****(POV)

This new youngster came out of nowhere.

Wanting to buy my bakery.

At first, I refused him categorically, but then I faltered.

In him, I can see the same passion I used to have long ago.

Right now I am but an empty husk of my old self.

I know it.

Everyone knows it too.

This is why I have been getting fewer and fewer orders.

Instead of baking for the future, I am simply not letting go of the past.

Trying day after day to prevent my skills from withering.

But I know it.

My hands are not as steady as they used to be.

My pace is slower.

I find myself getting tired easily too.

I am not able to run a business full time.

Yet I've been pushing myself.

Even while knowing it is all pointless.

My nephew will own this place soon enough and get rid of it.

I do not want to see this happen, but I also have no other family.

Now that changed.

I may not have any family but I have a disciple now.

My very own disciple.

I have longed forever for that.

We never really talk about such things.

Titles and whatnot.

Still, he listens to me.

He cares about the words of this old fool.

I took his money.

Truth to be told I don't need it.

I simply wanted him to show how serious he was.

Turns out he really cares about this.

I can see that glimmer in his eyes whenever he talks about his dreams.

Dreams that are so silly.

Yet I believe he will one day manage it.

What is a world without dreamers?

A pitiful world, that's what it is.

The timing of it all is unbelievable too.

He plans to do this while a literal war will be happening.

One involving mythical beings.

He will remain on the sidelines and sell pie.

I asked him one time about it.

He said something about going to sell in the middle of the battlefield if he had to.

He even has slogans ready for such a thing.

He would go: don't lose to the enemy! Buy a pie right now to recuperate your strength!

I can't help but laugh imagining such a scene.

The sheer bafflement the warriors there would have.

I believe he may be able to do it and survive to tell the tale.

I have no idea what makes me believe that.

He has that sort of aura.

That he won't go down easily.

Well, there is also his wolf.

I may just be an old man, but that is why I have seen many things.

This wolf is crazily smart.

Unbelievably so.

Yet such a young man has such a dedicated guardian.

Sometimes I wonder where he comes from.

He probably has some sort of heaven-defying background.

He seems oblivious to this city completely.

My guess is he comes from some reclusive unknown sect.

One that has cut itself from the world.

There are a few like that around.

Well, it's always hard to know how many are actually still existing.

They are hidden for a reason.

Still, I have heard legends of some that are as powerful as even a behemoth like the Moon Keep.

Ah, I don't know.

Still I do not care.

About any of this.

He is the one to shoulder my legacy.

Even if that is only how to make the best of an old oven that will do.

I am not greedy.

He will take over this place.

He will make it flourish.

Actually, even if he ends up leaving, I don't mind either.

At least the skills I have honed in my life will survive me.

I look at the nearby wolf.

"Wolfie, watch the shop for me, will you? There is someplace I need to be."

Surprisingly she didn't follow her master out.

Perhaps because he is supposed to come right back.

She lazily go right in front of me.

Then she glances straight at me.

I get the feeling she can see my very soul.

Perhaps even my past and future.

Before I know it, it is over.

Everything is back to normal.

She nods and stands guard on the side.

What just happened?!

This feeling is magic for sure.

A wolf able to use magic cannot be normal.

This just confirms what I already knew.

Ah, whatever.

I walk all the way to my destination.

Slowly but surely, as an old man should.

I finally reach the city hall.

In there is a friend I know.

He is diligently doing his work.

He is a glorified scribe.

All he does all day is write.

Write permits, write reports and most especially write wills.

I am here for that last option.

I make my way toward him, joke around a bit, then I get to the point.

At first, he thinks I have lost my mind.

After all, I am asking to bequeath all my possessions to a stranger.

He tries to talk me out of it at first.

But then I tell him about the true situation.

Tell him how this young man is my disciple.

It takes a while, but he finally agrees to my request.

Ah, he still thinks I'm crazy.

It's just that I threaten not to move an inch otherwise.

He knows how stubborn I can get.

It shows just by the way I am still working at my age.

Well to be honest all my possessions don't account to much either way.

It is only the shop.

I have been living there for a while now.

Everything that I own is in there.

This simply means that I won't be taking his gold.

This will be my gift to him.

I'm sure he doesn't need it.

I'm sure he'll be fine either way.

I saw the way he nonchalantly threw the gold over.

He isn't a materialistic person in any case.

That is exactly why I want him to have it.

At least it will help him to kickstart his dream.

Today he will also go buy some ingredients from a guy I know.

This way they will become familiar with one another.

That guy has a good character.

It has already happened that good bakers got denied access to basic ingredients because of a competitor.

This won't happen to my disciple.

I guess that is enough for today.

Time to head back.

He'll be back home waiting for me, right?

Of course, I did send him on an easy errand after all.