In the blacksmith district of the town, Ayako walked into one specific shop that was on the opposite lane from her's.
She immediately met the owner of the shop busy welding, so she just stood there for a minute, not wanting to interrupt him.
It was only when he looked up to wipe his brow that he noticed that she was there.
"Oh, it's you," he said. "I didn't notice you there."
"You seemed busy, so I didn't want to interrupt, Mr. Nakamura," she said.
"Thanks, but no work is more important than my customers," he said as he stood up and approached her. "So what can I help you with?"
She looked over her shoulder to see if there was anyone coming before turning back to face him, her expression serious.
"I came to check up on the you-know," she said, trying to hint at something.
He picked it up immediately and said, "Don't worry, it's safe."
"In fact, I've been studying it," he continued.
"It's a marvellous piece of work. Its quality seems tempered from what it originally started as, but there are no signs of defects," he said. "And the pattern is unlike anything I've ever seen."
"Has anyone found out that you have it?" she asked.
"I haven't told a soul," he replied. "Just like I promised."
Her look of worry faded, and with it came a smile of relief.
"As always, I won't ask where you found it," he added, "but I just hope that you're not getting yourself in any trouble."
"This whole situation reeks of danger," he said, looking worried.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Don't worry."
"I can only think of how your father would've reacted if he ever saw you getting mixed up in this," he said with a faint smile.
"He would've helped me hide it for sure," she answered, smiling.
"Yeah, right."
"Anyway, I can't stay for long," she said, turning to leave. "I'll be back soon."
"Greet your sister for me," he said before she walked out.
As soon as she stepped out of the shop, she ran into a familiar face and found herself caught in a request.
Elsewhere, by the square of the town near the construction sites by the statues, the workers were all taking a break and were split into several groups, just chatting or eating lunch.
Among them were Izumi, Hyogo, and Lloyd, who were locked in a tense card game. With their dinner on the line, it was win or starve.
Izumi carefully planted a well-placed trap question into their casual talk that got Hyogo to choke and lose, leaving just Izumi and Lloyd.
Then, out of nowhere, Makoto appeared, and after greeting the three of them, he immediately turned and dragged Lloyd away.
"We have to go," he said. "There's some commotion a few blocks away, so let's hurry."
"Come on, Lloyd complained. "I'm in the middle of a game here. My dinner is on the line!"
"You'll be worrying about more than just your dinner if you get caught slacking off on the job, so let's go," Makoto insisted as he grabbed him by the collar.
"Wait, at least let me eat my lunch first," Lloyd argued, but Hyogo had already snatched the rice balls away and was tearing into them.
"Hey, that's mine!" Lloyd shot.
"Stop being so difficult and let's go," Makoto said as he dragged him away.
"I guess that means I'm getting triple the food tonight," Izumi boasted before turning to Hyogo.
"Hey, give me some of that, will you?" he pleaded.
"As if," Hyogo said, eating either rice ball in one bite.
"I didn't know that you all were starving to the point that you're fighting for scraps," a soft voice said from behind them.
They turned to see that it was Ayako, who was carrying some food with her.
"Here, have some," she said, tossing it to them.
Izumi caught it and said, "Quit acting so generous as if we don't know about the restaurant trips you and the girls take every week without us."
"You gonna eat it, or are you going to give it back?" she said, not even trying to deny it.
His silence afterward said it all as he immediately tore into the rice balls. As the two continued stuffing their food down, Ayako found herself staring at the statue at the center of the square.
"Is something wrong?" Izumi asked after swallowing the last bite of food.
"It's nothing," she replied while still looking at it.
"It really does look incredible, doesn't it?" she continued. "To think that the person who made it was related to me."
"Oh, so it was you guys," Izumi said.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"It's just that the old man who first brought us to town told us about her and said something about her relatives being artisans too, but I didn't think it was you guys," he replied.
"It is," she said. "My father even named me after her."
"Really?" Hyogo asked.
"Yeah," she answered. "Her name was Aiko Shio, and they say that she was the best craftswoman the town had ever seen."
She sat down beside them, saying, "She was the sister to my great-grandfather."
"My father said that he used to talk about her all the time with this sparkle in his eye," she continued. "He said that's what sparked him to be an artisan too, but she died young from an illness she was born with."
Looking back at it, she said, "I also want to make something like it one day."
"I volunteer myself as the subject," Izumi smirked.
"You aren't worth the effort," she replied, to which Hyogo snickered.
"That's quite a waste, don't you think?" he insisted. "You'd be missing your chance to work with a prized specimen such as myself. It could be the chance of a lifetime."
"What a bleak lifetime it is if that's the highlight of it," she shot back.
"Fine, suit yourself," Izumi said. "But don't come crawling back."
"I won't," she replied. "Plus, it's not that simple."
"You don't just make art. There has to be intent behind it, something deeper than what the eye can see at first glance."
"Like the statue, for example," she said, pointing to it. "At first, it might seem like just a depiction of the person who saved her, but underneath, you can tell that it is supposed to represent the hope that people have when the future looks so hopeless."
"That's what makes it special," she continued. "At least to me."
"But I still can't figure out what it is that I want to express, so I'm at a loss."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out sooner or later," Hyogo said.
"Thanks," she replied with a faint smile before springing up to her feet.
"By the way," Izumi asked, "why did you come here?"
"I find it hard to believe that you cared about us so much that you'd bring us food for no reason."
"I met up with Mr. Miyazaki, and he said that something came up, so he asked me to look over the site," she replied. "On that note, let's get back to work."
She started walking away toward the lane of unfinished houses, and the two of them followed.
But Izumi couldn't help but say, "I don't think this will end well."
After a few minutes, when the workers gathered back at the site for a briefing on the next job, they found her waiting for them.
They lined up as they always did, trying to ignore her, but they couldn't expect what was coming next.
"Alright, men, we have a lot of work to do today, so let's not waste any time," she said in an authoritative tone that seemed fake.
"What are you doing here, Shio?" one of them finally said.
"I'm your boss today, so down, peasants," she said, followed by a maniacal laugh.
"Who died and made you boss?" another of the men asked.
"Mr. Miyazaki ran into some trouble and asked me to step in, so hop it," she shot back. "You're lucky that you get to work under me, slaves."
In the back of her head, she couldn't help but think, The truth is, he only asked me to look over the site. He never said anything about me taking over.
"Come on, stop it, Shio. We're not kids anymore," one of them complained.
"What was that?!" she yelled. "There goes half your pay. Now get to work, or I'll take the other half."
She proceeded to laugh manically while ordering the group around.
"She's getting a kick out of this, isn't she?" Izumi whispered to Hyogo.
"Definitely."
She caught the two of them mumbling and yelled, "You there! Get your asses to work or you're fired!"
"It's going to be a long day, isn't it?" Izumi whispered.
A faint smile formed on Hyogo's face as he said, "Definitely."