"Why these recipes?" Flaminia asks as we all take a short break. The shells are drying, and everyone is working on straining the faux sheep ricotta cheese.

"Well, two reasons," I begin, taking a sip of water. "First, these recipes are very special to me. They remind me of my mother. I want to share that warmth and happiness with all of you and with the people of Amorium: who knows, maybe some kid out there will start loving it the same way I did. The second reason is that they are unique. We want Happy Bakery to stand out, right? Introducing these pastries will make our place impossible to forget."

No one around me seems to fully grasp what I mean.

But it's okay. Branding courses and marketing aren't really as popular in the Middle Ages, I suppose. There are many business principles that pretty much became ubiquitous back on Earth, but that was the result of many years of evolution of different theories.

In our case, having a specific brand of pastries means that it's more likely for someone to remember exactly where they got that specific pastry. If you make lemon cakes in a place where everyone gets orange cakes, you are the lemon cake guy. And that makes you special.

As everyone continues working on their tasks, I take a moment to observe the progress.

"So now, use these," I say, focusing and activating [Advanced Mana Sense] and [Light Shaping].

I make around forty small cylinders of [Light].

"You need to roll the cannoli dough around these so we can fry them!"

…

"Another big difference between a full cassata and these," I say as I roll out the now chilled shortcrust pastry, "is that you only bake the sponge cake, not the whole thing. In this case, we will first fill them up and then briefly cook them in the oven."

"Aren't they going to break?" Flaminia frowns.

"Yes! That's why we need some molds for the oven. Just fetch some that are boob-sized," but as soon as I say that, I look at the bustiness that Flaminia has on display.

"Shoot, wait. Not Flaminia-sized," I look around, but Clodia is also in the super gifted department. "Er, this big," I clench my fist. "Human-fist-sized."

Flaminia blushes at that.

"Joey!"

"What? It's not my fault you girls are blessed like that," I give her a cheeky grin.

When I turn, though, I see Clodia clapping the huge wooden spoon of hers on her palm.

…

"Ouch," I say, massaging the back of my head.

Clodia didn't particularly like my remark.

Which is fair.

Plus, being beaten by her isn't as much of a punishment as she thinks it is. Now, if I could get a double beating by her and her girlfriend, Amelia…

"We fill them up like this, and that's it," I say. "You simply place the dough in the mold, put in the sugared cheese filling with some chocolate flakes, and that's all you need."

"Didn't you say that we would also start selling chocolate on its own?" Raissa asked curiously. "You said you had to explain…"

"Dammit. Right," I scratch my head, caught in a bit of a pickle. "The thing is… it's one thing to put chocolate in some filling and have it be part of a greater tasting experience. It's a whole other matter if you want to make stuff like chocolate bars. Because that means we need a much more reliable way of working the chocolate. And I don't think we currently have it."

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Raissa doesn't seem particularly put down by my answer, but I still feel the need to clarify.

"After I win the duel, we can start working with chocolate."

A cloud of worry goes through everyone's head as soon as I mention the duel.

"Oh, come on. Don't worry. I'm either going to die in training or win the duel. Really. You can double-check that with a truth-stone if you want."

Flaminia's eyes widen.

"Die in training? What are you going to do?! Joey, you can simply yield during a Military Duel! Please, don't die!"

"Yo, chill," I say, raising my hands. "I have zero intentions of dying, Flam."

I see the pink-haired [Chef] shooting me a truly worried look before sighing and nodding in response.

"Well, let's get back to work," I wink at her.

…

I kind of disassociate a little when my team starts glazing the cassatine. They got cooked with no problems. The cannoli shell got fried. And… that's it.

The storm has been weathered. But the calm upsets you after going through your first storm because you know there are countless other storms waiting for you every time you leave the safe port.

It feels almost like I am halfway through the shore, just a few steps off my ship that would bring me to the rest of the people here—they are already stomping on the sand, laughing, thanking God that they have managed to land safely.

Me?

I have to look back at the gathering of black clouds in the distance.

I suppose this is what I saw in front of me as a child – the reason not to become a doctor.

As soon as I make sure that they are done, my soul has to pull out the oars again and paddle on my own. I understand it's not the end of the world; but it does feel terrible.

I don't want to leave.

I know that they need me.

But the ship slowly bobs away on the waves, dragging me back toward the storm.

"Chef," Tiberius shows me some glazed cassatine.

"Perfect," I smile. "But don't forget the nipple. Get a cherry or something red to put on top of it. A touch of red on a completely white cake is very eye-catching. Also, you'll need to get cleaner sugar for this or color the glaze white. Otherwise, it'll look too yellow."

But that's not my problem, is it?

"Well, guys, this has been fun," I say to everyone.

I don't want to leave.

"But I guess I gotta go. I'll eat something first, though."

"Chef," Quintus says after getting Tiberius's elbow in his ribs.

"Yes?"

The two ex-[Soldiers] exchange a glance.

"We have made something for you," Tiberius suddenly said.

"We were practicing, but since you are off to train, we wanted to show it to you," Quintus clarified.

"Alright?"

"Just wait," Tiberius says as Quintus goes to where we keep most of the already-made cakes.

He comes back with a fluffy, yellow composition.

"Is that…" I open my mouth and can't force any more words through it.

"This is a meemosa," Quintus nods. "We memorized the recipe you explained when you were teaching us about puff pastry."

I look in absolute wonder at the small, puffy pieces of sponge cake that decorate the exterior of the cake.

"A Mimosa… And you did this just from the way I described the recipe?"

Now, don't get me wrong, the outside of the cake could definitely use some improvement, but these two have only used my descriptions to make it. I haven't shown them anything about how you would go about baking it.

"Do you mind?" I ask, pointing at the cake and taking it from Quintus's hands to look at it from all sides.

"This is…"

The structure could have been more even, and I can already see they haven't used enough filling between the layers. The outside, too, is clearly too dry. There's an overall lack of cream.

I stick a finger between the flakes that are meant to mimic the eponymous flower. Yep. Too dry.

But you know what? It's normal. And if they can do this from just a few words…

"You guys did a wonderful job. Keep practicing and try to refine it on your own. I don't want to say anything about this. How about we just eat it?"

…

In the breakroom, everyone is sharing a slice of the cake Tiberius and Quintus made after tasting the cassatine and the cannoli. They loved them, obviously, but my head was somewhere else.

Still, the mimosa is pretty good, all considered.

"Where my parents come from, the flower that inspired this cake is something you gift to women on a special day. Happy Bakery could start something similar," I explain. "Holidays are the best business you can hope for. Well, holidays and parties. Foot traffic and individual orders can only go so far. Oh, by the way, are we catering the Valerii party?"

"What?" Clodia asks, confused.

"Who's providing all the cakes and pastries for them?"

"They own [Chefs]?" Clodia frowns.

"Pff. Send them a letter and say we are willing to cater the pastries and cakes. And that we will reveal a special recipe specifically for the party. Charge five times what you normally would so that they will think we have something insane to show. Don't have them lowball the price. If they don't accept, just walk away."

I have experience dealing with celebrities and extremely rich people in the city. While I don't involve myself in contracts and paperwork, I have conducted several negotiations. And when you have a unique product, you set the rules. I can proudly say I have absolutely fleeced many super-rich people in the past.

The conversation goes on for a while, with me explaining a few business tactics to Clodia.

At some point, though, I tell them that the time has come for me…

"I need to go."

I really need to have a chat with Irene before disappearing.

"Joey," Flaminia suddenly says, "I need to talk to you first. Can we step out?"