I start with earth magic. The blueprints call for a basement under each inn, which means digging first. I press both hands to the ground and pull. The soil loosens and lifts in a clean square, coming up in organized layers and going straight into storage. Roots, rock, compacted earth, all of it sorted as it goes. I flatten the base with a second pass and move on to the walls.
Stones out of storage, stacked along the edges of the hole. Then the alchemy skill. The stones shift and merge under my hands, individual blocks becoming a single continuous wall, seams disappearing, the whole thing settling into something solid and uniform. I run my palm along the surface. No gaps. Good.
Timber next. I pull trees from storage and shape them into planks, running my hands along each piece until the dimensions match the blueprint. The first floor goes up quickly. Reception area at the front, staff rooms tucked to one side, kitchen and dining hall at the back, bathrooms and common areas filling the rest. The framing goes in, the walls follow, and the whole thing starts looking like a building.
The second floor takes longer. Individual rooms, each with their own bathroom and a balcony facing either the fields or the treeline depending on their position. I take my time here. The rooms need to feel like rooms, not just boxes with doors.
The third floor is where the building earns its title. Standard rooms along the middle, but at each corner, a suite. Living room, bedroom, bathroom, and a large balcony. The kind of space that makes someone feel like they've been received properly rather than just housed.
The roof goes on last. I shape the timber into beams and run them across the top, angling them to a ridge at the center. Roofing material out of storage, laid in overlapping rows from the eaves up. By the time I set the last piece in place the first inn is a complete structure.
I step back and look at it. Three floors, corner suites, balconies on every level. Not bad.
That's one.
I turn to the hologram of the second inn and start again.
The process is the same. Basement dug, walls raised, floor by floor, room by room. The second inn mirrors the first in structure but faces the forest. The top floor has a clear sightline to the river through the trees. I add a little extra depth to the balconies to make the most of it. Someone is going to stand up there on a quiet morning and have a very good time doing nothing.
The third inn is faster. Simpler by design. Basement, first floor with a large dining room that doubles as the common area, kitchen, reception, staff rooms, bathrooms. Second floor with a range of one and two bedroom rooms, each with their own bathroom and balcony. Nothing excessive. Comfortable and functional, the kind of place a group of academy students will feel at ease in.
The stable goes up last. Large footprint, open structure, high ceiling. Built for monsters, which means thinking about scale. I leave the stalls generous and the central passage wide. Whatever arrives at this festival is going to vary considerably in size and temperament and the stable needs to accommodate both.
I'm running the last wall of the stable when I hear footsteps behind me.
[Kara] "You're already done."
It isn't a question. She's looking at the three inns standing where there were two cabins this morning, arms crossed, head tilted slightly.
[Wright] "The crafting skill does most of the heavy lifting."
[Kara] "I've been here since you started the stable."
She walks the length of the stable wall, running a hand along the timber.
[Kara] "The framing alone on something this size should take a full crew most of a day."
She stops at the corner post and looks up at the joint.
[Kara] "Clean work."
Coming from Kara, that's a full review.
[Wright] "Thanks."
[Kara] "Liora is hosting dinner tonight. She wants to go over the festival layout."
She turns from the post.
[Kara] "You should come."
[Wright] "Sounds fun."
---
The meal is simple, a home cooked spread that smells like something that took all afternoon to prepare. Eldrin is already seated when we arrive, and Rhevan is across from him, filling his bowl. Nym sits beside Rhevan, and Vesper arrives just behind us, still looking like she'd rather be in her workshop.
We settle in and eat for a while before anyone gets to business. That feels right.
[Wright] "Vesper. Frames are done on all three. They are ready for you to start on the plumbing."
Vesper looks up from her bowl.
[Vesper] "You finished already? I told you the mana arrays need at least a day to cure properly before I start threading pipe through them."
She sets her spoon down.
[Vesper] "I'll get to it tomorrow. Don't touch the walls."
[Wright] "Wasn't planning to."
[Kara] "Watching him build is something else. I kept waiting for him to slow down and he just didn't."
[Wright] "I'll take that."
[Kara] "It's like watching someone cheat."
She says it flatly.
[Wright] "That's a godly skill for you."
[Kara] "Don't push it."
She sets her bowl down.
[Kara] "I'm planning to run the festival stalls through the canopy. From our residence to the forest surrounding the winery and the inns."
I look up from my food.
[Wright] "That's good. A festival up in the trees suits the village perfectly."
[Kara] "The demonstration area and the board game tournament will be on the ground floor. Center of the layout, open space so people can watch from close up or from the stalls above."
She looks at me.
[Kara] "I need that area cleared. Can you help with that?"
[Wright] "Of course. How much space do you need?"
[Rhevan] "I marked the boundary this afternoon. I'll walk you through it tomorrow morning."
[Liora] "The stalls in the canopy, the activity below. People can move through one and still feel connected to the other. Nothing gets lost between the two levels."
I think about it. People browsing stalls in the canopy with a full view of the tournament below. People on the ground watching the demonstration with the glow of the stalls above them. Nobody missing anything. It's a good design.
[Kara] "For the board game area I'll build several long tables for the matches. The demonstration area just needs the land cleared. Once that's done the angels take over to set up for their excavation demonstration."
[Wright] "What about Vesper's artifact demonstration and the vampire theatrical play?"
[Vesper] "I don't need a stage. What I'm demonstrating doesn't benefit from one. A stall gives me exactly the setup I need."
[Kara] "The theatre stage and log seating I'll build and store. The angels agreed to fill in the area on the second day so setup is just pulling everything back out."
[Wright] "Are there angels around right now? I thought they all left with Lucien."
[Nym] "Several stayed. Angels and vampires. They're already coordinating with Kara."
[Wright] "It really has become a village effort, hasn't it."
[Kara] "Once the performances and tournament conclude the long tables convert to BBQ seating. Theatre seating goes back into storage to make room for the cooking area."
[Wright] "That works. What happens to the stage itself?"
[Kara] "It stays. That's where we end the festival. Liora takes the stage and walks everyone through making the lanterns."
[Liora] "I'll admit I'm nervous. The spirit kings and queens have never attended this ceremony before. With the Goddess herself joining them, it changes things."
[Nym] "You know this ritual better than anyone. They'll see that."
Everyone nods.
[Kara] "Once the lanterns are ready Liora will perform the ritual and countdown for the release. Everything goes up at once."
A sky full of lanterns rising together over the forest. That's going to be something.
[Eldrin] "Kara. The planning here is thorough. You've accounted for the movement of people across two days, two levels, and multiple transitions. This is the kind of coordination that holds a large event together."
[Kara] "That's the job."
[Wright] "It's a good design. Really."
[Kara] "I know."
A beat of silence where everyone eats and nobody argues with that.
[Wright] "For the recreation cabin, I'm planning to put it near the river, at the edge of the forest. Close to the inns but far enough that noise won't be an issue either direction."
[Nym] "The river location is good. The view of the water from inside will be worth having. People settle differently when there's moving water nearby."
[Wright] "That's part of it. And it's close enough to the inns that it's not a long walk, just far enough to feel like its own space."
[Rhevan] "I'll extend the patrol range out that way. Better to push the monsters back early and keep the perimeter clean well before anyone arrives."
[Wright] "I appreciate it."
[Vesper] "Does the recreation cabin need plumbing? Appliances?"
[Wright] "Plumbing and toilets, yes. No need for a stove and I'll prepare a refrigerator. There won't be any cooking. It's a relaxation space and I'll stock it with things that don't need preparation."
[Vesper] "I'll add it to the list. Inn first, then the recreation room."
[Wright] "Works for me."
[Vesper] "One more thing. I still need to build the recording artifact for the otherworld crops. The monitoring array is more precise than anything I've done for the plumbing work. It needs proper attention."
[Wright] "That takes priority. If the timeline gets tight, say something and I'll figure out the installation on my end."
[Vesper] "I can handle both. I just need you to stop finishing things before I've had a chance to catch up."
I think back to this morning, Liora and Nym stretched across the far end of the field with the measuring line.
[Wright] "Liora, I saw you and Nym out at the fields earlier. How did that go?"
[Liora] "The Silverwheat section will be reduced. The otherworld crops need room to establish properly, and that ground is well suited for what's coming. It's the right place for them."
[Nym] "We'll dig isolation trenches around the plot. A couple of meters deep. Until we have a clear picture of how the otherworld species interact with the soil and the magic here, containment is the sensible approach."
[Eldrin] "Reducing the Silverwheat is sound. The Terravene settlements are capable of producing their own grain. What we cultivate here holds significant value in trade, the fruits most of all, and Rhevan's hunts cover the rest. Any gap in supply can be bridged through surplus."
[Rhevan] "The monster population here stays high. We won't run short on meat."
[Wright] "I really appreciate how much thought you've put into this."
[Liora] "I'm looking forward to it, honestly. Every new species changes the balance of what's possible here. I want to see what they bring."
[Nym] "What interests me is how they'll respond to the magical saturation in the soil. The growth patterns could be completely different from what they produce where they originated."
[Vesper] "That's exactly why the recording artifact matters. I may need to expand the monitoring range once we see what's actually happening in there."
Dinner runs a little longer after that, the conversation drifting into easier territory. By the time everyone starts making their way out the night has settled in properly and the village is quiet.
---
The cabin is dark except for the low glow of the banked fire. Donny is already in his spot, breathing slow and even, completely unbothered by the world.
I sit at the table and open the Online Shopping skill.
Furniture and appliances this time. I start with the basics: refrigerator, tables, chairs. Practical foundation for a room people are actually going to use.
Then I keep scrolling.
A kotatsu. Obviously. That goes in immediately. A rug to go with it, something thick and soft enough to sit on for hours without noticing.
Sofas. Several, arranged so people can actually face each other. Beanbags for the floor. Recliners for the people who want to disappear into something comfortable and not move for the rest of the evening.
I pause on one of the recliners.
It has a massage function.
That goes in the cart without any further deliberation.
I keep adding. More seating, side tables, a cabinet for storage, a few bookshelves for the mangas, a few floor lamps for when the overhead light is too much. By the time I reach the bottom of what feels like a reasonable list, the total reaches close to the limit of my mana pool.
I check out.
The familiar drain hits. Several large cardboard boxes appear one after another, landing on the floor with a series of heavy thumps that Donny does not react to in any way whatsoever.
I load everything into storage, get into bed, and close my eyes.