"My bread is too hard!"
In a small bakery called 'Wheat Tail' in the royal capital, former Sixth Princess Pavoria Reine is walking a new path in life. But her peaceful bakery is suddenly overrun by a cast of eccentrics. There's a wizard from the next town trying to save on food expenses, a former hero who can't read the menu despite legendary swordsmanship, and the castle's head maid who somehow gets mistaken for a customer. Every time someone asks Reine for softer bread, her kneading hands get
Pavoria Reine's Tomorrow: Which Way? - Glowing Bread and a Meddlesome Savior
The evening light dyed the cobblestones of Craftsman Street orange.
Inside "Wheat's Tail," silence hung heavy. In the showcase, seventeen hard loaves baked that morning sat in a row, unbought.
Reine was slumped over the counter.
Her golden hair had slipped free of its braid and fallen across her shoulders. Only the ribbon of her apron was tied in its usual perfect bow—everything else was a mess.
The ledger showed today's sales. Fifteen copper coins.
"[sad]...Only fifteen. That's all."
Her voice sank into the counter and vanished.
Yesterday, eighteen. The day before, twenty. Ever since Panifique started handing out free vouchers, the customers had been dwindling. The craftsmen who used to come first thing every morning—none of them showed up anymore.
(*At this rate, I won't even be able to buy flour.*)
Reine bit her lip. Hard enough to leave teeth marks.
—That was when it happened.
*Bam!*
The door burst open.
"[excited]Excuse me! Are you still open?!"
Reine looked up to find a girl with silver hair standing there. It was cut short to her shoulders, with two streaks of purple running through it. On her right cheek, three freckles formed a little triangle.
The pendant hanging from her neck flickered faintly—on, off, on, off.
"[surprised]Y-you're..."
"I'm Milphy Étoile! I'm on my way home from magic school, and I'm *starving*—"
Milphy glanced around the shop.
"[surprised]Huh? There's no one here?"
"[shy]Ah, well... yes."
Reine hurriedly straightened her back. She made a dimple appear on her left cheek and plastered on a smile.
"[gentle]It's just a coincidence today. Usually, we're much busier, you know?"
"[excited]Really! So you still have bread, right? Something cheap is fine—just something that'll fill me up!"
Milphy dashed over to the showcase. She pointed at the hard bread and tilted her head.
"This looks a little hard... is it good?"
"[serious]Yes. It's hard, but I guarantee the taste."
Reine took out one of the loaves and gently offered it.
"...This one's on the house. Please, try it if you'd like."
"[excited]Really?! Thank you!"
Milphy accepted the bread with both hands and bit into it with a wide mouth.
*Crunch.*
"[surprised]...Huh?"
Her eyes went round.
Another bite.
*Crunch crunch.*
"[excited]Oh, it's a little hard, but the flavor is really solid! The sweetness of the wheat is amazing!"
Milphy nodded enthusiastically as she chewed, her silver hair bouncing softly.
"[gentle]Hehe. Thank you."
Reine's smile became just a little bit real.
But then Milphy glanced around again and tilted her head.
"...Hey, you're not really getting many customers, are you?"
Reine's shoulders twitched.
"[shy]Th-that's not—"
"I heard an amazing bakery opened in the next town. Panifique? They have fluffy bread for cheap. So they're stealing all your customers, aren't they..."
Right on the mark.
Reine couldn't say anything. She looked down.
Milphy shoved the rest of the bread into her mouth, then clasped both hands in front of her chest.
"[excited]Alright! In that case, I'll use magic to make it fluffy for you!"
"[surprised]...What?"
"I'm an apprentice mage! I might not look it, but I'm good with household magic—oh, but my success rate is still only thirty percent!"
"[nervous]W-wait, please. I'm fine, really. I don't want to trouble you—"
"It's fine! It'll work out somehow!"
Milphy was already rolling up her sleeves.
Before Reine could stop her, Milphy rushed to the counter and held both hands over the bread shelf.
"[serious]Let's see... the spell to make things fluffy... *Mollifis Panis*!"
Milphy's palms glowed white.
But.
The next moment—
*Fwooosh!*
A flash of light burst forth.
"[scared]Eek!"
"[surprised]Huh?! No, that's the light magic one!"
Every single loaf on the shelf began to shine silver.
And not just them. All the way to the back of the workshop—the bags of flour, even Reine's apron—everything was enveloped in silver light.
"[surprised]So bright..."
The shop glittered like a church's stained-glass window. Silver light reflected off the walls, shadows dancing and flickering.
The two of them stared at the scene in silence for a moment.
"[scared]Oh no, I'm so sorry! The light magic went out of control!"
"[whispers]This is... incredible."
Reine blinked rapidly, looking at her own hands. Even her fingertips were shining silver.
—Just then.
*Clink-clank.*
The door opened.
"Hey, Miss Reine, you still open—"
It was Marco, the master plasterer. His work clothes were stained with sweat and cement. Behind him stood two of his fellow craftsmen, plus a woman who looked like a neighbor's wife.
The four of them froze, taking in the scene.
Silver-glowing bread. A shining showcase. A glittering Reine and a flustered Milphy.
"[scared]Wh-what the hell is this?!"
"It's a curse! The bread's been cursed!"
"[scared]Oh no, you'd catch some weird disease if you ate that!"
"W-wait, you've got it wrong! This is just a failed spell—"
Before Reine could finish, all four of them rushed for the exit at once.
"Sorry, Reine! We're gonna, uh, pass today after all—"
Marco started to say something, but then he looked at the glowing bread, went pale again, and fled.
*Slam.*
The door closed.
—Silence.
The shop was quiet again.
Only the silver light flickered and swayed.
"[crying]...I-I'm so sorry... the bread, it's all shiny..."
Tears welled up in Milphy's large purple eyes.
"[scared]I-it's my fault... even your last customers ran away...!"
Reine placed both hands on the counter.
Today's sales: fifteen copper coins.
If those four had bought something, she would have made at least twelve more. Even that was now zero.
(*Today's sales... are effectively zero.*)
Reine took a deep, deep breath.
And then—
"...Pfft."
"[surprised]...Huh?"
"Hehe... hehehehe."
Reine started laughing.
Clutching her stomach, still slumped over the counter, her shoulders shook with laughter.
"[laughing]Ahahaha! I can't help it—there's nothing left to do but laugh!"
"[confused]R-Reine? You're not... mad?"
"I *am* mad! Very! But more than that—the way those four ran out with those faces on them was just too—"
Reine wiped her tears and lifted her head. A dimple appeared on her left cheek.
"[laughing]A curse! They said glowing bread was a curse! That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me in my entire life!"
"[confused]...Y-yeah, I guess so. Ahaha..."
Milphy started laughing too, caught up in it.
"Ahaha! Sorry, I kinda overdid it!"
"[laughing]'Kinda' doesn't even begin to cover it!"
The two of them kept laughing for a while, there in the silver-glowing shop.
The light slowly faded over the course of about thirty minutes. What remained was just ordinary hard bread.
The same hard bread as always.
But it felt just a little warmer than before.
—
The next morning.
Reine woke while it was still dark and was in the workshop kneading bread dough. She'd only half-finished cleaning up after yesterday's chaos before steeling herself to begin the morning's preparations.
(*Today. Today, surely, the customers will come back.*)
She struck the dough with something close to a prayer.
—*Knock knock.*
The back door sounded.
"[surprised]Who could it be, this early in the morning?"
Reine wiped her flour-dusted hands on her apron and opened the door. Marco stood there.
"[serious]Reine, you got a minute?"
Marco's face was paler than usual. His hearty smile was gone. He looked like he had something hard to say, his gaze wandering restlessly.
"[gentle]Marco, I'm sorry about yesterday. That was a spell gone wrong—it wasn't a curse or anything—"
"[serious]That's not it. More importantly—take a look at this."
Marco pulled a slip of paper from his pocket.
It was a free bread voucher from Panifique. Unlike the ones before, there was a name written on the back.
*"To Master Marco—We eagerly await your visit."*
"[angry]It's by name. And I'm not the only one. That bastard Sein started handing out vouchers with every single guy from the worksite's name on them yesterday evening, right on the main street."
"[shocked]...What did you say?"
The strength drained from Reine's fingers.
"He's handing them out personally, one by one, to every familiar face in Forna. Saying stuff like, 'You're a regular at Wheat's Tail, right?'—bowing politely to each one as he gives them out, apparently."
Marco crushed the voucher in his fist. The sound of paper crumpling echoed through the quiet workshop.
"I turned him down. Said I didn't need it. But—the other guys took them. It's free, and it's that fluffy bread. Plus, your bread's hard, and after yesterday, with that glowing bread rumor going around—"
"[sad]...I see."
Reine tried to make a smile.
The dimple on her left cheek twitched.
"[gentle]You came all this way just to tell me. Thank you, Marco."
"[serious]...I like your bread. That hard bread of yours. So—"
Marco started to say something, but he didn't finish. He just turned his back.
"Well... hang in there."
Leaving only those words behind, Marco disappeared into the morning street.
—*Clack.*
The door closed.
Reine couldn't move for a moment.
Then she slowly returned to the workshop and picked up the bread dough.
*Squeeze.*
Without thinking, she clenched it tight in both hands. Dough oozed out between her fingers.
"[whispers]...Master is seriously trying to crush me."
Her voice trembled.
(*By name. To every single regular. The master who was always so kind... doing something this cruel.*)
A chill settled deep in her chest.
But more than that—
"[sad]It's all gone to zero."
Yesterday, zero sales when the glowing bread scared everyone off.
Today, regulars stolen away by name-targeted free vouchers.
Everything was hurtling straight toward zero.
Reine returned the dough to the bowl and clenched both hands into fists.
—*Clink-clank.*
The sound of the bell came from the shop front.
"[surprised]A customer...?"
Reine hurriedly poked her head out from the workshop.
There—
"[excited]Good morning!"
Milphy stood there.
Just like yesterday—silver hair with one side sticking up from bedhead. Purple streaks and freckles on her cheek. The pendant around her neck flickering on and off again today.
"[surprised]Milphy... what are you doing here?"
"[serious]I wanted to apologize for yesterday! And also—"
Milphy pulled a thick book out of the bag on her back.
"*Beginner's Household Magic: Advanced Edition*! I borrowed it from the library! I looked up the spell to make things fluffy properly, so today I'll definitely get it right!"
"[confused]...But, um, I've already finished today's prep—"
"It's fine! It'll work out somehow!"
Reine stared blankly at Milphy's smiling face.
Just moments ago, her head had been full of Sein's free vouchers. All her regulars stolen away, maybe it was all over—that was all she could think about.
But.
"[excited]This time, I won't use light magic—I'll use the proper 'fluffy spell'! I practiced earlier, so my success rate should be up to forty percent now!"
"...Thirty percent to forty percent isn't really that different, is it?"
"[surprised]Huh?! R-really? But it went up by a whole ten percent!"
"...Hehe."
Reine let out another small laugh.
Just like yesterday.
"[gentle]You really don't learn your lesson, do you, Milphy?"
"[excited]Ehehe, I get that a lot! Oh, but not in a bad way—I mean it like, I don't give up!"
Milphy laughed innocently and started flipping through the book.
"Let's see... first, hold your hands over the bread—huh, the pages are stuck together. They won't come apart..."
"[laughing]Ahaha... honestly, Milphy."
Reine's laughter rang through the morning workshop.
(*—It's been so long since I had a morning like this.*)
But.
Behind the smile, the cold reality hadn't gone away.
Sein had started handing out free vouchers.
Her regulars were being stolen, root and branch.
Wheat's Tail's reputation was further dam
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