Chapter 38: One thing at a time

Chapter 38: One thing at a time

“We’re staying here?” Reya asked, her eyes nearly doubling in size as she looked from Arwin to Lillia. “Seriously? That’s awesome! What happened back there? I thought you guys hated each other!”

“Wait, really?” Arwin blinked in surprise.

“I mean, yeah. Anyone would have seen the way you looked at each other.”

“Why did you keep trying to have me come along with you if you thought that?” Arwin demanded. “I thought you were oblivious!”

“So you did hate each other!”

“There was a misunderstanding,” Arwin said with a grimace. A misunderstanding might have been the biggest understatement of the century, but it wasn’t the right time to give Reya their full backstory. She had enough on her plate to deal with already.

Reya arched an eyebrow and peered over their shoulders. “Interesting. Now I really want to know what you did back there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Arwin said. “What matters is that Lillia is going to be joining our guild, and we’ll be moving into her inn – at least for our night lodgings.”

“The ones you barely use because you’re always working?”

“Do you want to move in or not?”

“I definitely want to move in,” Reya said hurriedly. “Especially if that means we get three meals a day instead of just one. I’d be dining like a king.”

“Good,” Arwin said. He jerked his chin toward the door. “Come help me gather up the beds and bring them over here, then. After that, I’ve got some work to do.”

“Can I help?” Reya asked as the trio headed out of the dark room and emerged into the sunlight outside.

“It’ll be smithing, so probably not. If you need something to do, maybe try to help Lillia do some reorganization. Figure out what it is we’ll need for the tavern to function better. It’s part of the guild now, so we’ll need to do some reworking to make sure it lives up to our name.”

“What name?” Reya asked. “We aren’t even an official guild.”

“The first step of becoming is believing and acting as if you are.”

“That sounds more like bullshitting,” Reya said. Arwin glared at her and she snickered, raising her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Understood, Guild Leader Sir.”

“Do not start calling me that. My name is Arwin.”

Reya just snickered harder, and a small grin passed over Lillia’s face.

“You know,” Lillia drawled, a mischievous grin playing across her lips. “In many monster cultures, the leaders of groups are called Mothers.”

“I’m not so sure Mommy Arwin has the right ring to it, but it could grow on me,” Reya said, rubbing her chin.

I think I would genuinely rather die.

Not half bad.

Arwin covered a yawn and slipped into bed, setting the utensils on the floor at the foot of the bed. It sounded like Lillia and Reya had already gone to bed, and he didn’t want to wake them.

I’ll give her the utensils tomorrow.

It felt a little odd falling asleep without the proximity of the forge, but it was only a few minutes before he drifted off and darkness swallowed his vision.

The next morning came before it was welcome and Arwin blinked awake as dull sunlight filtered through the window. Not much of it actually managed to make it through, but there was just enough to pull him from his rest.

Arwin yawned and rolled out of bed, grimacing as he sniffed at his arms.

I need to ask Lillia if her tavern has a bath yet. If it doesn’t, I’m going to invest in one.

He scooped the utensils he’d made the previous day off the floor and headed out. He could hear loud snores coming from the room across the hall to him, and he poked his head into it to see that Reya was still fast asleep, her head buried under a pillow to avoid the sunlight.

Repressing a laugh, Arwin headed downstairs. The sound of clinking metal led him into the kitchen, where Lillia was busy trying to mix a bowl of batter with a metal rod. She glanced up as he entered, then nodded slightly in greeting, her attention returning to her work before doing a double take.

“Are those forks?”

“Knives and spoons as well.” Arwin held the bundle out and she took it carefully from him, her eyes lighting up with delight.

“This is fantastic. Thank you. Now I’ll actually have something people can eat with normally. All I have to do is actually get a few more customers,” Lillia said with a grin. She pulled the rod out of her bowl and claimed a spoon, sticking it into the batter and giving it a spin. “That’s so much better. How much are these worth?”

“Probably about five silver,” Arwin said after a moment. “They were pretty easy to make and aren’t all that fancy. Maybe six?”

“Six seems correct. That’s three days of stay for both you and Reya.”

“Good. Is there anything else urgent?”

“There’s nothing that I need right now, but I always need more cookware.”

“I’ll look into that in a few days, then,” Arwin promised. “I’m going to look into starting to make some gear. We should be meeting the other members of my guild soon, and they’re going to want some equipment. I’ll be in the forge if you need me.”

“Sounds good,” Lillia said. “Good luck.”

“You too,” Arwin said, raising a hand in farewell. “Feel free to ask Reya for whatever help she can offer. She’s bored out of her mind.”

With that, he strode out of the tavern. He could already feel the call of the scales waiting for him in the smithy. There was a lot he needed to work on, and every item he crafted made the next one turn out just a bit nicer.

I can’t wait to make my hammer – but one thing at a time. For now, I need to work on some equipment. The stuff that turns out poorly can go into a pile to be sold. It’s about time I started getting ready to make some real money.