It was surprisingly quiet the week after the Crimson Falcons left. Greg thought that something awful would happen as soon as Marina left, because that's how his life seemed to work these days. But the workshop instead settled into a comfortable routine that felt almost normal.
"I need your opinion on this joint work, Sensei!" Bork called from his part of the forge, where he was holding up what looked like a complicated system of pulleys. "The customer wants it to lift heavy things, but I'm worried about the places where it will be under a lot of stress."
Greg hardly looked up from the comfy chair he was sitting in, where he was drinking tea. "Put runes for reinforcement at the places where the wires connect."
"Follow the pattern I showed you last month. Don't worry about any mistakes as long as you follow it properly..."
"That's all? You're not going to come see?
Greg said, "You don't need to check with me, I'm currently not in a mood right now."
