With Melina's apprenticeship settled, Master Gilbert and Melina headed back to the main street in search of breakfast. Many wonderful smells wafted through the air, and her stomach growled in response, eager to feast on any of the delectable-smelling dishes.
Much to Melina's surprise, she saw Alistair standing by one of the vendors, holding what looked like waffles together with fried chicken. The weird combination of food perplexed her, and for a moment she considered walking over to him and asking about the dish. But then she felt Gilbert's heavy hand on her shoulder.
"I understand that a young woman like yourself is interested in handsome men like him, but this lordling is the last person you should be engaging with. I'm sure you understand why," he warned her.
Of course, I understand. There are more reasons than one could count. Us being as far away from each other in social hierarchy as could be. Him being a System user who would report me to the Church if he found out. Him having died on my behalf. I shouldn't even be speaking to him.
"It's not like that, Master. I was merely curious about the food he's holding," Melina, then pointed at a different stall. "Why don't we grab some chicken and vegetable skewers from there?"
Gilbert arched an eyebrow at her but then nodded. "Alright. It looks easy to eat and we don't have a lot of time to muck around today."
He guided Knight to stop near the stall, and Melina jumped down from the seat. The old baker reached into his pouch to pay for the meal, but Melina shook her head.
"Let me pay for this much at least," she said and hurried to order two large skewers. The smell coming from them was divine, and they looked equally delicious with succulent chicken pieces, caramelized onion rings, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and mushroom slices.
"A bit heavy for breakfast, but we'll need our strength for today," Gilbert said after Melina had paid for the skewers and returned to the cart.
"We're going to the carpenter's right?" Melina asked and popped a cherry tomato along with a piece of chicken into her mouth. The sweet and slightly tangy juices of the tomato coated the meat giving it a wonderful flavor while the chicken was so soft that it almost melted on her tongue.
"Yes, we need to order those doors and the sign first, so the carpenter has time to make them before we leave," the baker said and ate some vegetables from his skewer. He wasn't quite smiling, but Gilbert's scowl certainly was smaller than before.
"Is there anything else we might need? Maybe more tubs were to proof dough for the night?"
Gilbert considered the suggestion for a moment, then nodded. "It's not urgent, but if the carpenter can manage then it might be worth asking."
"Makes sense. It's quite a shame that there's no carpenter in Sunglow," Melina said, eating another piece of chicken, this time together with a beautifully caramelized sweet onion. It was like a match made in heaven.
"What do you expect? Young people are eager to leave Sunglow, always searching for better prospects in the cities. What they don't realize is that working in the city is just as difficult as in a small town. Not to mention, that the prices are often ludicrous," Gilbert grumbled, occasionally taking a bite from his skewer.
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Melina said, finishing the last bits of her own meal. Her stomach felt blissfully full, almost painfully so. Perhaps, the meat skewer was a bit too heavy for breakfast. But it was just too delicious to pass up.
"No, this isn't just some old man's grumbles. Sunglow used to have as many as five thousand inhabitants when I moved in. Now it barely has over a thousand and five hundred," he explained, eating the last piece of tomato from his skewer and tossing the wooden stick to the back of the cart.
"That's quite a drop. I can't believe it's just because of young people leaving."
Master Gilbert signaled Knight to start moving, and they made their way into one of the larger side streets, heading to the west part of the city. "No, whole families moved out. Despite the fact that Adventurer's Guild was established, people just didn't want to live in a place where monster activity seemed to increase each year."
"Wait… it's been increasing?" Melina asked.
"Aye. For decades now. It was barely noticeable at first, but now even evolved monsters aren't a rarity anymore. You saw that hobgoblin yesterday. It's not normal for one to appear so close to a traveled road."
Monster activity has been increasing for decades… I can't believe it. The Church will notice that only some five years from now. Could it be that's because it first increased in faraway places like Sunglow, where their influence is low? No, surely they would have noticed more adventurers being requested in these regions.
"What about the Church? Shouldn't they send more System users here?" Melina asked. Of course, for her, it would be better for System users to stay far away from Sunglow. However, for the people living there, it might be safer if more came.
"The Church doesn't care about places outside their influence. They might preach about equality and protecting everyone, but in reality, they only protect their own. As do most people," Gilbert grumbled, and the silence stretched on between them.
Have they always been this way? I knew that Church had always been adamant about controlling all the System users, but I believed it was because they didn't want any single System user to become too powerful. Does it all come down to them just wanting to keep all the powerful people to themselves?
Oh, it's no use thinking about it. I'm just a baker's apprentice now. I have nothing to do with the Church, and neither should I care about what they do. I should focus on what I can do instead.
As the cart rattled through the streets, Melina noticed a large workshop further ahead with a big sign saying "Planks and Nails" on the side. She pointed her finger at it and asked, "Is that the carpenter we're going to?"
"Yeah, that's the one," Gilbert confirmed and stopped the cart near the entrance. As Melina got off, she heard the noise of sawing wood coming from the inside. She peeked inside the large, open workshop door and saw a young man with messy brown hair sawing at a large piece of wood.
"Morning, is your Master in, Milo?" Gilbert addressed the boy, who stopped sawing and looked up. His sturdy leather apron and gloves were covered in sawdust which danced in the air around him like little fireflies in the moonlight.
"Good morning, Master Gilbert. Master went out to get more screws from the blacksmith, he should be back any moment now," Milo replied and tried to wipe the sawdust off himself. Unfortunately for him, it swirled around him in a large cloud, some of it landing in his unruly hair. "I don't think I'm acquainted with the young lady next to you."
"I'm Melina Dufour—Master Gilbert's apprentice," she said and held out her hand, trying to avoid all the sawdust flying around. Milo removed his glove and shook her hand gently as if squeezing it tighter would break it.
"Pleasure to meet you, Melina. I'm Milo Fleche, an apprentice in this workshop."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
"Milo, why can't I hear any sawing? I need those planks—" A large, burly man, carrying a bucket of nails came into the workshop and stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the two customers. "Gilbert, old friend, what brings you here?"
"Nice to see you too, Declan. I have an order for you, if you'll take it," Gilbert said.
"We are quite busy at the moment, but I'm sure I can manage to squeeze you in. Who's the lass next to you? Don't tell me that you have actually taken in an apprentice?" Declan walked up closer to Melina, towering over her and stroking his short and well-kept beard as he inspected her from head to toe.
"I have," Gilbert confirmed.
"Melina Dufour." She extended her hand towards the large man. He took it, and it felt like her tiny hand completely disappeared within his grasp. However, just like his apprentice, Declan was very gentle with his handshake.
"Declan Mars, at your service, young miss. To think that Gilbert would take on such a cute apprentice. I always expected that he'd have some equally grumpy boy next to him. I'm jealous," Declan laughed heartily, throwing a glance at Milo.
"I'm sorry for lacking the feminine parts, Master. I'm afraid that is one thing about myself I cannot change," the young man snorted out.
"That and your obsession with magitech. But I digress—what exactly do you need, old friend?"
"A new door and a fresh bakery sign, and I'm afraid we can't afford to stay in Pertia for long, so I'd appreciate it if you could make them within the next three days," Master Gilbert explained.
"Three days for a door and a shop sign. Normally, I'd say it's not possible, but you're in luck. Milo here is close to completing his apprenticeship, so I don't mind entrusting him with the task of creating the sign on his own. If you're alright with that, of course?" Declan said.
"I don't see why not?"
"Master, are you sure you wish to entrust it to me?" Milo asked a bit nervously.
"You can't do it?" Declan raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, I can!"
"Then where's the problem?"
The young apprentice looked a bit surprised at first but then nodded his head. "There's no problem. But I would like to know the design you have planned for it."
"I'll let my apprentice handle that part as well," Gilbert said dismissively.
"Master, are you sure?" Melina raised an eyebrow. Entrusting an experienced apprentice with a job was one thing, but Melina had barely been with Gilbert for a week. The only thing she had learned how to make so far was some simple bread.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Cakes, cupcakes, pretzels, whatever you think will attract more customers. Make it fresh—I was tired of that old sign anyway," Gilbert confirmed with a nod.
"I guess it's up to us then," Milo chuckled, scratching the back of his head, sending more sawdust into his hair. The boy was a walking fire hazard at this point.
"Yeah, why don't you two young ones go into the office and decide on the design? Me and Gilbert here have some catching up to do," Declan said and motioned Gilbert to follow him.
Melina watched the two of them leave, then turned towards Milo. "Let's get to it then, shall we?"
"Yes. Let's go to my workroom. I got paper there where we could sketch out the design," Milo pointed towards the door by the far side of the workshop and Melina nodded, walking towards it. He opened the door for her, and she stepped inside, walking carefully.
The room was small and cluttered from top to bottom with various pieces from old and broken magitech—lamps, refrigerators, cart engines, you name it. The only thing missing were crystals used to power them, making these no better than scrap.
"Don't mind all the magitech parts. I just tinker with them in my spare time," Milo chuckled awkwardly, pushing what looked like a disassembled fan under the table, so Melina could pass through more easily.
"You like magitech, I presume," Melina asked, more out of politeness than actual curiosity.
"Do I? It has to be the most amazing thing invented by man! It allows people to do things only mages were able to do before. Creating light with a mere flick of a switch, heating water at a single push of a button, even preserving food for so much longer! We take these things for granted but not that long ago it was impossible," his eyes shone with excitement, but then he remembered that Melina was there and his enthusiasm waned. "Sorry! I'm sure you're not really interested in those kinds of things."
"No, it's fine. No need to apologize. Magitech is certainly fascinating," Melina nodded in agreement. While she never really had the time to learn how to create magitech, she always found it interesting. How could one order a piece of equipment to do something that only a mage was supposed to be able to do?
"It is, isn't it. Are you interested in magitech too?" Some of Milo's cheer returned.
"A little. I just don't understand much about it," Melina admitted. He deflated again.
"Neither do I, to be honest. I've pulled apart so much old tech, but without the crystals to fuel them…"
Yeah, magitech crystals are so expensive it's no wonder that a carpenter's apprentice can't afford them.
"What about the lamps? They're not that expensive," Melina suggested.
"I've pulled more lamps apart than I could count, but the crystals within them are so small. I've never managed to remove one without breaking it," Milo said, then waved his hand. "But we're not here to talk about magitech. We're here to make a sign."
He pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and wiped the sawdust from the table with his sleeve. "Do you have something in mind for the design?"
"To be honest, no. Master never said anything about it until now," she admitted.
"Seems our masters are similar in that regard. Mine constantly springs some last-minute decisions on me. Why don't we start with the shape of the sign?"
Shape of the sign… The last one was sort of oval, but it looked a bit clunky in my eyes. A rectangular one also doesn't seem fitting—that's something a more official kind of place would have.
"Why not just make it round? It's a pleasing enough shape. Easy to make too," she said after a moment of thought.
"Yeah, it's a good start. Many bakeries choose more rounded shapes for their signs," Milo said and drew a large circle on the page. "Now the background color. Would you like it from darker wood or lighter wood?"
"How about making the background darker and elements in the sign itself lighter?" she suggested.
"Why not the other way around?"
"Dark pastries might make people subconsciously think that they are burnt."
"Oh, that's a good point. Dark background it is," Milo nodded and lightly shaded the circle. "Next would probably be the name of the bakery and where you'd like it placed."
Master said that it doesn't need a name because it's the only bakery in Sunglow, but surely there should be one. Would he mind if I made one up? Probably not.
"It should say "Sunglow Bakery" with "Sunglow" being larger and prominent and "Bakery" smaller. Probably on the bottom to display some pastry on top."
"Something like this?" Milo said, writing the word "Sunglow" in large stylized letters and "bakery" in smaller but bold letters.
"That looks good," she nodded.
"Excellent. Then I guess the top is the creative space. Maybe something popular in your bakery?"
That'd be meat buns and pumpkin seed bread, but those don't look very impressive. Now when I think about it, nothing in Master's bakery looks that impressive—he focuses solely on flavor. But plain bread on a sign is not very enticing.
"How about a layered cake?" Melina said, remembering the amazing cake she had seen in Elenor's shop. She hadn't seen Master make such cakes, but he claimed to make them when people ordered. Perhaps, they could try to entice new customers with more colorful desserts.
"A layered cake sounds great. How about four tiers and a cherry on top with some flowers for decorations," Milo drew on the paper and then turned it to show Melina.
I'm amazed. This young man is not only good with his hands but also has a creative mind. He'd make a great magitech engineer if given a chance. Perhaps, he'd even create something completely new.
Melina dismissed the thought. It was not like she had any sort of pull to help him achieve that dream.
"That looks wonderful. I do hope people will be able to see it properly," Melina said looking at the drawing.
"What do you mean?"
"The bakery opens during early morning hours, often when it's still dark. It'll probably be fine during summer, but come autumn and winter, it'll be hard to notice."
Milo took the page and stared at it intently. "If only there was a way to illuminate it," he mumbled.
"Unless we can find a mage who'd be willing to stand under it, it's not really possible," Melina said dismissively.
Or use magitech. But such fancy, illuminated signs will only first appear in the capital about three or four years from now. Not to mention that they were extremely expensive.
"We might not need a mage," Milo said, a wide smile appearing on his lips.