The Insider System

Chapter 53: A Future For Cheese

Lake didn't know how he felt about what Nia had said because he had enjoyed the experience but he could see how not being able to control yourself was a problem. If Millie wanted she could have made them stay like that, completely under her control, and willing to do anything for more of her food.

This also made Lake realize there were other bad things alchemy could do to you other than poison and it seemed he had no defense against it. Millie's food was directly messing with his head somehow, and while it was enjoyable Lake felt he was a little foolish for just letting it happen.

The careful approach would have been to excuse himself after the first bite. It would have been obvious he didn't trust her but why should he. Instead he had gotten so caught up in the food that he had eaten it all. Most of the time when someone who made something was also eating it it meant it was safe, but Millie had shown she could control herself when eating her own food and that made her more dangerous.

The only question was did she know it. This could have been an honest effort to make the best dessert possible, or it could have been a warning of things to come. Lake bet he wasn't the only one to think this about Millie. With how good her food was there should be more people here, but the only one here was Nia and they were friends.

Lake bet Millie was secretly feared for the potential her food had and it was a funny coincidence that she was probably one of the nicest people here. Lake thought this because he trusted in his people reading skills, and so far neither of them had given him anything to worry about. The odds that both of them were masters of deception were low.

This kind of made Lake feel it was ok to continue to come here every so often as long as it was random and she didn't know he was coming. On the off chance she was planning something he would be able to read her reaction when he showed up. This also made him think it might be a good idea to be more serious about alchemy.

He wanted to know how all this worked because so far he felt Alchemy was the most dangerous thing he had run into. If someone asked him if he wanted to fight a random monster, or drink a random potion he would pick the monster. That decision was even factoring in that poison couldn't kill him.

"Millie, I think it's fine as long as you tell people first." This was Lake's honest opinion. He understood that Millie probably enjoyed surprising people with her food, but at a certain point a surprise became an attack. "So you think my food should come with a warning?" Lake could see why Millie didn't like this idea; it was a little insulting to her work.

"Only in extreme cases. I mean over the years how many people only ate your food once and never came back? I can tell you it wasn't because your food isn't good." Lake was talking out of his ass he didn't actually know if loads of people had been here or not. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying people are afraid of you." Lake could tell this came as a surprise to Millie and Nia. Lake guessed Nia had known Millie so long she was incapable of seeing her as a threat. "Why would they be afraid of me? All I do is make them food." Lake didn't want to put any ideas into her head but he told her anyway.

"They're afraid you could take control of them, which you probably already did." As Lake said this he pointed at the now empty bowl. "The effect wears off after a few seconds." Lake had been right in assuming neither of them saw it. "But does it have to? You see they're scared because they don't understand you wouldn't do something when they would."

Lake could tell his statement really made them think. Lake had known for a long time everyone assumed other people were the same as them so when they were trying to figure out others they usually based it on themselves. Lake knew better, with all his time in therapy on earth while they were trying to help him with his kleptomania he realized no one was exactly the same.

That being said you could usually typecast them, and that usually helped with predicting their behavior. That was why in all his therapy sessions his therapist just wanted him to talk and would only ask questions when she needed clarification. She was trying to see the exact type of freak he was.

"Do you really think people are scared of me?" In this case Lake could be counted in the people part of the question, so he could answer with certainty. "I am. If you wanted you could have already taken control of me and I didn't even think of that till after the food." Lake thought this statement was enough to win Millie over to the warnings on her food.

She was the type of person that didn't want anyone to hate her, so she would rather acknowledge the fact that it was dangerous than to continue to scare people just so she could see their reaction to the first time they ate it. "What do you think I should do to convince people my food is safe?"

It took a few seconds for Lake to think of a solution. He wasn't usually the one to fix problems even if he knew what they were. "Checks and balances are the only way for people to ever trust something they don't understand. You see the problem is you're the only one who understands your food and that means you can do whatever you want to it. If you want to make your food more popular you have to make it more accessible. I would recommend spreading some recipes."

If other people were able to make it with their own hands they would come to trust it. How could someone not trust something their own mother made for them growing up. "The only problem with that is you have to be an Alchemist to make my recipes and it still isn't easy." This problem was actually good for the guild so Lake smiled.

"I would recommend talking to Lucas about getting some apprentices. You see if you train them to cook your food the Guild can start to spread them around to open restaurants. Think about the amount of money the guild will earn if our food is the only one worth eating." Lake didn't actually care about the guild.

This was actually about the fact that Lucas seemed to prefer Solomon over Millie that was why he had killed the investigation. If Lake made Millie just as important Lake would be able to get rid of Solomon more easily if he ever tried anything. You could never beat someone your bosses thought was more important than you.

"I never wanted only rich people to eat my food." Lake hadn't accounted for her past when he made this plan a few seconds ago. He had already figured out that she was probably starving during most of her childhood, and Lake had heard starving was one of the traumas most people never got over.

Lake had a solution to this as well. "Who said you could only open one restaurant in every town just send some of the less talented Apprentices to open less expensive restaurants. They aren't good enough to handle expensive ingredients anyway." Lake knew he had hit the ball out of the park with this one. Now it was time for cheese.

"Will you come with us to talk to Lucas tomorrow? This was your idea and I don't want to take credit for it." It seemed Millie wasn't ready to move on yet. "Sure." Lake agreed because this idea was good enough for a reward and he wanted it. "Ok, Now that we are done talking about that I have a question. Is this made with milk?"

As soon as he asked this Millie's face turned red and she looked at the floor. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Uw, Gross, Millie!." It seemed Nia had no idea that there had been milk in the dessert. "Why would you put that stuff in there, it's for babies?" Lake guessed this was a normal reaction for someone who thought this way about milk, but Lake knew its potential. "It has a lot of fat in it, and stuff with fat tastes better."

Lake was happy to see Millie defend milk to Nia, a person who seemed to love it. "Have you thought of another way to use it yet?" Lake thought it was possible that Millie had already discovered cheese, and was yet to share it. "It's hard to work with, it keeps spoiling before I can make anything out of it. That's how I came up with freezing it."

Lake was pretty sure that it spoiling was part of the cheese making process, so in a way she was close to making cheese. "Next time that happens try to make something out of it before you throw it away." This seemed to make Millie think of something. "You mean like the bread, how I let it ferment to make it taste better?"

Lake nodded this was as much as he knew about making cheese and he wasn't even sure this was right. "Just answer one question Millie, is it from a human?" Lake laughed, it seemed Nia was really hung up on this.