The tension in the room finally cooled as the conversation softened.
They went over details after that discussion or straight chewing on Selena's too much faith in him again. There were no arguments involved, just practical and things that mattered, such as numbers, what could be left behind and what could be brought, as well as the details about the relocation process.
Through it, Selena asked questions like she promised, albeit still trying too hard to not look at Ludwig every time she wanted to speak.
But, nothing was decided beyond what could be decided. The last thing they decided was that Greito and Selena would visit Tempest in a week. They also could invite anyone they thought needed to be in the know about it.
By the time they stood from the table, the sun had shifted enough to cast light across the far wall instead of the floor. Outside, the village sounded unchanged. Someone near the well was arguing about a cracked bucket, a child laughed too loudly while running around, while smoke could be seen rising from one of the cooking pits.
Ludwig stepped onto the porch first. Behind him the other three trailed.
Selena remained by the doorway instead of stepping fully onto the porch. She rested one hand against the wooden frame, eyes following the movement in the clearing rather than looking directly at Ludwig.
"I will gather them tonight." She said.
Ludwig nodded. "Let them argue if they need to."
"They should." Greito muttered behind him.
Selena allowed herself a faint smile at that. "They always do."
For a brief moment, no one added anything. The sound of the argument by the well rose, then fell again. The cracked bucket seemed to have found its owner.
Claire adjusted the cuff of her sleeve. "Prepare questions before you come, Write them down. Do not rely on memory."
Selena inclined her head. "I will."
Greito stepped forward then, arms folded across his broad chest. "If this place called Tempest is not what you described, we will return immediately."
"Of course." Ludwig replied before smirking. "But I can assure you, you will love it there."
Greito studied him for a heartbeat longer, then gave a short grunt of approval.
Selena finally looked at Ludwig directly. "See you in one week, Hero."
"See you." He repeated.
Selena nodded once and stepped back inside the house, already calling for someone deeper within.
Then, Claire made her presence known again. "Ugh… another teleportation?"
Greito and Ludwig looked at her, someone who had been so fierce in front of Selena just hours before. Now, she was looking meek, unlike how flamey and cutting she was before.
A heartbeat later, both of them laughed.
"The almighty teacher is scared of teleportation?" Ludwig asked between his laughs.
Claire threw a pointed look at him before sending her elbow towards his rib.
Well, she tried.
Ludwig coaxed the space mana around him and blinked out of the attack. When he reappeared, his vision had shifted, now he was at least as tall as Greito.
He then sent quite a large amount of Mana to envelop the two people around him, in the next heartbeat, the space folded. A blink of an eye later for the two, the forest returned around them. As expected, Greito did not react to the shift at all. In the meantime, Claire went straight to her knees.
Like a gentleman he is, Ludwig stopped his eyes from wandering towards Claire. He walked closer to Greito and opened his mouth. "By the way, I need some new furniture. I want you to make it. The previous one proved to be not strong enough."
Greito stopped looking at the air and moved his sight to him. His eyes then went sharp, like he was not buying what Ludwig just told him.
"The furniture broke? Dwarven furniture? Are you fighting a dragon inside your restaurant?"
Ludwig's face scrunching at the mention of dwarven. He never told him he wanted dwarven-made furniture. Then, realization came to him. The specs. To be more precise, the specs he told Greito about the furniture before he told him to get it made somewhere else.
"Uh… It's not dwarven-made…" Ludwig's voice trailed, like a kid getting caught sneaking a candy at dinnertime.
"Not dwarven? You said you want a strong one to not get it remade in case of fighting, didn't you?" Greito asked.
"I did." Ludwig nodded. "But you know, I thought I would be there when the fight happened, but well… I'm outside at that time." Ludwig chuckled bitterly.
Greito looked at him again as the sky started to redden. "I won't ask why you don't use your power to fix it, but alright. How many do you need?"
Ludwig looked past Greito before his mind pictured his restaurant. Konoha had indeed compensated him with new chairs and tables, even fixing places that were broken by the fight.
But in his opinion, the wood they used was too brittle for his restaurant's needs. Even now, he already had a complaint from some Orc and that orc-like guy Lee Han. They said they need to be careful just drinking and joking around.
"Ten tables plus one long one to accommodate twelve people. So… 52 chairs and 8 bar stools?"
"Ten tables. One long table for twelve. Fifty-two chairs. Eight stools." Greito repeated, counting under his breath as though testing whether Ludwig had miscalculated. "You are expanding?"
"Nope." Ludwig replied lightly. "That's the original configuration of the restaurant."
Greito did not comment on that. His eyes just lingered on Ludwig a second longer before he asked, "What material?"
Rather than answering immediately, He looked toward the tree line behind Greito's hut. It was spacious enough for what he would took out from his Storage Dimension next.
Then, he reached into his storage and drew it out. The trunk emerged first, thick enough that it took both of them a moment to adjust to its presence. Then the branches, long and uneven, scraping lightly against the surrounding foliage before settling.
Claire, who had just managed to stand upright again, stared at it as a soft thud echoed.
The bark was dark, almost black in some places. The wood beneath showed through where Ludwig had cut it clean earlier. No corruption lingered now. No pressure in the air. He had made sure to purge the demonic away.
Greito stepped closer without speaking. He placed one broad hand against the trunk and pressed. The bark did not give in under his palm. So, Greito just pressed harder like when he check the ingots from Tempest.
Once that was done, he knocked once against the trunk with his knuckles. The sound was low and dense.
Greito's eyes narrowed slightly. He moved along the trunk and found one of the clean cuts Ludwig had made.
"This is Tenebris Oak." He said at last.
"Is that the name?" Ludwig hummed as he also did what Greito just did.
Greito ignored the question for a moment. He crouched and scraped a thumb across the cut surface, then brought it closer to his face as if scent might tell him something more.
"This is a tree that couldn't be planted." He said, still looking at the grain. "It forms where shadow mana gathers long enough to become matter. Takes decades just to stand. Centuries to grow thick."
He straightened and struck it again, harder this time. The sound remained heavy and short.
"It normally carries corruption in its body, but it's clean now. You purify it?" He asked.
"I asked Seraphine to purge it." Ludwig said.
Greito lifted his eyes from the grain, his hands also stopped moving. "You ask the saintess to purify a… tree?
"Yep." Ludwig said lightly. "She's the best for the job, isn't she?"
"I just don't know how your brain operates." Greito sighed.
At that moment, Claire walked closer to them and squatted near the tree. "So, is this a good material?"
Gretio scoffed at the question. "For shield and handle of heavy weapons, yes. For a chair and a table? It's like using Mithril to make a pan."
Claire looked at the trunk again, then at Ludwig.
"After what he said, are you still going to use it?"
In front of her gaze, he just shrugged. "Why not. It's durable enough, no? Perfect for furniture that wouldn't break when an orc or Lee Han laughed too loud."
"It will not." Greito rose from his crouch and dusted his hands against his clothes. "Tenebris Oak does not flex the way common hardwood does. If you strike it, the force stays close. It does not travel far."
He tapped the trunk again with the side of his fist. The sound sank into the clearing instead of echoing through it.
"Most demon smiths only see this in fragments." He continued. "A beam for a gate. A core for a ward frame. Sometimes a haft for a weapon meant to outlast its owner. A full trunk like this…" He glanced at Ludwig. "That is not common."
Ludwig shrugged. "It was in the way."
Greito gave him a long look that suggested he did not believe that for a moment. Then, he added, "A whole tree like this wouldn't be enough for your order, so… I will substitute some parts with other wood."
At Greito's serious explanation, Ludwig just smirked. "Who said I only have one?"
Greito did not answer at once. He just stared at Ludwig, then at the trunk on the ground, then back at Ludwig again.
"How many?" He asked.
"I have plenty." Ludwig replied.
"How much is this plenty? Your definition of plenty is different from mine."
Ludwig tilted his head slightly, lips still curling because he enjoyed the spectacle. "Three more of similar size. They are already purged too."
Greito looked at him with incredulous eyes. "You are telling me you harvested an entire grove of Tenebris Oak?"
"I found them." Ludwig corrected. "They were not exactly in a grove. More like… clustered."
Greito ran a hand down his face slowly. "Do you understand how long it takes for one Tenebris Oak to mature?"
"Nope. Not before you tell me a moment ago." Ludwig shrugged.
Greito looked at him as if reassessing something fundamental. Like he was meant to find something easily while others worked hard for it. Or maybe, he just felt the injustice of the world.
"Bring one more." He said at last. "I need to see the consistency in the grain. If I mix sections poorly, the furniture will twist over time."
Without argument, Ludwig reached into storage again. The second trunk slid into the clearing with less ceremony this time, landing parallel to the first.
Greito quickly stepped between them to examined it. "They are compatible."
"So, you can make it with these two, right?" Ludwig asked.
"Yes, and there will be some leftovers. What do you want me to make with it?"
Ludwig crossed his arms as his brain tried to recall what his kitchen might need. A wooden spatula from something this durable would be nice, but… it's not like he couldn't fix the spatula in his kitchen if it ever broke.
So maybe…
"Will it be enough for a cutting board and maybe a bowl? Just a small one. One bowl as well."
"After chairs and tables, now bowl and a cutting board." Greito repeated, more like he was telling himself he hadn't heard wrong rather than throwing the words out to Ludwig.
"Yes."
"For food?"
"For food."
At his answer, Greito took two slow steps toward Ludwig, closing the distance until the difference in height felt intimidating.
"You want me," He stopped after accentuating the last part of the sentence. "to carve a cutting board and a bowl… out of Tenebris Oak."
Ludwig met his stare without retreating. "It will be durable, no?"
Greito's jaw tightened.
"Durable?" He echoed.
Claire covered her mouth, not quite hiding the smile forming there.
Greito then turned his head slightly toward the trunks behind him, then back to Ludwig, as if confirming that this was not some elaborate jest.
"Do you understand that..." He said slowly, "That demonkin smiths spend a fortune to get wood like this? A wood that some would trade forged weapons for a beam of it."
"I never know. You just told me." Ludwig replied.
"And you want a bowl."
"Yes."
"A bowl for what? Soup?"
"Or maybe salad. Nah, my customer like their meat. Serving salad will only make them riot."
Greito stared at him for a long moment. Then he lifted one broad hand and pointed at Ludwig's chest.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
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