I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10. Fortune’s Flower (3)
“Noir, you said there’s no Taegohua in the Warehouse.”
“Meow? That’s the fault of those humans who call the Darkfeed Flower by such a strange name. If the Owner asks me to bring Aeyoong, can the Owner bring it?”
“What’s that?”
“The Witch from four generations ago called me Aeyoong…. Ah… anyway! That’s what it means, meow!”
In any case, I was relieved it worked out well.
I gathered a few dried Darkfeed Flowers that had been stored carefully and stepped out of the Warehouse.
Then I handed them to Miracle, who was waiting while bouncing on his feet.
“This is… what exactly?”
“Dried Taegohua.”
“This is… all Taegohua, you say?”
Miracle asked with eyes wide open in astonishment.
“And the quality is top-tier at that!”
That wasn’t something I knew.
I simply took out what was there and gave it to him.
But Miracle bowed deeply to me, suppressing what looked like tears about to burst forth.
“I’m truly… truly grateful. Mountain Spirit. How can I ever repay such kindness….”
“Then pay the price. Human.”
“Pardon? A price, you say….”
Before I could answer, Noir stepped forward, swishing his tail as he spoke.
“All things require a price. The rules regarding it must be upheld… why-oooow!”
“Forget the price.”
When I scooped up Noir, who was rushing at me like a loan shark trying to collect unpaid debts, he thrashed about roughly in resistance.
“Otherwise the Owner won’t be able to receive payment either, meow!”
I knew that.
The Quest had only been completed when I received the payment before.
But wasn’t it true that Quest completion wasn’t the only thing that mattered?
“Did you forget what I said earlier? We need a good image right now.”
“That’s far too little to settle for, meow! I didn’t bake the bread for nothing, meow!”
“That was me doing it. Not you.”
“I am the key to this house, meow!”
To be honest, baking bread probably wasn’t that much help anyway.
While definite fortune was said to arrive, there was no guarantee it would lead to finding Darkfeed… Taegohua.
“And besides, I have my own reasons for doing this. Trust me.”
“Meow!”
Noir spun around and darted into the Kitchen.
Judging by how stiff his tail had become, he seemed quite angry, but what could I do?
What I needed now wasn’t a one-time gain, but a long-term advantage.
“Um… was that person just now… a divine being?”
“Divine being? Ah. Well… something like that.”
“Ah… as I thought….”
Miracle, who had hesitated as if listening to our conversation, lifted his head with determination and spoke.
“So there is a price required.”
“I wouldn’t call it a price exactly… but I wasn’t planning to give it for nothing either.”
“It must have been a remarkable dish from the celestial realm. I was prepared for that.”
After muttering to himself, he bit his lips firmly and rummaged through his bag, pulling out a single sheet of paper.
“That is….”
“A standard Hunter contract. If we write the terms here, no Hunter can break the contract.”
I had heard of it before.
A contract exclusive to Hunters, developed using mana—the energy from the Gate.
Once you signed there, unless you were a Hunter of considerable rank, you absolutely could not break the contract, or so I’d heard.
“Since I… ahem… developed this at the Miracle Guild, its effectiveness is guaranteed. I’m not sure if it will be valid for the Mountain Spirit, but I’d like to offer it to you, so please accept it.”
“The Miracle Guild….”
Even someone with no interest in Hunters would have heard of the Miracle Guild.
The Miracle Guild was the greatest reason why the first-generation Hunters could quell the chaos after the Gates appeared.
With such merit, it’s recorded even in textbooks—there’s no way I wouldn’t know.
The first and greatest alchemy guild that supports Hunters using various byproducts from inside the Gates.
The guild master of that guild, ‘Maestro’, was an S-rank Hunter.
Of course, in my current situation, I couldn’t pretend to know that.
“If that’s more comfortable for you, it doesn’t matter.”
“Please write the contract terms as you wish.”
The contract Miracle handed over was a perfect blank slate.
I was supposed to write what I wanted here.
I quickly wrote down what I had thought of beforehand and handed it back to him.
“This is too much!”
“Ah. Did I ask for too much?”
“No! It’s the opposite, Mountain Spirit!”
I had thought I was being greedy.
Looking at the special bread recipe, I could confirm that Gate byproducts were included as special ingredients.
But I couldn’t keep using the legacy left by the previous Witches piled up in the Warehouse forever.
“Did you know what materials I would request?”
“I can bring almost any material. I have more than enough ability for that. So this level of terms is appropriate.”
Looking at the revised contract Miracle handed over, the contents written there were:
“This is….”
[The Mountain Spirit (hereinafter ‘Party A’) and the Greedy One (hereinafter ‘Party B’) hereby contract as follows regarding the transaction of Taegohua.]
[Article 1 (Purpose of Contract) ‘Party B’ enters into the following contract in exchange for receiving Taegohua owned by ‘Party A’.]
I read through the document written like a standard contract.
At first, except for the part where I was written as the Mountain Spirit, there was nothing particularly strange.
But when I reached Article 3, my eyes couldn’t help but widen.
[Article 3 (Obligations of Party A and Party B)]
① The Party A has no obligation to perform any act other than providing Taegohua to Party B.
② Party B provides Gate byproducts that Party A desires in return.
③ Party B provides Party A with an elixir made from the surplus Taegohua remaining after treatment in return.
“You mean an elixir?”
“Yes. Since my only skill is this… I will definitely return to deliver it to you!”
Ding!
[Quest Complete!]
[Reward: You obtain ‘Special Pumpernickel Recipe’.]
The system also confirmed the quest completion, recognizing it as a legitimate reward.
At the same time, Miracle’s form began to fade away gradually.
But it appeared differently to Miracle himself.
“Wh-what? My… my home!”
Startled as he faded away, he quickly regained his composure and bowed repeatedly toward us, shouting.
“Thank you! Thank you! I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life….”
And so Miracle disappeared.
To be precise, it wasn’t Miracle who disappeared.
Looking out the window, I saw not the landscape I’d seen moments before, but an entirely different space.
“Another Gate.”
“Of course. Once the price is paid, there’s no reason for it to remain, is there?”
“That’s incredibly self-serving.”
As I carefully folded the contract I’d received from Miracle and placed it in a drawer, Noir asked.
“To think you’d make such a trivial matter—merely gathering materials—the terms of a contract. What a shame.”
“Trivial? You said to gather whatever I needed, so how is that trivial?”
“If the Owner simply grows stronger, gathering such materials will be nothing. Besides, once the Witch’s Cottage becomes more powerful, we’ll have our own garden!”
She sat there puffing out her chest proudly, meowing away.
But there was one thing Noir didn’t know.
“I’m not going to fight.”
“What?”
“If I get injured while fighting, I won’t be able to bake bread.”
“I’ve never met a Witch like this….”
“Besides, it’s better to have someone who can reliably bring me materials.”
There was just one thing that worried me.
“Will he be able to come back here again?”
“Those who have formed a connection with the Witch, even once, can always find their way to this place somehow. Don’t worry.”
“Somehow?”
“Yes.”
She spoke proudly, but Noir’s words were always vague.
Words like fate, happiness, sincerity—all of them.
But she’d never been wrong, so I could only choose to trust her.
After all, having served Witches for such a long time, she must know far more than I do.
“By the way, did you know something?”
“Know what?”
“Your speech pattern is completely like a cat right now.”
“Meoooooow!”
Noir, unable to hide her true manner of speech, hissed in embarrassment at being caught.
* * *
“Huh… really….”
The cottage had vanished without a trace.
Miracle looked around the area where the Mountain Spirit dressed as a baker and Shinsu—who for some reason had been making cat sounds—had been, muttering to himself.
“I never thought something like this would happen….”
He wasn’t shocked that the Pastry Shop had disappeared in an instant.
What truly astonished him was the sight that unfolded before his eyes.
“They said confirmed fortune would come my way….”
Ding
[Confirmed Fortune activates.]
[You have discovered the true nature of Taegohua.]
[Taegohua → Darkfeed Flower]
[You have discovered the Darkfeed Flower Colony.]
Beneath the vanished Pastry Shop, atop a sharply rising peak, countless Darkfeed Flowers bloomed in such abundance that their number was impossible to count.
“I’ve received such an immense blessing….”
The quantity was so vast that he couldn’t possibly take it all.
First, I’ll mark this location on the map and gather a few flowers before leaving the Gate.
Greeting him was a man dressed in formal attire, his face contorted with anger.
“Guild Master.”
“Gasp!”
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t look at me with eyes as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
The man adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses, his sharp gaze piercing.
“I understand you’re acting this way because your wife’s condition is severe… but I hope you’ll also understand the difficulties I face when you disappear like this without a word.”
“I’m sorry about that… Hee-woo. I apologize.”
“If you would just inform me beforehand, I wouldn’t stop you from going. You’ve always personally handled rare materials yourself to prevent them from spoiling.”
Hee-woo, Miracle’s secretary, could only sigh.
He understood the circumstances well enough.
How difficult a life Miracle, a devoted husband and lovebird, had been living since his wife fell ill.
“For now, I’ve removed all recording devices like CCTV in this area. No one will know that you came here.”
“Thank you. I’m always indebted to you.”
“If you understand that, then please at least send me word next time. The guild goes into emergency mode every time you disappear.”
“Ahem….”
The world would never know.
That this man, so hopelessly careless, was the “Maestro.”
Though he was the one who created nearly every potion in existence, he had never revealed his identity for the sake of a peaceful life with his family.
‘There was just one thing he couldn’t create.’
Elixir.
A miraculous cure-all said to heal any ailment or wound, capable of even reviving the dead.
Miracle had done everything in his power to obtain the Elixir, but even for him—an S-rank Hunter and Guild Master of the Miracle Guild—it proved impossible.
Having pushed his skill levels to their limits, he finally obtained a recipe that would allow him to craft the Elixir himself, but…
‘The problem was that Taegohua was required.’
I barely managed to find him after following him when he set out to search for Taegohua.
“In any case, I’m relieved we found you. I’ll also look into ways to find Taegohua myself…”
“That’s unnecessary. I’ve already found it. And its original name is apparently Darkfeed Flower.”
“Pardon?”
“The Mountain Spirit gave me this much.”
Miracle then showed a handful of Darkfeed Flowers he’d brought along.
Seeing flowers that were difficult to find even a single bloom of pouring out of his bag in abundance, Hee-woo asked.
“How did you…?”
“I met the Mountain Spirit who lives running a Pastry Shop inside the Gate. Ha… it was an experience I’ll never forget.”
“A Pastry Shop? I think Hunter Joo Gyu-ri mentioned something similar before…”
“What? That Hunter Joo Gyu-ri who became an S-rank through re-awakening?”
Learning that another Hunter had undergone a similar experience, Miracle pressed Hee-woo for details.
After hearing the full story, what Miracle needed to do was already decided.
“Can you keep your promise with Hunter Joo Gyu-ri?”
“Of course.”
“Then return at once. I need to craft the Elixir.”
“I’ll escort you immediately.”
And his secretary Hee-woo’s response was equally predetermined.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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