The blacksmith's heart pounded in his chest. He clutched it, trying to endure the sudden, sharp pain. The world around him blurred—his senses overwhelmed by the fear coursing through his body. He forced himself to breathe slowly, focusing on the chirping of birds and the gentle breeze brushing against his face.
As the warmth of the morning sun reached his skin, his mind finally settled. He opened his eyes, squinting at the light.
"I'm okay..." he muttered.
Lying in the grass, he stretched his limbs, the blades tickling his skin with each movement. That's when it hit him.
"I fell asleep outside," he said aloud, sitting up abruptly.
A lake shimmered before him. He checked his body, half-expecting some mark or sign of tampering—but there was nothing. He was completely intact.
He remembered the woman from the night before. Odd and out of place in the forest, she'd exuded an unsettling aura. William was convinced she had done something to him.
"She must've used magic on me," he muttered.
His body had been utterly powerless in her presence. He hadn't even seen her face—just a dense, black fog. When he'd tried to look, she punished him for it.
"I hit the ground face-first because of her! And that dream…"
The moment he'd fallen asleep, he was thrust into a nightmare—chaos, corpses, and at the end of the path, the source of it all.
"Next thing I knew, I was awake. What a nightmare. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it… Was that dream her doing too?"
William wasn't a religious man, but the experience had shaken him enough to consider praying—to the divine hero or the dragon of resurrection. He wasn't even sure which one was appropriate.
"Maybe I'll ask her about religion next time."
"You're finally awake. I must say, you took your sweet time, sir."
A shadow fell over him. William squinted and slowly made out the figure of a man standing in front of him.
—Did he watch over me while I slept?
William let out a sigh. "Exposed to the wild like a rookie… I should thank you for watching over me."
"There's no need for formalities. I only stayed because I wanted a word with you."
William stood up, brushing the grass off his clothes. "I see, so it's like that."
He was used to people seeking him out for weapon requests—but this time, someone had come deep into the forest. Impressive. Nicolas had done the same, though. Still, whether he accepted or not was his decision. For now, he'd hear the man out.
The stranger gave a respectful bow. "Sir Jaeger, I'd like to get straight to the point."
William held up a hand. "Hold on."
Mornings weren't what they used to be. At twenty-five, his body had started betraying him. Waking up wasn't instant anymore; his brain needed time to catch up with his eyes.
—Getting a request this early is dangerous. Especially with that determined look. This guy's ready to drag me into something I'll regret.
"At the very least, tell me your name first."
The man nodded. "My apologies. I'm Sebastian, a butler of the Reinsfield family."
"The Reinsfields… Aren't they the nobles who practically run Aoba?"
"They make generous donations to the town, yes. But they don't own it. I serve in the main household."
"Really? Then why are you dressed like that?"
Anyone working in a noble household was expected to dress the part—clean, formal, presentable. But Sebastian looked like he'd just left a hunting camp.
Sebastian flinched slightly. He hadn't wanted to wear this. The young lady of the house had insisted, dragging him to the dressing room and shoving camouflage gear into his arms. "If you're going on an adventure, you need to look the part," she'd said with a smile he couldn't resist.
Despite the absurdity, he wore the clothes with quiet pride. But the memory brought a tear to his eye.
"I'd prefer to keep that confidential," he said.
"You okay?!" William blinked, puzzled by the butler's sudden melancholy. He scratched his cheek. "Never mind. My bad for poking into someone else's business." He offered a handshake. "Everyone's got their own skeletons in the closet."
Sebastian looked genuinely pleased. "You're a better man than I expected."
William raised an eyebrow. "Wait—who's been talking bad about me?"
"It's nothing, Sir Jaeger. Just a slip of the tongue."
—Yeah, right…
William sighed. "Call me William, please. 'Sir Jaeger' makes me feel ancient."
"Very well, Mr. Jaeger it is."
"That's worse! You didn't change anything!"
Though Sebastian wore the uniform of a butler, he clearly wasn't the conventional kind. He had a sharp tongue and no sense of restraint when it came to teasing.
"Now, tell me why you're here," William said.
Sebastian's gaze shifted behind him. "First, I must deal with the third party listening in on us."
William blinked. "What?"
Before he could process what Sebastian meant, three shuriken whizzed past his face and struck a nearby tree. A surprised yelp followed.
"I recognize that scream…" William muttered.
"Shall we meet our eavesdropper?"
They approached the tree to find a blond young man with emerald eyes, tangled in branches and shouting.
"Let me go! How dare you treat someone as amazing as me like this! Show some respect!"
Sebastian summoned a light electric charge from his hand, and the shuriken detached themselves from the tree, flying back into his sleeve. The young man tumbled, but Sebastian caught him mid-fall with practiced ease.
"Do you know this child who's spewing nonsense?" he asked, lifting him by the collar.
"Nonsense?!" the young man cried.
William looked away, scratching his cheek. Of course he knew him. "That's my apprentice. Nicolas."
"Apprentice, you say…"
Sebastian studied Nicolas closely. Nothing about him stood out—at first. But there was… something faint, something hidden.
"Quit staring, four-eyes!" Nicolas snapped.
One of Sebastian's eyebrows twitched. "What did you just call me?"
"That's for calling me a child! I'll have you know, I'm of drinking age."
—You pick the weirdest moments to say that…
"Yet you've never had a drink," Sebastian said flatly.
William blinked. "How can you tell?"
"It's in his eyes. Still innocent. That tells me he's yet to try."
"It's not like I don't want to," Nicolas grumbled. "I just haven't had the chance."
A smile crept across Sebastian's face. William and Nicolas both shivered.
"Then let's go grab a beer."
"Ugh," Nicolas groaned.
Sebastian turned to William, who already sensed he was trapped.
"That way," Sebastian added, "we can continue our conversation."
William sighed. "Alright… Let's go."
***
"Well?"
A glass full of beer was in front of the young man, Nicolas. He intently inspected the liquid inside, "Hmmm."
The butler raised an eyebrow, "What is it? You said you would drink alcohol if you had the occasion for it."
As soon as the apprentice heard the word "occasion", he took no delay and sharply responded to Sebastian, "Exactly! Since there's no occasion for a drink. I guess it was a waste."
He tried to stand up and leave, but "What nonsense are you babbling about, little boy?"
Sebastian, with one hand, grabbed the apprentice's shoulder and sat him back on the seat.
"I'm not a boy!" he said, irritated.
The butler got closer to the apprentice and raised his index finger, "Listen here, a "real man" doesn't need an occasion to drink. He simply does."
"I still fail to see how alcohol makes you a man."
"Why don't you have a taste and see for yourself?"
The apprentice inspected the glass once more. He was hesitating to take the first sip.
"Time is ticking—"
"—I'm going at my own pace!"
—He's giving him a hard time.
The blacksmith watched the apprentice getting teased by the butler. As they both continued, William looked around the bar. It was the usual one.
—I wonder if Lucy is finally around, although it is still very early.
One of the waitresses recognized the blacksmith when serving him his beer.
"Mr. Jaeger? Nice to see you this morning. Just so you know, Lucy isn't back yet. Neither is Marla. She said to mention you she wouldn't be coming for the next few days."
"Wait, even Marla?"
There seemed to be something happening between the two young women. William worried about them. He wondered how he would be able to reach them. His thoughts were put to a stop as soon as he realized that Sebastian and Nicolas had stopped their banter. After overhearing the blacksmith, they both looked at him curiously.
"Who might Lucy and Marla be? I wonder." He rested his chin on the palm of his hand with a smirk on his face.
"I would like to know too, master. I know who Marla is, but who's Lucy?"
Both men wondered what woman would make William Jaeger ask for her in the first place. The blacksmith, on the other hand, did not like them pressing to know his private matters, "Don't call me master! And you—" William pointed at Sebastian, "—Aren't you acting a little too familiar with me? It doesn't fit your character as a butler."
"My apologies, but seeing a person with such a title asking for a woman from the bar is something you don't see every day."
"What are you talking about? She's just like everybody else. Besides, the noble title is not mine, it's my family's."
Nicolas spit the beer once he got a taste of it. Both the butler and the blacksmith looked at the coughing Nicolas, astonished that he actually drank from the glass, and then they continued with their conversation.
The apprentice cried out, "None of you are going to acknowledge me for finally drinking!?"
William was getting annoyed by Sebastian's familiarity, "Listen, would you cut it with the teasing?"
"What are you talking about? I thought we were starting to get along."
"I wonder..." he said sarcastically, and drank from his glass of beer.
Sebastian takes a sip of his beer and clears his throat, "Very well. Then I might as well get to the point about why I'm here speaking to you, Mr. Jaeger."
The blacksmith's eyes narrowed, "You already dragged me here. What is this about?"
"You see, I have a request."
The blacksmith's head was clouded with many questions about the woman from the previous night and now he worried about the other two young women from the bar. He also wondered about the status of a certain merchant. He didn't have time to work on any weapon request with all that was happening around him. The butler's sudden appearance had delayed him from getting any answers.
Although, he felt like there was a connection between him and the woman from last night. He proceeded to test the waters, "Did she order you to keep me company?"
The butler's eyes widened. A little smirk formed on his face, "I suppose there was no avoiding you figuring it out."
The blacksmith's theory was correct, "It was suspicious of you to find me in the middle of the Lost Forest so easily. Now, I see why."
The blacksmith felt like he was being played. The woman puts him to sleep, leaving him vulnerable in the forest, and the butler watches over him as a means of getting compensation for his good deed. It was a good tactic, but William easily saw through their plan.
"It was not on her orders, but I supposed I had to watch over you considering we need your assistance. I do say, I wasn't aware that you already knew about her. It will make my job easier."
"She gave me a good sleep. Now tell me, what could you want from me?"
—To go through all this just to give me a request, it must be something great.
"Hm? Well, sleeping problems aside, Mr. Jaeger, my master took an interest in your family name. The Jaeger name will forever be known for generations for their magnificent work on weapons that contributed to the battles fought for our kingdom."
—Yes, yes, I've heard of this many times.
"Let's cut to what's really important, why did your master take a liking to my family? I know for certain that it wasn't just history."
Sebastian smiled at William, "Oh, but it is. Specifically, the battle against the dark witch."
The blacksmith's eyebrows furrowed. He had mixed feelings towards the dark witch considering the dream he had. Regardless, he was still curious, "What about it?"
"Your great grandfather, Ludas Jaeger, made a powerful sword. I believe the name was Pagida Spathi."
The blacksmith tried to recall if there were any records of the event or word of such a sword in his grandfather's private studies, but he couldn't seem to recall any. "Pagida Spathi... It was a sword used against the dark witch?"
"Correct, after defeating the dark witch, they stored it deep in a temple. A temple that was never to be seen again."
"Wait a minute, I've heard of such a temple. The place is called the Temple of Oram."
The butler nodded, "Once the battle against the dark witch had culminated, the sword was stored deep in the temple."
"I've heard that the temple was made over two hundred years ago. It's more like an urban legend. What of it now?"
"My master sent me to have a look at the temple. I eventually found it, but I couldn't get in."
"Wait, it actually exists?!"
The butler nodded, "It does. From the information I could gather, no one was able to get inside. It appears to have some sort of blood recognition spell."
"If I were to guess. It can only enter the ones involved with the sword. I assume you need my blood... Am I mistaken?"
"No, you're right on the mark."
"I see, this is where I come into play."
"Apparently, Ludas Jaeger made a special request when creating the sword. He wanted it placed on the temple and asked the doors to be used with a blood recognition spell."
"This is crazy. How come there's no documentation about it?"
"Who's to say? Well, I suppose you do know where this is going."
—I do…
This was no ordinary weapon request. In fact, it was the complete opposite. It was to join the butler on his quest to open the temple's door, but there was one factor the blacksmith had yet to mention.
"Mr. Jaeger, I need you to come with me—"
The blacksmith raised his hand at Sebastian, "Slow down, who's to say that it will work with my blood. Sure, I do have my family blood, but it's not pure."
The butler's eyebrows furrowed, "Pure? You are a descendent of the bloodline, are you not?"
"Yes, I am. It's just complicated to explain…"
The butler continued, "Listen, all I need is for you to accompany me to the entrance. If it opens, you will need to join me to the end. Don't worry about safety, I'll be protecting you throughout our journey. If it doesn't work, you can continue on with your life and I will find another way to get inside."
"So, you won't give up even if it were to fail?"
"I will not. Even if I have to blow up the place, I will get that sword."
"Geez, isn't that going a bit too overboard?" the man scratched the back of his head, "Why are you looking for the sword in the first place?"
"I suppose it is necessary for you to know..." The butler took a deep breath for the next words he was about to give to the blacksmith, "The sword holds knowledge."
"What do you mean?"
"When the dark witch was slayed by the hero with your great grandfather's weapon, a map was forged onto the sword. It is said that it holds the location of her library of knowledge."
The blacksmith's eyes widened, "It makes no sense. Why would the dark witch even do that in her final moments?"
"Who's to say? That is the information I was able to gather. I need the map to get to her library. That is why I'm here telling you all of this. I'll ask again… will you take on my request?"
The blacksmith was speechless. He never expected to be in such a position regarding his family matters. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to reject it. Anything that involved his family never brought him anything good, but he had never heard of such events. He was curious to know what that was all about. He needed time to process his thoughts, "I'll... need to think about it."
The butler nodded understandingly, "Very well, I will give you a week." He stands up and leaves money on the counter for the drinks, "Good day, Mr. Jaeger. We'll meet again for your decision." then he bowed and left.
Suddenly, William's life got a bit troublesome or maybe even more than that. He looked at his reflection from the beer inside the glass. Should he take on the butler's offer?
To his right he saw Nicolas passed out on the floor. The boy couldn't hold his liquor. He picked him up and headed back home.
—What did I get myself into?