The chomp was more full of questions than he was of pie at this moment, which given his adventures of the last few days, meant he had a lot of questions. But it made sense to focus on the most important ones first. The rest - like the issue of where Poot was and what sort of disturbing magical powers Mistress Bao possessed - could be answered later.

So it was that he stepped out of the little entrance to the Hall into the big, bustling street outside. He had left Floof in a patoot stable nearby, where for a few slices of pie you could rent out a shelter for your patoot with enough food to last a day.

What a street it was! The true character and flavor of a city is always revealed in the microcosm of its streets, and Daifuku was no exception. It was so full of stalls and crowds of haggling chomps that there was hardly space to walk, but the chomp gently pushed bazaar goers aside and determinedly made his way through. He had to find out who the pie-magician was, and the answer was probably in the bakery two blocks away straight down the path he was traversing. Maybe this answer would solve everything, maybe this being was also the one responsible for the phenomenon of the restive cakes all over Cakelandia, or failing that, maybe they or it could lead him to who or what was.

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Maybe it would lead to a dead end.

He was shocked sharply out of his introspective mood by a loud shout to his right.

"Thieves! They stole my rice cakes!"

The chomp saw a couple of figures clad in black bounce on to the rooftops bordering the street, and a stall with its mochi toppled.