This has to be the most unpleasant dinner I've been a part of, and I've attended plenty of unpleasant dinners in my time. I even had to sit at a table with a noble who had clearly poisoned my food, just because I refused to fetch him a lunarbird from the Monster Realm. It had been so awkward as I wasn't an Archmage then yet and couldn't just openly accuse him of poisoning me. Instead I had to adhere to niceties and make up excuses for not eating. It made me want to actually fetch him the bird since its song would most certainly kill him. But even that was better than this.

Melina glared at Leliana who had draped herself over Alistair's arm, batting her eyelashes and smiling at him while he was somehow trying to eat. Milo in the meanwhile was excitedly chattering about the most recent magitech, going into such intricate detail that even Melina was having a hard time keeping up.

Melina was surprised that neither of the two men had taken any notice of Leliana's... rounded parts. She certainly wasn't shy about flaunting her gifts to their fullest. It was a very effective attack on most men in the cafeteria. Alistair, however, appeared rather annoyed, judging by the slight twitch of his pinky finger, but at the same time was too polite to shake her off openly.

Melina was wondering whether she should interfere. Part of her wanted to stay quiet and not make a bigger enemy of Leliana than she already had. She hoped that it was still possible to turn their relationship into something semi-respectable. But another part of her, the one that was still incredibly attached to Alistair, was seething.

"Miss Leliana, why don't you give Lord Sinclair some room to breathe? He is barely able to move his arm with how close you are sitting," Melina said with a polite expression and pointedly stabbed into the piece of chicken on her plate. The room around them went strangely silent, everybody more interested in what was going on at Melina's table rather than their own.

"I'm sure that if I were bothering Lord Sinclair, he would have told me by now. Isn't that right?" Leliana chirped, sticking even closer to Alistair. His pinky twitched again and the calm mask on his face slipped for a split second.

"Miss Leliana, perhaps you'd like to take a seat on this side? There's more free space here," Milo offered, not really aware of the ongoing tension.

"Indeed. There's no need to sit in such a tight space," Melina added. The lack of space was due to Sarah and Larah sitting next to Leliana, acting like some little cupids for her sister and pushing her closer to Alistair.

"I'd like to sit next to my sisters," Leliana refuted, refusing to move an inch. In the end, Melina was forced to watch the scene for the whole duration of the dinner. It grated on her nerves how someone could be so shameless, so she ate quickly, determined to get away from it all as soon as possible.

"I'm done, so I'll be heading back home now. See you tomorrow, Milo," Melina said and took her dishes away.

"I'll be on my way then as well," Alistair said, untangling himself from Leliana.

"You could still stay for a while longer," Leliana pleaded with a pouty lip.

"It is my duty to watch over the ember wyrm at all times," Alistair announced, and all eyes turned to Melina.

"The ember wyrm is here?" One of the customers asked nervously, his eyes darting from Melina to the corners of the room as if a monster would be hiding there. Alistair flinched, realizing the mistake he had made, but it was too late.

"Yes. Sienna isn't comfortable leaving my side just yet," Melina explained, placing her hand over the wyrm huddled under her clothes, hiding from sight. Somehow the little beast knew exactly when the surrounding crowd was positively inclined towards her and when it wasn't.

"That is preposterous!" One older man yelled and slammed his fist against the table. "Not only do you bring a dangerous monster into our town, you even take it to a public place filled with people! Do you wish to kill us all?"

A wave of agreement passed through the inn, and Melina could feel people's gazes grow more hostile. Alistair quickly strode over to Melina, shielding her from their view. "That is exactly why I am here. Nobody will get hurt so there's no reason to get mad."

"But you couldn't defeat it before, could ya?" Another man, hidden somewhere further in the back yelled. "So how are you thinking of stopping it this time?"

This seemed to strike a nerve with Alistair as his hands clenched into fists. She knew that if things got truly heated, he wouldn't be above throwing some punches around.

"We were leaving, so there's no reason for you to worry about the wyrm," Melina said and was about to head outside when a group of men blocked her path.

"You cannot actually believe that we'll just let you go carrying that dangerous monster around with you," a large bulky man snarled.

"She's the one who tamed it and saved all of your lives, so you will let her go," Alistair declared, glaring at the men. They took a step back, intimidated by Alistair, although the fear probably stemmed from his title. Even if he was sent here as punishment, Melina was sure that if somebody had slighted his son, Duke Sinclair wouldn't hesitate to put their necks in a hanging noose.

"Your Lordship, we are only worried about the people of Sunglow. Please be understanding," another man said.

"That's right! Why should we keep a monster in our town, fearing it might burn down our houses while we sleep?"

"The wall was built to keep the monsters out of it, not inside it!"

This is bad, they're becoming more and more riled up. I'm sure they're all decent people on their own, but I've witnessed on more than one occasion that crowd mentality can cloud the judgment of even the wisest man. Dammit! What do I do? How do I convince them that Sienna isn't a threat?

"Then I suppose I shall live beyond the walls as well?" A charismatic male voice spoke up, and Etrian appeared in the cafeteria. The men blocking Melina's path looked a little bit guilty but still didn't move aside.

"Etrian, you know we wouldn't lump you together with monsters," the largest man said apologetically.

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It's amazing that the townspeople trust him so much. I would have expected them to be more hostile towards a drow. I still don't even trust him. Drow are far more dangerous than wyrms in my opinion.

Etrian went up to Melina, making her take back a step as she was unnerved by his sudden approach. But much to her surprise, Sienna emerged from underneath her clothes. Everyone who hadn't seen the wyrm before gasped in shock.

"But she and I are essentially the same, both inhabitants of the Monster Realm," Etrian said and reached out his hand toward Sienna. She jumped into his palm and peered up at him curiously. Melina felt a little betrayed. "If you fear her, you should fear me."

The crowd went silent, looking at Etrian gently rubbing Sienna's chin, earning a delighted squeak from her.

"Oh, you all are just a bunch of pansies. There's nothing scary about her at all," Erina suddenly emerged from the kitchen, watching the scene with great pleasure. "Just look how cute Sienna is."

People stretched their necks forward, looking at how Etrian played with the little wyrm who seemed to enjoy it a great deal.

"I suppose, she's not so scary…" one of the men blocking the path finally admitted.

"But Etrian, what if this beast decides to attack again?" Another man shouted, unwilling to step back.

"If you don't attack it, the wyrm will not bother you. She's already bonded to Miss Melina," Etrian said firmly and placed Sienna back on Melina's shoulder. "Now I would appreciate it if you would let her pass. I'm sure Gilbert will get worried if his apprentice doesn't come home in time."

The men finally moved aside and the tension in the room eased.

"Thank you," Melina said to Etrian, although it was a bit difficult to say.

"Anytime," the drow said graciously. Melina didn't linger around the inn, instead waving a quick goodbye to Milo and heading back to the bakery along with Alistair.

"I can't believe they'd actually be more inclined to listen to a drow than me," Alistair muttered on their way back, dusk slowly creeping over the town.

"Yes, it is a peculiarity of this town. Anywhere else Etrian would have been treated the same way as Sienna, if not worse," Melina said, watching the moon peer over the treetops.

"I believe that anywhere else Sienna and Etrian would have been killed on sight," Alistair said grimly, but then looked at Melina with a jolt, his expression worried. "Well, maybe not kill, but perhaps detain or send into exile."

"There is no need to soften your words for my sake, Lord Sinclair. I'm well aware of what happens to monsters that dare to stray too close to cities."

After all, that was the main mission the Church entrusted me. Kill any monsters on sight without asking questions.

Alistair's shoulders sagged, and they continued on their way to the bakery in silence.

Much to Melina's dismay, Alistair insisted on remaining in the bakery overnight until the front door was fixed. No matter how hard she tried to get him to go home, he refused so in the end she had no choice but to oblige. Master Gilbert was less than pleased by that and stared daggers at him the whole time. She really hoped he would stop doing that before Alistair got mad.

"Would it be alright if I took a quick bath?" Alistair asked sheepishly. "I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to bathe in a few days."

"Yes, of course," Melina said hurriedly before Gilbert could reject him.

The baker gave her a huff. "You better be prepared to draw it yourself, girl, because I'm heading to sleep."

For a moment, Melina wondered what he meant but then she realized that she couldn't just heat it with magic with Alistair around. It would be like announcing that Sienna is her familiar and she is a System user.

One gets used to the comforts of magic too quickly. Nothing to it, I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way.

Melina filled the giant pots full of water and set them to heat up on the stove.

"May I ask what you are doing?" Alistair asked, watching her bustle about in the kitchen, firing up the stove again.

"Preparing your bath?"

"Can't you just pour warm water from the faucet?"

"We only have cold water running," she explained but cursed inwardly. She should have just pretended they have warm water. Then again, the fact would have come to light sooner or later, so it was better to be safe. But it also meant that for however long Alistair was here, she'd had to carry the heavy pots upstairs for a bath.

"Oh! I didn't think of that since I have warm water at home. Let me carry these pots once the water is ready," he offered, and Melina nodded. Normally one should instantly deny any offers of help from nobles with mundane tasks—some nobles even liked to test their staff this way and fire anyone who accepted their help. But she knew Alistair well enough to know that he wasn't so petty. Not to mention that she wasn't his maid.

Once the water was boiled, she gave the large oven mitts to Alistair and guided him to the bathroom, holding the door open for him.

"Do you have to do this each time you want to have a bath?" he asked, pouring the boiling water into the tub.

"Unfortunately, yes. Although sometimes I just take a cold bath."

Or I used to before Sienna came along.

"A cold bath?" Alistair stared at her in shock, and Melina couldn't help but chuckle at his youthful purity. After all, the older Alistair she used to travel with didn't mind bathing in lakes or cold springs they happened upon.

"Yes. It's not as bad as you think. One just has to get used to it." Melina began pouring cold water into the bathtub, amusement still playing on her lips. After a brief moment, she noticed that Alistair was staring at her. "Is it really something so shocking?"

"Oh, no! I guess I've just never tried it before," he said, almost as if coming out of a stupor. "I'll go fetch the second pot."

To think that even a tough man like Alistair was, no rather, is like this in his youth. I suppose age does make one more tough. It's kind of cute.

Once the second pot of boiling water was poured into the bathtub, Melina adjusted the water temperature by adding cold water and then left the man. She didn't even get a chance to consider whether she should take a "cold" bath later, as her eyes closed as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next day passed in a busy blur as she worked hard at making pastries in the morning while doing her best without her skills. Although <Food Manufacturing> was doing its work even without her prompting, discreetly increasing the amount of pastries made. It even ranked up, reaching Rank E which made an extra portion per ten portions made. She also reached Level 24—a notification she did her best to ignore.

Once bread and pastries were made, Melina was busy selling them to customers and after the shop closed, she did the thorough cleaning of the whole place which she did at the end of each week. Sienna hissed at her each time water got a bit too close to her.

But that wasn't the end. Once cleaning was complete, she busied herself in the garden, tending to the new seedlings and clearing more of the overgrown bushes. Alistair was there the whole day, and he often helped out. Melina refuted him at first, but he insisted saying that he had nothing better to do.

She couldn't blame him—being a guard wasn't a particularly interesting job, so Melina gave him tasks that required more strength. Like carrying and chopping firewood, and helping out Milo to make the door in the shed which the young carpenter had basically turned into his workshop.

The young carpenter was horrified at first—receiving help from a nobleman. But he came around after like twenty times when Alistair assured him that it was alright and that he wanted to busy himself with something.

So the day passed and the next one came. It was Sunday, which meant that it was the perfect time for Melina to learn how to make something new and exciting. She was determined to make the bakery even more enticing for customers with the help of fruit tarts.

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