The Dungeon wasn’t the only source of income to the Hume Rabbit. Due to the amount of knowledge she had about baking, since she was a baker’s daughter, she was able to secure a job at one of the local bakeries in the trade district of Orario. The smell of bread reminded her of home and at times she would reminisce about her old home while going back and forth between the register and the kitchen. Marzipan sighed as she tapped a finger on the counter. Right now, she was at the register, waiting for someone to come in and buy bread. People were just walking on by, however. This place, unlike her home, had a lot of competition around these parts so she should’ve expected slow service. But she wasn’t someone who was born in a city, no. She was born in a village where everyone knew each other and there were rarely conflicts. Her ears were twitching as she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. She was, to put it bluntly, incredibly bored. She had these moments back at her parents’ bakery, but at least she had siblings to keep her busy. She sighed as she continued to tap on the counter with her other hand. Well hopefully someone would come soon so she can be up and perky, putting on a winning smile for her customers because people here seemed to judge people standing at the cash register through their smiles. “I can take over for you, Marzipan.” She looked up to gaze at the half elf woman that wore a kind smile on her face. “You sure you don’t need any help, Ursula?” she asked, a worried look on her face. She shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Help my husband out, will you.” “Sure, hold on a sec.” She stretched her arms and made a beeline for the kitchen. “Derrick? You in there?” she called out. There was a crash and some swearing, which earned her worry. She rushed over to see the man had dropped the bread he’d been taking out of the oven on the ground. Freshly baked bread was scattered everywhere. “Shoot, sorry,” she apologized as she helped pick them up. She could feel the hot crust rub against her skin as she picked them up. “It’s fine. Just don’t tell the customers and Ursula that I dropped them on the floor, okay?” the Catfolk asked with a wink. She let out an annoyed huff. “Really? Selling dirty bread?” she asked. “Five second rule.” She blinked a little before she roared with laughter. “Alright, alright. I won’t tell anyone. Better get that bread out to the front of the shop.” She handed him loaf after loaf as he quickly put them back onto the tray, arranging them carefully as to make it appear it never dropped in the first place. “Thanks a bunch, Marzipan!” he said as he stood up with the tray carefully, “Better head to the front now. Can you focus on making the dough while I’m up front?” She rolled her eyes. “And that would take like, what, a few seconds?” “You won’t be getting any seconds if you don’t hop to it!” “You mean stale bread.” Both of them laughed. “Now go on, shoo!” She waved it off and began making her way to the back where the flour was kept. Hefting an open bag, she poured some in the bowl waiting for her. After she set the bag back in its place, she got out the eggs and water before putting that in, making sure that none of the eggshells she cracked landed in the concoction. As she stirred the batter, she began to think of home again. Back there, when she helped with decorating small cakes to sell, she would sneak a few berries in her mouth, only to be ratted out by an older sibling. This usually resulted in a quick “fight,” for it wasn’t really a fight if they were just teasing each other, right? Besides, her parents and Naan would put a stop to it if the fight got a little rowdy. She chuckled at the memory of seeing her younger sibling’s teeth stained with berry juice. She was jolted out of her thoughts, ears twitching, with the sound of footsteps. “Hey Marzipan, do you think you can deliver this cake to this address? They’re in the old part of the city,” Derrick asked. “Sure, what’s the address?” He told her as she handed her a package. “Don’t drop it, will you?” “Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll try to get it out as quickly as possible!” With that, she dashed out the kitchen and out of the bakery door, intent on getting to her destination in record time. Her thoughts were clear of nostalgia at this point, not really thinking about her family. …Well, that was a lie. She remembered she had to do one such delivery in the rain. It had come on suddenly and she had to run for dear life while keeping the cake safe. Luckily, where that person lived, it wasn’t too far from the bakery and she was able to deliver it, albeit a little soggy. She frowned as she remembered how the person complained before having the door slam in her face. Hopefully the door won’t slam in her face this time. She ducked and weaved among the crowd, carrying the precious load. She took several detours around the city to avoid the more crowded areas. Finally, she made it to the Old City and began running around, looking for the address. “Where is it? Where is it?” she muttered as she looked all over the area. She managed to find it out of sheer luck. The Hume Bunny knocked on the door to see if anyone was at home. The door opened, revealing the face of a man. “I’m here for your order, sir!” she announced, handing him the package. He beamed. “Thank you so much. I’m sure my daughter will love it.” “I hope she does. Well, I gotta go. Take it easy!” she waved goodbye as the door closed and started running back to the bakery. After a while, though, she began to panic slightly when she realized she had no idea where she was going. At all. …Well she was still trying to get used to the city, so that had something to do with it. Still, she was berating herself over that fact as she approached a stranger. “Excuse me, sir?” she called out, waving her arm in the air, “Do you know where I can find the Pastel Bakery? I don’t know my way around here, unfortunately.” He blinked in surprise. “You’re a little far off. It’s in the trade district, isn’t it?” “It is, I know that. But how do I get to there?” He sighed and shook his head, but gave her directions nonetheless. “Thank you have a nice day!” she said quickly as she dashed down the road. This time, she went in the more crowded areas, for she knew she could wiggle her way out of there if need be. Plus, being on the main road meant she was getting closer to her destination, right? She never had this much trouble back at home. But then again, she grew up in that area, so of course she would know it like the back of her hand. More thoughts of home plagued her mind as she ducked and weaved through the crowd, trying to find the bakery. When she was little, she would play hide and seek out of the corn fields with her younger siblings. She always found them, despite how they tried their best to hide from her. She never abandoned them, not until she decided to become an adventurer. She wondered, did they miss her? At least she said goodbye, right? So maybe that counted for something. She remembered her mother’s tearful expression as she hugged her and her father, then kissed each of her siblings on the forehead, even the older ones that towered over her. “Ah! There!” she realized as she found herself in a familiar place. She immediately rushed into the bakery, panting a little. “Anything I missed?” she asked. Ursula looked at her and shook her head. “No, but you should probably help my husband a little. …I think he might be up to something, I’m not sure what.” “Huh? What do you mean?” “He had the strangest expression on his face when he delivered the bread and arranged them, I don’t know why…” She tried to stifle a giggle as she shrugged. “Who knows? Anyway, I better hop to it.” She made a beeline for the kitchen and saw Derrick put the new batch of do in the oven. “Oh good, you’re here,” he said, “There’s some flour I need you to carry in. They’re outside.” “Got it!” Despite her looks, she was able to haul several bags at a time while the kitchen ran busy when the other part time workers came in. “Phew, all done,” she said, giving herself a good stretch. She paused for a moment, remembering how the sky looked outside. “Better tell them I’ll be going now.” She went over to the front where Derrick was taking over the front for the time being. “Hey Derrick, I’m just about finished so I’ll see you tomorrow. Okay?” He gave her a toothy smile. “Will do! See you tomorrow!” “You take it easy, you hear?” She grabbed her gear and made her way out the door. She gave one last glance back before moving forward. A few minutes later and she could still smell the scent of bread on her, the scent of home.
