We''d gone to every single shop and stall in the safe zone, but nobody, absolutely nobody, sold baking equipment.  We''d managed to find the basics like some tasty new ingredients for the slimes, dishes and flatware, and even some mismatched lanterns to hang from the ceiling, but nothing like baking pans or display racks.  Honestly, nobody even sold tables or chairs either, which felt really odd.


    "Okay, so hear me out," Fiona said, holding up a battle-worn wooden club, "imagine this as a rolling pin."


    "That''s a club..."


    "A very rolly club," she said with a grin.  "Seriously, once we whittle it down and sand it, it would make a great rolling pin.  It''s a good length and weight."


    I frowned at the weapon, wishing I had a better option, but honestly?  The club was the best thing we''d found.


    "Okay."  I tapped my chin, looking around at the rest of the weapons store we''d saved for last.  "What about serving trays then?"


    Fiona''s eyes lit up. "Oh!  We could use shields!"


    She rushed to grab the nearest one, handing it to me.  The large metal shield was so heavy that it felt like my arm might rip off as it crashed toward the floor, but thankfully Fiona caught it in the nick of time. I didn''t want any you-break-it-you-buy-it moments here.


    "Okay, maybe not that shield," she said sheepishly, "but we can find lighter ones."


    With that, Fiona and I set off on a scavenger hunt of strange things we could repurpose for the cafe.  I drew the line at her trying to convince me to use an old helmet as a mixing bowl, but various other pieces of armor would work fine as cooling racks and things like that if we could flatten them out.  We even found whole crates full of empty potion bottles that would be great for single serving desserts, especially the ones with wider openings.


    "Why not take the crates too?" Fiona asked.  "If we put some of them together, we could make extra counter space for you.  Or tables or chairs maybe?"


    "I guess that could work?"  My sense of what was a good idea versus a bad one was starting to get skewed here.  "Hmmm, maybe this old treasure chest could store my pots and pans so I''ve got more room in my item box?"


    Fiona grinned.  "Definitely.  If we find some others, we can make the cafe feel really homey too.  Like treasure is around any corner."


    "Is that what homey feels like?" I laughed, shaking my head at her.  "What about those wine barrels we saw at the market?  Those would make great stools."


    "You''re right, we should go back to all the shops with this newfound sense of adventurous shopping!"


    Fiona''s excitement was infectious, so we took off with a new outlook on what would work for the cafe.  We rented a cart for the things that didn''t fit in our item boxes and went to town, buying up so many strange things I''d probably regret later.  The most fun was going back to the tailor''s shop for tablecloths and napkins.


    But after a while, we finally had to accept that some things just couldn''t be found.


    "I think it''s time to call it quits," I said sadly.  "Maybe the dungeon will reward me with muffin pans and baking sheets when I upgrade my cafe next time.  And I can get by without pastry cutters and things like that.  It''s fine."


    "No way, that is not fine."  Fiona linked her arm through mine, confidently tugging me in a direction we hadn''t gone yet.  "We''re going to talk to the blacksmith."


    "There''s a blacksmith??  Why didn''t we stop there to begin with?"


    "He''s not exactly the most imaginative guy," she said, pushing the cart ahead of us.  "I''ve asked for customizations a few times, but they go right over his head.  So baking pans will probably be a hard pass, but we might as well give it a try, right?"


    "Right."


    The sounds of metal clanging against metal drew us to a large forge at the edge of the safe zone, all the way past the housing district and other shops.  I felt kind of bad for the smith actually, like nobody wanted the sound of his shop anywhere near them.  But the closer we got, the more excited Fiona talked about it.


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    "He let me watch when he forged my hammer and it was one of the coolest things I''ve ever seen."  She patted the hammer on her back.  "The way he changed it from a hunk of metal to a weapon this fine was a sight to behold."


    Her eyes were all shiny like a woman talking about her first love, not her favorite weapon.  But hopefully that meant the smith and her were close and he''d be willing to make these baking pans I needed.


    The air grew hotter as we walked into the shop, so hot it was almost hard to breathe.  The smokey scent of coal burning filled the air and the fires created a beautiful ambiance.


    "Welcome to the Obsidian Forge," a gruff voice called out.  "I''m in the back."


    "Hey Brennic."  Fiona waltzed over to the anvil he was working at, already peering at the metal.  "What are you making?"


    The blacksmith was broad-shouldered and muscular, and his skin was almost black with bright molten cracks in it like he was made of lava rock.  The orange and red glow beneath his skin pulsed like a heartbeat, spreading out from his chest.  With each stroke of his hammer, the fire inside him blazed.


    "A dagger," he said between hammer strikes.  "Are you buying something or just here to watch again?"


    "Buying," I said, moving closer to the intense heat of his forge.  "I''m looking for baking pans like muffin tins and cookie sheets.  Maybe some pie pans too and dough cutters."


    The big lava man finally stopped hammering.  "Does this look like a bakery to you?  I make weapons, not whatever those are."


    Yeesh.  I turned to Fiona, silently pleading with her to help.  She was the one who thought this was a good idea.


    "I know, but wouldn''t it be fun to branch out?" she asked.  "Imagine the interesting things you could make.  Plus, she''s a culinary mage, so baking pans are kind of like her weapons and armor."


    Brennic raised an ashen eyebrow at me.  "Will you be hitting anything with said muffin pans?"


    "Um, no?" I winced.  "They''re just for cooking.  But my food does increase people''s buffs and do all sorts of other things.  So it is how I fight."


    "Interesting."  He went back to hammering, but he kept glancing at us.  "Look, even if I wanted to help, I wouldn''t know how.  I make weapons."


    "Just try it out, see what happens," Fiona said, smiling.  "If it doesn''t work out, no problem."


    He shook his head.  "No, I mean I only know how to make weapons.  That''s all I do."


    I blinked.  "But if you wanted to try something else, couldn''t you just–"


    "No."  He shot me down hard as he put the piece of metal he was working on back in the forge to heat up again.  "I was only told to make weapons.  That''s my job."


    Fiona and I shared a look.  This must have been what she meant about customizations going over his head.  It was almost like he''d been given a set of skills and literally didn''t know how to do anything else.  Like he was...programmed or something.


    "Hey Sweet Potato?  Got any ideas here?"  I asked softly.


    If the blacksmith was part of the system, maybe the system could allow him to experiment with new things.  But after a few awkward minutes of us all staring at each other without a single blue message box to be seen, I gave up.


    "Fine, let''s just go.  Thank you for your time."


    Brennic nodded.  "Sorry I couldn''t be more helpful.  If you need a sword or an axe though, I''m your guy."


    Fiona crossed her arms, staring at the forge with a strange look on her face.  "What if...you let me try and make them?"


    "What?" He scoffed.  "You''re not even a blacksmith."


    "It''s fine, Fiona, don''t worry about it." I tried to tug her away, but she was fixated on the bars of metal against the wall.


    She picked one up with a set of giant metal tongs and put it in an open forge.  Then she grabbed a spare leather apron that was far too big for her and stood beside the forge, waiting for the metal to heat up.


    "I''m doing this," she said firmly.  "I''ll pay for the materials, but I''m doing this."


    Brennic sighed.  "Fine, just don''t burn yourself.  Or set anything on fire.  Or–"


    "I get it," she said with a laugh.  "I''ll be careful."


    "You don''t have to do all this for me," I said.  "I''m really fine."


    "There''s something about this place that calls to me. Something...familiar."  Fiona stared into the flames, as if in a trance.  "I need to do this for me.  Plus, if I end up making a lumpy ball of metal, then that''s that.  I''ll finally have my answer."  The light from the forge flickered against her skin.  "But if I make the best muffin tins you''ve ever seen, then that would be something else entirely."


    The way she was talking made it sound like this was much bigger than me, like she''d thought about forging something for a while, but hadn''t had the nerve to actually do it.  If my baking pans could give her that push, then more power to her.


    "Want me to stay?" I asked.


    She shook her head.  "This might take a while.  I''ll stop by the cafe once I''ve made everything on your list."


    "Or she flames out," Brennic said.  "Honestly, a fighter coming in here thinking they can shape metal.  It''s not that easy, you know."


    But when Fiona took the metal out of the fire and set it on an anvil, she looked like a complete natural.  She picked up one of Brennic''s hammers and went to work, hitting and shaping that hunk of steel like she did it every day.


    She''d told me once that the best way to remember your past was to do something you''re familiar with.  For me, that was baking, but maybe for her it was smithing.  I left the two of them in the forge bickering about the finer points of blacksmithing while I prepared to go back to my cafe.


    It had been a long day and I wanted nothing more than to cuddle up with the slimes.