The casual confidence Rittan seemed to have in everyone around him was as remarkable as ever—and it might have been a bit contagious as well because August couldn’t imagine the group losing either. He’d already seen exactly how shockingly fast Kalter could dismantle an opponent that was much, much larger than she was, and he’d seen the casual strength that Rittan could muster at a moment’s notice—Boko hadn’t had much of a chance to show what he could do, but given his assignment, he was probably just as terrifying.

The conversation kind of derailed itself after that; the two main topics were addressed, and the structure of the meeting faded away. August listened to Boko’s recounting of their prior discussion about the fjord, the chasm, and their conversation about bridge-building with only half an ear. Hands-free, now that he’d finished off the last of the skewers, he removed the almost finished Otrogon bone from his inventory. He wasn’t entirely back at full mana yet, but he had more than enough to do some work on it.

August wedged the things handle in between the back of his knee and his foot, using the light of the fire to give it a final check over before he started. Once he was sure he wasn’t going to ruin it with a silly mistake, he leaned in, the fingertip of his pinky hovering above the thinned-out edge—[Etch]. He began to cut out a series of grooves, the pattern leaving an array of angular teeth behind. After a dozen teeth, he had the pattern down, and by two dozen, he’d sped up to twice his original speed while keeping the precision—sixty-eight teeth in total before he cut the skill off, leaving it to taper back out into the handle.

August turned it over in his hands, making sure he hadn’t missed any edge and then decided that he’d done a pretty decent job.

“You’re finished?” Boko said, nodding upwards.

“It took most of the day, but it seems to have turned out alright,” August said, taking hold of the handle. “I’m going to build a kind of semi-permanent workbench where we can store all of our tools so you can access them whenever anybody needs something—I needed this to make the planks.”

“That sounds like a much better idea than leaving them strewn about all over the camp,” Rittan admitted, “It hasn’t happened with the bone-axe yet, but the flint ones broke often enough that having somewhere to actually repair them would have been useful.”

“Exactly, and once I’m done with that, I’ll probably move onto some kind of communal storage system for all the building materials—designated piles for lumber, bamboo, rock, mounted hooks for twine, that kind of thing,” August said, holding the saw out for Rittan to take. “Having all of it in my inventory doesn’t help when you need something, and I’m not on hand to take it out for you.”

Rittan took the [Bone Saw] with care, bringing the serrated side up to look at more closely.

“Perhaps we could make some shelves as well?” Haiko said, perking up. “I’ve been leaving all of the pottery I’ve made in the shade of the huts, but it would be better to get it up off the ground.”

“Shelving is on the list of things to make, right below walls to put them on,” August said, nodding. “I figure once we have the workbench and the tools on hand, I can just share any blueprints I have with whoever wants them, and we can make whatever we need as it comes up.”

“Rittan mentioned the bamboo wall idea,” Boko said, clicking his fingers together. “It shouldn’t be too hard to rig up some shelves with that—we’re still doing that tomorrow?”

“Ceiling and walls should probably take priority over the workbench because we could use a real shelter,” August admitted, “But if we split the tasks, we can probably get all of it done pretty quickly.”

“I believe I understand how the ceiling framing works now after seeing your test piece,” Rittan said, finally handing the [Bone Saw] back to him. “I’d be happy to work on the ceiling tomorrow, although it may be quicker if I had some assistance.”

August vanished it into his inventory with a murmur of thanks and then covered his mouth in an attempt to muffle a yawn.

“I can’t lounge around like a princess without any shade, so I suppose I’ll make myself available,” Haiko said, smiling. “It’s not too complicated, I hope?”

“It’s so simple; even a princess could do it,” Boko said, amused. “I’ll handle the walls—what are we thinking, lakeside and the wall behind the furnace first?”

“That’s probably safest,” August said. “I’ll start on making everything for the workbench when I wake up—hopeful the saw actually works as intended.”

“I’ll help you make the planks,” Kalter murmured, speaking up. “You’ll have to show me the process.”

August hadn’t been expecting the offer in the slightest, and for a moment, his mind flashed through a hundred reasons on why they probably shouldn’t be working on the same task—at least not after what had happened in the forest. In the end, he couldn’t come up with anything that would work as an excuse, and so he just nodded.

“Thank you, Kalter; I’ll show you how to do it,” August said, hesitating for a moment. “I think I’m going to go light my fire—and maybe make some twine before I go to bed.”

“Very well,” Rittan said, “August, if you’d leave some, I’d be happy to help?”

August just nodded before working to remove about half of his remaining materials before making a neat pile in the space between them. Once he was done, he pushed himself to his feet with a grunt of effort before stealing one of the still-burning sticks to us for his own fire. He exchanged a round of goodbyes with the group and then started off into the dark, the red-hot coal at the end of his stick leading the way. Ladybug moved to follow him, now the only presence still within his range, and he almost breathed a sigh of relief at the mental burden being lifted off his shoulders.

He lit the fire, coached it into something that would last for maybe an hour without refuelling, and then slipped into his temporary bamboo shelter. Rittan remained where he’d been, sitting not quite in the doorway, already working on spinning together the tall grass into useable twine. August followed his example, fingers slipping into the now familiar exercise without much effort—they’d survived another day in Devil’s Nest, and hopefully, by this time tomorrow, he’d be sitting safely beneath the shelter they were working to build.