The blacksmith looked at the possible tea selections he could brew. With tea he tends to be picky. His selection usually depends on whatever mood he has that day. On this occasion, he wondered which of his selections would be the most welcoming.
—I guess this one would do.
He put the tea pot on the stove and patiently waited as it brewed. He stared at it as his mind wondered off. He thought about what he could do in this predicament.
"The place seems shaken down. Don't you tidy up for visitors?"
Behind him was a young golden blonde man sitting at the dining table. He was resting his head on the palm of his hand as he observed every detail of the house. William knew his house would be criticized the moment the young man went through the front door. The reason was that he never expected any visitors, so he never bothered to clean up.
"Excuse the mess, I'm not one to receive visitors. As a matter of fact, you're the first to ever visit this place." he said as he served the tea to the young man.
"For real?! Heh then it must've been destiny." he said as he winked.
"Sure..." said the blacksmith as he sat on the opposite side of the young man.
"You know, I thought it would be a bit more luxurious. I heard a rumor that the walls were made out of gold."
"I don't know who told you that, but they were completely off the mark. It is nothing special. Also, don't go believing everything that a stranger says. That's how they scam you."
The Jaeger household in the Lost Forest is composed of two floors. The main entrance is on the second floor with stairs that lead to the front porch, while the first floor is the forge where William does most of his work. The house itself had all the essential areas: two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. It was comfortable for two people to live in. If there were to be any more people, it would feel cramped.
"I see…" The young man was slightly disappointed, "Say, you're out here living by yourself… don't you ever get lonely?"
The blacksmith did not look at the young man. Instead, he sipped his tea, "I could ask you the same thing."
The young man pouted at the blacksmith's response. He had a sip of his tea as well and spit it out immediately, "Ugh! what is this? It tastes awful."
The blacksmith chuckled, "That's chamomile tea. You'll get used to it."
The young man looked skeptical of the beverage. He observed the liquid in the cup and smelled it, "It smells floral..." he took another sip and was slightly surprised, "It's somewhat sweet, but still very bad."
William had the exact reaction when he first had a cup of tea. He recalled his grandfather introducing it to him. He took the first sip, and it had an awful taste. He felt like he was tasting liquid dirt or boiled grass. Eventually, he got used to it and quite enjoyed it.
The man put his cup down and cut straight to the chase, "Tell me, how did you get here? This forest is dangerous as it is and it's getting dark too. Not many outsiders step in, let alone get this deep inside the forest."
One will face many dangers the moment they take their first step inside the forest, especially at night. The forest gives birth to many creatures of different scales in strength. It is one of the many mysteries of the Lost Forest. Even the pixies have tried stepping inside for further studies, but the Drakon tribe would brush them off. It goes without saying about the night fog and the daily route changes.
"That's easy. I followed you."
"You... what?"
The young man had given a brushed off answer, as if it wasn't a big deal what he had stated. He shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, I have been following you ever since I saw you eavesdropping on those merchants. Who knew you liked gossip? Regardless, that is none of my business, of course. I have a goal to think about."
The man wryly smiled, "Hey, I was checking to see if Paul needed assistance. As if he ever really needed it though."
The blacksmith had known Paul ever since he was a kid. He would occasionally see Paul at the Jaeger's main household making business deals with his father. When he left the house, he stumbled upon him once more in Aoba. Every time he saw him, Paul always had the same attitude and morals. He was never one to back out of a challenge. What the blacksmith witnessed was a declaration of one. Even if he had intervened, it would've been the same outcome.
"Paul, so that's the evil man's name..."
"He's not evil. If anything, he was the one most worried about you."
The young man smacked the tablet, "Hah! don't feed me such lies. An evil man like that doesn't have empathy, let alone a heart."
Despite his attitude, Paul is a very kindhearted man. However, the blacksmith believes he had a change of heart once he had kids. The merchant he knew is not the same one now. People say one won't understand until they have a kid of their own and the merchant was no exception. The moment it was obvious to Paul that the young man had nowhere to go, he immediately worried. He most likely thought about one of his kids ever being in a situation similar to the young man and gained empathy towards him.
The blacksmith sighed at the young man's obliviousness, "You are a stubborn one in your ideals."
The young man crossed his arms, "Hmph! Unlike you, I do keep my word and morals."
The man raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
The young man smacked the table once more, "How dare you forget! You were supposed to take me in with you."
After the chase that had transpired in the town. The blacksmith and the merchant discussed what to do with the unconscious young man. Paul didn't want the child to be left alone in such a state. They had both run out of ideas until the blacksmith offered to take care of him... That is until he realized he would need to carry his huge amount of food and the kid all the way to his house.
"That's right... I completely forgot. Wait, how do you know that?"
"I was there, remember."
"Yeah, but you were unconscious... Wait a minute, you're saying you were awake the whole time!?"
"A hero must know when to pick his battles."
"I had to carry you to the bar!"
"And you left me there to rot!"
The blacksmith decided that between the food and the young man, the food had most priority. He carried the young man to the bar where Lucy and Marla work and asked if there was a room where the kid could stay. Surprisingly, they did, so William decided to leave him there for the time being.
"Oh please, Marla seems like a capable woman. I'm pretty sure you were treated like a king. I bet you have had more food these past few days than ever since you got here."
"How would you know?"
"Because I've been paying for it."
"Aha! You didn't forget about me."
"No, but I thought eventually you would go back to your home."
At first, he was going to come back and keep his word to the merchant, but he had a change of mind. He'd been paying for the young man's stay and the food he consumed. He didn't expect the bill to be so high. The young man had been eating a lot of food.
The young man raised an eyebrow, "How do you know I'm not from here?"
"Well, when I was chasing you, you ran to the gate."
"That doesn't really explain it."
"It was your necklace. It looks expensive, I highly doubt that a random kid living off the streets owned such a thing. I assumed that you came from a noble family. Then again, this world is full of surprises. You should probably keep it under your shirt if you don't want to get mugged."
The blacksmith noticed the young man had a necklace with a particular stone. It was an emerald, which was already enough to fetch a high price on the market, but it had something else. Something not easy to catch with the naked eye.
"From a noble family..." The young man grabbed his necklace and hid it under his shirt, "I see... thank you for the advice. Regardless, I'm not leaving this town until I complete my goal."
"Right… You said something about me making you a hero. What's with that?"
The young man's eyes sparkled, "Aha! I'm glad you asked." he got up from his chair and proceeded to explain, "I was told that a well-known blacksmith resided near the town. That if I wanted to reach my goal, then there would be none other than you to help me reach it."
"Are you saying that I would be able to make you a hero? How?"
"What do you mean by "how"? Isn't it obvious? By making me your apprentice!"
The blacksmith's eyebrows furrowed, "How does having you as my apprentice help make you a hero? Wouldn't it be better to go to the capital and go through the admission process?"
The young man scratched his head, "I did... not only did they mention that I'm too young for it, but I also needed to pay a monthly fee while I was in the training process."
The blacksmith had never heard of such a fee in regard to becoming a guard. The young man is rather small and frail for his age. Someone could easily confuse him for a kid if they didn't know him personally. They most likely didn't believe the young man when he told them he was actually fourteen years old and told him about a fake fee to scare him off.
"When all hope was lost for me, I met a person. They told me to go see a blacksmith that lives in Aoba. That he will lead me to becoming a hero."
"Who was the person who told you that?"
"I apologize, but I promised not to tell you. Not yet, at least."
"This is crazy."
William wondered who could've told such nonsense to the young man. The blacksmith was only that, a blacksmith. He had no experience in terms of swordsmanship or any type of combat. He had nothing to give except his knowledge of smithing.
The young man nodded, "I was skeptical at first. I didn't even know who you were. I thought, "How is someone like him going to help me accomplish my dream?". Then I met you and we had that chase around the town and that's when I knew you would be a great candidate as my master."
"You didn't know who I was?"
The young man shook his head, "Not at all."
"Oh, I see..."
It was the first time someone didn't recognized the blacksmith. He thought the reason could be because of a generational gap. Regardless, it was refreshing not to be recognized as someone from the Jaeger family.
"So, what do you say?" The young man extended his hand towards the blacksmith and looked at him straight in the eyes, "Will you teach me?"