Chapter 2: A Different Kind of Normal

It had become part of my routine to fetch water from the lake first thing in the morning before anyone else was awake. Rike had once protested that chores were part of the apprentice’s job, but I’d told her that I wanted to do it; these morning walks were one of my few chances to stretch and get some exercise. Carrying the two full water jugs home was good strength training.

Usually, Samya and Rike would be awake by the time I returned to the cabin, and the three of us would rinse off using the fresh water I’d brought back. Starting today though, we’d be freshening up as a group of four—Diana was going to be joining us for the time being. We all washed our faces and cleaned our teeth before breaking off for our morning tasks; I would be making breakfast as the others did the laundry. Back on Earth, I could pop two slices of bread into the toaster, whip up some eggs, and call it a day. However, in this world, preparing a meal took longer, so there was plenty of time for those three to finish the wash while I cooked.

For laundry, we used a detergent made from ash, which was an abundant by-product of burning charcoal. We mixed the ash with water in a jar that was reserved for that purpose. This tried-and-true method of making detergent had been used even early on in Earth’s history, and it continued to stand the test of time. I’m sure that if we looked, we could find plants like soapberries with saponins, but for now, our ash detergent worked perfectly well. Perhaps in the future when we had some downtime...

On today’s breakfast menu was a wheat porridge and cured-meat soup. To reduce the time I’d need to spend cooking meals, I made extra soup for lunch or dinner or to use as a stock.

Breakfast was a vital part of our routine, filled with delicious food, good company, and engaging conversations. It was also an opportunity for Samya, Rike, and me—and Diana as well, for the time being—to discuss our plans for the day.

For the next three days, we would be smithing shortswords and longswords. Since Samya was familiar with the steps, she could teach Diana the basics.

The process was straightforward. We first needed to cover the prototype of the sword, which was already made, with clay. Once the clay hardened, it would be split down the middle and carefully removed from the prototype. These two pieces would become the halves of the mold. Molten steel would then be poured into the mold to produce the foundation of the sword. Once the sword was unmolded, any surface irregularities (otherwise known as “burrs”), such as extra metal in the seam of the mold, needed to be removed, and any warped places straightened. There were a few final touches before the sword could be reheated and quenched. Lastly, after the sword had hardened, it underwent a final round of polishing and sharpening.

Samya remembered everything I’d taught her previously, so she guided Diana through making the mold.

Come to think of it, we’d have to find a supplier for clay as well. The lake was nearby, which meant that there was a confined aquifer below the surface, sandwiched by an impermeable layer of clay, and that was the place where the water welled out. We could always try to dig to see if we could find any clay. And for our purposes, we didn’t need pure clay; loam would work just as well.

But I digress. I’ll note that down for another time.

Samya and Diana handled the first half of the smithing process, up until the sword was unmolded. Then, Rike and I took over. Someone with Diana’s upbringing was unlikely to have the strength required for deburring, and wielding the blacksmith’s hammer was hard work.

That said, Diana did seem to know her way around a sword—she’d been wearing armor when we’d first met, and had fought off her attackers alone until we’d joined the fray.

As Rike and I worked to fix any irregularities in the sword from the casting process, Samya and Diana started work on the next mold. The mold itself was an important and oft overlooked part of the process, and a steady hand was absolutely essential. It took longer to fix the results of a sloppy mold than to take one’s time and make the mold properly in the first place.

The swords turned out well. Quality-wise, they were just as good as the ones we’d made before. That might not sound like anything to brag about, but we had a total beginner working with us today.

Diana had been fascinated to see the swords gradually take shape and was eager to try and wield one of the finished blades. I gave her the okay, and she ran through a quick sword sequence. Her form was clean and her skills were undeniable, but she still fell short of my cheat-granted abilities.

“Not bad,” I said after watching her for a while.

“Thanks,” Diana replied, “but judging from what I saw last time, I wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”

Last time...? Aaah. When we saved her from those thugs.

“Don’t be fooled by his shabby looks,” Samya said with a smirk. “Eizo’s quite strong.”

“What do you mean by ‘shabby’?” I protested.

“She has a point, Boss,” Rike interjected, taking Samya’s side. “Normally, a blacksmith wouldn’t be expected to hold their own in a fight.”

I slumped over, exaggerating my disappointment, but I managed to get laughs out of everyone.

⌗⌗⌗

We spent the next day in a similar fashion. The only difference was that I moved on to making elite models instead of working with Rike on entry-level ones. We divided tasks between the four of us and settled into a smooth rhythm.

Diana had improved remarkably, probably because of all the practice from yesterday. I inspected one of the shortswords she’d cast. The metal looked much more uniform today.

Nevertheless, it was only day two of her blacksmithing career, so while the results were better, they were far from perfect. Smoothing out the rest of the irregularities was my job, and I did it with care. The tough part for me was making sure I didn’t concentrate too hard on my work, lest I end up making a custom model, which was much harder to sell. The trick was to put in the perfect amount of effort so that the final product stopped at the quality of an elite model.

I finished deburring and shaping the current sword, then I quenched, buffed, and sharpened it. The finished blade was safely within the elite tier. In a sense, it was impressive that my cheat skills could still guarantee such high quality, considering that the initial cast was made by Diana, who had improved but was still a novice.

As I was inspecting the completed sword, Diana approached me. “My, how beautiful.”

“Thank you. It’s a tier above the shortswords we made yesterday, in terms of quality. We sell these at a high price point.”

“Can I see?”

“Oh, yeah, of course. As long as you don’t mind that the grip is unfinished.”

Diana examined the sword closely, and I had a moment of déjà vu. Diana’s image superimposed itself on top of my memory of Rike, and I recalled when I’d met the dwarf in the Open Market.

After a little while, Diana said, “This is incredible.”

“Isn’t it?” Rike bragged.

Shouldn’t I be the one bragging?

“I was blown away the first time I saw Boss’s work,” she continued.

“There are few blacksmiths with your skills,” Diana said in amazement. “Even in the capital, you could count them all on your fingers.”

In other words, there were others out there who could match this level of quality. In the marketplace, my elite model swords wouldn’t be seen as anything extraordinary, but merely high quality.

To tell the truth, when I’d made Helen’s dual blades, I’d made them closer to elite level—a half step better than other swords sold in the market—rather than the level I could achieve when I really put my mind to it.

But of course, if I saturated the market with swords like the ones I’d made Helen, I’d start to draw unwanted attention. I had to make sure I didn’t go overboard.

We stopped working once we’d forged roughly the same amount of swords as we had the day before.

“Eizo, can you do me a favor?” Diana asked as we were wrapping up.

“What is it?” I asked, curious.

“Spar with me.”

I was taken aback by her request. “The two of us?”

“Yes.”

“With...swords?”

“Of course. What else would we use?”

Why is everyone I meet so hot-blooded?! She probably wants to pass some time since she’s not used to living here like the rest of us. It’s not as if there’s any other source of entertainment in this forest...

“All right, but only one round,” I conceded. “It’ll get dark soon.” The sun was already setting outside the window.

“You’re the best!” she said with glee.

Is sparring something a noblewoman would normally be excited by?

I suspected Diana may be a little different from the average ladies of her class, but seeing as she was the only one I’d ever met, I could neither prove nor disprove my hypothesis.

Diana and I took our spar session outside; the workshop wouldn’t survive a sword fight. Samya and Rike joined us to watch.

I had selected an entry-level sword for our fight, just in case. It was mostly for my peace of mind—a sharp piece of metal was a sharp piece of metal. If I hit her with my full strength, she’d be in bad shape no matter what sword I used, but at least with an entry-level model, she wouldn’t end up devastatingly injured.

We kissed the tips of our blades together and bowed to each other before retreating to our separate sides of the field.

“Come at me anytime you like!” I called toward her.

I was relaxed, but I could see by her expression that Diana was dead serious. She readied her sword and approached me slowly. I brought up my blade languidly and waited for her to make a move.

All of a sudden, she lunged at me with such speed that it looked like she’d vanished for a moment. She slashed at my neck, her movement brutal and fierce. In my hand, my sword tip had dipped—that’s what I got for not taking the fight seriously—but I jerked it upward at the last second to intercept her attack. I turned the momentum of the parry into a thrust at Diana’s collarbone.

This time, she was able to deflect my attack, avoiding any damage, and ride the momentum into a counter. I widened the distance between us as I intercepted. Diana pushed forward aggressively, not letting me get away. Her every movement was quick and precise, and I could tell that she hadn’t gained her level of skill from just a lesson or two.

I guess I have no choice.

“Eizo’s getting serious!” Samya whooped from the sidelines.

Only a little bit.

I exhaled sharply and launched myself at Diana again.

Shoulder.

Chest.

Head.

Foot.

I took aim at her vulnerabilities, one after another. At first, Diana fended off my attacks, but then she began to visibly tire. I took advantage of her fatigue and directed a thrust at her torso.

“Hey!” Diana cried out as she brought her sword down just in time to parry mine.

But my first attack was only a ruse. When she lowered her arm, I went in for the kill...and stopped just short of her undefended neck.

“It’s my win, right?” I said.

“Fine...” Diana groused.

And, with that, I seized the gold in our one-round title match.

“I worked up a sweat!” I said as I took time to catch my breath.

Even though I had been de-aged ten years, even though my trips to the lake and smithing work kept me active...I’d overdone it this time. After all, the body of an old man could only withstand so much. During the fight two days ago, I’d been focused on eliminating my enemies as efficiently as possible, so I’d kept any unnecessary movements to a minimum. However, the match with Diana had been a full-body workout, requiring me to stress muscles that I rarely used.

Diana was gazing at me with an accusatory smoldering behind her eyes. “You were still holding back on me, weren’t you, Eizo?”

“Huh? Well, yeah,” I replied, taken aback. “There’s no need for me to go all out when my life isn’t at stake.”

“I can’t believe I lost when you weren’t even using your full abilities,” she lamented, sounding despondent.

I hastily reassured her. “You’re not bad yourself.” I wasn’t just flattering her; she was good, especially for someone who only had a smattering of experience.

“I’m known elsewhere as the Rose of the Duel Grounds, but Eizo describes me as ‘not bad.’”

Feels like I’m missing something here...

I called over to Samya to catch her attention.

“Hm? What’s up?” she said.

“Am I really that strong?”

“That’s a joke, right?” she responded with skepticism. “You’re unbelievably strong, you know? We could spar a hundred times, and I wouldn’t win once.”

“Seriously?”

Rike chimed in. “Your strength became obvious to me when I saw you fight Helen. You parried her blows with ease.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not convinced.”

I was positive that Helen had been going easy on me. The Watchdog should’ve only given me the bare minimum skills I needed to defend myself. The fight with the bear...that had been self-defense too. I just didn’t want to die in this forest.

“You couldn’t possibly be talking about Lightning Blade Helen, right?” Diana asked.

I was still mid-buffer, staggered by the new information that I now had to process, but I managed to stammer out, “Y-Yeah, I think she mentioned something like that.”

“You faced down Helen and lived to tell the tale?”

“It was only for fifteen minutes,” I said.

“You survived for fifteen whole minutes?!”

I remember thinking Helen was strong, but I didn’t realize she was a legend.

“Helen’s sobriquet comes from the way her swords dance through the air as fast as lightning,” Diana went on to explain. “She made her name as a mercenary and is well known, even among the gentry.” I still hadn’t fully processed everything I was hearing. “And you didn’t just weather Helen’s strikes. You fought against her toe to toe...”

Diana trailed off as if she’d taken a blow of her own. She looked down, deep in thought.

“L-Let’s just head back inside for now. What do you say?” I suggested tentatively and went to put my hand on Diana’s shoulder.

However, where I expected her shoulder to be, there was nothing but air.

I peered down at Diana, who was suddenly kneeling. She was bent over, both knees and both hands on the ground in front of her, and her head was bowed.

I’ve seen this before... She’s performing a dogeza! I knew it. It does exist in this world.

“Please take me on as your disciple!” Diana cried without lifting her head.

How do I keep finding myself in this situation?

I peeked over at Samya and Rike. The two of them made no effort to hide their smirks.

Don’t think I’ll forget this, you two.

I paused for a moment before answering. “Fine, but I’ll only spar with you once a day and only when I’ve finished my work. Are you all right with that?”

“Are you sure?!”

“However! I’ve never properly learned any swordsmanship, and I’m not a good teacher, so you’ll have to learn by doing,” I clarified.

Diana instantly brightened. “Yes, of course, anything! Thanks!”

She must be quite the tomboy at home if something like this makes her so happy. I took a moment to appreciate the hard time Marius must’ve had taking care of Diana as a child.

One more task had made its way onto my schedule, but it wouldn’t really take much time from my day. Once she grows into her skills and the fights start lasting longer, I might have to reconsider.

“Oh, there’s one more thing,” I said.

“What is it?”

“I forbid you from calling me ‘Master’ or treating me any differently.” I had to kill off that seed before it sprouted, and I didn’t want her making any rash decisions as Rike had.

“I got it.”

So, just like that, I now had one more pupil under my wings, though this time, my teaching would be entirely unrelated to blacksmithing.

⌗⌗⌗

Although it was exciting to have a new disciple, it didn’t change the fact that I was, first and foremost, a blacksmith. Thus, we began the next day as usual: in the workshop, forging shortswords and longswords. We divided the work exactly the same as we had the previous two days, with Samya and Diana in charge of casting, and Rike and I in charge of deburring and shaping. Today, I was forging elite models again, while Rike forged entry-level models. We closed up shop once we’d reached our quota, which was roughly the same number of swords we’d made the previous two days.

After work came my second sparring session with Diana. We were using swords again, but I’d whittled down some wood with my sharp knife to make two wooden practice swords since it was too risky to keep using metal ones. My cheat abilities extended to carving, which wasn’t really blacksmithing but was, I guess, still related to production and weapon-making. The two swords didn’t take me much time at all to make, but it was still fun.

We started the same way we had yesterday—by touching the tips of our swords together and bowing once. This time, I knew I had to be serious from the get-go. I focused intently on Diana and prepared for her to begin the onslaught.

Since she’d been trained in the art of swordsmanship, she was not only fast but ferocious.

I knew better than to claim my style of swordplay was stronger just because I could fend off Diana’s attacks. It was my personal belief that true swordsmanship was learned on the battlefield, after risking one’s life over and over again. Since I lacked that experience, I knew that my skills with the sword were only for my own benefit. I may have been granted a bit of talent, but it didn’t compare to skills that were polished through hours and hours of training.

I might’ve had the upper hand against Diana, but only because we were sparring one-on-one. If I were facing off against a hundred opponents (an extreme example, I know) I wouldn’t have even a sliver of a shot at winning; I would be instantly overwhelmed. My style of fighting wasn’t a school of techniques that I could pass on to a hundred disciples.

Nevertheless, I wanted to do what I could for Diana. I might not be able to raise a swordsman from scratch, but my skills could be used to augment the training she already had...or so I wanted to believe. If all went well, our bouts would help Diana improve her skill over time.

Although...who knew if she’d even be staying with us for that long. I’d at least accompany her whenever I could while she was here.

Diana came at me today with a variety of different tactics, trying out new techniques left and right. I seemed to know instinctively what she was thinking. What attack would pierce my guard? What strategy could she use to feint successfully and sneak in a hit?

With my cheat-heightened senses, I saw through every single one of her attempts, but I could tell that she was on the right track.

There was one thing that bothered me, though. Despite my installed knowledge bank, I couldn’t pinpoint how strong Diana actually was. I wasn’t able to measure my own strength either.

With the blades I forged, I could always intuit the quality. However, with people...my sample size was too small, and I didn’t have enough data to form a comprehensive gauge of strength. Was Diana’s toughness on par with an average soldier? Or did she possess the kind of miraculous strength that was only seen once in a generation? All my installed info and cheats could tell me was that she was above average. And without a clear idea of her strength, I didn’t know how far to train her.

Uneasiness filled my head as Diana and I sparred, but in the end, there was nothing to do but leave the matter for another time. We fought for the better part of an hour before calling it quits.

“What do you think? Did you learn anything?” I asked Diana afterward.

She shook her head. “No, not today. I was just testing things out,” she said. “I guess you could say I learned which tactics don’t work against you and why.”

“That’s something. Anyway, we’ve got time.”

Diana looked briefly stunned by my response, but she quickly recovered and smiled gently. “Yeah, we do.”

⌗⌗⌗

The next day, Rike and I moved on from swords to knives. Although Samya was also familiar with the knife smithing process, I asked her to accompany Diana on a trip to forage for fruit and berries. I was sure they’d be safe as long as they went together, but I nonetheless cautioned them: turn right around if you sense the presence of another person.

After they’d left, Rike and I got to work. Roughly speaking, there were three parts to forging a knife: hammering out the metal plate, shaping the blade, and adding finishing touches. Without Samya our efficiency had decreased, but we worked hard to ensure the quality of the knives was up to our usual standard. With just the two of us, I was working exclusively on elite model knives while Rike handled the entry-levels. She focused primarily on her own task, but I wanted to work with her as well so she could observe me and steal whatever techniques she could.

At the moment, we were working on an elite model. “What do you think?” I asked.

She stopped to consider. “I think I’m still far from reaching your level.”

“As you should be!” I laughed. “As your teacher, I’d be ashamed if you caught up to me after only a month.”

She frowned, then grumbled, “But I want to improve faster.”

“Should we plan for you to assist me tomorrow then?” I suggested.

“Is that all right?”

“Definitely. I have to make this apprenticeship worth it for you.”

“I suppose.” Her tone was light, but her expression still seemed troubled.

“I’ve said this before but, with your talent, you’ll go far as a blacksmith. I know that progress might seem slow, and it’s natural to become impatient, but it’s also important to grow skills at your own pace... Without rushing.”

Hearing my words, the clouds of discontent disappeared from her face, and the sunshine of her smile shone through. “Yes, Boss!”

Samya and Diana returned as Rike and I were cleaning up the workshop. They must’ve not run into anyone, seeing as they’d stayed out so long.

Surely, they must’ve come back with a bountiful harvest!

“We’re home!” Samya called as she came inside.

“Welcome home, Samya,” I greeted as usual, “and to you too, Diana.”

“Good to be back,” Diana said. “The forest around here is so rich and diverse.”

“We’re the only ones who live out here, so there’s no one to compete with for resources.” That was just my theory though.

The two of them had brought back this world’s equivalent of apples and raspberries, both of which I’d seen before, as well as an exciting, new variety of fruit. It had dark, smooth skin and was a spot-on replica of a fig. Contrary to my expectations, they hadn’t harvested much. Not that it was a problem per se, since it would be wasteful if the fruit rotted before we could finish our stash.

Let’s see. Using these, what can I make for dinner today?

I had fig dishes on my mind as Diana and I went outside for our daily match. I’d proposed taking the day off, assuming that Diana must’ve been exhausted from walking around so much, but she’d insisted on training. We fought for a little less than half an hour. As I expected, Diana’s fatigue slowed down her movements, so there was little point in sparring for any longer.

Diana seemed disappointed that she hadn’t made any improvement, but it’d only been three days. There was no way anyone could grow stronger in such a short time.

At the end of our match, I told her, “You don’t need to push yourself so hard. Take as long as you need.”

Same as yesterday, a startled expression flashed across her face before she hesitantly nodded.

Dinner ended up being flatbread and soup as usual, but I decided to serve the figs as dessert, taking Samya’s advice that they were good to eat raw. After we’d finished up dinner and cleared the dishes, we all tried the figs. It was the first time that Rike, Diana, and I had tried this fruit. The skin was thicker than the skin of the ones back on Earth, but they were still peelable by hand, and their taste was identical to that of their Earth counterparts. Everyone agreed that they were delicious.

“They have such a nostalgic flavor. Sweet and floral,” I said, trying not to give too much away. “I didn’t realize they grew around here.”

“They’re very rare,” Samya replied, “but there’re enough in the area for us to enjoy once in a while.”

“Aaah, a delicacy.”

“Yup, you got it.”

Now I know why the two of them took so long to come home. I bet these figs would go great with sugar. We wouldn’t have to worry about the fruit spoiling if I could make them into jam. Too bad I didn’t get a good look at the price of the sugar that Camilo sells.

Camilo did stock sugar, but I’d only seen it fleetingly, so I couldn’t remember the price off the top of my head. I had the feeling it wasn’t cheap though, and to make jam, I would need quite a lot. I’d have to remember to ask him when things calm down.

We spent the rest of the night chatting. I asked Diana about fruits she’d eaten in the capital. She mentioned something that sounded like watermelon, which Samya and Rike had told me about previously, but she’d also tasted strawberries and bananas.

I want to try them all, but I suppose that’ll have to wait for later.

⌗⌗⌗

Samya and Diana went out hunting the next day. We still had some reserves of meat, so their goal was to take down a single animal.

Diana had eschewed her usual refined clothing for a simple outfit. She said that she’d been hunting several times when she’d lived in the capital, but I had a feeling that this trip was going to be different from her previous ones.

Since when was hunting a popular activity with women? She’s a true tomboy at heart. I’ll have to ask Marius about it the next time I see him.

Rike and I were forging knives again. Like I’d promised yesterday, she was helping me with the elite models. Well, more like observing.

I heated a plate of metal in the firebed and transferred it to the anvil, where I carefully hammered out any distortions and unevenness. Rike watched my movements studiously and took note of my every action, from where I was looking to where I was hitting. Once I’d hammered out the obvious flaws and the metal was more or less even, I had Rike examine the result.

“This is the quality of an elite model,” I said. “I can make the metal even more uniform, but I’ll leave it like this...” No, wait. “Never mind, I’m going to keep going.”

“Why are you changing your mind, Boss?”

“It would be useful for Diana.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

“Watch carefully,” I said.

With enthusiasm, Rike replied, “I will! Thank you!”

I reheated the metal and carefully smoothed out the remaining flaws. The process took time, patience, and several rounds of heating and hammering. Eventually, this produced a perfectly uniform sheet of metal. By the time I’d finished, the surface was beautifully smooth and it gleamed in the light.

I showed Rike the sheet. “This is what it looks like when the metal is perfectly even.”

She looked at the metal, her eyes glittering like the sparkle of fireworks in the night. She slowly scanned the sheet from corner to corner as if she was unwilling to skip over a single molecule.

What was the fundamental difference between Rike’s work and mine? Because of my cheats, the answer was obvious to me, but Rike didn’t have the same benefit. From here on out, she’ll just have to learn what she can from me.

With Rike still watching and thinking about how to improve her own work, I moved on to the next stage of the process: shaping. Thanks to my cheat abilities, I knew exactly where and how to hit the metal—I needed it to take on the shape of a blade without wrecking the uniformity of the metal itself. Rike liked to say that I could hear the voice of the metal.

She didn’t take her eyes off my hands even once as I worked. I knew that she was trying to take in all of my techniques from start to finish.

Once the knife had taken shape, I showed it to Rike. “What do you see?”

“The composition of the metal is unchanged from before,” she answered.

“Exactly right. I’ll finish it up now.”

“All right.”

I had to heat the knife one more time to prepare it for quenching, so I stoked the flames in the firebed to raise the metal to the right temperature.

“I can tell the temperature of the blade by looking at the metal and the fire, but that may be a unique skill of mine. You might find it better to do this step at night, when the subtle changes in the fire’s color will be more obvious.”

“There will be no need for that. As a dwarf, I’m able to distinguish the general temperature from the color. I’ll try it now,” she said.

Oh right. I suppose we usually do this part together anyway.

“Okay, watch carefully then.”

“Yes, Boss.” Her voice was low, and she concentrated on the flames.

I also turned my attention to the fire. The temperature was rising slowly, one degree at a time.

Getting close... Almost... That’s it! Right now!

I quickly yanked the knife from the fire and dunked it into cold water.

“That was the correct temperature,” I said.

“Yes. I thought so. The time will differ depending on the item though, right?”

“Yup, that’s right. Let’s move on.”

Next up was tempering, a vital step to increase the toughness of the metal. This step also required precise control of the flames. I instructed Rike as I worked, pointing out the right timings and temperatures.

Last came the polishing and sharpening. As before, Rike watched intently the entire time while I concentrated on grinding the blade. In a way, you could say this was the most important step—a knife was useless if it wasn’t sharp.

The knife turned out spectacularly because I’d become practiced at forging, or maybe because my cheats and I were old friends by now. “This may be one of the best knives I’ve made so far.” I passed it to Rike.

“I see... To me, it looks like it’s about the same quality as the one you made for me, or maybe slightly better.”

Rike hadn’t been there to watch me back then; I wished I could’ve demonstrated my process earlier.

“Well, now you know what to work toward.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best, Boss.”

“I know you will,” I said with a smile. Her journey as a budding young blacksmith had just begun, and I wished her nothing but great luck and fortune.

After I finished making the custom model knife with Rike observing, I made several elite model knives before the day was over. Samya and Diana returned right when I’d decided to call it a day.

“Welcome back. Did you catch anything?” I asked.

“I’m home,” Samya said. “Our prey today was a large tree deer.”

“Fantastic. And welcome back to you too, Diana.”

“I’m back. And I’m exhausted!”

“Oh? Why?”

“I had her act as the beater,” Samya explained. A beater’s role was to drive the game into the waiting arrows of the hunter, which meant that Diana must’ve been running around the whole day. It would’ve been quite tiring, especially in the forest where the footing was bad. Who knew Samya was so merciless?

“I’m tired just imagining it,” I said. “Is it safe to say that we should take a day off from sparring?”

“Yeah. I’m too worn out to put up a good fight.”

“I would be too if I were in your shoes. We’ll skip it for today. Rike and I still have to clean up the workshop before I make dinner, so you two can take a break and clean off in your rooms.”

“Will do!” Diana said.

“Mmkay.” Samya nodded and the two of them headed off toward the kitchen together.

I turned to Rike. “Let’s go tidy up.”

“Yes, Boss.”

And thus, the day came to an end.

⌗⌗⌗

Early the next morning, we set off as a group of four into the forest. I carried the water jars with me and Samya had coils of rope. Rike had an ax in hand, and I couldn’t help thinking, as usual, that the ax made her look extra dwarf-like. It was a ridiculous thought because dwarfness was a binary trait, not a sliding scale, and Rike was definitely a dwarf.

Diana was the only one who walked empty-handed. She was so excited that she was practically skipping. Was she just looking forward to bringing back the deer she (and Samya) had caught yesterday?

I’d already stopped questioning whether she was a tomboy or not. The answer was obvious by now.

Today, we had another pair of eyes to watch out for any signs of danger, so there was an extra sense of security. I doubted that many animals would attack a group of four humans; we weren’t easy prey, and it would be abnormal for anything to hunt us.

It had been six days since we’d taken Diana in. Karel and his allies would no doubt soon realize—if they hadn’t already—that the thugs they’d dispatched had failed to seize Diana. They would then start searching for her whereabouts, and it wasn’t out of the question that the Black Forest would become an area of interest. Given the perilous nature of the forest, it would take any pursuers time to traverse, but I worried that our chimney smoke would give our location away. They could follow the smoke straight to our home, just as Helen had when she’d come to commission her swords. I would have to figure out a solution to that particular problem, and soon.

I let my mind wander as we walked. Before long, we’d arrived at the lake’s shores. Samya, Diana, and I waded into the water to drag the tree deer onto land, and Rike cut down a couple of the nearby trees. I worked with Rike to make a carrying platform, while Samya and Rike filled the water jugs. Finally, we all combined our strengths to heave the deer onto the platform and pull it back to the cabin. With the four of us working together, the return journey was twenty percent faster than usual.

Back at the cabin, Samya, Rike, and I butchered the deer without Diana’s help. We were all used to the task already, so we made short work of it. The deer collapsed into a small mountain of meat in the blink of an eye.

“I never knew this was how meat was made,” Diana said. Her tone was an equal mix of admiration and contemplation.

“Yeah, this is normally how we carve up the body,” I replied.

A normal lady would’ve likely fainted while watching us take apart the deer.

That said, I realized that Diana had already seen Samya dress a deer yesterday. She must have nerves of steel, considering she barely batted an eye at the gristle and gore.

“It’s hard to believe that this pile of meat is the same living, breathing deer that I helped Samya bring down yesterday.”

“Yup, and it’s the same as the meat that’s been filling your belly day-to-day.”

“You’re right...” she said before sinking into silence. She looked like she was thinking hard. It wasn’t every day that one watched an animal being butchered. Even for a commoner, it was a rare experience, and for an upper-class lady, it was practically unthinkable.

“Personally, I think it’s a meaningful way to honor the life that we’ve taken,” I said.

“Huh... To honor its life?”

“Yes. We owe our continued breath and spirit to its sacrifice.” I hadn’t meant to preach, but sentimentality was an unavoidable side effect of aging.

“I understand,” Diana said.

“You sound like my grandpa, Eizo,” Samya said out of the blue, and her words pierced me straight through my heart.

“That’s just what I’ve been taught,” I responded weakly.

“The philosophy in the north is surprisingly close to what we beastfolk believe,” Samya noted with admiration.

“I can’t speak for all of the north, but I grew up believing that everything in this world has a soul, no matter if it’s living or not.” Naturally, this was a belief I held from my life in Japan, not the Nordic region of this world.

“What about the forest?”

“Yes, the forest has a soul, and so does each individual tree growing inside of it. That’s why we must practice gratitude toward every tree we cut down and repurpose for our own needs, and toward the forest itself for allowing us to live here. That was what my granddad taught me. Of course, it applies to more than just trees.”

“That’s amazing,” Diana said appreciatively.

I hadn’t wanted to influence the culture or customs of this world, but having lived in Japan for forty years, the beliefs were a part of me.

I broke the reverent silence of the room by declaring brightly, “Let’s enjoy our vacation day! I’ll cook up the venison for lunch, and afterward, we can work on our individual projects.”

Samya jumped on my suggestion. “Great, can’t wait!”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Rike said with a smile.

Diana looked confused. “What kind of projects?”

Rike and Samya both said, “You’ll find out after lunch.”

The four of us brought the meat into the house. I set aside a portion for today’s lunch and dinner. The rest we would make into jerky or cure with salt.

For lunch, I reprised the venison steak with raspberry sauce that had been so popular last time. As usual, I served it with flatbread and soup. Next time, I’d like to try my hand at making raisin bread or rye bread.

Right before we started eating, Diana said, “Did people in the north...or rather, did your family say anything before meals to give thanks, Eizo?”

“We did... Hmm, why not? Let’s try it. Put your hands together, palm to palm.”

The three of them did as I had instructed.

“Itadakimasu,” I said.

They repeated the phrase in unison. “Itadakimasu.”

“What does it mean?” Samya asked afterward.

“It means, ‘I humbly accept,’” I explained. “As in, ‘I humbly accept this deer’s life, the blessings of nature, the meal which has been prepared for me.’ It’s an expression of gratitude.”

“All right then,” Samya said. “I’ll say it before meals from now on. You are the head of the house and all.”

“I don’t mind, of course. What about the two of you?” I asked Diana and Rike.

“I’ll say it too,” Diana agreed.

“And I as well, Boss,” said Rike.

From then on, our little household would practice the Japanese custom of starting meals with an “itadakimasu” and ending them with “gochisosama.”

⌗⌗⌗

The butchering was our only work for the day, so the afternoon consisted of free time for us to do whatever we wanted.

I wanted to make some arrowheads. Samya had more than enough to work with, but I anticipated that Diana would be needing some too. Since I was already going to be firing up the forge, Rike accompanied me so she could practice forging knives.

Samya and Rike trained archery in the garden, which was a fancy term for the patch of grass in front of the cabin. The two of them were getting along famously, whether it was because their personalities clicked to begin with, or because of the time they’d spent together hunting. They were both the type to get along with people, no matter who they were.

Around four, I finished up my smithing work, ready to spar with Diana. Considering it had only been a few days, there were no miraculous improvements in her swordwork, but I hoped that she was picking up at least something from me.

For dinner, I grilled up thin slices of the venison and glazed it with a fig and white wine sauce. The dish was sweet and salty and pretty decent overall. The other three all raved about the taste.

⌗⌗⌗

According to our weekly schedule, we were slated to make a trip into the city to drop off new inventory at Camilo’s. Needless to say, we would have to leave Diana behind; we couldn’t risk anyone recognizing her.

The best course of action would be for Diana to remain alone in the cabin while Samya, Rike, and I traveled to the city. That way, we wouldn’t be deviating from our normal schedule and would be less likely to raise any suspicions. However! Should the worst come to pass, I wanted one person to stay with Diana.

Who’s the best candidate to guard her?

I was out of the question, so that left Samya and Rike. Since Rike’s combat skills and knowledge of the forest were both limited, Samya was undoubtedly the best candidate. Samya could also take Diana and hide in the forest if anything were to happen. I was sure there were places she’d previously used as dens, places where the two of them could shelter for a few days.

Without Samya keeping guard on the road, I would have to be hypervigilant, and if push came to shove, well, I was apparently no slouch with a sword.

I explained my proposal to the others, and they all agreed to the plan.

“Fine by me. There’s no other option that I can think of,” Samya commented.

Diana was apologetic. “I’m sorry to cause you all so much trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I reassured her. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“That’s right!” Rike backed me up. “You have to look out for yourself first and foremost, Diana.”

“Thank you all so much,” Diana said, tears brimming in her eyes.

Marius, please figure out a solution to your family’s feud soon!

Before Rike and I headed out, I took from Diana the letter that Marius had written to Camilo. Five days had passed since Diana was supposed to have arrived at Camilo’s store, so Marius was probably worried sick by now. After all, no one knew that Diana was with me, except for the four of us.

“We’re heading out now,” I said as Rike and I left the cabin.

Samya and Diana saw us off. “Come home safe.”

As Rike and I headed into the forest, I turned to her. “Make sure you keep your guard up. Without Samya, we’re short one valuable pair of eyes watching our back.”

“I understand, Boss.”

I estimated that it would take one and a half times longer than usual to make the trip. We took our time trekking through the forest. Luckily, Camilo and I had never set a specific time for me to arrive at his shop, so we could take as long as we needed.

We stopped to rest twice. A little over three hours from when we’d first set off, we finally emerged on the main road into the city. The first leg of the journey usually took us only two hours.

Before we set foot onto the road, we remained cloaked in tree cover and checked for any suspicious activity, but all was clear. Without further delay, we left the forest. Since we now had a clear line of sight on the road, we eased our guard ever so slightly. This road wasn’t guaranteed to be safe, though, so we couldn’t afford to be too lax.

We soon came to the place where Diana had been ambushed. In the week since the incident, all traces of the fight had disappeared. It was likely that we four were the only ones who knew what happened to the thugs that had attacked Diana.

“There’s nothing here,” I said to Rike.

“Yes, there’s not a single thing left to suggest that anything happened,” she replied.

“Thank god we’ll be able to escape suspicion at the very least.”

“It would be quite the nuisance if we were to be questioned by soldiers now, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’d be a pain.”

We talked as we walked and eventually made it into town without running across any trouble. The entire journey took way longer than normal, so I knew that our trip was going to eat up the entire day.

Marius was absent from the front gate, though, now that I knew the circumstance, I hadn’t expected him to be there. The guard I’d come to recognize wasn’t on duty either, so we passed through the gate with only a short greeting to the guard who was working. We made a beeline for Camilo’s store. Had the usual guard been on duty, he might have been suspicious of our evident haste, but that was neither here nor there.

Supposing that Diana’s pursuers happened to be roaming the area, it was unlikely that they would stop to interrogate a random blacksmith who was only here to drop off goods. Indeed, Rike and I made it to Camilo’s shop without being assaulted.

We first wheeled our cart around to the storage area and, as usual, left the knives and swords to the store workers. One of the clerks called for Camilo and the negotiations proceeded in short order. After we’d settled on the price, I quickly changed the subject. “I have something I need to discuss with you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Without responding, I glanced meaningfully at the head clerk who was still in the room with us. Camilo immediately picked up on my signal and dismissed the clerk with an eye signal of his own. He quickly left the room, the door shutting behind him with a quiet click.

I took Marius’s letter from my pocket. “I’ve been entrusted with this letter. The letter’s owner gave me permission to read it, so I’ve already verified the contents, but you should take a look.”

“Oh, really?” Camilo took the opened envelope and removed the letter. His brows furrowed together as soon as he began reading. After he finished, he sighed deeply and said, “Can I make an assumption? The reason this letter came into your possession is the same reason why only two of you came in today?”

“Yes, it’s just as you suspect. Diana is staying with us and has already told us everything. And I’m guessing that you already knew the story long before this?” I asked him.

“Yeah. I just didn’t want to get you involved.”

“Alas, here we are.” I briefly explained the unfortunate circumstances behind how Diana and the three of us had met.

“It’s truly fortunate that she was rescued by you. Certainly a stroke of luck that no one could have predicted.”

“Yeah, we were able to take her in directly.”

“You’d better leave this letter with me,” Camilo said. “I’ll dispose of it.”

“Thanks, I’m counting on you. I wish I could do more to help Marius, but I’m an outcast with no family ties or connections. Regardless of my skills as a blacksmith, someone with my background has no right interfering with the quarrels of nobility.”

If there was any way I could support Marius in his time of need, I would jump right on it, but the reality was that a mere blacksmith like me wouldn’t be allowed to interfere with people in Marius and Diana’s class, not even from the shadows.

Camilo nodded his agreement with my assessment. “That’s true.”

“Of course, if there’s anything I can do as a blacksmith, I’m happy to,” I continued. “But the other problem is that I’m only here once a week. I’m afraid that by the time I hear any news, it’ll already be too late for me to help. On the other hand, coming here more frequently could attract the wrong sort of attention, and then my efforts would all be for naught. Do you know of any other way to keep in contact on a daily basis?”

Camilo didn’t respond and seemed deep in thought. Finally, I couldn’t wait anymore and prodded, “I’m already neck-deep in this mess, so it’s too late for you to try and spare me any trouble.”

“That, I can’t deny,” Camilo conceded. He then taught me how to contact him.

Rike and I left Camilo’s store and started back home, taking our usual resupply along with us: ore, charcoal, salt, and wine, along with dried root vegetables and a small stock of black pepper.

We bid farewell to the guard at the gate. Now that I thought about it, the fact that Marius’s friend wasn’t on duty today was a blessing in disguise. Since this guard hadn’t ever seen us before, he didn’t know that we usually came with three people, not two.

We proceeded slowly and carefully, so the journey back to the cabin took longer than usual. It was late by the time we returned, but at least we hadn’t encountered any trouble along the way.

I greeted Samya and Diana when we arrived. “We’re back.”

“Welcome home, Eizo,” Samya said in return. Diana chimed in as well.

The two of them came out of the house to help us unload the cart. Samya and Rike worked together to bring the ore and charcoal into the workshop, while Diana and I stored the foodstuffs in the kitchen.

“Could this be pepper?” Diana asked as we carried in the supplies.

“Yeah. Camilo had it in stock, so I thought, why not? We don’t need a barrelful or anything like that. With pepper, a little goes a long way.”

“It sounds like you’ve eaten dishes seasoned with pepper before.”

“Aaah...” Damn me and my big mouth!

The pepper hadn’t been unreasonably expensive. It wasn’t worth its weight in gold or anything. However, owing to the climate of the region, there weren’t many places where the spice could be cultivated, so it was considered a high-end seasoning. That was to say, pepper wasn’t part of the average person’s diet. I couldn’t even lie and say that I’d happened to try it once; my explanation had clearly given me away as someone who’d eaten it regularly.

“It’s a long story and not one I usually tell...but I actually have a family name,” I admitted. “My full name is Eizo Tanya.”

“I figured that was the case,” Diana said. “I suspected that ever since I saw you use magic.”

“Unfortunately, my background is a bit complicated, so there’s no way I could use my family connections to help the Eimoor family right now.”

That was the understatement of the century. In this world, there wasn’t a single person who was related to me by blood. On the off chance that there was a family with the same family name as mine, the only thing we would have in common is the Tanya name, so asking them for help would be out of the question.

“Do the other two know?” Diana asked.

“Yes, but I’ve asked them to keep it a secret. That’s probably why they haven’t told you,” I explained. “I’d appreciate it if you could keep this info under wraps. I don’t want to invite any trouble.”

“Of course I will. I can empathize with the inconveniences that come with having a family name.”

“Inconvenience” was one word for what her family was going through. I see that Diana’s a master of understatement as well.

We got everything sorted and stored away properly. “All right, we’re done here for today,” I said.

“Perfect,” Diana replied.

“I’ll pull out all the stops for dinner tonight,” I promised.

“Looking forward to it.”

I felt soothed by the warm smile she turned my way.

That night, I seasoned our usual soup with a dash of pepper. In addition, I grilled up a few slices of meat. I’d cured them yesterday, but since it hadn’t been long, I was able to remove some of the salt. I seasoned the meat lightly with pepper as well.

When Samya tried a bite, she said “Deeelicious!” with a wide grin. Beastfolk usually lived highly independent and self-sufficient lives, so she wouldn’t have encountered pepper in the past. Even salt was a rarity since the beastfolk usually preserved food by drying.

Rike was happy to try something different as well. “It’s just like you said, Boss. The one ingredient made all the difference!” Her family had cured meat with salt, but they hadn’t needed pepper. Male dwarves were apparently gluttons, so a reserve of pepper would be depleted in no time if they used it to season all the food. Rike had explained this, laughing.

“This is just the right amount of pepper,” Diana commented. “I prefer this to the dishes I’ve had before.” She said that it was the culinary trend among the nobility to season dishes aggressively with pepper and nothing but. I don’t think I’d want to eat such a dish, even if it were offered to me.

In any case, I didn’t know whether pepper was a regular part of Camilo’s stock, but I decided to buy it when I saw it from now on.

⌗⌗⌗

After I refilled our water supply the next morning, I headed straight into the forest, leaving the three women behind to eat breakfast and forge swords—both short and long—by themselves.

All was muted among the trees. Early mornings in the Black Forest were quiet to begin with, but today, the silence was profound and impenetrable. As I wound my way through the woods, padding through the undergrowth, I couldn’t help but feel like I was the only one awake in the forest. My soft footsteps sounded unbearably loud.

Since I was traveling alone today, I had my hunting knife and shortsword. Even practicing the necessary precautions, I could move quickly if I chose to. The problem was that the faster I moved, the more noise I made, so I purposefully dropped my speed as I walked to the forest entrance.

The trip took significantly less time than it usually did. When I arrived, I picked out a tree and scrambled up its trunk. I hadn’t climbed trees as a child, but luckily, my cheats and installed knowledge made themselves useful once again. I hid myself from sight in the tree’s canopy and settled in to watch the road.

I did my best to remain still. It was easy at first, but after an hour, my old bones and worn muscles started to complain about their advanced age. I had very little freedom to move around since I didn’t want to give away my position with an ill-timed rustle. All I could do was move my body inch by inch to try and alleviate some of the soreness.

“This must be what a sniper feels like,” I mumbled, “waiting around, watching over everyone and everything.”

Several people passed beneath me over the course of the next hour, but none were of any interest. Another hour passed before the person I was waiting for came by. He was traveling alone, coming from the city, and he stopped close to my hiding place, glancing around furtively. Once he’d made sure that no one was around, he crouched by the side of the road and hid something in the thicket, before continuing on toward the capital.

I waited until the sight of his back faded off into the distance, checked to see if there was anyone else nearby, and then descended from the tree. I wasted no time running to the place in the road where he’d stopped. After searching through the thicket, I recovered the bag that the man had hidden and then beat a hasty retreat back into the forest.

When I was sure I could no longer be seen from the road, I opened the bag. Inside was a slip of paper and a light green ribbon; written on the paper were the words, “Confirm that you’ve received this.”

I took a writing utensil from inside my breast pocket and wrote, “Confirmed.” Then, I returned to the road. I tied the ribbon to a branch where it was visible only if one was looking for it, then hid the letter a little ways away from the ribbon. With my errand completed, I retreated into the forest and headed home.

This was the contact method Camilo had taught me. He employed both people, and they traveled between the city and the capital every day, so I could communicate with Camilo via the letters hidden on the roadside.

The couriers would hide any messages from Camilo; I would hide my responses in a similar location and mark the position with the provided ribbon. A courier coming from the capital would retrieve my letter and deliver it to Camilo.

It was convoluted, but it would allow me to exchange messages with Camilo once a day without necessitating my presence in the city, or Camilo’s presence in the forest. In an emergency, Camilo could come in person. But by that point, it wouldn’t matter if we were seen or not.

I would now know if Marius ever needed me to help with anything, though whether I could fulfill his request was a different story.

After I returned to the cabin, I ate lunch with Samya, Rike, and Diana, and in the afternoon, I joined them in the workshop to forge some swords. They hadn’t made as many in the morning as we normally would’ve, but that was to be expected since they were short one person. Nevertheless, they had made enough to keep us afloat. Even factoring in the additional cost of pepper, we only needed to make half our usual output to put food on the table for the four of us.

“This is our new routine for the foreseeable future,” I said. “Will you all be all right by yourselves?”

“I think so. We’ll end up making more entry-level models than usual, but there isn’t any problem that I can see,” Rike responded.

“I feel the same,” I agreed.

Rike took on the brunt of the forging work, so I could jump straight into making elite model swords. We’d do the same for knives later on. Until the situation in the capital was resolved, I had no choice but to leave the smithing work in Rike’s hands.

After we’d finished smithing, it was time for my daily sparring session with Diana.

Her movements have gotten better, but it’s still too early for her to best me in a match. Anyway, there’s no need to rush the process. Hopefully I can teach her something useful before all of this is over.

Once we’d worked up a sweat, I prepared dinner and we ate together as usual, drawing the day to a close. The plan for tomorrow was the same: wait for Camilo’s correspondence in the morning and work in the afternoon.