Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

"When it rains, it pours," Melina said with a sigh, picking up the last bits of the glass from the floor.

"So it seems," Gilbert nodded ruefully, looking over the scene.

"I'll pay for the damages," Alistair said resolutely and prompted up the remains of the broken door against the wall. Unfortunately, the top was completely broken, with splinters sticking out in every direction. The hinges were in an equally dreadful state—one of them broken clean in half while the other had a good chunk of the door frame pulled along with it.

"No, it's not your fault," Gilbert said dismissively, inspecting the doorframe closer. "I think we'll need a new frame as well."

Melina sighed, and Sienna let out an angry sort of hiss. The wyrm had remained hidden during the confrontation but when everything was over it didn't mind expressing its thoughts on the matter.

"But it was I who broke the door. Let me—"

"Out of question. I don't want to be indebted to any nobleman," Gilbert spat and then skulked into the kitchen angrily muttering to himself.

"Don't take it personally. It's just that we don't want you to pay when it wasn't your fault," Melina explained as she began sweeping the room, hoping that Alistair wouldn't get mad at the baker's outburst.

Alistair shook his head. "But I still feel responsible for this, please at least allow me to assist you with repairs."

Melina would have liked to say no because his assistance meant more time spent with Alistair and more chances for him to discover that she's a System user. But how could she—his mind was made up and Melina knew that once Alistair had decided on something, he would stick with it.

It is like this world is trying to find more reasons for Alistair to stick around here. My luck is just abysmal.

"Very well… Although I'm not sure where to begin. We were in Pertia recently and going again so soon—I'm not sure we can afford it. We might have to make do without a proper door for now," Melina said, wondering how exactly she could have a doorless shop. At least the door leading from the shop into the kitchen could be locked so she didn't have to fear anyone sneaking inside the house at night.

"Why don't I go to Pertia in your stead?" Alistair offered after a moment.

"What? We couldn't possibly ask that of you," she shook her head, looking at the swept-up pile of bread crumbs, glass, and wood splinters.

"But you said it yourself that you can't go to the Pertia again so soon. Meanwhile, I do not have any such obligations and I could make it to Pertia on my horse in half the time," Alistair said, then added after a moment. "To be honest, it'd be a welcome respite from all the patrols."

It did make sense in a way, but in another, it made no sense at all. It was like she had turned a duke's son into her errant boy.

"No, I couldn't…" Melina muttered, staring at the dirt pile.

"If he wants to go, let him," Gilbert suddenly said from the kitchen, startling Melina. She had expected him to have retreated to his room by now.

"Master, we can't just make Lord Sinclair run errands for us like that!" Melina went to the kitchen entrance and peered at the man, who was sitting by the dinner table and wiping the sweat off his forehead. He looked tired and Melina hurried up to him, wondering if the incident had shaken the man too much. "Are you alright, Master?"

"I'm fine! Don't fuss over me like some mother hen. I merely feel tired," he shook his head dismissively, then continued in a whisper. "Isn't this the perfect opportunity to send him away?"

Melina paused at that. It would mean that Alistair wouldn't be anywhere near them. But she still didn't feel good about it.

"Please, allow me to undertake this task," Alistair said, coming into the kitchen as well.

"But it will take days," Melina shook her head firmly.

"Just let him fetch Milo from Pertia and bring him here," Gilbert suggested.

"Bring Milo here? Would Master Declan be alright without his apprentice?"

"He said that his apprenticeship would be coming to an end soon. This would be a perfect chance for Milo to show his skills, and it's not like we'll make him work for free."

Melina pondered the idea for a moment. If that was feasible then it certainly would make things easy for her and Master Gilbert. They could continue their work as usual while Milo fixed the door. But she felt bad offloading so much work to other people. It was as if she was taking advantage of them, especially Alistair.

"Who is this Milo?" He asked curiously.

"He's the carpenter's apprentice in Pertia. I believe he could fix our problem without any issues."

"Then I shall fetch him here," Alistair said resolutely, but then a tinge of annoyance appeared on his face. "As soon as I inform the Guildmaster of these events."

"Just tell her it was my idea and she won't mind in the slightest," Gilbert said, then turned to Melina. "We better get to work now. We'll have to earn the money to fix that door."

"Is it not getting too soft now?" Master Gilbert called out from the other side of the kitchen as Melina prepared a batch of puff pastry for the next day.

"It still feels firm. I'll fold it once more then put it in the chill box," Melina said. Sienna was napping in the cupboard in front of Melina's work table, having eaten the last feyfruit tartlet for lunch. Alistair had used this opportunity and went to visit the Guild to talk with the Guildmaster.

Melina still felt uncomfortable about him going to Pertia to fetch Milo, and she even suggested going on her own on Knight's back. But both men instantly refuted her, calling the journey too dangerous, although with Sienna around she had nothing to fear anymore. At least not from the monsters lurking in Pertian forest.

As she folded the puff pastry again and rolled it out, another question entered her mind. Something she hadn't been able to ask because Alistair was around. "Master, what do you think about the feyfruit tartlet having an effect? Should I have been able to do that when I'm only a [Cook]?"

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Gilbert hummed thoughtfully as he kneaded a batch of dough meant for meat buns. "Under normal circumstances—no. You should only be able to apply effects to your dishes with an advanced or master class."

Yes, that's what I thought too.

"So how was I able to apply an effect?"

"I believe it was because of a multitude of factors. First, you did not make the tartlets alone, since I was the one who prepared the shortcrust pastry for the shells. Second, you used feyfruit filled with mana and magic-amplifying properties. Third, you figured out the exact ingredients that wyrm likes and finally—and I believe this is the most important one—you made the tartlets to calm a wyrm."

Melina nodded at his explanation. It aligned with what she had done while making potions, except that potions also required one to infuse their mana into ingredients or the brew itself during certain times of the process.

"So if I were to make these tarts completely by myself it's likely that I wouldn't be able to recreate the taming effect? Especially, since there's no immediate danger anymore," she asked.

"No, likely not. We could test it. I'll teach you how to make shortcrust pastry while we're at it," Gilbert offered, and Melina nodded. "But you have to finish the dough we need for tomorrow first. At least two batches of puff pastry."

She groaned and took it back to the chill box. "But it is so hard to make! I wish I had the skill to make it easier."

"It'll get easier with time, don't worry. Speaking of skills, what about your or whatever it was called," Gilbert asked curiously, as he carried a tub of finished dough into the storage.

"I almost forgot about it. We couldn't exactly check its effect yesterday since Alistair was around," she said, returning to her table and taking a tub to start another batch of puff pastry.

"Read out the effects of the skill."

Melina brought up the System screen and began reading it aloud.

[Food Manufacturing: Increases the yield of dishes you can cook from ingredients without reducing the size of the dish.

At Rank F you gain one extra portion per 12 portions made.]

"An extra portion per twelve portions made… That's not bad for a Rank F skill," Gilbert said thoughtfully tapping his finger on the counter. "And how many times a day can you use it?"

"There's no limit—it's a passive skill," Melina informed.

"Even better. It must be a rare one. I suppose we'll see the true extent of it tomorrow morning. Let's keep track of everything we make then," Gilbert said and poured water into a pot to warm it up on the stove. Not enough to make it hot, but just enough to make it warm for yeast to activate.

They continued making one batch of dough after the next, Melina keeping her focus on perfecting her puff pastry while Gilbert focused on the bread dough. At one point, the old baker got too tired and retreated into his room to rest while Melina continued folding and rolling out the puff pastries.

Just as she finished her second batch of puff pastries, Sienna began to stir in her napping spot on the cupboard, and as if on cue Alistair returned to the bakery, huffing and panting.

"I'm back. I hope the wyrm didn't cause any trouble while I was gone," he said through gasps.

"No, she was napping up until a few minutes ago," Melina said as she cleaned the flour off the table. With his return, she could instantly feel a nervous twinge in her chest, acutely aware of her every move. "How was the talk with the Guildmaster?"

"She was mad about what happened in the bakery and basically ordered me to get the carpenter," Alistair admitted, and she had a feeling that he had painted himself as a bigger villain than he actually was. "I'll depart to Pertia tomorrow and in the meanwhile Barrett will guard you."

Not that I need any guarding. The Guild just wants to keep an eye on Sienna. Not that I can blame them for it. Perhaps, it's even better this way. The townsfolk would certainly feel safer if Sienna is kept under watch for time being, and in case somebody decides to take matters into their own hands like those thugs today, the adventurers can stop them. Hopefully with fewer broken doors.

"That's good news then," Melina said as she washed flour off her hands, and wondered what to make next. Gilbert promised to show her how to make shortcrust pastry, but he was resting upstairs. Sienna began scuttling around the kitchen, curiously inspecting everything.

"Indeed. We'll get that door fixed in no time," Alistair said, closely watching Sienna, not without a twinge of caution in his stare. The moment felt somewhat tense, but then a loud growl came from his stomach. He scratched his head sheepishly and looked to the side. "Excuse me."

"You haven't yet had lunch today, have you?" Melina asked, remembering how he had left right before lunchtime. She and Gilbert had a quick meal consisting of yesterday's soup and unsold bread from the morning.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"I'll prepare something for you," she motioned him to sit down and headed to the storage to retrieve some ingredients—cheese, sausage, tomatoes, and pickles. She had something simple in mind, a dish she often used to eat on the road to avoid the same dry jerky over and over again.

"Thank you kindly," he said, taking a seat by the dinner table. With his armor on and sword by his hip, Alistair looked completely out of place by the kitchen table. Sienna also seemed to be aware of that, deliberately taking large circles around him while exploring underneath the tables, occasionally lapping up a fallen crumb or two.

"It'll be something quick since I still have more pastries to make afterward," Melina warned, taking the pumpkin seed bread and cutting off two generous slices.

"That's quite fine. You're not obligated to feed me."

"I can't just let you go hungry," Melina shook her head, then took the skillet and placed it over the still-smoldering stove. She checked the fire underneath and added another log to rekindle the flames.

Hmm… I wonder if I could just heat the skillet with the fire magic from Sienna. But I can't exactly do that with Alistair around. Although…

"Sienna, could you add a bit of heat to the stove?" Melina asked the little wyrm who was curiously inspecting the pile of firewood sitting by the stove. She cocked her head curiously, and Melina opened the stove, pointing at the dying coals. "Fire!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Sienna seemed to realize what she wanted, scuttling up to the opening and then firing a small fireball inside. The coals instantly roared to life, and Melina inclined her head towards the wyrm. "Thank you!"

She put the skillet on the hot stove, added a bit of butter, and began frying the bread.

"I can't believe it. The wyrm actually listens to you," Alistair said from behind her.

"Yeah, I'm a bit surprised myself."

"She's almost acting like a familiar," he noted with what Melina thought was a hint of suspicion in his voice.

I shouldn't have done that. I've relaxed too much because the bakery feels like a safe zone for me. How to fix this? I can't have him figure out that I'm a System user. I'm sorry, Alistair, but I'm going to use on you.

"What's a familiar?" Melina asked, trying her best to appear like a fool. She didn't dare to turn around to look at Alistair, instead checking on the bread toasting in the pan. It was golden brown on the bottom so she flipped both slices over and put cheese on them. It began melting as soon it touched the bread, golden goodness encasing both slices.

There was a tense silence in the kitchen for a moment, then Alistair sighed, sounding disappointed. "Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know. It's a monster some System users are able to tame and control. Apparently. To be honest, I have never encountered many of them."

"Sounds really useful," Melina said in a forcefully cheery tone. "But I think Sienna here is merely eager to take advantage of a good meal that's presented to her."

Melina removed the bread slices from the pan and then turned to cut up the sausage, tomato and pickles and put them on top of one of the slices. Once that was done, she settled the other slice on top and presented the sandwich to Alistair. "I hope this will be enough to sate your hunger."

"Thank you," he said ruefully, taking the plate from her hands. Their fingertips grazed for just a moment, but Alistair flinched, his gaze suddenly fading far away.

"Is everything alright? Is the sandwich too simple after all?" She asked, her stomach full of heavy nervous knots. Melina had a strong suspicion that he was seeing another vision.

But a smile appeared on his face the next moment. "No, it's alright. I just remembered that you two touched your foreheads together for a moment and wondered if perhaps that's how you form a familiar pact."

Dammit, I should have known that this detail wouldn't escape him. He must be suspecting me now. What should I do?