My Attempt at the Queen of Cuisine Heart Quest
Alright, so today I was messing around in Metaphor Refantazio, trying to tick off some side quests, you know? Stumbled onto this one called “Queen of Cuisine: Benevolent Bread.” Sounded fancy, right? Figured it couldn’t be that hard. Boy, was I kinda wrong at first.
First things first, I needed to actually find the quest giver. Took me a hot minute wandering around the Central Market District. Eventually spotted her – this plump lady baker standing near an oven, looking stressed. Talked to her, obviously. Her name’s Gretchen. Turns out, she’s got this legendary bread recipe, the “Benevolent Bread,” but she’s stuck because she’s missing two super specific ingredients. Classic quest setup.
Here’s what she demanded:
- One bag of Sun-Dawn Flour
- Three sprigs of Moonshadow Thyme
Sounds poetic, doesn’t it? Problem is, she has zero clue where to find them now. Great. So, it was on me to play fetch.
Started hunting for the Sun-Dawn Flour. Racked my brain. Remembered a grumpy flour merchant tucked away in the Old Town market alley. Ran over there, dodging NPCs like an obstacle course. Found his stall, sure enough. Had to bargain with him! This dude was stubborn as a mule. Tried the polite approach, he wasn’t having it. So I leaned into the haggling hard – you know, complimenting his “premium grains,” promising future business, the whole spiel. After what felt like forever, he finally caved and sold me one precious bag. Whew.
Next up, the Moonshadow Thyme. Gretchen mentioned something about “night’s embrace,” so I guessed it only grows at night. Simple enough. Fast-traveled to Noxborne Grove as soon as the game clock hit dusk. Wandered into the grove, keeping my eyes peeled for anything shimmering weirdly in the moonlight. Took a few wrong turns – seriously, these woods are dark – but eventually, near a crumbling stone ruin, I spotted them! Three little plants glowing faintly blueish-purple. Quickly snagged all three. Felt pretty slick.
With both items burning a hole in my inventory, I hauled ass back to Gretchen in the Central Market. Handed them over like the glorious delivery person I was. Her face lit up! “Bless you!” she yelled. She immediately started baking.
Then came the mini-game. Gotta bake the bread with her. It wasn’t super complex, more timing-based. Followed the prompts: kneading when the gauge said knead, letting it rise when it screamed rest, shoving it in the oven exactly when the timer chimed. Messed up the kneading rhythm once – my dude kinda slapped the dough weirdly – but nailed the oven timing perfectly. Phew.
Finally, pulled out this absolutely glistening golden loaf from the oven. Looked legit. Gretchen was practically crying happy tears. She thanked me profusely, rambled about restoring her bakery’s honor, and dumped the rewards on me:
- A nice chunk of EXP.
- A hefty wallet boost in game currency.
- Plus, the actual “Benevolent Bread” item itself! Apparently gives a buff? Haven’t tried it yet.
So yeah, that was my morning. A bit of running, some annoying haggling, mild panic during baking, but got it done. Took longer than expected, but seeing that loaf come out perfect felt satisfying. Until next quest, I guess!