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Chapter 54: Tomorrow

He took a piece of scrap Brightsteel and brought it to the hearth, heating it and working it into a band. The metal was receptive enough to his work, and it only took around an hour of work to hammer it out and reshape it with the Mesh’s guidance. Arwin tried a few times before he got everything shaped the way he’d envisioned. Energy sparked at his fingertips as the Mesh recognized his work.

[Metal Bracelet: average Quality] has been forged.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality

[Happy Feet]: This item was forged faster than it should have been, resulting in some imperfection in an otherwise decent band. It can provide increased movement speed at the cost of magical energy.

[Greedy]: This item draws more magical energy than it needs, causing its wielder to lose strength while its ability is active.

Arwin nodded to himself. It was a good item. Nothing incredible, but it would serve as a snack if nothing else – and he could see a number of situations where speed would be considerably more important than strength. He slipped it onto his wrist, heading out to find Zeke - if the boy hadn\'t run off already.

He found the kid standing outside the tavern, squinting inside. Zeke turned as Arwin approached.

"Hungry?" Arwin asked.

"Yeah," Zeke said, squinting through the shadows. "But why\'s it so dark in there?"

“It’s meant to be a little creepy. For fun,” Arwin explained. "Come on. I know it looks suspicious, but it\'s just a bit odd. The innkeeper makes some great food."

Zeke shot him a suspicious look, but he followed Arwin inside.

All the suspicion vanished the moment Lillia stepped out of the kitchen with a large plate of fried rice.

“I’m surprised you’re eating real food today,” Lillia said. “What ch–”

She froze as she spotted Zeke standing beside Arwin. “You brought someone new?”

“He broke into the smithy,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “And he’s been helping me do some renovations. Can I get him lunch?”

“Obviously,” Lillia replied, setting the plate down on the counter and snapping her fingers. “Come. Eat.”

Zeke sprung to obey, shoveling food from the plate into his mouth without even waiting for Lillia to set out any utensils for him. Arwin and Lillia exchanged a glance, but both chose to say nothing.

It only took the boy a few minutes to completely mow through the entire meal. Once he’d polished off the last scraps and licked the plate clean, he leaned back in his stool and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Was it good?” Lillia asked.

“Best food I’ve had in years,” Zeke replied without a second of hesitation. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Just call her Lillia,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “If you’re up to it, let’s get back to working, shall we? I’d like to get the shop built up a bit more before tomorrow.”

“You’re not gonna eat?”

“I’ll be fine,” Arwin replied.

Zeke nodded empathetically and hopped to his feet. “Thanks for the food. It was really good.”

He zipped out of the tavern, heading back for the smithy. Arwin shook his head as he watched the boy go.

“Interesting kid. Seems more than willing to work for his money.”

“Polite, too,” Lillia said. “I kind of like the sound of Ma’am. It feels really official, like I’m a real tavern keeper.”

“What are you, an old woman?”

Lillia glared at him. “Oh, stuff it. Go follow the brat.”

Arwin chuckled and headed after Zeke. In the time it took him to catch up, the boy had already picked the lock to the smithy back open. Arwin stared at the lock, then looked over to the boy, who had started bringing bricks over to the gaps in the walls.

“Is this lock really that easy to break through?” Arwin asked as he joined Zeke.

“Nah. I’m just good at it.”

“Well, I suppose that’s a good thing,” Arwin said dryly. The two of them got to sliding the stone into the gaps and applying the mortar to them with a flat plate of metal. They worked quickly, soon running out of easy fixes.

Arwin set about using a small spike to carve the rest of the stones to fit into the oddly shaped gaps in the walls. Zeke continued supplying him with stones as he slid them into the gaps.

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A few more hours of hard work passed, but it came with reward. By the time the sun started to dip in the sky, the cracks had been filled. Arwin’s smithy was actually a proper building, without any holes in it that didn’t belong.

It was a bit darker than it had been before, with the only light coming in through the holes that had been windows, but Arwin couldn’t have been more thrilled. The two of them spent a few minutes bringing all the extra materials over to a corner so they wouldn’t be in the way.

“You did a pretty damn good job,” Arwin said, counting out 5 gold coins and handing them to Zeke.

Zeke barely seemed to hear him. He stared at the gold in his hands, his eyes twinkling in disbelief. “I can really have all this?”

“I promised it, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I kinda figured you’d stiff me after the meal,” Zeke said.

“If you thought I’d do that, why’d you stick around?”

“In case you didn’t.”

The answer was so matter of fact that Arwin couldn’t keep from snorting. “Fair enough. Well, you earned it.”

“I really didn’t. This wasn’t worth 5 gold, but I’ll take it anyway. If you can give money away like this, why are you moving into such a crappy building?”

“It’s not crappy anymore,” Arwin said. “I’m actually rather taken with it. With just a little more polishing up, this place can become something incredible. It’s not ugly. It’s just got enormous potential.”

“That’s what my mum used to say about my face,” Zeke said with a snicker. “Thanks again for the food and the money. I won’t break into your place again, I promise.”

Arwin started to nod, then caught himself. “Say… you have any interest in a longer term job?”

Zeke blinked. “What kind? You going to tear this whole place down or something?”

“Nothing like that, but it could be useful to have an assistant,” Arwin said. “Someone to help me get some things when I need them, or to help out in the forge while I’m working.”

Zeke’s gaze bore into Arwin like twin drills. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah. Maybe a gold a day? I don’t know how much money I’ll have in the long run, but I imagine I should be able to–”

“A whole gold?” Zeke exclaimed. “Every day? How long?”

“As long as I stick around, I guess,” Arwin said. “Is that–”

“Done deal!” Zeke said, grabbing Arwin’s hand and pumping it in a furious handshake. “I’m your man!”

Sad state of affairs when a kid his age has to be a man at all, but hey – this is another person to stay at Lillia’s tavern.

Wait, didn’t she say she didn’t have room for more people yet? Whoops. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.

Having an assistant should be pretty useful, especially as I start to expand and get more people. At some point, maybe I can have Zeke manage the storefront when Reya and I go out to the dungeons. And, who knows. In the long run, if he seems to be a genuinely decent person, I’ll help him get a class and he can join the guild.

“Come along, then,” Arwin said. “Let’s go back over to that tavern so we can figure out your lodgings. I should also introduce you to everyone and we can figure out what your exact duties will be.”

They returned to the tavern at the perfect time. Lillia and Reya looked like they’d both just started on dinner. It was more fried rice, but Arwin suspected Zeke wouldn’t mind all that much.

“We’re back,” Arwin said, nodding for Zeke to take one of the stools. “Do you have enough for another, Lillia?”

“Yeah. Give me one second.” Lillia vanished into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with another plate of metal stacked high with food. She set it down before Zeke, this time making sure to put down utensils for him.

“This is Zeke, then?” Reya asked. She noticed Arwin’s surprised glance and grinned. “Lillia told me.”

“Ah. Yeah. He’s been doing some pretty good work helping me rebuild the smithy today,” Arwin said. “I hired him on to help out with some other basic tasks. Maybe run the storefront once we get a little more popular.”

“Good idea,” Reya said through a mouthful of food. “You can’t sit in the smithy the whole time. You’ll have to leave occasionally to get materials and stuff. It’s nice to meet you, Zeke. I’m Reya.”

Zeke nodded in greeting, swallowing to make sure he didn’t risk losing any food before responding. “Yeah. Thanks. I’m Zeke.”

It was a tad awkward, but Zeke seemed considerably more interested in eating than he did in socializing. Arwin didn’t blame him. Considering how skinny Zeke was, Arwin suspected he didn’t get much opportunity to eat.

“I know you said not to get more people for the time being, but do you have somewhere he could stay?” Arwin asked. “I’ll look into getting another bed.”

“I’ll handle that,” Lillia said, shaking her head. “It’s my inn, and you’ve already put in enough gold. Does he know any woodworking? If he could help me patch up some of the floor, we could get another room functional.”

“I’m a fast learner,” Zeke said with a hopeful glint in his eye.

“Better than nothing,” Lillia said with a shrug. “Mind if I steal him tomorrow?”

“All yours,” Arwin said. “I’ll be smithing again tomorrow, but nothing too crazy. I shouldn’t need any help.”

Might be better to keep him out of the smithy for now anyway. I don’t need to be broadcasting to the world what I can do yet. Either way, I want to try to make some headgear before we head back into the dungeon.

“What about where he’ll sleep tonight?” Reya asked.

“I can take the floor,” Zeke said hurriedly. “It’s better than outside. If I have a real spot to sleep in tomorrow, then I’ll have nothing to complain about.”

There was nothing to argue with there, so they all fell silent as Reya and Zeke finished off the rest of their food. Lillia caught Arwin’s eye while the others ate and nodded to the kitchen before heading into it. Arwin followed, trailing Lillia back to her room.

“When are we heading back into the dungeon?” Lillia asked, keeping her tone low so nobody would overhear them. “There are some things I’d like to try.”

“I was thinking day after tomorrow, assuming Rodrick and Anna are both fine with it,” Arwin replied. “We can probably push deeper than we did last time, especially if more monsters haven’t moved in by the time we get there.”

“You think that’s likely?”

“Probably not,” Arwin admitted. “Dungeons never have a shortage of monsters that show up to use their energy, but I can’t complain. More monsters means more material for me to work with. Is there something in particular you need?”

“Mostly supplies, just like you. It sounds like we’re going to have more people coming by the street soon, and I want to try to get some more stuff to sell. I need a lot of expansions and more ingredients to cook with.”

“Fair enough,” Arwin said. “We’ll aim for day after tomorrow, then. What do you think of Zeke?”

“He seems too young to be on the streets,” Lillia said with a frown. “But I think he should be fine. Seems honest enough, and you’re the only one that has anything really worth stealing.”

“The things I have that are most worth stealing are impossible to steal,” Arwin said, even more grateful for [Arsenal] than he had been before. “Let me know if you have any trouble with him, though.”

“A human brat isn’t going to give me any issues, but I’ll take note of that. In any case, I’m going to start cleaning up the kitchen and getting ready for tomorrow morning. You never know when people will show up.”

Arwin nodded, thinking much along the same lines. His equipment was out on the market now, which meant that it wouldn’t be long before his name started to build. He had a lot of smithing to do if he wanted to properly establish himself.

But that would come. For today, Arwin had done more than enough work on his smithy to be satisfied. Right now, the only other thing he wanted to do was get some rest and prepare for what tomorrow held.