Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

After their meeting, everyone jumped straight into action to get things moving against Heiliger's agenda.

Elowen hurried away to the Monster Realm to explain the situation to Lord Eidranis and push forward the matter of the Monster Realm ingredient trade. Alistair contacted his mother and father for them to explain the situation to the elves of Euroa and establish a trade with them.

Guildmaster Arianne hurried to send a letter to all of the other Adventurers Guilds and tell them about healing waffles and the chef who can make them. Even Gilbert promised to get in contact with some of his old friends to get things moving in a more favorable direction, although he refused to elaborate on who these old friends were.

Melina went to meet up with Milo to design a building where she could hold her cooking classes. The young carpenter looked to be buried in work, his hair filled with sawdust, as was the case each time she met him.

"Design a whole building?" Milo blinked at her request. "I can't say that I've had to deal with an order this large before."

"Do you not know how to do it?" Melina asked.

"I do. In theory. But in practice, I've never done it on my own before," Milo admitted.

"I don't need anything grandiose. Just something that would serve as a comfortable cooking classroom for a large number of people."

"Cooking classroom? Please don't say that each person will need their own stove or oven," Milo paled.

"No! That would be overkill. I was thinking several large ovens on one side and a row of stoves on the other. But each work station should have a small cooking space and a sink," she explained.

Milo tapped his finger against the desk, deep in thought. "I think that's doable. Piping will be a pain in the ass for sure, but it's not impossible. Anything else you need in the building? I imagine it can't be just one big classroom."

"Storage space for ingredients. Perhaps with a small underground storage where things can remain cool. Bathrooms are a must as well as a space where everyone can change into proper cooking attire," Melina said.

"Office for the teacher," Milo prompted.

"I suppose," Melina nodded sheepishly.

"And a large shop to sell all the cooked goodies," he added with a nod.

"A shop?" Melina cocked her head.

"You will have to put the cooked goods somewhere. Why not make it into another shop?"

Melina thought about it for a moment and nodded. It was perfect. Obviously, she couldn't keep teaching these classes forever. Once this whole thing was over, the building could be fully repurposed into a shop that is able to operate on a much larger scale than Sunglow Bakery.

"A shop too, then," Melina nodded. "Although don't worry about the furnishing for it just yet."

"Okay! Give three, no, two days to get the blueprints ready. I need to consult with a few more experienced people, but I think I can get it done. Is it safe to assume that materials won't be an issue?"

"No, they won't," she confirmed. Alistair already insisted on covering all the costs.

"Wonderful! Then I shall hold nothing bad!" Milo said with a mischievous grin.

Melina wondered for a moment exactly what the young carpenter had in mind. But it looked like he was already dead set on doing it as he grabbed a paper and started hurriedly drawing something. She figured that it was best if she left Milo to his own devices.

Instead, she returned to the bakery and decided to assess her own situation. Namely, her Status Screen.

[Name: Melina Dufour]

[Level: 23]

[Class: Archpatissier]

[Familiar: Sienna — Hearthfire Wyvern Level 35; Mango — Ice Kitsune Level 19 (unique)]

[Intelligence: 40]

[Agility: 12]

[Strength: 10]

[Skill: 48]

[Charm: 15]

[Active Skills: 11]

[, , , , , , , , ,

Rank B>,

[Passive Skills: 6]

[, , , , ; ]

Her levels were growing fast, and she certainly felt like a fish in water whenever she was in the kitchen. But she hasn't received any new skills since she got the class. As [Archmage], she received a new skill at Level 20, but perhaps for [Archpatissier] it would be at a higher level. Not much she could do about that except wait and see.

Most important currently was her skill . She would need it to teach the new chefs her techniques, and ideally, it would be at Rank A for maximum results. Melina would have to keep pushing with Michael to level the skill, although, with how stubborn the man was, she doubted she would be able to reach the maximum rank of this skill with him alone.

Two days later. Things were moving so quickly that Melina was barely able to keep track of all of it. The town was abuzz with restless energy as everyone rushed to do what they could. Some were to aid Melina's cause, although the majority were preparing for the harsh winter ahead.

Temperatures seemed to get colder by the day, and Melina couldn't go out anymore without a coat at least. Mango seemed to love the rapidly cooling weather, while Sienna often refused to leave the bakery and just napped by the oven most of the day. Melina feared what would happen to the heat-loving wyvern during the winter.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

For everyone to be fully caught up on the progress, they organized another meeting in the Town Hall.

"Good morning, everyone," Alistair greeted, taking charge of the meeting. "Lots of things have happened during the last few days, so I'd like to catch up with everyone on the progress. First, about the things with the Church."

Alistair had already told Melina this news yesterday, but even so, hearing them again wasn't pleasant. Heiliger was pushing the Sacred Treasure story rather aggressively, and allegedly, there have been some nobles with history dating all the way back to the first human king who claimed that Heiliger was right.

Nobody could really verify whether their claims were correct, because no written records have been saved from that time. They perished during one of the first monster raids, during which the Grand Library and most of the records were burned to the ground.

Although Melina wasn't even sure whether she believed that it was actually monsters that were to blame for the fire at the Grand Library. After all, nobody had asked for the point of view of the Monster Realm inhabitants.

But the regular people were more than happy to eat this story up and accept it as the truth. They were riled up and eager to retrieve the remaining two Sacred Treasures. For now, it seemed like nobody had any clue where they could be, but nobody doubted that Heiliger would sooner or later come knocking on their doorstep.

"We certainly don't have much time. She can pretty much declare that Melina has the treasures at any point," Gilbert said with a deep frown.

"Does she even know that Melina has them?" Arianne asked.

Melina scratched her chin in thought. "I think it's safe to say that she knows we have the Stone of Sacrifice. Count Speziale did show it to us in a public setting, so even if the people didn't recognize it right away, they surely will remember it from Heiliger's descriptions. It's only a matter of time before this information gets back to her."

"Then we might still have some time before that happens," Alistair concluded.

"I doubt she would know about the Codex, though. Who knows that you have it besides those already in this room?" Gilbert asked.

"Lord Eidranis and the Grand Oracle," Melina said.

"That needs to stay that way. You should definitely keep the Stone and Codex in separate locations," Arianne said.

"They are in separate locations, although they are still rather close," Alistair said.

"Then you need to separate them. So if one of them gets taken for some reason, the other remains safe," Gilbert said firmly.

"I agree," Arianne added.

Melina couldn't deny that keeping them separate would be safer, but she was scared to let the Treasures out of her sight. She felt that if she wasn't protecting the Treasures, somebody could take them or misuse them.

"If there's a safe enough location you can suggest…" Melina muttered.

"How about the Sinclair mansion?" Alistair suggested.

"In Fenrora?" Melina questioned.

"Yes. Father could hide the Treasure in the recesses of his vault and assign special guards to it. I assure you that nobody would be able to get in there," he said.

Melina thought about it. Logically, it should be a far safer place than their house in Sunglow. Duke Sinclair had more resources than anyone and could employ all sorts of protection methods to keep the Treasure safe. But she didn't like the idea of giving it to Duke Sinclair. She didn't fully trust him.

"Maybe you could entrust it to the elves on Euroa. I assure you that they would hide it so nobody else could ever find it," Elowen suggested.

This idea she liked better, but it wasn't without its flaws.

"This could endanger the elves should it be discovered that they have the Treasure and strengthen Heiliger's agenda against the Monster Realm," Melina countered.

Heavy silence descended upon the room as everyone seemed to be lost in thought, thinking about a solution. After approximately five minutes passed and nobody could offer any better ideas, Alistair returned the discussion to the matter at hand.

"I contacted the Duchess and the Duke, explaining the situation to them. They are retaining a strong stance that Monster and Human Realms should seek cooperation. Thus, my father announced that he'll start trading with the elves of Euroa."

"My mother, on the other hand, has already brought a few elven tailors into the Sinclair mansion."

"She has?" Elowen asked in surprise.

"Yes. She absolutely adored Melina's engagement dress and has requested that she have a similar dress made for herself and Charlotte. Many noble ladies have been asking about acquiring such a dress, so Mother will release the news of how to do it at an upcoming tea party. She has invited the other Duchesses as well, who also seem curious about magic garments," Alistair explained.

"It's not something you can endear the regular people with. Without a doubt, they would never be able to afford such dresses. However, getting nobles to see elves in a more positive light certainly will help," Gilbert concluded.

"I have talked with Lord Eidranis about establishing trade with Sunglow, with main products being Monster Realm ingredients and glittershale bark. We also discussed the possibility of trading for their ores and other building materials, including crystals, since they have them in such abundance. The question is whether people would be interested," Elowen said.

"They can't exactly be interested in something they don't understand. Sure, they are fancy materials, but nobody really knows how to use them. Melina has already shown that you can't just take something from Monster Realm and treat it like regular materials," Arianne pointed out.

"I bet Milo would be more than willing to experiment with them," Melina said.

"That boy is just as crazy as you are," Gilbert nodded in agreement, earning a frown from Melina. Although she couldn't really deny it.

"I'll try to find some researchers who are interested in that sort of thing," Alistair added. "I know we definitely have at least one back in Sinclair Manor. He would surely be of big help."

Everyone nodded. Another small step in the right direction.

"My turn. I have really great news!" Arianne announced proudly. "I got in contact with other Adventurers Guilds throughout Alemahria. Not everyone has answered yet, but those who have absolutely want your healing waffles, Melina!"

"Really?" Melina blinked in surprise. "I thought that Sunglow needed them because you were always running short."

"That was just one of the reasons. The truth is that potions taste awful. Frankly, some prefer to struggle through the pain and let the injuries heal naturally rather than rely on potions. That's how nasty they are!"

Alistair nodded in agreement, having drunk his fair share of potions. Melina, being the mage, had mostly been protected by Alistair in the past, so she hadn't needed them nearly as much. She did remember that their flavor was nothing to write home about, but for the Guilds to agree to order them instantly… She must have underestimated their foulness.

"So you need to start training those chefs and spreading your pastries through the country!" Arianne slapped the table a few times for emphasis.

"I did get the building blueprint from Milo," Melina said and took out the blueprint from the bag she brought with her, showing it to Arianne, Gilbert, and Elowen. Alistair had already seen it in the evening.

The three of them studied the blueprints carefully for a few minutes, not saying anything.

"This is going to double as a shop?" Gilbert asked, pointing at the storefront in the blueprint. It was much smaller than the kitchen area, but still larger than Sunglow Bakery.

"Yes. The experimental pastries made by apprentices need to go somewhere. I figured that as long as they are safe to eat, we could sell them at a discount. Once we don't need the lessons anymore, we could turn into an actual bakery," Melina said, then hurriedly added. "Milo suggested that."

"That's smart," Gilbert hummed in approval.

"A bigger bakery in Sunglow! Oh, I can't wait," Arianna rubbed her hands excitedly.

"Then we just have to build it. I actually have arranged for help with this matter," Elowen said. "I asked Lord Eidranis whether he had any free builders available, and he agreed to lend some for more of your ice-cream cakes. The Grand Oracle really seemed to love it."

Melina smiled. "Of course. I'll make it into a priority order."

With their meeting concluded, Melina returned to the bakery together with Gilbert. Mango and Sienna remained there with Roxie and Adrien, who were more than happy to watch over the critters. Since it was Sunday, Melina promised to teach Adrien a bit more magic after the meeting.

However, when Melina and Gilbert entered the bakery, she heard Roxie's cries coming from the kitchen. They both rushed there immediately and were met with the sight they weren't prepared for.

Roxie and Adrien were both clutching a large crystal sitting in the middle of the kitchen, while Sienna chittered at it nervously.

"Melina!" Roxie whined with eyes full of tears. "Mango turned into a crystal!"