Mark of the Fool
Chapter 561: It's Strange When It Happens Twice

After a long absence, Baelin was back.

His timing couldn't have been better.

Well, for Alex, at least.

For the saboteurs trying to sink Alex’s business, things probably looked very different. Both the man and woman looked like someone had just signed their death warrants. The pair shrank back as the university’s chancellor stalked toward them, flanked by puzzled and amused city councillors.

“What…what’s…what’re you…” the man muttered.

“Doing here?” Baelin finished the sentence for him. “What am I doing here? Well, it is as I said. These young folk are mentees of mine, and I would not miss this little opening of one of their projects for the world.”

“Oh gods,” the man muttered.

The woman—his ally who had arrived to lend her support—was already in full flight down the street.

Baelin glanced at the six-armed councillor. “Tell me, Kartika, what was the fine for Defamation Against a Business again? I am so old that it seems to have slipped my mind.”

The woman called Kartika looked incredibly amused as she rattled off the punishment from memory. “The first time offence for Defamation Against a Business will be no less than one thousand gold plus an appropriate and fair percentage in proportion to revenue lost by the business by cause of the defamation, as determined by an investigative accounting team.

She paused, tapping her chin in thought. “Of course, in pursuant of justice, a criminal conspirator who reveals the identities of fellow conspirators will be granted a measure of amnesty by the High Court of Generasi.”

The man’s eyes lit up like those of a shipwrecked sailor who’d just spotted a rescue ship. “The—I was paid to do this!” he cried. “Go-govert Beerensteyn said I could make a hundred gold if we pretended that we got food poisoning from that bakery! I swear, we didn’t mean anything else by it! It was just for the gold. G-govert Beerensteyn! He’s the one you want! He came up with the whole idea!”

Murmurs from the crowd turned to loud exclamations.

“Guards! A crime has been committed!” Baelin called.

Several city guards now hovered at the edge of the crowd, making sure no one gathered in the road broke the peace. On Baelin’s accusation, they surged forward.

The man didn’t even try to resist as they grabbed him. He was already naming names and where each of Govert’s agents could be found as they dragged him off.

And the crowd actually cheered.

“Well, then.” Baelin looked at Alex. “I promised my friends a fine meal. Are you ready to provide?”

“Absolutely!” Alex said, his voice booming over the street. “Now that that’s been resolved, what say some of you folk come in for a bite! It’s our Grand Opening, after all, and everything’s discounted. Come on, I’ll show you why Govert felt he needed to resort to dirty tactics to stop us.”

With that, Alex walked into the bakery.

A second later, he heard Baelin behind him with the members of the city council.

Then the rush began.

All hesitation vanished. The crowd poured inside, filling the bakery with curious customers.

“Troy! Lorraine!” Alex called. “Get ready, this is going to be a rush.”

And a rush it was.

It seemed the spectacle had brought half the district to the door, and soon orders were coming in so fast that he considered using haste magic just to keep up. The inside dining area filled. The outside soon after.

But, Alex hadn’t forgotten his promise and had reserved tables for the stars of the day.

Sinope came in with her kin and Alex made good on his promise to feed all of them at no charge. He pushed the tables together and in no time, it sounded like a party as the dryads tried nearly everything on the menu, and between bites, they laughed, teased each other, and went on about how good the food was.

And they weren’t alone.

Words like; “heavenly, delicious, oh, by every god, better than my mother’s cooking,” and more floated through the air, and soon, a long line was forming down the street. Alex cast haste magic on Troy and Lorraine, while Thundar, Selina and Theresa joined them in the kitchen, lending a hand in any way they could.

As the line grew, it attracted even more curious passersby, stopping to inquire about the earlier commotion. A wild story was told: one of sabotage, betrayal, a trial of public opinion, and even an arrest right there on the street.

It didn’t take long for the story to be repeated throughout the district as Govert’s saboteurs were rounded up. More folk streamed in from all over, drawn by the wild tale surrounding the bakery’s opening.

The rush seemed never ending.

Even after Baelin had finished, congratulated Alex, and left—with his councillor friends promising to return and tell their friends and family about the food—the line just kept growing.

Alex had to use the aeld staff to put haste magic on his helpers so they could keep up.

Claygon served tables as friends stopped by.

Isolde came for lunch, with Hogarth and Svenia.

Kybas followed with the growing Harmless.

Of course Grimloch returned, devastating their supply of meat pies.

And even Professor Jules arrived in the afternoon.

“Congratulations, Mr. Roth,” she said after handing over her payment. “I just hope this will not detract from your studies.”

“Hey, in some ways, baking is just its own form of alchemy, right?” he joked. “So I’m studying, in my own way!”

She’d simply sighed and headed for the door.

Within minutes, Troy came from the kitchen. “Boss, we’re all out!” he announced. “Everything’s gone for the day!”

A wave of groans went through the crowd waiting at the counter, but Alex raised his hands.

“I’m so sorry everyone. I didn’t expect this much support from so many people from the district. But, I'll tell you what.” He paused for effect, using his voice to grab their attention. “If you come back tomorrow? I’ll keep our Grand Opening prices! So, if you didn’t get a chance to try what you wanted today, you’ll have another chance before full prices begin!”

There was still some grumbling from the line, but between using the Mark and his training handling annoyed customers—there were more than a few at McHarris’—he calmed most people down with his sincerity and a guarantee that he’d honour the discounted prices the next day. He also made sure to connect with them; shaking their hands, introducing himself, asking their names and using the Mark to remember those names, so next visit when he called them by name, they’d feel welcome.

Some still grumbled, but that didn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t be back to give the food a try…time would tell.

Alex stood outside the bakery, watching the line disperse and grinning evilly. If he had a moustache, he could see himself twirling it like some villain in a play.

Govert had tried to get revenge, planning on ruining his business from day one. But, so much had gone wrong for the man that he almost, but not really, felt sorry for him. Instead of destroying his chances for a successful opening, he’d gained more profit, and more advertising in a single day, than he could have in months, even if he’d planned it.

And the irony was almost as delicious as the food they’d served today.

Humming to himself, he picked up the grand opening signs, folded them and was just preparing to take them inside…when a ruckus broke out down the street. Squads of Generasi’s guards had rounded up a fair number of people.

‘What’s this now?’ He scrutinised them, looking at each one carefully. ‘Huh…will you look at that.’ he thought, noticing that all of them—except one—had dried stains covering the front of their clothing.

“Unhand me!” Govert Beerensteyn cried. “Unhand me, you fools! I did nothing wrong! I’m not the one serving rotten food! I’m not!”

But, unfortunately for him, his lies weren’t working. The ruse was up.

The guards continued dragging the protesting man down the street—in the midst of his guilty looking helpers—until they all disappeared around the corner. Even then, Alex could still hear his cries of protest coming from the direction of the district’s nearest guard house, growing dimmer until they died. Alex grinned. “Huh, maybe one day when he’s settled into a nice prison routine I’ll pay him a visit with some mince tarts to thank him for all his help…even if he didn’t mean to help.” His grin almost spread from ear to ear.

His face suddenly lit up. “You know, that’s the second corrupt baker that I got the guards onto.” He shook his head, laughing. “I can’t believe that’s actually happened twice.”

“Alex,” a soft voice called out.

A familiar figure had emerged from the crowd and was hurrying toward him. She looked tense.

“Carey?” he said, surprised. “What brings you down here?”

“I so wanted to make your grand opening, but it looks like I’m too late,” the young woman pointed at the signs he was holding then stopped to catch her breath. It appeared she’d been running. “I had classes all morning.” She looked down at the signs. “I started to jog when I saw you packing up. Are you closed? It seems rather early.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Alex beamed. “We sold out. Completely. It was absolutely wild.”

“Oh.” Her face dropped.

“Buuuut, I’m sure I could fit in one more customer. Come on in, let’s make sure we get you fed.”

She gave him a wan smile. “Thank you.”

Together, they went inside, and Alex shut the door behind them, ending the first official day of business for the Roth Family Bakery, even though the grand opening wasn’t technically over yet. And what an eventful grand opening it had been, so much had happened in just half a day.

Word was already spreading about Govert’s manufactured drama. It was the perfect story, complete with villains, ups and downs, and a thrilling climax.

The ‘good guys’ had even won in the end.

And along with the story, there was also the nostalgic feeling people who knew BeerensteynSr. had, but the true stand out of the day had been the food. Some people had left the bakery believing the entire incident as it had played out, while others thought that it had all been a massive stunt for publicity: a true superstar in the business of ‘guerilla marketing’.

But whether people completely believed the day’s events or not, no one questioned the quality of the food. It was good, very good, and most raved about it as they told others the story.

It was the one constant among all the exaggerations, rumours and theories.

If it hadn’t been good, Govert’s plan would have worked. No question. Because, with the frightening reputation the bakery had when he’d owned it, no sane person would have doubted the stories about rampant food poisonings, but Alex’s samples, and the early customers who’d tasted them, proved the saboteurs were lying.

The Roth Family Bakery’s food quality had let it thrive under pressure, and that news spread through the district like wildfire.

And beyond.

It would take time for many to understand the full extent of what had just happened, and merchants would be analysing the event for weeks after.

Thanks to Govert, the story of the Roth Family Bakery’s beginnings was one that could be legend.

And nearly every known empire had a legend surrounding its origins.

###

“So, first of all,” Alex said, a glass of bubbling wine in his hand. “I want to thank everyone here for all you did today.”

Grinning, he watched his audience: Troy, Lorraine, Khalik, Najyah the dryads, his family and—in a corner by herself—Carey. Everyone—excluding Brutus, Selina, Claygon and Najyah—had a glass of their own—and wore the sort of dreamy smile one might wear at a favourite loved one’s wedding. Carey looked down at her cup of tea.

“There are a lot of things I want to say, but I’m going to keep it simple because there’s a lot to do for tomorrow,” he said. “So, I’ll just say thank you. Troy? Lorraine? You’re getting full pay today, plus a bonus. You know what? Let’s make that double-pay!” he laughed.

“Eh?” Troy rose from his chair. “Wait, why? We were only open for part of the day!”

“Because you put in more than double the work you had to,” Alex said. “And today was a special day. A very special day. You both helped make it so, and everyone should be rewarded. And speaking of that.”

He looked at Khalik and dryads. “All of you get to eat here for free for the next month. Limit one meal per day!” Alex laughed. “Cuz I know, you’ll try to bankrupt me, Khalik.”

“Curses, you know me too well,” the prince lamented, and Sinope giggled.

Alex went to Selina, Theresa and Claygon and caught them in a hug. “And thanks, all of you…we did it. We did it together.”

“Mum and dad would be happy…I think,” Selina said softly.

“I’m sure they would be,” Alex agreed.

“My mother and father would be proud too,” Theresa squeezed Alex’s waist.

Claygon patted Alex on the shoulder. “Today…was a good day. A very good day.”

As the young wizard hugged his family, his eyes rested on Carey’s face as she sat at her table. The young woman was looking down, and her expression was one of the loneliest he’d ever seen.

He’d need to talk to her.