Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 10 - Chapter 1.1

Side Story: A Certain Arrest 
April 3rd, 2045, Tenchi 
The island country known as Tenchi was located to the east of the continent. 
It was considered “different” even by Dendro country standards, but not due to its culture or appearance. 
The extra-fantastical Fairyland of Legendaria or the floating country of Granvaloa beat it out in that regard. 
Tenchi’s culture was a unique reflection of Azuchi-Momoyama or Edo Period Japan, but that wasn’t what made it stand out. 
It was the fact that it was in a state of constant civil war. 
The country had a de facto leader, the person with the job of “Conquest General,” but the feudal lords under him... the “daimyos”... constantly waged war on each other. In fact, you could say that even the Conquest General was just the daimyo with the greatest amount of land, as proven by the fact that his status could often be taken from him. 
In Tenchi, conflict and death were part of daily life. The reason for the constant civil war wasn’t clear. The separate parties had their own reasons, but the conflicts kept continuing in an endless chain, and as of yet, no one had united the entire island under a single flag. Even if most of the daimyo families were destroyed, the larger ones would split, increasing their number again and continuing the conflicts. 
They fought as though it was in their DNA. At this point, that was part of Tenchi’s identity as a country. Many of the Masters who learned about it would call it “the country of strife.” This aspect of the country was reflected in its people. The median level of Tenchi tian fighters was over 300. Being a country of conflict had made it a breeding ground for warriors far stronger than those from other countries. One of the reasons for this was surely the fact that tians were a better source of EXP than monsters. 
It was often said that history would’ve gone completely differently if Tenchi had stopped infighting and invaded the continent. But even now, after the explosive increase in Masters, Tenchi continued to be the land of strife. 
 
Three shadows were moving through a mountain forest in the northern reaches of Tenchi. They all had unique appearances. 
One was a blooming beauty akin to a squid. She had ten mechanical tentacles growing out of her back. She traveled by using them to reach for the ground and pull herself forward, and her speed was nothing to scoff at. The tight-fitting bodysuit she wore made her look like a sci-fi ninja. 
The second was a middle-aged man wearing apparel like that of a Japanese diviner, an onmyoji. He was sitting cross-legged on an ant as large as an elephant, which was moving as fast as the tentacled woman. With a marked Fu in hand, he whispered something under his breath. 
The third person was a young man in a coat that was clearly too big for him. There was a clear contrast between his apparel and his small stature. You’d expect him to have trouble walking, but that didn’t matter now, as he was being carried by one of the woman’s tentacles. Another thing notable about him was the Fu on his forehead, which made him look like a jiangshi from Huang He, but he was neither a jiangshi nor an undead. 
“Well, Winterbaum? Is that Fu doing its job?” the man on the ant asked the youth. 
“Yes. I don’t feel any motion sickness. Thank you, Mr. Eashtan,” replied the young man, Winterbaum. 
“Kyah kyah kyah!” the man on the ant laughed. “It’s just a Fu to ward against weak poison-type debuffs, but it does the job for motion sickness. You can’t ride Probe’s chains without it. I could let you ride my ant, but they throw off anyone they’re not used to. You don’t have to worry about that with her holding you, though. Right, Probe?” 
The woman clearly heard him, but didn’t respond. Some might think they were on bad terms, but that certainly wasn’t the case. This was just how they usually were. That was proven by what happened next... 
“BHOAAHHH!” 
“BHAAOHHH!” 
A pair of large, Demi-Dragon-tier boars jumped out on the path and attacked them. Without saying a word, Probe tore one of them apart with one of her tentacles. 
“This doesn’t look like pork I’d like to eat,” said Eashtan as three ants appeared from out of the ground and instantly reduced the other boar to bone. 
Still bound by the tentacle, Winterbaum could do nothing but watch. Unlike the other two, he was a newbie with stats that wouldn’t let him last a minute against those two boars. They were on a whole other level, both literally and figuratively. 
They’re amazing... So this is the power of Hokugen’in’s top fighters, huh? he thought, both tense and excited. 
“Hokugen’in” was the name of a particularly well-known daimyo family in Tenchi. They owned lots of land in the northern reaches of Tenchi and had a lot of strong fighters at their disposal, many of which were Masters. The best of the best among them were known as “The Hokugen’in Elite Four,” and they were feared and respected all across the already-dangerous country. 
The two people Winterbaum was accompanying were among those four. 
One was The Whip, Probe USA One the “Dismantler,” while the other was Onmyou Doctor, Eashtan the “Army Ant.” Both were extremely powerful pre-Superiors who’d made a name for themselves in both Tenchi’s duel and kill rankings. 
I’m so lucky, Winterbaum thought. Despite being just a newbie, he’d been invited to go on an official Hokugen’in quest alongside these two. 
It’s hard to refuse a request to party up with our top people. The reward is great, too, so it’s worth skipping college for this... I’ll have to apologize to them, though... 
Winterbaum — otherwise known as Reiji Mukudori’s fellow freshman, Alex Fuyuki — slowly nodded to himself. He did feel bad about skipping out on their agreement to scout out their course options together, but it was a sacrifice that had to be made. 
I hope I can make up for it with some lunch... 
“What’s wrong? You look like you got something on your mind,” said Eashtan, noticing the youth’s expression. 
Winterbaum didn’t want to lie to someone he respected. “Oh, I... I’m just thinking about college. I skipped it today...” 
Eashtan looked at him with worry. “Isn’t April an important time in Japanese colleges? Can you really do that?” 
“It’s just the first day, so I’m sure I can get it back...” 
Tokyo U was among the country’s best, but he didn’t want to believe that skipping a single day would be enough to ruin his college life. 
W-Well, this week is all about examining the courses, and lots of people change theirs after the first or second lecture, so I’ll be able to make up for this... right? 
His own words had made Winterbaum a bit worried, so he had to try and convince himself that it would be all right. 
“Funding education. Parent burden. Idle pleasure. Not good.” Probe spoke up for the first time. Her tone was strong, and she coupled it with a few light slaps on Winterbaum’s forehead. 
However, Winterbaum didn’t really understand her. Her words were too simple for him to process. 
“...What?” 
“‘Your parents paid for college, so you shouldn’t waste it by playing around,’” said Eashtan. “That’s how I interpret that, anyway.” 
“College life. Prioritize studies,” Probe added in a huff. 
“Right... I’m sorry,” Winterbaum apologized, now feeling down. “But class is about to end, anyway, so please let me keep questing.” 
Probe said nothing and just gave him a glare. 
“Hey, it’s fine,” Eashtan said. “It’s too late for that now. And he will be useful, right?” 
“...Reluctant agreement.” Probe still didn’t seem to think it was okay, but she did seem to see that she had to accept it, so she just continued carrying Winterbaum. 
“Well, just remember to prioritize your real life next time,” Eashtan said. 
“Okay...” Winterbaum felt bad for worrying them, but he was also curious about something. 
“Sorry to bring it up so late, but why does Probe speak in sentences of just two words?” 
“I don’t know myself,” said Eashtan. “We can still communicate just fine, so I don’t mind it.” 
“I see...” 
I guess there really are a lot of weirdos among the top players, he thought. It doesn’t bother me, though. 
“Oh!” Winterbaum exclaimed as he opened a map. “We’re close to the third village, you two!” 
“Mhm,” nodded Eashtan. “And what does your Horus show there?” 
“I’ll take a look,” he said as he reached into the crest on his left hand and took out a magnifying glass. He then held it over the map. Specifically, the aforementioned village. “Uhh... There’s a fight. Or more like, they’re being attacked.” 
Instead of simply magnifying the map, the lens displayed a bird’s eye view of the actual place it represented. Winterbaum’s Horus was an Embryo of farsight, based on the ancient Egyptian god said to have the sun and the moon for eyes. It created livestreams of distant places when simply held over maps. 
It had a flaw, it couldn’t see inside buildings, but that didn’t stop it from being extremely useful for reconnaissance. This was the very reason why a newbie like him was going on a quest alongside these two renowned Masters: the lens of Horus presented a clear scene of brigands attacking a village and its inhabitants struggling against them. 
“I expected this,” said Eashtan. “The first two villages were untouched, but this one is closer to the halfway point. Still, we’re on a quest to both bring the news and enforce order, so let’s hurry there.” 
“Pressing urgency,” Probe agreed. 
The two of them prepared to hurry over to the village, but then... 
“Hm...? What?” Eashtan suddenly placed the Fu in his hand against his ear. 
“Mr. Eashtan?” asked Winterbaum, but Eashtan just gestured for him to be quiet. 
A few seconds later... 
“Hmm... We don’t have to hurry anymore, you two,” Eashtan said as he not only slowed down, but changed direction. “Let’s go to the fourth village. We’ll just be late to this one.” 
“Demanding explanation,” said Probe. 
“We were too slow. He’s already there. There’s nothing for us to do there now.” 
“Eh?” Winterbaum looked at the village once again. The situation had completely changed, and it left him speechless and wide-eyed. 
“Dear me. Didn’t we set out on this quest before him? I can see why he and Saki are considered abnormal,” Eashtan grumbled. 
As for Probe... 
“Mist...” She whispered her first one-word sentence and looked at the mist at the foot of a nearby mountain. 
 
Tenchi was a land of strife. 
Because of this, it had the strongest tians on average, which in turn made it difficult for malicious Masters to commit crime. Even tians could beat them, after all. 
But there were exceptions... 
“TAKE IT AAAALL!” a man roared. “DON’T KILL THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN! WE’RE SELLIN’ ’EM OFF!” 
A certain mountain village was under attack by bandits. It wasn’t that special of a situation, but there were two strange things about it: all the bandits had crests on their left hands, and there were nearly no young men among the defending villages. The few elders tried fending them off with spears, but the power gap was evident. 
Watching his partners in crime round up the villagers, one of the bandit Masters spoke to their leader. “Big catch, huh, boss?” The boss had a large build and a fierce look about him. His apparel was as colorful as a kabuki performer’s, and on his hands, he wore gloves with the letters “B A N” engraved on them. 
His name was Gigamaru Gakido. He was the King of Grind — the Superior Job from the Boxer grouping’s Pound Boxer sub-grouping — as well as the leader of the “Sixth Realm’s Chaos” bandit clan, and the tenth in the highly competitive Tenchi duel scene. 
“Heh heh. Sure is,” he chuckled. “Looks like they sent all their fighters to Kurowa. Seems like they lost, too, so they ain’t comin’ back, either. Kheheheh. Perfect time to make a killin’.” 
A few days ago, the local daimyo family, Kurowa, had battled one of the neighboring daimyos. They’d suffered a decisive defeat, making them lose a lot of influence and land. 
This village was one of the places Kurowa had lost, but the victorious daimyo still hadn’t established his rule here. As a general rule, all daimyos in Tenchi ruled separately, and each had their own laws. 
Since this was no longer Kurowa land, Kurowa laws no longer applied, but since it wasn’t officially under the wing of the victorious daimyo yet, their laws didn’t apply, either. Basically, this was now an unprotected, lawless land. 
Sixth Realm Chaos had purposely attacked them at this exact time. 
This wasn’t their first time attacking tians. However, since their crimes hadn’t come to light yet, they weren’t on the wanted list yet. This was a major job, even for criminals like them. 
“No proper warriors guarding ’em, no laws or rights to protect ’em... We rarely get prey this good,” Gakido said, grinning. “But where’re we sellin’ ’em? Can’t do it in Tenchi, can we...?” 
“That’s nothin’ to worry about. We got in contact with a good slave trader recently, didn’t we? Said he’ll buy all the slaves we catch and handle all the shit surrounding ’em.” 
“Ohh? That sounds good. What was his name, again? Slipped my mind. La, Ree... Relacma?” 
“La Crima. He’s the one who told us about the war and where to find these villages. Also gave us some damn good accessories as a sign of friendship. A good guy, that one.” He pointed to his earring-shaped accessory. 
Gakido himself had better accessories, but these gifts were more than good enough for his underlings. 
“Ha ha ha! That’s great. It costs money to grow the clan and to hire smiths to make better gear for the duels, so we can’t miss out on tasty deals like this. You know what, I’ll give ya a better share for mediating.” 
“Heh heh. I knew you’d say that. You’re a nice guy, boss.” 
While they were having this conversation, the rest of the clan mostly finished rounding up the villagers. They were all sitting in the center of the village, bound in chains. Five of them, however, were seated separate from the rest. 
They were the prettier-looking women, girls, and boys, and they were bound in just shackles, rather than chains. 
“Hmm? Does this mean what I think it means?” Gakido asked. 
The clan members responded to his question with nothing but vile grins. 
“I’ll have the redhead. You do whatever you want with the rest,” Gakido said. 
“That’s our boss! You know what it’s all about!” Hollering, the bandits surrounded the girls and boys. 
Gakido himself reached for the red-haired woman he’d picked... but then realized that something wasn’t right. 
“...Mist?” he muttered. A dense mist had filled the village. 
There was a well here, but the kind of river that could form such a mist was a fair distance away. As they all wondered what was happening... an unfamiliar voice reached their ears. 
“Hmm... No good. No good at all,” the voice said. “The women and boys of the world have a beauty to them that changes with the passage of time. Violently tearing it while it’s still budding is truly a waste. After all... what’s a love-making without love?” 
The source of the voice was on the roof of one of the buildings. 
It was a muscle mountain of a man. Not in the unsightly sense, though. He was over two meters tall, and combined with the muscles, he created a very balanced-looking build. 
He had hair that was long, dark, and disorderly, and a beard that grew away from his face. Additionally, he wore skins that looked like they were freshly-torn from a baboon, and had a hatchet-like blade at his side. 
Judging by appearance alone, you would have assumed that he was from Gakido’s clan. 
“Who the hell are you?” Gakido demanded. 
The man reached for his side and took out a traditional Japanese smoking pipe before responding. 
“Me? I’m Bigman.” 
He then lit the pipe and began smoking it. It was a calm and casual act — which was in complete contrast to Gakido and his gang. After all, “Bigman” was a major name — a true big deal. 
“King of Brigands...” one of them trembled. 
“Bigman the Mountain-Splitter!” 
“The Superior that’s second in the kill rankings!” 
The man held the brigand grouping’s Superior Job, King of Brigands. “Mountain-Splitter” was a nickname, said to have been born when he’d cut a mountain in half. Obviously, he was a Superior. 
“You can’t be serious!” one of the brigands yelped. 
Tenchi had a number of Superiors. The top three in the duel rankings were among them, so Gakido — a duel ranker himself — knew their power well. 
But that wasn’t all. 
Bigman was... 
“So you’re all informed, huh? Guess I don’t have to introduce myself now. If you know that much, then you probably also know that... I’m a guest at Hokugen’in’s,” Bigman exhaled some smoke, mixing it with the mist before continuing. “This recently became Hokugen’in turf.” 
Indeed. The daimyo family that had fought Kuroha and conquered this land was the Hokugen’in. Thus, there could only be one reason why one of their Elite Four would come here. 
He took out a seal case and presented it to Sixth Realm Chaos. 
“Hokugen’in’s law’s in place now. In case it ain’t obvious, we can’t have our people taken into slavery.” 
“Gh...!” The words made the bandit clan grind their teeth in frustration, and the villagers cheer. The item Bigman had shown was proof that he represented the Hokugen’in family. 
Midorino Hokugen’in, the current head of the family, had taken the potential of such crime into consideration. Thus, he’d given his seals to some of his guest Masters and had them travel around to prevent it. Eashtan, Probe, and Bigman were among those chosen Masters. 
This was no longer lawless territory. Thanks to the edict, it was now under the law of Hokugen’in. 
“Blood has already been spilled,” Bigman continued. “But it’s my own fault for not making it in time. It would be wrong to judge you for simply adhering to the law of lawlessness.” 
Falling silent for a moment, he looked down upon the Sixth Realm Chaos. 
“But if you continue to act as criminals even after seeing this seal, you’ll all lose your heads and drop straight to the gaol.” 
His status as a Superior — one of the strongest Masters — made his words feel like a menacing growl. 
Looking at his awed gang, Gakido clicked his tongue. 
He’s not someone we can handle. 
Gakido didn’t believe that numbers gave him any sort of advantage. Battle-focused Superiors weren’t the kind of creatures that could be swarmed. Backing down was obviously the right choice here. 
But before he could tell his clan to retreat... 
“Ohhhh?” Bigman noticed a few of the clan members point their weapons at the bound villagers. The one he’d talked to before Bigman’s arrival was among them. 
“Wh-What the hell’re you doin’?! Put your weapons away!” Gakido shouted. However, the brigands said nothing in response and just swung their weapons at the villagers. 
A member with Telepathy Cuffs equipped tried to talk to him telepathically. “B-Boss! Something’s wrong! My body’s moving on its own and I can’t ta—!” 
His sentence was cut short by Bigman jumping off the roof and splitting the man in half before he could harm the villagers. 
“Looks like you’re all victims of possession... no... parasitism,” Bigman said. “I did hear that a worldwide criminal who has an Embryo like that had infiltrated Tenchi...” 
“Huhh...?” Gakido looked and noticed that most of the members had lost the earrings they’d been wearing. 
No... That wasn’t right. The earrings had crawled inside their bodies through their ear canals... like parasites. 
“Wh-What the hell?” Gakido didn’t know what was happening. 
However, the battle had already begun. The Sixth Realm Chaos had surrounded Bigman, weapons in hand. Albeit outnumbered, Bigman laughed. 
“Fwahahahah! Sorry, but I can’t tell which of you’ve got the things in ya, so I’ll just beat ya all. This and all the other stuff they find out about ya will probably put ya on the wanted list, so you just go and have a good time in the gaol.” 
“What?!” Gakido screamed. 
“Well, I guess it just goes to show that crime doesn’t pay.” Bigman swung his hatchet at the Sixth Realm Chaos members. 
Strange as it was, he easily chopped off the heads of those who were clearly outside of the hatchet’s reach. The sound of the blade rending the air and the spraying of blood resounded in the village. 
“FUCK!” At this point, Gakido resolved to fight the Superior. 
He had a chance against him. His Embryo, the gloves on his hands, had the power to defeat anyone in a single hit. It was an Embryo focused on that alone, and it would give him victory if he just landed a hit. 
“I’ll beat you and escape!” 
Taking the peekaboo block position from boxing, Gakido ran towards Bigman. 
“Grinding Shockfist!” 
As he closed the distance, he used the ultimate job skill of the King of Grind. 
“Pound Boxer” was a hybrid job fusing Boxer and Crasher, making it a job specialized in grinding trees and rocks with fists. 
Thus, the ultimate job skill of the King of Grind, the culmination of its grouping, was focused on destruction, as well. It created a shockwave in the shape of a fist that treated its targets as if they had 0 starting defense. 
It was a crushing, devastating attack that only registered defense from skills. As Gakido approached Bigman, he pulverized trees, rocks, buildings, and even his own clan members. Bigman, however, dodged it with light movements you’d never expect from someone so burly. 
Gakido, surrounded by the debris caused by his ultimate job skill, used that opening to approach Bigman and prepare to use his Embryo — his true ultimate skill. But then, to his shock, there was suddenly a lot of distance between them. 
“Ah...?!” 
It wasn’t that Bigman backed away. 
He’d simply moved the tip of his pipe over his shoulder and pointed it towards Gakido. 
Gakido was blown away by a smoking pipe as large as a pillar. Once airborne, he was completely at Bigman’s mercy. 
“Dewblade’s Touch — Brocken.” 
Following that ultimate skill, the hatchet sliced Gakido in two, giving him the death penalty. 
 
After beating Gakido, Bigman went on to get rid of the rest of his clan. 
“That takes care of that,” he said with satisfaction. “Now we’ve just gotta wait for the officials to arrive.” 
He removed the chains from the villagers, helped them bury their dead, and took a break. 
“Man, I feel like I’m dancing on someone’s palm. The real big bad here’s the guy with the parasite Embryo, but it doesn’t look like I can trace him from here.” 
Since they were no longer equipped, the members of the Sixth Realm Chaos had dropped the parasite earrings. However, the earrings had quickly blown up and dissolved into light, no doubt to destroy the evidence. 
“He was gathering slaves... No... That was just to bring us here so he could gauge us, clearly. It’s looking like we’ll end up fighting eventually. Man, the battles just don’t end here. Infinite Dendrogram sure is a restless place... Or is it just Tenchi? Ha ha ha ha ha.” 
Bigman laughed and looked at where he’d just fought the Sixth Realm Chaos. 
“Now, they’re obviously going to the gaol. It’s hard to cross the sea from Tenchi.” His words reminded him of the last of The Elite Four. “I wonder if Saki did it with that shabby raft.” 
There was a hint of worry in his tone. 
Unless you had save points in other countries, getting the death penalty in Tenchi while on the wanted list meant going straight to the gaol. 
The waters in the strait between Tenchi and the mainland were known to be extremely rough and full of powerful aquatic monsters. Crossing it alone was so extremely difficult that the only ones who succeeded were people like The Unsheath, Kashimiya. 
There was also the option to give up on the strait and take the long way through the ocean, but Tenchi was on bad terms with Granvaloa, who considered all the waters beyond Tenchi’s territorial waters to be their domain. This lack of insurance in case they were put on the wanted list was another reason why Masters in Tenchi were reluctant to commit crimes. 
“I hope Saki doesn’t cause too much trouble in Caldina or Huang He. Caldina’s ‘Blue Sky Songstress’ and Huang He’s ‘Fenghuang’ sound like the kind of people she couldn’t get along with...” 
Bigman was worried that his fellow Elite Four member would pick a fight with a foreign Superior and end up on a wanted list. 
“Even if that does happen, Hokugen’in has her back, so at least she wouldn’t lose all her save points and go to the gaol,” he thought out loud. “Speaking of that place...” 
Bigman looked up at the sky and thought of the mysterious place in an unknown location. 
“I wonder what kind of Superiors they have there. They must be pretty rough.” 
Martial artist that he was, he couldn’t help imagining the place full of powerful potential foes. 
It must be a war-torn hellhole that makes Tenchi pale in comparison... 
 
April 3rd, 2045, gaol, Bow Hunter, Gerbera 
On a Monday afternoon, I logged in to the gaol and found a note on the counter.

“Miss Gerbera,

I have business to attend to in real life and won’t be able to return until evening.

During my absence, the establishment will be closed, but feel free to eat whatever you find.”

It said that our clan leader wasn’t here right now. 
“That’s rare,” I muttered. 
He’d been online almost all the time every day since I’d come here a few days ago. I’d only ever seen him log out to eat or use the bathroom. He even went to bed here. 
“Ah. So April’s here even when he’s gone,” I added. He must’ve set her to stay around, even when he was offline. 
You could also do this with tamed monsters, but since they could be killed or stolen while the Master was away, it was rarely used. April was once again just sitting in her chair, eyes closed. That seemed to be her default whenever not working. 
“He said ‘eat whatever you find,’ but...” 
There actually wasn’t that much food here. 
There were some ingredients in the fridge-shaped inventory with time-stopping function, but the only things that could be eaten just like that were the bread, and the ham and veggies for sandwiches. 
“Going out to eat... isn’t a good idea, either,” I murmured. 
The food in the gaol honestly wasn’t very good, which was only obvious, since there were no tians here, and the Masters were all criminals. 
Masters who did nothing more than run a restaurant or something wouldn’t end up in a place like this. 
There were no proper cooks with the “Cooking” sense skill, so you only had back-alley cooks who tried to do what they could with their real life cooking skill. 
So yeah, the gaol lacked good food. 
At first, I’d thought that our leader’s café was successful because he was the King of Crime, but it turned out that his good coffee and tea-cakes played a big part in that. 
He was actually good at cooking. Still, there had been a time when he was making nothing but popcorn. 
“He’s not here... so I guess I’ll just have to make something myself,” I muttered. 
“Eh?” 
Did I just hear April make a sound I never heard from her before? I’m just imagining it, right? 
Shaking my head to clear it from the distraction, I said, “I can make a berry pie out of this stuff.” 
I would have liked to make something more proper, but sweets and pastries were all I could do. 
“Thinking of sweets reminds me of my life in Gideon,” I added nostalgically. 
They had tons of cafés and restaurants there. I’d always enjoyed lunch time back there. With all the places selling them, I hadn’t had to make any sweets myself. 
I wanna eat doughnuts from White Sugar Peach again, I thought longingly. 
“Anyway, it’s a pain, but I don’t wanna go through hell’s training on an empty stomach,” I decided. 
I prepared the cookware and ingredients, and made my first pie in a while. 
I remembered how to make it, so I just moved my hands based on my memory. I could feel the “hang of it” coming back to me. It reminded me of my days helping Mother make sweets. 

While I was busy, April had opened her eyes. 
“What?” I asked her. 
“...No-thing.” She was looking at me as though she was seeing something unbelievable. 
She’s a maid robot, so... did she notice something strange about my pie? Well, whatever. I’m making this for myself. If it’s not good, then it’s my own fault. 
Over two hours had passed before I was done. 
It had taken longer than expected. It wasn’t my lunch anymore, but a mid-afternoon snack. 
“Here goes...” I cut the freshly-baked berry pie, placed it on the plate, and began eating. 
It would be good both warm or cold, but I was hungry right now, so it was best to eat while it was still hot. 
Well... It was pretty good. It would’ve been better if I’d prepared for this, but it was makeshift, so this was probably the best I could have done. 
“I’m back,” our leader said as he suddenly logged in. 
Oh, you’re earlier than I expected. 
“Welcome back,” I said. 
“Oh...? What’s that?” 
“I baked a berry pie. Want some?” 
“...I might as well.” 
I took out a new plate and dished up some of my pie for him. 
Oh, I’ll also give him the candy art, I thought. Now that I think about it, I didn’t need it or the little peacock if I’m eating by myself. 
“Here I go...” he said as he took a bite. 
Ah. He fell silent, I thought. He didn’t like it? Is it because of the slime thing? But he’s human now, right? 
“I forgot to breathe,” he finally said. 
“Hm?” 
Breathe? You can survive without a head. Don’t talk like that matters to you. 
“Miss Gerbera, did you take Cook or Patissier jobs?” he asked. 
“No I didn’t. They weren’t in the training menu, were they?” 
“I see. That’s true. So this is all you. It’s like Shu...” 
What’s wrong with him today? He’s not the type to get lost in thought and mumble like that. 
“Miss Gerbera, could you please make some desserts for us to sell here?” he asked. 
“Sure, but it’s amateur work. Will that be fine?” 
I didn’t even have the Cooking skill. Could we really charge for the stuff I made? Then again, that wasn’t rare here in the gaol. Not even our leader had the skill. 
“...Yes, please,” he said. 
“Okay. I’ll make some in my spare time and put them in the fridge.” 
And so, I now had confectioning as part of my daily routine. Yup. That was my life now. Just another peaceful day in the gaol.