After walking for a while, the two finally returned to the Forgefire Blacksmith.
Just like last time, the heat emitting from the blacksmith and hammering sound remained.
Zhao Kai took a deep breath before gently opening the door. He knew better than to behave like last time, especially with the reminder from Xu Feng.
As he entered, Zhao Kai found a corner to stand in and patiently waited until he was called upon, believing it was the best course of action.
Seeing his action, Xu Feng nearly wanted to laugh at his ridiculous behavior.
Did he seriously believe everything would remain the same?
'This Kai still has a long way to go when interacting with NPCs.' Xu Feng thought, ignoring him and walking toward Fiona.
"Hello, Blacksmith Fiona, I have returned to inform you of good news." He calmly said, shocking Zhao Kai who was standing by the corner.
'Is Feng crazy?' Zhao Kai exclaimed inwardly, his eye sockets nearly popping out.
The last time he did that, a hammer was swung toward him at an insane speed, narrowly missing him.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say he would be killed on the spot if Fiona was truly intending to kill him.
However, what astonished him further was that Fiona actually gently placed down her hammer.
Afterward, she turned around and smiled brightly at Xu Feng in amazement.
"You've completed gathering my materials already?" Fiona said in shock, clearly joyful of such news.
"Of course, those are materials that Blacksmith Fiona required. How could I dare take it easy?" Xu Feng remained humble and bowed his head slightly.
"Oh dear, look at you." Fiona laughed merrily and waved her hand. "Just call me Fiona and let me see those materials."
A few seconds later, Xu Feng neatly placed all the materials on the table, allowing Fiona to inspect them.
While Fiona was distracted in inspecting the qualities of the material, Zhao Kai discreetly dragged Xu Feng by the side.
"How did you do it, Feng?" Zhao Kai whispered softly, afraid of alerting Fiona. "Not only was she not mad at you for interrupting her forging, but she even let you call her first name? What sorcery is this?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier about the NPC's behavior?" Xu Feng smiled briefly and continued, "Fiona is clearly in need of the materials, so her mood was foul. But since I came over and informed her that the materials she was missing were here, it's obvious that she would be delighted."
Alas, the explanation didn't seem to make sense to Zhao Kai. Given that he had already a predetermined mindset in believing Fiona's forging must not be interrupted, he was unable to comprehend Xu Feng's in-depth actions.
"Her mood was foul, so shouldn't the interruption enrage her further and not delight her instead?"
"Sigh, let me explain in another way. Kai, if you're starving and grumpy because of it. Suddenly, someone came over with good food and asked if you wanted some. Would you be mad at that person offering you food?"
As if a lightbulb had been brightened up, Zhao Kai finally understood the meaning.
Since Fiona's father was missing, she was forced to be in charge of the blacksmith. Thus, she was unable to exit and gather materials herself.
Additionally, her forging was stagnant because of insufficient materials, which resulted in her foul mood, especially when Zhao Kai gave a terrible first impression.
However, everything changed as soon as Xu Feng helped resolve the conflict for her, and in return, received her approval.
"Damn, so wouldn't I be the one receiving the approval if I went ahead to do the informing instead?" Zhao Kai twitched his lips and glared at Xu Feng.
Meanwhile, Xu Feng patted his shoulder and grinned, "And this is why I warn you time and time again. But you just never listen. Now the credit is mine."
"You are very cruel."
"Cruel? More like a clever person."
Speechless, Zhao Kai realized he could only blame himself, especially when Xu Feng had practically given him the chance earlier.
It was just that he failed to capitalize on it and foolishly believed waiting was the correct choice.
"Ugh, I thought you were my brother." Cried Zhao Kai, clearly unable to believe he was played by Xu Feng so hard.
"If I treated you as an enemy, then I wouldn't have bothered clearing your doubt. What I did is to show you that people must not be trusted blindly, and that includes me and your eldest sister." Xu Feng's expression suddenly turned cold and solemn.
Zhao Kai could indistinctly feel there was something weird about his expression, but couldn't pinpoint where exactly.
Naturally, he would never be able to understand the betrayal and pain that Xu Feng had to go through in his past timeline. A timeline that was merely filled with nothing but terrible memories.
"Anyway, I won't steal your credit this time but remember to not act so complacent. Even if the mission was entrusted to you initially, it can easily be stolen by others if you're not careful." Xu Feng patted his shoulder and proceeded to return to Fiona's side.
"Fiona, this time, it was thanks to Shadow Blade's immaculate firepower that we managed to collect most of the materials in time."
"Oh? This timid person did most of the work?" Dumbfounded, Fiona held a doubtful expression as she glanced at Zhao Kai.
Upon being glanced at, Zhao Kai quickly stood still, nearly as straight as those soldiers in the military training camp.
"Are you deceiving me?" Fiona raised an eyebrow, seemingly suspicious of the claim.
Luckily, Xu Feng was prepared for it and pointed at a few corpses. "See those corpses, Fiona. They are riddled with bullet wounds but I'm just a Cleric and incapable of making such wounds."
Finally convinced after checking the wounds, Fiona decided to be lenient but her leniency was no different than emotional damage to Zhao Kai.
"Hmm, I suppose this timid person sure kept his ability well, albeit his personality and behavior need work." She commented frankly.