Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

On her way to the Adventurer's Guild, Melina encountered Alistair, dressed in a fresh set of clothes. He was a bit puzzled when he saw her heading into the city, but when she explained that she was going to meet Leon, he nodded with understanding.

"There might be a problem with getting Leon to cooperate with your plan," Alistair said.

"Why? He didn't strike me as a disagreeable person," Melina pondered. It seemed like Leon was eager to please every female in town.

"No, but… apparently he hasn't left his house since Sienna… attacked," Alistair said the last part in a hushed voice as a few other people were walking past them on the street.

Melina stopped. "I wonder if my going there is a good idea… Maybe it's better to wait for the chill box to do its work."

Sienna went after him directly, so I suppose it's no wonder that he is scared. My visiting him and asking for a favor with Sienna sitting on my shoulder is probably the worst thing he can imagine happening.

"No, I actually think this is a perfect opportunity to get him out of his house. Besides, the Guildmaster is furious with him, and promises to throw him out of the Guild if he doesn't leave his house by the end of the week."

Melina recalled the Guildmaster, who had left an impression of a strong woman who did not play around. It was likely that if she said that she'd throw Leon out, she'd actually do it.

"I know there's a saying of confronting one's fear, but an ember wyrm is quite a fear to conquer."

"I believe you might be a bit too lenient on him, Miss Melina. He is a mage who should be perfectly capable of defending himself. If you were able to face an ember wyrm on your own with nothing more than a tart in your hand, then he should have the courage to face two of them," Alistair said strictly, then pointed towards one of the side streets which led to the seaside. "His house is this way."

Melina was still wondering whether they really should confront Leon, but Alistair's confident stride forced Melina to keep moving. Before long, they arrived at a rather small brick house. It looked rather old, as did the half-collapsing fence around it. The grass in the yard was overgrown, and the flowers grew wildly each in their own direction.

Wow, this place has seen better days. But it couldn't have gotten to such a bad state in less than a week. This must have been going on for a while.

Alistair knocked resolutely on the door. "Leon, open up."

For a while, everything was silent, then Alistair knocked again, and some sort of scuttling could be heard inside.

"Who is it?" Leon asked from behind the closed door in a raspy voice.

"It's Alistair Sinclair. The Guildmaster demands that you come out of your house or you'll lose your position at the Guild."

"I don't care about that," Leon grumbled.

"Miss Melina is here too," Alistair added. Melina could feel the tension seeping from beneath the door crack. She wondered what kind of face Leon was making.

"Is that monster with her too?" the mage asked after a while.

"Yes, she is," Melina replied resolutely, and heard a loud thud.

"Leon, are you alright?" Alistair called out and opened the door. Or rather, he broke it open as it was most certainly locked, but his strength was too much for the old door to withhold.

What they found inside was a shadow of a man, his eyes sunken, his beard overgrowing and unkempt. Leon had fallen to the floor and was staring up at them in horror. Melina did her best not to cover her nose from the unpleasant smell coming from the mage.

"S-Stay away! I don't want to die," Leon screamed, scuttling backwards into a corner of the room and covering his face with his hands.

Melina felt bad for the man—he clearly had been traumatized by his encounter with Sienna. "Perhaps it's best if I leave."

But as Melina was about to turn, Alistair took firm hold of her hand and gently pulled her back. "No, we're not leaving unless you come with us. Miss Melina needs to cool her pastry cream, so she needs your help."

It seemed silly to bother the man over something as mundane as pastry cream, but oddly enough, he stopped trembling and peered at Melina through his fingers. "Pastry cream?"

Perhaps, I can use my feminine charm to calm him down and entice him to help. Activate .

"That's right! I really didn't wish to bother you. I understand that you fear Sienna," Melina said and took the wyrm into her hands. She peered curiously at the mage and let out a chirp. It appeared she didn't bear a grudge towards the him.

Leon scuttled a bit further back but kept his eyes firmly on Melina. "Wait, are you telling me that this little creature is the ember wyrm?"

"Yes, she is, and I swear Sienna did not attack on purpose. She was merely frightened by something," Melina said, letting out a dramatic sob. Hopefully, the skill would make it sound convincing enough. "But I understand. I wouldn't want to trigger any unpleasant memories. I suppose I'll never be able to make those tarts."

"Tarts?" Leon asked curiously.

"Yes! They are crucial for my training as a baker, but the chill box we have at the bakery is half-broken, so it takes so long to cool down the cream. But it's alright! I-I guess I can always remain an apprentice," Melina turned her back on Leon, not trusting herself to fake actual tears, and instead just shook her shoulders ever so slightly.

"Leon, would you really not help a lady out?" Alistair said, putting a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her, but she could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Oh, it's alright, Lord Sinclair! I-I couldn't possibly demand Sir Leon to come to the bakery where Sienna now resides. Only the bravest of men could face their fears directly," she sniffled.

There was a moment of pause, and Melina slowly made her way out of the house when Leon called out. "You are in luck, Miss Melina! For you are in the presence of the bravest man in Sunglow! I shall help you cool your pastry cream."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Really?" She turned around, making a large leap at Leon. The man flushed bright red, although it was a bit difficult to see underneath all the grime.

"Of course! Return to the bakery, and I shall come to help within the hour. Just give me a moment to clean up," Leon said and disappeared into what Melina assumed was a bathroom. Her dramatic mask disappeared right away.

"Nice show," Alistair hummed, appearing amused.

"We had to motivate him somehow," Melina shrugged, and they made their way back to the bakery.

Melina was rolling out the dough for the tarts when Leon nervously came into the bakery, looking much cleaner than before. He had trimmed his overgrown beard, although it was still a bit too long in places.

"Thank you for coming, Sir Leon!" Melina beamed at him, doing her best to appear inviting.

"O-of course. I'd never turn down a person who needs my help." He stuttered through his words, his eyes glued to Sienna, who was busying herself by chewing on a piece of firewood.

"Wonderful, I'll bring out the cream right away," Melina hummed, hurrying to the storage and taking the bowl out of the chill box. She wasn't surprised that the pastry cream felt lukewarm, but it still annoyed her a little bit.

This chill box can hardly be considered a chill box at this stage. I'd have better luck cooling down the cream in the well.

As she brought the bowl to the kitchen, she saw Leon standing in the furthest corner away from Sienna. It appeared that even Alistair's presence wasn't enough to calm the man. Then again, he had overcome his fear partially, even if his reasons for it were selfish.

"This cream needs to be cooled down," Melina said, setting the bowl on the work counter.

"Cooled down? Not frozen?" Leon asked, peering at the yellow mass.

"Yes. If it freezes, then I'm pretty sure it would be ruined," Melina said, then nervously peered at Leon. Perhaps, it would be better to wait for the chill box to do its job after all. It would take the rest of the day, but certainly wouldn't ruin the cream.

"Hmm… Do you have a large bowl you could place this bowl in?" The mage asked. Melina cocked her head quizzically first, but then she understood what he was trying to do.

She grabbed the largest bowl they had and poured some water inside. "Will this do?"

"Yes! Hold the bowl with the cream in the water," Leon instructed, and Melina did so.

But then Alistair walked over and reached out for the bowl of cream. "Perhaps, it's best if I hold it."

"Do you fear I might freeze Miss Melina's fingers? I would never!" Leon said, aghast.

"Not on purpose," Alistair corrected and gently pushed Melina aside. She had no choice but to step back.

"Be careful, Sir Leon," she said, walking over to Sienna and taking the wyrm in her arms. "There'll be a bit of ice over there, but don't worry. It's just to cool the cream."

Sienna looked skeptical, and Leon looked like he was about to dart away. But Melina hid the wyrm underneath her palm, not just to spare Leon but also so she wouldn't see the ice. She knew that cold was something the little creature hated more than anything.

"I'll begin then," Leon said, trying to put up a brave front, although his voice came out somewhat shaky.

"Oh, it's working!" Alistair cheered, looking at how the water froze over. Melina couldn't see it and prayed with all her might that the cream wouldn't be frozen alongside it.

"There! Done," Leon announced, and Melina rushed over to the cream. She poked gently at it and was happy to find out that it hadn't been frozen over.

"Thank you, Sir Leon! I owe—"

She didn't even get to finish the sentence when Leon ran out of the bakery, screeching on top of his lungs.

Right… Sienna is still in my hands.

Melina looked down at the little wyrm, who appeared rather confused by the mage's dramatic reaction.

"I suppose he won't be staying over for taste testing," Alistair noted with a chuckle.

"I suppose not."

"What's with all the noise?" Gilbert asked, hobbling into the kitchen.

"I just got Leon to cool the cream for me," Melina grinned victoriously, pointing at the bowl. Gilbert went over to it and poked at the ice in the outer bowl.

"Not bad. Be sure to stir the cream once in a while so it cools evenly," he said, and was about to leave the kitchen.

"Wait, what do I do once the tart shell is ready?"

"Isn't it obvious? Just put the cream inside the tart shell and fruit on top."

"That's it?"

"Oh, and don't forget the apricot glaze. Just heat the jam, put it through a sieve, and then heat it again with sugar and water until it's sticky. Easy," the baker said and left.

"His teaching methods are a bit… haphazard," Alistair noted.

"I don't think he'd have accepted me if I didn't understand his haphazard methods. In either case, it's not a problem. I know what I have to do."

With the cream cooling down and tart shell cooking away in the oven, Melina turned her attention to fruit, namely the strawberries and blueberries. There wasn't much to be done with the smaller berries, but she took the strawberries and cut them into slices. Once that was done, she took the tart shell out of the oven and set it aside to cool down.

"Why don't we go and check on Milo while everything is cooling down?" she suggested, and Alistair agreed.

But once they entered the shed, Melina was nearly buried in a cloud of sawdust. Milo was cutting a piece of wood, although she had no idea which part of the door it could be.

"How's it going?" Melina asked, but Milo's eyes were glued to the piece of wood in front of him. Same as the time she first met him, his hair—no, rather his whole body was covered in sawdust. It was a good thing he was wearing protective goggles, otherwise, he'd surely get a bunch of it in his eyes as well.

"Milo!" Melina said in a louder voice, and he flinched, although his hand still remained in the same position as before.

"Oh, Melina and Lord Sinclair," he said, setting down the saw. "How may I help you?"

"You're already helping us enough. We just came to check on your progress."

Milo removed the goggles, and his expression grew a bit dim. "It's a bit tough to be honest. Progress is slow. I've helped Master create hundreds of doors, but this will be the first one that I've made on my own. I-I'm not sure if I can live up to Master's standards."

"But you don't really have to live up to Master Declan's standards, do you? You just have to make a door that does its purpose as a door," Melina said.

"No. I am not going for the easiest option. I'll do my best to make a door Master Declan would be proud of," Milo announced with a bit more confidence.

"How long will it take?" Alistair asked curiously.

"Hmm… It's hard to say. Master could make a door from scratch in about three days, but it'll certainly take longer for me. I'd guess that I'm still about five days away from finishing," he admitted sheepishly, wiping sawdust away from his clothes.

"Five days?" Melina and Alistair exclaimed.

"Sorry… I'm afraid that's the limit of my capability at this point," Milo looked down like a kicked puppy.

"Oh, no! Don't apologize. The fact that you've come here for our sake is quite enough. I feel bad that you have to pay for an inn while you're here," Melina noted, wondering if they could offer to cover the cost for Milo.

"Don't. I am enjoying my stay here as well as all of Master Gilbert's and your cooking. Not to mention that I was getting tired of the same four workshop walls."

Melina wanted to argue that the four walls of the shed were by no means better, but nodded instead, deciding that she'll send him back home with a bunch of pastries in tow.

"In either case, thank you for checking on me, but I'll return to work now," the carpenter said, put his goggles on, and then returned to sawing the wood.

With their visit over and not much left to do, Melina and Alistair returned to the kitchen. Melina put some water to boil for tea, so they could savor it together with the tart.

After that, she returned her attention to the tart, checking whether the shell had cooled down enough. Much to her delight, it had as did the cream, so she began the assembly, putting a generous amount of cream inside. Then she put strawberry slices and blueberries on the tart in a pretty pattern and began preparing the apricot glaze.

As she watched the apricot jam bubble in the pot, Melina couldn't help but think that this seemed too simple. She felt like there was something else she could do. Something that would make this tart truly special. Then she remembered about the feyfruit.