Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Melina hurried over to Leliana's house, knocking on the door impatiently. Nobody answered at first, but after a moment, one of Leliana's little sisters, Larah, opened the door, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Good morning, Melina," she said with a yawn. "Are you looking for big sister?"

"Actually, I'm here to see Elowen," Melina 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," Melina assured, wondering just what those two were up to. Two of them alone in the same bedroom. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened.

"I'll go get him," Larah said in a hushed voice. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"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," Melina said.

"You can count on me!" Larah said and ran off with surprisingly quiet steps.

Melina waited nervously, praying that little Larah wouldn't stumble upon anything… untoward. Thankfully, five minutes later, Elowen appeared, looking surprisingly calm.

"Same room as Leliana, huh?" Melina 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 me. Just make sure you're not bothering Leliana's family," Melina said.

"I… Yes. We're going to be careful," Elowen conceded.

"Are you free to walk right now? To Erina's, perhaps. For some breakfast. We have a lot to talk about," Melina said. "Some 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 come at once."

Leliana didn't seem all too pleased that Melina had to steal her boyfriend away first thing in the morning, but Melina explained that he was required to send an urgent message to Lord Eidranis. The red-haired woman must have sensed that something was amiss, and Melina 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 some distance between themselves and Leliana's home.

Melina didn't even get to answer, and other Sunglowers approached and asked whether she was alright. Melina 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," Melina began. She retold him the morning events while occasionally assuring people that she was indeed fine.

"How come 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."

Melina and Elowen arrived at the inn, where Melina had to take a few minutes to calm the bawling Erina, who flung her arms around Melina the moment 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 Melina that Erina eventually calmed down and allowed them to head into the cafeteria for breakfast. The innkeeper then loudly shouted, telling everyone that Melina was fine and she was not to be disturbed during breakfast.

Thankfully, Sunglowers, relieved at the news, left Melina in peace, while the few rare tourists stared at the scene in confusion.

Once Melina 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 Melina 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," Melina 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…" Melina admitted.

There was a moment of heavy silence while Melina 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 come to Sunglow soon to retrieve the Sacred Treasures."

"I can believe that the mage would work for her. She would obviously need someone to replace you. But what makes you believe that she'll come 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 something, then she'll push to get it done," Melina 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.

Melina nodded. "But I choose to take this as an opportunity!"

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"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," Melina said.

"Destroy them? But the council of elders said it'd be better to—"

"Preserve them—yes. However, as long as they exist, somebody 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?" Melina asked.

"I…" Elowen's expression was conflicted for a moment. "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…"

Melina 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 time, 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."

Melina nodded.

"However… You will have to make a sacrifice. Are you ready for that?" Elowen asked.

Melina faltered. She remembered the Architect's words as clear as day. Give up the past she clung to. Melina had a pretty good idea what they meant. 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 some good news that, while not useful immediately, could help us to deal with the fallout."

"What is it?"

"Su Xien. The mage mentioned 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 hummed in thought. "That is good news. I'll bring it up with the elders. Perhaps they know something more about it."

As Elowen promised, he headed to the Monster Realm soon after breakfast. Of course, he went to tell Leliana first, and Melina wouldn't be surprised if the girl decided to tag along with him. But that was up to them.

Melina 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 become 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, Melina 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, Melina prayed that Heiliger wouldn't resort to force. But that was very unlikely. Last time she brought quite a sizable force with her, in hopes of eliminating Melina and the Monster Lord both. But it hadn't worked out. This time, as the Archbishop, the woman wouldn't be holding back anymore. She would come at them with everything she had. So Melina had to prepare for everything in return.

After the magic lesson, Melina, Alistair, Arianne, and Gilbert had a meeting in the Town Hall. Their discussion wasn't long. Everyone already knew what was coming, and the point of the meeting 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 men. I assume you're going to help me with that, Lord Sinclair?" Arianne said.

"Of course. I've already informed my father of what's to come. 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 mention 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 come to Sunglow at a moment's notice, but I'm afraid that the brunt of the attack would have to be endured by Sunglow," Alistair said.

As Melina listened to them, she couldn't help but feel that this was like a meeting for an upcoming war. How did it come to this? She had only wanted to bake pastries and make everyone in Sunglow happy, yet now they had to prepare an army.

Would homes get destroyed? Would people… die? Just to defend Sunglow for Heiliger's inevitable attack. Melina couldn't handle the thought of anyone in Sunglow dying.

"Calm down, lass!" Gilbert said, wrapping his arm around Melina.

"Melina, are you alright? You're trembling," Alistair suddenly realized, turning to her.

"I… I'm not sure… This shouldn't be anything new to me 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?" Melina blinked in surprise.

"Of course, you're not!" Arianne said incredulously. "You certainly possess a lot of knowledge because of your past memories, 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 something 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 Melina's lap and nuzzling against her chest affectionately.

"Even you, Mango," Melina 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," Melina confirmed. But she wouldn't stop there. She was an [Archpatissier]. It was time she actually took advantage of this class to its full potential.

[Name: Melina 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]

[, , , , , , , , ,

Rank A>,

[Passive Skills: 6]

[, , , , ; ]

Melina 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 something like that wouldn't be necessary.

[Spellsealed Pastry – A master-crafted pastry containing a fully formed 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]