It had been about two weeks since Elnet began working as a military studies instructor at the academy, and the calendar had turned from February to March. The cold had begun to soften, and the season was gradually showing signs of spring. Military studies had been added as a new subject at the academy. While it currently consisted only of basic training with wooden swords, and the intensity had not changed, the students, who had initially found it difficult, were gradually getting accustomed to it as there was nothing more demanded. Then, one day, this happened.
“This is the last of it. If the Duchy hadn’t done what it did, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Thank you for everything up until now.”
“We promised to make regular deliveries, and I apologize that we can no longer do so due to circumstances on our end.”
Kent apologized as he handed a box containing instant dry yeast to another bakery owner. The other bakeries had been obtaining instant dry yeast through Kent, who worked at Marie’s Bakery, and the bakeries operating in town using this yeast provided fluffy bread. However, with Kent’s terminal becoming unusable, obtaining instant dry yeast became impossible. Despite having some in stock in the warehouse behind the shop, they had finally run out. Marie’s Bakery could no longer use fresh yeast either, and the instant dry yeast that was supposed to be delivered to each bakery had been used to produce fluffy bread. Calculations indicated that today’s batch would be the last.
“It seems the last delivery is finished.”
“Yes, if we use what we’ve delivered, we should be able to continue selling for about a week. After that, I believe fluffy bread will disappear from this town.”
Marie spoke to Kent as he returned to the shop after finishing his deliveries.
“This shop will stop selling fluffy bread today. It’s a shame we have to go back to that flat bread, but it can’t be helped since we’ve been relying so much on you, Kent.”
They had informed the other bakeries through the Flour Union early on that instant dry yeast was no longer available. Although the source was unknown, all the bakeries seemed to vaguely understand that Marie’s Bakery was involved. Therefore, since the bakery owners who were members of the Flour Union all knew that the Duchy’s attack had dealt a severe blow to the shop, no one strongly objected to the unavailability of the yeast. Furthermore, to prevent the hoarding of fluffy bread, this matter was kept as a top secret within the Flour Union, and an agreement was reached to end the sale of fluffy bread at each store as soon as the ingredients ran out. Today, after completing the final deliveries to each store, other shops would be able to continue sales for about a week. However, Marie’s Bakery, with its limited remaining usable ingredients, was scheduled to end its fluffy bread sales today. Marie accepted this situation with resignation.
“Kent, it’s almost time for you to go to the academy. You can leave the shop to us and start getting ready.”
“Understood. Then I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Looking at the time, it was approaching the hour to head to the academy. Prompted by Marie, Kent began preparing to go.
“So this is the last of the fluffy bread, is it?”
“The ones sold at Marie’s Bakery, yes. Other bakeries will continue selling them for a little while longer.”
It was now lunchtime, and as usual, Kent, Josette, Caro, and Rachel were gathered behind the academy buildings, spending their lunch break. The other three were aware that ingredients for Marie’s Bakery were running out, and they could no longer make fluffy bread. Josette looked at the fluffy bread Kent had given her, a sad expression on her face.
“Fluffy bread is something precious that connected me and Kent. It’s very sad that it will be gone.”
Caro looked at the bread in her hand, recalling the first bread she received from Kent. Thanks to this bread, she had met Kent, and it had become a food with great sentimental value for her.
“Hey, hey, Older brother. I don’t know the details either, but couldn’t we make fluffy bread using natural yeast?”
“Natural yeast?”
Josette and Caro asked in surprise at Rachel’s unfamiliar words.
“You know, like in those isekai stories?”
“While it’s true that we might be able to make it with natural yeast, I don’t know how to make it. It was easy before because we could just conjure it with the terminal, but trying to make it from scratch without any knowledge would be quite difficult.”
“Ugh, that’s true.”
Even if they knew about natural yeast as a concept, without knowing how to make it, they couldn’t solve the problem immediately. It was easy to imagine that a long and arduous path awaited them to reach that point. Rachel, hearing Kent’s explanation, was left speechless.
“I’ve also heard that there are various types of natural yeast, and some can be made from apples or other fruits.”
“Kent, you have apples, don’t you? They can be harvested in Sumput, but I believe Al was growing them in your home garden.”
When one talks about natural yeast for bread making, there are several types. Kent tried to recall the basic ingredients based on his past memories. Suddenly, the thought of apples crossed his mind.
“Even if we have the ingredients, if we don’t know how to make it, our efforts might be in vain.”
“Apples can be harvested in large quantities in Sumput year-round, so I think it’s worth trying to research. I’ll help too, so why don’t we start from the next holiday?”
However, since Kent didn’t know how to make it, he was helpless even if he had the ingredients. In response, Caro made a proactive proposal to start researching natural yeast production.
“I agree with Caro’s opinion. Of course, I’ll help too.”
“Yeah. Let’s try researching it, even if it’s a long shot, Older brother.”
“Alright. Let’s start with the mindset that if it works out, it’s a bonus.”
Kent and his companions decided to start researching how to make natural yeast from the next holiday.
“Al, please take this to the shop.”
“Roger that. Huh? Is this a new product?”
“No, it’s not. It’s the bread that was originally sold at this shop.”
“I see. Well then, I’ll go put it on display.”
Meanwhile, at Marie’s Bakery, their stock of instant dry yeast had run out, and they had switched back to producing the flat bread they used to sell. Al was taking the first batch of baked bread to the customer-facing area of the shop.
“Oh, they have bread I know in this country too!”
“Marie-sama said it used to be sold at this shop.”
“Hmm, is that so? Well, soft bread is more delicious, but this is also delicious in its own way, and better than the Duchy’s flat bread!”
As Al brought the tray of freshly baked bread to the counter, Fuuko, noticing the bread that hadn’t been displayed before, came closer. She picked one up and put it in her mouth.
“You can’t eat the merchandise!”
“Shut up! Don’t buzz in my ear! This is a tasting, a tasting!”
Emily, noticing Fuuko eating a product for sale, hurried over to her and shouted in her ear. Due to the loud voice at such close range, Fuuko covered her ears and retorted.
“Emily, it’s okay because I’ll report to Master that I ate the merchandise.”
“Ah, Al, don’t do that! Reporting to Master as a Contract Fairy is the lowest of acts!”
“Fuuko is the one who ate it.”
“Ugh, I was just curious about the taste, so it can’t be helped!”
Al, who had been watching the exchange between Fuuko and Emily, told Fuuko that he would report it to Kent.
