Dungeon Bakery Chapter 19

Seo Doha’s black sedan looked quite luxurious even to Baek Seol, who knew next to nothing about cars. Judging by how smooth the ride was, it had to be an expensive car.

He must be swimming in money.

The amount he could have earned from working as a Hunter was probably beyond anything Baek Seol could even begin to estimate.

The two of them soon arrived at the hospital, and perhaps because it was late afternoon on a weekday, it was less crowded than she had expected. Baek Seol’s examination was over quickly.

“You strained your muscles. You’ll need to be careful so that they don’t become inflamed. Avoid strenuous exercise.”

Leaving the doctor’s matter-of-fact advice behind, Baek Seol stopped by the pharmacy to pick up her medication before getting back into Seo Doha’s car. Until then, Seo Doha had followed her around like he was her guardian.

The good thing was that the conversations they had exchanged during that time could be counted on one hand.

“Where should we go now?”

Baek Seol put on a slightly thoughtful expression at Seo Doha’s question. In fact, she had already decided where their next destination would be.

“Are you hungry?”

Seo Doha hesitated at her question.

“Hungry……?”

“Yes. Come to think of it, shouldn’t we have dinner soon? You drove me to the hospital today, too, so how about we have dinner somewhere nearby? It’s on me.”

“…….”

Seo Doha slightly lifted his glasses before lowering them again.

As they traveled together, Baek Seol made up her mind. She would treat Seo Doha differently from now on. She would show him the image of a kind and friendly senior.

If she did that, surely he would stop being suspicious and leave her alone on his own. Besides, it wasn’t as though she would be seeing him at graduate school anymore!

After hesitating for a moment, Seo Doha parted his lips.

“Okay. Let’s eat dinner.”

The two of them settled into a nearby restaurant. Perhaps because the weather was nice, they were shown to a table on the terrace, where they each chose a pasta dish they wanted.

“Since I’m paying, let me know if there’s anything else you want. I’m buying because I’m grateful for what you did today, so don’t hold back.”

“Yes…….”

I think changing my approach was the right choice.

As Baek Seol treated Seo Doha like a kind senior, she could see that he was acting awkwardly in a way he hadn’t before.

Baek Seol smiled brightly and pleasantly.

Soon, their pasta dishes were placed on the table. Just as Baek Seol was twirling her rosé pasta around her fork—

“……It’s been a year.”

“Huh?”

Seo Doha suddenly said something out of the blue.

A year? What does he mean?

When Baek Seol looked at him with a puzzled expression, Seo Doha elegantly took hold of his fork and continued.

“Eating together like this with you, sunbae. The last time we ate together was a year ago.”

“Ah…….”

A year ago? Did I actually eat with Seo Doha back then?

Baek Seol searched her memory as hard as she could, but nothing came to mind.

All she could remember was her Dobby life with Professor Kim……

“At the freshman welcome party. We were in the same group back then.”

The freshman welcome party? That was just a meal with everyone.

“I used to wonder when I’d get to have a meal with you again, sunbae. I never thought it would be today.”

Seo Doha muttered as though overcome with emotion, and for some reason, he looked like the male lead in a morning drama with a tragic backstory. As if there was something deeper underneath his words than simple happiness at seeing someone again.

Baek Seol wasn’t completely oblivious, so she suddenly sensed that strange discrepancy. But she didn’t let it show and simply let it slide.

Even if Seo Doha suddenly burst into tears in front of her, Baek Seol would probably just let it flow past her like water.

Because Seo Doha wasn’t an ordinary person to her.

An EX-rank Hunter who had transcended the boundaries of humanity.

So I must have been someone he considered worth keeping an eye on. He even remembers something that happened a year ago.

Baek Seol muttered that to herself and casually brushed aside the strange sense of incongruity Seo Doha gave off.

Whatever side of himself he showed, it could all be explained by the simple fact that he was Seo Doha.

That was what he was to Baek Seol.

A special existence who could never be placed on the same ordinary plane as herself.

And just as significant as that was the solid wall that existed between them.

A wall that wouldn’t easily break.

“How have you been all this time?”

“I took some time to rest and started working.”

“Working?”

She told him that she had somehow ended up taking charge of a store and working there. She would probably be working there for about a year.

She didn’t tell him everything, but neither did she add any lies.

She put as much sincerity as possible into her words, hoping to ease his suspicions.

Perhaps her efforts had worked, because Seo Doha didn’t ask her any more questions.

Instead, he simply stared at her with a somewhat strange look in his eyes.

“Turn left here?”

“Yes. We only have a little farther to go.”

After leaving the restaurant and getting back into the car, the two of them were now heading toward Baek Seol’s bakery.

That was because Seo Doha had insisted on driving her all the way to the store.

It looks like a perfectly ordinary bakery from the outside, so it should be fine.

It might even be a good idea to prove directly that everything she had told him about her current situation was true.

See? I’m living a perfectly normal, respectable life. I don’t know anything about your identity, and I have absolutely no interest in it.

That was the message she wanted to convey.

“Here we are.”

“Here……?”

Eventually, the car carrying the two of them stopped in front of the bakery.

“Yes. This is where I work.”

And when Baek Seol saw Seo Doha’s blank expression, she regretted her choice for just a moment.

Ah. Come to think of it, this bakery is right next to the Dungeon of Beginnings.

……B-but that doesn’t make it suspicious or anything.

Baek Seol gave an awkward little laugh.

“Ah. I heard this place is next to some dungeons. I didn’t know that at first. I thought the land was just strangely cheap…… But customers do come by from time to time.”

“……That’s a relief.”

Seo Doha spoke as he slowly swept his narrowed eyes over the surroundings.

“Nothing particularly dangerous seems to be here.”

“Of course not. It’s perfect. Normal Neighborhood.”

Baek Seol said that and quickly moved on to saying goodbye.

“Thank you for driving me. Thanks to you, I got to the hospital and back safely.”

“Ah……. Yes.”

When Baek Seol got out, Seo Doha also stepped out of the car.

Wait, why is he getting out too?

Shoo, shoo. Go on, go inside.

“Since you’ve taken a leave of absence as well, I hope you take good care of yourself during this time.”

“……Um.”

Baek Seol, who had been about to make a quick goodbye and disappear, stopped with a squeak.

It was because of Seo Doha’s voice, which came from behind her after a brief hesitation.

“Yes?”

“Would it be okay if I came by to buy bread from time to time?”

“……What?”

“I like bread.”

“…….”

Seo Doha likes bread?

It was the kind of information that would make his fan club go absolutely crazy if they found out.

And now that Baek Seol knew this earth-shattering piece of information, she felt like she might go crazy herself.

Why did it have to be bread?

Baek Seol forcibly lifted the corners of her mouth, which were about to droop.

“Ah, of course. Feel free to drop by sometimes. Sometimes. But my opening hours aren’t always consistent, so…… the door might be closed.”

What if he actually comes to visit?

Baek Seol tried to shake off the uneasy thought rising from deep within her and took a step back from Seo Doha.

Then, matching the distance she had created, Seo Doha took a large step toward her and spoke in a firm voice.

“Then I’ll contact you before I come. Since you might be closed.”

“…….”

Right. That works.

There was a way to do that…….

Baek Seol nodded her stiff, reluctant head up and down.

“R-right. Then, thank you for today.”

And with that, she hurried into the bakery, almost running.

“Phew……! Finally, I’m free……! Mmph!”

“Ppi! Where on earth did you go, ppi! And…… what happened to you, ppi?”

The moment she stepped inside the bakery, something flew into her face and smacked against it.

Wuphut!

There’s a feather in my mouth.

“That was mean, ppi. How could you suddenly disappear without even explaining anything to me, ppi?”

“Ugh…… Lucy. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I said I was sorry.”

Baek Seol had been about to get annoyed at the sudden face attack, but she changed her mind when she saw Lucy’s face.

He looked absolutely worried.

“What happened was…….”

She sat down at the table with Lucy, who refused to leave her side, and told him everything that had happened.

The Forced Quest that had appeared immediately after she submitted her suggestion, along with its penalty.

And the Oh Juk-heon she had met.

She left out everything related to Seo Doha.

“So that’s what happened, ppi…….”

“Mm-hmm. Everything happened so suddenly that I didn’t have time to explain. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, ppi…….”

Lucy drooped his shoulders.

Somehow, he looked even worse than he had when he was angry earlier.

“I’m such a useless supporter, ppi……. I’m not worthy of the name Staff of the World, am I, ppi……. I couldn’t even help my owner, ppi…….”

Watching Lucy suddenly start digging himself into a hole, Baek Seol held her head.

Whew. What a sensitive and delicate little bird.

“No, Lucy. Where in the world could you find a supporter as amazing as you? You’re the best!”

After showering him with words of encouragement like that several times, Lucy finally seemed to cheer up a little.

Then the two of them put their heads together with serious expressions.

“I think it would be better if we avoided using the ‘I Have a Suggestion’ skill whenever possible from now on. Right?”

“Hmm. But when we first used the skill, there wasn’t any penalty, ppi?”

The first time we used it.

Back then, the request had simply been to change the design of the system window.

“The system said it was a ‘Forced Quest’ that time, right, ppi?”

“Mm-hmm. It did.”

“Hmm. Then perhaps that kind of penalty only applies when you use a suggestion to request a quest, ppi?”

Lucy spoke while folding his two wings as though he were crossing his arms.

He was perched on the edge of the table, swinging his little legs, and he looked ridiculously adorable.

Baek Seol carefully stroked the soft down around his head without letting Lucy notice.

“That could be true. But even so, I think we should be careful whenever possible. I was seriously scared out of my wits.”

“That’s true, ppi……. Ahem. Without me even realizing it, it seems I was basically saved by you, Baek Seol, ppi. Thank you, ppi.”

“No, it happened because of my mistake in the first place. I’ll be more careful so this doesn’t happen again.”

A warm atmosphere settled between the two of them.

And that warm atmosphere lasted until Lucy noticed Baek Seol’s finger resting on top of his head.

“G-get your hand off me, ppi!”

The next few days passed peacefully.

During that time, Slime No. 97 occasionally came by to buy white bread, and Baek Seol also made deliveries to the slimes’ village.

By the time her right ankle no longer hurt thanks to taking the medicine from the hospital without missing a dose—

Ding.

For the first time, a human visited the bakery.

“Is the owner here? I came to pick up the bread I ordered.”

Lucy, who had been tearing into white bread as usual, dropped the piece he was holding in his beak.

A human customer at this bakery.

It was certainly something worth being surprised about.

Baek Seol rose from the table and greeted him.

“Hello, Grandpa. Is it finished already?”

Oh Juk-heon had come to the bakery, wearing a calm-looking fedora.

Which meant one thing.

The Processing Workbench was complete.