With the scent of the cocoa pow-… err cokolada still in my nose I finally turned my gaze towards Claura.

Just then, the spice merchant muttered something under his breath that caught my attention, “Though, they seem to be the only ones interested….”

I reviewed everything in my archive….indeed I had never heard mention nor seen any cokolada till now. The possibility existed that it was new to the region, the skin color of the merchant suggested that.

Claura also had a bit of money left over, her childish charm worked wonders on people…..especially perverts.

Alright! I guess this means all conditions are clear!

“Miss…I’ve heard of cokolada before…..from that merchant before the accident….anyways, if prepared properly it’s supposed to taste amazing! I’m sure the Masters would love to try it!”

“eh? I g-g-g-guess if y-y-y-you say s-so, w-we should buy s-s-some.”

Her voice dropped off at the end as she looked down at her feet again. Really I wonder what is going through her head. She really should stop being so nervous, her heart is beating so fast I can hear it even in this crowd.

Looking back at the merchant I could hear his heart rate pick up slightly. Even with all those furs covering him, I could still tell he was excited at the prospect at getting rid of some of the cokolada.

Good.

We should be able to get quite a bit for cheap!....however there’s no way that Claura will be able to haggle, and I’m a slave.

Guess there’s no helping it. I’ll have to let this one slide.

I could feel my ears flatten slightly on my head, if I had a tail it’d be probably be flicking like a real cat’s.

Ahwell, I’ll just have to wait.

…………………

A while later, the fully burdened me and the nervous Claura made our way back to the Bakery.

It’ll be nice to get back there. ‘Grand Archive’ won’t be on the fritz because every little thing is new and more importantly I wont have to carry all this crap!

I hate carrying things, literally one of the banes of my existence!

I re-adjust the sacks I’m carrying for the umpteenth time as we round the corner to get onto the street the Bakery is on.

All of a sudden, the wind picks up and we’re buffeted by a serious gust. I narrow my eyes against the wind, only to see Claura being blown backwards. Her little body is too weak to stand against the wind.

Oh boy! This is bad! The streets are icy!

Just as I’m thinking this, she slips and begins to fall……..

………..Then time seems to pause…………..

Ah! ‘Grand Archive’ just activated a new function!

I can tell it’s recommending that I throw the sack of flour, it should be able to protect her head from the fall.

I watch as a line is traced to where it needs to be thrown, my margin of error is wide so I quickly readjust my aim and throw the sack.

Time unfreezes and the bag flies through the air and hits the ground just before Claura does. It successfully protects her head and softens her landing overall.

*hic!*

Uh-oh! I hear the sounds of a cry coming on!

I rush over to her, hoping to stop the waterworks before they start.

“Miss! Are you alright! Forgive me, I didn’t have the time to reach you so I had to use that sack to break your fall.”

I knelt down and went through the motions of showing concern…..which I was…

But I definitely exaggerated. ‘Grand Archive’ already told me based on my knowledge of human physiology and physics

that she’d have a sore butt and that’s about it.

She gave a small sniff. It was very apparent that she was trying to fight back the tears.

“I-I’m fine!”

“That’s good to hear Miss, come let’s get you inside.”

I offered her my hand. To be honest it was a reflex reaction from when I was still Thomas…but whatever it’s fine.

…….or maybe not…….

Claura was staring at my hand as if it was the oddest thing and ‘Grand Archive’ was informing me she was showing tell-

tale signs of confusion and nervousness.

…….oh boy……….

I go to remove my hand, figuring that there was probably some rule against slaves touching their masters. However, Claura notices this and hurriedly latches on.

Meh, whatever.

I haul her up before bending back down to grab the sack of flour.

Oof…. Hmm?

For some reason I’m feeling tired all of the sudden….maybe it’s just the cold?

Whatever.

I turn to see Claura looking at the ground like usual. Her heart rate still seems to be perpetually rapid….she’s gonna die early if it stays like this.

However………her cheeks seem a bit flushed.

Odd……it’s probably from the cold…..wait…….

That can’t be right! ‘Grand Archive’ is telling me lies now!

I can only shake my head.

“Miss, would you like to head back?”

“Nnnn…”

……….’Grand Archive’ had better be wrong!

………………………………………………………..

It was another minute or so until we got back to the bakery, naturally we went through the side gate. The front door was for customers…..and also definitely not for me.

Once in the back yard, Claura and I rushed towards the kitchen. Both of us were eager for the warmth produced by the ovens.

When we entered, the first to greet us was my mother.

Her fiery-orange ears twitched happily as she smiled at the two of us.

“Hello young Miss, I hope your shopping went well?”

“y-yes.”

Much to my annoyance, I could tell her heartbeat slowed down significantly around my mother. I couldn’t fathom how the only people she wasn’t terrified of was my mother and her parents.

My mother then turned her attention to me.

“Kitling, I hope you assisted the young Miss properly?”

She asked this warmly, though ‘Grand Archive’ informed me that she was just a bit anxious…..I suppose that’s just how mothers were.

Ah yes, just to clarify once again ‘kitling’ was definitely not my name it is what describes me. Apparently slaves aren’t worthy of names and after a hundred years of slavery, parents won’t even secretly give their ‘kitlings’ names.

Now, I was about to respond to my mother. But before I could surprisingly….

“H-he helped! He s-saved me!”

……….Claura spoke for me.

Hmm…. Odd…..

My mother naturally reacted with a surprised and slightly worried expression at the word ‘saved’.

It was also at this time that the Baker himself came over.

“Claura, what happened?!”

He also gave me a stern look after asking her.

Jeez what’s that for, not like I did anything to her!

“W-well, the wind w-was really strong, s-so I slipped….but then he caught me!”

Thankfully she left out the part that it was actually the flour sack that had saved her. I stifled a yawn as I paid attention. For some reason I was getting progressively sleepier, and a headache was starting to form.

I grasped my head lightly after setting down the sack of flour. The Baker noticed.

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no Master…..I’m fine.”

He had a slightly perturbed expression on his face. But then again, that was always how it looked when facing me. I

suppose it was due to the fact that I was technically his brother’s son. The Baker wasn’t all that bad, I would even consider him a good person if not for the fact he chose to have slaves.

“Oh! And then guess what daddy!”

The Baker turned his gaze back to his daughter, his expression loosening in the process.

“What is it Claura?”

“Kitling suggested that we buy this stuff from the spice merchant! It’s called c-c…cok…cokolada!”

Uh oh…..

The Baker turned his gaze back to me, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Oh? And what do you think you’re doing? Spending your Master’s money on useless things!? That is a useless spice from

that Forest kingdom!”

Well….I really wouldn’t classify it as a spice….

I watched as the Baker’s hand began to raise for a smack, my muscle began to tense up.

“Please Master…..I’m sure he meant no harm.”

Ah, mom would stick up for me! But now I’m worried she’ll get hurt!

Now, he turned to glare at her.

“Yeah d-d-daddy! H-h-he was only t-t-trying to make you happy! H-h-he said you could make something tasty with it!”

Good! Claura is on my side! Thank you wind!

With her intervention, I could detect the Baker’s heartbeat returning to normal. He absentmindedly rubbed his hands on his apron as he turned back towards me.

“Just because something is tasty doesn’t mean my money should be wasted one it!”

Oops never mind, still a bit angry. But in this state, it was a good time to strike!

It was now or never, the path towards my freedom would be opened up now!

“It’s not just that it’s tasty Master! It could be used to make more money Master!”

“hrm?”

The Baker deepened his furrowed brow, whether in anger or confusion…even ‘Grand Archive’ was having difficulty determining.

“It’s a thing called a brownie! It’s sweet and brings out the flavor of the chocolate! I promise it will taste good!”

I have to go all out, confidence was key. Even if the other party holds a much higher position than you, as long as you still

seemed respectful it was best to present a front of overwhelming confidence. I should know, I had to wrest money out of the hands of the government back on earth.

“And?”

I now gave a small calculating smile. I could see as surprise began to show on the Baker’s face.

Of course he would be shocked. Who would expect a mere, uneducated child to show suck a face. But it was necessary to give my words more weight, so I risked it.

“The ingredients are all readily available in your shop, furthermore. The merchant selling the cokolada seemed absolutely relieved that the Miss bought some. Meaning, that no one else is!”

I now took a slight step forward, trying to appear larger than I am and give dramatic effect.

“This means that the rest of his stock could be bought relatively cheaply. Furthermore, since the cost of making the brownies is cheap but their flavor is absolutely luxurious….you can sell them for a lot and make a lot of money!”

‘Grand Archive’ told me that the Baker was at the very least persuaded. I had already previously known that the baker was constantly concerned about profit margins. Though due to his lack in education he really had difficulty calculating all of it, but a simple declaration that I could make him more money would definitely pique his interest.

“Prove it.”

YES!

Inside I jumped and shouted for joy. I was on the path to FFFRREEEEDDOOOMM!

…ugh…

…the headache was getting worse. Where are painkillers when you need them!

“Y-yes Master.”

Damn, the pain was making this difficult. What’s more ‘Grand Archive’ seemed to be fitzing out! I kept noticing that it was picking up and feeding me information on random things again!

Oh wait…maybe it’s because I’ve been repressing it……

I released my control on ‘Grand Archive’ and let it give me all the information it wanted. Fortunately the kitchen wasn’t

as….stimulating….as the market had been. However it only brought a small relief.

Damn… at least I can concentrate now.

I walked over to the table that was normally used for kneading dough and grabbed the cleanest looking bowl there and set it on in the place that the Baker normally uses to help dough rise right by the ovens.

Then I went to the sink. Yes, they have sinks in this world and with it the boon of any densely populated civilization…plumbing!

I pumped the handle to get the water flowing, and then I washed my hands. I knew the Baker was obsessive about cleanliness. It was also one of the reasons why his shop was frequented by people outside of this neighborhood.

Therefore, doing this should earn some bonus points.

I could practically feel the approving gaze from the Baker.

Anyways I then made my way to the back of the kitchen. There I finally set the sacks I had been carrying for the last time.

Then I grabbed a block of butter from the cold shed that was separated from the rest of the kitchen by a door. I also grabbed the vanilla extract and eggs.

Yes, oddly enough a medieval bakery had vanilla extract. It was used in the sweet breads that they made during special events.

After returning to the main part of the kitchen I portioned out some of the butter.

This was where ‘Grand Archive’ showed its usefulness. Even without proper measuring utensils, it could accurately tell me the amount I was using. It also provided me with the recipe my grandmother had used to make back on earth.

Ah, it truly was nice having this ability since it could perfectly recall everything from my memories and use it. It was like I was on NZT!

The piece of butter I had portioned out was put into the bowl that had been warming by the ovens. I then grabbed a pot and filled it with water before hanging it over the open fireplace near the ovens. This kitchen was also used to prepare our meals so it had all the tools needed to make food other than bread.

I stoked the fire under the pot and added more wood. I needed it to start simmering quickly.

Ah, yeah. At this time I should mention that despite the fact that there was magic in this world it wasn’t very wide spread in this kingdom. Furthermore, devices powered by magic were also expensive. The Baker had been relatively successful so he had been able to afford a singular magic oven.

It took magic from someone to use it though so it had to be powered up regularly by someone. I glanced over towards the magic oven and watched as its power source began to recharge it…..or should I say Claura….was the one charging.

Oddly enough she had more mana than her parents and so her role in the household was to keep the oven running so the Baker could produce high quality breads for his richer customers.

Right now the Baker was setting unbaked loaves in the magic oven. Obviously he had more important things to do other than watching me make something. However, he did frequently glance at what I was doing in suspicion.

By now the water had begun to simmer so I placed the bowl of melt butter over the pot and added salt and the cokolada. I had retrieved both from the back while I was waiting.

I stirred the ingredients together until they were well mixed then removed it from the pot. I took it outside to force it to cool quicker before bringing it back in and adding the eggs and vanilla extract.

By this time my mom had paused in her work of kneading more dough to watch what I was doing curiously.

I added the final ingredient of flour.

Now came the hard part…..finding something that was remotely close to a baking tray…..

In the end I ended up just taking two bread tins and spreading more butter inside to prevent sticking before filling them with the brownie mix….though not before having a taste. My eyes watered as the choclatey goodness spread over my mouth!

It was enough to beat back the headache that was growing worse with the passing minutes.

“Master, it’s ready to go in the oven. I recommend the magic oven since it’s….a delicate dish.”

“Hmmph, go ahead.”

I quickly opened the oven and placed the tins on the lower rack of the oven. It had a similar layout to ovens back on earth, though it was heated from a fire-type magic circle rather than a heating element and electricity.

“Now we wait for half an hour and it should be done.”

“Uh huh. Get back to work in the meantime, I won’t have you sitting on your hands and not earning your keep!”

“…Yes Master.”

Ugh…this headache was getting worse.

I began to sweep up the kitchen while the Baker and my mother continued to work. Claura stayed in there with us, when she’d normally be somewhere off in the main house.

Guess she must be interested in the brownies.

To amuse myself, I had ‘Grand Archive’ show a countdown timer in the corner of my vision so I had something to watch to mark the passage of time.

……………………………………………………………………..

“Master, It should be finished.”

I declared this as I took the two tins out of the oven and set them on the cooling rack amongst various loaves of bread that would soon be going out to the shop.

I paused to clutch my head. The headache was getting to the point where just walking hurt; it was even holding back the waves of drowsiness that were attacking me.

After a few minutes I cut into the brownies with a knife and offered a portion to the Baker. He stared at the brownie suspiciously….

…..that is….until he smelled it. Previously the smell had been masked by the scent of baking bread, but now that it was so close to his nose he could truly detect the brownie’s unique scent.

I watched as his eyes widened as he took the brownie I had offered in my hand.

….he then took a bite.

There was silence in the kitchen as both my mother and Claura stared at the Baker intently.

That is until Claura broke it…

“Daddyyy what does it taste like?!”

The only sound that left the Baker’s lips was… “mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!”

He quickly cut himself and Claura another portion. He greedily ate his as he offered a portion towards Claura who eagerly took it and began to eat it.

“….This is wonderful! This is so tastey!!!!”

Claura began exclaiming in ecstasy from the taste.

…well…..I suppose these medieval commoners would’ve never had the chance to try something such as this.

“Really? I’m glad, I’m sure that Ma---“

Huh? Why is my vision darkening?

Why is the ground so close?

“………….”

“KITLING!”

____________________________________________________________________________________________

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Hey guys! Shout out to Star3535 and Neva for reviewing and rating me! Thanks guys, I feel like I'm on the map with this fiction finally. Also just as a warning I've been feeling writers block coming on haha. So next week's chapter may be delayed.. :( but fear not! I will valiantly fight it off and if you guys need something to tide you over. I do have another fanfic on this site. It's one about Royalroad and may be worth checking out, I may even start writing it again! here's the link New Roads . Well then, until next week!