Damn, how in the world do I know all this stuff? I was beside myself.

  I’ve just bought some crafting materials, in addition to looking through some fabric right now that I would need to craft a new item I had in mind. The shop owner was amazed by how well I could describe what I needed and the measurements of the fabric that I wanted to buy. That’s not all. The moment the shop owner went to fetch me the goods, I instantly started thinking about where to get the metal bars that I’d need to put it all together. I knew the exact number of bars I would need, as well as the length and thickness of each. It was unbelievably shocking to realize I knew all that.

  Wait, could it be because of my Crafting skill? Come to think of it, when I was crafting Rhanabbit armor pieces yesterday, or any other time before that, I didn’t need to think how to craft them. The work simply flowed. Wow, this is totally mind boggling. I scratched my head, thinking about it before something else hit me. Hold on. If I know how to craft something and what materials I would need to do it, that must mean my Crafting skill is high enough to do so. In that case, what kind of armor I want to craft for Ranalaiya?

  I stopped to think about it, trying to get an idea of how her armor would look or how I would craft it. I wanted to use Tarkee skins for her new armor, so I was trying to imagine how to do the work with the Tarkee skins being the main crafting material. However, nothing was coming to my mind.

  Holy fuck. No wonder I wasn’t able to craft anything from Tarkee skins. I can’t even get a vague image of what kind of armor I want to craft. Good thing I didn’t waste any more Tarkee skins. I let out a sigh of relief after thinking that.

  “Here you go, sir,” the shop owner returned, carrying a pile of fabric material in his arms before placing them on the big table in the middle of the shop.

  “Ok, great. Let me see. I will need this one this much and that one this much,” I told the owner, giving details of the measurements for each fabric.

  “Yes, yes. Let me just prepare everything for you, sir,” the owner said, looking like he was about to fly from how happy he was. Truth be told, I was about to buy more than just a few meters of fabric from him. The man was quick to cut and prepare the goods that I needed, me paying for it before putting everything away into my Item Storage Box.

  “Wow. Why did you buy so much fabric, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya was quick to ask the moment we left the shop.

  “I want to craft a tent. Ah, crap…” I said without thinking before placing my right hand’s palm over my face when I realized it, almost slapping myself. I wanted for it to be a surprise and yet I ruined it.

  “What’s a tent, Master Rockin?” Sylfrin asked next.

  “Huh?” I removed my hand before turning to look at Sylfrin. “You don’t know what a tent is?” I honestly thought they had those here.

  “No,” she said and from the looks on Ranalaiya’s and Lilfira’s faces I could tell they had no idea too.

  “Oh,” I tilted my head to the side, thinking there was still hope. “Ahm… You’ll have to wait and see after I finish crafting it.” I then said, adding a cheesy grin.

  “No, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, pursing her lips.

  “You have to tell us, please,” Lilfira begged, becoming as sweet as a kitty. It was a weird comparison since Lilfira was a dragonkin, but I didn’t care.

  “Nope. Come on, let’s go,” I refused, turning to go.

  “Master Rockin, wait,” Ranalaiya exclaimed, Sylfrin and Lilfira rushing to catch up with me as well.

  “Hey, sorry, but I haven’t finished your armor yet,” was the first thing Alragus told me when I came to see him at his workshop.

  “It’s ok. I know you said you’ll be able to craft it only today. I’m here for something else,” I said.

  “Something else?” Alragus became curious.

  “Yeah, I need some metal sticks,” I told him.

  “Metal sticks?” Alragus raised an eyebrow. “I’ll need more details.”

  “Right, so…” I went to explain what kind of metal sticks I would need, telling him how many, what length and sturdiness, and how they should connect to one another. From the look on his face, Alragus seemed to understand what I needed, but he still asked me to repeat it all again, writing it down on his notebook which he rarely did.

  “Those metal sticks don’t sound like they will be used for fighting, do they?” Alragus asked after jotting down the details of my order.

  “Ah, no. I need them to be able to craft something,” I said.

  “You need metal sticks to craft something? You’re gonna become a blacksmith?” Alragus asked, giving me an inquisitive look.

  “No,” I grimaced. “I need them as part of the item I want to craft.”

  “Humph,” Alragus snorted. I could see he wanted to say or ask something else but didn’t. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to craft those. Do you want them before or after I craft your armor?”

  “Oh, I’d rather you make them first. However, I’ll be staying at Savirei’s inn for the rest of the day. Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira will be working at the diner and I wouldn’t want to leave them there or drag them out together with me to come collect the sticks, so… could you bring them to Savirei’s inn once you’re done? I can pay extra,” I asked, slightly squirming in my spot. I knew Alragus wasn’t a delivery boy.

  “No worries. I will need to eat anyway, so I can bring your order when I come,” Alragus said.

  “Cool. Thanks,” I grinned. Now that I got what I needed, we could go back to Savirei’s inn, with me locking myself inside the room to craft myself a tent once I got there.

  “Welcome back, Rockin. I expected for all of you to show up later, not that I am complaining or anything,” Savirei said, showing a sly smile.

  “Yes, well… I have a lot of work ahead of me, so… can you look after Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira again?” I asked her.

  “But of course. Before you leave, do you want something to eat maybe?” Savirei offered.

  “No, not really. Well, maybe a drink and a piece of your delicious cake?” I asked after a bit of thought.

  “My delicious cake?” Savirei asked before licking her lips.

  Damn it. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. I knew what she meant.

  “Can I take the drink and the cake to the room instead of eating down here?” I asked, pretending I didn’t understand what she implied.

  “I can bring them to you. You know, serving customers is part of my job,” Savirei threw in another lucrative offer.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Wow, she is so much bolder than usual. I was surprised

  “Thanks, but… you’ll need to look after Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira. Besides, I honestly have a lot of crafting to do,” I told her, being rather serious about it too.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, darling. I don’t know what came over me,” Savirei apologized, mellowing down. “And please forgive me for being so obvious with my intentions too, ladies.”

  “No need to apolozige, Miss Savirei. We know you are in love with Master Rockin,” Sylfrin said.

  “Oh, my. Am I now?” Savirei said, touching her right cheek with her hand, becoming bashful.

  “Of course. I’m in love with Master Rockin myself, so it is easy to tell,” Sylfrin said, surprising me with how boldly she was speaking to Savirei. Usually, a slave wouldn’t be offering their opinion to anyone who wasn’t a slave without getting permission to speak, but Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira were slaves only for the outsiders. I was treating them as equals and Savirei knew that. On a sidenote, all this talk about women loving me started making me feel rather uncomfortable.

  “Ah, you know what, I’ll have some cake later. I’ll go do some work now,” I said, turning to go lock myself inside the room.

  “Huh? No, please wait, Rockin. I’m sorry, I’ll go get you some cake and a drink right away,” Savirei stopped me before rushing to go get that cake for me.

  “I love you too, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said after Savirei was gone, her eyes shooting all over the place, her cheeks burning red.

  “Yes, I love you as well, Ranalaiya. And Sylfrin too, and I love you, Lilfira as well,” I faced to look at each one of them as I spoke to them. “Now make sure you do a good job when working for Savirei again. I will be busy working, but if any of you need anything or if there’s any trouble come see me, ok?”

  “Yes, Master Rockin,” the three angelic creatures responded all at the same time.

  “Here you go, darling,” Savirei came back soon after, carrying some cake and a drink for me.

  “Thanks, Savirei. I’d rather not be disturbed while I work, but if something happens, come get me. Oh, Alragus will bring something for me later on when he comes to eat. Send someone to let me know and I’ll come down,” I remembered to tell her before leaving.

  “Rockin seemed to be very eager to craft something,” Savirei commented after I was gone.

  “Yes, Master Rockin said he wants to craft a ‘tent’,” said Ranalaiya.

  “Atent?” Savirei tilted her head to the side, feeling puzzled.

  “No, it’s a… tent, Miss Savirei,” Sylfrin let her know.

  “Oh… But… what’s a tent?” Savirei asked.

  “We don’t know. Master Rockin wouldn’t tell us, but he has bought a lot of fabric and asked Mister Alragus to craft some metal sticks for him, so he could craft it,” Lilfira provided more details.

  “Oh, my. Now that sounds interesting,” Savirei said thoughtfully. “In any case, how about you go wash yourselves first before starting the work? I’ll get your uniforms ready in the meantime.”

  “Yes, Miss Savirei,” the three of them agreed.

  The moment I came to the room, I immediately went to work, eating the cake that I brought with me beforehand of course. As surprising, or not so much, as it was the work flowed easily. I was able to sew the fabric together the way I thought it was necessary without thinking much about it. I had seen a real tent only once. Correction. I had been camping only once and that’s where I had slept inside a real tent. I was a kid at the time and camping as a kid was supposed to be fun. Not for me. It was more of a road trip, with my parents traveling to see one of their favorite bands perform live, taking me together because I couldn’t stay home alone. It wasn’t fun at all, but thanks to that one memory I now knew how a real tent looked and now I was making one.

  - ‘Knock. Knock. – I don’t know how much time has passed while I was working, but two knocks on the door forced me to stop doing whatever I was doing.

  “Yes?” I said.

  “Excuse me. Miss Savirei has sent me. She told me to let you know that Mister Alragus has arrived and is waiting for you at the diner,” I female voice told me behind the door.

  “Ok, thank you,” I said. I was about to finish sewing another piece of fabric together, but I didn’t want to keep Alragus waiting for me, so I left it on the table and went downstairs.

  “Hey,” Alragus greeted me.

  “Hi,” I raised my hand, greeting him back.

  “Got you what you asked of me,” Alragus said, taking out the metal sticks that were wrapped together from his Item Storage Box.

  “Cool. Thanks,” I took them before placing the sticks inside my own Item Storage Box.

  “By the way, I’ll have your full armor set ready by the evening. You planning to come by?” Alragus asked.

  “Ah, no. I’ll go back to work. I want to finish crafting what I am crafting as soon as possible and Ranalaiya, Sylfrin, and Lilfira will be working at the diner till Savirei closes too. I’ll come pick it up tomorrow,” I told him.

  “What about the dungeon?” Alragus wanted to know.

  “Right. I spoke to Tarrion yesterday. He wants to go too, but I don’t know the exact time when we’ll go yet. I’ll let you know when I come pick up my armor. But just so you know, we plan to go to the eighth floor, so make sure to prepare properly. Stacking up on water is the main issue, really,” I informed him.

  “Will do,” Alragus acknowledged it.

  “Ok, enjoy the rest of your food. I’ll go back to work,” I said, standing up.

  “See you,” Alragus said.

  Before I went back upstairs, I checked with Savirei and the three new waitresses that were making their names in her diner. Obviously the three of them were very happy to see me again, wanting to take my order and serve me food right there and then. I wasn’t that hungry yet and have told them I will come back to eat later. I told Savirei to let me know when Tarrion shows up before going back to the room reserved only for me to continue my work.

  {several hours later}

  “Yooo…” I stretched back in my chair. “Oh-key… Now to stitch the last three pieces together and that should be it.”

  I was almost done with the tent, with only needing to sew the last three big pieces together, but I thought I’ll take a short break to stretch a bit. I was sitting at the table for several hours and started feeling stiff.

  - ‘Knock. Knock. Knock.’ – A knock on the door was heard right in the middle of me stretching. Instead of asking who is it, I went to open the door.

  “Huh? Oh, excuse me, sir,” one of Savirei’s female employees became startled when I opened the doors a little too fast.

  “Yes, what is it?” I simply asked.

  “Mister Tarrion is waiting for you downstairs, sir,” she said.

  “Ok, thanks,” I said before closing the door behind me.

  “Ah, well, this way please, sir,” the young woman said, motioning to follow her. She must’ve not expected for me to simply go down right away, but since I was already up, and I had promised to see Tarrion as soon as he shows up, I thought I’ll simply go down to the diner right away. Besides, I was starting to feel hungry too.

  “Here you go, sir,” the young woman brought me directly to where Tarrion and Krisel were sitting.

  “Thanks,” I told her before turning to Tarrion. “Hey, how’s things?”

  “Hi Furball,” Tarrion said.

  “Hello Rockin,” Krisel smiled.

  “I’ve brought you some herbs,” Tarrion said, sounding all business like.

  “Mind if I eat first?” I asked, seeing him about to take the items out of his storage.

  “Ah, sure,” he mumbled.

  “Hello lovebirds. How are you today?” Savirei appeared next to our table as if overhearing me say I wanted to eat.

  “Hi,” Tarrion said.

  “Good evening, Savirei. We’re very well. I see your diner is pretty full again,” Krisel said with a smile.

  “Yes. I have Rockin to thank for that once again,” Savirei showed a sweet smile before turning to face me. “Will you be eating now Rockin or are you going back to work?”

  “Yes, I would like to eat now, Savirei,” I said, showing a smile back to her.

  “Wonderful. What do you all want to order?” Savirei asked. We placed our orders and she was quickly gone.

  “Do you want to take the herbs while we wait?” Tarrion insisted.

  “Sure,” I half frowned. On the flip side, I knew I’d have to take them off of him anyway.

  “Other than the Healing Potions, we’re pretty much prepared now,” Tarrion informed.

  “Ok, cool. We probably could leave for the dungeon tomorrow, but that would be after midday earliest,” I told him.

  “That’s fine,” he said.

  “Thanks for waiting. Here are your orders, darlings,” Savirei was back with our food.

  “Wow, that was fast,” I said, being surprised how quickly our food has arrived.

  “Oh, I have prepared a lot in advance for tonight. You know, I expect a full diner again,” Savirei said, sending me a wink.

  “I bet,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “By the way, Rockin, I had some people ask me about joining the clan. What should I tell them?” Savirei asked.

  “Tell them our clan is not recruiting right now,” I said.

  “Are you sure? I still have some application forms on me,” Savirei said.

  “Ah, no. We have already agreed you wouldn’t be doing that. Besides, our clan’s office will be opening tomorrow. Tell them to wait until then,” I insisted.

  “Ok, whatever you say, darling. Enjoy your food,” Savirei smiled.

  “Thanks,” I said, hoping she was able to hear me. “Ok, let’s dig in.”

  Tarrion, Krisel and I didn’t speak much while eating. They also knew that I wanted to get back to crafting after the meal, so we kept it really short once I have finished my food. They weren’t even halfway done with theirs when I was done, actually. I wished them a pleasant evening and went back to crafting. I checked with Savirei to ask how Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira were doing before going upstairs, Savirei informing me the three of them doing a wonderful job. She said Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira were resting before the evening’s rush, Savirei expecting it to be even busier than yesterday. She also promised that she’d send Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira straight to my room if something unexpected were to happen even though she hired extra help to make sure nothing would. I thanked and went back to work.

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