Dungeon Bakery Chapter 13

The very first thing Slime No. 97 saw when it opened its eyes was the dry, withered face of its mother—the queen of the slime race, Slime No. 1.

“Kyuu……? (Mom……?)”

“Kyuuung, kyuuung. (Welcome, little one.)”

The answer to its question did not come from No. 1, but from another slime beside her—its father.

Among the slimes, a species whose society revolved around the mother, it was unusual for a father to remain beside his offspring. But considering the circumstances their race was in at the time, it had been an inevitable outcome.

Normally, after fertilizing the mother, its father would have left and gone elsewhere.

But he had already been drying out and slowly dying, leaving him with no strength to travel anywhere else.

Its father looked down at the tiny slime and muttered almost as if speaking to himself.

“Kyuuung……. (You may become the last slime of our race.)”

“Kyung? (What does that mean?)”

“…….”

Beside No. 1, who stared indifferently at it with the face of a queen, its father smiled sadly.

No. 97 remembered that smile vividly even now.

Its father had taught it with a solemn expression how to protect its body inside the dungeon, and every night before they went to sleep, he would tell it stories about the goddess Noatris, the goddess who had created them, like a lullaby……

Even until the day his body crumbled apart and disappeared into dust, Slime No. 97 remembered his sorrowful smile.

For a race with poor memories, it was rare for a slime to remember something from so long ago.

That was how often No. 97 recalled that smile from that day.

Even when the other slimes it had played with disappeared one by one after drying out, and the first signs of dryness slowly began appearing on the body of the youngest slime of them all—

‘Kyuu……. (Dad…….)’

Slime No. 97 never forgot its father’s sorrowful smile.

One day, Slime No. 97 realized something.

Its father had known all along.

No matter how hard the queen tried to give birth to more slimes, her own body was gradually drying out as well, until she had become so weakened that even fertilization was difficult.

Their slime race was destined for extinction……

And the very last slime left behind would be him, No. 97.

Before long, there would be no slimes left here except for him.

He was destined to be left all alone.

No. 1, the queen slime and his mother, tried every possible method to save their race.

They tried eating all sorts of things they normally never consumed. They even threw themselves into every source of water they could find……

But nothing worked.

Even No. 1, whose condition had progressed more slowly than that of the other slimes, had now dried out all over and could barely move.

Everyone gave up and stopped leaving their cave.

Only No. 97 refused to give up and continued wandering outside.

“Kyuu……! (There has to be a way somewhere……!)”

Thinking of his father’s sorrowful smile and No. 1’s body, which had hardened completely, No. 97 forced himself onward.

He traveled here and there every day, and there had been more than one or two occasions when he nearly became prey to another monster.

Yet somehow, No. 97 managed to survive.

But as those days continued to repeat themselves, No. 97 grew tired as well.

“Kyuu……. (Is there really no way…….)”

One day, as he wandered aimlessly in despair and stopped to rest beside a large tree, a delicious smell drifted over from somewhere.

“Kyuu? (Huh? I’ve never smelled this before!)”

No. 97 bounced toward the source of the smell.

And eventually, he discovered a strange door he had never seen before.

The door was slightly open, and the delicious scent was flowing out from inside.

“Kyung! (Don’t move!)”

No. 97 was young, so he was brave and fearless.

Thinking that if there was another monster inside, he would simply melt it in an instant, he entered.

And then he froze at the sight before him.

“Eek……?”

A creature he had never seen before was staring at him with its eyes open wide.

“A slime……?”

Strangely enough, he could understand what this creature was saying.

While No. 97 stared at the creature in confusion, the creature, who had been standing there blankly, suddenly broke into a warm smile and bowed her head.

“Welcome, customer!”

Customer?

What was that?

No. 97 was even more confused this time.

It had been so long since he had seen a smile like that.

Though she was a different species from him, No. 97 could tell.

It was a beautiful smile that somehow reminded him of his father.

And that pink…… leather-like thing she was wearing seemed to somehow lessen his instinctive hostility.

“The bread is over here. Take your time looking around.”

No. 97 didn’t know what bread was, but he instinctively understood.

The smell was coming from that thing called bread.

“Kyuu. (Give me that bread.)”

No. 97 bounced toward the place she was guiding him to.

Then he stared intently at the bread.

‘Kyuu……? (This is bread……?)’

Could he eat it?

It smelled delicious.

But perhaps that creature was trying to deceive him.

After agonizing over it for a while, No. 97 finally decided, Whatever, and put the bread inside his body.

Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, his body headed toward a place called the checkout counter.

Even though it wasn’t his own decision, No. 97 didn’t find anything strange about it.

Instead, the moment he had put the bread inside his body, he instinctively knew.

This bread wasn’t what No. 97 wanted.

There had to be something else…… something moister…… something different from this bread.

He didn’t know why he knew that, though.

“Oh…… Would you like the red bean bun? G-good choice, customer.”

“Kyuu. (Do you have anything else?)”

No. 97 asked somewhat dejectedly, but the creature seemed unable to understand him.

Instead, she simply gave his body a light tap.

As though that had been a signal, No. 97 immediately ate the bread inside his body.

‘Kyuu……. (Just as I thought…….)’

It tasted good, but he wasn’t very satisfied.

And after eating the bread, he was reminded even more strongly of his father’s sorrowful smile.

Slime No. 97 became a little depressed.

He drooped his body and returned to the place he had come from.

“Kyuu-kyuu. (It was a strange place.)”

“Kyuuung……. (I see…….)”

No. 97 eagerly told the queen about everything he had experienced, but the queen seemed too exhausted even to listen properly.

Even so, No. 97 was happy that she had given him even a brief response.

She hadn’t even been able to open her mouth properly lately.

So No. 97 often lingered around the place where that door had been.

Maybe there would be another smell this time.

Maybe there would be something there that could satisfy him.

He thought about that as he waited.

Then, one day—

“Kyuu! (This smell!)”

No. 97 knew instinctively.

What he wanted appeared here!

He immediately rushed back there.

And at long last, he obtained what he had been searching for.

It was something called Moist White Bread.

The moment he ate the bread, his drying body became glossy, and vitality began filling him to the brim.

“Kyuu-kyuu! (Finally! I found it!)”

I have to bring this amazing bread to my family……

Thinking that, No. 97 headed to the bakery every day.

But every single time, No. 97 failed to deliver the bread to his family.

“Kyuu……. (I-I don’t think I can resist eating this…….)”

It was far too difficult for No. 97.

Putting this fantastically delicious bread inside his body, then carrying it all the way back to his village without eating it was simply impossible.

No. 97 was still young, which made it even harder to go against his instincts.

Every day, whenever he visited the bakery and put the bread inside his body, he would watch in despair as the bread melted away in an instant.

“Kyuu……. (I’m garbage…….)”

The one who saved him from this despair was Baek Seol, the owner of the bakery.

No. 97 learned from the little bird that her name was Baek Seol.

And he decided to gather his courage and ask her for help.

Because after observing this creature until now, he had realized that she wasn’t a very bad creature.

Maybe she would grant his request.

“Kyuu……. (I have a request…….)”

“Um, customer. Didn’t you come to buy some bread?”

Ugh.

How could he make this creature understand him?

No. 97 did his absolute best to convey what he wanted.

I want! Bread! Twenty of them!

I! Want! Twenty! Breads!

Breeeeaaaad! Bring them to me!

He shook his antenna as hard as he could to convey his intentions, but Baek Seol didn’t seem to understand him at all.

As he watched the intelligence slowly disappear from her eyes in real time, No. 97 became dejected.

But somehow, Baek Seol soon understood his request perfectly.

“Kyuu……? (Y-you’ll do it……?)”

At first, she seemed as though she was going to refuse his request.

But eventually, Baek Seol nodded.

“All right. I’ll accept it. The quest.”

No. 97 looked at Baek Seol with his mouth hanging open in a daze.

It seemed as though light was shining brilliantly from behind her.

For a moment, he was reminded of the goddess Noatris, whom his father sometimes told him stories about.

Could this creature called Baek Seol actually be the goddess Noatris?

‘Kyuu……. (Even if she isn’t…….)’

Even if she wasn’t a goddess, No. 97 decided that he would worship her like one.

He watched Baek Seol limp in with her injured foot, carrying a huge amount of bread and smiling brightly.

He watched her find his mother, Queen No. 1, who could no longer leave the cave, and feed her the bread.

“Kyuu! (Thank you so much, Baek Seol!)”

Knowing that she couldn’t understand him, No. 97 still diligently expressed his gratitude.

All the way until she completely disappeared through the brown door.

 

***

 

“Ugh…….”

Baek Seol let out a small groan as she lay down on the bed.

Her entire body ached as though she’d been beaten from head to toe.

It was probably because she had overexerted herself all day.

“I hope I’m not coming down with something.”

Baek Seol coughed.

Her throat felt scratchy and stinging somehow, which made her uneasy.

She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, shivering, and curled up into a fetal position.

“Haa…….”

Ah.

This was bad.

At this rate, she really was going to come down with something.

Trying to clear her increasingly hazy mind, Baek Seol pulled out the smartphone she had tucked beneath her pillow.

What kind of restorative food was there again?

She felt like she should make herself something, anything……

Wait.

Did she even have any ingredients……?

“…….”

While scrolling through the internet, Baek Seol absentmindedly opened her messages and happened to notice something.

[Seo Doha: Senior. You haven’t replied at all, so I was wondering. Are you feeling unwell?]

[Seo Doha: ……Are you sick?]

Maybe being physically weak also made her emotionally vulnerable.

Even though he might simply have been asking because he wanted to keep an eye on her.

The messages still sounded genuinely concerned.

Before she knew it, Baek Seol was typing a reply to Seo Doha’s KakaoTalk messages.

Tap, tap, tap.

The soft sound of her fingertips tapping the screen continued, then abruptly stopped.

“Hmm…….”

Sleepiness came rushing over her, and her consciousness drifted farther and farther away.

Baek Seol barely managed to press the send button.

Without even properly realizing what she had sent, Baek Seol quietly fell asleep.