Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Melina couldn't believe that Sienna was able to generate heat with just the flap of her wings. The wyrm, no, the wyvern, looked equally surprised, sniffing at her wings as if trying to find out exactly how she did that.

"She can generate heat without even thinking about it!" Adrien said excitedly, writing more notes. "I suggest we spend today learning about Sienna's evolution. Figuring out everything that she can do now."

"We don't have time for that. We need to open the bakery," Roxie protested.

"Roxie is right. I suspect once the word spreads of what happened in Sunglow, we'll only be getting more and more customers. More likely than not, some of them will be of very high caliber," Gilbert warned, giving Alistair a significant look.

"I'll make sure Melina is properly protected," Alistair said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I can protect myself," Melina huffed.

Sienna let out a loud screech and flapped her wings, indicating that she was also ready to protect Melina. Mango let out a bark when another heat wave came from Sienna's wings. The fox huffed angrily, which resulted in a few snowflakes coming from her mouth. Unfortunately for the fox, they melted almost instantly.

"Oh, yes, flinging a fireball in their face would surely solve everything," Gilbert said bitterly. "I meant political protection."

Melina flinched. Politics was not something she wanted to be involved in. It was something nobles and Church officials delved deeply into. Something she, as the [Archmage], tried desperately to avoid by keeping a neutral stance.

Then again, trying to remain neutral and following the Church's orders hadn't yielded good results, so perhaps it was time for her to understand how she could use politics to achieve her goal—coexistence between the two realms.

"I'll do my best to learn the ways of the nobles…" Melina muttered.

"You'd better. I'm pretty sure Duke Sinclair isn't too thrilled about your marriage. You need to prove that you can act with grace, not just with overwhelming power," Gilbert chastised.

"But what about Sienna?" Adrien asked, pointing at the wyvern. "We can't just return to our normal day as if nothing happened. I don't think she'll even fit through the door now."

Everyone looked at Sienna. While her body wasn't necessarily larger, her wings were quite massive. It was hard to imagine that she could fit into the kitchen without knocking a dozen things over in the process.

Sienna lowered her head dejectedly, then shook it and closed her eyes shut. It looked like the wyvern was concentrating on something. A moment later, she shrank, just like she usually did as a wyrm. She was larger than her previous small form, which was the size of a large gecko. Now she was the size of a house cat, a bit bigger than Mango.

She didn't appear as sharp anymore, but certainly looked more ferocious than just a small gecko. Melina had to wonder whether the Sunglowers would be able to accept this change.

"I suppose that solves the size problem," Alistair said.

Sienna let out a happy chitter and flapped her wing, taking flight. It was clearly a dizzying experience since Sienna wobbled clumsily in her flight and landed square on Melina's face.

"You might need some practice before you can fly properly," Melina chuckled, gently unhooking Sienna's claws from her hair. The wyvern let out an apologetic growl and climbed on Melina's shoulders and back.

It was odd that Sienna was now so large. She couldn't just ride on Melina's shoulder anymore, instead hooking her claws into the dress to keep a stable grip.

"I don't think this will work for long. You're going to tear all of Melina's clothes at this rate," Alistair pointed out.

"We'll figure something out later. For now, we should let Sienna get used to her new body," Melina said, seeing her familiar slump a little. Although she couldn't deny that this wouldn't work for long. The dress did nothing to shield her skin from Sienna's claws. Perhaps she could ask Etrian to design something with leather shoulder pads.

They headed inside, where Melina began preparing bread and pastries for the day, while Gilbert prepared breakfast for himself, Roxie, and Adrien. Alistair bid Melina a good day and, after a kiss which might have lingered for a second too long, hurried away to the Town Hall.

Melina decided to start the week with a bang. She delegated Roxie to make five shimmertarts and even involved Adrien in the baking process. His task was just put bread in the oven and pull it out once it was ready, but it still freed up considerable time for Melina and Roxie.

While Sienna was still clumsy with her body, it appeared that her control over magic had only improved after the evolution. She used without issues, cooking every pastry to perfection. Even the delicate macarons that Melina had initially been worried to entrust to the wyvern.

Melina herself put extra effort into her magical pastries. She made plenty of luminfruit macarons, chocolate shimmercakes, and completed her weekly order of healing waffles for the Adventurers Guild. Everything was going smoothly.

More than smoothly. In fact, Sienna was leveling up at an alarming rate.

[Congratulations! Your familiar has reached Level 5.]

[Your familiar has unlocked a new passive skill – .]

[Baker's Assistant – Improves the quality of all baked goods within the user's vicinity. At a higher rank, the skill will also strengthen the effects applied to all magical baked goods.]

"That's interesting…" Melina muttered as she read the skill description.

"Unlocked a new skill?" Gilbert asked. He had spent most of the morning in the garden, but had just come inside for a quick respite and a cup of coffee.

"Not me. Sienna. She now has a skill ," she explained.

"A monster learning a skill for a human job... I've never heard of such a thing before," Adrien said excitedly, then quickly added. "Not that I had much chance to study monster skills."

"You'd have to ask Etrian or Elowen whether their monster familiars can learn mundane skills, too. But I certainly never expected it from Sienna," Gilbert said, thoughtfully scratching his beard. "The System works in mysterious ways."

Sienna looked very proud of her achievement. She let out a satisfied chitter from atop the oven, where she had been sitting most of the morning to monitor the pastries she cooked.

"Yip-yip!" Mango pulled on Melina's apron.

"What is it, Mango?" Melina asked, although she suspected the little fox was jealous that everyone was praising Sienna and not her.

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Mango yipped again and then lifted one of the breads that were cooling on the counter.

"Mango, no!" Melina was about to grab the bread, but then Mango levitated it carefully to the store, placing it in the basket where they usually put bread.

"You want to help too?" She realized.

The fox jumped up and down in excitement.

"Half of your employees are monsters now," Adrien chuckled.

"They'll have to be paid in pastries," Roxie added with a chuckle.

Melina smiled and crouched down to pat the little fox. "Okay, I'll let you help too. But you have to tell me when you're tired, okay?"

"Yip-yip!" Mango confirmed.

"And you have to listen to Adrien and Roxie if they ask something, okay?"

"Yip-yip!" Mango confirmed again.

"Very well. Then let's continue. We still have some wyrm eclairs to make," Melina said.

Sienna let out a disapproving hiss.

"Wyvern eclairs," she corrected, and Sienna nodded in approval.

Together with Mango, Adrien stacked the shelves of the bakery, directing the fox. She was very careful with the pastries and always made sure to lower them very gently with her magic.

Adrien just watched the fox with amazement, occasionally muttering something about learning magic and proper control from her. He didn't dare to levitate the pastries out of fear of dropping them, but he would occasionally try to lift an empty basket.

"Try smaller things at the start. Like utensils," Melina suggested, watching him struggle to lift the bread basket.

Roxie finished the shimmertarts without any issues, all of them ending up in Rank C and a positive effect. Just as Melina finished using on them, she received another notification.

[Your skill has reached Rank C.]

[Dish Assessment – Rank C]

[You can inspect and determine the quality of a cooked dish. You're also able to detect the general effect the dish might have on the eater.]

Checking Roxie's shimmertarts again, Melina instantly saw how the overview had improved.

[Shimmertart – Rank C]

[Tart made with pastry cream, seasonal fruits, and feyfruit glaze. It has a positive effect which makes it more appealing to customers.]

The skill didn't say exactly how strong the effect was, but it now indicated what it was. Melina could only smile in approval. This would certainly make it easier for her to teach Roxie how to make magical pastries. She could see which effects would stick with just the Monster Realm ingredients alone and which would need a boost from or .

With pastries prepared and set on the shelves, they all hurried to open the bakery. As always the adventurers were first in the line, followed by the locals who woke up earliest for their fresh bread.

"Good morning, Miss Melina!" Barrett greeted her.

"Good morning, Sir Barret. I got the order of healing waffles ready for the Guild," Melina said.

"Wonderful. What about Erina's order? I figured I might grab along the way, too," Barrett said shyly.

This was an interesting turn of events. Erina always came to get her order herself, yet now she had sent Barrett. If it were anyone else who claimed that they would retrieve Erina's order, she wouldn't believe it without some evidence. But Barrett and Erina had been getting increasingly closer lately.

"You two sure are close," Melina noted.

Some of the older ladies in the bakery instantly perked up. Melina could almost see their ears moving with curiosity.

"I'm just helping out where I can. Erina is just happy to accept any help offered. It's nothing special," Barrett shrugged.

There was a loud collective sigh of disappointment. Clearly, Barrett was completely oblivious to things when it came to romance. Poor Erina. She was giving him all the signs possible that she liked him, yet he didn't seem to think it was anything special.

"I see. Have you considered asking Erina out?" Melina prompted, hoping to push the relationship further.

"Asking her out? Like on a date?" Barrett's ears turned bright red. "No. I could never. Erina doesn't even like muscleheads like me. She would just reject me."

A wave of groans echoed through the bakery, and Melina could hear some ladies whispering behind her.

"Don't give up, dearie."

"Those two will not get anywhere unless we give them a good push."

Melina agreed. Erina didn't voice her feelings aloud, while Barrett thought that Erina didn't care for him in the slightest. It was frustrating to witness, to say the least. She had thought that the two of them would have made some decent progress with how much they were hanging out lately.

"I don't think she will. Why don't you just try? What's the worst that could happen?" Melina prompted.

"What if she laughs at me?" Barrett said fearfully.

"Do you really think that Erina is that kind of person?"

"Erm… No."

"Then just ask. At least then you can move forward instead of dancing around her all the time."

"Was it that obvious?" He asked.

The whole bakery nodded, even Adrien, who had been in Sunglow for only a short while.

Noticing the response, Barrett flushed and scratched his neck awkwardly. "I-I'll give it a try…"

"Here. How about some wyvern eclairs? Free of charge, but you have to ask Erina out as payment," Melina said sternly and packaged two eclairs for him.

"Wyvern eclairs?" He cocked his head.

"Sienna evolved into a wyvern, so they are called wyvern eclairs now."

A wave of gasps echoed through the bakery, and a flurry of questions came from the customers. Is Sienna okay? How does she look now? Could we see her?

In the end, Melina decided it was best for Sienna to show herself and reached out to the wyvern in the kitchen. There was a bit of shuffling, a light crash as a bowl fell to the ground, and some angry muttering from Gilbert until the wyvern shyly peeked out her head from out of the kitchen.

Everyone waited with bated breath until she finally came out, trudging forward awkwardly, as she was still learning how to walk with her front legs being mostly wings.

"Aww, she's precious! Can she fly?" One of the older ladies asked.

"Not quite yet, but I think she'll be able to with some practice."

Sienna was then swarmed by the customers who told her a lot of encouragement and offered to help in different ways. Like bringing her some extra meat, or letting her know why in their fields, or reassuring her that she wasn't scary at all.

Melina felt intense relief that nobody was bothered by her evolution. Mostly, they were just concerned since she was still clumsy and awkward in her new body.

The rest of the day proceeded much in the same manner, except later there were fewer questions about Sienna since near lunchtime it was more common to see tourists in the bakery. A lot of tourists. Melina noticed there were more of them than usual.

Near the closing hours, there usually weren't a lot of customers. Most knew that nearly everything would be sold out. Yet this day, the closing hours were just as busy as the opening hours, and unfortunately, Melina had to turn many customers away since they had run out of pastries.

"We had a lot of customers today," Adrien noted after he had turned off the bakery sign.

"Yes, more than usual," Melina agreed. "The news must have spread beyond Sunglow. I suspect we'll be getting even more customers in the coming days."

Melina expected that this would be it for the day, readying to clean everything up. But things weren't quite as calm as she expected. The doorbell rang, and somebody entered the bakery.

"I'm sorry, sir, we're closed," Adrien said.

Melina blinked in shock. The visitor was none other than Auden Speziale.

"Count Speziale. It's a pleasure to meet you on this auspicious day," Melina curtsied, while greeting him in a manner nobles did. Alistair had taught her this greeting just a few days ago.

"Pleasure is all mine, Melina," Auden said with a smile. His eyes landed on her finger, where her sapphire engagement ring sat. "I see that Young Lord Sinclair has rectified his mistake."

"What brings you here today?" Melina asked, deciding to ignore his jab in Alistair's direction.

"As your business partner, I've rushed over to warn you of the incoming storm. May we go and discuss this matter in a more private setting?" Speziale asked.

But Melina knew better than to agree. "I'm afraid, I'll have to ask my fiancé to join us. I'd tell him of all the matters we discussed later on anyway."

"Very well. Perhaps, it's for the best that he hears this, too. But we need to hurry. The whole of noble society is already talking about you," the Count warned.

Melina blinked. She was afraid of this, and it was obvious that the noblemen would get interested in her. But it was by no means a good thing. It could easily bring her, all her employees, and even the whole Sunglow in danger.