Melina looked at the row of sludgy tartlets in horror. They looked far from appetizing as the beef and feyfruit filling looked like a brownish-purplish sludge and the chili walnuts on top did little to improve the look. But the worst part was that Alistair was right there to witness the doughy monstrosities in their full horrifying glory.

"Oh, no… How did this happen?" Melina exclaimed, trying to block Alistair's view of the pastries.

Better yet—how did these qualify for Rank C? They look absolutely dreadful.

"Perhaps, they taste better than they look," Alistair said, but judging from the furrow in his eyebrows, it was clear that he didn't believe those words.

"It's a blessing that these aren't meant for customers, but I'm not sure even Sienna would eat these," Melina muttered, lifting the wyrm from her shoulder and settling her next to one of the tartlets. She sniffed at them rather suspiciously and for a moment, Melina thought that the batch would have to be thrown out.

But the wyrm began to nibble at the pastry carefully and before long, Sienna was eating with great vigor, finishing a whole tartlet in less than a minute. An amazing feat for a creature this small, seeing that the tartlet was almost as big as Sienna herself.

"I believe you were worried for nothing. She seems to like them well enough."

"Still… I can't have them looking like this every time. I wonder what went wrong."

But no matter how hard she pondered and went through the process of making the tartlets, she couldn't think of what could have caused this issue. In the end, she had no choice but to give up for the day and hope that Master Gilbert would provide an explanation for her tomorrow.

"Wow, would you look at this little guy," Barrett stared at Sienna, who was doing her best to hide in Melina's hair.

"Girl," Melina corrected.

"Girl," Barrett nodded. "All the ferocity from before is completely gone. Then again, it's not like I don't understand her. I get grouchy too when I'm hungry."

The man laughed boisterously, and Melina did her best to retain a pleasant expression.

It is far too early for this kind of energy.

Alistair had left for Pertia at around the same time Melina woke up. She had noticed him leave through her bedroom window. Soon after that Barrett came running towards the bakery, talking so loudly that it felt like the whole town would wake up from the noise.

"Yes, Barrett. I'm sure you would eat this bakery empty if I gave you free rein," Gilbert grumbled, not bothering to hide his annoyance. The burly warrior didn't seem to notice it or if he did, he didn't take it to heart.

"Of course! Everything you and Miss Melina make is incredibly delicious. I'd be a fool to leave even a crumb behind," he laughed, and Melina winced. She much preferred the silence of the early morning, their hushed bustling in the kitchen the only noise until the world around them slowly began to wake.

Gilbert shook his head in disapproval, turning his attention back to the meat bun filling. Melina was working on the lamb pastry bundles, this time making them out of all the puff pastry she prepared before. People absolutely loved them last time.

"Master, I have a question about the tartlets," she said while watching the meat patties cook in the two skillets she had going at the same time. This time she had no intention of spending the whole morning on the lamb pastries, instead trying to focus on efficiency and speed.

"What about them?" Gilbert asked.

"It's about how they look. What could have caused it to look so… horrible?" She stuttered a bit. Melina didn't like that so many people knew of her failure.

"Meat filling will never look particularly attractive. It's the reason why I put them inside buns—so people don't see it. As for why they bubbled over in a sludge, it was because there was too much liquid inside. To prevent that, you should strain the liquid off next time."

Melina made a mental note of it and flipped the patties over in the order she put them in the pan, going clockwise.

"The looks don't matter, Miss Melina! It's all about the flavor," Barrett said enthusiastically, looking at one of the tartlets that Melina left on the counter by the sink, so Sienna could snack on it whenever she got hungry.

"Don't try to eat that, you oaf. The wyrm will turn you into a piece of ash," Gilbert grumbled.

"What the master meant to say is that it is not fit for human consumption. The concentration of feyfruit within it is too high," she noted, trying to smooth out her Master's harsh words.

Barrett didn't appear bothered by them in the slightest. "Oh, no, I won't! This was made specifically for Sienna, so I wouldn't dare. But what is this feyfruit?"

"It's a fruit very rich in mana that can be found in Monster Realm. I won some in a competition in Pertia."

"From the Monster Realm? That is so cool. I wonder if I could get stronger if I ate it," Barrett pumped his fist.

"You'd die," Gilbert grumbled and removed the pot with meat filling from the stove.

"Yes. Raw feyfruit is deadly for humans, but it can be eaten if diluted enough."

"Would it give me more power then? I would like to try it," Barrett rambled, obviously too obsessed with pursuing strength to care about the details of the matter. But it did make Melina wonder… could she actually turn the feyfruit into a pastry that could be enjoyed by humans? What effects would it even possess?

Maybe I could try making something like that and see what it does. After all, even if I fail, I'm sure Sienna would be more than happy to eat anything with feyfruit in it. As long as it isn't too horrible.

The loud morning continued, filled with Barrett's eager chatter, Gilbert's grumbling about said chatter, and as always—a whole bunch of pastries. In fact, there were more pastries than usual, both she and Gilbert made sure to count each batch. Just as Melina's skill had suggested there was an extra pastry per twelve pastries made.

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It didn't seem to make sense, but out of a batch meant for twelve pastries, Melina was able to produce thirteen. As if someone had sneakily added a bit more dough in the tub. The same happened with the filling.

However, when it was time for Melina to pull out her pastries, she got a strange notification.

[You've made <Lamb Pastry Bundle – Rank C>. Due to the effects of <Food Manufacturing>, you did not receive any experience.]

She got this message for each extra pastry that was produced because of the skill. Melina was already getting the benefit of having more pastries, she couldn't complain about not receiving experience for it too.

Once all the pastries and bread were set on their shelves at a record time—thanks to Barrett's help—Melina hurried outside to turn on the sign. It was a bit awkward with the door being completely gone, but aside from the slightly broken door frame, everything else looked normal.

When the customers came, nobody even questioned where it had gone, instead, everyone seemed excited to get a closer look at Sienna. The fact that Barrett was praising the wyrm for its good behavior only kindled everyone's curiosity. Master Gilbert got so annoyed with it that he threw out several people who only came to see Sienna, instead of buying anything.

Some braver folk even dared to ask to hold her, but Melina rejected them with a smile, using <Mask of Deceit> to come up with as many plausible excuses as possible while omitting the main one. The fact that Sienna would likely burn them. She could hear her growling in displeasure whenever somebody dared to reach their finger out a bit too close.

I swear, these people don't fear anything. Be it elves, drow, and now even a wyrm. Makes me wonder if they have grown complacent because the town watch and adventurers are so vigilant.

In a way, it was better for Melina. She didn't have to fear being thrown out of town. She was convinced that some people wouldn't even let her leave. Like Erina and Barrett who both began gushing in unison over Sienna's cuteness when the innkeeper stopped by for her usual order of bread and pastries. She even relaxed a little as the morning rush slowly died down and most people had their fair share of admiring Sienna for the day.

But then a familiar trio of girls entered the bakery, Leliana taking the lead of her two minion sisters.

"Good morning, Miss Leliana," Barrett said, growing flustered at her appearance, as did most of the young men who were in the bakery at the time.

"Good morning," she said with a graceful smile, her people-pleaser persona out in full swing. "How are things going, Master Gilbert?"

"Well enough," the baker said, also growing a bit less irate with her appearance. Who knew that Leliana's charm worked even on him?

"I was ever so worried about you when I heard the news yesterday," Leliana said, taking a spot at the end of the queue. But the men quickly gave up their spot in her favor, letting her come to the front of the line in almost no time. "I couldn't believe it when everyone said that Melina brought an actual monster into town."

She laughed then as if it were some practical joke, and Sienna who had taken refuge in the pocket of Melina's apron, stirred a little.

"Oh, she did," Gilbert confirmed as did every other customer who had seen Sienna.

"It's quite amazing, Miss Leliana. The little wyrm is so cute and so well-behaved you would never think it was a monster in the first place," Barrett laughed. The red-haired girl flinched, a flicker of annoyance marring her perfect expression for just a split second.

"Surely, you are joking… It attacked our town didn't it?" She asked, casting a suspicious glance at Melina. She couldn't even be mad at the girl–her concerns were completely valid.

"It did, but I believe Sienna was merely spooked," Melina said and scooped the wyrm out of her pocket showing it to Leliana. She expected the girl to grimace or scream or just run away. Part of her even wanted to see Leliana break her perfect facade in public. She hadn't bothered to keep it on when the two of them were alone after all.

Leliana's sisters did in fact scream and jump back, clutching onto each other in fear. But she did not. Instead, the redhead looked at Sienna in awe, her eyes widening the same way they did when one saw something incredibly cute.

"This is the ember wyrm?" Leliana asked in disbelief.

"It's quite adorable isn't it?" Barrett prompted.

"It's a monster!" The twins shrieked in unison, clutching onto each other in an overly dramatic fashion. Melina barely withheld the urge to roll her eyes at their theatrics.

"It is," Leliana said with a genuine smile that Melina had not expected to see. "She has very vivid coloring on her belly while her back remains almost pitch black. No doubt it is a way of camouflage for her."

Melina and everyone else stared at Leliana, who flushed and cleared her throat. "Just making an observation. It appears I was worried for nothing. This small creature is no threat at all."

"She really isn't," Melina confirmed and smiled at Leliana. "What would you like to order?"

Leliana's eyes followed Sienna when Melina set her on her shoulder, and she got a distinct feeling that the redhead would visit the bakery more often in the future.

"Oh! Two sourdough breads and four raisins squares, please. But my real goal wasn't to buy bread or look at your new… pet," Leliana said.

"What is it then?" Melina packed the requested pastries in the paper bag.

"I came to check on your garden," she said.

Oh, no… With all that was happening, I completely forgot about the garden.

"Really, how irresponsible of you," Leliana reprimanded as she watered the place where seeds had been sowed. She had dismissed her sisters and waited for Melina and Gilbert to close the bakery for the day, just to take a look at the garden afterwards.

Melina had nothing to say—Leliana was right. With all that was going on these past few days, she had completely forgotten about the little seeds. "Do you think they'll sprout?"

"They will, but you have to water them regularly if you want them to do that within any reasonable amount of time. You can't just rely on rain to do all the heavy lifting for you, especially since it hasn't rained during last week," the red-haired girl said then smiled since Barrett was still around. The man wasn't really paying much attention to them, instead focusing on sharpening his sword with a whetstone.

"I understand," Melina said, watering the soil from the other side. "By the way, would it be too late to sow some more seeds?"

"Depends on what exactly. As I said before, it is too late for something like tomatoes."

"I'm interested in hot peppers and chilies," Melina said, thinking about using them for Sienna's meals. She loved them so much after all.

"Oh, no, it's definitely too late for those. Ideally, you want to sow them before winter," Leliana explained, and Melina sighed. "Why do you want chilies so badly? People here aren't even that fond of spicy food."

"It's not for the bakery, it's for Sienna," Melina explained, putting the empty watering can aside and peering at the ground, hoping to see something green poking out. But there was still nothing.

"For Sienna?" Leliana glanced at the wyrm, who was lying blissfully on a rock, enjoying the midday sun.

"She loves chili flakes so I assume she loves spicy stuff in general."

Leliana let out a sigh. "I suppose it can't be helped. We shall head to the market."

"Sunglow has a market?"

"Of course, it does. It is not open every day since this is a small town. But it just so happens that it is open today so might as well go and buy those seedlings before it closes."

Melina thought about it for a moment. She couldn't spend too much time galavanting around the town since there was dough to prepare for tomorrow. On the other hand, the end of spring is fast approaching so soon she wouldn't be able to plant anything.

"Alright, let's go. Let me warn Master Gilbert real quick," Melina said.

"I shall accompany you two, of course!" Barrett sheathed his sword and nodded dutifully.

"Thank you so much, Sir Barrett," Leliana's lips twitched up charmingly, once again turning a fully-grown man into a blubbering fool.

Did she have to do that now?

But Melina decided not to dwell on it and instead rushed inside, warned Master Gilbert of her intentions, and grabbed her money pouch before he could give her some money. If she were to fail in growing these plants, then she wanted it to be at her loss and not his.

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