Chương 71: Chapter 69: Lunchy Munchy Spelt-o (Nice!)

Turns out, people wait when the Duchess and her consort are running late, and Gelidia was much more resourceful than I thought anyone could be. While we'd been helping Sooty out and getting our little girl all clean and presentable, she'd gotten a message to our lunch companions, and they knew to the minute when we'd be arriving, it seemed.

"Hello, Emily!" Rosie cheered"Hello, Your Grace!" and quite unperturbed by rank or station, she gave us both a hug. Gelidia recieved it easily with a great big smile! As Rosie closed the hug around us, spectral flesh formed over her bones and she filled out in the daylight to take full shape, even to the unaided eye. Just while she was touching us, but I figured it was to save on mana, which cooks didn't probably have a ton of.

"Alfredo and Albert were called away - they'll be back soon enough." Rosie said, and Gelidia nodded. Then, my friend noticed my little girl and got to eye level, her lantern-light eyes otherworldly and strange.

"And you must be Rachael!" She said, and manifested again to smile at the little girl, her eyes becoming blank and ghostly, lit from within, but her expression was gentle.

"My name is Rosacia, but I've always preferred Rose, or... Rosie is fine too! Rose Pankko" the chef said. Riding her high from before, my Sooty was standing bravely at my side, her hand in mine, so she nodded at Rose and offered her palm, seemingly unworried about the fact the woman was undead, just as she had been more or less unworried about the ghoul nor the gate guard.

"Hello..." she said, voice a little tight. My Sooty went on, saying"M-my name is... is Rachael Sootpaw. Is... it okay if I also call you um... Rosie?" She asked, and Rose smiled, shaking the girl's hand.

"Of course you can, sweetie! Of course you can!" the chef said, voice soft and airy "Your mom is a friend of mine, and if you want, we can be friends too - are you hungry?" she asked, and Sooty nodded, the brim of her hat flopping as she did so.

"Yes ma'am!" My polite little pup said. It dawned on me how young she seemed. She was supposedly, according to her, fifteen or sixteen? But she was tiny, my Sootpaw, and seemed younger than that from how she acted. It was genuine - I somehow just knew. I was sure she wasn't playing with peoples' expectations of her or anything like that, or trying to look sweet at all, she was just being herself. I could have been wrong, but... then again, she was dying of malnourishment when I'd met her.

Maybe her growth was just stunted, Social and otherwise? YOU THINK TOO MUCH Wolf grumped Am I annoying you? NOT YOU SISTER Wolf sighed.

"Is she always like this?"

'No, I think she's nervous. We only just adopted Sooty yesterday.' Gelidia said coldly to the Mother, who was still taking up space inside me.

"Only yesterday? Blessed be, that's moving quickly." the Mother said, and... I realized how annoying this could get pretty quickly, having a running commentary in my brainpan.

"The girl has potential. I mean, she turned down the Crone already, did she tell you?" The Mother added like she was an old gossip. Gelidia, bless her, wanted next to no part in it.' I did know. She told us.' She said, in a way that brooked no discussion. Nothing could stop the Mother though, nor her pump-action chatter.

"This family certainly has a good deal of magic in it. I haven't appeared to the little mite yet, but there's a twist in the soul there, same as you, girl." She said, and... pet my Wolf across the head? Wolf moved away from her and curled up near me with a sigh.

"Hm. Telling, that." the goddess mused, and clapped her knees as she rose in a very midwestern US kind of way.

"Welp, I'll be off then." she said. I didn't get up in the mindscape, or look to see her off. I was irritated at her from earlier to start with and her commentary of me as if I wasn't there, it put me in no mood to be polite to this uninvited guest. She stood there a moment, clearly expecting something from me. I could feel her gaze on me. I was too nice to speak. Wolf was not. GO THEN Wolf said sharply. Her voice wasn't a growl, but it filled the world edge to edge. It wasn't loud, it was just...

emotion, thoughts in pure form that my head interpreted as words. She was annoyed, as I was, and it told. I couldn't just let it be, though, and I sighed a bit. It was interesting to meet you, Mother. I spoke simply, without taking my attention off of my little girl as she got a whole butter croissant nearly the size of her head all to herself. I smiled to see it - her face was clean, her eyes were bright, and she had such simple delight on her face as she sniffed the roll!

I smelled it to, it had some kind of meat in the pastry, and it smelled incredible! It seemed that Rosie knew well what kind of appetites teenagers had, and my little girl was no exception. I wouldn't mind if you came again. As I said this, I glanced back at the Mother to see her raise her eyebrows, in an 'oh?' kind of way. I have a lot of questions. She wasn't as important as what was in front of me, and I turned my gaze back to my child.

I could feel the Mother's smile, more of a genuine one than I'd seen before, on the back of my neck. She nodded once, and then she was gone.

'That one will be troublesome.' Gelidia sighed. I nodded a little bit and Wolf siiiighed expressively. A roll of my own was placed before me, and I was snapped out of my own thoughts. Much to Gelidia's surprise, she got one too! I inspected the pastry, and only then realized that Sooty hadn't tucked into hers just yet. She politely sat on her hands a bit and waited for everyone else to get served as well!

I smiled a little at that, and waited for Rosie to place three more down, and prepare a bowl of the stuff, into which she placed shredded bits of bread and the meat filling all together. I inspected my roll carefully while I waited; Sausage and Revenant Pastry Klobasniky, excellent quality, made by Rosacia Pankko Oh, it was revenant? That had to mean she'd used some of the hooch or some of the special yeast that Albertson made, right? Was that just a type of yeast now?

It smelled good, and I could definitely pick up the tart smell of the revenant hooch in it, so I figiured that was exactly what it was! I sank a couple points of mana into the Inspection out of curiosity! Sausage and Revenant Pastry Klobasniky, excellent quality, made by Rosacia Pankko Gives an extended buff to Health and Stamina, and Health and Stamina regeneration; Ghost Touch, Revenant Vitality Revenant vitality? What did that mean? It wasn't just Ghost Touch like what I'd made.

Gelidia leaned forward a little and breathed deep of its scent and seemed to shiver as she reached out and... touched it, felt that it was warm and fresh and smiled in delight. She'd eaten some of my braised venison and rice pilaf, but this? This was a delightful roll of meat and bread and flaky pastry! And it was BREAD! I forgot how much I missed bread! Rosie sat and smiled across from us as Sooty vibrated, and I found myself doing much the same! I was EAGER to get at my roll!

My little girl let out a soft, creaky, little breathy whine and I could see her swallow a bit to manage her saliva, but she held back from just attacking the thing. Gelidia waited with a great deal of poise and self-control, back arched a little as she sat on the edge of her seat. So we sat there, with the calm and collected cook, the vibrating pair of werewolves, and the countess who fidgeted with her skirt to distract herself, in relative quiet for what felt like an age of man.

An indeterminate amount of time later (maybe a couple minutes, maybe an hour, I had no way to tell when I was being so exquisitely tortured) Rosie spoke up Stolen novel; please report.

"Alfredo and Albertson are taking their time, aren't they?" I tried to feel out for them, pressing my senses out of my body and into the world around me probingly, lidding my eyes shut to do so. The first thing I saw of them was a familiar four-legged figure bounding about excitedly, back and forth as if impatient for the two men walking along and talking to each other. I couldn't help but listen in to their conversation.

"-tells me they should have the smithy up within the week. Until then, he'll simply have to make do without." Albert was saying"I believe a few people still in town have a toolmaking skill, I'm certain they could make a decent knife." Oh! I thought about the poisonstone knife I'd made, and the ceramic one as well, and smiled a little to myself.

"I suppose, I suppose. And until that is up, there is no way I'll be getting anything for doors or windows either, I suppose." Alfredo said sadly"I'm just happy to see the old smithy is more or less alright. I wonder if the line still smiths? That would be something. His grandfather made the Gehrman ancestral knife, you know. Be a shame if they stopped" he sighed wistfully.

"It would. All that Legacy! But, I suppose since that old dwarf stabilized, he'll keep improving, himself! He lost his Shieldmaiden core and seems happy as a dog with two tails now that he doesn't need to mess about with Leather. He'll be throwing things and complaining again about shitty copper in no time at all." Albertson went on.

"Are you just about ready to recieve visitors? I expect we shall have some." he said, oblivious to the way his dog Spelt stopped and started tilting his head this way and that, pawing the ground uncertainly.

"Couple weeks at most. Be a lot better when I can get some metal fixtures and things though. Ah- seems they've arrived." Alfredo chuckled. Albert blinked at the innkeeper, then at his dog, and chuckled. He raised his hand to knock to be let in, but Alfredo just opened the door without preamble, and Spelt scrambled his way past their legs to burst into the room! Sooty was distracted from staring soulfully at the Klobanisky before her to look at spelt, who stood stock still for a moment upon seeing her himself!

Then, Sooty unfroze and melted, slipping out of her chair with a delighted squeak of "Ohhhhh! Hello there!" and... a very canine motion that was a play bow of sorts! Gelidia made a face at that, kind of a confused 'wwwwhhhhaaat the heck is my little girl doing?!' sort of look, but I understood instantly as my understanding of canine took over and my little pup said HELLO WANNA BE FRIENDS? I'M NOT DANGEROUS!

Uncertainty faded from the bone-doggo's posture and he returned the bow in his way, noble little prince of doggos that he was, and said YES YES I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR FRIEND! and then, the two were bounding around on the floor, Sooty on hands and knees, Spelt bouncing with happy tippy taps before the girl scooped him up into a hug to get spooky doggie kisses and grunty squirms of delight as his tail waggled, making a noise like 'whup whuff whup whuff' as it bashed into the tablecloth! HELLO MY FRIEND!

THIS IS MY PUP. I said in canine, and Spelt, if it was possible, became even more excited! I got down a bit too, and shifted so I could kneel next to my little girl, and reached out to pet the bone doggo behind the ears, making him manifest a bit to do so. Gelidia gave a soft sigh and as she shook her head a bit, she smiled.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to take us as you find us" to a bemused trio of shopkeepers.

"It's no trouble!" Rosie said as I introduced the guardian Spelt to my little girl and visa versa.

"They can all speak to each other, right?" Alfredo asked curiously, watching the exchange. The Alderman nodded at that, smiling quite a bit himself.

"Oh yes, I've seen it. They can have whole conversations. I always thought ol' spelt was a clever boy, but it seems he's brighter than I gave him credit for." he commented. Spelt perked his ears as his Friend said his name and lolled out a spectral green tongue as he said I AM A GOOD BOY! YES YOU ARE! agreed Sooty and I, and we both fawned over him and gave him lots of pats as he happy tippytapped and nuzzled us. I was glad my little girl wasn't the least bit scared of the bonehound!

I had a feeling they'd be fast friends. Canine interlude completed, we both got back up as if nothing happened, and after being told sternly to wash our hands by not only Gelidia, but also by Rosie and Alfredo (Albertson just chuckled), I took my little girl to the sink and... found another of my sage soap bars! She watched the way I washed my hands, the way I rubbed the soap into my palms and then cleaned each finger, and between, then back and front and wrists, and... copied my motions with a curious look.

It was how my mother did it. She'd once showed me, with a UV lotion and a black light, how to wash my hands. The image of all that invisible crud on my fingers and knuckles had stuck with me all my life, so it was just how I did things. I wondered idly if they knew what black light was here, and if I could demonstrate that also? Once we were clean, we returned to find the others waiting for us as we'd waited for them.

As we tucked in, and as Spelt gromf-gromf-gromfed his way into his own bowl, nosing it about on the floor, we enjoyed Rose's cooking in relative quiet and contented peace until Alfredo spoke up at the last.

"My word that's good" he breathed, and Gelidia made an airy affirmative noise as she sat fully manifested, enjoying and taking her time over each bite.

"World yes... this is the best thing I've had since the fall!" Gelidia added. I didn't feel slighted in the least - it was so much better than what I'd cooked! But, then, Rosie was a Chef, not just some amateur like me - it was to be expected! Sooty tried to get a bit of meat with each bite of the bread, and her cheeks were warm with delight.

She'd started off with a big sliced bite from the roll, but now was taking her time over it, clearly enjoying the tart, sweet, buttery crust of the roll and the pungent, earthy taste of the well-cooked and aged sausages that accompanied the meal! Once she had a mouth clear for more than a moment, she spoke up"It's so tangy! That's really, really good! Is that lemon or rhubarb or something?" she asked politely, and Rosie smiled, clearing her mouth as well." No, it's the yeast and the hooch I used in the baking.

Revenant yeast is sort of tangy - a little undead in and of itself!" she explained, and my baby slowed her monch to blink at me. I nodded.

"It's good stuff - perfectly safe. I used some of that hooch in-" I began, but Sooty asked me a question"Sorry, hooch?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Mhm! It's an alchoholic byproduct of yeast when it starts to starve a bit. It's mostly water, but it's also a bit boozy." I explained. Sooty resumed eating and chewed thoughtfully with a hmmmmm!

"It is curiously warming, too. I feel... I feel like it is so much easier to manifest right now, do you think so?" Gelidia asked, and the three other undead who could speak a language everyone could understand nodded after trying to do so themselves. In short order, you could believe everyone sitting at the table was hale and healthy and fully alive, so long as you didn't look at their milky white eyes and very slight translucence.

"Yes indeed!" Albertson commented. Alfredo nodded around a mouthful, grunting and wiggling a piece of sausage at him in a 'thats what I was gonna say' sort of way. Rosie looked smug.

"Mmmmmhm! Revenant Vitality. Lasts for eight hours or so, makes it cost almost nothing to manifest yourself. And, if you don't, it makes your recovery rate skyrocket. It's the effect I'm getting from the yeast from rank C baking!" She explained "The Hooch gives ghost touch, which is a nice complement in both flavor profile and in effect, makes it dead easy to touch." Heh, dead easy"World's Will, I'd never have imagined something like this" Alfredo chuckled, and enjoyed another bite.

I felt something warm touch my hand and realized it was Gelidia. I simply turned my hand over and linked fingers with the Countess under the table as she broke off a piece of her sausage and held it up to my mouth, murmuring a soft'say aaaah'. Obediently, I did, and she pressed the morsel into my mouth. On impulse, I bit her finger a little and gazed at her adoringly, my nose wrinkling a little, and she smiled in delight, squeezing my hand.

"Want the rest, my Hound?" She asked, and I chuckled. I looked to the staring Sootpaw, and upnodded her.

"Split it with you?" I asked, and the kid beamed. Gelidia chuckled at that and tore the half of her huge roll she hadn't eaten into quarters and passed it to her two favorite wolfmaidens. Sharing a brain cell between us, Sooty and I eagerly snapped up the extra little portion of our lunch at about the same pace, to a chuckle from the table in general. Soon though, we'd all finished our portions and were sitting back, stuffed and contemplating food comas.

Even little Spelt, tummy bulging, laid across his Friend's feet, but he didn't have human reservations and was already beginning to doze a bit.

"Things are proceeding beautifully" the Alderman replied to a question about the town's status"The Burgermeister is burning the candle at both ends I think, and we're missing a few peripheral occupations in town here, but we have the basics. The biggest concern I'm getting is commerce, and hopefully, your Journey will settle that out neatly, your Grace" he said, nodding at Gelidia. She returned the nod, and smiled at him"I have high hopes." We'd finished our meal and then came the desert!

I'd never had what Rosie introduced as a pine pudding, but the table - including my pup - were delighted and I had to admit, the piney scent of it was pleasant and it had... gosh, it smelled like cinnamon and like some kind of berry? Nuts also? The first spoonful of it fell in love with my mouth. It was like rice pudding, with pine nuts and what turned out to be rasberries, sweetened with something that had to be honey. We had a lovely luncheon, the shopkeepers, Gelidia, Rachael, and I.

Rosie had take-away bags prepared for us, and sent Sooty and I each away with another of those Klobasniky rolls, saying "For our good Hound and her Pup to enjoy later" She explained, and got a hug from Sooty and I for the trouble. Spelt got some more attention before we departed from both Sooty and I, some pats and forehead kisses and tailwagging and spooky lickies. BYE FOR NOW FRIEND Sooty said, and rose to her feet.

Spelt bounced a bit and tippytapped his forepaws, bony claws click clicking on the wooden floor as he chuffed, fully manifested with his yummy meal giving him a food baby. YES-YES! FRIEND SOOTPAW AND FRIEND GOLDTAIL! And so, I liked fingers with Sooty, who carried our doggie bags, and with Gelidia, and we set off with Alfredo back toward the inn.