Lillia’s eyes went wide. They shot up from the knife buried within the oilcloth bundle and over to Arwin. Her lips parted in surprise as delight crossed over her features.
“You made me a knife?”
“I figured it could help free up some of your time if you’ve got something to back you up,” Arwin said with a slightly embarrassed shrug. “Just make sure you give it enough food so it doesn’t end up stabbing you when it gets hungry. It’s—”
“Cursed,” Lillia finished, not so much as missing a beat. She examined the blade with a twinkle in her eye. “Wow. This is beautiful. I’ve never something before. I mean, I’ve had swords, but… those were for killing. Not .”
Arwin blinked. “You can read it? The status is supposed to be hidden from everyone other than people with really strong identification skills. Is it because you own the knife now?”
A grin played across Lillia’s lips. “Oh. Oops. Sorry. It’s probably still meant to be hidden, but everything that enters my Hearth — the Devil’s Den, that is — is partially in my domain. As of a level-up I got pretty recently, I can make information on items that should be concealed. It doesn’t work on people yet, though.”
“Convenient,” Arwin said.
Lillia nodded. She re-wrapped the knife and carefully set the bundle on a table before stepping closer to Arwin and wrapping her arms around him.
“Thank you, Arwin. This was really thoughtful of you. I love it,” Lilla said, pressing the side of her head up against his. She paused for a moment, then pulled back slightly so they could see each other again. "But… uh, how do I feed a knife? The description says it needs to be fed."
“That would involve revealing we have the heart.”
“Probably not ideal. We’d have to make sure he’s actually the type of person that would stick invariably to his word. That is how Jessen was, so if they had some sort of relation, it could be possible.”
“It might not be the best plan, but it’s worth keeping in mind, at least until Rodrick finds something else we can use.” Lillia said looked at the cursed knife Arwin had made her again and gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “Until then, I don’t know if there’s a point fretting about it. We’d be better off using our time to grow as much as we can. I want to test this out and the rest of my dinner preparations are the perfect opportunity to do just that.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Arwin said. “Need help?”
“Already have it,” Lillia said with a grin. “Later, maybe. But today, I want to see just what this is capable of.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll look forward to it, then. I’m starving — and I think my magical energy is about to start consuming itself. I used a lot of power working today.” Arwin dismissed his shield with [Arsenal], not wanting someone to stumble into the inn while they spoke and spot it. “You better hide that knife as well. I want to get attention selling some more magical items, but I do not want people figuring out I can make Cursed things. Especially not Wallace. That would go poorly.”
Lillia covered the knife again and grimaced. “Good point. I’ll be careful. Nobody is allowed in the kitchen anyway, but maybe I should get a lock for the door. I’ll let Ridley know.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Until dinner, then. I’ll look forward to it.”
Lillia flashed Arwin a toothy grin. “I know.”
She slipped back into the kitchen and pulled the door shut behind her. Arwin chuckled and shook his head. He stretched his arms over his head and lowered himself into a chair to wait for dinner. His muscles were sore from working all day, so a break was more than welcome.
Dinner was as great as it always was.
The majority of the Menagerie gathered in the Devils Den as the evening bordered on the cusp of night. Everyone other than Rodrick arrived and took their seats by the counter, squeezing in as Lillia distributed a meal of stir-fried vegetables and meat.
Nobody had any idea what half the ingredients were. None of them asked. There was only a short pause before they ate as they tried to figure out where Rodrick was. Anna had assured everyone that he’d be showing up soon enough and that they had no need to wait for him — and with the smell of Lillia’s cooking luring them, nobody was difficult to convince.
Arwin didn’t get the feeling his knife had actually made any of Lillia’s cooking taste better, but judging by the satisfied grin and the small nod she gave him when he locked eyes with her, his gift had proved useful.
They were all halfway through finishing dinner when the door opened behind them. Arwin looked over his shoulder as Rodrick strode into the Devil’s Den. He wore a fine silk shirt and had a balled up bundle of cloth tucked under one arm.
Reya let out a series of muffled words through a mouthful of food. Olive elbowed her in the side and Reya swallowed before repeating, “What took you so long?”
“I was paying the Ardent Guild a visit,” Rodrick replied. “I’d planned to be back earlier, but I was unfortunately spotted. Had to lead a small troupe on a wild goose chase for a while. I lost them, though.”
“Has anyone ever told you it’s somewhat odd that you learned how to do so much just from reading a bunch of books?” Olive asked.
“Knowledge is power,” Madiv said.
“So are powerful items,” Esmerelda added. “Except you can’t buy knowledge. Now, if you wanted to buy something that gives you power, I could—”
“They weren’t normal books,” Rodrick replied primly, and his tone booked no opportunity to press with further questions. “What matters is that I’ve dug up a little information on Twelve.”
“Anything useful?” Lillia asked, heading into the kitchen and returning with another plate of food. She set it down on the counter and nodded to an empty chair.
Rodrick took the chair and gave Lillia an appreciative nod as she set his meal down before him.
“Everything is useful, but yes. Mostly just rumors right now, but it’s a lead that I can capitalize on tomorrow.” Rodrick picked his fork up and speared a piece of meat. “I listened in to Tironal — the Ardent’s Guildmaster — speaking to their spymaster. There was a guild mentioned that I believe Twelve came from. I’ve never heard of it, though.”
“What was it?” Reya asked. “Maybe I have. There are a lot of guilds in Milten, and I grew up here. I know most of them by name.”