Blacksmith Sample

"Alice."

"..."

"Alice."

I felt a warmth on my arm.

"ALICE!"

My eyes shot open as I was dragged from my bed and forcibly removed from my slumber.

"I'm up!"

I sprang to my feet and stretched my arms as I broke away from Anita's grip.

"Why are you so eager? It's not like anyone visits our shop anyways. We specialize in weapons, but who needs those anymore?"

"The new king's coronation was yesterday. The first thing he did was declare war."

"What?"

My eyes widened a bit with excitement. You'd think war would come as a shock, but most of the people around here have been longing for it. Ever since the council made peace and closed our borders, most of the citizens in this section of the city - being mercenaries and adventurers - were out of work, including us blacksmiths. It's not like we stopped working entirely. Of course we still mangled metal into farming tools, and had an occasional buyer for weapons, but for the most part we just survived off charity from the council, and odd jobs around town.

"The king declared war on ___. The whole city is ecstatic, and our shop is a zoo."

"Does that mean we actually have customers?"

"LINES of them. So hurry up and get downstairs. We need help taking orders."

"Right away!"

I spoke in jest, but I was genuinely excited. A new chapter in our lives was about to begin!