Gilded Ashes Chapter 252: Dust On Their Shoulders

Raizen kept his voice low, instinctively gentle. "Morning, Blanket Blob."

Saffi blinked once.

Then, without a word, she retreated under the blanket like she got spotted by a predator.

Raizen stared at the blanket for a second, then let out a quiet breath that almost turned into a laugh. "That blanket’s holding you hostage or what?"

The blob didn’t move.

Raizen’s mouth curved. He returned to his slate.

Two seconds later, the blanket exploded.

Saffi popped out as if she took his comnt personally, threw the blanket back, quickly straightened her shirt, fixed her hair with both hands in one aggressive motion, and stood up like she suddenly rembered she had standards.

Raizen looked up. "Oh. The blanket has set you free."

"I was always free" Saffi mumbled, still adjusting her sleeves, voice a little rough from sleep. "I was just... Uh, strategically unconscious."

Raizen nodded seriously. "Understood."

Saffi stepped closer to the table, eyes already locking onto the slate. The sleepiness didn’t vanish completely, but her brain clearly woke up the mont she saw lines and asurents.

"So..." she said, leaning in slightly. "I see you’re on your slate again."

Raizen didn’t bother denying it. "Mmyeah."

She pointed at the sketch. "Any new stuff?"

Raizen slid the slate toward her. "Check these out"

Saffi stared.

For a second, she didn’t speak at all. Her eyes moved fast - from the rib padding area to the anchor points, then to the spool protection sketch Raizen added in the margin. She tapped the slate lightly, once, as if testing whether it was real.

Then she looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"You’re such a genius."

Raizen’s first instinct was to wave it off nonchalantly. His second was to be honest.

"It was Eiden" he whispered, glancing toward the cooking area. "He pointed out all of the weak spots. I just... Wrote it down, I guess."

Saffi blinked, then looked back at the slate like the words didn’t change how impressive it was. "But still!"

Raizen frowned. "Still what?"

Saffi tapped the slate again, more firmly this ti. "Still. You understood it fast enough to draw it like this."

Raizen hesitated. He didn’t know what to do with that complint. He wasn’t used to being praised for thinking. In his head, thinking was just... Planning. Survival. Avoiding mistakes that could kill people.

Saffi leaned closer, her tone shifting into excited focus. "Look at this. If you change the padding here and here, you stop it from rubbing into the ribs when you turn. That alone fixes half the pain."

Raizen nodded. "That’s exactly what he said."

"And this hook adjustnt..." Saffi traced the curve with her finger without touching the slate. "If we reshape it a little and smooth the angle, it grips without tearing. That ans less jamming too."

Raizen’s eyes softened. Watching her talk like this was... Strangely pleasant. When Saffi spoke about engineering, she didn’t just sound smart. She sounded truly alive.

Then she looked up again, eyes bright despite the tired shadows under them.

"Once we’re back in Neoshima" she said, "this is going to go so much smoother."

Raizen tilted his head. "You think so?"

Saffi nodded quickly and her mouth curved.

From the cooking area, Eiden’s voice drifted over, calm and mildly amused. "Try not to burn the house down with ideas."

Raizen turned his head slightly. "Don’t tell that"

Eiden didn’t reply, but Raizen heard the soft sound of sothing being stirred again.

Saffi glanced toward the cooking area with a small look of disbelief. "He really is cooking."

Raizen nodded. "Apparently he cooked everything since we ca here."

Saffi’s eyebrows rose. "Of course he did! What, weren’t you ho- Oh. Right."

Then she turned her head towards Eiden. "So... What’re you making?"

Eiden shouted from across the room "Uh... well, I’m trying to make so vegetable dumplings, but these are harder to make than chanical compounds!"

Raizen’s gaze drifted to the deck of cards on the table beside him. Saffi noticed too, and she tapped the box lightly with one finger.

"What’s that?" she whispered.

"Eiden gave them to " Raizen answered, sa low tone.

Saffi stared at the cards, then at Raizen. "Playing cards? What, you’re bored?"

Raizen nodded. "He said "just in case we’re bored" so that applies to you, too"

Saffi shook her head slowly. "He’s unbelievable."

Raizen’s mouth curved. "You’re saying that like it’s new information."

Saffi made a small sound that could’ve been a sigh.

They stayed like that for a mont - Raizen seated, Saffi standing close to him, both speaking in whispers as if they couldn’t actually speak normally. The rain outside kept pouring. The sll of sothing warm and savory began to fill the house.

Raizen looked back down at his slate and adjusted one last line near the harness structure.

"Okay" he muttered to himself. "If we redistribute the load here..."

Saffi leaned in again. "That’s better."

He was about to reply when the door latch clicked.

Both of them froze.

The door opened fully now.

Kenzo stepped inside first.

Raizen didn’t recognize him for a second.

Kenzo’s hair was damp and dusted with pale grit. His shoulders sagged, and his usual swagger - that loud, confident presence that filled rooms - was missing. He looked like he walked for hours without stopping. Like he forgot what rest was.

Then Atman followed.

"Wait, Atman? What’s he doing here?" Raizen thought.

He looked way worse.

Not just tired. Not just soaked. His cloak clung to him, darker from rain, but there was dust on him too. Fine dust that shouldn’t exist outside. His face was pale under the gri, eyes unfocused, as if looking at sothing distant.

And his hands...

His hands were still slightly trembling.

He held a notebook like he was afraid of letting go.

Eiden didn’t move from the cooking area, but the stirring stopped. The room went quiet in a way that didn’t feel peaceful anymore.

Neither of them smiled.

Neither of them cracked a joke.

Neither of them said a word.