The lanterns have grown dark. The tables are empty. It is late and the others are still asleep or off doing their own things.

Hineni sits alone downstairs at his booth, a crystal glass set out before himself on the table, as he thinks.

Life has been hectic in so many different ways lately. The business, gathering worshipers for Obscura, keeping his people fed and content, each of those themselves is a full time job. He simply hasn’t had time to catch up with everything that has been catching up with him.

His father’s insistence on not revealing the nature of demons to him as a child.

That thing he had bought in secret, on his way to the thieves’ guild, weeks ago.

The book, which had smelled of water-lilies, that he had taken out of the library.

Ice rattles in his glass as he stares into it, lost in its somewhat frightening allure.

“I know that look,” says a familiar voice, jovially. Sockel. Hineni lifts his gaze, staring at the elf, who slides in on the other bench of the booth, having brought a glass of her own with herself.

“You drink?” asks Hineni.

Sockel lifts the glass, filled with a liquid the same amber color as his, ice clanking as she moves it around. “Usually no, but I can’t resist a good brooding drink,” replies the elf, looking his way. “You?”

Hineni looks down at the untouched glass in his hands. “No, honestly,” he says. There’s no point lying to Sockel, she has sharper eyes than perhaps even Obscura. “I’ve never drank much, ever, actually. But it felt right,” he explains, turning the glass around. Moisture wicks down its side, dripping onto the table.

Sockel leans back, resting her elbows on the bench as she crosses her legs. “That’s because you need a drink to brood right.”

“I don’t know if I like that word,” says Hineni. “I’m not ‘brooding’, I’m thinking.”

She lifts a limp finger, pointing at him. “- In the dark, alone, with a drink.”

Hineni stares for a moment and then sighs. “Okay. I’m brooding. Fine.”

“Nice,” replies the elf, she lifts her glass and Hineni stares at it for a second. “It tastes like shit and it feels like you’re sucking a drake’s tit,” she says, reading the look in his eyes.

“I appreciate the honesty,” says Hineni, lifting his glass to meet hers, the ice of both of them rattles noisily, as the strike chimes out.

He lifts it to his mouth and takes a sip.

Sockel’s description isn’t entirely inaccurate. Given his overly cautious sipping technique, Hineni manages to avoid coughing and spluttering, but he does wince with an eye as he feels the unusually warm liquid trickling down his throat, moving as if by its own accord.

He sets the glass down and clears his throat. “Wow. That’s rough,” he says, sitting upright, now more awake than before.

“So, tell auntie Sockel what’s got your noggin’ joggin’?” asks the elf, not having any trouble with her drink, apparently.

Hineni stares at her for a moment. He had another question on his list. “What’s in this for you, Sockel?” asks Hineni. “Me, I get. Rhine, I get. But why are you here?”

She looks at him for a moment and then the elf’s ears twitch. “You kidding?” she asks. “I lost my job and my friend because of the frogs,” she replies.

Hineni shakes his head. “That job didn’t matter to you, Sockel,” says Hineni, watching her to gauge her expression. Sockel calmly sips her drink, unfazed. “And as for Beni, well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go visit him,” he says, looking at her carefully. “Pretty sure you’re allowed to see him, if you really wanted to.”

Sockel sips her drink again, shaking the glass lightly to let the ice swim around inside of it.

“But you don’t, do you, Sockel?” asks Hineni, taking another sip of his own drink, doing his best to match her stoic expression.

Sockel smiles, lifting a finger from her glass to point at him. “What can I say?” she asks. “Friends come and go in life.”

The cool metal of his own curved dagger makes itself felt against his leg. Hineni looks at her carefully, the pieces of this puzzle at least, fitting together. “You never quit doing ‘stuff’, did you, Sockel?” asks Hineni. “This is all still one big job, right?”

Sockel empties her mostly full glass all at once and then sets it down onto the table, her face entirely undisturbed by the sensation brought on by the liquid. “A woman’s work is never done,” says the elf, scooting out of the booth. “Anyways, I really do like you guys,” she explains, getting up.

“- As friends who ‘come and go’, or as coworkers?” asks Hineni.

“Those both sound pretty terrible,” replies Sockel. “Let’s just leave it without clarification.”

Hineni sighs. He supposes that he had known from the start that she’s a bit shady. But she had already come through for him on so much, she had gone out of her way to save Rhine, to save him, during the frogs’ attack. He supposes that he still trusts her. But, there is one important issue at hand here.

“Sockel,” says Hineni. “Doesn’t your work-contract forbid moonlighting?” he asks.

The elf smugly smiles, looking over her shoulder towards him. “I removed that paragraph before I gave you a copy to sign,” she explains, waving him off. “Good night! Always read your paperwork.”

Damn.

Hineni stares down at the table. She really is good at what she does.

He takes another sip of his drink, wondering how she tolerates so much of it without breaking a sweat or even wincing a little? She must really have a hell of a gut or she really is just that tough. It's actually a little enviable. But… wait a minute.

Hineni looks around the room and then grabs Sockel’s empty glass, sniffing it.

- It’s apple juice.

Damn…

Together with this grand scheme that she’s involved in, she got him three times. Hineni gets up and pours out the rest of his drink, deciding that he doesn’t have a taste for alcohol, or for brooding.

Hineni smells the book, inhaling the nostalgic scent of his childhood.

It’s a journal. His mother’s.

But why would this have been in the library of all places? It seems like an unwise place to put a personal journal. Anyone could find it there. Although… he wonders, has this always been there?

He recalls walking by that door, upstairs in the library, many times before and he had never noticed it. Could it be that someone planted it there for him to find? Could it be that Sockel isn’t the only one playing games in this house?

- Eilig?

The fairy had a close connection to his mother. Maybe she had planted it in the library? She certainly has access to the whole house. But why would she do something like this? If she wanted him to have it, she could have just given it to him. Or was it someone else? Someone who had been moving through their home in secret?

A frog…

The concept of a frog sneaking around his house unseen makes him almost nauseous. Damn frogs. He narrows his eyes, staring at the unopened journal in his hands. “Frogs…” hisses Hineni beneath his breath.

“Weaponsmith Hineni, chosen of the Owl-God?” asks a man in official armor, coming up to the front counter. A soldier, by the looks of it.

It is the early morning of the next day. People are running in and out of the guild. The tables are full and the kitchen is already starting their work for the day. A pleasant smell of sweet syrups and dense cakes is in the air.

Without looking up from her paperwork, Sockel points down the room, towards him. “Over there.”

The man moves over his way. Hineni had just been standing there, talking to Rhine about their plans for the day. “Weaponsmith Hineni, chosen of the Owl-God?” asks the man in armor.

“That’s me,” replies Hineni. “Just Hineni is fine.”

“Who~!” protests Obscura from her perch, getting ready to accept tribute for the day.

Hineni turns back to look at the man. “- Nevermind. Keep the title.”

The soldier holds out a large envelope. “Your services are required to support the war-effort,” he explains. “The national armory is in need of weapons. You’ll find your instructions inside.”

“- Instructions?” asks Hineni. He pulls out a list, looking it over and whistling. It’s an impressive amount of swords, axes, pikes, arrows, everything really and in just as large an amount. The weapons each in the hundreds. Arrows in the thousands. “We’re a two man operation,” explains Hineni. “This will take us months to fulfill,” he says, still reading the list of weapons that just goes on and on and on. Some of these he’s never even heard of before.

Seeing him squinting at one word in particular for a moment, Rhine points at it. “That’s like a pike, but really thin. They’re from the east.”

“Oh. Thanks,” says Hineni.

“The expected delivery times and payments are listed separately. Please see to it that you have everything ready at the appointed times,” explains the soldier, not bothering to reply to his statement.

“And if not?” asks Hineni.

“Then we will need to confiscate your forging operation and hand it over to someone more competent,” says the messenger from the military. “Thank you, have a nice day,” he finishes, turning around and leaving.

Hineni considers swearing for a moment. But then decides against it. Rhine is here, after all. “Wait…” says Hineni. “Now we’re a forging operation in the eyes of the government, all of a sudden?” he asks, shaking his head. “Sure didn't sound like that when the zoning laws were a problem.”

“That’s bureaucracy in action right there,” says Sockel, pointing his way. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Hey, uh…” Rhine pulls on his sleeve. “I don’t want to be a downer, but…”

“I know,” says Hineni, lifting his eyes to the repairs that Sockel has already started accepting for the day. She’s starting to sell Obscura’s enchanted weapons as well. So far, almost seventy of those are in public circulation. But he and Rhine are already worked to the bone as is with just this workload. How are they supposed to fulfill an order this insanely large as well?

“We’ll have to stop repairs,” says Hineni. “And selling our weapons privately. Otherwise, we’ll never make it in time.”

“Won’t that be really bad for our image?” asks Rhine.

“It’ll be devastating,” sighs Hineni.

“Then it is good, yes?” asks a cooing voice from behind them. Hineni turns his head, looking at Obscura, who is floating there upside down before them. “That Obscura is generous and mighty beyond compare, yes?”

Rhine lifts a finger. “I don’t think more dead rabbits are going to help us right now.”

“FOOLISH BOY!” hoots Obscura. Rhine jumps and takes a step behind Hineni. “The Hineni man has ruined him!”

“…What?” asks Hineni, lifting an eyebrow.

She clicks with her mouth in annoyance and then lifts a hand, touching Hineni with her talon.

New - {Weaponsmith}[Ingot Crafting]

(Passive)

Allows the user to craft and manipulate metal ingots, including blends of various metal compositions.

New - {Weaponsmith}[Graceful Completion]

(Passive)

When completing a crafting recipe, regenerate 3 STAMINA

New - {Weaponsmith}[Advanced Magical Metallurgy]

(Passive)

Substantially reduces the price of magical crafting spells by 33%

“Hi~ ne~ ni~ and the river-boy have worked hard for Obscura’s power,” says the owl. “She bestows her blessings onto them.”

Rhine lifts a hand. “Can I get something too?”

She clicks with her mouth. “He must make something for Obscura.”

“What?” asks Rhine.

“Tribute!” hoots the owl-god. “The river-boy has never paid her tribute,” she explains.

“Oh… uh…” Rhine scratches his head. “I mean, I already work for you?”

“Boy. You work for me,” says Hineni.

Obscura hoots in delight, ignoring Hineni’s comment. “Perhaps there is hope yet for him?” asks the owl-god, floating around towards Rhine. “He will make something pretty for Obscura, yes?” she asks. “Then he will get his heart-wish.”

“Really?!”

“Who~”

Rhine nods, running off excitedly towards the forge. Hineni turns back to look at Obscura. “Hey, if you could do that, why didn’t you do it weeks ago?” he asks.

The owl-god floats back upright. “Foolish Hineni,” sighs the god, shaking her head. “He will never learn,” she says. “But that is fine. She adores her Hineni and his tree-head,” says Obscura, leaning in for the two of them to kiss. “Look,” she says, after they finish.

All around the room, people are staring, not at them, though a few of them are, but rather at the screens of the new abilities that he had been granted ‘for free’. “He will work now, yes? Obscura will work too,” she says, slowly letting go of his hand and flying up to her ‘altar’ on the rafters.

A line of people forms as adventurers dig into their pockets and bags to fish out coins and trinkets as gifts, hoping to earn her favor as well.

Miracles have to be seen, huh?