by SOW
“You came here... to buy some of my bread?” Lud looked at Milly as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying.
“Y-You’re a baker, right? Sell me some!” This wasn’t what Milly wanted to say, and she felt like tearing her head off.
“I’m sorry... for being mean.” Milly said this as if the words were being wrung out of her.
She hated Wiltians. She hated soldiers. And she still hated this baker, too. But, he had saved her and Marlene. He had protected everyone at the church. She thought she should give him a proper thank you. But she couldn’t admit this to Lud, and had come as a customer.
“But you said you’d never eat my bread...”
She had always said this. That she would never eat any bread that he made.
“The Apple Danish... was good...” Milly scowled to hide her embarrassment.
She hated Wiltians. She hated soldiers. And she still hated this baker after all. But his bread looked so appetizing. She ate it in hiding. It was incredibly delicious.
“Hurry up and sell me some... Gwah?!”
Lud suddenly hugged her. Surprised, Milly struggled a little, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull free. Lud had the same smell that he had that night in the mine when he risked his life to protect Milly, and hugged her, telling her to live for herself. It was a warm embrace and a nice smell. It was the same smell of wheat and a baking oven that she remembered her beloved father had.
“Tha... Thank you...” Lud was crying. Tears of joy.
Is this guy crazy? His place is so unpopular that someone coming in to buy bread makes him cry?
In her head, Milly mercilessly hurled abuse at Lud.
“Are you dense?”
She hated Wiltians. She hated soldiers. This baker was an idiot, but right now she didn’t hate him as much as she had.
“... J-Jerk...” As she spoke, she grabbed Lud’s clothes with her small hands.
She reached out as if she was trying to return Lud’s embrace. Her face grew hot. But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. Lud was an adult but somehow Milly even found herself thinking that he was cute.
“Master, are you back from the mi... huh?!”
Having heard the truck, Sven came out and saw Lud’s crying face as he hugged the young girl.
“M-M-M-M-M-M-Master!”
Rushing over to them with enough force to break the sound barrier, Sven tore Milly away from Lud.
“How dare you! You’ve got some nerve making a pass at him!”
Milly was the person being hugged, so it was unreasonable for Sven to blame it on her. But that wasn’t what Sven was thinking about. Milly’s face was aglow, much like Marlene’s when she looked at Lud lately. She had the eyes of a young girl in love.
“Y-You’re wrong! It’s not like that!”
Milly tried to protest but she couldn’t hide her red cheeks.
“What do you mean ‘that’?!”
Sven was right after all. The color showed in her eyes. Sven was convinced that Milly’s strategy was to show Lud a little bit of gentleness and kindness and snare him for herself.
“Listen to me Sven! Milly—”
“Maasssttteeerrr!!”
Lud seemed agitated as he tried to explain what had happened. Sven cut him off and brought her reproachful face close to his.
“Y-Yes?”
Under the pressure of Sven’s gaze, Lud instinctively cowered.
“Listen, my heart and body are for you and you alone!”
“Eh?”
Sven had asked herself why she desired to make Lud happy. Why did she want Lud to treat her as someone dear to him? At last, she had found her answer.
His smile. She loved it. She wanted to see him smile much more. The smile in his heart was for her even though she was nothing more than a weapon. Nevertheless, there were too many rivals around him. And the number of rivals had grown while she wasn’t looking. This time it was a young girl! At this rate, Sven would feel more at ease in the middle of a crossfire. Sven was beside herself with worry and anxiety. She had to make this one thing clear.
“Master is mine and mine alone!”
Before Lud could reply, Sven put her lips on Lud’s.
This person is precious to me. I’m not going to let anyone else have him!
Sven vowed in her heart to keep this promise.
In the mining town of Organbaelz, there is a small bakery named Tockerbrot, with a frightening but earnest baker, and his cute, smiling waitress. If you ever visit this town, I highly recommend stopping by the bakery. If you do, and if you happen to be especially lovely, please don’t be surprised and don’t be disturbed if the red eyes of the waitress shoot sparks in your direction.
End of Volume 1
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Copyright
The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress: Volume 1
by SOW
Translated by David Musto
Edited by Hope Matthiessen
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 SOW
Illustrations Copyright © 2015 Zaza
Cover illustration by Zaza
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2015 by Hobby Japan
This English edition is published by arrangement with Hobby Japan, Tokyo
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: September 2019