CH559

When Ben opened his eyes to the second day of his vacation, he was greeted by a small surprise. For once, Thera was awake before him, watching him from the side and looking bright as she held his arm.

“Look who’s finally up,” She laughed, getting a happy smile for her comment

“Good morning Thera, what has you up so early?”

“Ha, it’s later than I’m usually up and I’m excited. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good show, the fact that Greed has people singing about you guys all over the world has to make me curious about how good the real performance is going to be.”

“Hopefully the fact that he lived through that with me eases up on the psychological damage,” Ben sighed, already imagining what he was going to have to go through watching the show in person. He could already tell it was going to be rough, but he was sure that Thera would get a kick out of it and his last meeting with Greed had made it plan that the crab wanted Ben to see the show. How could he deny the friend he’d gone through hell with?

“Just try to keep any pain from your face,” She teased. “Don’t want to break his heart.”

“I’m a master of restraint, he’ll never know my suffering. But before that, breakfast? Or I guess brunch.”

“Sounds great, let’s go.”

---

They left Allfaith after getting up, off to the city that would be hosting Greed’s performance and found a place to enjoy a meal before wandering the area with the time they had till the show, the only thing stopping them being the sound of a distant call.

“Apostle!”

Thera tried to stop to look but Ben had her hand and kept walking.

“That’s not for me.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“The fact that I don’t want it to be. Now come on in case I’m wrong.”

“Myriad’s apostle!” The voice again called out, this time leaving no room for denial as the city’s people turned to look, trying to find the apostle in their midst as Ben heaved a sigh and stopped, accepting that whatever was about to happen was going to somehow be his problem.

“Whatever this is, I’m turning him down,” He muttered to himself. “I’m on vacation, that means no apostle business.”

“Ha, you never do any apostle business.”

“I kind of do sometimes. I got Myriad an oracle and high priestess and helped both awaken different skills. Heck, Myriad has like, a few hundred believers now and most of them are thanks to me. If you look at my numbers, I’m an objectively great apostle, maybe even one of the best.”

None of that explained why he would be randomly called out on the street though, nor how he was recognized from afar. He didn’t exactly advertise himself as a member of any faith, the ones who knew the role he had were largely the other believers along with his friends and acquaintances.

Well, Sachel also outed me to all of Stonewall but I’m pretty sure it’s not anyone from there. Who is this guy?

Ben couldn’t recognize the man running over, he was clearly a swordsman of some hominid mix but that didn’t tell him anything, leaving him no choice but to see what he had to say when he’d finally caught up, with the man immediately breaking into a bow.

“Apostle, I’m sorry to stop you like this when you were out, but when I saw you I had to speak up.”

“It’s fine, is there something I can do for you?”

“You already have,” The man said, still bowing. “I’m sure you don’t remember me, you’d helped so many people, but I was at craftsmans’ tower for the first wave. The enchantment you placed on my sword saved my life that day, it’s the only reason I’m here now. When I saw you I knew I just had to let you know how grateful I am for that.”

Ah, that would explain why I don’t recognize him.

After days of enchanting, enhancing as many weapons as he could in the time he had, Ben had stopped looking at the faces of those he’d helped, instead focusing entirely on the work he had been doing. Without actually having seen the guy, there was nothing for him to recognize until he caught a glimpse of the sword on his back and saw his handwork in the magic that had been placed down.

“You don’t need to thank me, I just did what I could. I’m sure your own skill was far more important in your survival.”

“No, I know my skill and I saw the way demons fell when they touched my blade. I’m only alive today because of your work, I just wanted to properly thank you for it.”

“...Let me see your sword for a minute.”

Without question the man handed it over, letting Ben get a look. The quality was fine overall, as was the enchantment, but there was no doubt both could be better.

Breaking down the old enchantment, Ben immediately used his magic to strengthen and sharpen the weapon’s edge before applying newer, stronger enchantments to it, ensuring it wouldn’t dull while enhancing its ability to kill, bringing a tool that had only been common without the touch of magic up to the lower end of ultra-rare before handing it back over.

“Looks like they’ve held up okay so I hope it keeps serving you well in the future.”

“I’m sure it will, thank you. Ah, but don’t let me keep you, I’m sorry to interrupt your day.”

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

With one more bow, the man left, letting Ben and Thera keep up their leisurely walk through the city, with Thera leaning into him and smiling.

“You look happy.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess I am,” He laughed. “I guess it’s nice to hear that something I made had a positive impact.”

“Ben, everything you make has a positive impact.”

“Probably a lot of it, but I guess it’s surprisingly nice to be told as much. The fact that guy and others are still around because of something I worked on, it’s just a bit motivating I guess?”

“And more than just them,” Thera told him, trying to be encouraging. “Any demons they killed definitely saved lives down the line. You helped with that.”

“Ha, I wouldn’t go quite that far, but thanks.”

“Fine then, you don’t have to believe it for them but you do for me. As my official staff producer, you get some of the glory for everyone I save.”

“Well then, as your official staff producer, I’ll humbly accept if you’re feeling like sharing credit,” Ben laughed, feeling his mood lighten. It really had been nice to hear that his work had helped someone and he kept a spring in his step until they finally reached the venue for Greed’s show.