Chapter 230 - His Life Before
(This happens 10 days before the Gods' Impact came into existence.)
In the real world. It was early in the morning.
"Check. Mr. Droid's order, check. Ms. Jia's order is done. Tir's Order, check."
Zach was in his family shop— the bakery, and confirming all the orders they had to complete today.
"Hmm…." Zach turned to his little sister Zoe and said, "I don't see Mr. Hiem's order."
"Umm… is Mr. Hiem the bald man?" Zoe asked awkwardly.
"Yeah…"
"I think he canceled his order two days ago when you weren't here," Zoe responded.
"I see…" Zach glanced around the shop and said, "I already prepared the dough for it…"
"Oh…"
"It will go to waste if I don't make anything…" Zach sighed.
"Zach, Zach. Can I make shaped bread?" Zoe asked curiously with an excited look on her face.
"I would usually say, 'You shouldn't waste food like that', but I guess you can do that today," Zach replied with a soft chuckle. "Alright. I will fill the shelves in the meantime. You can do whatever you want."
"Yay!" Zoe chirped joyfully.
A few minutes later, Zoe came back with a plate in her hand that was covered with a lid.
"Zach. I made three shaped-breads. And I will ask you to guess them. Are you ready?" she said with a smile on her face.
"Not now, Zoe. I am arranging the shelves," Zach responded without looking back.
Zoe patiently waited until Zach was done, and then asked him the same thing again.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah."
Zoe placed the plate on the table and took out the first shaped-bread. She showed it to Zach and asked, "What is this?"
Zach looked at the bread for a while and said, "Uhhh… that's a lizard, right?"
Zoe furrowed her brows and said, "It's a western dragon!"
"Oh… but it looks like a lizard…"
The shapes looked similar as they were flat-shaped bread.
"Nevermind." Zoe showed him the second bread and asked, "What's this?"
Zach pondered for a while after looking at the bread and thought of various things.
"Is it a… snake?" Zach wondered with a hesitant smile on his face.
Zoe frowned her face and said, "It's an eastern dragon!"
"Oh, come on~!" Zach groaned and said, "This is so confusing!"
Zoe glared at Zach and said, "You better get the last one right, otherwise…"
"Oh?" Zach raised his brow in amusement and asked, "Otherwise, what?"
"I will…" Zoe stuttered as she thought of something that could scare Zach.
Zach smacked Zoe on the head and said, "It's too early for you to threaten me."
Zoe showed the third bread to Zach and waited for Zach to guess it.
"Heh!" Zach smirked and uttered with a smug look on his face, as though he had recognized the third bread.
"Not bad, Zoe. But there is no way I am getting this one wrong," he uttered with a proud face.
"Haha!" he laughed out loud, seemingly thinking it was too easy to guess. Then, he said, "That's a demon."
"..." Zoe stared at Zach in disbelief and shook her head with a sigh.
"Wait… did I get it wrong…?" Zach asked with an awkward smile on his face.
Zoe puffed her cheeks without answering Zach's question. And that was enough for Zach to realize that he guessed it wrong.
"But how?" Zach asked with a confused look on his face and pointed his finger at the third bread. "No matter how you look at it, it's a face with two horns on the head. And only demons have that…"
Zoe puffed her cheeks even more and muttered, "It's a bunny."
"What in the—!" Face facepalmed himself and said, "The first two were fantasy creatures, so why would you choose the third one as a bunny? No matter what you say, you are the one at the fault here."
"I am not!" Zoe retorted. "It's because you are too stupid to understand!"
Zach furrowed his brows and moved his hand towards Zoe to smack her on the head.
"Ahem!" However, he was interrupted by the customer in the shop.
Zach turned to the customers and his eyes widened as though he knew the customers.
"Hey, Leona…."
It was a middle-aged woman, who was dressed nicely. She was wearing sunglasses and a red scarf to cover her head.
"You two are fighting early in the morning, huh?" Leon asked with a soft scoff.
"Of course not. I was just going to smack some sense to her. Mother has been spoiling her too much, so she needs to be disciplined," Zach responded in a calm voice.
"Kayden and Misha are the exact opposite of you two," Leon stated. "While I do understand they are step-siblings, so there would be a certain limit between them, but it would be nice to see them get along as they used to when they were kids."
Leona was Misha's mother and Kayden's stepmother.
'Well, that's because Kayden has been trying to court her since we started high school,' Zach uttered inwardly. 'I had warned Kayden to not do it, or it would make things awkward between them, and that's what happened.'
"What brings you here, Misha's mother?" Zoe asked with an innocent smile on her face.
"Umm… is Erza awake yet? I am here to call her for the monthly colony meeting," Leon responded in a calm voice.
"Yes, she is awake! I will go call her!" Zoe said as she rushed out of the room.
"Wear your school uniform too!" Zach shouted. "We are getting late."
"Okay!"
A few minutes later, Erza walked into the shop and said, "Zach. Zoe told me you were eating pastries…"
'That little—!' Zach exhaled sharply and said, "She is lying."
"What, did you two fight again?" Ezra asked with a knowing look on her face.
"Of course, not. How could I ever raise my hand or voice against my cute little sister?"
"..."
"Erza. Are you ready?" Leona quipped. "We are already late."
"Ah! Yes. Let me grab my purse."
"So…. mother…" Zach called out to Erza and said, "Should I close the shutter?"
"Just close it half. The meeting should end in an hour or so, so it's alright," Erza answered.
A few seconds later, Zoe came, and then they left for the school.