I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 109

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

Chapter 109. Broadcast Filming (4)
Everything had been flowing smoothly.
There was an unexpected special lecture, but I’d handled that well too.
I could tell from Olivier’s attitude and the other students’ reactions just moments ago.
But all of that shattered the moment I saw the cold blue light of the tablet Yu Jin held out to me.
Malicious headlines of every variety.
The plaintiffs’ claims were absurd.
They alleged that after eating my potato bread, their tongues felt numb with a sharp, stinging pain that wouldn’t fade, claiming it was due to some novel drug component or unverified additives.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
Olivier erupted in anger after receiving a briefing on the situation once class ended.
When a baker—someone for whom hands are everything—slams a practice table with his fist, that says it all.
“Problems with Seung-hyun’s bread? I, who have battled flour my entire life, vouch for him. His dough is purer than any saint’s heart! This is the work of liars blinded by jealousy. These fraudsters should be chopped into pieces and roasted!”
I could have sworn I’d heard nearly identical words from Martin before.
Of course, from my perspective, it was entirely understandable.
Even a rough guess made it obvious who had filed the lawsuit.
Those among the people who’d eaten the Lumiere Bread of Truth—the ones who habitually lied—must have banded together and done this.
In the vision Jinjeonyang showed me, they kept appearing in front of my closed bakery, and now they’d gone this far.
“I never expected something like this would happen….”
Junho, the main PD who’d planned the special broadcast, his expression grew grave as he understood the situation and knew the truth.
Several members of the filming crew began whispering among themselves.
No matter how much a master vouched for me, the appearance of multiple plaintiffs would be a fatal risk for the broadcasting company.
And on top of that….
“Um… but that potato bread from earlier. You really didn’t put anything else in it, right? Honestly, the taste was just too unrealistic.”
A question tinged with suspicion from one of the staff members surfaced.
But I could answer this question with certainty.
Because I still had the potato bread I’d made during the special lecture.
“Everyone here ate that potato bread. You all watched me make it directly. Is there anyone whose tongue feels stinging?”
“Ah….”
“Now that you mention it, I didn’t feel any stinging sensation at all?”
“Maybe it’s because we sourced the ingredients here?”
“But if it were real, the number of plaintiffs would have kept growing.”
All the staff members exchanged glances and murmured among themselves.
But it wouldn’t matter anyway.
There would be no stinging sensation—only the savory aroma of potatoes spreading throughout the mouth and the chewy texture.
And driving the final nail in was the caustic chef Young-gu’s words.
“If there were a problem, the potato bread would have shown a reaction too. This is simple slander. Well, not so simple actually. It’s completely malicious.”
“So you’re saying the people who filed this lawsuit are the same ones who were leaving malicious comments on Seung-hyun’s posts?”
“How can someone have this little shame….”
“Don’t worry. We’ve already filmed the entire process. Looking at the situation, we need to edit and air this as quickly as possible.”
Junho, the first to regain his composure, stated this to me with certainty.
She said she was on my side.
But even so, since they’d already caused a major incident over there, my shop’s reputation was bound to suffer.
“I need to write something defending my friend and post it.”
Olivia’s face and even her fingertips flushed red with anger as she huffed and pulled out her phone.
Seeing her type at a frenzied pace, it looked like she was about to upload a hundred words or so about the current situation to SNS.
But even so, the lawsuit wouldn’t necessarily be dropped.
There was no way to stop them with logic when they’d already lost all caution about their own wrongdoing.
That was when it happened.
Beep beep beep~
My phone began ringing from my pocket.
I’d certainly brought an international USIM, but there shouldn’t be anyone who would call me all the way here.
When I pulled it out and checked the caller, it was someone far beyond my expectations.
“Hello?”
– I heard through Haeryang that you’ve gone to Paris for a broadcast.
A voice as cold and crisp as winter wind, utterly businesslike.
There couldn’t be more than one person in the world with such a voice.
And there couldn’t be more than one person in the world who called my part-time employee Haeryang so familiarly.
“That’s right. But may I ask why the Yu Ha-neul Hunter is calling me?”
– Hmm… I saw the article.
It was already surprising that an S-rank Guild Master of Korea’s representative guild would call a mere bakery owner, but the reason being that she’d seen an article was even more bewildering.
In that moment when I couldn’t understand her reasoning, my mind grew dizzy.
– Do you need help?
“Pardon?”
– Didn’t I say I was grateful for you helping Haeryang before? It seems salt alone isn’t enough to express my gratitude.
“That’s more than enough to be grateful for. It’s fine.”
No matter how much she cherished her younger sister, to give not just ordinary salt but purification salt harvested from a Gate and then say it wasn’t enough—was this the bearing of an S-rank Hunter?
I wondered if this was how S-rank Hunters operated.
But even so, I didn’t need to accept her help.
More precisely, there was no reason to accept help in this manner.
So I’d refused, but…
– Actually, it’s my sister’s favorite workplace, and if the owner goes to prison or the shop closes, I think my sister will be sad. I can’t tolerate such things happening because of a few pieces of trash.”
It was heavy.
The sisterly love between them was far too heavy.
And that older sister was an S-rank Hunter who, except for serious crimes in special circumstances, didn’t pursue charges.
With her authority, exposing the personal information of the plaintiffs would be nothing.
At this point, I was starting to feel afraid.
“For now, it’s fine. It’s a problem I can solve my own way. I’ll contact you if I need anything. Thank you for your concern.”
– …I really hope you’ll contact me.
With those words, the call cut off abruptly.
Thanks to stepping away to take the call, the staff and cast members seemed unaware that Sky and I had exchanged a conversation.
Everyone busily prepared for filming while simultaneously worrying about how to edit this broadcast.
I approached Yu Jin, the flustered Junior Writer, and spoke to her.
“Yu Jin? Would it be alright if I used the restroom for a moment?”
“Ah… ah! Yes! The restroom! Of course you should go! Yes yes! I’ll let everyone know!”
She nodded eagerly and rushed off to work elsewhere, and I quietly slipped away from the filming set.
I walked quickly down the corridor, spotted the first door that caught my eye, and gave Noir a signal.
“Meow.”
“There’s no one around us right now anyway.”
“Are we going to the Witch’s house? Owner?”
“Yes. I need to take care of something.”
“Understood. Meowwww!”
Though he currently appeared as a black cat, Noir was actually the key to the Witch’s house.
After his cry rang out once, I opened the door, and beyond what should have been an ordinary room, the interior of the Witch’s house revealed itself.
A space made entirely of candy and bread.
“But why did you come to the Witch’s house, Owner?”
“I’m going to handle the favor that Ha-neul mentioned earlier.”
“Meow? Is that really necessary?”
“Of course it is. The content of the favor is something that Han Seung-hyun, the bakery owner, must never know about.”
I rummaged through a drawer and pulled out the phone I’d used to call Ria when rescuing Dayeon before.
Then I dialed Yu Ha-neul’s saved number and called.
Ring. Ring.
The call just kept ringing before disconnecting.
I didn’t think she was too busy to answer.
Someone who carried such a heavy heart for her younger sister would be waiting, never knowing when my request might come.
So she must have deliberately not answered, thinking it was an unknown number.
Because of that, I sent her a text message.
[I have the information you need about the black substance.]
“Is it okay to write it like this, Owner?”
“I think so.”
Previously, Soo-min had referred to the fragment of the fallen witch as the black substance.
And the person who came as a rescue team afterward was Ha-neul.
That meant among the major guilds, the witch’s fragment was being called the black substance, and an investigation into it was underway.
At that level, the Hunter Association would likely be lending a hand as well.
“It’s possible the Association might be conducting this at an organizational level.”
“You mean searching for the witch’s fragments? Even so, there’s nothing they can do.”
“Still, an S-rank Hunter would be helpful. It’s clear this time too. The connection is obvious.”
“Looking at the reward amount, there’s no room for doubt.”
Any Quest related to the witch’s fragment had rewards that skyrocketed absurdly.
This time was no exception.
Considering they offered 20,000 BP just for making the mousse that goes into the Lumiere Bread of Truth, not just the bread-making process itself.
After that, the reward for delivering bread to forty people came to 50,000 BP.
At this point, it’s certain.
And….
“Look at this. A call came right through.”
The moment I answered Sky’s incoming call, her voice came through.
– If you don’t identify yourself, I’ll trace your location immediately.
Ooh, that was a bit frightening.
The first thing she said upon my answering was that she’d trace my location.
But tracing would be impossible.
Even if she tried, I would show up as being located at some gate.
“There’s no point in tracing anyway, so why don’t we get straight to the point, Sky?”
– …Yeon-gi?
“Yes, it’s me.”
– But this is a phone… no… if you’ve gone so far as to create a company, then this much is natural, isn’t it?
She let out a slightly exasperated laugh.
I threw my words at her bluntly.
“It would be best to jointly investigate the people who sued Treffle de Bognoir with Kim Ri-a, the captain of the Hunter Association’s Special Investigation Team 1.”
– Treffle de Bognoir… that… no, but why would Kim Ri-a Hunter be involved….
“It would also be good for Maestro and Dayeon to participate together.”
– ….
After hearing my words, Sky fell silent for a while.
She was probably considering what this was all about while weighing various options.
Perhaps she was also pondering why I was taking such action.
If so, I needed to give her a slight push.
“If you think about the reasons you’ve encountered me so far, and the circumstances under which those encounters occurred, you should be able to arrive at the answer quite easily.”
– Could it be that you already knew what that black substance was….
“Please contact me at this number with any information you discover. Then.”
– Wait! Yeon-gi! Wait, let me explain….
Click.
I hung up the phone right there.
Any longer and my identity might be exposed.
“This should be enough.”
“Are you certain, Owner?”
“Yeah.”
No matter what, if three S-rank Hunters get involved, something has to come out of it, right?
“What if they’re just ordinary humans?”
“Then they’ll have an interesting experience.”
Or rather, they’ll pay an excessive price for the misdeeds they’ve committed.

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