They Say the Bread of a Small-Fry Villainess Will Save the World

Chapter 5

—–CROW—– 

One bread. I opened a bakery. Let’s become Baek Jong-won¹ (4)

The worker’s name was Malina.

Ellie, who had been worrying about how to establish discipline if a male worker came, became very happy at the appearance of a middle-aged woman with a warm impression.

“Just tell me to do anything! What kind of hard work are you doing with those fragile arms that seem like they’d break if you just touched them?”

“Oh, Malina, you’re too much. Where do I look like that?”

Despite her arms being clearly sturdy, Malina smoothly spouted flattery without batting an eye.

Ellie liked Malina very much.

Having lived her whole life only hearing harsh words, it felt good to hear kind words, even if they were lies.

“Look at this. You have to be at least this strong.”

“Wow, amazing….”

Her biceps were especially impressive. Her forearms were also great. They were strong muscles that could knead dough as perfectly as a dough mixer.

“I was curious since the rumors were so widespread.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I heard that you could barely buy bread if you didn’t wait in front of the store from 6 am. I wanted to try it too, but I couldn’t buy it. They say that once you taste it, you can’t eat any other bread, and Morris-nim brags about it so much….”

Morris had only said one thing after tasting the milk bread, “It’s edible.” Ellie smiled inwardly.

“I tried to buy some too, but when I went, it was always all sold out. I was wondering why you didn’t make more, but it turns out that such a delicate person was running the business alone.”

Her words contained a resentment as to why she didn’t bake more, but Ellie pretended not to notice.

Even if Malina had come, the amount of production was not going to change much.

The most basic baguette.

The savory campagne with nuts.

The chewy milk bread with its pure white interior.

These three were the main products of .

Ellie wanted to succeed and become rich, but more than that, she wanted to live safely and comfortably.

Becoming rich and spreading the franchise far and wide was something to discuss after securing a safe and comfortable future.

Once the heroine left the capital, she would then fully realize her dream of doing business.

Until then, she had to live avoiding all the characters in the novel.

The characters in the novel were like grim reapers to Ellie. Including her father, who spewed harsh words and contempt.

After regaining her memories, Ellie had lived only for independence and escape.

Now that she had escaped safely, she was going to live as if she was dead, living alone without anyone knowing.

Alone…….

“Just how delicious is the bread you’re selling?”

Malina persistently appealed to her curiosity.

Ellie’s bread was fermented bread.

The bakeries nearby sold non-fermented bread. The flatbread-style bread was edible when freshly made. Most of the residents on this street still bought that bread.

Ellie’s bread seemed to be considered more of a snack than a staple food. Thanks to that, she was able to avoid the antipathy of her competitors.

“Would you like to try a little?”

“Oh my! Is that okay? Oh my, it feels like I’m begging for it.”

Her intentions were clearly visible. Ellie opened the storage room.

“Actually, these are the ones that didn’t turn out well, so I kept them to eat myself.”

“Not pretty? My goodness, I’ve never seen a bread that is so round and pretty!”

Of course, they usually ate flat bread.

Ellie took out baguettes that had burst on the sides, campagnes that hadn’t turned out a pretty color, and slightly burnt pieces of bread. Ellie was still failing a little bit every day.

“Wait a moment. I’ll cut this.”

Ellie cut the baguette lengthwise.

“Wait a moment.”

Malina, who had been about to reach out, flinched and stopped. And then, she widened her eyes at the sight of the white cross-section of the bread, with its bubbly holes.

“Goodness, is it made with wheat? All of it? How can the inside of the bread look like that?”

She was saying the same things that the first-time customers to her store had said.

“I’m planning on putting this on the menu later, but please try it first and tell me your thoughts, Malina.”

She neatly put thinly sliced salami and fresh leafy vegetables between the parted bread, and lightly drizzled oil on it.

“Hold it like this and take a bite, yes, like that.”

Because her hands were big, she was able to hold the quite large baguette sandwich in one go.

Malina, without being told, held the sandwich and took a big bite. The sound of the fresh vegetables breaking between her teeth was cheerful.

“Goodness!”

“Is it good?”

Malina’s mouth moved busily. She wanted to keep tasting the contents of her mouth, but she seemed reluctant to swallow, as if it was a shame to just swallow it.

The moment when the efforts of the past few years bore fruit was at times like this.

The moment she saw a face that was eating the bread she had made with delight and admiration.

The moment she saw that face, with its eyes sparkling, not knowing what to do with the happiness that filled her mouth.

It was the only time that Ellie felt rewarded and happy. Looking at that face made her feel that her life was more worthwhile.

‘I might be a little happy right now.’

A successful store, a generous source of money, a reliable worker, and sincere praise and admiration. Everything felt perfect.

Finally, Malina, who had swallowed what was in her mouth, shouted.

“This is a miracle…!”

“Haha, Malina. You’re spitting.”

“The outside is only as crispy as it needs to be, and the inside is moist and soft! Has bread always been this plain and savory? The salty taste of the salami that comes with the fragrant vegetables…! Ellie-nim, you’re a genius!”

“Haha, say more.”

But she didn’t want to get spit on, so she took two steps back.

“There was a reason why Morris-nim was confident that he wouldn’t regret it!”

She fueled Malina’s vanity for about 10 more minutes.

Praise always felt good, no matter how you heard it.

“Malina, you can come every day at the same time as today.”

“Morris-nim said that you worked from 3 am, Ellie-nim.”

“Yes, but it would be a bit hard for you to come in the early morning, and it’s dangerous to walk on the dark alleyways.”

“Ah, is it for me?”

Malina widened her eyes as if that was something she hadn’t even thought about.

She almost fell in love.

That confidence that only a true strong person could have.

‘Actually, she’s not a maid, but a mercenary, isn’t she?’

Ellie didn’t know, but Malina was a former mercenary.

“Thank you for your words, but the work that Malina will help with is done in the afternoon anyway. Look here.”

Ellie opened the door to the fermentation room.

The fermentation room was a space that Ellie had put the most effort into. It was designed to keep a warm temperature by using the heat from the hearth. There was a cupboard full of bowls with dough, and a kettle with boiling water to maintain humidity.

Malina’s curious gaze was fixed on the back of her head.

“The wheat sacks and various ingredients are here. You can move this and….”

“Ellie-nim, you’ve been doing all of this by yourself until now?”

“I’ve been doing it by myself every day for two months.”

To reiterate, baking was physical labor.

Malina looked at Ellie with a complicated expression. Ellie felt a little proud. It felt like she was being recognized for her strength.

“The proportions are written here. The letters….”

“I know how to read.”

“That’s a relief. Put in the ingredients according to the proportions, and put this in.”

She took out the most important levain.

The dough that was bubbling was much more watery than the bread dough.

Perhaps because it had a slightly sour makgeolli²-like smell, Malina’s eyes shook violently.

“I, isn’t this rotten?”

“It’s fine. You can even eat it.”

“……Is that so……?”

“This is what makes the bread puff up softly. If we don’t have this, our shop will go bankrupt.”

This is my precious companion bacteria that I have been raising for over 8 years…

Ellie had deep feelings for this levain. It was almost like a companion now.

My precious companion yeast.

If she was asked what was the closest and most affectionate life in this world, she would say without hesitation that it was this natural leaven, levain.

In her past life, she had put it in the refrigerator and fed it once every 1-2 weeks, but in this world where there was no refrigerator, she had to feed it once every day.

Thinking about the time and effort she had spent raising this levain, she could never kill this bacteria.

No matter how long she waited, it wouldn’t ferment and it would die! And it would die again!

When it seemed to be growing well, stray bacteria would get in and kill it! And it would die again!

She had finally grown it, but the servants who were trying to harass the pig princess broke the jar, and it died again.

It was like a sunfish³.

Leaven was also life. Bacteria was also life.

The life that Ellie was closest to right now was this sunfish levain that was bubbling and breathing.

It even had a nickname. When it died easily, it was ‘you bastard,’ and now, after 8 years, it was ‘my baby.’

“You put this into water like this, and you mix it well with flour….”

As Ellie was struggling, Malina naturally stepped in to help. Ellie fell for Malina once again.

“Knead it well. Yes, like that.”

Malina smiled brightly and pounded the dough. Ellie realized that she was someone who had always been beating something.

She decided not to mess with her.

‘Malina, the savior of my shoulders.’

Now the nights of rubbing her aching shoulders and wetting her pillowcase with tears were gone.

She had escaped from the terrible house, and thanks to that, she was completely separated from the characters, the store was successful, and every day was a day where the bread was sold out.

At this moment, Ellie’s life was perfect.

*

The next day, a dark cloud loomed over her perfect life.

“Ellie! I’m here! Open the door!”

“Let me sleep, please!”

The name of the dark cloud was Morris, the life form that spent the most time with Ellie after the sunfish levain.

Ellie, who had been sleeping soundly after finishing her morning business, opened the door with annoyance.

“Ah, I told you that I need to sleep at this time. Please listen when people talk!”

“Did you sleep well? You’ve become rounder and cuter.”

“Oh, yeah….”

As if she would be appeased if he only said nice things. Ellie scoffed and prepared to pour out a barrage of swear words.

“I brought a gift. It’s not the time to be sleeping. You’ll definitely like it too.”

“The biggest gift is for Morris to shut up and get lost….”

The moment she rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked ahead, Ellie couldn’t help but gape.

“Say hello, Ellie, this is my friend, Edmund Langworth.”

I know, you crazy bastard….

The first male lead candidate from the novel had come.

—–CROW—–