房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

With only the money that Patishi was sending back to the orphanage, the people running the place didn't have to rely on the often unreliable help from the community.

Patishi didn't hate their job but only looking at the food being prepared and never making it themselves was almost torture!

Oh, how they wanted to be able to cook as they did for everyone back in the orphanage...!

And then, completely out of nowhere – that one specific wish got fulfilled thanks to the very-scary-but-actually-super-good person!

Overnight, Patishi became a personal baker for the future royal couple!

Just like that!

Even entering the kitchen in the morning wearing a brand new chef's uniform, Patishi still thought that this might be just a dream...

...after all, such dreams often happened to them in the past so they were walking on eggshells terrified that they might wake up to the grim reality where they can't even touch the ingredients...

...even if it was a dream and they had to return to washing pots and pans burnt by older cooks with far less talent than Patishi had – doing that was still putting food on the table for the kids back in the orphanage.

Either way – one thing should be explained about the particular youth who caught the attention of the attendant of the future queen.

The thing with Patishi was not only that they could bake delicious bread... they actually absolutely loved baking and cooking altogether – and were insanely good at it too!

And all because of their little secret...

The truth was that Patishi was actually a mage.

They awaken when they were only three years old.

But!

They weren't something normal like an earth magician, as the color of their hair and amount of mana would make others willing to check to assume.

Patishi possessed a variant attribute that was peculiar even amongst the - oh so special, variant magicians.

It was something absolutely useless offensively - but no cook could ever wish for better magic.

This youth's magic could bring out the flavor of every ingredient in a way that wasn't possible in a normal way.

They could also modify certain taste attributes of various food - for example, Patishi could make fruits sweeter, wild game to have less of a smell, and clean the flour from various impurities that snuck their way in even if the sieve - and mind you, even the best quality flour wasn't completely free of them.

Yes, Patishi was a unique chef magician!

But until a day ago, they worked as a washer, even though they were recommended as a cook over six years prior.

Unfortunately for them, no chef nor cook wanted to approve that a child was leagues better than them - and they ended up in the lowest position.

Patishi tried to explain that they had special magic but everyone would just laugh at the youth and call them delusional without giving them a chance to show off.

---

Trying to not think about the negative past, Patishi was working very hard in their brand new snow white uniform, with their sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and was working their magic – literally - on the dough.

Patishi knew that their task was to bake two fresh delicious loaves of bread in the morning but they just couldn't sit still and their fingers itched for some more experimental baking after so long.

Now that they had permission from the very top, no one would even dare to stop them from cooking!

Would any of the other orphans they cooked for before believe in Patishi's story if they wrote them about it?

Thinking about that, and smiling to themselves, Patishi was in the middle of creating a test batch of bunny-shaped sweet buns with apples baked in.

If the bunny buns were a success the youth decided to try and give them to the very scary but actually super-good person as a thank you gift - so they were using their unique spells to balance out the taste.

It's important to mention that Patishi's chef magic worked only on the raw ingredients, nothing already cooked could be influenced by them.

But Patishi wasn't just a random human born with special magic – they were a naturally gifted cook that put their all into improving themself!

When the buns were almost ready the delicious smell made even the most jealous of cooks in the kitchen breathe it in with pleasure.

Patishi put on the baking gloves and took out the steaming aromatic bunny buns from the stove.

|Maybe I should have made them more realistic?|

"Niom...!"

Thought the youth - but then a hand with a discolored spot of skin suddenly reached for one of the bunny-buns and snatched it away like some sneaky fox!

"H-hey those are...!"

Patishi wanted to protest but when they turned towards the bun-thief it turned out to be the very-scary-but-actually-super-good person!

The very scary but actually super-good person was holding the apple bunny-bun with both hands right in front of his face and his jet black eyes that did not reflect light widened in joy.

"Oh my gosh...! It's so cute! So chubby! I want to eat it! But it's so cute! It's smell so good too...!"

"Eh...? Um... What...?"

Patishi blinked a few times in confusion, the very scary but actually super-good person was acting a bit different than in the morning...

"Ah! S-sir, this is just a trial product! I'm still perfecting the recipe!"

Patishi didn't want to feed their benefactor something that they weren't completely satisfied with!

But the very scary but actually super-good person looked at them with an innocent smile, well as innocent as his burn-marks would allow him to look.

"Aw, just look at you! Working so hard even though you don't have to! Such a good girl."

He grabbed the bunny-bun in one hand and started patting Patishi's head with the other.

"!!!!!!!!!"

"..."

"....again with that...?"

Patishi flinched terribly, shocked to the core because of the scarred attendant's words – and they hurriedly looked away as a few of the cooks turned to them and started glaring at the youth with reproach.

"S-sir... yo-you are mistaken...! I-I'm clearly a boy...! Y-you're the first year, right? That means that you are a year older than me...!"

Patishi lowered their head, nervously rubbing their hands together – desperate to change the subject.

"...hmm...? Oh? But your..."

The black-haired boy glanced at Patishi's face before pointing at something above the youth's head and furrowing his brows.

"...never mind, my bad, kid..."

"...!"

Then he looked over his shoulder and glared at the cooks who didn't have anything better to do, making them jump in fear and get back to whatever they were doing before.