"Just how long are you planning to wipe that thing?"

Alsen asked Fable, who was maintaining his Railcannon Blade, or rather, its oversized 'sheath'.

"Hey! For your information, this 'thing' has an extensive and tough sheath for a reason," replied the boy, in a tone implying that he was slightly offended, "These mechanisms are a lot more delicate than they look."

"Right."

Alsen sighed as he ate the soup that the boy had made for him. Although he claimed that his cooking was rather basic and couldn't compare to that of his mothers, Fable was rather good at it.

Although Alsen's mother had offered to let the two stay at her villa, since he was acting as Fable's guardian, the last thing they needed were rumors of prime minister Flamehart playing favorites.

Fortunately, Alsen had managed to find a two-bedroom apartment in Complesi's residential sector. Thanks to his high ranking job, he had more than enough money to rent it.

"I appreciate you giving me my own room. The last thing I would've wanted was to sleep next to a man in his forties."

"Thirties," Alsen begrudgingly corrected, "And... you're welcome. Morg-" He stopped and cleared his throat, "Amethyst made sure to remind me that you're a teenager, all things considered. Just keep... whatever business you do in there in moderation."

The boy looked at him with narrowed eyes, "I don't wanna hear that from a middle-aged virgin."

Alsen dropped his spoon in shock.

"Hey! Keep my personal life out of this! Also, who told you that?"

"Amy."

Alsen groaned as he facepalmed, "Of course she did."

Fable glanced at Alsen for a moment, "Hey... Can I ask you something personal?"

Alsen sighed, "What is it?"

The boy paused for a second, "Was Amy really the only one you were ever interested in? Surely, there's gotta be someone who's at least caught your eye."

Alsen was surprised by the boy's question, although perhaps he shouldn't be. Being in the military meant a lot of travel, so it usually wasn't rare for soldiers to come across someone they fancied and even spending a night with them.

"I did meet a woman or two early in my career," Alsen replied after a bit of contemplating, "It just never worked out."

"How come?"

Alsen grinned, "They weren't her."

The boy smiled back as he finished maintaining his weapon, "I see."

Fable mechanically closed his sheath and put his sword back inside it before keeping it in a corner of his bedroom. He then washed his hands and sat down for dinner.

"By the way," Alsen started, "You've been coming home late for the past few days. Found part-time work already?"

"Yeah, I've been some adventuring jobs here and there," the boy replied as he ate the bread he dipped into his soup.

"What? But you're not registered in the local guild," Alsen gasped as he considered the other possibilities, "Don't tell me you've been freelancing!"

"Hmm? Well, yeah," Fable voiced was muffled by the food in his mouth, "I give some money in advance for emergency compensation, then-"

"Fable!" Alsen slammed the table, "It doesn't matter how you conduct yourself! Freelance adventuring is ILLEGAL. FULL. STOP."

Fable nearly chocked his food in surprise, before forcing himself to swallow it, "But... Is it really that big of a deal? It's not like I'm doing anything wrong-"

"Fable... Listen to me," Alsen walked up to the boy and held his shoulders, "This isn't Blackbrick. The academy is teeming with VIPs, so they have to take the law seriously here! If you get caught, the worst that could happen to you is being imprisoned for life. Or worse, getting marked!" He pointed to the side of his neck, "If that happens, even I won't be able to help you out of that mess! You really wanna have your mothers hearing about something like that?"

Fable looked down at his soup, carefully reflecting on Alsen's words, before his expression turned to one of regret, "You're right... I'm sorry."

Alsen sighed in relief as he sat back on his chair, "Good... as long as you understand."

Alsen relaxed for a few moments before realizing that Fable was uncharacteristically silent.

Crap! Did I overdo it? Maybe I should change the subject...

The general internally racked his brain to find something to discuss... Anything to lighten the mood... That was when his eyes fell upon the boy's weapon.

He cleared his throat, "By the way, are you, by any chance, looking for a blacksmith to tweak your blade?"

"Huh? Oh... yeah. I still need to do something about the overheating problem."

"I see," Alsen held his chin in thought for a moment, "In that case, I recommend you take Greenwich with you. He's gonna need to find a new weapon for himself. Preferably, something custom-made for him."

Fable gasped, returning to his usual cheerful self, "I'm gonna hang out with Fred?"

"I... guess that's one way to look at it?"

Fable stood up from his chair, suddenly excited.

"Alright! We're gonna find him that weapon and upgrade my blade in no time!"

They wouldn't find it.

----------------------------------------

"We found jack."

Fable and Frederick had their faces slumped on the table from the exhaustion of running around town all day.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As it turned out, finding the right blacksmith was not as easy as the boys expected it to be, and it was made even more clear to Fable as he searched for the better half of the week. His Railcannon Blade was far too unconventional, far too different and complex, that all the blacksmiths he had talked to in the business sector had declined his requests to upgrade it, either because it was beyond their area of expertise, because they didn't want to risk breaking it, or because they just saw the sheath's admittedly haphazard design as an abomination.

On the other hand, Frederick did not have much luck, either. His family's reputation turned out to be far worse than he initially realized. The blacksmiths had refused to even hear him out simply because he was a Greenwich; They either thought him a wimp or a phony after his duel with his brother, or they hated his father.

"I know I lost to my brother but... Isn't this a little too cruel?" Frederick groaned.

"Man... I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Fred, but... Your family sounds pretty messed up."

Frederick groaned again. After what they just went through, he couldn't deny it anymore. Just what did his father and brother do to get all this animosity from people?

"Don't let something like that put ya down, you two. I'd say... Struggling to find something for yourself makes it all the more valuable."

The two boys saw a pair of hands placing two trays of food on their table. They looked up to their side to see a young girl who appeared to be slightly older than them, with green eyes that matched her long ponytailed orange hair.

"At least... that's what I read in a book so... don't quote me on that," the girl said as she covered one of her reddened cheeks with her hand.

The two boys looked at her for a moment, before Fable smiled and pulled his food tray towards him, "Well, from personal experience... I'd say it's true. Thanks, Sarah."

Sarah Tabeso helped run her mother's restaurant, House Tabeso, which Fable and Frederick first ran into in an attempt to get away from Alsen after the combat tests, though they ended up getting caught anyway.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw a noble being princess-carried by another boy," Sarah recollected, turning slightly red again.

"Please forget you saw that!" Frederick grimaced.

"I dunno, Fred. That's not exactly something I would forget," mumbled Fable as he chewed his food, "Though... it was nice of Al to pay for our meal that time."

"Speaking of meals..." Frederick watched as Sarah brought another large tray of food and placed on Fable's side of the table, "Are you sure you can finish all that?"

"I digest food pretty fast. Don't worry about it."

"Uh... Okay?"

The boys ate their food in silence, before Fable broke it with a serious look on his face as he sighed, "If I don't find someone who can maintain my blade, it'll eventually tear itself apart. I can't afford that."

Frederick and Sarah looked at Fable, unsure of what to say. He seemed rather attached to his weapon.

"Have ya tried the Metkins' shop yet?"

The group was approached by Sarah's mother, who resembled her daughter, apart from being on the chubbier side.

"The Metkins? No, we... haven't heard of them," Frederick replied.

"Well, ya might just be in luck! Aron there's pretty good with a hammer, and he's got a good eye for tools. I'm sure he'll whip up your weapons just fine, as long as you've got the patience to wait."

"How come we haven't heard of him until now?"

"Well... He got fired from Prismatech a few months ago."

Wait... what?

Frederick was surprised to hear that name, but he was even more surprised to see Fable wearing an expression that he... couldn't quite read, at the mention of Prismatech.

"Anyways, his workshop's a few streets away from the western edge of the business sector. Just tell 'im Ma Tabeso sent ya boys, he'll take ya in right away."

"Thank you," Frederick smiled, before remembering something, "Come to think of it, don't we have class in... two hours?"

As the two boys realized this, Fable quickly devoured the rest of his food like a wolf, while Frederick paid. They then thanked Ma Tabeso for the food as they stormed out of the restaurant.

Sarah giggled, "Those two sure are pretty lively. I hope they come again soon."

----------------------------------------

"Is... this... the place?" Fable panted.

"I... really... hope it is..." Frederick panted back, "Or we've been running for nothing."

Following an excruciating twenty minutes of running around town and asking for directions, the boys finally found themselves in front of a large workshop.

Fable took some deep breaths as he stretched his arms, "Alright, we gotta make a good first impression. You ready, Fred?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I think so."

Fable took one more deep breath and put up his fist to prepare for a knock, "Okay... here goes..."

Three knocks at the door. The boy took a few steps back, waiting for a response.

Nothing.

The two boys looked at each other for a moment, before Fable knocked again, this time with stronger thumps.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on! I'm coming!"

A feminine voice came out from inside the workshop. The door opened to reveal a girl around their age and just above Fable's height, with long and messy black hair tied into a large braid.

"Didn't you read the sign?" The girl asked, "We're on break right now... Come back later-"

Before the girl finished her sentence, her eyes landed on Frederick, and her face turned to one of enmity. Frederick felt a chill going up his spine.

Sensing the situation, Fable quickly stepped up to alleviate...

"Ma Tabeso sent us here. She said someone named Aron can work on all sorts of weapons and tools."

"Well, you can go look somewhere else, 'cus we're not serving to narcissistic scumbags," the girl responded, still glaring at Frederick.

Now getting annoyed, Fable stepped into her line of sight, with an unwavering poker face, surprising her.

"Excuse me, miss. I understand that you may have some circumstances I'm not enlightened to, but we've been looking for a smith for quite a while now. Also, I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult my friend like that."

Frederick started to panic, worried that this would escalate into an unnecessary fight.

"W-woah, Fable... I-it's okay. You don't have to defend me-"

"Well then, maybe you should get better friends, 'cus this guy- ow ow ow! Pops, stop that!"

The girl was interrupted by a hand pinching her ear. The hand belonged to a muscular man taller than all of the children, with hair that matched the girl's.

"The most basic rule of running any business: PUT. YOUR CUSTOMERS. FIRST!" The man yelled at the girl, "You don't just turn away potential clients like that!"

The girl pried herself off the man's grasp, "But pops! That's one of the Greenwich brats! They're the reason you got-"

"How many times do I have to tell you this? I didn't get fired from Prismatech, I quit."

"I don't believe that for a second!"

"Then that's a you problem. More importantly, Aria, these two came all the way here to find us. Hearing them out is he least we owe them. We'll decide what to do with them later, you hear me?"

The girl named Aria hesitated, before shooting one last glare at Frederick and entering back into the workshop while mumbling to herself.

The man sighed, "Sorry about my daughter. She thinks way too highly of me."

Fable's poker face was replaced by his usual friendly smile, "I take it you're Mr. Metkins, then?"

"Just call me Aron. I've had enough of formalities after Prismatech. Come on in."

Aron gestured towards the door. However, he noticed Frederick being hesitant to accept the invitation.

"Don't let what Aria said bother you, kid," reassured Aron with a soft smile, "I don't care if you're a Greenwich, or whatever. If you're here to do business, then my doors are open to you."

As Aron walked in, Fable turned to the boy with a wide grin, "Well? What're you waiting for, Fred? Let's go!"

Fred looked at Fable for a moment, before returning the smile.

"Yeah. I'm coming."