I entered the Smithy and began, "Hello, Mr. Owen. Is Ember her--" Before I could finish my sentence, a huge fist came straight at me.
I narrowly managed to dodge it, and as I turned back, I saw the wall was cracked, resembling a spider web. Then, I faced the source of the fist, which turned out to be the old man, Owen.
"What the hell are you doing, you old fool?" I asked him, my anger evident.
"That's what I wanted to ask you, what did you do to my daughter?" he shouted, his anger evident.
"Daughter? Which one? And I haven't done anything to either of them," I replied.
"You liar! Then why has Ember locked herself in her room and cried all day while saying your name?" He was fuming, and he raised his fist again. I prepared to counter him myself.
"All right old man it's time for Combat", I told him, and both of us charged at each other.
"Both of you, that's enough," a voice interrupted us. I turned to see Flare, the mother of both Ember and Cinder.
"But because of this... bastard, our little girl is-" Owen began to protest, but Flare cut him off.
"That's enough, Mr. Doyama. Why don't you tell us what happened between you two?" Flare asked me. She was smiling, but her underlying anger was clear.
"All right, I will tell you everything that happened yesterday," I began, recounting the events from my encounter with Guild Master Cinder, my promotion to Iron rank, my plan to leave town, Ember's sudden departure upon hearing that, and Cinder's instructions for today.
We were all seated on a couch in the smithy, and Owen and Flare listened attentively.
Then the old man Owen suddenly started talking, "Hmm... I see that's what happened. So you were planning to leave this town, and Ember heard it and ran away? Hmm... Just stay here. I will go and have a word with Cinder about this. If you try to escape, I will find you and beat the hell out of you. I don't care if you're a hero or something else," he told me with a furious expression.
"Why don't you trust me?" I asked him curiously.
"No, I don't," he replied with a straight face. Then, he turned to Flare and said, "Dear, keep an eye on him until I return". He said that and left the Smithy.
*sighs*
I sighed in frustration and asked Flare, "Ma'am, I swear I didn't do anything wrong. Are you telling me to just sit here and do nothing until Old Man Owen returns?"
"Hmm… If you want, you can take a look around the Smithy, but I'll be watching you, so don't even think about running away," she warned me.
*sighs*
I sighed once again and replied, "Fine, that's a lot better than doing nothing."
I explored the Smithy, examining various items. Although I didn't need anything at the moment, just being in a fantasy world's smithy filled me with joy. As I wandered around, something caught my eye—a pocket watch. It was simple, yet for some reason, it intrigued me.
The pocket watch had a brownish metallic color reminiscent of bronze or copper. It dangled from a long chain and featured an hourglass symbol on its front.
Curious, I decided to test if it was still functional despite its aged appearance. It seemed to work, though it was covered in a layer of dust. I couldn't help but wonder why a smithy would have a pocket watch in the first place. Should I use my appraisal skill on it? After a brief moment of consideration, I decided to go for it.
"Appraisal."
The familiar blue screen once again materialized, displaying some text.
*Lucid*
'Where Dream becomes a Reality and Reality becomes a Dream'.
This pocket watch is not from this world, once wielded by a person forced to participate in a deadly competition. As for the fate of the previous user? No one knows what really happened to them.
This pocket watch is enchanted with a unique spell that allows it to run indefinitely until it is destroyed. However, destroying it is no easy feat because it's created from a mysterious metal of an unknown origin, making the pocket watch as strong as a diamond.
It is said that this watch has the ability to control the sands of time, but no one knows if it's true or just a story.
What in the world is this? Is this smithy some kind of treasure trove for artifacts like these? First, there was Bloody Axe Rex, and now this? "Lucid" seems like an unusual name for a pocket watch, and that description – 'Where Dream becomes a Reality and Reality becomes a Dream' – I mean, seriously, what the hell does that even mean?
As I pondered this, the door to the smithy swung open, and old man Owen entered. I approached him and asked, "So, what happened?"
*sighs*
He sighed and said, "Everything you said was true, and we're sorry for doubting you." He apologized and continued, "But to think you really became an Iron-ranked adventurer in just a few days? I've never heard of anything like that."
"Haa... speaking of adventurers, it brings back so many memories." Old man Owen reminisced about the past.
"Wait, you were an adventurer?" I asked him, feeling a mix of surprise and curiosity.
"Yes, I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow to the kn—" Old man Owen was in the midst of explaining when Flare suddenly interrupted him.
"Alright, that's enough, Honey. We all know you injured your leg badly, and because of that, you stopped being an adventurer and decided to continue your family business," Flare said, looking a little tired.
"What choice did I have, the only other option was to become a city guard," Owen replied.
"We know, so does everyone else. You keep saying that to every single person you've seen for the past twelve years," Flare remarked with clear exhaustion in her voice and continued.
"But as you say, talking about adventurers sure does bring back some memories," she said with a gentle smile.
"What? You were an adventurer as well?" This time, I was genuinely surprised.
"Fu fu fu… I don't want to brag or anything, but both my husband and I used to be a very famous duo around these parts. They called us the Emberguards because my husband acted as a Tank while I attacked the enemies with my red magic. Our nicknames were Firebranded Owen and the Fire witch Flareena," she reminisced about the past while looking self-satisfied.
I looked at old man Owen and asked, "Your nickname is your family name? Who came up with that?"
"Well, people in this world aren't very creative," he told me with a shrug.
Then Flare continued to talk, "We shouldn't have told our children about our adventures because of that, Cinder also became an adventurer and even became a Guild Master. I'm happy for her, but the life of an adventurer is a dangerous one. I just want Cinder to settle down and get married. I want to see my grandchildren."
*sighs*
She sighed and continued, "Instead, she became the Flame Witch Cinderella, the Guild Master of Random Town."
Really, they call the mother Fire Witch, and now they call the daughter Flame Witch? I guess people in this world really aren't creative. While I was thinking about this, Flare started to talk again.
"Anyway, Honey, I think we both jumped to a conclusion and needlessly blamed Mr. Hero," Flare said to old man Owen.
"Yeah yeah, I am really sorry about that. It's just that seeing our little girl like this made us very angry and act without any evidence. This is not compensation for that, but think of this as an apology. You can choose anything you want from the Smithy," old man Owen told me with a sincere apologetic face.
"Well, then I choose this," I showed the Pocket Watch Lucid to the old man. He looked at it up and down sizing it up and asked me.
"This old thing? Are you sure about this? I don't even know if it still works or not?" he asked me to confirm my choice.
"Yes, I am sure," I told him with a firm resolve.
*sighs*
He sighed and said, "Fine, if that's what you want, you can take it. Just give it to me, and I will clean it and polish it for you."
He took the pocket watch with him, and Flare started a conversation with me, "So, did you originally come here to talk with Ember?"
I looked at her and said, "Yes, I wanted to have a word with her before I leave Random Town."
"Fu fu fu… I see. Then wait here; I will go and call Ember," Flare said with a sly grin.
After a few minutes, Flare returned with Ember by her side.