I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 74

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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 74. The Girl Holds a Needle (4)
“I made the call, Owner.”
Noir walked toward me with the phone held in her mouth.
I stroked her head and replied.
“Well done. She didn’t say anything strange, did she?”
“What would she say? It was just about a young woman. She’ll understand on her own.”
“Hmm…”
“What is it? Are you underestimating a career Familier who has served the Previous Witches with the highest level of skill, Owner?”
Noir lifted her chin proudly as she spoke, but…
Thinking back on Noir’s past that I’d witnessed so far, she was really just a cat.
I couldn’t help but worry.
“Don’t worry, Owner. I delivered it through a reliable method. If she still doesn’t understand after that, then that woman hasn’t reached that level yet.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
Yes, for now I had no choice but to trust Noir.
I had other things I needed to do.
“Then I should make some bread.”
“A good idea. Looking at the flowing energy, it seems you’ve already visited the Room of Prophecy. The Witch’s Cottage has also confirmed your will.”
“Yes. The Quest appeared right away.”
[The Sorrow of the Innocent]
▷ One who is not the target of sin and karma harbors unjust grievance. The witch’s role is to resolve the sorrow of such people and return them to their true nature.
▷ Deliver ??? to ‘Yeom Da-yeon’ 0/1
▷ Reward: 10,000 BP
I nodded while reviewing the Quest once more.
The target was set, and it was clear what sincerity I needed to imbue.
Then all I had to do was do my best following where my heart led.
“What kind of bread will you make?”
“There’s a bigger problem than that.”
“Meow? A bigger problem? What is it?”
I stared at Noir, who tilted her head and looked at me, lost in thought.
Was this really the right method?
What if it went wrong? Wouldn’t that cause a serious problem?
After wrestling with these thoughts, I bit my lip and spoke.
“Noir. Do you remember that strange thing you swallowed before?”
“M-meow? That strange thing I swallowed… No, Owner. That’s dangerous.”
Noir shook her head firmly, as if she’d remembered something from her deliberation.
“The Witch’s Cottage judged it that way too, which is why it didn’t give you proper information about it. We can’t bring that out now.”
Noir spoke to me with a serious expression, her eyes wide in a way unlike her usual self.
But I couldn’t think of anything else.
‘Something I originally possess.’
Among the things I had, there was nothing else related to black except that.
“That’s why I want to try it while you’re here. We haven’t even confirmed it yet anyway.”
“Meow… This one is anxious.”
“It was like that back then, but who knows what might be different now.”
“Whimper….”
Noir, who had been pressing the floor with his front paws, seemed to have made a decision and spoke while trembling his whiskers.
“Understood. But if something seems wrong, I’ll swallow it back down immediately. What matters to this one is my owner, not that young woman. If it fails, we’ll need to find another method.”
“Of course.”
“Then… Whimper…. Meow….”
Splurt.
After several dry heaves, Noir spat out something shaped like black tar through his mouth.
The moment it emerged into the world, it scattered dark energy and an ominous aura. When I fixed my gaze upon it….
Ding
[Fragment of a Fallen Witch]
▷ A fragment containing the corrupted energy of the Witch Marie Labu. It desperately yearns for purification through a witch’s power.
▷ If purified, the witch might gain the characteristics she needs?
“As expected, I can see it now.”
I understood why Noir hadn’t wanted to show me this.
A fallen witch.
There would have been no reason to inform me of the possibility that a witch could fall.
Still, wouldn’t it have been better to explain something this serious?
“It was less that I didn’t want to explain, and more that I couldn’t. Owner.”
“Couldn’t?”
“A witch is a being who twists fate. Possessing power that formidable. If such a being were to fall, how far do you think her influence could reach?”
Fate that stretches from the distant past through the present and into the future.
Noir explained that what a witch could do was twist and tangle that thread, manipulate it, and ultimately create it.
“Therefore, a fallen witch from the distant past can influence even you, a modern witch. That’s why the Witch’s Cottage and this one couldn’t carelessly broach the subject. Merely knowing of her existence carries the risk of being bewitched.”
“Then why show me this now?”
“Simple. It means your power has grown enough not to be swayed by that much.”
My power?
No, I’ll admit I’ve done quite a lot.
But I don’t feel like I’ve actually become stronger.
“You’ve grown the Witch’s Cottage and baked many breads. And haven’t you even registered recipes that didn’t exist before? You’ve accomplished much. Owner.”
“What does that have to do with becoming stronger?”
“It means you’ve twisted countless fates. Without even realizing it. What else would be a witch’s strength?”
So everything I’ve done so far has been about changing fate, and my power naturally grew stronger in the process.
Come to think of it, Chohong and Gora, who are staring at me right now, wouldn’t exist in this world if I hadn’t been here.
The same goes for the people around me with whom I’ve built good connections.
If that hadn’t happened, my bakery, Trèfle de bonheur, would have gone under.
“Sigh. Alright. Then that means I can handle this too.”
“Wouldn’t you say so?”
“Fine. Let me give it a try.”
The fragment of the fallen witch lay on the ground, pulsating wetly.
It was so difficult to face that I could almost see an illusion of it writhing and moving.
Chohong had climbed onto Noir’s head to avoid it, and even in her small form, Gora stepped forward in front of me as if to protect me.
“How am I supposed to handle this…”
Since it was called “fallen,” my first thought was that purification should do the trick.
When it comes to purification, there’s one thing that immediately comes to mind.
I sprinkled the salt of purification and shouted.
“Evil! Begone from this place!”
Of course, it had no effect whatsoever.
“What are you doing, Owner?”
“I saw someone do this once while sprinkling salt…”
“…The Owner should maintain the dignity of a witch…”
“…”
Clearly, that wasn’t the right approach.
Still, I could glean a hint from Noir’s words.
A witch had to approach things in a witch’s way.
In that case, there was one more thing to try.
“The effect listed in my status window seemed made for exactly this kind of situation. Let me place it here first…”
And what I pulled out was a chestnut butter cream bread.
It was a bread made generously with Parma’s chestnuts and the salt of purification.
Grandmother had benefited from it, and afterward, everyone bound by karma had experienced the effects of this bread.
The only question was whether this thing, not being human, could actually eat bread…
“Ah… it’s moving.”
The fragment began to creep forward as if it had caught a scent.
Like a liquid monster made of black tar writhing, the creature drew near the bread and extended long tentacles to explore.
It poked at the bread repeatedly and even gently caressed it.
Soon, as if having made a decision, the creature transformed its shape.
Sssquelch!
The fragment extended multiple tentacles, creating a deep hollow.
It shoved the cream bread into that mouth-like opening, then sealed its writhing body shut—and the creature’s transformation appeared immediately.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!
The fragment began convulsing everywhere as if it had swallowed poison.
Its color changed as well.
What had been black tar-colored turned white, then became diluted, turned a sickly blue, and then shifted to a damp greenish hue.
“Is this actually going well…”
“A transformation is definitely occurring.”
“Gora, gora!”
Just as Gora’s trembling, standing solemnly before me, began to subside…
Ding!
[A fragment of the fallen witch has been purified.]
[Witch, Marie Laveau’s Fragment]
▷ A shard of power left behind by Marie Laveau, the legendary Previous Witch who devoted herself to aiding patients suffering from yellow fever and cholera.
▷ A witch’s power purified from corruption will prove invaluable in suppressing the power of another fallen witch.
▷ Effects
① Corruption Detection: The owner becomes capable of sensing the power of fallen witches.
② Corruption Absorption: Absorbs the power of fallen witches and undergoes transformation.
“Something incredible just appeared…”
Beyond the lengthy status window description, the fragment had undergone a dramatic change.
What had radiated an ominous and damp atmosphere just moments before was now a perfectly spherical black orb.
“The color changed too. It looks somehow more…”
“More delicious-looking.”
Unbelievable as it was, that’s exactly what it looked like.
Unlike before, when it appeared as though eating it would cause me to bleed from every orifice and die in agony, now this elegantly gleaming black radiance looked inexplicably appetizing!
“That’s related to the owner.”
“Me?”
“If the owner were a witch who wielded swords, it would have taken the form of a blade. If the owner were a witch who brewed medicines, it would have taken the shape of medicinal herbs. But the owner is…”
“Someone who bakes bread.”
“More precisely, a ‘witch’ who bakes ‘delicious’ bread. Meow.”
So the purified witch’s power fragment had become an ingredient.
A delicious one at that.
I cautiously approached and touched it—cold.
The portion that melted from the warmth of my hand, I brought to my lips…
“Chocolate?”
“Meow?”
“It’s just delicious chocolate?”
A subtle bitterness accompanied by a delicate sweetness blooming through.
Wasn’t this the taste of a well-made dark chocolate?
So this is what it meant to possess the characteristics I desired.
The ability to detect and absorb corruption is also an attribute I desperately need right now.
“With this, there’s something I absolutely must make.”
“Will it become bread made with chocolate?”
“Yes. I’m going to make a Fondant au Chocolat.”
Fondant au Chocolat.
Known in English-speaking regions as Chocolate Lava Cake, this dessert is characterized by warm chocolate liquid flowing from the center like lava when the cake is cut in half, true to its name.
“The very etymology of the name comes from melting (fondant) chocolate (chocolat).”
Though in Korea, people often get confused because of that nursery rhyme about throwing stones.
“I thought temperature was crucial for this bread, and that it needs to be eaten immediately after baking. Is that alright?”
“I’ve already thought through all of that, so don’t worry.”
“Meow?”
There’s one reliable method to create that effect of chocolate flowing thickly from the inside when you cut into it.
Though I’ll need to prepare a few things first.
“First, I need to mix those fragments with whipped cream.”
I broke off some pieces from the luxurious chocolate-like creature, then melted them together with an equal amount of whipped cream.
“Then I freeze it solid in the freezer.”
“Kyuu?”
“After freezing, I’ll place it inside the batter.”
This is what’s called the ganache center technique.
Unlike the typical method of making fondant au chocolat by underbaking the batter itself, the chocolate hardens over time due to residual heat.
So I’m making ganache to buy time while the outer batter bakes.
“Plus, since it has a higher fat content than the batter, it won’t harden easily even as the temperature drops over time.”
“The only concern is that freezing takes a while…”
“I’ll just have to trust Ria with that.”
I placed the well-mixed ganache center in the freezer while thinking.
I hoped Da-yeon’s condition wouldn’t worsen any further.
And that Ria would be able to stop Da-yeon’s rampage.
“Gora, gora!”
But perhaps my sincerity fell short.
When I quickly turned my gaze toward Da-yeon through the vision Jinjeonyang was sharing in response to Gora’s cry.
‘Save me! Please!’
‘I’m sorry… I’m sorry! Da-yeon! Please!’
Da-yeon was shedding black tears and raining needles down upon the people around her.

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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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