested in the offer but shook his head. "No, that's not what I ant. I could try teaching lina so magic."
"Teach magic? Isn't it sothing you're born with?" Barrett asked dubiously.
"Natural aptitude does co into play, but anyone can learn to do magic if they work hard enough."
Leon isn't wrong there. It is possible to teach magic, however, the amount of mana each person possesses is limited. There are ways to grow it, but only if their starting mana is already significantly large enough to foster growth.
lina frowned. The situation was getting out of hand and she wasn't sure how to stop it. If she agreed to be "taught" by Leon, she'd have to pretend to not understand anything he was teaching which sounded like a horrendous waste of ti. Or if she pretended to learn the magic from him, then it was likely that she'd have to manipulate him into believing she was using her own mana and not Sienna's mana. Even a mage novice like Leon would eventually notice that sothing isn't right.
Not to ntion, that she was undoubtedly more skilled at magic than Leon. lina didn't know if she even could pretend to be bad at it. It was like asking a fish to suddenly swim badly. Could it even do that?
"Or how about you get your head out of the clouds and let us do our work? If you want more potions, then hire an alchemist," Gilbert spat, putting an end to the debate. lina didn't say anything more on the matter, instead continuing to package the pastries for the custors.
But she couldn't put the idea out of her mind. lina really wanted to make those pastries. She wanted to beco the [Arcane Baker] and she wanted to go to the Monster Realm and find new, never-discovered ingredients. Her whole being yearned for it like a parched man yearned for water in a desert.
Even with active for as long as the skill cooldown would allow it, lina was barely able to keep up her calm smile as more and more custors ca into the bakery.
It turned out that adventurers weren't the only ones who were interested in the healing pastries. There were townsfolk asking for them too, wondering if they could cure any illnesses, even if it would be just a minor cold. She kept repeating that she couldn't make them without a System user to help, but nobody seed to care about that part. They had witnessed what she could do and finer details didn't matter.
Even Gilbert was growing increasingly irritated as he had to fight back more demanding custors. lina nearly jumped up when the doorbell of the bakery rang again, fearing sobody else would be asking for the pastries. Much to her relief, it was Alistair. However, her happiness was short-lived when she noticed how he was out of breath, looking worried.
"lina, could I speak with you for a mont?" He asked, masking his emotion in front of the other custors.
"Of course," lina said, looking at Gilbert for permission to leave. He nodded and took over the counter, earning a few dissatisfied groans from the custors in the line.
She guided him to the kitchen, but he hurried into the hallway next to storage. lina guessed that whatever he needed to say, he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be overheard.
"Is sothing the matter?" She asked.
Alistair looked around, leaned in closer to her, and whispered, "They're here! Official visitors from the Church arrived in Sunglow early this morning. They're currently asking questions at the Guild."
lina staggered for a mont, leaning against the nearby wall for balance.
They're here?! Already? I knew they were coming, but I never expected them to arrive so soon. I'm not ready…
lina's first instinct was to hide. To run away from Sunglow and wait until they left. It was only natural as that was what she had done for years before the ti rewind. But she knew that in this case running would only make matters worse. After all, you wouldn't be running if you had nothing to hide.
"Don't worry. I'm going to do everything to divert their attention away from you," Alistair reassured her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
lina nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself. There was no running this ti. She'd have to act normal and face the mbers of the Church head-on. It wasn't like they had a poster with her face and na on it this ti. They didn't know who she was. All she had to do was remain hidden.
"Thank you. I'll remain in the bakery for the ti being. Perhaps, they won't even be interested in coming here," lina said nervously, but then she rembered sothing Alistair had said before. "Wait… Is Amaris Heiliger among the priests?"
Alistair looked a bit confused for a mont. "Yes, she is. Are you familiar with her?"
Panic returned to lina as she rembered the woman with pale pink eyes and white hair. Her hands beca clammy and raspy wheezes ca from her mouth as she struggled to breathe. "She has the skill."
Alistair didn't even demand an explanation. He knew that if the woman saw lina, she would be able to instantly tell that she was a System user.
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