"Welcome home, Nell."
My father was waiting for me in front of the door and greeted me as if I were just his subordinate. At least, his tight hug still seemed genuine. Returning to my home, even if only for a short while, was an incredible feeling. As I entered, my sister Nalan directly pounced on me. She genuinely seemed to have missed me.
My mother, on the other hand, had prepared a perfect breakfast with just one word. Everything imaginable was on the table. My favorite sour cherry jam, eggs with tomatoes and green peppers, cheese made from goat's milk, freshly squeezed orange juice, and delicious, fresh bread — it was almost a visual feast prepared right in front of me.
I felt happy that my family had prepared this breakfast table for me. I then told them about what I had experienced during the week.
Of course, I didn't mention anything about the cultists. If they heard about it, they would tell me to leave the Academy immediately and go somewhere else. The possibility of becoming their target was even scary.
After breakfast, I had the chance to see my father's stats.
Strength: D
Agility: E-
Intelligence: F+
Endurance: D-
Charisma: E-
Magic: F-
Since his couldn't use magic, his magic stats were set at the lowest level. Especially, his expertise in strength and endurance was noticeable. I knew that my father had somehow improved himself and that he would do his best again to protect us.
Therefore, I temporarily paused my development in the magic field. For now, I was planning to focus entirely on my physical stats.
Saturday had been quite calm. While helping my sister with her homework, I learned that she had praised me at her school. After all, receiving education at the Academy was a significant event. At first, her friends had mocked her, claiming she was lying. When I heard this, I wanted to teach those little brats a lesson but Nalan told me not to get involved, saying that everything was under her control. If she had some insight, she truly did. That's why I had to leave this matter for later but I made a mental note of it somewhere in my mind.
In short, it was a day where all these small and big events were sitting aside, waiting.
The next day, Sunday, I have to admit I was quite active. I woke up early, ate my breakfast and left with my bag. Today, I decided to go to the blacksmith where I used to work. Moreover, I wanted to quickly finish the two jobs I had in hand.
Master Marcus was very happy to see me again. Even if it was not obvious, he was used to having me around. Because of that, I thought his work pace had slowed down significantly. Instead of talking about work, we discussed what I had seen at the Academy. I particularly told him that I had seen some rare metals. The old man only knew these metals by name, so he didn't know what they looked like and explaining what they were and how they were used made him quite happy. No matter how old a person is, they become a bit childish when learning something new. I couldn't help but agree with these words I remembered hearing in my previous world.
Later, I asked Master Marcus if I could use the forge for a few hours. Of course, he said I could. Although it wasn't as large and filled with technological tools as the forge I saw at the Academy, I felt more comfortable here. After all, I had spent years as an apprentice here.
First, I started working on Iris's staff. Since the staff had a relatively simple design, I finished it within a few hours, and it was registered in my inventory as a "Regular Iron Staff".
Now that we got past the snack break, it was time for the main course.
I took out the alloy I prepared for Zui's sword from my inventory and headed to the forge to reheat it. Heating the steel and chrome alloy wasn't as easy as it seemed, and I felt the heat penetrating my body again. It took half an hour to warm it enough to shape. I stepped up to the anvil and turning on my machine that would serve as a hammer, I started shaping the metal.
Due to the shape required for the sword, I only used this machine for rough work. I had to shape the metal myself to achieve the necessary angles.
The process was quite difficult. Every time the metal started to cool down, I would throw it back into the furnace and when I placed it back on the anvil, I had to repeatedly adjust its thickness. Luckily, waiting for the metal to heat up again didn't take as long as it did the first time. Achieving the desired shape was really challenging. The process probably took several hours, and it was clear that I wouldn't be able to make this sword in a single day. I put it back into my inventory and drew out something else.
It was nothing more than the poison-filled bottles I found in Rona's room. Since I added all of them as a group to my inventory, the inventory simply labeled them as "Poisonous Vials".
Now, instead of viewing these bottles as a whole, I wanted to add them to my inventory one by one to at least get an idea about their names. I could use these poisons for Zui's sword. I just needed to decide how exactly I wanted to use them.
At least, my clever trick to learn their names had paid off, and I had noted a total of seven different poisons. I couldn't do anything more with their names besides writing them down because I had no other information about the poisons.
Thus, I concluded my work at the forge. Since the sky was beginning to darken, I headed straight home. After I arrived and took a nice shower, we all ate dinner together. My father had given me some pocket money because I was going to return to the Academy tomorrow. Even though it was only a few thousand kane, I reluctantly accepted my father's money.
After this moment, we continued to eat our food when my sister suddenly asked me if a nalia had died in the Academy. My parents immediately started looking at me.
Gossip truly can be dangerous.
I didn't want them to know about this but it seemed that if my sister had heard it somewhere, the effects were already beginning to show. I explained the situation to my family in a way that suggested they knew as much as everyone else, and I listened to them give me advice about being careful for several minutes. My father's tension was especially noticeable.
He didn't want a war to break out and to have to leave his family behind once again.
But I didn't think a war would start immediately. Since the cultists had hidden the issues of the Quintah Kingdom so well from other countries, they wouldn't want to reveal everything with a sudden war. Based on Emerra's explanations, I guessed that the ones in control of the superiority were the cultists. For example, she have told me them her half-siblings had died. On the other hand, the opposing side had not given up yet. Until they fully surrender, in other words, until everyone is slaughtered, we had to inform king III. Leon about what was happening in the country.
Thus, Sunday also passed, and I entered the area where the Academy was located once again. I had to continue my training until I learned about the cultists move from Emerra and I quickened my steps to stop by the dormitory before my lessons.
Meanwhile, I noticed some activity in the square of the region.