Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 14
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 14
“Y-you would do that? Our house is also famous for delicious bread!”
“Rickshel, wouldn’t it be more rewarding if we helped with the work as well?”
“…That is an excellent idea.”
At Lion’s words, Rickshel realized something important.
‘I was so focused on my brother that I failed to properly consider the children’s situation.’
While my brother, even in poor health, had thought of others first…
I had merely offered a shallow, superficial kindness.
When I thought about it, wasn’t it truly a donation that was only good for appearances?
‘It’s an orphanage that struggles to make ends meet right now.’
Would a place like that have an abundance of ingredients for baking bread?
They probably have to scrimp on even salt and cheap oil, let alone butter or milk.
‘My brother must have realized that.’
He was truly remarkable.
The corner of Rickshel’s mouth subtly rose.
He didn’t know why the fact that Lion had already understood something he himself had missed felt so joyous and impressive.
‘Good.’
Of course, Lion hadn’t actually thought it through as deeply as Rickshel believed.
Good bread meant excellent ingredients, but it also meant the baker’s skill was outstanding, so wouldn’t the result be decent cooking?
That meant it would be delicious, and the people eating it would likely be satisfied.
If people were going to be happy anyway, wasn’t it better for many to be happy together?
“Then I shall prepare right away.”
Nicholas hurriedly vanished into the kitchen before the two brothers could change their minds.
In the meantime, Lion and Rickshel checked the items they had received as freebies from the shop earlier.
“There won’t be anything special. It’s not a place known for generous freebies.”
“Shall we see?”
Just as Rickshel said, it was full of miscellaneous junk, but one item caught the eye.
‘This is…’
[Artisan’s Repair Set]
-A fallen name tag, insoles… you can repair anything!
-Belonged to an artisan who realized the limits of their talent. Can repair items up to Artisan grade, but cannot repair Master-grade items.
‘Not bad.’
Scratched needles and stained thread.
It looked like nothing much, but when I checked with Expert’s Eye, it was a considerable item.
In terms of value, it was actually worth more than the hairpin I had paid full price for, but it seemed they hadn’t recognized it due to its worn state and had just thrown it in.
“As these are items I have no need for, I believe you may keep all of them, Brother.”
“Really? Something this good?”
“Yes. Though I wonder if you, too, will have much use for them.”
Rickshel looked at the Repair Set in Lion’s hands.
Though it was called a Repair Set, it looked like junk that probably couldn’t even handle a single proper basting stitch.
‘There’s no way he’d ever use something like that anyway.’
Eccentric as he might be, surely there was no reason for him to sew.
“Thank you. As a gift from you, I’ll treasure it and use it well.”
Lion answered quickly and packed it into his bag.
“You don’t think of it as a coming-of-age gift, do you?”
“It wasn’t? Where would you even get the money?”
“…”
“…”
Well, my brother was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
And he actually did pay for the earlier purchase.
Anyway.
The awkwardness was brief, as Nicholas, finished with his preparations, appeared again, this time wearing an apron.
“Please, come in.”
Inside, a clean kitchen awaited.
[Whole-Wheat Flour (★)]
The flour was there to begin with, and since it was a place that already made bread, the essential ingredients were ample.
Especially…
Lion looked at the greenish oil contained in a bottle.
[High-grade Olive Oil (★★)]
Two-star olive oil.
With this richly fragrant olive oil, flavor alone was practically guaranteed.
“Now, the bread we’re making today is a common basic bread. It’s easy to make but sufficiently delicious, and children love it.”
Likely judging that the two young masters couldn’t possibly have baked before, Nicholas brought out an easy recipe.
“First, let me make a small demonstration.”
Nicholas immediately gave a demonstration.
‘Simple.’
Faced with the simple recipe, Rickshel smiled confidently.
Take a fixed amount of flour, add an appropriate quantity of salt, yeast, and milk, knead it, place it in a container coated with olive oil, and let it undergo fermentation.
Then press firmly on the risen dough to remove air bubbles, add crushed sunflower seeds, and mix them in.
Compared to magic, wasn’t this a truly simple task?
“…Normally it’s better to do a second fermentation here, but since we’re short on time, we’ll stop at this stage.”
Having turned on the oven and started preheating it, Nicholas clapped his hands together.
“Now, would you like to try it up to this point first?”
Rickshel immediately put what he had seen into action.
He kneaded the dough, went through the fermentation process, and added the toppings.
Finally, putting the dough into the bread pan ended it.
It was a task that finished rather quickly.
However…
‘Is my brother still not ready?’
Rickshel looked at Lion.
He wore a serious expression, as if pondering something.
‘Well, I suppose it could be difficult.’
Just as people are good at different things, it might be hard for him.
“I think I need a bit more time.”
“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll bake your younger brother’s and mine first.”
The two put their dough in the oven to bake.
After a little time had passed, Lion, who seemed to have gotten the hang of it, belatedly started making his dough.
A savory scent that stimulated the appetite filled the air, mingled with a slightly sour, musty aroma.
The bread for the other two had finished baking first.
“Shall we see if they’ve baked well?”
Nicholas took out the bread…
“…Oh?”
There was a clear difference between the two loaves.
The top of Rickshel’s bread was slightly burnt.
“If you put in the dough too greedily, it burns like this.”
Saying that it could happen, Nicholas cut away the top with a bread knife.
“Now, shall we taste it?”
Alright. The taste will be fine.
Rickshel, without showing his embarrassment, took a bite of the bread.
The whole-wheat bread Nicholas made wasn’t as good as what they ate at the mansion, but it had its own charm.
The crust was chewy and the inside was moist and soft.
Perhaps because the salt brought out the savory flavor well, it wasn’t dull even when eaten alone.
On the other hand… the one he made himself.
“Hmm. It has… flavor!”
“I can tell there’s something there called flavor, but…”
It was hard.
The chewing was unpleasant enough to be bothersome.
Since that hit him first, savoring the taste became an afterthought.
If there was nothing else to eat, he would eat it…
But it was the kind of bread that made you ask: must I?
“Why? It seems I followed the recipe’s fixed quantities.”
As Rickshel muttered in incomprehension, Nicholas burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha. It seems the yeast and salt got mixed together a bit too much during kneading.”
He added by way of explanation that this made the bread itself firm.
“It’s your first time, so it can’t be helped. Still, it’s decent for a first attempt. Ah, it seems your bread is fully baked as well, Young Master. Let’s see… Hmm? Ohh, this one baked up quite nicely, didn’t it?”
Unlike Rickshel’s, Lion’s bread had baked up remarkably well.
There were no burnt parts, and it was as golden brown as the one Nicholas had made.
“Let’s see…”
With an expression mixed with anticipation, Nicholas carefully split the bread.
Shhk, shhk, shhk.
The pleasant, crispy sound of well-baked bread spread throughout the kitchen…
[Asteri-Made Whole-Wheat Bread (★)]
-A well-baked whole-wheat bread. Crisp and chewy on the outside, dense and soft on the inside.
-It would be good with jam spread on it, or even as a sandwich!
[Usage - Food]
[☞Must reach Apprentice Lv.3 to acquire this recipe.]
[Cooking Proficiency has reached Apprentice Lv.2.]
‘As expected.’
Because there were many good ingredients, I had inspected them carefully, and the result was good.
There were two things Nicholas hadn’t mentioned.
Separating the salt and yeast so they wouldn’t touch, and filling the dough a little lower than the bread pan.
To that, Lion added one more thing.
Right before baking, he lightly dusted flour on the surface of the bread and scored it.
This created a color contrast between the interior bread and the crust, making it look even more appetizing.
“Food that looks good tastes good too, you know. So I wanted to try it.”
Even if they were orphans living in an orphanage and needed food urgently, if they were making it anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to make it pretty?
[Aspiring Baker (1) progress toward completion: 1/100]
In any case, the small added details resulted in a one-star-rated bread.
And so an achievement appeared as well.
It seemed I’d complete it if I baked 99 more loaves like it.
‘I’ll have to raid the mansion kitchen later.’
While Lion was feeling satisfied…
“Good heavens!”
Nicholas was startled.
Not only had he produced delicious bread in a single attempt…
Wasn’t this young master’s kindheartedness simply too sweet?
He had been so taciturn up until now that I’d wondered if he was simply dragged along, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
‘I was a little suspicious when he first suggested baking bread…’
I thought, isn’t this just using donation as an excuse because he wanted to experience commoner life?
In fact, that thought lingered even while they baked.
But I decided that giving food to children who were starving while receiving donation money was more important.
So I willingly participated in this ‘play’ of baking bread together.
However.
‘That consideration for the people who will eat it…!’
It was a detail even Nicholas, preoccupied with gauging the two brothers’ reactions, had missed.
If God was watching this moment, he would certainly have been endlessly ashamed.
So I had to do my utmost to help, even now.
‘What is the best good deed I can do?’
Indeed, that method would be the best, wouldn’t it?
Having steeled his resolve, Nicholas opened his mouth.
“Young masters. Would you keep baking the bread for a moment? I feel I absolutely must go and visit somewhere.”
“Hmm? Ah, sure. You must have your own work; we’ve held you up too long.”
“Thank you. I’ll return as fast as I can!”
Nicholas spoke with considerable solemnity and then ran off somewhere, apron still on.
“He seems busy? Did we ask him to teach us how to bake for nothing?”
“…That’s not it, Brother.”
Feeling a sense of kinship with Nicholas, Rickshel murmured while kneading more dough.
“He clearly intends to be back quickly, so we’d better keep making it.”
“Hmm, if you say so, I suppose that’s how it is.”
With the time to bake at leisure, this was nice.
“I, too, shall dedicate myself further.”
Rickshel stated grimly and started pouring his heart and soul into making the bread.
Thus, until Nicholas returned, they repeated the cycle of kneading large batches of dough and putting them in the oven…
[Aspiring Baker (1) progress toward completion: 60/100]
Around the time they had enough for two loaves of bread per child.
Nicholas returned.
“I’m back, young masters!”
But he wasn’t alone.