Dungeon Bakery Chapter 31

Originally, the Black Rabbit tribe and the Black Elephant tribe had been like brothers.

“Sniff! (There’s nothing dangerous around!)”

“Poo-poo~ (Thanks, Black Rabbit. I’ll go get the sugarcane right away!)”

While the Black Rabbit looked around to make sure there were no predators nearby, the Black Elephant quickly stretched out its trunk and brought back some sugarcane.

The Black Rabbits were targeted by predators because they were numerous but weak.

And the same was true for the Black Elephants.

The Black Rabbits could at least attack in groups, but the Black Elephants were naturally gentle and slow, so they were always in the position of the weaker side.

“Sniff sniff. (It would be nice if we had long trunks like you. Then we could eat sugarcane easily…… and you wouldn’t have to work so hard.)”

“Poo! (Then I’d feel too sorry for you. I’m happy that we can be of help. I hope we can always live like this, helping each other!)”

There were far more Black Rabbits than Black Elephants, so for the Black Rabbits to have enough food, the Black Elephants had to work that much harder.

Black Rabbit No. 965 had always been grateful to the Black Elephants.

He was especially grateful to Black Elephant No. 342, whom he had met when he was still young.

There were simply too many Black Rabbits.

As soon as they were born, the young ones had to throw themselves into a sea of competition.

But Black Rabbit No. 965……

“Sniff……? (This one won’t make it. Something’s wrong with one of its legs.)”

“Whine…… (Mom, don’t abandon me.)”

He had been born with a problem in one of his legs.

It was much worse back then than it was now, when he could at least move around freely.

Naturally, he was abandoned by his own kind immediately after he was born.

“Whine……. (I’m hungry…….)”

“Poo? (What are you doing here?)”

The Black Elephant who found him was none other than No. 342, who had remained by his side ever since.

Even back then, No. 342 had looked just as young as it did now.

He himself had already grown into an adult.

It was because of the difference in growth rates between Black Rabbits and Black Elephants, but at the time, he had thought that the Black Elephant was around the same age as him.

It was small and young, after all.

“Sniff……? (Were you abandoned too?)”

“Poo-poo? (Abandoned? Little one, you…… your leg hurts, doesn’t it? Come here. Can you eat this?)”

That was when he tasted sugarcane for the first time.

The sugarcane that the Black Elephant had stretched out its trunk to snap off was incredibly delicious.

He had been amazed by how easily the Black Elephant could break the sugarcane that his own teeth couldn’t cut through properly.

Back then, he had wanted to become a Black Elephant.

They cherished their children dearly and raised them with love no matter what disabilities they had.

And so, he grew up in the Black Elephant’s care.

When he finally became an adult and grew into a Black Rabbit capable of taking care of himself, only then did his own kind accept him.

“Sniff! (This is the time for our kind to unite!)”

“Sniff……? (What do you mean?)”

“Sniff sniff! (We can’t let the Black Elephants keep stealing our sugarcane!)”

Then one day, all of a sudden, the amount of sugarcane began to noticeably decrease.

The Black Rabbits blamed the Black Elephants.

“Sniff sniff! (We only eat a small amount of sugarcane, but those guys eat as much as their own body weight! This is all because of the Black Elephants!)”

That was when it began.

The Black Rabbits started picking fights with the Black Elephants and taking away the sugarcane they were eating.

And so, the flames of discord spread between them.

The flames burned so fiercely that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop them.

“Sniff sniff! Sniff! (Stop it! The Black Elephants haven’t done anything wrong!)”

“Sniff……! (Shut up. You’re a traitor!)”

Every time he tried to stop his own kind from persecuting the Black Elephants, he lost more and more of the trust he had only just earned after becoming an adult.

Eventually, he was branded a traitor and attacked by his own kind.

But he endured.

Whenever they went searching for the Black Elephants, he noticed them with his keen sense of smell and warned them in advance.

Whenever they tried to attack the Black Elephants, he would rush over and block them with his own body.

The number of days when his body was in poor condition kept increasing, but he couldn’t stop.

“Sniff……. (The Black Elephants are my family…….)”

The Black Elephants were the ones who had raised him after his own kind abandoned him.

Among them, No. 342 was practically his mother.

Even though by now he had grown to look much more like an adult than No. 342 did.

“Sniff!! (Don’t touch him!!)”

His own kind regarded him as a thorn in their side.

Knowing that No. 342 was precious to him, they deliberately targeted and tormented him.

“Poo……. (Run away, little one…….)”

No. 342 hadn’t called him “little one” since he had become an adult.

Hearing the familiar name again after so long made tears well up in his eyes.

When he discovered No. 342 being attacked, he tried to stop his own kind and suffered a fatal injury.

Rather than fleeing, No. 342 shielded him and told him to run.

“Sniff……. (Leave me and go. Please…….)”

If this continued, he would lose No. 342, the one who had saved his life.

It was because he was powerless.

The thought was miserable and heartbreaking.

And then, right at that moment—

“Wait! Stop it, you guys! Weren’t you friends originally? Why are you doing something so awful?”

The brown door he had happened to enter.

It was the voice of that strange creature he had encountered there.

The creature saved him and No. 342.

And in her hand……

“……Is this what you want?”

There was a mysterious food that smelled much sweeter and more delicious than sugarcane.

He realized it.

This was it!

This was what he wanted!

The last time he had encountered that creature, she had only given him strange food.

She must have come to give him this!

He took a bite of the food.

‘Sniff! (Oh my goodness!)’

It was an exquisite flavor unlike anything he had ever tasted.

And apparently, No. 342 felt the same.

“Poo……. (It’s so delicious…….)”

They forgot their aching bodies and devoured the cookies.

“It’s dangerous to leave you like this, so let’s go to my bakery first.”

After that, the human named Baek Seol took them to a place called a bakery.

There, she cared for them until late into the night.

That alone would have been enough.

Baek Seol had saved them and given them a huge amount of delicious cookies they had never tasted in their lives.

But she didn’t stop there.

She gave salvation to the lives of him and the Black Elephant.

No.

She gave salvation to every Black Rabbit and Black Elephant here.

If their conflict had continued, the only thing waiting for them would have been destruction.

“Sniff sniff. (Thank you, Baek Seol.)”

“Poo……. (Thank you, Baek Seol.)”

He went before her together with No. 342.

And they held out the greatest gifts they could give her.

 

***

 

“What could this be?”

Baek Seol murmured as she looked at the gifts she had received from the Black Rabbit and Black Elephant the previous day.

There were two mysterious objects sitting before her.

Lucy answered while lying sprawled across the table.

“Like I said last time, ppi……”

“I know. I read the information too. I just don’t know what they’re used for.”

Baek Seol looked at the objects in front of her.

One was a carrot, and the other was a horn that looked like some kind of branch.

Just like the Slime’s Tear from before, she could view their information, but she couldn’t tell what they were actually used for.

‘Couldn’t it just say something like, “A material used for such-and-such”?’

Baek Seol rested her chin on her hand and frowned.

Since she couldn’t figure it out yet……

She decided to keep them for now.

Baek Seol tucked the two objects deep into her inventory.

She’d probably find a use for them someday.

Thinking that, Baek Seol turned on her smartphone.

[Hello. The machine I showed you before has been completed.]

She sent a text to MakeAnythingForYou using the contact information she had received from her.

A reply came almost immediately.

[MakeAnythingForYou: omw]

……Did she even know where this place was?

While Baek Seol tilted her head at the completely out-of-the-blue text, another message arrived.

[MakeAnythingForYou: But where is there?]

MakeAnythingForYou appeared at the bakery not long afterward.

Baek Seol had expected it to take quite a while to travel all the way from Seoul to Suwon, especially to this remote neighborhood, so she was genuinely surprised.

“Oh my goodness……. You startled me. How did you get here so quickly?”

Baek Seol glanced at the clock.

Only about an hour had passed since she sent the text.

MakeAnythingForYou gave Baek Seol a brief look with dry eyes before answering indifferently.

“I drove a little faster.”

“……”

Even if she drove fast, considering traffic, it should have taken at least an hour and a half.

And wasn’t this around the time when the roads would be packed?

Baek Seol stared at MakeAnythingForYou with slightly horrified eyes.

She had arrived in less than an hour.

Somehow, Baek Seol felt like she absolutely should not get into this woman’s car.

‘I don’t think my heart would survive.’

Baek Seol straightened from the awkward half-standing position she had been in at the table and approached her.

The moment MakeAnythingForYou entered the bakery, her eyes darted around as she carefully observed the entire interior.

“Where is it?”

“……Oh, the machine?”

Baek Seol quickly abandoned her plan to leisurely show her the machine after first guiding her to the table.

MakeAnythingForYou’s eyes were fixed on only one place.

The kitchen, which she had yet to explore.

“This way.”

Nod!

MakeAnythingForYou nodded rapidly and followed Baek Seol.

And when she finally spotted the Processing Workbench, her eyes lit up.

“Oh……. This is……”

MakeAnythingForYou repeatedly let out exclamations filled with awe.

“Oh, this…… Wow. My goodness……”

It was as though she had forgotten Baek Seol was standing beside her.

She became completely absorbed in the workbench.

If she could have disassembled the workbench with her eyes alone, Baek Seol felt like she would have done it already.

Watching MakeAnythingForYou’s intense gaze from the side, Baek Seol thought to herself,

‘It would probably be better for my legs if I gave her some space.’

‘In the meantime, I’ll do what I need to do.’

Leaving MakeAnythingForYou behind, Baek Seol headed back to the table.

She dropped into her seat and quietly opened her skill window.

‘Skill window.’

There was something different about the skill window from before.