Chapter 82: Bakers United

‘They say William oh singlehandedly saved the city of Akul by wrestling four kaiju to the ground at once. There should be nose hairs, He had one nose hair in each arm-‘

‘That’s dumb, he rode a black dragon into battle and leashed the kaiju together, so he should be riding one and have a lasso-‘

‘No, it wasn’t singlehanded. He broke time and space to be there more than once. There were thousands of William Ohs, climbing over the kaiju, he should be rendered in a crystal that makes him look-“

‘SILENCE! The point is, the public outcry is such that we decided to make a statue, my Lord. We’ve already started levelling Seymour Hill on the islet. It had the perfect size and shape to create a base.’

‘…without my permission? Wait. Had?’

‘Well, you see, we started carving away the topsoil to make a flat base when we ran into granite. Which we were pretty happy about. It was also exceptionally flat, which was excellent…until we ran into some ankles.’

‘…Ankles?’

‘It seems like there was a statue there a long time ago, but it’d been buried by soil. There was a plaque, but it was so weathered, we couldn’t reach much of it. Just pieces of the word ‘saviour’ and ‘city’.’

‘…Interesting.’

• Conversation between aristocrats and Luis, Baron of Akul

There was an inflection point. Will saw it.

A point where panic and desperation on the streets turned to determination and effort. The point where the city of Akul realized they were going to win.

As the mercenary companies and kaiju corps cleaned out the last remaining Tangled and attempted to get the kaiju back under control, citizens of Akul stopped running and started pitching in, their eyes clear and stoic.

They were all Climbers, after all.

These four kaiju had been chosen specifically because they were (relatively) easy to subdue, and the people were taking full advantage of it. The question now was whether the kaiju would survive the night after being brutally savaged by the Tangled.

In any case, it was a logistics problem for the city, not something Will needed to involve himself in.

I think we’re done here.

They needed to start hiding their loot. More than one person must’ve seen them hauling loot out of the auction house, and it seemed like in the process of saving the city, Will had also preserved law and order.

Which meant that, through their own heroic efforts, they had ensured the heist would come back to haunt them.

Move on to the sixth floor until the heat dies down? Will considered for a day, before deciding that yes, they had overstayed their welcome on the Fifth Floor and should be moving on.

There were certain supplies they needed to go up to the next Floor. Namely an inflatable raft, food, a water de..de…

“De-what?” Will asked.

“Desalinator.” Loth said.

“That sounds made up.”

“All words are made up.” Loth replied.

I guess I can’t argue with that. Will thought with a shrug as another thought loomed over him.

What should I do about the Baker Girls?

They were Tangled, even if only one of them knew it. The city was probably going to be pretty paranoid about people with that Class for quite some time.

There were Classes that could tell what other people’s Classes were. The clerk who verified Will’s identity back when he’d completed his Establishing Quest was a prime example.

Will’s paranoid mind immediately assumed that the city would invest heavily in I.D. verification over the next few years, which was not ideal for the safety and freedom of the Baker Girls.

But would they believe me? Jean might, but she saw the whole picture…or most of it.

Bee might believe me. She can shapeshift and duplicate.

Ria and Anna…might be a problem. But I should at least try to warn them.

Will’s feet turned towards Jean’s Bakery.

“You want us to finish preparations?” Loth asked, following his gaze toward the opposite side of the city before giving a smirk and shaking her head.

“…If you don’t mind.” Will murmured.

“Go check on your bakers.” She said, waving a scaled hand.

Alicia frowned, glancing between Will and Loth before she leaned down to the kobold’s ear, whispering so low that even Will’s enhanced senses couldn’t pick it up.

Will decided it was none of his business and turned towards the west, following the main thoroughfare.

“Oh, I never thought of it that way.” He heard Alicia’s whisper which was quickly buried by the sound of the busy streets.

The bustling street had a harder edge than it’d had the day before. Everyone moved with a purpose, every conversation was focused on survival.

Strangely enough, he spotted the Ear Collector donating some of his opiates to surgeons keeping the injured calm and stable until healers could reach them.

Nothing brings out the best in people like shared adversity, I suppose.

Will wound his way down to Jean’s Bakery and stepped inside.

Ding!

The doorbell announced his presence, but he didn’t pay any attention to it.

The sheer state of the bakery was alarming, to say the least.

The wooden countertop was shattered, with splinters covering the floor. there was a hole punched through the wall, revealing parts of the back. The solid iron oven was dented. Splatters of blood dotted the walls and floor.

The floor was covered in glass and splinters, with cracks and divots in the floor where something or someone had hit the ground…hard.

“Oh, hi Will!” Anna said cheerfully as she emerged from the back of the shop, bearing a broom and dustpan.

“Are you…okay?” Will asked, peering past her where Jean was carefully bending the oven back into shape. Bee and Ria were nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, sure! Nobody’s hurt or anything. We all just got a little crazy there for a few minutes. You know how girls are sometimes!”

Even with Will’s staggering lack of experience with girls, that still sounded forced.

“What happened…exactly?” Will asked.

Well, you know, the four of us were prepping for the morning rush and all of a sudden we all just got so ANGRY. like girls do sometimes.”

“Uh-huh.” Will nodded.

She heaved a sigh and leaned on her broom. “Honestly, I can’t even remember what we were angry about. Anyway, it was over in a flash, and we all said we were sorry, Jean grew back her ear and Ria and Bee went out to help with the emergency outside.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

She cocked her head.

“Although I think Bee might be looting instead of helping.”

“That’s a decent guess. Can I talk to Jean?”

“Sure, lemme just clear the glass.” Anna said, swiftly clearing a glass-free path to enter the back room with her broom before taking the work outside the counter.

“I thought you agreed to stay away from us.” Jean said, wiping soot off her hands.

Sounds like you got caught up in the signal to go crazy and attack everyone.”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be indiscriminate. They had it worse than I did, though. I kept them inside, and they didn’t like it.”

Jean flicked her fresh ear, which looked out of place on her weathered face.

“Have you considered what happens next?” Will asked. “Frederick Wyrd failed to take the city, which is good, but they’re not going to forget about Tangle-“

“Frederick Wyrd is dead.” Jean interrupted him.

“Wait, what?”

“Yep, he died just a few hours ago. I could feel the last little bits of my Vassal relationship with him unravel suddenly.”

A few hours ago? That was so early in the battle! Mere minutes after Will had last seen him, the Wyrd patriarch was already dead.

Will opened his mouth to ask how he’d died, before realizing that Jean likely wouldn’t have any better idea than he did. She’d been in the bakery wrangling crazed Tangled who didn’t even know they were Tangled.

“Still. Are you and your girls going to be safe going forward? There’s gonna be a little…discontent directed towards them. To put it mildly.”

“We’ll be safe if they think they got them all.” Jean said, turning away from Will and putting her hands back on the iron stove, popping out a dent with her fist.

“They’re not gonna think that.” Will said. “People are going to want to be absolutely sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“I know.” Jean said with a sigh.

“You could leave the tower. You wouldn’t have any struggles outside of it.” They’d practically be demigods, given their outrageous physical stats.

“That’s part of the problem, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Eh?”

“The girls, they think they’re just a bit stronger and tougher than normal. It hasn’t sunk in that they’re comparing themselves to level twenty-five and above Climbers. They don’t feel like monsters.”

“And if you leave The Tower, they will.”

Jean nodded, her expression severe as she pulled the bend out of the oven’s opening.

“…Why can’t you tell them?”

“Because they don’t want to know. You saw Anna. I have never seen someone so strongly in denial.”

“…I’m going to be a Lord on the tenth Floor.” Will said.

“What happened to making it to the top?” Jean asked, glancing up at him.

“A waystation.” Will said. “Anyway, as I go higher, I’m going to need durable cooks, guardswomen and phantom thieves if I make it that far. Imagine how normal your girls will feel among level 50’s.”