After a good hot bath, Azi came out of the bath in a change of sleep clothes and with a towel he used to dry his hair. Moving to the living room, he greeted Shizu and Kajima who sat around the dining table. It seemed that they were waiting for him as Shizu had a somewhat hungry look on her face as she stared at tonight's meal.
Azi could not blame her as it seemed that they would be having a large amount of delicious meat for dinner as a large roast of what looked like beef was on the table.
The animal that was butchered for this meat was a cow-like animal called a moosu which looked like a hairy brown yak with a pair of long blue horns. After a bit of nagging from Shizu, the three of them started filling their bellies full of the sweet and savory meat.
After such a large and heavy meal, everyone felt ready for bed and that is what they did after cleaning up after themselves.
Of course, Shizu joined Azi in his bed and the two had a short talk about their day. The first to talk was Shizu, who complained about all the paperwork and the lack of weapons to supply to all the soldiers on the village watch.
Recently, Ozen had luckily sent more soldiers to help with the monsters in the nearby forest of Shisayama but with the increase in soldiers came an increase in weapon expenditure.
Azi offered his help after he finished work on Shizu's weapon. He then shared how his experiment was a success as Shizu started to ask him about what he was working on as she was curious about his new forging hammer.
While talking about his findings, Azi then turned to conversation to the topic of Shizu's new weapons.
"I think it will be done in 7 days at this rate, but I won't be able to sleep in the same bed with you starting tomorrow."
"Why not?!"
"The process I plan to do to create your weapon is special and complicated. It's definitely going to be a challenge as I'll need to stay awake for a long period of time."
Not convinced, Shizu put on her best pleading voice. "Can't I just sleep in the workshop with you?"
Nodding his head side to side in firm denial, Azi firmly held his stance on the matter. "I need total focus for the next 7 days. Also Kajima will kick you out if you try to disturb the work done in the workshop. Just be patient, I swear it will be worth the wait."
He then placed his hand on the side of her face and Shizu sighed after hearing how adamant Azi's tone was so she nodded in acquencise. Wanting to get her mind off the current topic, Shizu informed Azi that her younger sister, Rulu, had finally gotten permission to come visit her in Shisayama.
She explained that the news came as a surprise to her as it came in with the recent bundle of paperwork she usually dreaded to receive from Kujyuri. When she read Ozen's letter it mentioned Rulu's estimated arrival to be on Decem 12th of 4831. At that point, Shizu jumped for joy in her office and summarily spooked village chief Manu.
The anticipation of seeing her younger sister again almost overcame her again and Shizu wanted to jump for joy again in the bed, but she was prevented by Azi who, with a calming hand, brushed the back of her fluffy ears.
Azi teased her for her childish mannerism which made her pout a bit but after a few more minutes of bantering the two of them decided to call it a day. Azi faced away from Shizu as he was somewhat embarrassed from beginning to hug from the front as the ample "assets" Shizu had made it hard for him to relax if they were in front of him all night.
Now being used as a hug pillow, Azi soon drifted to sleep with Shizu. Both were excited for the days to come as they were both at the cusp of their personal events.
*****
During the middle of the night, Shizu suddenly sneezed in bed which startled Azi awake.
"What's wrong, *Yawn* Are you cold?"
"No, I just sneezed, that's all."
Azi sighed as he was somewhat upset for being awoken so abruptly but nonetheless took it upon himself to ensure Shizu was properly tucked in bed. He turned over to face Shizu and moved closer to her. With the two of them so close together, Azi moved more of the blanket over to Shizu's side of the futon bed to ensure that she was properly covered.
He then turned away and allowed her to hug his waist and nestle closer to allow his body's warmth to spread to her's. Giggling in glee at Azi's actions she hugged him even tighter and they soon drifted off into sleep.
At first light, Azi awoke from his slumber and deftly moved out the bed. He wanted to quietly move so that Shizu would continue to sleep soundly as he had his own matters to attend to this early morning.
Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful since Shizu had unconsciously grasped his shirt tightly during her sleep which made it impossible for him to get out of bed without waking her up.
Wanting to not wake Shizu, he carefully took off and snaked his way out of his sleeping shirt with Shizu still firmly gripping it. Now free from his shirt, he moved to a nearby closet in the room and grabbed a change of clothes.
He gathered his blacksmith attire, tool belt, goggles, a forged spear head, and his 2 apothecary satchels half full of his equipment. He exited the room to go change in the bathroom, but before he left, he saw Shizu hugging his sleeping shirt close to herself.
Azi smiled at the sight, but his expression changed to a wry smile when Shizu began to audibly inhale to smell his shirt. It seems that after sleeping together for so long, Shizu had become accustomed to his scent.
This made Azi feel as if Shizu was turning into more of a wildcat as every day passed. Her antics kept escalating but thankfully Kajima was able to reign her in after multiple stern scoldings.
Azi chuckled when he remembered how Shizu looked so dejected after receiving one of Kajima's long lectures.
Azi would always have to console her by pampering her like a spoiled cat. One time, he instinctively scratched behind her fluffy ears as it seemed that it felt enjoyable to Shizu. At the more extreme incidence of depression, Azi would have sparring matches with her so that she could vent her frustrations.
He felt a noticeable chill when he remembered his recent sparring match with Shizu because it reminded him to not piss her off too much in the future.
After securing the last of his attire and bags to himself, he moved his dirty clothes into a nearby hamper. Today, Azi needed to make a few rounds in the village to stock up on supplies for the forging process to remake Shizu's weapon.
Grabbing some hard crackers, black bread, and cheese from the kitchen, Azi ate a quick breakfast before exiting the house. He met Kajima outside as he was chopping wood that would be made used in the house for the kitchen and bath.
Kajima noticed Azi's early departure and asked.
"No morning training today?"
"Not today, I plan to rest and gather the last of what I need for Shizu's weapon today. I'll be heading into the village for a while so I will be back before dark. Can you let Shizu know? Also a guard will come by to pick up his spear, mind giving it to him?
"Sure thing boy, just be sure to come back before dark or else you'll miss dinner. And you better not miss it because tonight I got that dessert you like coming in." Kajima gave Azi a knowing smile and excited light in Azi's eyes began to glimmer as a small amount of drool began to form from his lips.
The dessert Kajima was referring to was one of the first foods Azi had eaten when he began living with Kajima. It had the bittersweet taste of dark chocolate and was considered a luxury item in Shisayama.
Azi had only been able to eat it one or two times the past weeks, so hearing that he could enjoy it again made him take a serious mental note to come back on time.
Kajima chuckled at Azi's reaction and he shooed him off to get him to get going.
Both said a brief farewell to each other and went on their way with their own business.
Azi's first stop was to Ben and Bail's shop. He needed to show off the new metal he created and finalize the details of his personal project with them.
After a month of living in Shisayama, he had become proficient at navigating its roads and quickly made his way to the pair's shops.
Azi called out as he moved away the curtain that blocked the entrance of the shop.
"BEN, BAIL, YOU HERE?!"
"YEAH!!, WE IN THE BACK AZI." Said a voice coming from behind the front counter.
"ALRIGHT I'M COMING IN!"
Making his way behind the counter, Azi opened the door located behind the counter and stepped inside Ben and Bail's work area.
The backroom was enormous as multiple kilns, anvils, and forges were spread across the large room. There was enough equipment here for 5 blacksmiths to operate in comfort which is what occurred here as Ben's apprentices used this backroom as their workshop.
Bail had agreed in the past to allow Ben's apprentices to make weapons for his shop, so he created a workshop for them in his weapon's shop to make the process of creating and selling easier.
Ben still had his own personal workshop in his own store but he spent most of his time teaching his apprentices since he planned to retire in a couple years.
Today the workshop in Bail's shop was somewhat empty as the apprentices had the day off. The room was only occupied by the three of them.
Pulling up a few chairs and a table, they all sat around the table and began to talk about their mutual project.
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(Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate)
(Comment which is better?)