"Your grandfather told me," he replied with a smile.
This unnerved Melina. Perhaps it was because Etrian was a drow so she tried to suppress the feeling. He'd been in Sunglow for a long time, and Sunglowers trusted him. She doubted it was merely because of his clothes, so instead of jumping to conclusions of betrayal, she should hear him out first.
"Why would he tell you one of my most guarded secrets?" Melina asked.
"That'd be my fault. I've found you odd from the start. The animosity you displayed at the start was on a whole different level. I initially thought you were from the Church, but then found out that you were avoiding them yourself. You also knew things no eighteen-year-old should, System or not. The nail on the coffin was when you single-handedly calmed the passageway to the Monster Realm without a single drop of mana of your own."
"It seemed impossible, so I asked my good friend Gilbert about it. I doubted he would be oblivious about his little apprentice. He then explained that you were an Archmage, although he refused to elaborate on how exactly. My only conclusion is that time travel of some sort is involved."
Melina sighed. In the end, she had nobody to blame but herself. Obviously, regular people who know nothing about magic wouldn't notice her powers or think them strange. After all, there were plenty of strange things in Sunglow.
But Etrian was more observant and knowledgeable than most. Melina had no clue how he found that she was the one who stabilized the portal, but even without that, he would have figured out that her knowledge was way beyond what any eighteen-year-old could have.
"Let me ask you a question in return—have you ever worked for the Monster Lord?" Melina asked.
Etrian chuckled. The noise, for some reason, put her on edge, but the drow continued scratching Sienna, who looked just as relaxed as before despite the tense atmosphere.
"I suppose there is no reason to hide. But yes, I used to work for Monster Lord. Not the current one, but the one before," he explained.
"T-The one before? Isn't the Monster Lord an immortal being?" Melina asked in shock. She had always believed that the Monster Lord was as old as the Monster Realm itself.
"No, not at all. In fact, the Monster Lord has a shorter lifespan than your average elf and drow," Etrian said. "The Monster Lord I served was quite the character—determined to spread the passageways between worlds far and wide, hoping to capture resources in this world. Many drow left his service, seeing it as a far too drastic a step, me among them."
"So, the new Monster Lord isn't very old?" Melina asked.
"A bit over a hundred years, at my estimate. The oldest child of the previous Monster Lord had been born shortly before I left, and they likely inherited the position," Etrian explained.
Melina paused to think for a moment. To think that the Monster Lord she had fought was so young. No wonder that she was able to defeat him. He hadn't had the time to develop his skills yet. Maybe it was exactly what the Church was planning—strike the Monster Lord while he was still young and vulnerable.
Obviously, a hundred years was long for a human, but among elves it would still be considered a child, a teenager at best. Then maybe not all was lost. Changing the mind of an ancient being would be near impossible. But if the Monster Lord was so young, then maybe Melina could try negotiating peace.
"But I believe we have digressed from our original topic in an attempt to understand one another. I'm sure you know that the Church will arrive in Sunglow soon," Etrian said, his expression turning serious.
Melina nodded. "Yes. I've been counting days, wondering when their expedition will arrive."
"Very soon," Etrian said.
"How do you know that?"
"I have my sources. But more importantly, we need to prepare. I can tell you right now that they're not going to hold any punches this time. So neither should you," the drow warned.
"What do you mean by that? You're not saying that they would turn violent on the people?" Melina asked nervously.
"Not yet. Then they wouldn't bother making things official. But they will certainly push the limits of their jurisdiction to get Sunglow under their control. Because of you, they cannot ignore this place anymore. You're the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak."
Melina scratched her chin in thought. "Wards, you say?"
"I'm sure an Archmage knows better which would work best, no?" Etrian smiled again.
"My wards can only do so much," she said quietly, worry creeping into her heart.
"Of course. But I'm sure there's more you can do. How about some delicious treats for our guests?"
Melina blinked. Was he alluding to poison?
She was about to object that she would never deliberately poison her own pastries. One misstep and somebody from Sunglow could end up eating it. "I will not—"
"I don't mean anything lethal. But putting at least some of them in long slumber certainly could help," Etrian winked and got up. "I'm sure you'll do what's right. And if you need something, you know where to find me."
Etrian released Sienna, who looked after him longingly.
"I still find him suspicious…" Melina admitted to Sienna. The wyrm just rolled her eyes.
With the siren being safely watched by Elowen and Etrian, Melina had one less worry to think about as she cooked. However, her talk with Etrian gave her many new things to think about. Like—what were the Church planning to do exactly?
Their expedition would head into the Monster Realm to search the surroundings. They'd ascertain how dangerous this particular area was and, if it was safe enough, send System users to retrieve useful materials which would later be crafted into armor, weapons, and potions. But these materials would remain under the Church's control and wouldn't be released to the general public.
Stolen story; please report.
Melina remembered how last time Heiliger tried to push the King for a law that would mark Monster Realm ingredients as contraband, so people like Count Speziale couldn't try to popularize them. But thankfully, the King didn't budge—he was quite a fan of Count's sweets.
This passageway posed yet another problem—Monster Lord's home was located in this particular region. Last time, Melina went through a different passageway to get to the Monster Lord, and it was located far south. It had taken her and Alistair weeks of travel to get to the Monster Lord, but here it took mere hours to get to him.
That was dangerous. Truthfully, she'd want to warn the Monster Lord of the Church's arrival. It would certainly earn a bit of his trust and help him prepare. But how could she do that when their meetings in the past had ended with one of them either dead or dying? Yet another problem to solve.
As Melina kept making pastries in the morning, including the upgraded chocolate cake for Heilia. But as she made them, she also pondered—could she, or rather should she, make something for the Church? A pastry with not-so-pleasant effects. It certainly wouldn't be a problem to make something similar to a sleeping draught. That could even be considered helpful for those who have trouble sleeping.
But should she go beyond that? Turn scorchvine pepper and sparkleaf effects into something more dangerous? A pastry that inflicts burns or paralyzes the eater. Partial paralysis, perhaps. But not burns. Melina had to account for the fact that her pastries could easily be eaten by friends, not just foes.
Her emotions roiled as she tried to decide what she could do to help Sunglow. In the end, for her own peace of mind, she put the thought of any harmful pastries out of her mind and focused on the cake in front of her. It was time to assemble all the elements she had previously come up with into one.
First, the chocolate and scorchvine pepper biscuit base. Then followed the two fillings: dark chocolate cream and feyfruit-cherry jam. After that, another biscuit layer, more filling, and the last biscuit layer. Then came the decorating.
Using magic, Melina made sure to spread whipped shimmercream evenly along the sides of the cake. She grated thin chocolate shavings all around the sides while on the top she created small dollops of shimmercream with bright red cherry on top of each.
[You've made
[Congratulations! You've reached Level 38.]
"That cake is so beautiful!" Roxie said, her eyes sparkling with awe as she admired the cake from a safe distance.
"Let me see!" Adrien ran into the kitchen, eager to see the results. The boy gasped when he saw the cake. "I didn't know cakes could sparkle like that."
"But Miss Melina's tarts sparkle too," Roxie noted.
"Yes, but a cake is so much more impressive than a tart," Adrien retorted.
"Let's hope Heilia finds it just as amazing as you two," Melina noted, wondering if this would be enough. She felt that this was a great cake, but she didn't know just how picky Heilia really was.
"If not, I volunteer to get rid of the leftovers!" Adrien raised his hand eagerly.
"I'll help!" Roxie joined him.
"Don't worry, if all goes well, I'll add the cake to our menu. On Fridays, for example," Melina noted.
"Yay!" Both kids cheered and returned to their work.
Melina, meanwhile, decided that it was a good time to check her status screen. It'd been a while since she last looked and properly assessed her skills.
[Name: Melina Dufour]
[Level: 38]
[Class: Arcane Baker]
[Familiar: Sienna — Ember Wyrm Level 49; Mango — Ice Kitsune Level 1 (unique)]
[Intelligence: 25]
[Agility: 10]
[Strength: 10]
[Skill: 30]
[Charm: 15]
[Unused stat points: 1]
[Active Skills: 9]
[
,
[Passive Skills: 3]
[
It would take Melina another twelve levels to advance to her master class. She wondered what her master class would be or what skills she could get. Quite frankly, she didn't have a clue. Maybe something like [Pastry Shop Owner], or [Mage Pastry Chef]. It should be something along those lines. As for the skills, she just hoped it could be useful for Sunglow.
For the time being, she would have to rely on
With her hands busy, Melina continued preparing pastries until it was finally time to open the bakery again. People streamed in as always, and Melina greeted them with a smile. Many familiar faces greeted her with a smile and praised her work.
"Melina, your strawberry sponge cake was just delightful! I brought it to my daughter on her birthday, and she was so happy that she completely forgot about the birthday present," one of the local moms praised. She came every day to buy bread, but yesterday she bought a cake. Melina was happy to hear that her daughter had loved it.
"The cloud muffins give enough energy that I manage to finish my work early," a gruff sailor who usually loaded cargo into ships said.
"It's so much easier that I can just give my kids creampuffs and all the scrapes and bruises they got while playing just disappear. My boys are so energetic that they used to walk around as if somebody had been beating them. It was a bit embarrassing to be honest," another mom admitted, buying four Sunglow cream puffs.
"Here for that weekly order of healing waffles as the Guildmaster order," Barrett said. "It's a real lifesaver. Easy, convenient, and delicious. Most of us now fight to get to your waffles first rather than drink those nasty potions."
"It also provides a nice boost in energy. One needs all the strength they can get when in battle," Illitran added, and many other adventurers nodded.
"I personally just love the freshly baked bread," an elderly lady, a former seamstress, said. "I love the new sun design on the bread. Really makes it feel like I'm at home, eating freshly-baked Sunglow bread."
Roxie blushed red at the praise since she was the one mostly in charge of regular breads.
"Remember to come again! Miss Melina works hard on new pastries, and I can tell you all that you're going to love what she's been working on. I certainly did!" Adrien turned on his best merchant expression, and many people began muttering with excitement. Melina would have no choice but to release the chocolate shimmercake to the public.
She only had to have Heilia test it. As if sensing her thoughts, the elf walked into the bakery, a picture of calm serenity when compared to everyone else.
"Good day, Heilia. I have your order ready," Melina greeted her.
"I figured you might," she nodded.
"I'm certain you will love it," Melina replied, urging Heilia to follow her to the kitchen. The elf obliged while other customers eagerly stretched their necks trying to see into the kitchen. They would have to wait a little.
"My, oh my! Is that it?" Heilia couldn't hide her surprise when she saw the cake. Her expression didn't change much, but the slight widening of her eyes and barely audible gasp were enough.
"That is it!" Melina confirmed.
"Impressive. May I try?" The elf asked.
"Of course. I made it for you after all," Melina said, and cut a slice for Heilia.
This time, she observed Melina's every move, watching in anticipation. She wanted to try the cake. When the slice was presented to her, Melina didn't even have the chance to offer tea before Heilia had already put a spoonful in her mouth.
For the first time, the apothecary looked happy. A delighted expression grew on her face as she chewed. "How lovely! Scorchvine pepper in the chocolate biscuit with feyfruit-cherry filling and chocolate cream. And this feyfruit cream on top is just wonderful!"
Melina stared at her in shock. Was this really the stoic apothecary who only seemed to care about money? Did Melina make her smile with her cake? Knowing this filled her with warmth. Melina realized that she wanted to protect this smile. Not just Heilia's, but the smile on all of Sunglowers.
It was time for her to set up those protective wards.