It looked like Felix's eyes were sparkling. "Bro. Dude. Sensei. Could you please show me how you did it?"
"Is it the blacksmith class? Do romance flags come from crafting? Should I start making kitchen tools?"
Greg said, "There are no romance flags! This is just a string of negative events that got out of hand!"
"That is precisely what the dense main character always says!" Felix took a small notebook out of his pocket. "Okay, okay, I need to write this down."
"Step one: Don't do what everyone else wants you to do."
"Step two: Make household items that are far too strong."
"Step three: Accidentally draw in a group of beautiful women who are like family."
"Step four: Keep denying that you like someone romantically. Did I get this right?"
Greg said, "You're making this sound a lot more planned than it is."
"That's because you're living it naturally, Sensei! You're not even trying, and that's what makes it work!" Felix wrote quickly in his notebook.
"The key to the best slow-life harem route is to have a real personality and not be a creep. This is revolutionary."
Bork, who had been quietly watching the whole thing, raised his hand. "What the fuck is a harem?"
"It's when more than one person is romantically interested in the same person," Seraphine said in a clinical way.
"Greg won't admit to the obvious signs in this case, though."
"Because there are no signs!" Greg kept saying.
"Master, I really did say you were worth loving," Elwen said.
"That was unclear!"
"I bring you breakfast every day," Lylia said.
"That's just being nice!"
"I stay here to learn more about you," Seraphine said.
"That's for science!"
"I was literally born from your love, and I call you Master-forger-darling," Mira said.
Greg said, "That's... okay, that one is a little difficult to explain anyway."
Felix was writing so quickly that his hand was almost a blur. "This is gold. Real gold."
"The ultimate dense protagonist energy." He looked up with respect. "Sensei, you're living the dream."
"Do you know how many light novels I've read where the main character gets this kind of setup?"
"And you're doing it by accident while making legendary kitchenware. That's like... that's art."
Greg said, "It's not fucking art, it's more like chaos. Stop using words from your old life! Some of us don't even understand any of it!"
Felix smiled and said, "Same thing in this genre! So, can I please stay here? I promise I'll be helpful!"
"I can help with commissions, I can teach you about the modern world, and I can be the funny character who points out the obvious romantic tension that everyone else is ignoring!"
Lylia said, "We already have Marina for that."
Felix put his hands together and said, "Then I'll be the overly excited comic relief!"
"Please, Sensei!"
"I traveled two days to get here after I heard about the legendary peaceful blacksmith! In my old world, I had no friends, no social life, only games and anime!"
"This is my chance to go on a real isekai adventure, but not the murder hobo kind. The crafting kind!"
Greg looked at this excited young man, who was a total mess, and felt something very close to sympathy. The gods had also brought him to this world with expectations. He had to figure out how to live in a new reality and wanted something different than what was expected.
"Okay," Greg said. "But you're helping Bork with his filing duty, and you can't talk about my personal life."
"YES! THANK YOU, SENSEI!" Felix bowed so deeply that his forehead almost hit the floor.
"I swear on the forty-eight-hour gaming marathon that ended my first life that I will be the best student, apprentice, and family member you've ever had!"
"That oath is very specific," Seraphine said.
Felix stood up straight and looked around the workshop. "I'm a very specific person!" he said. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Please tell me it's something totally useless that somehow becomes famous."
"Oh! Can I watch you work? I want to see the crafting animation! Do you glow? Please tell me you glow."
"I hum," Greg said.
Felix looked like he was going to pass out from excitement when he said, "EVEN BETTER!"
"The humble humming blacksmith who accidentally builds a harem with the help of legendary household items. This is the best isekai ever."
Bork bent down to talk to Greg. "Is he like this all the time?"
Greg replied, "The fuck should I know? I've only known him for five minutes, and I'm already exhausted."
Felix said happily, "I can hear you! And yes, I'm always like this!"
"I've been a shut-in gamer for eighteen years, so I have a lot of catching up to do!"
Marina walked into the workshop at that moment, saw Felix, and then turned to Greg right away. "You got another one."
"It's a boy this time, not a girl!" Greg protested.
"At least it's starting to get a little balance for the co." Marina looked at Felix like she was studying a new type of animal. "Let me guess."
"Too excited, probably makes too many references to things that don't make sense, and definitely sees this whole thing as a story?"
"How did you know?" Felix asked, shocked.
"I have been observing this disastrous situation unfold for months now," Marina said. "Welcome to the mess. Don't worsen it."
Felix said with a smile, "No promises!"
Greg looked around his workshop. It now had a dwarf who threw up when he heard hammering, a no-life gamer who spoke only in anime references, four women who may or may not have romantic feelings for him, and a spirit that came from a soup ladle. His life as a blacksmith was no longer peaceful.
He said softly in his mind, "System, what happened to my simple, quiet life?"
[You made bonds instead of weapons. This is what happened.]
Greg said, "I fucking hate that you're right."
Felix had already found Bork and was excitedly talking about "crafting builds" and "min-maxing." Bork looked confused but interested. People were talking, laughing, and maybe even Felix was trying to sing an anime opening theme in the workshop.
Greg picked up his hammer, looked at the mess he had made, and began to hum. At least he could still create things. Even if those things somehow kept bringing more people into his life, which was getting busier.
"Master-forger-darling," Mira said as she came up to him. "Should I make another cot? We're going to need more room to sleep."
Greg said, "At this rate, we'll need a whole inn."
"I can rearrange the workshop to make the best use of space!"
"Please don't."
But she was already floating away with that determined look that meant his tool organization was about to get even more messed up. Felix was showing Bork what a "skill tree" was.
Lylia was making plans for dinner for seven people. Seraphine was writing down what Felix knew about "interdimensional knowledge." Elwen was drawing out the new chaos.
And the man himself, Greg Greyson, the blacksmith who couldn't say no, had another day like this. Then Seraphine gets close to him.
"I heard Felix say that you're one of the reincarnators too. Is that true, since you have a system too?"
Felix heard it, and then he remembered what Gred said outside. Greg was going to tell the truth, but Felix put his hands up.
"I repeat, he is not a reincarnator! I thought he was someone else from my world."
"I see." Then Seraphine went back to her desk.
Greg sighed and looked at Felix, who was giving him a thumbs up and saying, "Nice assist, right, Sensei?"
"Yes, thank you..."