“Wow, these are super cute,” says an excited adventurer, looking at the little wooden owl figurine that Sockel had given her after checking in for a few days. She pulls on the string dangling form the small figurine and it lifts its wings, as if flapping them. “Thanks!” she beams, walking off to sit at a table in the restaurant.

Sockel makes a point of rolling her eyes for Hineni to see. “Am I running a gift shop now too?” she asks.

“No,” replies Hineni. “They’re free. So it’s hardly a shop,” he says, picking up one of the things from a crate down by Sockel’s chair. These are the owl toys he had ordered from the carpenter a few weeks ago, while he was on a walk with Obscura. “The carpenter did good work.”

“Glad we have our financial priorities straight,” says the elf, her ears twitching.

“Selling an image is important,” replies Hineni. “We’re mysterious and shady, but also, we don’t eat babies,” says the man, pulling on the string attached to the owl. It flaps its wings. “I really want to emphasize that last point. It’s good marketing.”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” says Sockel. “I never intentionally fed a human baby to an owl-god.”

Hineni raises an eyebrow. “That’s suspiciously specific.”

“- So, what’s the deal?” asks Sockel. “You aren’t built like an elf. Or even a half.”

“Thanks,” says Hineni, flexing an arm.

She rolls her eyes. This time for real.

“No. I mean, what the hell?” she asks. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but -”

Hineni shakes his head, lifting a hand to stop her. “I know, Sockel.”

“Do you though?” she asks.

“I do,” replies Hineni, nodding.

After all, if the vision that Obscura had shown him was true, then his mother, an elf, can’t have been his birth mother. If she was, then he wouldn’t be the striking pinnacle of humanity that he himself has become. He’d have pointy ears and a slender build and he’d like to work with wood.

He shudders.

Hineni’s eyes wander around the room.

But that also means that his father wasn’t his father. Both of his parents were his step-parents.

It’s all very confusing.

“Hey!” says Sockel, snapping her fingers.

Hineni blinks, looking back her way. “No brooding at the front-desk,” she warns.

“I wasn’t brooding, Sockel. I was thinking.”

“Yeah, yeah,” replies the elf, pointing with her thumb towards the forge. “Shouldn’t you get to work? Rhine’s already down there.”

Hineni looks at her as she leans back, looking at her fingernails in boredom to make a point out of him being in the way. “Sometimes I wonder if you remember that you work for me, Sockel.”

“Oh, please,” replies the elf. “I think we’re past that at this point. Try it with Kleidet.”

“Where is she anyway?” asks Hineni, looking around the restaurant. She isn’t here yet, so Obscura has taken over her role in the meantime. Thankfully, business is slow right now and the guests seem to be more than thrilled about the owl-god seeing to them personally.

Although maybe they really are diluting their mysterious and edgy imagery somewhat. The frilly waitress’ apron that she’s wearing really isn’t helping in that regard.

“Dunno, I saw her just last night. Guess she's late?” suggests Sockel. “Isn’t the school-year about to end? Maybe she had to go do something with her brother?”

Hineni narrows his eyes, looking around the room. ‘Late’…? They’ve never had a late employee before. It’s simply never occurred. It’s a little troublesome, but survivable. Being late is something a frog would do.

But being mad about someone being late because of personal life circumstances is also something that a frog would do.

Hineni stands there, conflicted because of this. But also because he needs a third thing to attribute being frog-like behavior to.

“Hey!” A pair of fingers snaps down next to him.

Hineni sighs, rolling his eyes. “I’m not brooding.”

“You are. I saw it,” replies Sockel. “We need to get the order of pikes ready for the military,” she says. “Time’s running short.”

Making a point of it, Hineni walks to the library door instead of heading to the forge. He’s not going to be told what to do, even if she is right.

“Seltsam,” says Hineni, looking around the library. “You all set up?” A hammer lays down at his feet, resting against a shelf.

“H- hello!” says a voice. She’s above him this time. “I was just, you know, working! Haha!” He stares up towards the floor of the inner balcony above his head, not really sure why that was worth laughing about. “Everything’s fine!” she reassures. “Don’t come upstairs, o- okay? Not that you need to!” she adds on. “Because everything is a-okay!”

He stares blankly for a moment.

“Seltsam, you realize how suspicious that sounds, right?” he asks. “I didn’t care before you said anything. But now I want to look.”

“N- no! Really!” reassures the voice from above. “It’s all good in the book-nook!”

“The… what?” asks Hineni. “Never mind. I just wanted to tell you that I don’t need the list of five-lettered things anymore,” he explains. “Turns out the magic word was ‘demon’.”

“Oh! …Really?” she asks. “Huh… that’s neat. I found a lot of other strange stuff, so it was a whole rabbit-hole!” she explains. “Did you know that there are even animals that stopped existing at some point?” she asks. “I thought it could be some obscure god like that.”

“Nope,” replies Hineni. “Just plain old demons.”

“Oh,” replies Seltsam.

“Yup.”

The library is awkwardly silent for a while.

“Did you know that there’s a kind of demon that only lives under beds?” she asks. “It likes to eat people’s feet! Haha!” explains the librarian. “Can you imagine?”

Hineni stares at the ceiling.

“- Totally weird, right?” she asks.

Hineni stares at the ceiling.

“— Anyway, gonna go. Keep up the good work,” says Hineni, heading to the side door.

Something rustles behind himself and he looks, watching just in time as the hammer, that was laying there, vanishes behind a shelf.

“Y- yeah!” replies Seltsam. Her voice is still coming from above. “You too!”

Hineni decides it best to just not question it, honestly. He’s gotten used to being around people like this. He’s one of them, after all. The man leaves the library, pulling on the string of the little wooden owl in his hands.

“Eilig,” says Hineni. “You down here?” he asks, poking his head down through the trap door to the ice-cellar.

No response.

It’s cold down here, but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of the fairy. Maybe she’s upstairs in the library with Seltsam? The two of them seem to be friends.

He shrugs.

“You ready to get to work, Rhine?” asks Hineni, perhaps somewhat sarcastically, as Rhine is already at work.

He supposes that he himself has been lazing around for most of the morning.

“Already got the molds poured for the pike-heads,” says Rhine, wiping a strand of hair off of his forehead.

Hineni whistles. “Save some work for me,” he jokes. “I need this job.”

Rhine rubs his lip with the back of his thumb. “I’ll consider it, depending on how you do today, old man.”

Hineni sizes Rhine up and down. He’s definitely gotten bolder. Although that is difficult to ascertain, given that he was always very boisterous. “Let’s see you try and keep up then, young-blood,” says Hineni. “We’re in for a long day today.”

“That’s because you’re late,” says Rhine.

Hineni looks over his shoulder.

Damn.

It’s all come full circle on him now. It’s a good thing he didn’t make a condemning decision earlier about Kleidet.

“You’re right,” says Hineni as he throws some new charcoal into the fire. “Sterling silver.”

“You got it!” says Rhine, grabbing the materials for the blend.

- [Sterling-Silver Pike]{Gift of the owl-god} -

- Quality -

High

- Composition -

[Aluminium-Steel Pole](Normal)

[Sterling-Silver Head]{Pike}(High)

[Iron Nut](Normal)

[Leather Wrap](Normal)

[Black Cloth Wrap](Normal)

[Black Cord](Normal)

- Quality Effects -

High

Once per day, allows the user to cast [Minor Ward] on themselves.

“Gift of the owl-god”

Adds additional attributes to the attached weapon - Title Effect - “Gift of the owl-god” +3 OBSCURANTISM +3 WIND DMG +3 LIGHTNING DMG

8 PHYSICAL DMG

4 LIGHTNING DMG

+30% DMG vs UNDEAD

A beautiful, sterling-silver pike. Whether in sun or moonlight, it always glows with an enchanting luster.

‘Made by weaponsmith Hineni - Chosen of the Owl God’

‘Made by Rhine - The river-wizard'

Weight: 1.211kg Durability: 43/43 Value: 999 Obols

Half of the day has passed and the forge is running at full capacity, with him and Rhine in a strong, quiet state of shared flow. They’re only stopping now to admire the first finished item of the day.

“Huh…” says Rhine. “It’s kind of the same as the spears we made?” he says, looking at the new weapon.

Hineni shakes his head. “The pikes have a warding effect. They’re defensive weapons, so it makes sense.”

Rhine thinks for a moment, tilting his head. “But didn’t the spears have a minor healing ability? That doesn’t make sense,” he says, looking up towards the ceiling of the tower. “They’re hardly healing tools.” It’s quiet for a moment. “Did you just make that up?”

“Rhine,” says Hineni. “I didn’t make it up,” he says, hitting against his chest with his fist. “I went with my gut feeling.”

“…Isn’t that just making something up?” asks Rhine.

“No. It’s not,” says Hineni, looking at the pike. “It’s intuition. It’s something else.”

“I don’t know if intuition can be used in a supposititious scenario like this,” replies Rhine.

Hineni stares at him.

“…What?” asks Rhine.

“Boy. I didn’t go to school,” says Hineni. “Use normal words.”

“Man, lucky you,” sighs Rhine, perhaps not thinking about it too deeply. “It means something fake or pretend.”

Hineni sighs, handing Rhine the pike. “Put it on the rack, Rhine. We have another ninety-nine to go.”

It is late.

The fire continues to burn in the forge as does the spirit of work. But Rhine’s body seems to have let out before his spirit and he’s sitting at the workbench, slumped over and asleep.

Hineni works longer by himself. It’s only fair, he had come in late, after all.

“Must she always come to find him here?” asks a familiar voice from right above him.

Hineni lifts his head, looking at Obscura, who is hovering there, upside down. “Every night the Hineni-man does not come to sleep,” she says. “Very unwise! Sleep is good, yes? Every night, lonely Obscura hoots a sad cry for her lost love,” says the owl-god, clenching her hands together dramatically.

“Sorry,” says Hineni. “I wanted to get some extra work done. You know how it is.”

“Work will do him no good if he is tired.”

“I’m not that tired yet,” he says. “I can probably get a couple more done tonight.”

The owl-god clicks with her mouth in annoyance. “And tomorrow?”

Hineni shrugs. “Guess I’ll make more?”

“And the day of tomorrow’s tomorrow?” she asks.

“Same as usual.”

Obscura frowns. “Foolish Hineni,” she says, flying down. “His heart is of soft feathers, but so is his mind.” She floats down next to him. “He trades a single egg today for the price of three eggs tomorrow.”

He sighs, rubbing his forehead. She has a point. If he doesn’t sleep, his work is going to suffer and then productivity will be even lower than what it already is. But that’s his fault too, for procrastinating when so much is on the line.

It’s very frog-like of him to have done.

Hineni looks over his shoulder, towards a pile of hardwood, sitting in the corner.

It’s quiet.

“You’re right,” he relents, getting up. “Sorry that I make you come here after me all the time,” he says.

She shakes her head. “Obscura will fly to any room of the house to find Hineni.”

“Thanks,” he says, catching her as she stops hovering.

He goes to wake Rhine up, shaking him. The boy mumbles and rolls his head away. Hineni notices the bruises on his neck.

That’s right, he forgot. Rhine has been pulling double shifts to train in the dungeon with Sockel when he isn’t in the forge. No wonder he’s tired.

Hineni, let down in his own performance, slings his hooting not-wife over his shoulder and grabs Rhine, picking him up and slinging him over the other one.

Finishing his work for the day, he carries the both of them upstairs.