Severin was finally done with his work inside the kitchen and headed for the door. But even the cluster of dots showing up on his minimap wasn’t enough to sufficiently prepare him for the chaos that awaited him outside.

Originally, the plan had been to join Samuel. In reality, however, when he spotted the Berserker who seemed more composed right now than most of the other people around Severin, he didn’t appear all that approachable. Even when standing a bit further away from the crowd, the noise was apparently still enough to make him gesticulate wildly as he was trying to communicate with Markus and Mylana. Seeing the group of veterans pointing and staring at their bowls of salad with serious expressions on their face amused Severin very much, but at the same time kept him from approaching them.

Still. Even though he had a good idea, Severin still didn’t know with certainty what kind of buff the salad actually provided; an oversight he could only blame himself for. But he wanted to know. Now.

For a moment, he considered taking the initiative and approach one of the many smaller groups. He could either try to listen in from the side or, if that didn’t manage to provide any satisfying results, he might try to directly draw attention to himself by announcing that their bread was ready to be picked up. Then he could take things from there.

But he quickly thought better of it. Even if he disregarded the fact that the adventurers didn’t seem all that interested in anything other than their salads, drawing any kind of attention right now probably wouldn’t be too smart.

‘I might have to postpone this and better get out of the way as soon as possible. If I want to stay safe, that is.’ Severin regretfully laughed to himself. Being caught up in the middle of those adventurers once they decided they needed seconds or thirds was definitely something he wanted to avoid. That was especially true if one considered the few adventurers who had either missed to make their orders in time, or those that only ordered a single bowl instead of two.

Though not all too hurried, he began making his way over in the direction of the main store. While doing so, he still tried to keep his ears open, but it was difficult for him to isolate any individual voice and make out any specifics.

Nevertheless, some of the snippets that reached him caught his attention. He slowed down his steps as he realized that their words seemed to confirm his previous conjecture. Mostly.

“… for us casters! ... previously… oils… melee only…”

“Still… benefits… as well…”

“… smaller degree… wasted on you bunch!”

“Better give it to us instead!”

“… if you dare?!”

“My damage will…”

“… faster than…”

“My casts are…”

‘Benefits them as well?’ That was the one thing Severin was most interested in. He looked at the person he suspected of saying these words.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

‘Some kind of archer. Or maybe it was the dagger wielding woman next to her. But it was one of the two. Has to be. And they’re most certainly no mages.’

Realizing that more and more of the surrounding conversations slowly started to shift away from discussing the actual dish and its effects, Severin hastened his steps again.

When he almost reached the store, a last handful of stragglers came through the door, hurrying to meet up with their guildmates. Each of them was carrying one or two loaves of bread under their arms, but as predicted, they didn’t pay any further notice to these consumables that previously were the cause for all kinds of friendly quarrels and disputes.

“Severin!” Then a voice suddenly reached him from behind. “There you are!”

“Krey!” Severin understood immediately. The Adventurer’s Society’s representative was a bit of an outsider among these people. Therefore, while his initial reaction wasn’t any less compared to that of those adventurers affiliated with the Eagles, he wasn’t nearly as occupied and oblivious to his surroundings. In fact, with his subordinates gone, he simply didn’t have anyone to share his excitement with and was only looking for an opportunity to do so.

“You never cease to amaze me, you know!? Any food being able to produce buffs is already rare enough as is. Any useful buffs, I mean. Not talking about the ones which only offer some miniscule stat increases. Leave those things to the classless. When I saw these breads of yours… to think that was only the beginning.” He shook his head, still in disbelief. Not much was left of the stoic impression he had made on Severin when he first arrived.

“As far as I’m aware, any buff, no matter how small, that increases a person’s Action Speed pretty much always comes from one of those potions. The one's crafted by the highest level [Alchemists]. And even then, they are so unaffordable that they are mostly reserved for wartime. No chance for any ordinary guild to ever lay their hands on something like this. Much less a single individual. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if even our Society only had a few dozen or so available!”

‘So, it’s like this! Action Speed! Not just simply Cast Speed. Though if I’m not mistaken, those should largely be the same thing, as a majority of non-casting abilities tend to be instant, anyway.’ Severin finally came to a realization. There was a difference between the two provided buffs, but they were very much related to one another.

“Admittedly, the buff’s potency isn’t quite there yet, but it still tops those skill-specific enchants that cost you half a fortune.” Without giving Severin any time to reply, Krey excitedly rambled on. In the end, however, he appeared somewhat dejected as he concluded, “too bad that stuff is bound to expire even faster than the bread. Makes it virtually impossible to be used anywhere that exceeds a few days’ distance from here. A real pity.” While Krey said these words, and probably even meant them to some degree, in reality he wasn’t all that troubled by that caveat; he knew that this kind of effect, and available at such a price point, might most likely spell trouble.

As if reading these thoughts and then disregarding them, Emily suddenly appeared next to Severin.

It wasn’t yet closing time, but since they were standing directly in front of the now empty store, Severin didn’t mind her leaving the counter. What he did mind was something else.

“That’s soo tasty, boss! I’ve never tasted anything like it! Will you make more of it in the future? That’s what the new recipe is for, right?” the girl asked with a full mouth while holding something that drew Krey’s attention.”