Taste of Magic: General's Echo [Slice-of-Life LitRPG]

Alistair couldn't believe what he had seen. This wasn't like those previous flashes of scenes he had before. Those had been so brief, so vague that he had dismissed them as mere hallucinations. Images conjured by his sleep-deprived and tired mind. But this time the vision was clear.

He was kneeling before Melina and pouring potion over her injuries. Alistair felt how much the sight had troubled him. Her injuries seemed to hurt him more than his own ever could. Yet she claimed that she did not need protection, which angered him.

But why? What even was that vision that I saw? Why was she here? Why did it feel like I cared so much?

"I-If I have called you by your name, then I deeply apologize. I didn't mean any disrespect," Melina bowed low before him.

The sight snapped Alistair out of his daze, and he hurriedly shook his head. "Oh, no! There's no need to apologize. I might have just been mistaken."

Holy System, get a grip! She never actually called you by your first name. Don't confuse reality with your delusions.

Melina lifted her head, but she looked quite frightened. It wasn't surprising—the act of calling a noble by their first name could be considered an insult. Some commoners have been beheaded for such insolence.

"I didn't hear her call you by your name, Lord Sinclair," Remi interjected, grabbing Melina by her arm protectively.

"Neither did I," Leon added, although he seemed a bit more reluctant to oppose Alistair directly.

"I'm sorry. It seems like the lack of sleep is making me hear things," Alistair said, inclining his head towards Melina in apology. "Let's get rid of the corpses and continue on our way!"

"Understood," Remi and Leon said and got straight to work. Meanwhile, Melina hurried back to her master's side, checking over that the old man was unhurt.

Yet another oddity but those wolves were targeting Melina right from the start. They should have no reason to target us in the first place. If they were so starved that they had no choice but to attack first travelers—which doesn't seem likely with how abundant these forests are with monsters and animals—they would have just bitten one of our horses and then waited for it to succumb to poison.

But instead, they risked their lives to get to Melina. It could be argued that she is the weakest one out of everyone here, but one of the wolves had a perfect opportunity to attack the baker, but instead opted to chase after Melina who had jumped on a horse. Why?

As Leon burned the wolves' corpses, Alistair threw a glance at Melina who was sitting in the carriage and talking with her master in a hushed tone. Both of them were securing harnesses back to the horse, who looked oddly dejected. The baker and his apprentice looked somewhat worried, and who could blame them after such an experience?

For now, focus on getting them home safely. I can try untangling this mess once we're back in Sunglow. Hopefully, the Gilbert's System user friend knows something. I honestly do not have much hope they'll be able to tell me anything useful, but I'd be foolish not to explore the option presented before me.

Not to mention, that it would allow me to learn more about Melina. I doubt that she knows anything about these visions. After all, they look like something that would happen in the future. She did appear older in them. I think.

Alistair ruffled his hair—these visions were giving him a headache. Maybe in the end it was nothing more than hallucinations created by his mind.

"Lord Sinclair, we are done!" Remi reported. He looked over and saw that there indeed was nothing more than a neat pile of ash left.

"Let's continue on our way then, and remain vigilant. There might be more monsters along the way," he warned and got onto his horse. Remi and Leon followed suit, and Gilbert along with Melina got back onto the cart's bench.

For a while, they traveled in almost near silence. It didn't feel right to start a conversation after what had happened, not to mention that everyone was on high alert. Remi was scanning the forest while Leon appeared jittery and nervous, flinching at every bird that entered the view.

Master Gilbert and Melina appeared… oddly calm actually. Alistair reckoned that the old baker wasn't one to show much emotion and that his apprentice was calmed by his presence. Or perhaps the poor girl was so shaken by the wolf attack that she was numb from shock.

Alistair slowed his horse a little to ride next to the carriage, instead of ahead and subtly observed Melina. She didn't appear to be in shock, instead she glanced at him when he slowed his pace. For a moment, they looked at each other and he wondered what he should say.

Wait, why am I even trying to engage in conversation with her specifically?

"Miss Melina, are you feeling alright?" Leon suddenly spoke up, moving his horse close to the other side of the cart.

"Oh, I'm feeling fine," she said with a smile, but it appeared a bit forced. Or at least it seemed forced to Alistair, he just couldn't quite understand why.

It must be because of that vision I saw before. It's messing with my mind. I should forget about it and focus on my task. Let Leon deal with Melina and comfort her if needed. His chattiness should make her forget about the attack soon enough.

"That is wonderful. I was worried that perhaps you might be troubled after the whole attack. You never had anything to worry about, of course. I would have killed that wolf before it ever managed to—"

At that point, Alistair zoned the man out and slowly moved his horse back to the front. He didn't feel like listening to his gloating. The mage irritated him in more ways than one.

I certainly never want to share a room with that man again. I did it merely so the girls wouldn't be bothered by him, but to think that he'd have driven himself to such a drunken stupor all three nights we spent in Pertia.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Alistair shuddered as he remembered the loud snoring and the overwhelming stench of alcohol and perfume that came from Leon. Yet another contributing factor to his increasingly addled mind. At least, he didn't have to meet him during the day. But thinking about Pertia in general just made Alistair gloomy again.

For three days he tried to convince the retired System user to hear him out just once. He vowed that the Church would never even know of their conversation and that nobody was trying to drag him back into the battle against monsters. But the old man refused to even look at Alistair, yelling and swearing bloody murder at him every time he came.

In the end, Alistair ran out of time and had no choice but to give up on his only potential lead to solving the mystery of his weird visions. Them getting stronger and more detailed were not doing Alistair any favors. He sighed and turned his attention towards the forest, scanning its depths for potential danger.

Their journey continued in relative peace without any new monster attacks. Leon's prattling didn't pause until lunchtime when they stopped for a meal. Melina had been smiling at him the whole time, nodding her head and admiring his stories.

"Miss Melina, let me help you down from the seat," Leon graciously offered his hand to her.

"No, it's quite alright. It's not like I'm a noblewoman," Melina shook her head, trying to get off on her own.

"Even if you are not a noblewoman, you are still a lady," Leon insisted, essentially blocking Melina's path. She had no choice but to take his hand. It was amazing that she was able to stand the guy, much less like his stories. Perhaps, that was normal for commoners who didn't know any better.

"Master Gilbert, what have you prepared for us today?" Remi looked excitedly at the baker.

"Sadly, it's just plain cheese and bread from the market. The cook in the inn refused to let me in," Gilbert grumbled, retrieving a bundled-up package of food from the cart.

"What? Really? That's not fair," the elf whined.

"I'll make sure to save something for you on Monday, Remi," Melina offered.

"Really? Will you make those pear rolls as well?"

"Pear rolls?" Gilbert lifted his eyebrow and glanced suspiciously at his apprentice.

"It's the dish I made for the contest," Melina said, slicing the bread and passing a piece to everyone. It was a dark rye bread with a thick, crunchy crust but a soft center.

"The contest?" Leon asked curiously.

"Yes, there was a cooking contest in the market with the rare ingredients as a prize. I decided to try my luck," Melina explained.

"You are right to call it luck. If your opponents had been anyone else, you would have lost," the old baker grumbled.

"Yes, I understand that. But a win is a win," Melina huffed.

"But Master Gilbert even you have to admit that the solution Melina came up with was praise-worthy. She's been your apprentice for a week so she only knew how to make bread. Yet she still managed to turn it into a nice dish," Remi praised. "It's really a shame that I couldn't taste the pear rolls, they smelled divine."

"Maybe I could make them again?" Melina looked hopefully at her master while passing everyone a slice of cheese.

Alistair was not keen on the meager meal, but it was better than nothing. He took a bite from the bread with cheese and was pleasantly surprised. The rye bread had a pleasant sweetness to it and looking at it closer, he noticed specs of carrot within it. Carrots kept the bread nice and moist instead of dry. Meanwhile, the cheese was strong and salty, being a perfect accompaniment for the sweeter bread.

"Only after we tweak the recipe. What you made wasn't truly jam but rather a fruit puree," the baker said.

"Put it on your priority list," Remi teased, eating her bread with cheese.

"What did you win exactly, Miss Melina? Perhaps, you could show us," Leon urged. Melina pondered the request for a moment but then nodded.

"I'm not sure if you'll find it interesting, but I don't mind showing," Melina said, setting down the bread and cheese on a napkin and walking over to the cart. She fiddled around the straps for a moment, then heaved a large basket out from the back, nearly toppling over in the process.

Alistair hurriedly set down his lunch and went to grab the basket. "Are you alright? Let me carry it," he offered. The basket was indeed quite heavy, it was no wonder that she wasn't able to carry it.

"Thank you," she said sheepishly, releasing the basket. He set it down in the middle, so everyone could view it.

Melina removed the cloth that was covering the basket, revealing the ingredients inside. There were many powdery substances in jars, one of which he believed to be cocoa powder, however, the majority of the basket was taken by a very unusual fruit.

"Is that feyfruit?" Alistair asked in surprise.

"Is that what it is called?" Leon asked, reaching out to take one of the shimmering fruits.

"Yes, this fruit doesn't even grow in the Human Realm. The person who hosted the competition must be extremely wealthy to be able to just give away these as a prize," Alistair explained, and the mage retracted his hand.

"So this is feyfruit! My parents talked about it but I've never actually seen it with my own eyes," Remi admired it from all sides, but just like Leon, she did not dare to touch.

"Lord Sinclair here has a great point. Who hosted the competition?" Gilbert asked.

"He said his name was Auden… What was the surname again?" Melina chewed a piece of her bread thoughtfully.

"Auden, Auden, Auden… Oh, wasn't it Auden Speziale?" Remi said, and Alistair almost choked.

"Auden Speziale? Girl, you don't even have a clue who he is do you?" Gilbert grumbled at his apprentice.

"The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I admittedly have never been good at remembering names," Melina said.

"I'm sure our noble friend here over here can explain."

Alistair took a drink from his waterskin to dislodge the piece of bread stuck in his throat, then said. "Auden Speziale is the current Count of Tuvia as well as the head of the Bakers Guild."

"Head of the Bakers Guild and a count?" Melina exclaimed in horror.

"Why would a count organize a contest in the market in some city far away from his territory?" Leon looked at Alistair for answers.

"That I do not know. But Count Speziale is known among the high society as a bit of an eccentric who is constantly looking for thrills. Even so, just giving away so much feyfruit…" Alistair looked at the basket thoughtfully. This much feyfruit could supply a mage with mana for weeks, no, maybe even months.

"What are you going to use it for, Melina?" Remi asked, eyeing the fruit curiously.

"I'm sure the Master will come up with a good use for them," Melina said and covered the basket. Alistair took the basket, carrying it back to the cart.

"It's quite a shame I didn't stumble upon this competition," he said to her, carefully placing it among the other supplies in the cart. "I would have liked to talk with Count Speziale."

"Really? Are you closely acquainted with him?" Melina secured the straps around the basket.

"Not really. But like many nobles, he is a System user."

"Wait… Lord Speziale is a System user?" Melina's face turned pale. It was an odd reaction, but then again Melina did give off the impression of a girl that was easily startled. She still seemed quite uncomfortable around Alistair after all.

"Yes. Although he does not have a combat class like most nobles. Despite Church's best efforts, he has the [Confectioner] class or something similar."

"I see," she replied calmly, however, Alistair noticed how much her hands trembled around the straps.