Chapter 10 – It’s Free Bread
White Fang by TomatoRoux
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Chapter 10
 
The moment Alex opened the front door and stepped inside a young woman with long curly blond hair stepped out in what I could only describe as a maid outfit. She had the long black dress, the white apron, and even a frilly headdress, the only thing out of sorts was the rapier dangling from a belt at her side. “Welcome home Mister Alex, Miss Willow, who is your guest?”
 
“Ange, this is my daughter Liz, before you ask those ears atop her head are real. Liz this is Ange, she takes care of things while I'm gone.”
 
“Why does a housekeeper need a sword?” I asked, unable to wait until after the pleasantries to sate my curiosity.
 
“The city has become restless as of late,” Ange replied. “This is merely a precaution against ruffians, I assure you I am quite skilled with it. If you'd like to cross blades with me later Miss Liz, I would welcome a friendly duel so that we may better understand one another.”
 
“Ange's father leads a rather large mercenary group, I actually met her through him. In the past when I ran a larger company we often hired their mercenaries to protect our caravans.”
 
“Impressive. Compared to mercenary life, life as a housekeeper has to be rather boring, huh?”
 
“I enjoy my time here,” Ange said. Though it was only for a brief second, I didn't miss the slight smile as she gazed at Alex out of the corner of her eye. It was obvious to me she was into my adoptive father, all he had to do was make a move.
 
“Now that introductions are out of the way. Ange can you lead Liz to one of the guest bedrooms? She'll be living with us now, and while I'm certain her and Willow would be willing to share a room, I'd like her to have her own space. After that, could you take the girls shopping? Liz is in need of a full wardrobe.”
 
“What'll you be doing Alex?” I asked.
 
“I have a lot of little business things I'd like to take care of now that we're home. I expect things will be getting quite hectic for us in the near future, so I want to take care of what I can now while we have a bit of respite from it all.”
 
Doing as Alex instructed, Ange guided me to a spare room on the home's second floor, and then proceeded to help Willow and me refresh ourselves from life on the road before our shopping excursion. For the daughter of a mercenary, she played her maid role perfectly. After receiving her attention, I wouldn't have been shocked if it was revealed that Ange had trained for years in some random noble's manor to perfect her craft.
 
“Your ears are very soft Miss Liz,” Ange noted as she brushed my hair.
 
“You can just call me Liz if you want. No need to be so formal for my sake.”
 
“As you wish.”
 
“And... my ears are a bit ticklish, so please be gentle.”
 
“I'll do my best not to make you uncomfortable. If it isn't rude–”
 
“I wasn't born like this, and I'm not the herald,” I giggled answering Ange before she could finish her question. “These ears are the side effect of some magic I used, I'm really hoping they go away soon.”
 
“Onee-chan's magic is amazing!” Willow beamed, jumping up and throwing out her hands. “She can even transform into a completely different person, one with a tail!”
 
“I've never heard of such impressive magic, I'd love to see it.”
 
“Maybe after our shopping trip. It's a bit exhausting, and I've only done it twice. I even passed out the first time.”
 
Ange tied my hair into a single braid, then we left on our shopping trip.
 
The city of Olmvyre felt like a truly magical place as we walked along its cobblestone roads. The sight of street performers swallowing swords, vendors hawking their wares, and the variety of different shops with various things on display, enraptured me. Every time something new caught my eye I couldn't help but stop and stare, causing Ange to giggle and pet my head.
 
“You must have grown up in a rather rural place, Liz.”
 
“More like a whole other world.”
 
Eventually, we stepped inside the shop of a clothier that Ange was on good terms with. The shop had both ready-made clothing and custom-order offerings. Though I told her I was fine with the ready-made stuff, Ange insisted on getting me measured and ordering a host of clothing custom-tailored to fit. She then picked out three ready-made outfits for me to wear while the seamstresses filled our order, and our shopping was done.
 
At least I'd believed we were done. Ange, however, had other plans in mind. Carrying the bags containing my new outfits, we went to a different clothier for undergarments, and one more to purchase 'noble dress'.
 
“Why exactly do I need clothes for nobles? We're not nobles, are we? Also... isn't this going to bankrupt Alex?”
 
“Given your appearance, Miss Liz,” Ange replied, slipping back into her formal address in front of the shopkeeper. “You are bound to attract the attention of the nobility. I am certain that Mister Alex intended for this when he asked me to help you purchase a new wardrobe.”
 
“I get it...” I hung my head. Having the church and various nobles coming out of the woodwork to make their appeals for my favor wasn't a question of if rather it was when. If I was lucky I had at least a few more weeks of peace and quiet. If I was unlucky I'd start having visitors as early as the next morning.
 
Still, if I was going to be confused as a herald, I couldn't help but believe it didn't matter what I wore. Why dress up for the nobles, when they were the ones trying to win me over? I didn't have to do anything for them.
 
“The skewers here are the best in the city,” Ange noted, dragging my lifeless body over to a street vendor after we finished ordering my noble clothes. She bought skewers of meat for the three of us, before guiding Willow and me to a shaded area where we could rest and eat.
 
The juicy skewer meat, the source of which the vendor apparently refused to share, tasted a lot like pork. It was a nostalgic and simple flavor that made me wish I had a small bowl of applesauce to go alongside it. I finished mine off quickly before wiping meat juice off of Willow's chin as she continued to munch away on her own.
 
“Say, Ange?”
 
“Yes?”
 
“When are you planning to tell Alex that you're into him?”
 
“I d-dunno what you mean,” Ange replied her face turning bright red.
 
“Oh? Sorry I may have phrased that weirdly. When are you going to tell Alex that you are in lo–”
 
Ange clapped her hand over my mouth, gazing at me wide-eyed, silently trying to convince me to keep quiet. Perhaps she was worried Willow would spill the beans before she could muster up the courage? Little kids were notoriously bad at keeping secrets.
 
“Ange! Why are you being mean to Onee-chan?!”
 
“I'm not being mean! S-She had something on her lips... I was just wiping it off for her, right, Liz?”
 
“Sure?”
 
Our bellies full, the three of us returned home. Willow and I went upstairs to my bedroom while Ange went to inform Alex that we'd returned. Once she was done with her report I planned to transform into Margaret for her, to fulfill the promise I'd made earlier.
 
While Willow and I waited, I mulled over what minstrel ability I should use for the transformation. The safest would be Song of Healing, but I couldn't help but want to use something unique just to see how it worked in this world. I was a bit limited on choice, as there wasn't anything that'd help with day-to-day life. All of my abilities were combat and dungeoneering focused, leaving me without many things that could be used at home.
 
Wait... wasn't there a special april fool's questline that gave each class a joke ability?
 
For paladins the joke ability apparently skinned whatever weapon they were holding to look like a rubber chicken. I'd sadly never unlocked it, as they never reran the event. I had, however, obtained it as Margaret, for minstrels it was the Song of Bread-Summoning. An ability that when used would add a single 'Fresh loaf' to the player's inventory. The bread summoned had the same properties as a minor healing potion, so it wasn't completely useless, but I'd no recollection of ever using the ability.
 
“I am ready to see your transformation, Liz,” Ange reported as she stepped into my bedroom.
 
“Sure,” I hopped off my bed and struck a flashy pose. “Song of Bread-Summoning!”
 
Something hot plopped into my outstretched hand, startling me enough that I jumped backward, fumbling it. A large round loaf of bread, still steaming as if it'd just been pulled from an oven dropped onto the floor in front of me as Ange and Willow both gazed at me in confusion.
 
“Onee-chan... why'd you make bread?”
 
“You don't look any different to me, Liz.”
 
“I don't?” I looked down at myself in surprise. Sure enough, I was wearing the same clothing as before, without a single noticeable change to my physical body. “Song of Healing!”
 
The soft sound of harps filled the air as a healing wind permeated through the room, once again, I was left unchanged. “This... doesn't make any sense.”
 
“Onee-chan, are you okay?”
 
“Yeah, I'm fine. I guess... maybe after my battle with the Thunderbird my two forms merged... it's possible I'll never be able to turn into Margaret ever again.”
 
“Well, summoning bread is still very impressive!” Ange applauded before picking the bread up off the floor. “I've never heard of magic that can summon food, and it's still hot. How frequently can you use this?”
 
“Umm... as many times as you want.”
 
“If you wanted Liz, you could put every baker in the city out of business.”
 
“I'd rather not... besides it might not even taste good.”
 
“Can you make any other kinds of food?” Ange asked as she tore a chunk of bread off and started nibbling on it.
 
“I... don't know.” There was a possibility the druid class had a food-related power, but I'd never played one. Since it was added in the third expansion it was too new for me to run into many players using it, and as such I knew very little about its abilities. As far as I was concerned any spells or abilities unique to druids were completely lost to the current me.
 
“This is delicious,” Ange looked down at the bread she held in surprise. “It's so supple and soft, and it tastes as if you folded honey into the dough. I doubt even the kitchens of the nobility are churing out bread as tasty as this.”
 
“I want to try some of Onee-chan's bread!”
 
“Eh?” I watched Willow and Ange in concern as the two happily tore bites off the bread that I'd dropped on the floor. “Guess the five second rule is alive and well here.”
 
 
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