'Tori, can you get me some bread for lunch?

After the busy morning hours, I was cleaning up in the dining hall when my mother asked me to do so.

'It's the usual Dusty's place, isn't it?

'Yes, bread, bread with a lot of fruits, and the rest as you see fit.

'Okay.'

I get eight coppers from my mother and leisurely walk out.

After breakfast, I'm lazy to do the dishes and clean my room, but today I'm exempt from doing so, thanks to my "otsukai" (a kind of "errand boy"). It's better to walk around the city at ease than to work at home.

I head south down the main street, feeling lucky to be able to skip work.

It's another beautiful day. The sky is clear and blue, not a cloud in the sky. Thanks to this, the houses along the boulevard are all hanging out their laundry with a pleasant look on their faces.

White shirts, sheets, and towels flutter in the wind instead of white clouds, giving a sense of peaceful life in the city.

The streets are a little calmer now, as it is after the peak hours for breakfast and work. The people walking along the streets are mostly housewives and children out for shopping, rather than travelers and men.

Looking around, there are elven parents and their children, a family of cat-eared beastmen, and a Dwarf man browsing a general store alone, perhaps on his day off.

It is a mysterious fantasy world where not only humans but also various other races are mixed together, but it is amazing that they can coexist without any noticeable problems.

We walk slowly along the street at a leisurely pace for a while. At the end of the main street, I arrived at the southern square and found a bakery facing the square.

This is the bakery where my friend Dusty works.

The walls are cream-colored, and the doors and roof are made of wood. The signboard reads "Le Barrier" in stylish letters.

Overall, the restaurant is warm and clean.

Looking in through the glass window, I saw a number of breads on the shelves, and a boy who looked like Dusty was just putting freshly made breads on the shelves.

He was dressed in a white cook's outfit and a black apron. That dusky blond hair is definitely Dusty.

Yeah, Dusty would be just fine. I should tell Dusty about the hamburger plan I talked about with Hurt and Carlo at the bathhouse the other night and ask him to join me.

With that decision made, I open the door to the restaurant and walk in.

Welcome--what's with Tori?

As soon as the bell rings, Dusty turns around and smiles at me, but then turns nonchalant as soon as he realizes I'm a customer.

I was surprised to see that his beaming smile suddenly turned into a wicked glare.

'Hey, I'm a customer here to buy something, don't you think that's a bad attitude?

I don't have a smile for you.

Well, I have the same attitude when Dusty, Hurt, or Carlo comes in.

I walk past Dusty, who begins silently arranging the bread, and go around the store, grabbing a tray and tongs.

There are many loaves of bread in baskets on the table. They were all beautifully baked and glistening in the warm light of the store.

And above all, the smell of wheat and butter. The smell of freshly baked bread is very soft and yet tantalizing.

As I excitedly put the breads on the line, Dusty unexpectedly opens his mouth.

'Bread for lunch again today?

'Yes, do you have any suggestions?'

'If it's the usual fruit thing, today it's the guy with blueberries and cranberries on top.'

Dusty knows what my family always likes to buy, so he gives me an answer based on my tastes.

I carefully place the round fruit bread on the tray with tongs, which Dusty pointed out to me.

'Okay, two of these for Mom and Letty, and ...... what do you want for the side dish bread?'

Mom and Lettie like sweet things, but Dad and I prefer more satisfying side dishes.

Today we are having empanadas. Carlo gave me some leftover meat and I filled them with it. They are crispy on the outside and have a sweet and spicy sauce on the inside.

Dusty turned around and showed me the tray in his arms, and there was a half-moon shaped bread that looked like a larger version of a dumpling.

The aroma of savory wheat and the faint smell of meat inside wafted through the air.

Oh, that looks delicious.

'Heh heh, I made it myself.

'Well, I'll take two of those, then.

Here you go.

I say this, and Dusty transfers them from the tray he is holding to my tray.

After that, I put a loaf of bread on the tray for everyone to eat and ask them to pay the bill.

'Uh, five coppers and seven coppers in all,' he says.

Can you stop saying 'ah' there? I'm a little worried that it's not really right.

It's a habit. I'm sure it's correct, so don't complain.

Dusty is right, the math is right, but there is something about it that worries me.

While I'm being aghast, Dusty is wrapping the bread in a rough paper bag with his expert hands.

'Oh, and be especially careful with the fruit ones so they don't fall apart,' he says.

Breads with fruits on them tend to lose their shape easily. I am the one who will get angry if I lose even a little bit of it while bringing it back home. I'll have to ask Dusty to wrap it carefully.

I know. See, I wrapped it properly so it won't fall apart.

'Thank you. Those two are the loudest.

I take the paper bag with the bread in it and almost leave, but I remember the hamburger.

'Oh, Dusty. You're free earlier this evening, right?

'Yeah, I'm free, but so what?'

'I'm cooking a new dish with Carlo and Hurt, would you like to join us Dusty? We're going to use bread for this dish, so we're going to need Dusty's help.

What kind of food?

Dusty, who had been looking a little confused when he heard we were going to use bread, now looks very interested.

It's a hamburger with some kind of meat or vegetables in between the bread.

'Hamburgers? I mean, isn't that just a sandwich?''

Ugh, I'm a little bitter when you say that. To be honest, I don't know the clear difference between the names "sandwich" and "hamburger".

Well, they are similar but slightly different. A hamburger is not made with bread or anything like that, but with round bread with less sweetness and saltiness, to bring out the harmony with the ingredients.

'Hmmm, is that so? Well, I'm interested in the bread dish Tori and her team are trying to make, so I'll go.

Well, it's not like Dusty won't be the only one, since me, Carlo and Hurt are already involved. If he doesn't come
It would be boring to be the only one left out.

Okay. I'll talk to Carlo and Hurt, too, and you can come to my lodge when you get settled down.

Oh, okay.

Thus, I left Dusty's store, invited Carlo and Hurt to join me, and returned to the inn.