Chapter 180

Natalie returned to Shara’s forge the next day, a bit apprehensive about what she would find.

Part of the reason she’d given Shara such vague instructions was because she wanted to see what the woman figured out on her own, without influence from Natalie’s suspicions. The rest of the reason was, well, obvious. Explaining to Shara that she thought erotite might have an affinity for, well, lewdness of some kind would sound downright crazy. And if she turned out to be wrong—reasonable as the assumption was from her perspective—that would be unbelievably mortifying. Better to let the blacksmith deal with it on her own.

Shara was in the middle of a job when Natalie arrived, as she usually was. Her eyes locked on Natalie, and immediately, she paused—then started to blush.

Blush. That was all the confirmation Natalie needed. Just what had she subjected this poor blacksmith to? Even Natalie, accustomed to her class by this point, could be caught off guard by how ridiculous it became. Shara had no such defenses.

Shara wrapped up her task as expeditiously as she could, then brought Natalie into her workshop, giving them privacy.

“So,” Natalie started. “How’d it go?”

“It went well.” She winced. “Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

Shara chewed her lip for a moment. She seemed to come to a decision, nodding firmly to herself.

“I’ll just show you.” She walked over to a stand covered by a canvas tarp. “But first, know that I didn’t mean for it to come out like this. I think it might be the specialty of the ore, as strange as it sounds?” The sentence was inflected up, more a question than a statement. Shara took a breath, then, without ceremony, yanked the covering off.

Natalie stared.

Had she expected anything else?

There, in four pieces—boots, gauntlets, torso, and lower armor—was a shiny set of pink erotite gear. Though really, only the boots and gauntlets could be considered armor in any traditional sense. Even just hung up on a stand for display, not worn by anyone, the heat on Natalie’s face rose rapidly. The torso armor, especially, was scandalizing. And the lower even more so. A tiny triangle of metal with a thin strap to keep it attached.

Considering Natalie’s unique situation, the armor wouldn’t remotely keep her modest. And even most women, only technically. Since magical gear would reshape itself to fit the wielder, it’d probably rework itself if Natalie tried to wear it. But she couldn’t imagine it would be much better.

The set of armor was, hands down, one of the skankiest ensembles Natalie had seen. The dungeon sometimes spat out revealing armor—since the dungeon created just about anything—but this set a whole new standard.

Shara, seeing Natalie’s expression, scrambled to explain. Not that Natalie needed an explanation; this had been what she’d been expecting.

“Like I said, I promise it wasn’t intentional,” Shara said hastily. “The ore basically begged me to be shaped in that way. I just listened. It was the strongest connection I’d ever felt. And the effects seem quite strong. It’s a full set of uncommons, and the chest piece is even a rare. And, and...” Shara trailed off. “And ... you don’t actually look surprised?”

Natalie jolted. “What? Of course I am. I mean, look at it. It’s so...” Natalie herself trailed off, giving up on her flimsy attempts to save herself. It sounded unconvincing even to her. Cheeks coloring, she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. “Well. It is what it is.”

Shara studied her for a long moment. Natalie nearly expected the woman to start questioning her—Natalie wouldn’t have been able to help it, if she’d been in Shara’s position—but, as before, the blacksmith didn’t pester. It’d been one of the reasons Natalie had hired her in the first place: she was a woman who minded her own business. Something Natalie valued above most other things, at the current point in her career.

“Huh,” Shara finally said. “Well, I only used up a bit more than half of what you gave me. It took less metal to make a full set than it usually would.”

Natale grunted in amusement, eying the scandalously small pieces of armor. Of course it had taken less than usual: the boots and gauntlets had probably taken the bulk. The lower piece was genuinely a tiny triangle, a thin sliver of metal; it must have taken close to nothing. Ridiculous.