"Hey, guys, are you lost or something?" Billy asked while he was opening the entrance of the hideout.
They frowned when they heard that. Billy didn't seem annoyed in the least… he opened the entrance and made them enter before. He was already planning to show that at some point, so their prank was as pointless as it could be.
"I won't give up! I will find a way to make you be less egocentric!" Kate said.
"Wow, calm down… I never thought you had a temperament problem," Billy said.
"I don't want to hear that from you who has an attitude problem!" Kate said.
"So, you have been learning how to forge while you were away?" Lily asked. "I can't see why you would keep it a secret from us. Nor how did you learn this so fast…"
"I learned the basics from John and this is kind of calming," Billy said. "A place where I can be alone and create things at the same time. I also learned how to repair weapons and armor here, so in case we go to a dungeon, we won't need to retreat or waste time if something happens."
It seemed pretty pointless for someone who had that much martial talent like Billy to learn so many things… but then his friends realized that if he were to focus on a single thing, he would leave everyone behind in the dust.
"Is this the weapon that seems like a bow that Alexander mentioned?" Lily asked when she found the last prototype of the crossbow on a table. "I thought no one but the tamers knew how to make them."
"I took a good look at them when we fought their beasts and I am trying to copy it," Billy said.
"They were at five hundred meters of us," Alexander frowned.
"That is why it is only a prototype… it doesn't work yet," Billy said.
It worked, but not in the way Billy wanted. Nevertheless, the group also found many other prototypes lying around, and it showed them that Billy was working hard and not fooling around while they were training.
"This is even more annoying…" Kate said. "You don't even give me the right to be mad."
Billy wondered what was happening to that quiet girl who was a bit depressed. She was becoming too stubborn about the weirdest things. Still, it looked like their plan to trouble him was vanishing into the air.
"Well, since there is nothing I can do to deal with that, I will have you at least to make some spears for me," Kate said. "Two more will be fine since my magical powers were getting stronger.
"Only if you say: pretty please, nyah!" Billy said.
It seemed that things would return like before to them, and Billy's life would become noisy again, but that was fine. Besides, he sooner or later will have to prepare for their next attempt to clear a dungeon, so he might as well make the new weapons for everyone.
"Anyway, when are you two going to get married?" Billy asked. "You should hurry up because I want to do some training in a dungeon soon. Jean also gained a new dungeon, so we can use three more now."
"That is…" Alexander looked away with his face red due to the embarrassment.
"I am not ready yet," Lily said while covering her red face with both hands.
"What an annoying bunch…" Billy said.
That much embarrassment was unnerving for Billy, but he should have expected that much from kids. He just hoped that their annoying behavior wouldn't become even more annoying by turning into being lovey-dovey in front of others.
"You know… we should change our training ground to this place," Kate said.
"No! No, no, no… definitely not," Billy said. "Let me have my peace and quiet."
"Aha! We found something to annoy you!" Kate said and then smiled triumphantly. "Now we are even."
"She got you," Alexander said.
Billy began to massage his temples… It was because he overreacted. Now he had to find another place to be his hideout. However, they had already seen the first place, so he had to move even further away from home… that would make him lose a lot of time. Maybe Billy should just accept that since they wouldn't just come to bother him, they take their training seriously, after all.
Just like that, Billy's life returned to normal. While his forged items still weren't at John's level, he could improve them with his powers, so he slowly upgraded everyone's equipment. He also was getting pretty close to making his crossbow made of iron.
Since Alexander and Lily were being annoying with their indecisiveness, Billy put them against the wall and forced them to decide on a date, so they picked the day after Alexander turned eighteen, and that took place three months after their return. Billy didn't know much about wedding ceremonies in that world, but he learned thanks to them. They followed the hammersmiths style… they basically told Edward the date, and he hosted a dinner for them. The friends and families of the groom and the bride just had to enjoy each other's company, and once that was over, the couple was married.
Speaking of that, Alexander asked Billy to help him look for a house, but all the houses in the town were basically safe and very cheap… Alexander didn't even spend one gold coin to buy a large house. He spent even less on buying the necessary things for the interior…
The mood of the party was pretty good, Nikola was proud of his son that had become a man, but Leo looked like a dead fish. He still was recovering from the fact that he lost to a spearman in hunting.. As for the girls of Billy's party, they made things a bit complicated by crying quite a bit… it wasn't like they were the mothers of the bride, but they were happy like they were.