"You knew?" Melina rushed after Master Gilbert. Her heart was beating like crazy, her mind reeling in panic.
"Of course, I knew. Who do you take me for? You're just openly reading your System messages whenever you're working and using your skills at the first chance you get," the man shook his head.
Dammit! I grew too complacent because I assumed he wouldn't report me to the Church. Not to mention that he never appeared very interested in how I was doing my work, but rather in the results only. I should have been more careful.
"Master, you won't—"
"Of course, I won't give you out to the Church. I assumed you already deduced that I'm a System user myself so you must have figured that out as well."
"Erina did say that you hated the Church," Melina admitted.
"Even went prodding for information. You're more clever than you look. Erina told you right. I hate them and I'm hiding from them just as you are. Not sure what your reasons are and quite honestly I don't care. It's better not to get involved with them."
"Thank you," she sighed in relief. "But how did you know that I was using a skill?"
Her lingering on the System messages—yes, that was a mistake on her part. But it's not like she needs to perform a dance or special hand gestures to activate a skill. A mere thought is enough.
"I have a skill that allows me to identify all skills and enchantments used to prepare a dish."
Melina clicked her tongue in annoyance. She should have known. There were so many different detection skills, that it was only logical to assume that there would be one for detecting skills used on crafted goods. It was just so niche that Melina didn't think of it.
"You must be rather high level to have such a skill," she noted somewhat bitterly.
"I gained it while I still had the [Baker] class so it's not that high level. Which level are you, girl?"
"Level 11 [Cook]."
"Bah! That's barely anything. I'm surprised you even have any skills unlocked," the old baker waved his hand dismissively and turned to leave.
"Wait, I have one question!"
"What?" he stopped for a moment, looking somewhat annoyed.
"When did you figure everything out?"
"The first time I saw you," he said with a smile and hobbled inside the house, leaving Melina alone with her thoughts.
The first time? But how? Unless… he has
The next day Melina and Gilbert spent the whole day preparing the required orders of bread for the bakery. The baker expected them to be gone for the rest of the week but was unwilling to leave his regular clients like Erina without their orders. Apparently, few local businesses relied on his bread since there wasn't another bakery in town. Not to mention that that's where the largest part of the income for the bakery came from.
From early morning until late afternoon, Melina was busy making the simpler bread—pumpkin seed bread, plain white bread, grain bread, sunflower seed bread. Gilbert focused on more complicated pastries. It was tiring but she once again gained two levels.
"Master, which stats are best to invest points in?" she asked as she was pulling the last pastries out of the oven.
"For those with classes similar to ours,
"
"And you're still this weak? Perhaps a few laps around the town is what you need," he scoffed. "Boosting it much higher would be a waste of points, so focus on
"What about
"If your bread is good, customers will come on their own, so don't worry about it. Besides, high
He's right there. My
With that settled, she invested the two points she got from leveling up into
[Name: Melina Dufour]
[Level: 13]
[Class: Cook]
[Intelligence: 9]
[Agility: 6]
[Strength: 8]
[Skill: 9]
[Charm: 5]
[Active Skills: 2]
[
[Passive Skills: 2]
[
Once all the breads and pastries were ready and packaged, Master Gilbert loaded all of them in the cart and together with Knight set off to deliver them all. Melina offered to go along and help, but the baker rejected her, saying that she should prepare for tomorrow's journey.
Putting everything she needed in her sack took a maximum of ten minutes but it was already too late to do cleaning in the garden. So instead she decided to take a bath and go to sleep early. Melina felt exhausted, her body screaming for rest, but once she got in the bed, her mind refused to let her sleep.
We'll have to travel together with a System user who also happens to be a noble. Both Master Gilbert and I will have to be incredibly careful, not to reveal that we are System users ourselves. Although I believe Master won't have any issues there. The only reason I discovered that he's a System user is because he gave me that meat bun with
Thinking back on it, it must have been deliberate. He probably wanted to gauge my reaction. In either case, it worked out quite well for me in the end. But I'll have to be really cautious around this noble. No looking at my Stat screen, System messages, or using my skills. In fact, I won't talk to them at all or even look in their direction. Some nobles get offended if a commoner merely looks at them the wrong way.
With her resolve set, Melina fell into a restless sleep—her dreams plagued with all the times her meetings with nobles have gone awry. It was a long and difficult night.
In the morning, she was up before the alarm even woke her, finding Master Gilbert already whisking eggs for breakfast omelet. The simple dish made her remember her time on the ship.
"May I cook breakfast this morning? Brock taught how to make omelets on the ship," Melina offered.
"Sure, go ahead."
She buttered up the large pan, then poured the whole mixture into it, watching how the eggs quickly stiffened on the hot pan. A few minutes later, she slid the spatula underneath and neatly flipped it over.
[You've made
She took two plates and after breaking the omelet in half, put one plate in front of Gilbert and took the other for herself.
"Not bad. You didn't even burn it," Gilbert nodded as he began to eat.
"I'd like to say that it's due to practice, but I do have
"No need to sell yourself short. Skills do help us achieve what we need easier, but to rank them up you have to be able to achieve it by yourself first," the old baker said. Melina nodded, tucking into her breakfast.
After they finished eating in comfortable silence and cleaned the dishes, Melina and Gilbert took their things to the cart. Knight came out of the stables as soon as he noticed them, carrying the reins in his teeth.
He looks more like a dog than a horse like this. Then again nightmares aren't exactly horses, they merely resemble them in appearance.
"How'd you even tame Knight?" Melina asked.
"Tame?"
"It couldn't have been easy to tame a nightmare."
There was a brief pause, then Gilbert nodded. "So you figured out he's not a regular horse. Not going to lie, it took people a while to buy into the lie that Knight is just a horse. But I'll tell you about it some other time. You better focus on not giving yourself away in front of that noble. I've never met them before either, so I don't know what to expect. If he discovers you, then I won't be able to help," Gilbert warned with a serious expression.
"I'll be careful," Melina said, trying to appear as calm as possible, but in reality, she was far from it.
I do not want to lose the life I'm leading here. Although I haven't been here for long, I like my life in Sunglow. It's peaceful. I do not want to run away and hide in the shadows like a diseased rat.
Melina was a bit surprised by her thoughts. Never before had she wanted to cling to one place so desperately. As an [Archmage] she had always been ready to move from place to place to fulfill her missions. Not to mention that she had to spend seven years hiding and fighting for her life every day.
As Knight pulled their cart closer and closer to the Adventurer's Guild, Melina grew increasingly anxious, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. When Gilbert put his hand on her shoulder, she visibly flinched.
"Relax, lass. If you're so anxious about being discovered, just remain silent and leave all the talking to me," he said. Melina looked at his surprisingly gentle expression and nodded. She felt a bit pathetic, having to rely on an old man like that, but also incredibly grateful and happy to have someone by her side.
Soon the Guild building came into view and Melina saw three people standing huddled in a group next to it. As they approached, she recognized one of them as Remi, the elf. The other one was a tall, spindly man with stubble wearing a wizard's robe and hat. The last one was standing with his back turned towards Melina, but from the immaculate armor he was wearing, she could tell that he was the noble in question.
"Good morning!" Remi called out cheerfully, waving at Melina and Gilbert.
"Good morning," Melina replied, her eyes locked on the noble. He turned and his warm, golden eyes met with her vibrant blue. Her heart began hammering like crazy, eyes widening in shock.
No, it can't be.
Master Gilbert stopped the cart and clabbered down to greet the adventurers. Melina got down from the seat, doing her best not to stare at the nobleman.
"Morning," Gilbert grumbled, not bothering to hide his displeasure.
"I assume you're Master Gilbert. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We've been tasked with guarding you during your journey to Pertia. These are my companions." He pointed towards the wizard first.
"Leon," the wizard slightly inclined his head towards them.
"And I'm Remi, but you already know that," the elf cheered.
"My name is Alistair Sinclair," he said and bowed his head. This confirmed her suspicions. She knew it the moment she saw him—how could she not? For he was one of her closest friends and allies before the time was rewound.
So many emotions ran through her all at once. First, it was incredible happiness. He was alive and well and young again. He didn't even have that horrible scar on his neck and face yet. It was like a dream, seeing him like this. After that followed shock. The fact that she'd end up in the same place where Alistair was, felt like some evil practical joke from the universe. The fear from before intensified. He was a System user loyal to the Church—she knew for sure that if discovered, Alistair would take her to them himself.
Finally, there was guilt and regret. Such incredibly heavy guilt, Melina felt like she would collapse under it. She could still feel his blood on her hands. She could still imagine his eyes glassed over and lifeless. All because of her.
"Miss, are you alright?" Alistair asked in a gentle tone, and she blinked a few times. "I understand that you might feel a bit uncomfortable around a nobleman like me, but rest assured that I will not hold your words against you. You may treat me as you would treat any other person from Sunglow. My goal is to protect you."
"I'll protect you no matter what, Melina." She remembered the words he said to her shortly before his death. Her heart clenched and she looked away, unable to meet his clear gaze.
"Thank you," she muttered, barely able to find her voice to speak.
"Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself?" Alistair asked.
"I'm Melina," she replied shortly.
"Okay, that's enough chatting. The road is far, we need to get going," Gilbert urged.
"You're right. Saddle up, everyone," Alistair commanded, and Remi untied the three horses that were secured to a pole by the Guild entrance. Meanwhile, Melina got back on the cart with Gilbert following after her.
"Relax," he growled at her, no doubt noticing her strong reaction to Alistair.
"Sorry," she mumbled quietly, watching how Alistair got onto his horse with effortless grace. Seeing someone move about after witnessing their death was an incredibly jarring feeling. Logically, of course, it made sense—every person whose death Melina had seen was now alive. But understanding it and seeing it with her own eyes was something else entirely.
"You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Melina. We're going to keep you and Master Gilbert safe." Remi rode up next to the cart. She must have mistaken her reaction for nervousness about the journey ahead.
Perhaps, I should lean into this misunderstanding. City girls are rather squeamish after all, so it wouldn't be anything unusual.
"Are there many monsters in the area?" Melina asked, trying to appear nervous. Well, she was nervous, but it had nothing to do with monsters.
The journey to Pertia and back will take at least two days, and Alistair will be here the whole time. I need to be really careful to not appear overly familiar with him. First, I have to remember to address him as "Lord Sinclair" and keep addressing him that way even if he insists that I call him casually. I doubt he'd ask that of me so soon, but that is a possibility I need to keep in mind.
Actually, I should remain silent just like Master Gilbert suggested. Act like a little, trembling sheep. Alistair would have no interest in some weak baker's apprentice. The only reason why we became so close before was because he respected my power.
The thought made Melina feel a bit sad. Unless you had power or money or preferably both, most people didn't care about you.
It's better this way. Power only makes you arrogant. I have no intention of repeating my past mistakes. I'll try to appear weak and clueless.
"Goblins and kobolds are the only monsters bold enough to attack travelers. Rest usually prefer to remain in the forest," Remi tried to reassure Melina.
"Goblins and kobolds?" Melina did her best to appear horrified, clasping her hands together and making them tremble ever so slightly.
"Don't worry. For experienced adventurers like us, they pose no threat," Remi said.
"That's right, Miss Melina. Leave it to us," the mage gave her a smoldering smile, moving his horse to ride next to Remi's.
"But what if one of them manages to get past you while you're busy fighting the others?" Melina sniffled slightly. Master Gilbert gave her an incredulous look, and she worried that she might have overdone it.
"Do not worry, Miss Melina! I'm the best mage in all of Sunglow. I would never let one of them even get close to you. My fire lets me attack from afar," Leon conjured a fireball in his hand—a clear attempt to impress her.
The fire in his hands is flickering a lot—his control of mana must be subpar. The color is also dull, meaning that his mana reserves are either really low or the rank of his
"And in case he misses something, then I'll be sure to swipe any stragglers with my arrows," Remi said confidently. She definitely appeared to be more reliable out of the two, and the fact that she was an elf only added to that. After all, elves had much better eyesight than humans, making them perfect for ranged attacks.
"My! How reliable," Melina forced a smile at them.
[New skill obtained: Mask of Deceit – Rank F.]
[Allows the user to hide their true self behind a crafted persona. Helps to conceal intentions and true skills and makes it more likely for others to believe their lies.]
Really, System? Now you make me feel like I'm some villain. Although… this skill could certainly make things easier for me. Especially at a higher rank.