“And since when the fuck were you two friends?” I said, giving a pointed glare to Jiso, who was practically vibrating with manic energy. Beside him was a boy who was making it a point to stare at his feet, blushing in either embarrassment or attraction, I didn’t care to know.

  “Since yesterday!” Jiso chirped. “You’ve been all cooped up with your smithing, it’s been boring! I’ve had to entertain myself somehow, and Tren’s a very entertaining person once you get to know him.”

  I pinched my brow in supreme frustration. Was this how children tried to matchmake? It was almost as bad as the tip-toeing of university idiots back in my old life, though a different flavour of stupid. The migraine I was suffering from my mana usage was certainly helping in dealing with this infantile bullshit. “If this is your attempt to meddle with my love life, then firstly, fuck off.”

  Tren didn't flinch, to his credit, but he did sag a little. I felt bad, seeing an idiot child deflate so easily wasn’t exactly an enjoyable experience, but I needed to nip that shit in the bud whenever I could.

  “Secondly, I’m not interested in relationships, you know this.”

  Jiso looked at me in genuine confusion. “I call bull. I’ve seen you oogling the passing adventurers.”

  “The forbidden fruit.” I nodded. “Something I can only admire.”

  “So why not give the mason’s son a chance? C’mon, it won’t hurt anything to try.”

  I glared at Jiso, he didn't get it. Tren was a child, a literal child, not like me who was mentally in my thirties at this point. I didn’t see the awkward boy as anything but a baby. That wasn’t even the first occasion Jiso had pulled some stupid shit like this! Even his shrivelled up pea brain should’ve known to stop pushing me.

  “What’s with that face?” Jiso pouted. “Are you making fun of me in your head?”

  “Look at you, developing observational skills,” I said, dry as a desert.

  “Rude!”

  I snorted, and Jiso gave a mighty pout before a chuckle escaped his lips. He looked at Tren with an inscrutable expression, something like sympathy perhaps? But laced with a kind of determination I didn’t recognize. Then he sighed and leaned over to whisper into my ear.

  “Give him a chance, for me? He’s…not the best socially, and I think this’d be good for him.”

  I raised a brow at the consideration on display, but I was firm in my conviction. “Hey Tren,” I said, turning over to the boy who shrunk at my attention.

  “Y-yes?” he said.

  “I ain’t willing to court ya, but we can be friends if you like. Come hang with us sometime and shit, just don’t be weird.” Jiso flinched when I said that last part, but it was better to be direct.

  Tren blinked, and his eyes lit up for a moment. It was a subtle thing, and if it weren’t for the World speaking to me I might’ve missed the hint of hope in his gaze. “I can do that!” he nodded happily.

  “Sure,” I gave a skeptical brow. “Now git, I haven’t even done a thousand nails yet.”

  Jiso nodded, a little defeated. Probably because he didn’t fully get what he came here for, but there was an unmistakable confidence to his gait. The boy truly would never understand my vehemence against a love life. Maybe when I reached thirty. Tren followed along with a subtle skip to his step, and I rolled my eyes.

  Navigating this would be a pain in the ass, but if Jiso was concerned for this kid’s social life, then there was probably some merit to helping out a bit. I’d heard of Tren, obviously, and knew he was a bit of a recluse, but that was about it. My family didn’t really interact with the masons. It didn't help that they lived on the other side of the village.

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  I’d have to drop by and say hi sometime, conversation could be quite pleasant with artisans who were engrossed in their craft. Farmers too, but there were so many of those that I’d gotten tired of learning about crop rotations and animal rearing. Luckily I wasn’t born to a farmer's family, I had no interest in shovelling cow dung or tilling the field. Instead I got to make a shit ton of nails, yay.

  I was starting to get the hang of infusing my body with mana while working, making it so I didn’t need to take as many breaks to mend fatigue, but it wasn’t nearly as efficient so I still had to stop every now and again. I’d gotten just enough tolerance to where I could carefully start experimenting with increasing my strength in the blows, only one or two strikes per day considering how taxing it was in comparison to dealing with fatigue, but it was something that would help in a fight. I’d probably be doing plenty of that when I left the village.

  Which I’d need to do…eventually.

  I needed to learn how to fight monsters, and the best opportunities for that was either in the hunters or delvers guild, both of which were in the cities. But that was for adult me to worry about, once I’d gotten a solid foundation in magic, if I had that much time.

  The uncertainty was dreadful for my sanity, but I pushed it back with the wonders of monotonous exertion.

  I wiped the sweat off my brow as I was forced to take a proper break. I could feel the weakness and general sickness encroaching on my body as I kept up my mystical meddling with biology. I looked out to the world beyond the smithy and took in the rustic atmosphere of the village. Knowledge in my old world would have had me believe that all pre-industrial societies were filled with grime and uncleanliness.

  That wasn’t entirely wrong, they didn’t have the concept of a truly sterile environment, but it was wildly exaggerated. People may not have know the best practices to avoid a plague beyond superstition, but they did their best to keep themselves clean. Each day I grabbed water from the well to bathe myself with, and I spent a meticulous amount of time keeping my clothes laundered alongside a myriad of her fellows by the river.

  Well, recently that was my mothers job considering I had no time, but I still cleaned myself. There was a culture here that valued hygiene, even if the standards were lesser than my old world. To be fair, sugar wasn’t anywhere in their diet, at least not to the extremes I’d find in my old world, so teeth didn’t really need to be brushed as often.

  They still rot eventually, but not soon enough for it to matter. One of the things I'll need to learn with magic was how to keep my teeth pristine. Living forever with just my gums sounded like a pain in the ass (I should’ve asked my mother actually, now that I thought about it).

  And I would live forever.

  I sighed as I stared at my home, then went to turn back to the forge, but was interrupted by the wafting scent of bread. I turned to see a smiling Terra on the road to my left, carrying a basket filled to the brim with bread. My demon actually flinched at the bright expression on the girl's face, and it took a monumental effort not to snicker at that.

  Would’ve been too weird to explain.

  “Hello!” Terra chirped. “You look like crap!”

  I did snicker that time. “Hello to you, shrimp. Is that a delectable basket of pastries for little old me?”

  “Yup! Mom says you need something for all the work you’ve been doing, and she doesn’t like it when returning customers stop returning.”

  “Sounds like Rea,” I chuckled. “How much do I owe?”

  Terra gave a conspiratorial smile, like there was some grand secret that only she was privy to. That usually meant bad news, for anyone and everyone, but I…didn't really care. The girl raised her chin in some vain attempt to seem of a higher persuasion than her station. I rolled my eyes.

  “Well,” Terra said with a lethargic cadence, clearly trying for dramatics. “It’s free of coin, not a single piece is needed, or wanted.”

  I raised a brow. “That last part is bullshit, but I’m listening.”

  “Well,” she said again, with the same attempt at failed grandiosity. “I may have need of your services to make a simple trinket.”

  “And you’re not bringing this up with my dad because…?”

  “Well,” she said even slower this time, which was starting to get grating. “He wouldn’t do it for bread.”

  “What makes you think I would?”

  “You love bread!”

  “True enough,” I grumbled. “So what do you want? I need to see if it’ll fit in with my nail making spree.”

  “Well…” okay, that was starting to get stupid. “Do you know how to make bangles?”

  “Do I look like a jeweller?" I gave the girl a flat look.

  “Come on! My mom’s birthday is soon, all I want is for her to have something nice.”

  “Then why were you acting all suspicious at the start of the conversation?”

  “I’m not suspicious!”

  “You’re the most suspicious.” I nodded to myself.

  Terra scowled at me. “Can you do it or not?”

  I raised a brow at the girl, there was a hint of deception there but…well I wasn’t my mother, and couldn’t parse shit so easily. I shrugged. “I can certainly try.”

  “Great!”