Chapter 675 - Melancholy

Eisen placed the finished potions into his item storage and made sure that he didn't forget about anything in particular yet. But after thinking for a few minutes, he didn't seem to think of anything that he may still have to do here for now.

For that, he first flew back to the Enchanting Workshop, where he then started to enchant some of the other items that he first had to treat with some different potions, and then once more came back to the Alchemy Workshop to fill in some of the enchantments with different hardened potions.

After he was done with all of this, and really made sure that he didn't forget anything and then chose to make his way back to Hinaja's workshop where Eisen could finish up the leather-based items properly.

He said goodbye to Arxcat and flew off in his demonic transformation. With a smile on his face, the old man landed in front of the Leatherworking workshop and stepped back inside, where Hinaja had already been awaiting him.

Last time they interacted, Eisen didn't remember anything about her at all. That was different this time, however. Eisen had properly rested, and used that time to choose a few more memories to remember. It really was pretty exhausting to do so, but he didn't remember all of the things that he could at once, which is why he was fine in the end.

The old man walked up to Hinaja's workstation, where she was currently busy working on an item. Eisen sat there and waited for her to finish while he tried to think of a few things that he could make in the Tailoring workshop later, or how he could improve upon his portable shop when he went to the Masonry workshop.

He was more than just a bit curious about what Hinaja herself was making right now, though. He happened to come here right when she started working on it, so he didn't have many clues beyond the type of leather that she was using for it.

And the old man was aware that he wouldn't be able to disrupt her work even if he tried his hardest to. In his memories, he discovered that Hinaja always had the ability to focus on one specific thing to an extreme extent, which she used to properly work her way to the top of the Leatherworking specialization.

Although, there was something that Eisen still didn't know to this day. Why she chose that Leatherworking specialization in the first place. And of course, Eisen wasn't looking down on Leatherworking or anything like that. On the contrary, it was an amazing art that he more than just appreciated. 

But for most of his apprentices over the years, whether in this world or the other, Eisen was aware of their reasons for choosing their craft. For some it was more obvious than for others, of course. Dirmon's choice to pursue Woodworking was one that wasn't particularly surprising, for example, considering how naturally gifted he was when it came to plantlife. He had a deep, innate connection with plants, and as such with wood as well.

However, Hinaja didn't have any particular reason to pursue Leatherworking. Sure, she might have simply fallen in love with that route at some point, and that was totally fine. One didn't need a specific reason to pursue something one loves. It only became a little bit weird considering that Eisen knew Hinaja for thousands and thousands of years, and still had no idea about why she chose to do what she does.

She did seem to have her reasons, Eisen vividly could remember her saying so, but she never went into detail. And to respect her wishes, Eisen of course didn't pry or try to find out about it behind her back. Although, even if he did, he wouldn't have had many clues. Her mother died while giving birth, and Eisen didn't even know where she lived until the old man took her in and taught her after she found him.

It didn't change anything about the nearly parental love that Eisen felt for her as his apprentice, of course. It still made him wonder, especially after just remembering all that he could about her again.

The old man stared at the figure in front of him in thought, until she took a deep breath, a sign that she was finished. Hinaja had the habit of holding her breath while she worked, and then when she couldn't do this anymore, only started breathing the minimal amount possible.

Now that she was a goddess, however, Eisen assumed that she was capable of holding her breath for the whole duration of her work, which probably helped her work out quite a bit. Hinaja slowly turned around when she saw Eisen in the corner of her eye, and raised her brows surprised, "Oh... You're back?" She asked, and the old man slowly nodded his head.

"Yes, I am. I wanted to finish up the items that I started making here, if that's alright with you." The old man asked. Hinaja tiredly rubbed her hand over her eye and nodded her head, "That's fine..." 

Eisen stood up and made his way over toward hte workstation to help Hinaja clean it up real quick, but the moment that he tried to do so, the lesser goddess held her hand in front of him, "Please... don't touch that." She said. Hinaja then turned around to put everything back. The item she finished, which turned out to be just a small bag she most likely made for no specific reason, the leftover materials, and even the small scraps that were leftover from cutting small parts away for details. She put all of them away herself, and didn't let Eisen or the angels help with any of it.

The other lesser gods that Eisen had watched were not so focused on it. Their Angels basically worked as something like assistants for them, helping out around the workshop how they could. But Hinaja took everything on herself. 

Well, there were people like that, so he couldn't really blame her. It slightly contradicted her tired demeanor, however, but he figured that 'Tired' didn't instantly mean 'Lazy', so he just went along with it.

Once everything was done, the old man took over the workstation for a little while. He starting with sewing the leather aprons together properly, and then even acknowledged them as finished. His elemental spirit carried them back to the item storage and brought him the next item to work on.

And that cycle repeated the whole time until Eisen finished up all of the aprons. Then, the same thing happened with the different shoes or boots. He put them together, even tried some of them that he made for himself for different uses on.

Eisen even made an improved version of the shoes that he gave Stahl to practically 'Walk on Air' that he wanted to give his grandson once he got back, so that he had a little bit of an upgrade compared to before.

Either way, the old man continued his work, and even finished wrapping the handles of some of the tools and weapons in leather. Soon, the old man finished his work fully, and honestly couldn't think of anything else to do here.

And so, Eisen had his elemental spirit help him bring everything to the item storage, that was slowly but surely filling up to the brim.

In the end, the only places that Eisen had to head off to now were the Workshops of Argalan, the God of Masonry, to upgrade his portable shop, then Simone, the Goddess of Tailoring, to make a few clothes for the others, as well as Ramsay, the God of Cooking, and the last of Eisen's apprentices in this particular Divine Realm.

And with that being the case, the old man turned around to speak to Hinaja, now that he would most likely not be returning back here after he left. With a smile on his face, he said, "Do you remember back when I first visited you after you weren't my apprentice anymore? It was a bit similar to this, wasn't it? I came to your place, worked all day long, we chatted here and there, and the two of us even worked together on a small project."

Hinaja raised her head to look at the old man with surprise clearly written on her face, "You remember? But-"

"Yeah, last night I remembered everything about you." The old man laughed quietly, and the lesser goddess smiled softly. But it wasn't a happy smile, somehow... it was quite bitter instead, "I see..."

"Did you not want me to remember?" Eisen asked.

"I'm not quite sure if I did... Some parts, yes, some parts, no... in particular, not the memory you just spoke of..." Hinaja pointed out as she looked down at the ground. Eisen looked back at her with a nod, "...I figured. It's the time where you told me about that deal someone tried to make with you, that ended up causing your stamina to deplete."

Hinaja nodded, and Eisen looked back at her, "Well, did I ever tell anyone about what happened?"

"I don't think you did, no." 

"Then you know you can trust me. I'm a man that kept your secrets for thousands over thousands of years. I don't think adding another worry to that mix is going to be that big of an issue, right?" The old man pointed out. Hinaja raised her head with a slight smile.

"I understand what you're trying to say... But... I'm not allowed to tell you about this. For your sake, and my own." The Lesser Goddess pointed out, and immediately, Eisen had a bad feeling. He had a hunch of where this was going, of what this had to do with.

The old man ground his teeth in anger, "It's got to do with Samuel, right? The Administrator?" Eisen asked. Hinaja looked back at him surprised before slowly nodding her head, "...Yes. But I can't tell you any-"

"Ah... I swear..." The old man muttered as he looked up at the ceiling. It seemed like somehow, just this question tipped Ambriel over the edge. How the old man spoke about the head of all gods made them more than just furious. They rushed over to Eisen and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him around angrily.

"How dare you mutter that supreme being's name?! Who do you think you are?!" Ambriel yelled out, and Eisen slowly turned back around toward him. He didn't know why this in particular caused him to become so angry again. Maybe because he didn't think about Samuel for a while now, but now was practically forced to do so again in a horrible manner. He even manipulated a goddess into being frightened, that was more than just obvious to Eisen. 

The old man turned around and stared Ambriel deep into their eye, to answer their question, "It's simple... I'm the one that's going to kill that 'supreme being' one of these days."