At that exact moment, Marina came in with a basket of vegetables from the market. She looked at the scene of Bork surrounded by legendary materials, Felix with his katana-broom, and Lylia arguing with Seraphine with Greg about how to store materials properly.
She sighed deeply and said, "I was only gone for twenty minutes."
"Twenty fucking minutes." Marina smiles teasingly.
"This time, it's not my fault!" Greg denied it.
"Somehow, it's always your fault eve if you try to deny it." Marina put down her basket and looked around at the mess. "So, what happened? What did you make this morning that turned out to be legendary by accident?
Greg said, "Not yet. I was trying to fucking sleep, and there's always something that stopped it."
"Fucking sleep...?" Marina looked disgusted.
"What I meant is sleeping, don't make it weird just because I swear!"
Marina said in a scary way, "The day is still young."
Felix, who was feeling brave after making a successful broom, decided to see how strong it was by sweeping very hard. Sadly, he swept too close to one of Seraphine's research tools, which fell over and spilled an alchemical solution on Bork's collection of rare materials.
The thing started to shine until producing a lot of smoke, and then it made a noise like a tea kettle having a midlife crisis. Felix panicked seeing that and said. "Oh shit!"
"That's not good," Seraphine said in a professional way.
"THAT'S NOT GOOD AT ALL!" Lylia picked up a bucket of water.
"Don't throw water on magical reactions, it's going to make a huge chain reaction!" Seraphine pulled her back.
And there it is, some chaos. Greg had enough of seeing all of this happen when he wanted to enjoy a long break for only one day, but his so-called friends or allies always did something that could make his head explode at any time.
Greg, who had been trying diligently to endure all of it, finally stood up. "That's fucking it! Everyone! Out!"
"But the stuff!" Bork objected.
"GET OUT!" Greg screamed so loud.
"Like that one meme—" Greg cut his word short by kicking Felix out first before he finished the word.
...
Greg managed to get everyone out of the workshop just as the pile of materials blew up in a shower of sparks that looked more attractive than dangerous. When the smoke cleared, there was a perfectly shaped piece of metal sitting in the middle of the burn mark. It looked like it was glowing from the inside.
"What is that?" Elwen said in a low voice.
Seraphine looked closely while adjusting his glasses, taking out some kind of magical detection tool. "It's a mix of all those rare materials. The alchemical solution made them all merge together to form one composite alloy."
"In theory, this can't happen."
Marina said, "This workshop makes impossible things happen on a Tuesday. Is anyone surprised? No? Good."
"It's one with our daily lives right now." Elwen answered while chuckling.
Greg picked up the bar. It felt warm to the touch and was surprisingly light for its size. His system went on right away.
[NEW MATERIAL FOUND: Chaosweave Alloy]
[Properties: Changes based on what the user wants, can't be broken, and distorts reality slightly]
[How rare: SSS-Rank]
[Note: This shouldn't be here.]
[The gods are surprised]
"Of course it's SSS-Rank," Greg said with a sigh. "Everything in my life becomes SSS-Rank."
Felix was so excited he could hardly wait outside just to come in again with the others. "Master! We created a legendary material! This is a big deal! Do you know what we could do with this?"
"Problems," Greg said. "We could cause trouble."
"Or answers!" Bork offered hope.
"Same thing now."
Lylia looked surprised when she saw the material. "Th-That's...!!!"
Greg looked at her, and he could see her terrified face. "What's wrong?"
Lylia was already doing math. "If people find out that you have the Chaosweave Alloy, every smith, mage, and noble on the continent will come to this village. If they have to, they'll bring armies."
Greg said simply, "Then we don't have to tell anyone, it's that simple."
He threw the ingot into a drawer and locked it. "It stays here, and we don't use it for anything."
"We don't make anything with it, that's for sure. Do I make myself clear?" Greg looked at them all, and they nodded except for Felix, who already thinks about many possibilities they can make with that.
"But Sensei!" Felix is trying to change his mind.
"No means fucking no!"
Felix said, "You're no fun," but he was smiling. "But still... this is the best workshop ever!"
"We didn't intend to create legendary material in just three hours."
"That's not a good thing!" Greg said.
"It's not a bad thing at all!" Bork added. "We're learning through chaos and explosions now and then, we're going to keep improving until becoming the most legendary blacksmith!"
Marina laughed. "They're fitting in well. Two more fools for your collection."
Greg said, "I don't collect idiots."
"Master, you have a spirit made from a ladle, an elf who can't make normal spoons, a dwarf who is allergic to hammering, and a gamer who has come back to life and thinks life is an anime," Elwen said. "That's not even counting the rest of us."
Seraphine said, "We're all idiots here," without any emotion. "It's part of the fun."
Hearing that from Seraphine made Greg's nape hair raised, "Why did you even say that, Seraphine...?"
She answered, "I had to."
Greg looked around his workshop. There was a burn mark on the floor, a pile of legendary materials that shouldn't exist, a broom that looked like a katana, and six people who thought chaos was normal.
He could no longer remember his peaceful life as a blacksmith. Instead, he was living in a chaotic, tiring, and somehow perfect world.
"I need a drink, a tea that at least can make me fall asleep for a whole day," he said.
Lylia said, "It's nine in the morning."
"What's your point?"
Mira came in with a cup of tea. "Coming right up with the tea you requested, Master-forger-darling!"
"I made it with herbs that calm you down. I promise, not from the dangerous kettle."
Greg gratefully accepted the tea. "Thanks, Mira. You're the only one here who is sane."
Mira said with a smile, "I'm made of magical energy, and I move things around based on how they make me feel."
"I'm just a different kind of crazy."
Felix fell to the floor in a dramatic way. "I love it here. This is exactly the crazy, found family vibe I wanted."
"Can we do this every day?"
"Fuck no," Greg said.
"Yes, probably," Marina said.
And she was correct. A royal messenger arrived later that afternoon, saw the scorch mark and the magical energy that was still there, and sent word back to the capital that Greg Greyson was making secret weapons of mass destruction right away.
Greg would have to put off his peaceful nap. Again, he would never gotten his sleep he craved the most.