Dungeon Bakery Chapter 42

“These are supposed to be effective on the Eight-Colored Unicorn, right?”

“If these two say so, then they must be, ppi.”

Baek Seol stared blankly at the two items sitting on the table. They were the two items the Black Rabbit and Black Elephant had eagerly chattered on about yesterday, after the Eight-Colored Unicorn had slipped away right before her eyes.

She had never known what the items they had each given her as gifts were for.

“This is the ‘Carrot of Eternity,’ and this is the ‘Centaur’s Horn’……”

A black carrot and a brown horn shaped like a tree branch were lying on the table.

“The black carrot I can understand, but…… this looks like an ordinary tree branch no matter how I look at it.”

The fact that the carrot was black was certainly fascinating, but it was also strange that the Centaur’s Horn looked exactly like a tree branch. The color, the texture…… No matter how she looked at it, it looked like a branch.

“It really is a tree branch, ppi. Tree branches grow from a Centaur’s head, ppi.”

Lucy said this while rubbing his protruding belly with his wings after eating a hearty breakfast. Baek Seol blinked.

“Tree branches grow from their heads?”

“Yes, ppi. Centaurs are monsters of the same tier as Eight-Colored Unicorns, and they treasure the horns—the tree branches that grow from their heads—more than their own lives, ppi.”

A horn that a legendary monster treasured more than its own life.

Baek Seol began to wonder whether it was really okay to leave such a horn sitting so carelessly on the table.

“Eight-Colored Unicorns and Centaurs don’t get along very well, ppi. More precisely, Centaurs really hate Eight-Colored Unicorns, ppi.”

“……?”

Why would they hate such a beautiful Eight-Colored Unicorn?

She had that thought for a moment before remembering the Eight-Colored Unicorn she had encountered yesterday and nodding.

“Well, I suppose so. From what I saw yesterday, it did seem to have quite a personality. Does the Eight-Colored Unicorn bully the Centaurs?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know the reason either, ppi. However, there is a theory that the reason Centaurs, who live in groups, frequently move their habitats is because of Eight-Colored Unicorns, ppi.”

Lucy let out a loud burp and waddled to his feet.

Judging by his behavior alone, he looked like some carefree idler out for a stroll around the neighborhood. Yet he was so ridiculously cute that even this somehow looked adorable, which Baek Seol found somewhat lamentable.

As she stared blankly at Lucy’s waddling, adorable little backside, a thought suddenly occurred to her, and she opened her mouth.

“Come to think of it. If you knew all this information, shouldn’t you have told me when I received these gifts?”

“……D-Didn’t I tell you, ppi?”

Lucy looked at Baek Seol with a slightly guilty expression.

“I think you just lay there without showing any interest at the time……. Is it really okay for a supporter to neglect their duties this badly?”

“Ahem! I was completely drained after being tormented by those Black Rabbits, ppi. I didn’t want to answer any more questions, ppi. I need rest too, ppi!”

“Hmmm.”

Lucy indignantly slapped his feet against the table.

That was ridiculously cute, too.

Fine. I’ll let you off because you’re cute.

Ignoring Lucy as he desperately explained how exhausted he had been, Baek Seol checked the information on the items lying on the table.

[Carrot of Eternity]

A carrot of eternity.

No matter how she thought about it, the item description was far too half-hearted. That was why, when she had first received the gift, she had simply thought, What is this? and shoved it into her inventory.

[Centaur’s Horn]

A horn that grows from a Centaur’s head.

This one was the same.

Baek Seol glared at the items with a sulky expression before putting them into her inventory.

“I can’t summon the Eight-Colored Unicorn again right now anyway…… I guess I won’t know how to use them until next week.”

She had even tried holding the items and waving them around inside the dungeon in case they were meant to summon the Eight-Colored Unicorn, but nothing happened.

In the end, that meant she had to wait until the Whistle skill’s cooldown was over.

Still, since they were gifts from the Black Rabbit and Black Elephant, they must have some kind of beneficial effect on the Eight-Colored Unicorn.

Baek Seol guessed that the beneficial effect might be an increase in Affinity. Horses liked carrots, after all. Maybe giving the Eight-Colored Unicorn this carrot would cause its Affinity to rise dramatically in one go……?

It was a fairly plausible theory.

Then I’ll be able to use the Powder Duster, Milking Machine, and Comb, too.

She had absolutely no idea what the Centaur’s Horn was for, though.

Baek Seol stood up from the table with a little grunt.

Today was the day she opened the door for human customers. No customers had said they were coming in advance, but she still needed to prepare to receive them.

Baek Seol took cleaning supplies out of her inventory and began cleaning diligently.

“There’s still dust here, ppi.”

She listened to Lucy’s chatter beside her with one ear and let it go out the other, continuing to clean thoroughly. At first, it had been bothersome, but after doing it every day, it had become second nature.

Then Lucy muttered casually.

His voice was so quiet that it was difficult to hear unless she paid close attention.

“……You’re working harder than I thought, ppi. I mean, for this quest, ppi.”

Working hard, huh.

In fact, Baek Seol herself felt that she was putting more effort into this quest than necessary.

She supposed she wanted to earn her younger brother Hoya’s recognition.

Recognition for what she was doing.

She had already grown somewhat attached to this bakery, too. Or rather, not exactly the bakery…….

‘Kyut!’

‘Sniff-sniff?’

‘Puuuu.’

She had grown attached to the monsters who had each been struggling in the isolated Dungeon of Beginnings.

She also felt that she couldn’t just leave them behind.

She gradually realized that she was the only one who could help them.

If she ever left this place, the monsters inside the Dungeon of Beginnings would once again become isolated.

And eventually, they would meet an unpleasant end.

“Thank you for doing your best, ppi.”

Baek Seol quietly let Lucy’s bashful voice wash over her as she silently dusted the Processing Workbench.

She told herself that the slight warmth in her cheeks was just her imagination.

It was just then, while a warm yet slightly awkward atmosphere lingered inside the bakery—

Ding!

The sound of the bakery door opening rang out.

“Welcome…… Ah. Grandpa Oh Juk-heon.”

“Am I too early?”

The customer who appeared at the bakery early in the morning was Oh Juk-heon. He stroked his beard and gave her an awkward smile.

“I suppose you were cleaning. I saw that the sign was turned around, so I thought the door was open. If you’re still preparing, I can wait.”

“No, I’m done cleaning.”

Baek Seol quickly put the cleaning supplies in her hands back into her inventory. Oh Juk-heon already knew she was an Awakened one, so there was no reason to hide it.

Seeing the cleaning supplies suddenly vanish from her hands, Oh Juk-heon let out a hearty laugh.

“Red bean buns again today?”

Baek Seol, who had quickly washed her hands clean, hurried toward the display shelf.

Oh Juk-heon occasionally came this early in the morning to buy red bean buns.

Though today was a little earlier than usual.

“Ah, yes. Please.”

“Yes. Just a moment, please.”

She carefully wrapped five red bean buns and carried them over to the table where Oh Juk-heon was sitting.

Then Baek Seol stopped in her tracks at the scene before her.

Oh Juk-heon was staring intently at Lucy with a peculiar look in his eyes.

“……Ppi.”

Lucy was doing his best to pretend to be an ordinary bird, but to Baek Seol, he looked like he had completely frozen.

He had hidden immediately last time.

It seemed he had missed his chance this time.

Oh Juk-heon stared at Lucy for a while before quietly asking,

“You. Why didn’t you tell me about something this incredible?”

“Pardon?”

“I thought we had become fairly close, but I must admit I’m a little hurt.”

Baek Seol was bewildered by this sudden attack of wounded feelings.

No, more importantly, what was he talking about?

Had he noticed that Lucy wasn’t an ordinary bird?

He was a famous craftsman, so perhaps he really had figured it out.

Just as Baek Seol was about to hurriedly open her mouth—

“You’ve been raising a bird! And such a rare bush warbler at that! If you had told me sooner, I would have come by much more often.”

“……Pardon?”

Baek Seol froze.

“I may not look at it now, but I used to be the president of Bird Lovers. I’ve stepped down from the position now, of course. Ahem!”

Bird Lovers?

What was that?

Baek Seol blinked.

Oh Juk-heon kindly explained.

“The Bird Lovers’ Association. It’s a fairly famous group among bird enthusiasts. You may not know about it, though.”

There was unmistakable pride in Oh Juk-heon’s raised shoulders.

Baek Seol’s bewildered expression turned lukewarm.

“Ah……. I see.”

So he loved birds that much.

Goodness. She had no idea……

Baek Seol let out a hollow laugh as she watched little hearts practically popping out of Oh Juk-heon’s eyes as he looked at Lucy.

“Ohhh. What beautiful feathers. So, what’s your name? Hmm? You like this old man?”

“……Ppi.”

Lucy’s eyes were filled with revulsion as Oh Juk-heon began leaning toward him, but there was no way Oh Juk-heon could know that.

“To sit so quietly like this. What a good bird. Say, would it be all right if I touched this bird?”

Baek Seol couldn’t bring herself to ignore Oh Juk-heon’s sparkling eyes.

He was the kind man who had made the Processing Workbench for her, after all.

Baek Seol gave an awkward smile and nodded.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Ppi?!”

Lucy’s shriek rang out, but Baek Seol turned her head away.

The warm, soft atmosphere that had existed between her and Lucy just moments ago had long since vanished from her mind.

“Ouch. Hahaha. What a feisty little fellow! Yes. That’s how you should be if you want to protect yourself.”

Even Lucy’s ironclad pecking attacks failed to make Oh Juk-heon back down.

He continued showering Lucy with his heart attacks for quite some time. Eventually, when Lucy flew away with an indignant huff, Oh Juk-heon clicked his tongue regretfully.

“What a shame……. Still, that’s the first bird that’s ever stayed by my side for this long.”

Baek Seol gave a half-hearted nod at Oh Juk-heon’s bitter monologue.

She was just relieved that Lucy looked like an ordinary bird to him.

Then she held out the wrapped red bean buns.

“Grandpa, your daughter came by the other day. Did you hear?”

“Huh? She did? I didn’t know.”

So MakeAnythingForYou really hadn’t contacted him.

What a strange father-daughter relationship.

“I see. She must have liked it, then. After seeing that workbench. So, what kind of options did she add?”

“Um……. How did you know she added options?”

Oh Juk-heon winked.

“That’s her specialty. And if it were her, of course she’d want to leave her mark on a masterpiece like that.”

“Ah…….”

So that was why she had added the options so easily.

Baek Seol asked Oh Juk-heon, just in case.

“Grandpa, can you add options to this workbench too? Like lowering the stats required for the work…….”

She needed Whipped Cream Made from Eight-Colored Unicorn’s Milk and Butter Made from Eight-Colored Unicorn’s Milk to complete the quest.

And the only way to obtain them was by making them with the Processing Workbench.

But a Strength stat of 600?

Baek Seol’s stats were nowhere near enough.

If she asked someone else to do it, she would have to hire them as a part-time worker.

And it’s hard enough to find someone with a Strength stat over 600.

She had actually posted a part-time worker recruitment notice on Another, too.

But no one with a Strength stat over 600 had appeared.

—What the hell. Is this even a reasonable stat?

She remembered someone leaving that comment on the recruitment post.

Phew.

She couldn’t exactly hire Seo Doha, whose hourly wage was astronomical, either.

In the end, the only option left was to find a way to lower the required stats.

Oh Juk-heon looked at Baek Seol strangely as she sighed and opened his mouth.