After leaving the inn, Kalyse began to stroll around the area. She had cast a type of magic that reduced her presence, so even though she was walking along the street, no one paid any attention to her.
"Hmph. I could clearly sense a connection to that egg last night, but now it's almost completely gone. Should I go check on it right away?"
She rubbed her chin, then shook her head.
"There's something I want to verify first."
She started observing the people around her more carefully. Everyone seemed busy with their own affairs. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, yet Kalyse keenly noticed an issue.
"I still can't draw a conclusion."
She continued walking, observing as she went, not missing a single person.
Then suddenly, her gaze was drawn to a certain place. Her feet moved toward it instinctively.
"Oh? Miss, would you like to buy something?" the shopkeeper asked warmly.
"Huh?" Only then did Kalyse realize she had walked straight up to a pastry shop. A rich, enticing aroma drifted out from inside.
She swallowed dryly, and an intense internal struggle began in her mind.
The shopkeeper waited patiently, having noticed the fervent look in Kalyse's eyes.
Finally, after several minutes of silence, she gave in to herself.
"I'll take everything in this shop," she said confidently, as if it were nothing.
"Oh my, you want to buy everything? Can you finish it all by yourself? Or is it for your family?" The shopkeeper was somewhat shocked by her words, but he kept a friendly demeanor, assuming she was joking.
"Don't ask so much. Just bring everything out for me."
"…Well…"
Sensing the shopkeeper's hesitation, Kalyse reached into her storage space, intending to take out a gold coin—but then suddenly remembered what Liora had said. She switched instead to taking out a large number of silver coins.
"What a waste of time." She complained.
"This should be enough, right?" She asked after pulling out hundreds of silver coins.
Faced with a mountain of money, the shopkeeper was left speechless. Even passersby stopped in their tracks, stunned by the sight.
"Enough—more than enough. Please wait a moment. I'll have everything packed up right away."
Kalyse nodded in satisfaction and waited like a queen, while the pastry shop staff hurriedly worked for her.
After quite some time, everything was ready. The shopkeeper offered to help deliver the pastries, but Kalyse declined. She enveloped the entire pile of pastries with mana, lifted them up, and carried them away as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Even with presence-suppressing magic, no one could possibly ignore her when she walked down the street with a mountain of pastries beside her.
By the time she returned to the inn, the crowd had thinned considerably—but the towering pile of pastries certainly had not. It stood there, massive and overwhelmingly fragrant, making everyone who passed by turn their heads two or three times.
Liora, who was carrying a tray of food, nearly dropped it when she saw the scene.
"Y–you… where did you get all that…? Don't tell me you robbed a bakery?" she asked nervously.
Kalyse showed no reaction to Liora's shock. She calmly walked into the inn, letting the mountain of pastries settle gently into a corner of the room—an elegance completely at odds with its size.
"Do you really think I'd need to rob a shop just for a few pastries?" Kalyse asked.
"Ah… I forgot—but even so, you didn't need to buy this much. Can you really eat it all?"
"That's none of your concern. Where's my food?"
"Y–you bought that many pastries and you still want to eat more?" Liora asked in disbelief.
"Don't worry. As long as I pay enough, there's no problem." Kalyse said, summoning another pile of silver coins.
"Alright, alright. You don't need that much. I'll bring the food up right away," Liora said, then hurried off.
When the dishes were served, Kalyse ate rapidly. A table of food that would normally take three people to finish was completely devoured by her alone. Both her speed and appetite left everyone astonished.
"Eating isn't such a bad feeling," she evaluated calmly.
After finishing all the dishes, she turned her attention to the pile of pastries.
"Y–you can still eat more?" Liora asked, busy as she was, still keeping an eye on Kalyse.
"It's just a few pastries. What's the big deal? Oh, right—do you have alcohol here? Bring that out too."
That request gave Liora another headache. "Y–you're… drinking alcohol with pastries?" she stammered.
"Is there a problem?" Kalyse asked matter-of-factly.
Liora didn't know how to respond. She felt she ought to stop her, but she also knew that the person in front of her couldn't be restrained. After a few seconds of thought, she came up with an idea and hurried into the kitchen.
"Here you go." Liora said, placing a glass on the table.
Kalyse lifted it and sniffed it, then frowned. "Grape wine? This barely has any taste. Bring me something stronger."
"Just try it first. I guarantee you'll like it."
Hearing the determination in Liora's voice, Kalyse reluctantly took a sip. To her surprise, it was far better than she had expected.
"I've had quite a few kinds of grape wine before, but this one's a little different."
Seeing her positive reaction, Liora smiled. "I knew you'd like it. This is the most special grape wine there is. In the entire city, only our inn has it."
"How special can it be?" Kalyse asked.
"Well, it's actually imported from somewhere else. The owner said the supply is extremely limited, and it can only be purchased once a year. I don't know the details beyond that."
"Oh? Something this rare, and you're willing to serve it to me?" Kalyse asked.
"It's fine. Precisely because it's unique and rare, it's very expensive. Normally, nobles buy it all as soon as it arrives—but the current situation is a bit special… so it's been sitting in storage for quite a while."
Kalyse understood and didn't ask further, turning her interest fully toward the special wine instead.
"Alright. Bring out everything you have left. Money is not an issue."
She snapped her fingers, and a mountain of silver coins poured out, making everyone present dizzy at the sight.
Liora didn't refuse and instead served her enthusiastically. She quickly had someone collect all the money, then brought out more than a dozen bottles of the special grape wine.
"Here, all of it is yours."
"Hmph. It's still a bit little, but I'll accept it for now."
With good food and drink in abundance, Kalyse nodded in satisfaction and began to enjoy herself, ignoring the puzzled looks lingering around her.
While she was in the middle of eating, someone suddenly approached and sat down across from her. The person was cloaked entirely in black, with a white mask covering their face.
"Greetings. May we talk for a moment?" That person spoke up.
Their voice had clearly been altered by magic, making it impossible to tell whether they were male or female.
"Who are you? Don't disturb me while I'm eating." Kalyse replied.
"Oh, my apologies for interrupting you at this moment. But what I'm about to say will surely interest you far more."
"Hmph. Do people these days all like to speak in such vague ways? If you have something to say, say it quickly."
"Haha, I'm glad you're willing to listen. But this isn't suitable for discussion here. Could we go somewhere more private?"
"Then wait until I finish eating." She replied, continuing her meal as usual. The cloaked figure said nothing more and simply waited in silence.
Kalyse wasn't deliberately eating slowly, but she savored every pastry and every glass of wine. As a result, it took her over an hour to finish everything.
"Let's go to a room." She said, turning to leave. The cloaked figure followed silently behind her.
As the two of them left, no one paid them any attention—except for one person.