TSBSFVW 27

Chapter 27
Bread Five. To Get Rid of Bedbugs, You Have to Burn the Thatched Cottage (4)

“You jerk! You definitely lied!”

“Even so, you were rude, Elaine.”

Franz, her companion, spoke coolly to the fuming Elaine.

“Consider yourself lucky that Commander Cronin is a generous man. Normally, commoners can barely speak to nobles—it’s only natural.”

“Why? It’s not strange for one person to talk to another.”

If Ellie had heard this, she would have laughed and called it “a heroine-like remark.”

Had the story gone according to the novel and Elaine met Ban, this would have left a deep impression on him. Ban wanted someone who would see him without prejudice.

Elaine, with her consistent attitude, stubborn persistence, and talent to absorb and grow as taught, was destined to captivate the suspicious Ban.

Unlike Edmund, who fell in love at first sight, it took Ban a long time to be drawn to Elaine.

To him, who had endured unresolved stress for so long, Elaine was someone he could pour affection into without fear of betrayal—a strong person, much like himself, who would not die easily.

Perhaps because they first met in a teacher-student-like dynamic, even after Elaine became as strong as Ban, he found himself trailing her like a mother hen protecting a chick.

But right now, Ban felt no favor toward Elaine at all.

If anything, he rather disliked her.

Partly because his stress had been relieved by his baguette addiction, but mostly because Elaine had taken Ellie’s place and appeared, imitating the “Lady McClure.”

Yet for Elaine, this was her first time attempting such a thing.

To show up at the Knights’ headquarters and summon the commander without a prior appointment, she had no choice but to use her father’s name.

“Where on earth did you grow up? That’s how social status and birth work. It’s shitty, but you can’t deny it. Everyone lives like that.”

“But it’s unfair.”

Elaine complained in a huff.

While living under her father’s protection in the mansion, she had never questioned the natural authority she wielded.

The world outside the mansion walls was completely different from the one Elaine had known.

Franz clicked his tongue as if there was nothing to be done.

“Yes, you live in an unfair world. But if you can’t change it alone, it’s better to protect yourself. You don’t want to die, right?”

“……”

“You said you want to find your younger sister? Then first, you have to survive.”

“……I understand……”

Elaine bit her lip. Everything she did was to find Ellie.

Escaping from the McClure mansion had not been easy.

In the end, she had no choice but to accept help from her childhood friend, who agreed to assist her under the condition that Elaine would stay in contact wherever she went.

He summoned her father to buy time for her escape from the mansion and even hired someone to impersonate Elaine so it would appear that she had fled outside the capital.

Thanks to this, Duke McClure personally followed the traces of his “only” daughter.

Finally, Elaine felt a little freedom.

At first, she went to the mercenary guild to hire someone for a search request. But when the reception heard the conditions, they sharply rejected her request.

“A chubby girl with brown hair and blue eyes is too generic. Names can be changed, and there are no clues. If you make such a request, people seeking money might kidnap an innocent girl.”

They had a point.

Just as Elaine was overwhelmed thinking she might have to search the entire city alone, Franz, who had overheard the conversation, stepped in to help.

Franz had also lost a sibling in his childhood.

What started as learning simple self-defense had unexpectedly led him to swordsmanship lessons.

Luckily, Elaine seemed to have a talent for swordsmanship, as her skills grew quickly.

Franz jokingly praised her with a hint of jealousy: “This must be something my little sister made. That brat knew where my sister was and pretended not to know.”

“How do you know? Someone else could’ve made it.”

“No, I’m sure. I received it once when I was little.”

“Just once?”

“……”

“You were close with your sister, right?”

Elaine couldn’t answer. Franz didn’t press further.

“I joined the hunt because I thought it could be good practice, but this should be enough. If you clash with that kind-hearted commander, I might have a hard time getting future contracts. This is a pretty big task.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s fine. For now, just practice with the wooden sword in the lodging. Meanwhile, I’ll take on other requests to make up for it.”

“Really troublesome, huh,” Franz chuckled, but Elaine couldn’t smile.

“Ellie, I’m hungry!”

“Did a beggar sneak into your stomach? I just baked one batch earlier!”

“I’m sleepy.”

“Hunger or sleepiness, choose one. And can’t you see I’m busy? Oh, I wrote that wrong.”

“Even if you try, I’ve already won.”

“I know, I can see with my eyes.”

Ellie crumpled the paper in frustration and took out a new sheet.

After sending Malina back, Ellie was busy testing dessert recipes she remembered. There weren’t many recipes she could complete with a decent appearance immediately.

Financiers, muffins, pancakes, cookies…

She wanted to try making pretty and cute macarons too, but didn’t have enough time to practice the delicate work repeatedly after failing.

‘I wish I could get chocolate.’

With chocolate, she could make far more flavors, but unfortunately, she hadn’t even seen anything resembling it yet. She had tried making caramel sauce as a substitute, but it didn’t compare to chocolate.

‘Surely someone in this world must be consuming it somewhere…’

The Kingdom of Roso was small. She could probably find more ingredients if she went to the empire.

She had asked Maurice to fetch a few, but she didn’t expect much. She had to prepare recipes that could work even if he didn’t succeed.

“Stop working. I need to sleep.”

“But I have to work!”

Edmund snatched the paper from Ellie’s hands and tossed the pen far away. Ellie burst out in anger, and Edmund frowned.

“If you don’t sleep now, you won’t wake up in the morning. If you don’t want to nod off while selling bread, give up.”

“I don’t care if others nod off!”

“We need to finish selling fast so you can make my egg tarts, so no.”

What a load of nonsense.

Ellie jumped up, trying to grab the paper Edmund held above his head. But she was too small and thin; he was too tall and lanky, and she couldn’t reach.

Edmund looked down at her amused and snapped his fingers.

Sensing danger, Ellie quickly stepped back, but it was too late. She ended up half-draped over Edmund’s shoulder.

“That’s cheating! Don’t lift me if you can’t do it by strength alone!”

Ellie struggled, yelling that she wouldn’t have suffered if it weren’t magic.

“Give up, Ellie. I need to sleep.”

“This is tyranny. You already gave me a room, so what am I, a beloved doll?”

“Dolls don’t resist like this.”

Edmund put her on the bed and even cast a cleaning spell to tidy her up.

“What a troublesome ordeal,” Ellie grumbled.

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t do trivial things and let’s go back.”

“No.”

“Why stick to my shop like a bedbug when you have a proper house…”

“Bedbugs never disappear once they appear.”

“And I can’t burn the whole house down.”

If you’re sleepy, just sleep alone, why drag me into it?

“To protect this one house, you kicked the commander’s butt and chased him away. Can you manage?”

“It’s not the butt… it’s the calf…”

Don’t talk about people like they’re sexual harassers…

As far as Ellie knew, Edmund hated people excessively due to his obsession with cleanliness, yet she didn’t understand why he was so unhesitatingly touching her.

Where had it all gone wrong?

Was it because he discovered she was a total weakling?

Was he testing if she’d make a sound when tormented? Did he think she was easy to handle?

‘Well, I guess I am…’

Ellie admitted despairingly.

She couldn’t read him at all.

‘Then again, she’s not the only one whose mind is a mystery.’

Maurice, Ban, and Edmund all seemed strange to her.

Maybe it was their obsession with scones, baguettes, and egg tarts, but even so, they occasionally acted in ways she couldn’t understand.

Just because they wanted to eat what she made, it didn’t mean they needed to be so kind to her.