The door to the Basilona Bakery opens with a bright cling. Yue’li steps in and is greeted with the smells she has come to expect from her home; sweet, creamy, and just a little stale.

Welcomed by the sight of an empty store, Yue’li tries to not let her mood be soured as she makes her way past the overflowing shelves and unoccupied tables.

It’s not going to always be like this, she comforts herself, slipping off her heavy cloak and hanging it by the door. If Elevena is right about the coffea, then we have a chance to turn this place around.

After their conversation about pursuing coffea - or 'coffee', as Elevena keeps calling it - they each took a few days to process what it might mean to start a business together. Putting the obvious monetary difficulties aside, Yue’li can’t help but feel it will take nothing short of a miracle to do everything Elevena has planned. Yet despite those doubts, Elevena seems to know exactly what needs to be done to make it work, and answers every one of Yue’li’s questions with complete confidence.

It’s almost like she’s done this before.

Yue’li unties the rope binding her tail to her back, sighing as relief floods through the limb. She stretches, giving the tail a good sweep from side to side, before making her way to the middle of the bakery floor. There, on the largest table in the store, Yue’li sets down all the snacks she received from Safir.

She counts six bags in total, including the coffea seeds.

The noises make Abetah look up from her spot behind the counter. “Yue’ling, dear,” she says, setting aside her paper. “I didn’t hear you come in.” She helps herself up from her armchair and comes over. As she does, her gaze falls onto the assortment of brown rucksacks piled on the table. “Is that all part of Elevena’s and your research?”

“Not all of them,” Yue’li replies sheepishly. “I went to see Mr. Safir.”

Abetah makes a disapproving sound. “I hope you paid him, Yue’ling. The kind dwarf has done more for us than he ever should have.”

“I know Beth,” Yue’li sighs. “I did. I even invited him to eat with us.”

“Oh, good.” Abetah starts to pick curiously through Yue’li’s rucksacks. “I should make some of those sweet rolls he likes, then.” She stops in front of the leather pouch. “And what ever could this be?”

“This is research,” Yue’li answers, taking out her dagger and making a cut in the pouch. The bakery fills with the sweet aroma of coffea. “Speaking of which, has Elevena come back from her exam yet?”

“She returned an hour ago,” Abetah says, humming as the smell hits her. “If there is ever a redeemable quality to those seeds of yours, Yue’ling, it is the heavenly fragrance.”

“Don’t get too used to it just yet,” Yue’li warns, taking off her waist pack and setting it down carefully on a nearby chair. “You might be smelling it a lot more come the near future.”

The door chimes. Yue’li turns to see Elevena walk in with a wicker basket full of dried clothing. When their eyes meet, the corners of Elevena’s lips twitch like she’s about to attempt another smile.

“Heya dragon-chan,” she says. “Welcome home.”

Yue’li grins wide enough for the both of them. “Same to you.” She bounds up to Elevena, barely able to stop her tail from wagging. “So how did the exam go?”

“Oh, you know.” Elevena hefts the basket through the front of the bakery, heading for the stairs. “They tested my physical strength, speed and endurance, all that normal stuff.” She slides past the counter and looks back at Yue’li, who is hanging onto her every word. “The written exam was easy too, thanks to your preparations.”

“You’re very welcome,” Yue’li replies, beaming. She can’t help herself then, and lets out a whoop that sends Abetah after them.

“Inside voices, Yue’ling.”

“Sorry,” Yue’li calls back as she follows Elevena up to the second floor, down the hall towards their rooms.

When it was agreed that Elevena was to stay at the bakery, they had to find somewhere for her to sleep. Yue’li offered to share her room but Elevena bluntly refused. "That's too intimate," was the girl's reason. So, that left only the storage space next to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The room is small, and even after spending the entire day cleaning it out, only a mattress and a bedside table could be fit inside it. This bothers Elevena none though, it seems, and so far it only means that whenever she and Yue'li want to spend any time together, they do it in Yue’li’s room.

“Are you ready for the attunement part of the test tomorrow?” Yue’li asks, watching Elevena tip the contents of the wicker basket over her bed, in the small bit of space allowed by all the stuffed animals. They start picking through the pile together, smoothing and folding away.

“If today is any indication,” Elevena says, “then I’m pretty sure I’ll ace it." The tunic in her hands transforms into a perfect square before Yue'li's eyes. "Not to sound overconfident or anything, but I’ve pretty much figured out how magic works in this world. You just need the right words, and those rubies do the work for you.”

“That’s… good.”

As usual, whenever Elevena says things that don’t make the most sense, Yue’li brushes it away with an acknowledgment. She’s had her suspicions on Elevena since their first meeting, and the more time they spend together, the more she is convinced Elevena isn’t really from Overlake but rather somewhere outside Gandolia. Perhaps the girl came from the Shaazaw Isles across the sea, or from the lands beyond the northern border. Either way, Yue’li is reluctant to confront Elevena about it, especially now that so much time has passed.

But if we're going to be working together, I have to know she is who she claims.

“I was thinking about something,” Yue’li says, folding the last of the laundry and placing it in one of the piles on the bed. "It's about your village."

Silence.

She turns to Elevena, who is staring off into the distance.

“Elevena?”

The girl looks back startled. “Sorry. I was… just zoning out.” She picks up one of the piles of folded clothes, “I’ll run these to Abetah’s room,” and then breezes out of the door before Yue’li can say anything else.

“I’ll wait for you downstairs then, I guess,” Yue’li says, not knowing if she’s even been heard.

As she makes her way back down, Yue’li ponders over the unfamiliar term, ‘Zoning out’ and what it may mean. She’s been hearing an increasing amount of them from Elevena these past few days, which just deepens her suspicion of the girl being from somewhere far away.

But why would anyone lie about where they come from? What is it that she wishes to hide?

“So,” Elevena says once she and Yue’li are at the table where the snacks are laid out. While they were upstairs, Abetah had poured everything out of their rucksacks and into bowls, and the sight of a buffet of snacks makes Yue’li feel like a little girl all over again.

“What was it you wanted to tell me?”

“Oh, that?” Yue’li swallows, feeling suddenly very nervous as she looks into Elevena’s blue eyes. Do I really have the right to accuse her of hiding her identity, when I've never shared mine?

“I was talking about coffea. And what you said about pioneering it.”

From the kitchen, Abetah is busy crushing a portion of the nuts Yue’li brought back, no doubt readying them to be used in the next batch of bread. The noise makes it hard to think about what to say next, so Yue'li just points at the bowl with the coffea seeds in it.

Elevena follows Yue’li’s finger. “You found more?” she asks, going over to have a look. “Nicely done!”

“They came from the Isles,” Yue’li says. “Across the sea.”

“Really,” Elevena lets out an impressed breath. “They must’ve cost a lot then.” She holds a seed to the light much the same way Yue’li had done in the market. And just like Yue’li, she also tosses one into her mouth to taste it.

“I got them off a friend,” Yue’li says, handing Elevena the cup of water she already prepared. “He used to make a living selling the treasures and weapons that he collected from his adventuring days, but he’s retired now and just sells whatever he comes across, more for the enjoyment than anything else, I think.”

Elevena takes a swallow of water. “Interesting.”

“The seeds?”

“Them too.” Elevena turns towards the bakery’s windows with that distant look in her eyes again.

Outside, the streets are lonely, the stone pavements lit up by sunlight with no shadows to break them.

Yue’li gasps. “I almost forgot.” She goes over to the chair with her waist bag and takes out the tiny sculpture of the insect. “I bought this for you.”

Elevena looks confused at first, but once she sees the insect her eyes double in size. “Wait, what’s this?”

“A sculpture,” Yue’li says, not knowing if Elevena is surprised or shocked. Or something else entirely. “I found a strange fella selling it in the market this morning.”

“This…” Elevena stares at the insect, her mouth hanging open. “This is a computer chip.”

“A compu… what?”

Elevena turns slowly towards Yue’li. “Where did you say this guy was?”

“The… the market,” Yue’li says hesitantly. She’s never seen Elevena look quite like this before. “Is something wrong? Do you not like it?”

“Are you kidding?” Elevena scoops Yue’li up and whirls in a dizzying circle. “This is amazing! I never thought I’d see anything like this again!”

Yue’li stumbles a little when Elevena sets her back down again. “I’m, afraid, I don’t really understand you,” she says, her head still spinning. “But I’m glad you like – hey where are you going?”

Elevena has one foot out the door when she turns back. “To the market,” she says, holding up the insect. “I need to find out where the merchant got this from.”

“You’re doing this now?” Yue’li asks. “What about your exam tomorrow? You should be making preparations.” She remembers then of her own failed attempts in the guild’s examination room, the humiliation of it.

“I’ll be fine,” Elevena promises, and then she's out the door. “It’s just an exam made by humans for humans. How difficult can it possibly be?”