How did this even happen?

Alistair suppressed the urge to groan. All he wanted to do was to drop by the bakery to deliver his letter to Master Gilbert and maybe buy himself something to eat before his patrol began. Yet somehow he ended up with this Leliana girl sticking to his hand like glue while Leon on the other hand followed her like a love-struck puppy.

Melina and Gilbert regarded them with dubious surprise, and Alistair had the strongest urge to shake Leliana off himself. Instead, he gently removed her hand and inclined his head towards them in greeting. "Good morning, Master Gilbert, Miss Melina."

"Morning," Gilbert grumbled.

"Good morning," Melina said with a tight-lipped smile. Was she angry about something or did he imagine that? These days Alistair didn't trust what he saw very much, especially where Melina was concerned. "How may we help you?"

"Miss Melina, it is an absolute delight to see you again!" Leon unlatched himself from Leliana, shifting his attention to Melina. Alistair saw the corner of her lip twitch. "You see, Lord Sinclair wanted to visit your bakery, so I offered to show him the way. Miss Leliana joined us along the way as apparently, she was on her way here too."

"Unless you're willing to buy this braided herb bread then I'm afraid we're sold out," Gilbert stated flatly. Everyone's attention turned to the deformed pieces of bread Melina held. Her cheeks instantly flushed in embarrassment and she tried to shield the pastries from view.

"You made these, Melina?" Leliana walked forward, grabbing the tray from Melina's hand and showing it to everyone. Larah and Sarah laughed without holding back and Melina's expression soured further. "It's alright. I'm sure you'll improve with time. You've only been an apprentice for a week, so surely you'll make something edible sooner or later."

That's going a bit too far. Did she have to word it that way?

"I'll buy some," Alistair said, reaching for his coin purse.

"No, you really don't have to." Melina hurriedly retrieved the tray, clutching it close.

"Lord Sinclair, you truly are the most gracious man, but there's no need for you to go this far," Leliana snickered. At this point, she wasn't even trying to conceal her hostility towards Melina. Alistair had to wonder what happened between the two to raise such animosity between them.

"No, I'll buy them. I have a long patrol ahead of me so something to snack on would be great."

"I'll buy some too, Miss Melina!" Leon hurriedly added. "It's all about the flavor anyway."

Melina still looked a bit embarrassed but took two paper bags and packaged the requested pastries in them. "Alright, but take them for free. I'd feel bad charging money for these."

"Such a shame there was nothing for us to buy. We came all this way for nothing," Leliana said dramatically.

"Actually, there is something I could use your help with, Leliana," Gilbert suddenly said.

"My help?" The redhead looked at the old baker curiously.

"Yes. You see Melina and I are trying to restore the old garden. Since you've got so much experience working on a farm, we could use your advice."

Now it was Leliana's turn to flush from embarrassment. It appeared she had wanted to keep her humble origins a secret, although Alistair couldn't understand why. If she was trying to appeal in his eyes, then the girl was trying for naught. After all, it didn't matter to him whether she was a farmer's daughter, a merchant's daughter, or a fisherman's daughter. He was not interested in having a relationship with a commoner.

Despite that, Leliana forced a smile towards the baker. "Of course, Master Gilbert. I'd be delighted to help."

"Wonderful. Stop by whenever you have a spare moment in the afternoon. I know your Pa likes to keep you girls busy."

"I… Of course," Leliana said, inching towards the door. "But I'll be going now. We still have… a lot to do."

With that she bolted out of the bakery, her little sisters following after her.

"Miss Leliana, wait for me." Leon rushed after her, clutching his paper bag filled with bread, leaving Alistair alone with Gilbert and Melina.

Alistair sighed in relief. With them gone, he could address the real reason why he had come to the bakery. He reached into the inner pocket of his shirt and retrieved a letter he had written yesterday. "I have brought the letter. I'd really appreciate it if you could send it as soon as possible."

Gilbert nodded and took the envelope, inspecting it from both sides. "No name?"

"Since I do not know who you're going to send the letter to, I decided it'd be best not to reveal my identity as well. I'd appreciate it if you would keep it a secret from your friend," Alistair inclined his head towards the baker.

"That's not a problem. I doubt he'll care either way."

An awkward silence settled in the bakery as Alistair wondered what to say next. Perhaps, it was time to leave.

"You have a nice sign outside. Is it new?" He asked politely.

"Yes, it's the one we ordered in Pertia. It even lights up in the dark," Melina noted as she began collecting the empty trays and stacking them in a pile.

"It… lights up?" Alistair asked. He hasn't heard of signs that light up before.

"Yeah, the carpenter's apprentice who made the sign is quite invested in magitech, and he managed to make it so the sign lights up."

Alistair peered at the sign through the shop's window but currently, it looked no different than any other wooden sign. "That's certainly something I'd like to see. Perhaps I should stop by sometime in the early morning."

"Please do. We'll be expanding our assortments of goods too," Melina said.

"Girl…" Master Gilbert grumbled at her.

"Yes, we will. We need more impressive pastries to sell to customers."

"This is a bakery, not a pastry shop," the old baker countered.

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"Yes, and as a bakery we can sell all sorts of things, not just bread. Besides, I know you can make all sorts of tasty pastries and desserts. Time to pull out the old recipes," Melina said resolutely, not intending to back down. It was a stark contrast with the meek girl he was escorting to Pertia.

Melina has always been headstrong.

The thought shocked him. How would he know that? Their previous interactions suggested nothing of the sort. But something was telling him that it wasn't true. Something that he wanted to access but couldn't. He tried to follow the thought into the depths of his mind to find its source but was forced to retreat as a horrible headache took over.

"Lord Sinclair, are you alright?" Melina ran up to him, expression filled with worry.

"Just a bit of a headache. That's all," he said as the pain slowly subsided. These odd events were starting to grate his nerves. When would it end? Was there really nothing he could do but wait? "I'll be going on patrol now. Thank you for the bread and the letter. I'll stop by soon to see if there's a reply."

"It might take a while for it to get there and for the reply to arrive back," Gilbert warned.

"I'm aware, but I'll stop by nonetheless."

Alright, that's one thing done before the patrol. Next, I need to send this other letter to the Church.

"Lord Sinclair, can you handle the leader of the pack on your own?" Remi shouted as she kept shooting arrows at a pack of ice wolves. The monsters had been chasing after a doe initially, but got too close to the town and decided to check for potential prey there.

It left the town watch and Alistair who was out on patrol with no choice but to deal with the monsters. But this particular pack was great at working together, splitting apart to avoid attacks and then converging together for a synergized flurry of blows.

"Yes, leave it to me!" Alistair said, rushing towards the largest of the wolves with his shield forward. Other wolves from the pack were trying to attack him, but Leon kept them away with his fire spell. Even if it could not inflict a lot of damage, his flame looked impressive enough to make the wolves think twice before rushing ahead.

The leader wolf snarled and jumped forward, trying to bite into Alistair's sword arm. He smashed his shield against the wolf mercilessly, making it yelp and jump away. Of course, a hit like that hardly did any damage, it was nothing more than a warning.

"Leave while you still can," Alistair said, brandishing his sword at the beast. But it just snarled at him and lunged forward for another attack.

I should have known it wouldn't be so easy.

Alistair stood his ground, blocking the wolf's sharp claws with his shield.

[Skill <Unyielding Blade> activated. Each consecutive attack with a sword will be stronger than the last.]

Alistair swung at the wolf, but it jumped to the side avoiding the attack. The two stared at each other for a while, neither willing to budge.

But then a howl resounded nearby as one of the ice wolves had been killed by one of Remi's arrows. The pack leader howled in return, growing more agitated, and then ice began forming on top of its fur.

Dammit, this one must be at a high level to be able to control ice on its fur. It'll be much harder to damage it now.

The ice wolf lunged at Alistair at full force, trying to use its weight to knock him off his feet. However, he managed to withstand the attack and used the opportunity to strike. The blade collided with the wolf's side, however it could not get through the layer of ice that protected it.

The wolf was clever—it did not allow Alistair to build up his attack combo, instead getting safely out of his reach. If they continued this way, then it would become a battle of attrition. During that time the town watch would deal with the other wolves and the leader would be left alone. It had no way of winning.

The wolf leader let out a sharp bark and ran back into the forest. Other wolves disengaged from the battle and also rushed back.

"Is it retreating?" Alistair asked.

"No! They are regrouping. We cannot let that happen," Remi yelled.

Alistair cursed and ran after the wolf, feeling how <Unyielding Blade> skill deactivated as he abandoned the defensive position. It was one of his strongest skills, but he did not like how heavily it relied on him standing his ground and taking hits. But it was one of the skills that Church had deemed crucial for his progress so he had stuck with this defensive attack strategy.

But I can't be defensive if the opponent is running. I need to catch up to that wolf.

Then he remembered the new skill he had unlocked just recently.

Activate <Lightning Dash>!

Alistair burst forward at amazing speed, the world blurring around him. It was extremely disorienting and he almost crashed into a tree. However, with it, Alistair had managed to close the gap between him and the wolf, allowing him to strike at its hindleg.

The wolf fell momentarily, but quickly swung around and jumped at Alistair, crashing against his shield. The impact was so strong that it threw him off balance. Wolf used this opportunity and attacked the second time, grabbing the edge of Alistair's shield with its teeth and trying to pull it away.

"I don't think so, buddy!" Alistair struck at the wolf's front paw where the layer of ice was thinner, leaving a deep cut. The wolf snarled but did not let go of the shield, instead starting to thrash its head around violently.

Dammit, if I don't let go, it might break my arm or even pull it off along with the shield.

Not eager to lose his arm, Alistair relinquished his shield to the wolf. It swung its head to the side, sending it flying a good distance away. The beast then propelled itself forward with its uninjured limbs, its maw wide open.

"Lightning Dash!" Alistair disappeared into a blur, avoiding the attack. But it was difficult to control the skill, so he ended up a bit further away than he intended.

The wolf barked, once again urging his pack to come together. Two more wolves had been killed leaving two more and the leader standing. But Alistair would not allow them to reunite.

"Lightning Dash!" He aimed straight for the wolf. His sword lodged itself deep into the beast's side, piercing through the ice thanks to the speed at which he was going.

[Your skill <Lightning Dash> has ranked up. It is now Rank E.]

Alistair removed his sword from the corpse of the ice wolf and exhaled in relief. Although it was not an evolved monster, it had still proved to be a formidable opponent—very nimble for its large size.

It would have been difficult to defeat it without this new skill. Good thing that I managed to unlock it. Let's see how it has improved after ranking up.

[Lightning Dash: Allows you to run at amazing speed, dealing a small amount of lightning damage to any enemies that happen to be in the way. At Rank E you're allowed to execute 2 consecutive dashes in a row.]

Two dashes now. Sounds quite useful. Even if the damage inflicted by it is miniscule, the faster movement alone is quite worthwhile. I only need to learn how to control it a bit better. These speedy attacks could be an effective strategy to deal with more mobile and more intelligent enemies. Smarter monsters are unlikely to keep bashing me until I've built up enough attacks to unleash a finisher.

"Are the other wolves disposed of?" Alistair called out to the town watch.

"Yes, all wolves have been neutralized," Remi responded, coming up to him and looking at the wolf leader. "I wonder if we could make pelts from their fur."

"Seems too rough for a pelt."

"Shame. But I'm sure we could find some use for it. Maybe try to sell it to northerners. They could always use something to warm themselves with," Remi pondered, then turned to others from the watch. "Let's skin these first!"

"I shall return to my patrol then," Alistair said.

"Yes, good job. I think we can leave the rest to the watch. I'll return to my patrol route as well," Remi said. This is how it always worked. Adventurers took the most dangerous patrol routes and dealt with the monsters while the town watch provided support and did cleanup.

As Alistair left the battle scene, the adrenaline in his body slowly dwindled. After a while, he was reminded of the fact that he hadn't eaten anything for a while.

Might as well eat some of those braided breads Melina gave me.

He fished one piece of bread out of his bag and looked at it. It was not pretty—he certainly could not see any proper braiding. Mostly it looked like a bulbous lump. But food was food so he sighed and bit into it.

Pleasant herby and buttery flavor exploded in his mouth. The bread itself was nice and crunchy on the outside while remaining tender and soft on the inside. The herb butter on the other hand provided a nice flavor that made Alistair take one bite after another.

This is pretty good. If this is considered a failure, then what other goodies do they have in that bakery? The meat bun Master Gilbert offered before was quite delicious too. Maybe I should visit the bakery tomorrow too.

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