The next morning, Pan enacted her plan to become a Baker once more.
She called up Santiago and Clara to discuss about business, her skills in baking is far superior in this world so she has value.
"Alright, let's make a deal. I got 50% of Sales and I'll keep on baking! You don't have to worry about anything else." Pan exclaimed.
"50%!? Oh my, that's a bit low, isn't it?" Clara covered her mouth in a bit of shock.
"I-Is it really?" Pan says with a bit of uncertainty.
"We'll glady give you 50% of the total sales of your product, but the issue here isn't about income, it's the fact that your product is so damn good. We can't just release that instantly." Santiago says as he rubs his beard.
"Really? We can't just sell the bread?" Pan asked.
"Yes, Miss Pan. If we started selling these high quality bread, then people all over Anihan would buy it, and it's not just here, the entire Kalakasan Kingdom or the continent might demand more." Clara explained.
"We're only a staff of 3 people, and despite my father's extraordinary skills of baking quick and fast, we can't keep up with that much demand. We have to slowly integrate it, get a steady income then introduce the bread."
"So, what do we do?" Pan scratches her head with a hand made of flour.
"Simply put, we bake smaller versions of the bread. Bite sized versions that are easy to bake and we can sell in such abundance." Santiago explained.
"Bite-sized?" Pan's eyes sharpened, she got an idea.
"Hmm? Miss Pan, you look devious. Do you have a plan?" Clara asked, approaching Pan eagerly.
"Why yes, my dear. I have a great idea for these Bite-sized bread!" Pan says before jumping into the kitchen.
With quickness and precision, she made these bite-sized bread that came from her world. Soft and delicious white bread rolls that are great for morning breakfasts and snack times.
Pan sets out a tray of these, they sparkled with passion and profession that the Marias were at awe once more.
"Behold..."
"I present to you the pride and joy of my nation. We call it 'Pandesal'!" Pan says with patriotic joy in her heart.
"Wow! It's named after you! So honourable!" Clara says in joy.
"Actually, I was named after the bread..." Pan says with a sigh.
"Nevermind that! These are perfect! Bite-sized and easy to bake!" Santiago takes one of the fresh pandesal bread and bites onto it.
"Oh my! And it's as good as the bread yesterday!" Santiago says with tears in her eyes.
He once again holds Pan's nubby hands, his eyes filled with determination.
"Make my daughter happy in your married life." He said
"I will." Pan didn't waste another second.
"Come on, you two! Focus!" Clara blushed once more.
"Nonetheless, these are perfect. If these can sell good, then we can finally grow the Maria Bakery." Clara chuckles joyfully.
"Mhm! And soon, I'll open up my own bakery! The Pan Disalo Bakery!" Pan says with joy and the two joined as well.
And so for the following weeks, the three started to bake pandesals.
Pan did most of the work, with her near limitless stamina and dexterity with her flour control, she was making loads of her special pandesals.
If she needed to take a rest, then the Marias baked in her stead. Despite Pan's stamina, her mana was one of her problems.
The Pandesals became an instant hit in Anihan and in the other villages in Kalakasan Kingdom. Especially for workers, as it was affordable and convenient for breakfasts and snacks.
Slowly and steady, the Maria Bakery's fame grew for their soft and delicious bread rolls. They were even contending with the other bakeries in Anihan village.
But the most important thing here was Pan's progress in her magic. With her advanced control in Flour now, she can use basic water and fire magic.
She used this to create dough and heat up some of the bread. And let's not forget her 50% sale with the Marias, she was slowly earning up money.
A month has passed and the Marias are booming.
Despite the fact that they've gone more busier, they can catch up with the demand and they're not that famous to catch anyone's attention.
Pandesals became a Maria Bakery special, but it may become too special for a certain sibling.
One early morning, there are shadows roaming around the Maria Residence.
They're eager to steal more of the pandesals, and these two eager adventurers are doing their absolute best to do so.
One of them trips over a rock.
"Hey! Be careful, you big oaf!" A Woman said, her hair dark green like trees and eyes of oceans.
"Shut up! It's so dark out here that I couldn't see that damn rock! Now just follow me, okay?" A Man said, rubbing their similarly dark green hair but his eyes were of emeralds.
"I can't wait to get more of those delicious bread rolls! Adventuring pays but it doesn't pay enough for us to get more of those." The Woman said.
"Heh, we'll get so many that we won't need to come back here. So let's go!" The Man said before he reaches the backdoor.
"No one's around, so we can go in. Stay back, I'll unlock it with my lock pick." The Man then hovered his hand over the doorknob, as a spectral lock pick appears.
"Whoa! The super special lock picking skill from big bro! So cool!" The Woman says.
The door then unlocks and slowly swings open.
"We're in!" The two said before rushing in, but as soon as they entered, they encountered something peculiar.
"Eh?" The two had their eyes widened with shock at the sight of a strange creature.
"Oh? You guys are thieves, aren't ya?" Pan looked at the two while she kneaded some dough.
She sections it before casting it aside for later, she faces the two with unimpressed eyes.
"A-A Monster! We got to kill it!" The Man said.
"Right! It's Adventuring time!" The Woman answered.
The two quickly took out their blades and charged forward, intending to slay the sack of flour.
"Heh, nice, I can test out my new moves!" Pan says with excitement as she formed orbs of flour around her.
"Double Ina Attack!" The Two says as they swing their blades together, powered by wind magic.
"Doughnut!" Pan shouted before blasting a fist sized orb of flour onto their stomachs, knocking the wind out of them.
"T-This monster is strong, sis..!" The Brother said.
"Nevermind that, did we just get our asses kicked by a sack of flour..?" The sister said.
But Pan wasn't finished as she jumps over the two, orbs of flour circulating around her.
"Once more!" Pan sends two fist sized flour orbs towards their hear at breakneck speed.
"Doughnut!" Pan shouted as the two were completely knocked into the ground.
"We did get our asses kicked by a sack of flour..!" The Siblings thought.
The next morning, Pan and the Marias face the two thieves that broke into their house.
"We're so sorry for trying to steal from you!" The two bowed as they say in their knees.
"Oh dear, who knew adventurers can be so desperate." Clara says with concern.
"More importantly, I can't believe they got beaten by a sack of flour. I've seen these two before in the guild, they're rookies but they're Rank - D Adventurers!" Santiago says.
"They're the Ina Siblings: Basilio and Crispina."
"Heh, looks like we're a bit famous!" Basilio says in pride.
"Finally, some recognition for the Ina Siblings!" Crispina says with glimmer in her eyes.
"Mini Doughnut" Pan smacked their heads.
"We're sorry!" The Siblings quickly said.
"Well, what should we do to them? Should we turn them in?" Pan looked back to the two.
"Ah! Please! Don't do that!" The Siblings crawled to Pan, bowing to her.
"We barely make enough to make a living, we can't spend a day in jail!" Basilio says.
"If we get into jail, then our guild cards will get revoked! We won't have enough money to renew it!" Crispina says quickly.
"Uh, what are they on about?" Pan looked to Maria and Santiago.
"Well, the Adventurer's Guild has fees in entering the guild. If you ever done crimes, then it gets revoked."
"It takes a lot more gold to renew an adventurer's guild, even more than what a Rank D Adventurer can." Santiago says.
"Huh, can you tell me how far down you guys are in the global rank of adventuring." Pan asked.
"H-Huh? Well, there's 7 Ranks in the Adventurer's Guild." Basilio said.
"S, A, B, C, D, E and F. As you can see, we're two ranks above the lowest, it's basically a regular adventurers but still rookies at best." Basilio explained.
"What the old man said was right though, we can barely earn enough to live as two people. We can never afford the renewal!" Crispina says in fear, she looks up at Pan, tears in her eyes.
"Please, don't turn us in."
Crispina's eyes glimmer with beauty, her round yet cute face emphasised by the morning light. Despite her dark green hair, the fluffiness of it emphasised the roundness of her head.
In short, Pan is enamored.
"Your sister's pretty cute, Basilio."
"Ah-" Crispina suddenly has red cheeks.
"Hey! Don't flirt in my sister right in front of me! I'll beat you!" Basilio shouted.
"H-Hey, I'm right here, you know!" Clara says in a bit of anger. Santiago chuckled at his daughter getting jealous.
"Hm, in any case, I've decided what I'll do to them." Pan then glares at the two.
Basilio and Crispin shook in their boots, looking at Pan in great fear.
"What are you going to do to us..?" Basilio's voice trembled.
"P-Please, I don't want to be enslaved..!" Crispina as well, her voice more scared than her brother.
"Hehehe..." Pan's eyes glows red, her plan for them will be more than they could possible handle-
"You guys are hired as my new employees!" Pan exclaimed.
"What!?" Everyone shouted in unison.
"For the sake of my future bakery, I need people who I can trust to work with. If you two are eager, I need people to help me bake for now, I also need folks to protect these two. Just in case I can't." Pan says.
"We don't need protecting, Miss Pan. Please think for yourself." Clara smiled sincerely.
"Nope, please protect your future wife, Pan." Santiago says as he rubbed his beard.
Clara had enough and slammed a tray onto her father's head.
"If you work for me, I'll give you 10% of my earnings. When I build up my bakery, then I'll bump it some more." Pan says as she approaches the two.
"What do ya say?" Pan makes two hands made of flours, hovering it to the two.
The Ina Siblings looked at her unsure, though they looked at each other and nodded. They know what they want.
"We'll join you, in one condition." Basilio says.
"Oh?" Pan glares at them once more, but the two glared back with pure determination.
"What is it?" Pan said with menace in her voice.
The atmosphere was fierce, but the tension between the Ina Siblings and Pan was intense.
"So hard to breathe..." Clara nervously muttered.
"Our one condition is giving us a lifetime supply of your pandesals!" The Siblings said with joyous glee in their eyes.
"Agreed!" Pan says before the two parties shook hand.
"WHAT!?" Clara and Santiago shouted in shock before sighing.
"From this day and onward, you'll be employees of the Future Pan Disalo Bakery! And the security of Maria Bakery, ofcourse!" Pan says with joy.
"Right!" The Ina Siblings says with equal joy.
"So can we eat now?"
"Sure, go on ahead!" Pan says before she brings a big bowl of pandesals, with butter to compliment it.
Quickly, they started digging in. They were completely lost at the delicious taste of the bread, and the butter that's usually partnered with it made it god-like to their tastes.
"Wow! I've never tasted bread so good! I could eat this forever!" Crispin said.
"Thank the gods for Anihan Village!" Basilio says with a mouthful of pandesal.
"Here, water." Pan says as she lends the two water.
"Hm? Water? I'm sure they'll be fine eating loads of those." Clara said.
"Nah, eating loads of bread means they'll choke to death in a few seconds." Pan says before looking away.
"ACK- WATER-" The two said.
The group laughed at the siblings, chuckling at their childish antics.
But for Pan, this kind of interaction reminded her of home.
She glances at them one last time before looking down.
"Tina... Pai... I wonder if you're doing well?" Pan thought.
She then imagines the two as her two younger siblings, reminiscing the old days when she was young and together with them.
"I hope you're taking good care of ma and pa, you two..." Pan thought.
"But I can't imagine the Ina siblings as my own. Alongside Clara, I'd like to take Crispina's hand in marriage~!" Pan thought as she starts blushing at the thought of these two women in her life.
"Miss Pan, what are you thinking?" Clara curiously asked.
"Ah, nothing! I was just thinking of work!" Pan says with sweat dripping on her sack.
"T-That goes the same to both of you. Your security shift starts today." Pan ordered.
Basilio and Crispina stood up, pandesals in their mouth as they saluted.
"Yes ma'am!" They said.
And so, Pan got herself some new recruits to tussle with. And some security for the Maria Bakery was added assurance that noone would try to sabotage their business.
Even though the siblings are a little too eager with their combination attacks and their flashiness...
All is well for Pan and her group, but they're not the only ones making some progress.
Meanwhile, in one of Anihan's High Class Inns.
A certain knight is resting in a room with his assistance at the ready.
"Sir Viktor, here are the results of today's investigation." One of his underlings approaches Viktor, lending him a few pieces of paper.
Viktor takes the paper and skims through it, he then takes a deep sigh before placing it on his table.
"No luck, hm?" Viktor says before picking up a pandesal from his plate.
He stares at it for a moment before taking a bite. He enjoyed the flavoured but he chuckled at the feeling.
"Strange... Traces of mana, eh?" Viktor thought.
He then faces his subordinate, drinking his tea.
"Sir? Is there something the matter?" His subordinate asked.
"Tell me, where do these delicious piece of pastries came from?" Viktor says as he presents the pandesal to him, he then chomps it down.
"Ah, those are famous pandesals from Maria Bakery. They're around at the edge of Anihan Village, but the bread they bake is so good! Ah- Excuse me, sir." He arranges himself.
"I see..." Viktor says before smirking.
He then sits up, leaning at the window as he stares at the night sky.
"So the hunt continues... And it gets more exciting." Viktor chuckled as he evilly smirks, his excitement grows.
Now that Pan established her footing in this world, she now has a few more people to rely on in the Ina Siblings.
But Pan's trace has finally been picked up by the Knight, Viktor. Despite this story's laid back, Slice of life nature, it seems there'll be a bit more spice to make it interesting.
What shall happen to Pan's dream of opening a bakery?