"Do we have to take her?" Currently, we're in Merida's room. We're going back to the usual routine, which is lovely. I love meeting new Sacred Power holders. They all have nice eyes. Nice colours, great stares, except for the guy from yesterday. Those insane eyes were not pretty. Definitely not licking material.

"An eye fetish, interesting. I forgot to ask about sexual preferences, and although I could infer it from your current target of affection, I believe inquiring about it would be more polite." Mila is currently sitting on my lap, a notebook in hand, listening closely to whatever I say. She might even be able to read my thoughts. I see some things in that notebook that I only ever think about.

"I've said it before. You say your thoughts out loud, Madeleine."

"Well, I don't believe you, Mel."

"Why don't you?"

"Sometimes, I just don't feel like believing some things people say."

"Wow… how convenient." She rolled her eyes and then looked at Merida. "Do we have to take the twerp, or are we leaving her here?"

"I wish to observe all aspects of Madeleine's life, including your escapades. If I can gander a guess, it involves you two incapacitating a Sacred Power holder and then letting Madeleine use her Sacred Power on them. Is that correct?"

"That is indeed correct, Mila. As for your inquiry, Melanie, yes. You will indeed be taking the young prodigy."

"Great… just wonderful."

"I see that look in your eye, Melanie. Do not worry. Sending her with you because I anticipate it to be entertaining is a small reason."

"Still a reason."

"A tiny one. The more important reason is that you will need her name to meet the Sacred Power holder I will be sending you to."

"Can't we use yours or Merry's? Hell, I reckon we could use Madeleine if we say she's a servant of the Demon Empress."

"We can't use mine or Merry's, we're wanted criminals in some countries, and the man I will be sending you will only accept orders from nobles. He will only allow commoners within his premises if they're in a noble's company, but never criminals."

"Ah, the Blacksmith King Satdrul?"

"Indeed."

"I can get us access to him."

"Wait, that guy? Ah fuck, I can't go then. Wulfric pissed him off and got the entire party banned from his mountain."

"So I will be alone with Madeleine? Exquisite!"

"I wonder… do blacksmiths like cake?" The three stopped their discussion and looked at me. "What? It's a genuine question."

"Man… is she really the centre of all this? What the fuck is wrong with this world, Merida?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I wouldn't dare tell even if I knew."

"Why not?"

"You'd ruin my entertainment."

"I fucking hate this." Mel got off her seat. "I need a sandwich." She walked out, going towards the kitchen.

"It is unfortunate that she could not come. I was hoping to learn more about her relationship with Madeleine."

"Get off my lap, Mila. We've got places to be and eyes to lick." She looked at me, a bit puzzled. "Sorry, I meant look."

"Understood!" And so we ran out of the room.

So we're at the mountain, about to enter the blacksmith's cave. Really great looking cave. It has the right balance between home convenience and naturalistic feel. I have no idea what I'm thinking. What did we do on the way here? Interrogation, obviously. Mila asked about my combat capabilities, which I could show off on nearby monsters. My magical ability, knife throwing skills, and whatever the shadow clones fall under. Hah! And my combat teacher thought I was incompetent… I think. I don't remember much from school, besides my great teamaking teacher.

"I would love to inquire about what you remember from your time at the Maid School, but we've reached Satdrul's room. I would like you to finish your task quickly, so I can go ba-" Suddenly, a bump appeared in the metal door, before the rock around it broke, and the door fell over, on top of it a dwarf. "Satdrul!" Mila quickly created a magic circle, healing the dwarf. Stabbed by a red hot sword mould. That sucks. "Madeleine, while I am treating Satdrul, please approach whoever did this."

"Aye aye, general! But first, the reason I'm here." I knelt down and looked into the dwarf's eyes.

I got up and stepped over the dwarf. Okay, this has gotten serious. Man, I sure have gotten into quite a lot of combat situations in the past few days. This shouldn't be too hard, though. I walked in, being greeted by a tremendous amount of heat, the smell of smelted metal and hard work's sweat filling my nose. Reminds me of Hamblin. I saw a single figure that was very familiar. I had seen her a few days before, but inside a room that wasn't mine, with shackles around her body and fluffy ears I'd love to touch.

"Yo, what up Madeleine. I'm here to destroy everything."

Character profile: Satdrul Smithking

Sacred power: Blacksmith

Favourite metal: Edginite, a unique metal only mined in Hamblin

Description: The king of all Blacksmiths. The founder of the Blacksmith Guild, he has since retired from the role of Guildmaster and now spends his days in his private mountain, creating custom weapons for any that brave his mountains. At least that's what it was at first, but after a decade of doing this, his weapon charity had left him nearly bankrupt, leading to him needing to change his way of choosing his customers. He decided to focus solely on nobles, who were guaranteed to have the funds for his immaculate work. His favourite cake is banana cake.

Chapter namesake: Lord of the Blacksmiths by Falconer