Part 2: Sword is the New Black
It had taken over four years and a great deal of work, but the people of Eblan accepted Rubicante now. He had his own quarters attached to the castle smithy, but he wasn't often there. As an elemental being, he needed far less sleep than humans. He was often in the smithy: working on parts for the training towers, making sure any tool from hammers to kitchen knives to shields were in good shape, figuring out special commissions from all over the world. When people heard that Eblan Castle had the Elemental Lord of Fire as a blacksmith, they would send him tests of his ability or requests for things ordinary skill could not craft.
However, he usually declined work that involved crafting weapons. Rubicante would take a request from someone who wanted one to protect a town from monsters, but only after checking out their story and making sure it would not end up hurting Eblan. Most of the kingdoms of the world were now friendly with each other, if not all of them. In this age, weapons shouldn't be as desired.
This, though, this was a personal project. The ninjas of Eblan would not work with any ordinary weapons. They wanted traditional craftsmanship that was made precisely for their style of fighting. Blades had to be sharp, light, and subtle. Since their advantage was in swift ambushes and graceful dodges, none of their weapons could hinder their movement. Things that could be readily hidden, such as shurikans, knives, and darts, were preferred. But in case they got into face to face combat, a good dependable sword was also needed.
And for his work, Rubicante wanted to create something perfectly suited for its intended owner. Something balanced just right for his height and preferred motions. Edge was louder and showier than most of the ninjas here. Brash too, although he was curbing his temper into something less unruly and short. So he could use something more distinctive and flashy. But like Edge itself, the sword needed to have true substance behind the bluster. Something about the sword should make an opponent underestimate how much it and Edge were truly capable of.
He had a passion for life too, an unbreakable spirit. Rubicante had watched him over the years. One time at a bonfire event, Edge had given a speech to the farmers, ranchers, miners, and other ordinary people of Eblan to bolster their spirits as they rebuilt their lives. They weren't empty words either. His hands had been dirtied up from work he'd done with them; his skin was tanned from being out and about doing things rather than just hanging back in the incomplete castle. He'd even pulled down his scarf for the moment, speaking to them as one of them rather than one of the ninjas.
There was little distance between Edge and his people at that time. Yet, there was still a distance between Edge and Rubicante. The young king did not mind sparring with him for training at times and seemed friendly in conversations. But there was still uncertainty and hesitation at times. If he would just let the old grudges go and finally see just why Rubicante was content with working here for far less than a master blacksmith should be owed…
The heated blade in is hands rippled when it shouldn't. While there was some need for mentally keeping the sword's intended owner in mind, it didn't help to get too focused on that. It wouldn't be as good now. Rubicante put the point on his palm, then increased the heat to crush it back down to a metal source. At this point, it would be best for him to take a break outside the smithy before returning to his assigned tasks.
As he was setting the forge to be safe while he stepped away, Rubicante felt a twinge of magic activate nearby. That was… space manipulation? There was no one but himself who should be able to set this smithy as a Teleport destination. Although, it could simply be an apprentice who'd lost their way. He shut the door of the forge and turned to see who would come.
A wall near the stairs ripped itself apart in one neat tear; a starry darkness of unearthly qualities was revealed within. Could it be something trying to come out of the Void? Perhaps it was after him, dissatisfied with him choosing a life of honest work. It was something that worried him, as an entity of hatred like Zeromus was not something that could easily be put down.
No unearthly entity came through. Instead, two men entered his smithy from the tear. Both of them were clearly warriors; Rubicante could see their experience in the strength of their bodies and the wear of their armor. One of them seemed like he could fit in at Fabul save for his loose brown hair. The other was eccentric, to say the least. He wore red tribal markings on his visible skin and carried at least six weapons in sight.
"I'm not sure this is where we meant to go," the marked one said as the tear repaired itself back to nothing.
The more normal warrior didn't seem concerned. "Well we did end up in a smithy this time."
"That's right! You!" The marked one stepped froward, with a glint of eagerness in his eyes rather than greed. "Have you ever heard of a sword with a blade made of water?"
"No," Rubicante answered. They would be skilled, but they didn't seem like a threat yet. "If you're looking for an Iceblade, this isn't the place to be searching for one."
He shook his head. "No, I've got at least a dozen ice blades in sword form. They're downright cheap in the right places and make for good trade fodder in others. No, I'm talking about a sword that has a blade made fully of water. It ripples and reflects just like water, but it's supposed to be an impressive weapon in spite of that."
"That sounds like it would take magic or ancient technology to make," Rubicante said. "It is interesting."
"Isn't it?" The marked one seemed gleeful at the mere thought while the normal man smiled at his enthusiasm. There was something extra to that smile. Were these two lovers?
A stray thought made Rubicante shift his cloak; sometimes he neglected to remember human habits until in the middle of a conversation like this. "Even so, such a creation would be particularly difficult for me. I am the Elemental Lord of Fire, Rubicante. As such, crafting with water is not a talent of mine."
"That's too bad," the normal man said.
"Still, you've got to be capable of crafting some interesting swords," the marked one said, enthusiastic in spite of his sword not being here. "Wonderful to meet you, Master Rubicante! I'm Gilgamesh, supreme sword collector and legendary hero! And this here is Bartz, my fellow traveler and legendary hero."
"We wouldn't be legends in this world, not yet," Bartz said.
"But they've got to know at the start so they know what to expect of us," Gilgamesh said.
Heroes had a particular glow to their souls, a distinction that beings such as himself could notice. Rubicante didn't believe it was a marking that came about at birth, though. In what he had observed of humans, it came to one whose thoughts and actions proved them to be heroes. Bartz was most definitely a hero; he had a glow as strong as Edge. Gilgamesh, not so much but the glow was there. With that in their souls, Rubicante felt they were trustworthy.
"I hate to disappoint you, but much of my work lately is of a mundane nature," Rubicante said. "You do not seem to be of this world," they both nodded to that, "so I'll let you know that you have arrived in Eblan Castle. A few years ago, the world was nearly razed to nothing by a being of hatred from the moon. This castle has been restored, but work is still going and I must maintain the tools they need for that. I do have a few katanas, not as refined as I'd like but I can show you those."
"That's fine, maybe I'll commission you for something."
While he'd not kept any of those he'd tried to make for Edge, he did have some that were for varying degrees of ability among the Eblan ninjas. Most of them were new, drawn from other lands out of interest in ninjutsu. Rubicante picked out one he'd crafted for one of these apprentices. "Here's one; it's already assigned to someone and will go out once the squad leader arrives to distribute them."
Gilgamesh had introduced himself as a sword collector, a type that Rubicante usually found foolish. But this man took the katana out of its sheath and held it like he knew how to use it. "Ooo, your metalwork is very clean, barely shows any signs of work." He shifted it to look across the blade. "A beautiful shape too, ideal for a quick style that emphasized precision over raw power. Stealth too, the length and handle could be hidden with the right clothes. And this handle… this is made for a novice ninja, isn't it? It's a mite too long and far more deadly than a thief would use."
"That is precisely who that katana will be going to," Rubicante said, impressed. "You're no novice in handling that style of sword."
After admiring it a moment longer, Gilgamesh slid it back into the sheath. "Sure, I know all kinds of weaponry. But even if this is a novice blade, I'm not the kind of refined guy who could make best use of it. I'm more of a greatsword guy."
"I don't have any of those made at this time," he said, then paused. There were footsteps approaching, deliberate in sound. This was a ninja who wanted to be heard coming but had to come out of a silent stride ingrained with training. "Eblan trains ninjas, so I'm mostly working with their gear when I make weaponry."
"Sounds like we ended up in a really interesting place this time," Bartz said. "You have any training dungeons? Those are always fun to get through."
"It's not complete, so it would be interesting to get an outsider's opinion," Rubicante said, then pointed to Edge as he came in. "It's his designs mostly."
"That's right, but who're your friends here?" Edge asked.
"A pair of adventurers from another world," he answered. "This is Gilgamesh and Bartz; he may not look like it, but this is the King of Eblan, Edge."
Gilgamesh nodded. "You've got that right! And you guys seem pretty good, so we don't mind saying so. We're here for swords and adventures!"
"Is your dungeon open to those from outside the kingdom?" Bartz asked.
Although his violet scarf covered his face below his nose as usual, Rubicante could tell Edge was smiling at this. "Not normally, but I could give a pass to Rubicante's guests."
He nodded. "I don't mind that, since I am curious to see some of your collection."
"Sure thing, I've got some amazing swords," Gilgamesh said eagerly, tugging at his coat. "I still haven't convinced anyone who has a proper Excalibur to trade it, but I've got plenty of other interesting blades."
"It would be difficult to find someone willing to give up that sword to a collector," Rubicante said. Cecil certainly wouldn't.
"That does sound fun, but I did come here for a reason," Edge said. "And it has to do with the dungeon. Rubicante, one of the towers has a dragon trying to nest up there. If the dragon was willing to cooperate as a test of skill, I wouldn't mind it being up there. But it's been launching spurts of hail at the farms. Since one of the reports indicated that it could be weak to fire, I was going to ask you along to drive it off."
But to use his best fire skills, he would leave himself open to a weakness of ice. "You'll cover for me when I go for a full assault?" Rubicante asked.
"Of course, I'll keep it distracted."
"Mind if we come along?" Bartz asked. "A dragon on a tower sounds like good sport."
Edge chuckled. "Heh, I think we'll get along. Sure, thanks for the help."
"No problem," Bartz said. "Now let's go tackle a dungeon and dragon!"
This should be a strange time, with visitors from an entirely different world. The one guy, Gilgamesh, was certainly a strange one, unlike any Edge had met before. However, once they started traveling up the training towers, they seemed like they could be friends. Gilgamesh eagerly wanted to try out all the traps and devices, or at least know how the incomplete ones worked. Bartz fought like he could be a ninja, wielding a magma red sword in one hand and a seemingly decorative white sword in the other. But while he fought like one, Bartz was oblivious to traps and something of a klutz.
"I'm fine, just getting a buzz from all the blood rushing to my head," Bartz said, swaying upside-down from a noose wrapped around his ankle.
"This one isn't meant to hurt, just to capture someone unwary," Edge said. It was a simple and old trick, but it was satisfying for how many people fell for it.
"Where was that rope even hiding?" Gilgamesh asked, glancing over the wall and window nearby. "I didn't see a hint of it!"
"Under the floor?" Bartz suggested. "I did feel the tile sink some, but wasn't quick enough to pull my foot back."
Crouching down by the trapped tile, Edge pushed it down some. "Yes, it's one of the pressure tiles. The floor sinks just enough to hide the rope and trigger some small hidden panels. Once it's stepped on, the opening of the panels hiding the rope trigger a pulley overhead to snap the rope closed over the victim's foot. When the rope is fully out of its slot, the panels all shut again."
"That is really well-hidden," Gilgamesh said, impressed.
Edge smirked. "And not all of these pressure tiles are trapped. The noose and a few other pressure-triggered traps are routinely moved around so students don't get used to the locations. Not only that, but some of the pressure tiles will be required to open doors and passages. We're still working that out. But when that's done, people going in will need quick reflexes to get out of a trap like this while trying to find the right opening tile."
"That's neat, but could one of you get me down now?" Bartz asked. Edge obliged and cut the rope while making sure he didn't crash on his head.
Rubicante was as usual, serious and not joining in on idle chatter. It always struck Edge as a bit odd since one didn't expect a being that represented fire to be like that. If he and Scarmiglione had traded personalities, or even him and Cagnazzo, they'd be more representative of their elements. But unlike the other Elemental Lords, Rubicante had a sincerity to him that made him trustworthy in spite of his past.
In spite of him being at least partly responsible for the fall of Eblan and the fate of Edge's parents.
Yes, there was always that lingering in Edge's thoughts. Rubicante was a good man, one Edge could almost consider a good friend. He'd be the sort one could confide in and know that he would keep quiet about it. Not only that, Rubicante had a lot more patience than any of Edge's other teachers had had with him. That often led to Edge failing at things when he tried to advance too quickly. And then Rubicante would explain where he went wrong with no malice or anger. Yet when Edge started thinking like this, that he could accept Rubicante and forgive him fully, there was the fact that he'd once worked for a being that existed only for hate.
"Is something troubling you, Edge?" Rubicante asked quietly, having gotten to his side without being noticed. And for a seven foot tall man with a bright cloak on to do that, he did have exceptional skills as a ninja too.
Or Edge was really letting himself get distracted. Silently cursing himself, Edge whispered back, "Nothing big, just have a lot on my mind lately."
At first, Edge thought this mentor would chide him on getting distracted. But then he said, "If you need to talk about something, you can always come find me at the smithy. I won't speak of something if you don't want it known."
"I'm sure of that," Edge said. The scuff of claws overhead reminded him that something more important was at hand. Turning the conversation to include the other two, he said, "The dragon should be just upstairs. You guys ready?"
"Sure enough," Bartz said.
"I don't think this one will be powerful, for a dragon," Gilgamesh said. "If it was, we'd be freezing our fingers off."
"I was thinking that myself since there's no ice here," Rubicante said. "But it's still strong enough to cause hail in the surrounding lands. It may be young."
"You think we can capture and train it?" Edge asked, ideas coming to mind. An ice dragon about would be handy for keeping the castle cool in summer; they'd always have ice available too, which could attract alchemists and the sort. But then what would they do with it in winter?
"Dragons are not easily tamed, especially one like this that can alter weather patterns," Rubicante said. "Most people who claim they tame dragons simply chain them up and keep them out of the way until needed."
"But that's imprisoning them, not taming," Bartz said.
Rubicante nodded. "Very few of them have true control over their dragons. Even the dragoons don't dare try taming dragons."
"That's a pity since a tame dragon would be great to have around," Edge said.
When they came out to the top of the tower, the air was cooler than one would expect with how sunny it was. That and the dragon's size indicated it was young, since it was merely as large as Rubicante. In truth, having four skilled fighters come up after it was overkill. When it beat its wings to flee, Edge signaled for the others to let it go.
"We're going to have to keep an eye on where it decides to nest, but one dragon in the area won't be much of a nuisance," Edge said. "Maybe we could herd it to the caves we retreat to? It could be nice to have an ice cavern around."
"As long as there's just one dragon, I agree on leaving it be once it's away from towns," Rubicante said.
Since all they'd done was drive off one young dragon, it wasn't enough to celebrate or anything. But it was enough for the ninja king to decide they were worthy guests and allow them to stay in a castle guest room while they were in Eblan. It included meals even, and Gilgamesh wasn't about to turn down free food of any kind.
As dinner wound down, Gilgamesh got to show off his sword collection to Rubicante. He always equipped at least four in case he needed to power up to his stronger form (though it was usually more like eight to cover a range of elements and enchantments). Much of his collector pieces were kept in inventory storage. "This here is a dancer's epee, with is different because you usually hear of dancers using daggers, scarves, or purses."
"That accounts for all the frills," Edge said, watching in interest.
"And they sparkle, which is the important thing!" Gilgamesh said, holding the sword out and twirling it. It rolled easily in his hand; the ribbons attached to the hand guard whirled and shone. "It catches an opponent's eyes, drawing them to the dancer's hand when the dangerous bit is the bladed end."
Edge rubbed his chin on seeing this. "Ah, so it might look goofy, but it's actually a clever trick."
"It could be more useful than polish used for brief distractions because fighters would be less used to the ribbons as distractions," Rubicante said, setting down a foil that Gilgamesh had bought off a promising champion of a youth's fencing tourney. He could call it a champion's foil in complete honesty and the young fencer got the funds to seek out an apprenticeship to a knight. "Actually, I've been wondering about the white sword that you've been using, Bartz."
"Well it is technically part of his collection even though I'm using it," Bartz said, detaching the sheath from his belt. The sheath was white and pale blue with a pattern of circles carved into the leather. "It's a wedding sword."
"A wedding sword?" Edge asked, surprised as most people were when they heard about it.
Gilgamesh nodded. "Yeah! It's like a wedding ring, but a sword. It's one of the most unique swords in the collection; we've only run into that one culture that did weddings with swords in all of our travels. And believe me, we've been in all kinds of worlds and civilizations."
Bartz drew the sword out. "You can look at it if you want, but it dulls the moment it's handled by someone that hasn't sworn a marriage oath on it, or if that oath gets broken. Even so, it's one of our most useful swords since it rarely gets resisted."
"And if its magic gets resisted, then we know we should try talking things out instead," Gilgamesh said.
Even with as stoic as he was, it was clear that Rubicante also had a love of swords. He came around the table to look over the wedding sword in Bartz's hand first. "This is exceptional craftsmanship, both in the physical and mystical aspects of it. The culture and smith that could produce such a weapon must have a strong faith in the power of love."
"It was something of a pain to convince them to let outsiders participate in such a ceremony, but we proved ourselves to them," Bartz said.
"You two are married?" Edge asked. Thankfully, he was curious about it rather than taken aback. Maybe he was even a bit jealous. Although Rubicante might be more jealous given that he wasn't actually looking at the sword for a moment.
As usual, Bartz didn't notice that kind of thing. "Of course. He really wanted one of these swords once he heard about them and was willing to take a dull one just to have an example. I suggested that we should go through the ceremony since by that point, we had been traveling together so long and there was no doubt between us. He nearly fainted at that, but he does get over-dramatic sometimes."
"Well I was so excited that I nearly forgot to breathe," Gilgamesh said, feeling light at that reminder. But he didn't want to make the other two uncomfortable. "Thankfully, I remembered just in time. Oh, and if you want to talk about swords that go dull for unusual reasons, I've got one here that no one has been able to sharpen."
"This one's sharpness is due to its magic being woven alongside the taking of a serious oath," Rubicante said, touching the wedding blade's handle respectfully. As stated, it went dull and mundane only to regain its usual edge and gleam when he removed his hand. "Some materials would be difficult to keep sharp."
Gilgamesh shook his head as he searched for it. "It's not the material, it's a steel blend that shouldn't lose its edge easily. Ah, it was..." he shifted around his inventory, making a few clanks and clatters as he did. "Um… ah, there it is! This is Excalipur." He brought the broadsword out and set it on the table.
"Ah, one of those copies of Excalibur without..." Rubicante paused, staring at the blade. Then he picked it up. "I've seen Excalibur copies that look exceptionally good but lack holy blessings and unearthly craftsmanship. But this is a holy sword, somehow."
"Cheap knockoffs are usually called Excalipoor, at least by me," Gilgamesh said. "Since I've been seeking Excalibur as the ultimate piece of my collection, I've seen dozens of Excalipoors. But even if it's not the legendary sword, Excalipur here is a unique exception. It goes out of its way to be useless in battle."
Rubicante shifted the sword around, examining it from several angles. "The shape of the blade should keep its edge well. It's well-balanced with a good heft; it should hit like a red giant even in the hands of someone without much training. Is it exclusive to harming undead?"
"As far as I can tell, it's not exclusive to anything," he said. "It doesn't matter who's using it against what opponent: it might leave a faint dent but nothing more."
When he tried to hit the wooden table with it, it left a faint indentation that was no different from the normal scratches of wear around it. "This is strange. Do you mind if I examine it in my forge? I'd like to see if I can put an edge to it."
It was always funny to watch blacksmiths get frustrated with Excalipur here. But this time, Gilgamesh had something else in mind. "Sure, go ahead and try. I'll want it back before we go, but you can work with it until we feel like moving on."
"Of course, thank you."
Later that evening, he and Bartz went to their guest room for the night. It wasn't a lavish room as one might expect of a castle. A fire crackled in the gated fireplace to keep things warm, while a carpet, a wall tapestry, and heavy curtains kept things comfortable. Or given that this was a nation of ninjas, they could be hiding passages or spies. But nothing here was exceptionally ornate or obviously expensive. It might have to do with how this kingdom was rebuilding after nearly being wiped out.
"Nice place, not too gaudy," Bartz said, kicking off his shoes before flopping onto the bed.
"They are martial to some degree," Gilgamesh said, noting that the fire poker would be better than usual in a fight. "Thankfully not absurd about it. I could like this place. But, did you notice how things were between the king and the smith?"
"They seem like good friends," Bartz said.
"Of course you wouldn't notice," he said, going to lean on the backboard of the bed. "But I did. I think there's some sparks there just below the surface."
Bartz frowned up at the ceiling. "Uh, yeah, the guy's a blacksmith and they're always surrounded by sparks. More literally this time since he's an actual being of fire."
Gilgamesh groaned and put his head on his arms. "No, not that! I mean, it's true, but not what I'm saying."
"So what are you saying?" he asked, looking over at him.
"I always got to be straight forward with you, don't I?" Gilgamesh smiled, although he smiled. "I think those two could be in love but something's getting in the way of them admitting it to each other. Maybe even themselves."
Bartz raised an eyebrow at that. "Are they? It didn't look that way to me."
"Not everyone is obvious about being in love," he said. "Most people aren't. Even I did not believe it of myself until someone else pointed it out to me. They appear to have this mentor-student friendship thing going, but Rubicante always had his eyes on Edge in the training tower. And when you were telling them about the wedding sword, he had this longing look and glanced at Edge, but quickly looked away. He's probably got some hangup about not being human, or maybe he'd outlive a human and is keeping silent over committing himself to someone who'd grow old and die while he didn't change."
By this point, Bartz had sat up and moved closer. "You could tell all that just by how he reacted to the sword?"
"That and more little things, like how he went right to Edge's side when he seemed bothered about something." Gilgamesh tapped the backboard, thinking of how to explain it more to Bartz. "And Edge seems like the sort who will fight recognizing being in love. He is a smooth talker and can move swiftly from one target to another, as when he was flirting with the maids before dinner. He wouldn't do the same to Rubicante or either of us, so this world probably still has some stigma over chasing after the same gender."
"It can't be too strong or they would've have balked more over moving us to a single bed room," he pointed out.
He nodded to that. "I'm glad for that. But discount that stigma for a moment. Edge does look and speak differently to Rubicante. There is a true respect there, unlike when he was teasing his old adviser. Maybe he's not exactly in love right now, but I have a gut feeling that if Rubicante were to confess his actual feelings, Edge would be more likely to accept him over anyone else. Edge isn't about to recognize it on his own; maybe there's something in their past that gets in the way, or maybe he just hasn't given it any thought. But then, Rubicante will probably just keep silent and a love between them has no chance at all to become real."
"That's unfortunate, but we don't really know," Bartz said. "We just met them today."
Gilgamesh straightened up and held up a finger in determination. "But if there's this chance, why don't we see if we can get them together? With a few nudges and hints, they could open up to each other and become more than they dreamed of being!"
"I guess, or we could get them mad at us," he said, then shrugged. "Eh, but why not try? We could excuse sticking around on wanting to help them with the training towers and waiting on him to try sharpening Excalipur."
"That's the ticket! It'll be another thing off the old bucket list."
"That's on your bucket list?" Bartz asked, amused at the idea.
"Of course it is!" He pulled out the journal he kept such ideas in to point it out. "Here we go, 'Help someone else express their love so they find happiness like I have with Bartz.' It's right between 'Kick Odin's ass' and 'Become a big enough legend that I become a summon spirit'."
"If you put it that way, I'd like to see them get together too," he said, then gave him a quick kiss. "I beat Odin, you just have to kick him really hard."
"Let's do that one together too if the chance comes up," Gilgamesh said.
Sharpening didn't require heat unless the edge was damaged. Excalipur's edge looked just fine. When he felt along it, Rubicante didn't notice any bumps or chips. It still wouldn't cut. Getting it to tear a leaf took more pressure than should be necessary. He took up the sharpening stone and carefully ran it along the blade, trying not to damage it.
After an hour in which nothing seemed to change, Gilgamesh dropped in to see how he was doing. "It's actually pretty tough," he said when told about the lack of progress. "I had one smith get frustrated and throw it into a stone wall. Didn't chip it at all."
"For being incapable of acting as a sword, it is a remarkable one," Rubicante said. "Do you know who made this? Or why?"
He shook his head. "I wish I knew. I found it in a setting that would have been perfectly suited Excalibur: tucked away in a cave deep in the wilderness with a shaft of sunlight falling on it, stuck in a stone pedestal, not a single monster dared come close. But after I pulled it and used Identify to make sure, I found that it wasn't quite right."
"My Scan spell claims that it should be one of the most powerful weapons out there," he said.
"Right! I tried asking around about it, but nobody knew anything for certain about it. The closest thing was a legend of a blacksmith that was so desperate to forge a legendary weapon that he summoned an unknown entity for inspiration and went mad. Although that was being told in that country, there was no way to confirm that this sword is what he finally created. I've even given it to heroes that Excalibur accepted; doesn't change Excalipur at all."
"It'd be easier to figure out within the world it originated in," Rubicante pointed out. "Here, we can only study it as it is now."
Gilgamesh shrugged. "Well nobody else wanted it. It's so frustrating for me to come across the Excalipoors, but that one is a vital piece of my collection."
"I suppose a talented oracle or psychic might be able to delve into the sword's history better," he thought aloud. Maybe someone in Mysidia could do that.
"Huh, haven't tried that out yet," he said. "Anyhow, I was curious: how does a guy like you end up as a blacksmith?"
"It's a hobby for the most part," Rubicante said.
Taking up a stool to sit on, it seemed he meant to chat for a while. "True, but you're basically a god, right? Since you're the manifestation of fire in this world."
He shook his head. "Not quite a god. We have been called children of the crystals; we are beings of the world. I cannot say anything more than that, especially to an outsider. While some of my peers disliked humans, I am quite fond of you all. Thus I do not mind what seems like mundane work to be around humans."
"You seem particularly fond of Edge," Gilgamesh said.
"What do you mean by that?" Rubicante asked. For some reason, that comment made him nervous. Nobody was supposed to know; nobody could know.
From his smile, he was having fun with this. "I mean you have a crush on him, don't you? I can see it in the way you quietly watch him and how quickly you went to ask if something was wrong when he got distracted."
He should just stay calm, not reveal how accurately that hit. "I've been a mentor of his for a few years now, trying to temper that attitude of his so his rashness doesn't get him in trouble. It's working slowly. Of course I'll watch him in a situation like that."
"The attention you give him doesn't seem mentor-ly to me," Gilgamesh insisted. "Don't tell me: are you one of the sort that'll be all, I can't be with him because I'm not human and we have differing life spans that will be too painful to deal with? But is that really worse than having to sit at the sides and suffer silently while you won't let yourself speak up?
"And he's probably going to end up married to a lady at some point, since people expect that of royal figures. I bet people are already pestering him about that. Then he'll eventually be gone anyhow and you won't have known happiness that whole time. Isn't it better to have some happiness instead of all loneliness?"
"He is being bothered about choosing a bride," Rubicante admitted. "He complains to me about it sometimes since he knows I won't bother him for it. He says he doesn't want to be tied down, yet he still flirts with any girl he runs across. Though, he never seems to pursue them after that."
"Doesn't that hurt you when he flirts so carelessly?" he asked.
Rubicante narrowed his eyes at him. Why was he poking his nose into this? It was supposed to be something no one knew about. Yet, it was a silent suffering.
"He probably doesn't mean much by it," Gilgamesh said, looking thoughtful. "Probably thinks it's nice to make them smile when he can. But if he hasn't pursued them, and if he's already confiding in you about personal matters, you must have a chance they don't at winning his heart. You'll have to do something about it, or else you may find it near impossible to put down the doubt over if you had a chance at all. At least if he turns you down, you can settle the matter in your heart once and for all."
"You're a strange man," Rubicante said. Strange, but more insightful than he seemed.
"Just about everyone says that of me," Gilgamesh said, proud of it.
"I imagine so. But what goes on between the king and I has nothing to do with you. It's nothing to concern yourself with, nothing at all."
"At least give it some thought. Anyhow, I decide what concerns me and this has. But I've spoken my piece and now it's up to you. But if you want any help, I'll be happy to give you a hand." He sounded sincere about his offer.
"Thanks for the concern, I suppose," Rubicante said, hoping that would end the discussion.