“Hey, Tafel’s back!”

Tafel flinched and furrowed her brow. All she had done was push open the door to the smithy, and the person at the counter shouted loud enough for all the smiths to hear, even those located in the far back of the workshop.

“Welcome back, Tafel,” a smith said. “I’ve brought plenty of unrefined ores with me for you to use as practice today.” A large grin appeared on the man’s face. “In fact, we all did!” The smith laughed and turned his attention back onto his forge. “When I finish my work, I’ll be right over.”

“Alright,” Tafel said and went up to the person at the counter. “Is Pan here?”

“Pan?” the man asked. “Yeah, he’s in the back. Before you go, can I ask you something?”

Tafel raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Were you on the fifth floor today by any chance?”

“Oh, yeah,” Tafel said. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her voice. “The dragon who beat the lords is my husband.”

“What? You’re married to a dragon?” someone asked as they walked over. “But aren’t you a phoenix? I was under the impression dragons and phoenixes got along like cats and dogs.”

Kim Hajun sniffed in hard, the sound akin to a small cough.

Tafel blinked before asking the approaching blacksmith, “Pan?”

“You remembered my name,” Pan said. “I’m surprised.”

Tafel cleared her throat and shifted her gaze to the side. If it weren’t for Kim Hajun’s signal, how would she have known who Pan was? “This is my acquaintance, Kim Hajun,” the demon said and gestured towards the well-dressed man behind her near the entrance of the smithy. “He’s a huge fan of yours.”

Pan squinted at Kim Hajun. “You look familiar,” the blacksmith said.

“It must be your imagination,” Kim Hajun said and bowed his head. He did ask Tafel to introduce him, but what kind of introduction was that? An acquaintance? A huge fan? Was the demon messing with him because she didn’t like the card he had given her? Kim Hajun glanced at Tafel, and the demon gave him a thumbs-up and a grin as if she was proud of herself. Well, since the introduction was done, he had to make the most of it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Pan. I heard you’re the best connoisseur of beer around.”

Pan raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s true,” the blacksmith said and nodded. “If you stop by my place after work, I’ll show you my collection.”

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“That sounds great,” Kim Hajun said to Pan before turning towards Tafel. “Thanks for introducing me. I should get going now.”

Tafel blinked. “You’re leaving already?”

“Yes,” Kim Hajun said. “I don’t want to disturb the blacksmiths while they’re working.” He waved at Pan as he walked away and exited the store.

Tafel scratched her head as the door swung shut, closing before Kim Hajun’s figure was even out of view. She shrugged before turning towards the approaching blacksmiths. The other customers in the store whispered amongst themselves, but Tafel ignored them.

“Tafel,” Pan said as more blacksmiths gathered around him. “After you left yesterday, some of us got together and discussed some things. We came up with a few ways to help you train your flame control. They’ll be great for smithing too.”

“Perfect,” Tafel said. “I’m only going to stay for around an hour, so I hope that doesn’t ruin any of your plans.”

The blacksmiths exchanged glances with one another. Eventually, after a few exchanges, all of their eyes landed on Pan. Pan scratched his head and looked at Tafel. “An hour’s fine too,” the blacksmith said. “It’s your money after all.”

Tafel nodded. “Let’s get started then, shall we?”

“Let’s,” Pan said and turned around. He stiffened from the dozen glares sent his way from the other blacksmiths. He cleared his throat and turned back around to look at Tafel. “But I have just one question.”

“What?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pan made a strange expression. “Is that, uh, bat skeleton supposed to be there?”

Tafel reached up and touched the space above her head, her finger bumping into something pointy. Since it didn’t make a sound and was as light as air, she had forgotten the bat skeleton was still there. “Oh, yeah,” the demon said with a straight face. “It’s my chaperone.”

“I was concerned when I thought it was just a fashion statement, but now I’m even more concerned,” one of the blacksmiths whispered, his voice still loud enough for Tafel to hear.

A dark expression appeared on the demon’s face. Couldn’t Auntie have sent a ghost to monitor her instead?

***

Lindyss raised the finished sweater by its shoulders and spun it this way and that. After inspecting it, she nodded and stuffed the sweater into her pocket before placing her knitting supplies inside as well. The cursed elf climbed to her feet and walked over to Vur before knocking on one of his scales. “Hello. Is there anyone home?”

In response, Vur let out a little snort in his sleep. The blue runes on his back lit up, and a blue boulder formed on the ground by Lindyss’ feet. Mistle looked up at Lindyss with her sapphire eyes. “Were you looking for one of us?”

“That’s right,” Lindyss said. “I need you four elementals to help me. It won’t be strenuous work or anything; in fact, I think you’ll find it fun.”

Three more boulders, one red, one green, and one brown, appeared on the ground by Mistle. The elementals stared up at Lindyss. “What are we going to do?”

“The Light Lord and Wind Lord went to get the rest of the lords’ information,” Lindyss said. “But they’ll probably bring back the lords themselves, and when that happens, I, with the help of all of you, am going to intimidate them.”

“But why?” Sheryl asked. “Didn’t Vur beat them enough?”

“Vur only hurt them physically,” Lindyss said, “but that’s beside the point. We’re not just representing ourselves, but all of Erde—what we do here will affect how the residents of the tower treat the people of Erde who come in the future. I have to show the lords who’s the boss.”