Afterwards, she quietly descended downstairs, washing up in the bathroom. Sienna noticed her moving around and came to greet her with cheerful chitters.
"Did you sleep well tonight?" Melina asked.
Sienna chittered approvingly.
"Good, then let's head to the bakery. We have a lot of preparations to make for tomorrow."
She was about to head out, but noticed Mango still sleeping in the same spot as yesterday. For a moment, Melina wondered if she should wake up the fox. But she didn't have it in her heart to do so. Alistair could take care of her.
Despite the early hour, it was already warm and the sun had risen. Birds were chirping busily, but the town still slept. Melina decided to take the opportunity to let Sienna stretch out her limbs. She allowed the wyrm to take on her large form, and together they made it to the bakery in no time at all.
It was odd that she had to enter from the back door, using a key. Almost as if she was sneaking into someplace she shouldn't. But when she entered the kitchen, she saw Master Gilbert already preparing breakfast and Roxie dutifully sitting at the table. The girl looked tense and awkward; she didn't know where to look.
"Good morning, Grandfather, Roxie," Melina greeted them.
"Morning," Gilbert grumbled, not even sparing her a glance.
"G-Good morning," Roxie said, her shoulders relaxing at the sight of Melina.
"Busy day today. Are we going to get supplies straight after breakfast?" Melina asked and gently urged Gilbert away from the stove, taking over the breakfast preparations.
She didn't even need to light the stove. She heated the pan with fire magic, cooking the bacon and eggs to perfect crispiness in record time. Roxie watched her with amazement.
"How did you do that?" The girl asked.
"She just likes to show off," Gilbert grumbled.
"It's just a bit of fire magic, and I'm not showing off. Cooking with magic is more precise and gives this nice aftertaste," she explained as she put the breakfast in front of Gilbert and Roxie. She didn't forget a plate for Sienna either, making sure to add chopped up scorchvine pepper to hers.
"I wonder if I could ever learn to do that?" Roxie muttered.
"There is a chance…" Melina said thoughtfully. "It wouldn't be difficult if you awaken to the System later, but even without it, it's still possible. Leon managed to learn magic all by himself, even without the System."
"Really? Wow!" Roxie gaped.
"For today, let's focus on the bakery, not rush off to more magic lessons. Starting with supplies," Gilbert said, giving Melina a significant look.
"Of course," she confirmed.
"C-Could I come along too?" Roxie asked timidly.
"I don't see why not. You'll get to see a bit of Sunglow along the way," Melina nodded.
They ate breakfast leisurely, and Gilbert began explaining where he usually went to get supplies. Melina was surprised to learn that Leliana's farm was one of the places he frequented for fresh produce. He apparently went to many places, hence why the supply runs usually took him so long.
"Best we get started then. But… Are people even going to be up so early?" Melina asked as the three of them went outside.
"Farmers rise early, don't worry, and by the time we get to everyone else, they'll be awake," Gilbert said, and let out a whistle to call for Knight.
The nightmare didn't come. Gilbert whistled a second time, and this time he did trot out of the stables.
"Why are you so slow this morning, Knight?" Melina chastised.
"Don't blame him. I'm used to calling him over with our bond, but it's been severed. It'll take a bit of getting used to," the old baker said, patting the nightmares' neck affectionately.
"T-That's a very big horse…"
Knight glared at the girl with its red eyes, digging the soil in front of himself in displeasure. Roxie yelped and hid behind Melina.
"Don't be a bully!" Melina reprimanded the nightmare, but it just snorted.
"Knight, behave," Gilbert added, and this time Knight did look a bit apologetic. Just a little bit.
But Knight wasn't the biggest issue. The biggest issue was securing the cart. To do that, Melina had to pull it out of the shed first. Gilbert had been the one to do it before, but without System, his old hands weren't strong enough for the task anymore. Melina wasn't strong enough either.
She and Roxie both pulled with all their might, but they were just a pair of weak girls. This task was beyond them. But then Melina realized that she didn't have to pull the cart with her hands at all.
"Step back. I think I got this," Melina told Roxie. She then took hold of the cart with her mana and pulled it out of the shed.
This principle was the same as levitating a rock, except on a larger scale. Melina felt silly for not doing it straight away.
"You're just going to solve all your problems with magic, aren't you?" Gilbert muttered.
"I don't see why not?" Melina shrugged, securing the harnesses to Knight.
"It is very convenient. I'm not sure how we could move the cart without it," Roxie agreed.
Gilbert didn't answer and instead clambered onto the front seat of the cart. Melina sat next to him, while Roxie sat next to her. With everyone ready, Gilbert tugged on the reins and Knight pulled the cart forward.
The first stop on their way was Leliana's farm. The red-haired girl was already awake, carrying boxes filled with fresh vegetables and fruits. She waved when she saw their approach.
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"Good morning, Master Gilbert, Melina, and… Who is this?" Leliana asked curiously, peering at Roxie.
"Morning. This is Roxie. She'll be helping me out in the bakery from now on," Melina explained, hopping off the front seat.
"Really? Welcome to Sunglow. I'm Leliana. It's nice seeing another girl with fiery hair," Leliana flashed her a smile, twirling her red hair for emphasis.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Leliana," Roxie inclined her head politely.
"I assume you'll be picking up the produce from now on," Leliana said, addressing Melina.
"Yes. I'm especially keen on those fruits," Melina nodded, then asked. "How are the Monster Realm fruits doing?"
"No luck with the melon or the zephyr root. Elowen and I will try grinding up some bones and sprinkling them into the soil. See if that helps. But at least there's progress with feyfruit and scorchvine peppers," Leliana confirmed. "I don't think I'll get a harvest from feyfruit this year, but there is some hope for peppers. In either case, it'll be a valuable learning experience for next year."
"That's good to hear. I'm ready to help out with that, too, if you need," Melina offered.
But Leliana instantly shook her head. "Worry about your own problems and leave the plants to us. You're no farmer. You're a baker."
Melina smiled and nodded. Leliana didn't want to burden her with more work—Melina could appreciate that. "Then let's get those fresh fruits and veggies loaded up. I can't wait to cook with them."
"I can't wait to try them out in pastry form. I'll be coming to the reopening tomorrow, so be sure to save me a tart," Leliana said.
It took them a bit of time to load up the produce since Gilbert insisted that Melina do some hard work herself. He worried her muscles would grow completely weak if she did everything by magic. He did have a point—some physical activities were necessary.
After that, they moved from one place to the next, getting the things they needed—milk and butter from the dairy farm, eggs and meat from a chicken and pig farm. They visited the miller to get the wheat and rye flour, and then headed to the port.
Master Gilbert had agreed with a few of the merchants who stopped in port to buy more exotic flours and ingredients from them. By the end of it, their cart was full, their wallet empty, and Melina's arms ached from all the boxes she had to lift. It was a good thing that she would cook using magic.
With supplies gathered, they headed back to the bakery. It was late morning, and the town was bustling with life. People waved when they saw Melina and Gilbert pass by, and they stopped by the inn so Roxie could say goodbye to her father before he headed back to Pertia. The two talked about something for a long time.
In the meantime, townsfolk gathered around Melina, asking her all sorts of questions about the bakery. She just shrugged and invited them to check the bakery tomorrow. However, through all this supposed merriment, she couldn't help but scan the crowd, searching for the man in black. He was nowhere in sight, but Melina still felt uneasy.
"Were you searching for someone back there?" Gilbert asked.
"No. Just being cautious," Melina replied.
Gilbert gave her a long look, but didn't say anything else. Perhaps, he had already guessed what she was worried about.
When they arrived at the bakery, Alistair greeted them, Mango zooming around the garden in excited circles. The fox ran straight at the cart when she noticed Melina, nimbly jumping into her lap.
"Since when can you jump so high and far?" Melina laughed, catching the fox.
"She's far too agile," Gilbert grumbled.
"Hey, Melina!" Alistair greeted her with a brilliant smile. When the cart stopped, she hurried up to help Melina out.
"Good morning," Melina greeted him, kissing him on the cheek.
"How was the supply run?"
"All good, we got everything we need," she confirmed.
"I still have time until my patrol. Let me help you unload everything," Alistair offered and grabbed four crates at once, carrying them inside as if they weighed nothing.
"Your husband sure is strong…" Roxie stared after Alistair in awe.
"He's not my husband quite just yet…" Melina admitted, but a smile inadvertently bloomed on her face.
Suddenly, Gilbert hobbled closer to her and peered at her face.
"What?" She asked.
"Be careful, you two. I don't want to be a great-grandfather just yet!" He muttered and hobbled away.
"Grandfather!" Melina exclaimed indignantly, her face flushing bright red.
"Which would you like first? Great-granddaughter or great-grandson?" Alistair asked as he passed by with another stack of crates.
"Alistair!" Melina exclaimed. She was certainly not ready to think about children yet. Even if it wasn't out of the realm of possibility anymore. There were too many things she needed to accomplish.
But Alistair looked completely unapologetic with a giant grin on his face.
Melina decided that she would instead focus on preparing for the opening. There were lots of things to be done.
"Come, Roxie. We'll start preparing the dough," Melina motioned the girl to follow.
"W-What about the supplies?" She asked nervously.
"Alistair has it covered. Let's go."
Melina actually wanted to see how good the girl was in the kitchen. Not to mention that Melina also wanted to see how good she herself would be at working with somebody else besides Master Gilbert. She was worried that she'd feel lost without him in the kitchen.
"Alright, let's start with something simple. We'll prepare bread dough," Melina said.
"How much are we preparing?" Roxie's meek attitude seemed to vanish as the two of them put on aprons. Melina wondered whether everyone had greatly overestimated her clumsiness.
"One tub for the regular white bread," she instructed. Melina named the amount of ingredients needed and showed how to use the magitech scales.
"Oh, we have similar scales in the Guild Bakery, and I think these tubs are standard size," Roxie said.
"Great! Makes it all the easier."
They prepared bread dough without any issues. Melina was initially using
As the two of them continued their preparations, Melina really couldn't see why Guildmaster Beck had been so worried. Roxie was great. She was familiar with most bread doughs. She did get a bit nervous around puff pastry, but Melina figured that with practice, it wouldn't be an issue either. The girl understood the main principle–butter couldn't be allowed to melt.
"I don't understand," Melina finally voiced during their afternoon break.
"Don't understand what?" Roxie asked, sipping on some cool orange juice.
"Why did your father call you clumsy? I haven't seen a single mistake all day."
Roxie chuckled awkwardly. "That's because I'm familiar with bread dough. I get nervous when making new things…"
Melina nodded. That made sense. It meant that the biggest hurdle would come the next day.
"I'm sure we'll manage. Just don't worry if you mess something up. It's the first day tomorrow, and we'll try to take things slow," Melina assured.
Roxie nodded, and they enjoyed a peaceful moment together, when suddenly Adrien burst into the kitchen.
"Miss Melina, look, I managed to make the rock fly!" He said excitedly and then concentrated on the rock in his palm.
Melina could instantly sense that in his excitement, he was pouring way too much mana into it. There were even barely noticeable sparks at his fingertips.
Even Roxie noticed something wasn't right. "Wait… Something—"
BOOM!
Melina created a protective field around Adrien, catching the bits of exploded rock. There was still a small discharge of electricity from Adrien's fingertips, and his hair puffed out in every direction as static coursed through it.
"I think you got a bit too excited there," Melina said, suppressing a chuckle.
Roxie was just barely holding herself from laughter. Adrien did look quite silly with his hair like that.
"I'll show you! I can do it!" The boy said with a huff and left the kitchen.
"Is it alright to leave him on his own?" Roxie asked.
"I'm afraid I don't have time to spare to look over him. Come on, I'll show you how to make pastry cream."
"W-Will I have to make it myself?" Her voice trembled slightly.
"No, not yet. I just want you to get comfortable with the process."
The two continued their busy preparations, and Melina's heart beat faster and faster as the grand reopening hour approached. Will she be able to pull this off?