When I went through our daily ledger and accounts, I saw scary numbers. We sell stuff to establishments that I didn’t even know. And even though I didn’t have to add up exactly how much money we were getting – yeah, taxation works a bit differently here – I realized we were raking in a lot of money.

Now, looking at what could only be described as a citadel inside Amorium on Master Lakaris’s blueprints, I’m not sure that we are indeed so rich.

“We can’t afford that,” I tell the Goblin.

“We are taking a loan from the royal court,” Stan says steadily.

Even though our conversation clearly left a mark on him, he’s hiding it.

“How big of a loan? And is it at my name? Don’t we need guarantees?”

“I’m the guarantee,” I hear Princess Laura’s voice from the side.

Huh, that makes sense.

“So, do you have anything you want to add? I’m already more than happy with this. But I’ll satisfy whatever request you might have.”

I look at the Goblin with my lips pursed. Yeah, man, I bet that you are happy. Whether that is for the money or building such a thing—why wouldn’t you be?

“So, Stanimal, we are building a park?” I look at the back of the bakery.

“A miniaturized version of the Green Walk. We are going to plant our own products, especially coffee and cocoa. They are taking Amorium by storm. The Watch has placed big orders on coffee. Plus, Camilla and Flaminia are willing to buy chocolate in big batches. Already prepared chocolate, I mean. So, we will need a building for manufacturing the final product that will then be assembled by our own [Bakers] – or [Chocolatiers], a new class that has recently appeared in our midst. Our bakery will have multiple floors, and one of them will be entirely dedicated to this ‘fast-food’ idea of yours. The top floor, instead, will be the tallest restaurant in the city. Amorium has not been built vertically. Therefore, the entire Green Walk will be visible from there.”

The shape of the new bakery was a diamond, with a massive kitchen and an equally massive part for what I supposed would be either our new breakfast clients or the drunk adventurers at night.

“We would also set up outside booths,” Stan says.

“And what about the buildings around us?”

“Places to sleep for our employees and customers. We separate the sleeping and the eating areas as you once suggested.”

We are building a hotel. WOW.

“That will be complementary, not parallel,” Master Lakaris intercepts, “the lodgings will be divided, as per Stan’s order, into more and less luxurious parts. If you are dealing with the royal family, you will need suitable accommodation if they ever come to Amorium. And unless you want me to build a villa outside the city like every other noble, this is it.”

So, we are recreating a ‘Four Seasons’ kind of experience – putting common folks and nobles in the same space, just different rooms. I like this.

“Only the blueprints of the bakery and part of the park are finished. The rest is yet to be decided,” Lakaris calms down, getting back to his usual self.

When he speaks about architecture and future plans, he abandons his broody mood. Even his assistants look at him differently, with less reverence and more admiration. The two [Enchanters] that follow his side have the same admiration for me now. They did not forget their defeat at my hands when we competed in Cantrips.

While I eat my burger and Lakaris screams at me not to spill sauce on his blueprints, I momentarily disconnect my mind. Although I don’t usually do that on purpose, today is different. All these changes are sweeping up a part of my time, and I’m not sure that this is what I want anymore.

Will I be a great [Mage], or will I be a [Baker]?

And can I be both?

I don’t feel any anxiety when talking about wars, marriage, or great magic.

But now…

I need time. I need time to think about this. It’s true that I haven’t managed much of the bakery until now, but it’s also true that the bakery wasn’t that big. If we build this behemoth, won’t it need my presence?

And…

It’s not magic.

I love baking. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a kid. I had helped in my family’s restaurant, and I did my best to be good at it. I mean, not my best, but I have given it a good try.

Now, though.

Am I a [Baker]?

Do I even need to ask such a question when the world has answered it for me?

When I feel a spark of magic between my fingers, I feel alive. When Mana courses through my veins and brings the impossible to reality, that’s when I feel happy. It’s fun. Even when I suffer for it. Baking is something that happened to me. It was a casual encounter in my life.

But as I grow older, it’s time to ask:

Am I going to spend the rest of my life baking?

This is real life, not fiction. Therefore, I can’t just do everything that jumps in front of me. What happens if baking takes time away from things like saving Antoninus’s mother? I mean, it’s also true that I can’t consume myself trying to save every single person in this world now, can I?

God, it’s as if I went back to seven years ago. People would wonder what they would do in college and what kind of profession would best suit them. And that was the topic of discussion all the time. Sometimes, it also made me angry. I always found it pointless to discuss so much without actually doing something. People would say they wanted to be journalists without having even a simple blog article under their belts. Some would say they would become doctors but never did more than watch Gray’s Anatomy.

I never really said much. I said I wanted to chill, to take it easy.

But now, I wonder, was I wrong?

Was it a way to just avoid saying the same stupid stuff they did?

But at least I started doing something — baking. I got good at it, and now… now I realize I’ve never really cared about it. Not when I have magic.