After everyone had stopped laughing and bantering, Azi was taken inside Kajima's house to get a medical checkup from Elder Sung and Saki. Rulu decided to do some housework as she did not have time to go shopping as she had enjoyed Nosuri's story for too long.
Kajima went to his workshop to do his blacksmith work while Nosuri and Ougi decided to train until it was dinner.
Inside Azi's and Shizu's shared room, Azi sat on the futon and was being examined by Elder Sung. She examined to see if there were any abnormalities in his physical body as his stunt in the forge had likely taken its toll on him.
Elder Sung saw that Azi's body did have a few new scratches and faded scars and burns which prompted her to ask.
"Didn't I give you enough ointment and creams for your little project on Shizu's weapon?"
Azi embarrassingly explained that he had gone through the entire supply of ointments and creams that he had brought from Elder Sung which got an exasperated sigh out of her. A quantity of 1000 Minos worth of ointment and creams was no small matter as it could have treated 8-10 men who had serious burns or cuts.
For Azi to have used so much in only 1 week went to show how far Azi was injured, but Elder Sung was impressed by the boy's grit. She asked about the results which Azi proudly stated that he was successful but told her that he was now banned from training or blacksmithing for a month by Kajima.
Elder Sung and Saki laughed a bit and told him that he deserved his punishment as they said they would have done the same when scolding a reckless child like him. This prompted Azi to retort about his actual age but the two brushed off his rebuttal.
Kajima, the day prior, had also informed Elder Sung and Saki about Azi's stunt during the expedition which made them slightly worry for the boy's health. They worried that he had taken lasting wounds or that his body was adversely affected from his project and the fighting. So, as a friend and a proud apothecary, she wanted to ensure that he was alright.
To her surprise, Azi's body had no lasting wounds and there was nothing adversely abnormal about his body. Azi was incredibly hearty which Elder Sung believed to be caused by his magic energy capacity that he used to fortify himself.
She was told of Azi's abilities by Kajima and warned Azi to be more careful in the future as no one was truly invincible even with magic or medicine.
Azi nodded in agreement as he began thinking of what he could create to act as armor or as a shield that didn't rely on the fortifying spell. Azi could use the spell with ease but every time he took a hit the drain it would have on his magic energy was high as the amount of energy drained was in relation to how hard he was hit.
Due to how strong regular monsters like gengiri and beowolves were, Azi would have no problem in taking on a large number of them. But if he were to take on numerous Kengiri, Azi's fortifying spell would drain him of his magic energy if he got hit too many times.
Breaking him out of his thoughts was Elder Sung who asked him.
"Also. I need to congratulate you."
"About what?"
"Your project with Ben and Bail seems to be going well. I don't have all the details, but you can expect a lot of good fortune in the future."
When Azi heard Elder Sung mention Ben and Bail, Azi realized that they might have completed their testing of the blood steel. He wondered about what he and the two brothers would talk about the next time they met. He didn't expect much as he tried to humble his optimism when it came to his work.
"I expect that Shizu will likely be informed by the end of today so expect for more of the story from her. Anyway, I'm finished with my examination. You look fine but be sure to call on us if you feel strange."
Azi nodded in understanding and gave his thanks to Elder Sung and Saki. Before the two apothecaries left his room, Saki turned and gave a cheeky smile as she said.
"Make sure you do your best in bed and I hope you and Shizu have a good life together."
This prompted Azi to throw a nearby pillow at her but unsuccessfully made its mark as Saki had closed the door behind her in a quick manner. Azi was left in his room with a red face as he left to think about his recent lewd acts on Shizu's body.
Meanwhile, as Saki and Elder Sung walked their way back into the village, Elder Sung started up a conversation.
"You truly are my apprentice."
"I learn from the best, but I'm surprised that you didn't tease Azi as much today. You could have made his face redder by talking more about the matter with Ben and Bail."
Elder Sung explained that it would be better if Azi learned about it from Ben and Bail, she felt that she would wait for a more opportune time to prank the boy. She also wanted to lay off on the pranks for a while so that she could strike when Azi's guard was down.
This was why Elder Sung had Saki take the lead in the beginning so that Azi's attention would be focused on her.
This made Saki's jaw drop as she was in awe of how sneaky her teacher was when it came to messing with other people. Saki attempted to probe Elder Sung on what she intended to do next, but the old woman kept her silence.
While they were bantering, Azi and Shizu, who were in separate places at the time, both sneezed at the same time. Both were unaware of the machinations of their common elderly friend who was key to instigating their relationship with her antics.
*****
Wiping her nose with the proffered handkerchief from her brother Yashimu, Shizu returned it and thanked him. She then continued to work at the mountain of paperwork in the office at Manu's house. Shizu had to deal with not only her duties from Kujyuri and Shisayama, but now had to handle Manu's portion of work which was somewhat draining on her psyche.
Yashimu did his best to help, but all the documents needed to be directly signed by Shizu as Yashimu did not have the authority to approve village documents.
Documents related to the village's taxes, imports, exports, trade agreement with neighboring villages, and village watch reports all had to be read and signed before they could be approved, put into action, or officially recorded into the village library. Az Shizu sighed in exhaustion. Her attention was drawn to a packet of papers that had Azi's name on its title.
Manu had titled it as "Azi's Business Proposition" and it was authored by Ben and Bail. Thoroughly intrigued by what Azi was up to, she read through the packet of papers.
Shizu grinned in anticipation and excitement as she closed the packet. The "Business Proposition" had many pros and very few cons as it would help with the current lack of weapons in the village's stockpile.
With a stroke of her feather quill, Shizu signed her name along with Manu's signature in approval of the proposition offered by Ben and Bail. While her signature did little to affect the already established outcome, it did allow her to be officially involved in the matter which made it possible to use her silver seal.
Yashimu noticed the grin Shizu had and asked.
"Sister? What are you grinning about now?"
"Oh, just an interesting development. Nothing to worry about, but I can expect a solution to our supply issue with weapons in the coming month."
Shizu continued and explained what she had discovered which made Yashimu excited for the future. While the nation of Kujyuri lacked manpower, it began lacking proper weaponry as the nobles in the court were not willing to invest their wealth into the nation's military.
They opted for the procurement of mercenaries which was worrying as it meant that many of the noble families preferred to have private force.
On a different note, Shizu and Yashimu agreed to not tell Azi ahead of time but to rather keep it as a surprise for him as they knew it wasn't right for him to hear it from their mouths.
Seeing that the sun was setting, the pair decided to head home early as they did not want to leave Rulu alone for long. Even though they had Nosuri and Ougi to act as guards for Rulu, they still played the role of the doting brother and sister to their little sister.
*****
While Shizu and Yashimu were on the way back from their office, Rulu was preparing today's dinner while Kajima was working on his commissions. Nosuri and Ougi had finished their training and were taking a shower in the bath. Azi was in the living room as he sketched a few rough drafts of some new equipment he wanted to make.
He wanted to do a bit of work to take his mind off of Saki's antics so he was drafting a few ideas he wanted to test after his month's rest.
He thought about how he could enhance his arms and legs with some armor made of blood steel and was sketching some designs that varied in shape and size. Some drawings had thick plates of metal that would provide more magic energy capacity and protection but would be heavy and make his movements have too much momentum.
Others were thinner but had a few simple runes on them to allow for the ease of casting fire magic. They would provide less protection but would keep him agile.
"Oh! Quite the artist."
Behind him came Ougi who had approached him with silent footsteps. Azi was somewhat startled by Ougi's sudden interjection but when Ougi apologized for his sudden words, Azi had calmed down a bit. Azi wondered how Ougi was able to move so silently and realized that he also made almost no sound when they were walking outside in the snowy ground.
"If you don't mind me asking but do you not use any weapons?"
Broken from his thinking by Ougi's question, Azi explained his unorthodox style of fighting which involved the use of his fist and fortification magic. This made Ougi smile in interest as he suggested that they should spar sometime in the future. Azi agreed as he wanted to see how his style of fighting would fare against skilled mercenaries.
They continued to talk about the sketches that Azi had drawn up and Ougi added his battle sense as a mercenary. Nosuri eventually joined in the conversation and gave Azi a possible idea for a long-range weapon he could potentially use. As a skilled archer, Nosuri felt that ranged combat was superior as it allowed for the element of surprise and ease of retreat or repositioning.
After a couple hours, it was already sundown, and everyone had arrived home. The remaining men and women who didn't clean themselves up yet decided to bath in groups divided by gender which made Shizu pout a bit as she wanted to "play" with Azi a bit more today but was denied by Kajima as he stated that she had had enough "fun" for the past 2 days.
After bathing and eating a hearty dinner of stew and a new dish of stir-fried meat with assorted vegetables, everyone went to their respective rooms to get ready for bed.
Kajima warned Azi and Shizu to not do anything weird to each other as the others needed to get some sleep. Both of them nodded in understanding with light blushes, but the two still cuddled a bit. It was much less intimate than their usual nights as they were somewhat self-aware of their neighbors in the other rooms.