Chapter 10: Baking


    Nipples? minia asks.


    Nipples! I say.


    Nipples?


    NIPPLES! Iugh out loud.


    I dont believe it, sheughs too.


    Oh, you better.


    Shes impressed by how fast we finished together and now were having a sweet recess, while some other peoplee and clean our table.


    You are telling me that some people in your country make cakes that look like nipples?


    Its not from my country, its more like where my parentse from. They do these small white cakes that look like boobs with a candied cherry on top. They are delicious!


    I swear minia cant stopughing. She is basically bent over the table holding for her dear life.


    Theughter is so loud that Clodia swiftlyes toward us, worried that Im hampering the productivity of the all-female workce with my manly ways.


    minia, you t-eared dumbell, whats so funny, huh?


    Boobs! minia keepsughing, apparently finding the idea of a boob-cake the most hrious thing in the world.


    Boobs? Clodia slowly spells out the word while turning her head toward me like an owl. In a creepy Im going to peck your eyes out way, if its not clear enough.


    Judging from the murderous stare, she thinks that I made an inappropriate joke, doesnt she?


    I was describing a cake that looks like a boob. And they call it St. Agathas Nipple, I raise my hands defensively. And we had already finished the kneading and all!


    Clodia looks at our table, which is indeed clean after we deposited the dough in some huge containers. I do wonder how they make it rise without yeast, honestly.


    So you didnt make inappropriatements in regards to minia, did you?


    To be fair, I stop thinking about all the jokes I cracked before, trying to figure out whether or not some of them were inappropriate. Knowing me, the answer is probably yes, some were extremely inappropriate.


    But now, look at the real magic.


    Oh, Clodia,e on. The kid was just telling me a couple of things from wherever hees from. He wasnt inappropriate and hes one of your hardest workers. He managed to almost keep my pace without skills! Give him a break, will you?


    Whatever, Clodia stares at me from head to toe and then shrugs. Then, she goes on with her work somewhere else.


    minia winks at me and clears away someughter tears from her eyes.


    Come on, lets get going, Im going to show you something that will to blow your mind.


    [Dough Raise]


    Im looking at multiple people channeling a skill to make the dough rise inside the massive metallic containers.


    Now, we have to wait a couple of hours for the whole skill to work its magic and thats going to make our bread super puffy! minia tells me while sticking out her chest proudly.


    So, you use skills to make the bread rise, huh, I scratch my chin, thoughtful.


    What else would you use? she looks at me as if Im some kind of a savage.


    Well, you will have to coerce the answer out of me, I wink at minia.


    These youngsters she mumbles in good will.


    Oh yeah, they are terrible people, arent they? I put both hands on my sides and nod wisely.


    At some point, my jokes should have stopped working. Im honestly still tired even after having slept for so long. I cant help it, the dimensionalg has thrown me for a loop.


    We start baking the bread as soon as the skills have run out.


    Which shapes? I ask curiously.


    Mh? minia and I have started speaking a bit less. She, too, is getting a bit tired.


    Which shapes do we need for the bread? I take some oil to lubricate my hands and avoid the dough sticking to them.


    The usual shapes? Long ones for the bigger ones meant for families, smaller round circles for the bread we are sending to the Watch, and so on.


    I look around for a second, confused. It is true that in an establishment this big it makes sense to streamline things as much as possible, but I do feel like they could have done something better.


    However, as soon as I see a sh of tiredness in minias eyes, I immediately smile and copy the shapes shes putting on the massive steel tray.


    There are moments to be a smartass and there are moments when you dont want to rock the boat. Read the room, rookie.


    The ovens are massive constructions that are fed wood by the shovel and with three people manning them at all times.


    They have variants of the [Cook] ss specialized in managing ovens and temperatures. The guy there is a [Apprentice cksmith] whoes here to help manage the ovens for the bread batches and makes a pretty penny out of it.


    These people are trained very well and they switch back and forth with grace you would never find in any bakery on Earth. Only huge fast-food chains are probably more efficient, but thats to the detriment of quality.


    I wouldnt say that me and minia became thick as thieves in our first shift together, but I certainly found a friend for the future.


    Hey, minia. You dont happen to know Officer Lucinda, do you? I try to keep it as casual as possible, but the Elf woman has already pinned down my behavior.


    I would advise against whatever you are thinking, Joey, she says with a smirk, shes a very talented mage, gunning for the Nine Towers Academy. Shes working for the Watch mostly because she wants to make some money on her own.


    Woah, do you have a file on her or something? If so, can I have it?