“What in the world?” Ana stood between us, looking back and forth in confusion.
Then a man with kind eyes and long green hair appeared behind me—the Nature Spirit King! Behind Lynn was a stocky man with broad shoulders and short hair who was bathed in a golden light.
“Hey, Nature. Still following that kid around everywhere?” the golden man said to the Nature Spirit King.
“Nice to see you again, Earth Spirit King,” the Nature Spirit King replied calmly. “I see you’re still inseparable from that dwarf girl.”
Wait—so is Lynn a Beloved Child of the Earth Spirit King?
“Um, Daisy? Are you a Beloved Child too?” Lynn asked hesitantly, confirming my suspicions. Since it seemed like we had similar circumstances, I decided to be honest.
“Yes. I’ve been blessed by the Nature Spirit King,” I answered. There was no hiding him appearing in person, after all.
Meanwhile, all the color drained from Ana’s face, and she collapsed to the floor. Now she knew all about it. I tended to her while the two majestic figures completely ignored us, too caught up in an argument.
“Don’t just call her ‘that dwarf girl,’” said the Earth Spirit King. “She has a name, and it’s Lynn. Plus, she’s not just any dwarf! She’s descended from the royal family of the fallen Dwarven Kingdom!” He clenched his fist, demanding respect.
Lynn might be a princess of some lost kingdom?
“Well, my beloved child Daisy bears the name of a beautiful flower! She comes from a distinguished noble family with proud traditions. She’s intelligent, devoted to her research, and so kindhearted, she cares for all of my kin!” my spirit king shot back.
Wait, is he bragging about me?!
“Lynn is just as kind to my kin! And the focus in her eyes during her metalwork is practically divine!”
“You should see my Daisy when she’s poring over her experiments and smiles the moment it’s a success! I’ve never seen anything more adorable!”
Meanwhile, Leaf had gotten into a staring contest with what I could only guess was Lynn’s guardian divine beast, a fluffy baby lion with bright golden fur. They growled, hissed, and yowled at each other.
What in the world is going on?!
The argument between the two spirit kings showed no signs of dying down, having changed topics to whose beloved child was cuter. At this point, their bickering was so embarrassing I wanted to crawl under a table.
“W-wait… You’ve been watching me, Earth Spirit King?!” Lynn turned bright red and began to panic as her spirit king blurted out all sorts of embarrassing stories, including one time her grandfather had scolded her and she had burst into tears.
“Y-you were there the whole time, Nature Spirit King?” I stammered. I realized my spirit king had seen me be scolded by my mother and even watched me make weird faces during my experiments. It was too much to handle, so I had to say something.
“Stop spying on us!” we both said in unison.
Finally, that ended their ridiculous competition about whose favored child was more adorable.
“Ahem. At any rate, I believe that if you collaborate with Lynn, you could create something remarkable indeed. Please take good care of my child,” the Earth Spirit King said, then vanished.
“The same goes for my Daisy. I’m sure you’ll make fine things if you work together, Lynn. Please look after her,” the Nature Spirit King added calmly before vanishing as well.
And just like that, after all that fuss, the two of them left us behind in the workshop.
“They never promised they’d stop spying on us…” Lynn and I muttered together, exchanging glances. Now that the spirit kings had gone, we were too stunned to speak.
Ana was still on the floor in a state of shock. “To think I’d live to see a spirit king with my own eyes… Two at the same time, even…” she whispered, clasping her hands together. “Still, I always thought the two of you were similar. It all makes sense now; both of you are beloved children of spirit kings. No wonder you have the same aura! Oh, this is going to be interesting. Who knows what the two of you will create when you work together!” Now that she had finally caught her breath, Ana slowly got to her feet with a little effort and a confident smile on her face.
“The spirit kings totally interrupted us, but you came here to show me something, right?” Lynn asked, helping Ana brush herself off.
“That’s right!” she said, looking excited again. “We made an incredible alloy. Daisy, go ahead and show her.”
I reached into my bag and took out the ingot. This bag was one of my favorites. While the workshop was being built, I’d spent a small fortune to have it enchanted with space-time magic to both expand its inner dimensions and stop time inside of it. That way I could carry something even as heavy as a metal ingot easily. My bag never weighed me down, no matter how much I stored inside it.
Lynn took the guardinium ingot from me, her eyes widening. “Wow… Ana, Daisy, this is incredible. With the protective power in this alloy, we could make something on the level of a national treasure!”
With the undeniable appearance of the Nature Spirit King, there wasn’t much point in hiding where it had come from.
“It’s made from a guardian stone given to me by the Nature Spirit King mixed with silver,” I said. “I was thinking it might work best as an accessory, something that a person can always keep with them. According to my Appraisal, its protective power won’t lose potency even if we divide the ingot.”
“I see,” Lynn said. “That makes sense. Maybe a pendant, a ring, or a bracelet… No, a ring would be best. You can wear it on your hand and it won’t get in your way. We should be able to make quite a few from this ingot. How many do you want, Daisy?”
I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, so I wasn’t sure. “I’d like to start with rings for Mark and Letia, since I promised them. And it would probably be a good idea to make some for the royal family too.” I counted each one out in my mind.
“I’d like one for my grandfather, and some for Granny Ana and her friends who had to flee their homeland,” Lynn said. “And me, of course. Even though we’re protected by the kingdom now, it never hurts to be prepared. We’d be in trouble if the Schwarzritter Empire ever came after them.”
The Schwarzritter Empire… That was the militaristic kingdom Ana and the others had escaped, so they would surely need the protection.
“That comes to fourteen in total,” I said. “But won’t a powerful accessory like this be dangerous if it ends up in the wrong hands?” That was always a concern with something so powerful.
Lynn grinned confidently at me and chuckled.
Ana had a similar mischievous smile on her face. “That’s where Lynn’s special ability comes in!”
“This will do.” Lynn picked up a plain bangle that was sitting on the worktable. “This one doesn’t have any enchantments on it yet.”
Enchantments?
Lynn traced her finger along the inside of the bangle and muttered something under her breath. “There, see this writing?”
“Yeah, there’s something like letters carved inside,” I said. A mysterious line of script had appeared along the inside of the bangle where she’d traced. “But I’ve never seen this language before.”
“This is an inscription in the ancient Dwarven language,” Lynn explained. “I’ve enchanted it with old Dwarven magic as well. The inscription means, ‘This shall not bless those with ill intent.’” She puffed out her chest proudly. “I’m the only one who can perform ancient enchantments like this. That means no one can remove it but me. You’d have to know both the old language and magic to break it,” she said with a wink.
“This is amazing, Lynn!” I couldn’t help but clench my fists with excitement. Her special ability impressed me so much I could only gaze at her with admiration.
She laughed shyly and tousled my hair. “Aw, stop. You’re gonna make me blush!” she said with a grin. “All right, then, I’ll go ahead and make rings out of this ingot. I’ll bring them over to Ana’s once they’re ready, so just wait a bit.”
Now that everything was settled, Ana and I headed home.
About a month later, the bell above my workshop door jingled as Ana and Lynn came in together.
“Hiya, Daisy! Long time no see,” said Lynn. “Sorry this took a while. I got a little carried away with the details, but the rings are finally done.” It was early summer now, and Lynn’s forehead glistened with sweat from the long walk over.
“Welcome, Lynn and Ana!” I said. “We’ll talk upstairs in the living room since this is so important. Come on in!” I gestured toward the stairs before stopping by the kitchen to fetch three glasses of chilled, cherry-infused water from the bakery. I carried them on a tray up the stairs to the living room on the second floor.