The morning air is cool and brisk.
I could go find Vesper and head straight to Mariselle. Get an early start on the materials, come back and begin the build today. That's the efficient option.
The problem is that Vesper is not an early option. She is very much a later-in-the-day option, and showing up at her door right now would produce a result that benefits neither of us. Better to let her sleep and do something useful in the meantime.
The fields are the obvious answer.
By the time I arrive the high elves are already out and working, spread across the rows, each knowing exactly where they're needed. I transform Ananke into a pair of pruning shears and join the group.
I start at the Spiceleaf rows. A week out from harvest, the leaves are full and dark, the kind of deep green that means they're ready to be done growing. The work is simple: pinch back anything that's bolting, clear the base so air can move through. The smell is sharp and clean and slightly aggressive.
[High Elf] "I still don't understand how you eat this raw."
The woman working the next row over says it without looking up, pulling a leaf and holding it between two fingers like it's done something to offend her.
[High Elf] "It bites back."
[Wright] "That's the point."
She gives me a look that suggests this is not a satisfying answer.
I move on to the Root Tubers. I transform a hand fork and work carefully along the base of each plant, breaking up the soil without disturbing the roots underneath. It's slow, satisfying work.
Two high elves nearby are having a conversation that started before I arrived. I listen in as I continue working.
[High Elf] "Cael checked the boards again this morning."
[High Elf] "Again?"
[High Elf] "He says he's studying openings."
[High Elf] "He's been studying the same opening for two weeks."
[High Elf] "I know. Lyra watched him practice for an hour and then beat him in four moves."
[High Elf] "Did he know she was watching?"
[High Elf] "He does now."
I move on to the next crops, smiling to myself.
The Wild Strawberry patch is at the far edge of the row. Most of the berries are still a few days out, but a handful at the edges have come in early, deep red and slightly soft. I transform a small harvesting basket and work along the border, picking the ones that are ready, leaving everything else. Someone appears at my elbow almost immediately.
[High Elf] "Oh good, you found the early ones."
He reaches past me and takes two before I've said anything.
[High Elf] "Quality control."
[Wright] "Is it?"
[High Elf] "Essential work."
He pops a third one and walks away looking satisfied. I look at the basket. Still reasonable. I keep going.
Partway through the morning I notice Liora and Nym at the far end of the field.
Liora has a measuring line stretched across the ground, one end staked near the edge of the existing crop rows, the other held out into the open stretch of earth beyond. She walks the length of it slowly, eyes down, then stops and crouches to press her hand flat against the soil. Nym stands a few paces back with a journal open, sketching something out. After a moment Liora stands, says something, and Nym marks the page. They move the stake, stretching the line again.
They sure are working hard. I wave. They both wave back without breaking stride.
---
By afternoon the sun has shifted and most of the morning work is done. I'm brushing dirt off my hands when I see Vesper coming down the path from the high elf residence.
She's looking around as she walks, scanning the area.
[Wright] "Afternoon."
[Vesper] "Where is Liora?"
[Wright] "Still at the far end of the field, probably. She and Nym have been out here most of the day."
[Vesper] "I was going to ask her about lunch. I've been awake for an hour and I haven't eaten anything."
[Wright] "We can eat in Mariselle. We should head out so that I can get started on the inns today."
[Vesper] "We're going now?"
[Wright] "I've been waiting for you since this morning."
She looks at me for a moment, then back at the field.
[Vesper] "I cannot think about plumbing arrays on an empty stomach."
[Wright] "Mariselle has food stalls."
[Vesper] "Good. Let's go before I change my mind about leaving the village."
I picture the alleyway we used last time we left Mariselle. The narrow gap between two buildings near the harbor street, the smell of salt air and timber coming through even in memory. The portal opens and we step through.
We arrive to the smell of salt and cooking and a dozen other things layered on top of each other. Somewhere close something is frying in oil and my stomach is telling me it's a very good decision.
Vesper is already moving toward it.
We find the stall two streets over. She looks at the options, picks something, and we eat while we walk.
[Wright] "I'm thinking three inns."
[Vesper] "Three? How many people are coming to this festival?"
[Wright] "Two for the country leaders and their parties, there are a lot of people. And a third for the kids and their friends at the academy. I'll need a stable area as well."
[Vesper] "For the stable area, just housing for the monsters will do. Carriages won't make it through the forest. Everyone will arrive by flying mount or spatial magic."
[Wright] "Good point, thanks. The crafting skill handles the structure either way. The inside is what takes time."
[Vesper] "That's my part. Which, I should mention, is considerably more involved than people assume. The mana routing alone for three buildings is going to require some careful planning."
[Wright] "How long do you think you'll need?"
She chews, thinking.
[Vesper] "A few days for the artifact components. If you have the framing up by then I can run the plumbing installation before you close the walls. Don't close the walls before I get in there."
[Wright] "I won't."
We split after that. Vesper disappears into what looks like a specialist supply shop and I head to the building materials district. Dressed timber, fired brick, stone block, glass panels, metal fittings, roofing material, and anything else I think I might need. It fills my storage steadily, this kind of accumulation feels good because you know exactly what it's going to become.
Vesper reappears when I'm on my last purchase and stands nearby without saying anything.
[Wright] "Done?"
[Vesper] "Finished a while ago. I found everything I needed and a few things I didn't know I needed until I saw them."
[Wright] "I'll be done after this."
[Vesper] "I know. I'm waiting because I'd like to go home, not because I enjoy standing in a materials district."
Last purchase made. I open a portal back to the village and we step through, arriving just outside my cabin.
[Vesper] "I'll start on the artifact components today. The sooner I begin the mana arrays the better. Complex work takes time to do properly."
Her footsteps are already fading before I've finished the thought.
I stand outside and think about where to put these new buildings.
Three inns. They need room, proper paths between them, access to the main road. I need a substantial footprint.
The area between my cabin and the Crimson Vintner comes to mind. Flat, clear, central. The only things currently there are the two cabins I built for the kids. They've been sitting empty since.
I send a message to the group chat.
[Wright] "Takeshi, Aiko, Yuki, your cabins in the village, would you mind if I took them down? I need the space for the inns."
[Takeshi] "Not at all! We can stay at the inn with everyone else."
[Aiko] "That's more fun anyway."
[Yuki] "Or the camper van if the inn is full."
A moment later another message comes through.
[Liora] "Are you building where the kids' cabins are?"
[Wright] "That's the plan."
[Seraphina] "How many inns are you planning?"
[Wright] "Three. They'll extend fairly close to your winery. You may get more noise nearby. Would that be an issue?"
[Seraphina] "Not in the slightest. The Crimson Vintner has been waiting for an audience worthy of what we've been crafting in there."
[Lucien] "I should mention, my group and I will be away for a short while. We have a promising lead on the origin of the Sovereign's Insignia and I intend to follow it before the festival."
[Seraphina] "I'll be departing as well. There are matters near my castle requiring my attention."
[Lucien] "You're looting again."
[Seraphina] "I am not. There happen to be rumors of an abandoned castle in a nearby forest and I intend to investigate them personally."
[Lucien] "That is the definition of looting."
[Seraphina] "It is the definition of preservation. Something you angels would understand better if you spent less time cataloging things and more time actually appreciating them."
[Vesper] "Take this somewhere else please."
That exchange had an ending I did not see coming.
[Wright] "You both stay safe out there."
That settled, I walk over to the kids' cabins and put them both into storage. The ground clears quickly. I stand in the middle of the open plot and look around.
To my left, my cabin. To my right, the Crimson Vintner. Ahead, the main road and the fields beyond. Behind, the treeline and the river a little further in.
It's a good plot. Bigger than it looked with the cabins on it.
I think about what this place looked like when I first arrived. A dense forest. Monsters roaming about.
Now there are treehouses in the canopy, a gate connected by spatial magic to a castle somewhere else, a winery, my cabin, and acres of lush fields. And now three inns are going up.
This is what leveling up a village feels like.
Three inns. Grand enough that the delegations feel properly received, comfortable enough that it doesn't lose the village charm. Connected paths between them, access to the road, close enough to everything that nothing feels out of the way.
I activate the crafting skill and select the biggest inn available. A hologram takes shape in my mind, room by room, floor by floor.
There's a placement option I haven't seen before. Did my skill level up? I make a note to look into that later. Let's try this out first.
I set the first inn down and the hologram holds its position. I pull up a second blueprint and it appears alongside the first, both sitting there at the same time. That's useful. I add the third. All three visible at once, each holding their place while I move between them.
I can plan the entire layout before I've laid a single beam.
I spend a few hours working through it. Somewhere along the way I find out I can add roads and landscaping features too, shrubs and trees along the paths.
The layout comes together well. Two three-story inns set in staggered parallel. The first faces the main walkway and the fields. The second faces the forest, with a view of the river from the upper floors, positioned to make it a short walk to the winery without blocking its sightline to the trees. A two-story inn sits between the forest-facing inn and my cabin. A stable area tucked between all three. Connected paths running through the whole thing, with open space left between the buildings and some room along the edges.
This is perfect. Let's get started.