Before making his way to the carpenter’s, Noa had negotiated some stones out of Magenta, who owed him for some stories. Granted, they were a couple of useless rough rubies, but he’d see about fixing that later.

A note on the rolling barn door to Harn’s workshop informed Noa that the carpenter was at a worksite near the east side of town, where Noa found quite the undertaking going on. Scaffolds stacked high upon one another, and what was taking shape as a new church, plus something else, stood on a stony foundation.

Harn headed some things up with another man at a worktable while a few evolved trolls and some humans actually worked on the building itself. The old carpenter looked up at Noa with hazel eyes, the exasperation in his expression becoming clear.

“I’m working,” Harn said.

“Something tells me you’re always working,” Noa said.

The carpenter raised a finger, mouth opening, which then gradually closed. “Not wrong,” he said.

“Who is this?” the men beside him spoke, standing a hair taller than Noa. He wore a minister’s amulet.

“Minister Padern, meet Noa. Remember that, um, drawing I showed to you?” Harn asked.

“The stick figure in the house?” Padern asked.

“It had pipes too, with water,” Noa reminded.

“Ah, of course, I finished the work for that ages ago,” Padern said.

“The work? As in?” Noa asked.

Harn pointed at Padern with a thumb. “He’s an architect. I had him draw up the building according to your specifications. Saved me the work of having to do it so I can focus on the easy stuff━wood. The high prelate seemed really invested in the project.”

“Do you have it with you?” Noa asked, eager.

Padern hummed, then turned to a large canvas bag. Shuffling through it, he pulled out several large pages, and beckoned Noa to look. Splaying the pages across the table, the architect looked up at Noa. “So?” he asked.

The drawing was precise. Perfect, even. It displayed the front of the building, which was massive. On the right side was what looked to be a residential wing, and on the left, a moderately sized home. Honestly, it was probably far too big for Noa alone, but perhaps that was the point, given that one person was already trying to marry him off.

“What’s this blank spot?” Noa asked, pointing to a round sign attached to the front over the double doors.

“For the guild crest. You’ll need one of those,” Padern said. “So?”

“It’s good, it’s really good,” Noa said, smiling.

“And you haven’t even seen the floor plans yet,” Padern said, giving a wicked smile. Oh, this man loved his job.

He removed the top drawing, revealing the first floor. It was fitted with a foyer space, which then transitioned towards a wide clinic area to the right of the foyer. There were a couple closets and a few bathrooms, none of them with tubs. That came in the next drawing that Padern revealed. Apartment-like rooms, small, were in this drawing, and the the next floor up had slightly bigger rooms, until the fourth and final floor had suites, about ten of them, along with a large conference room in the center.

Thankfully, Noa’s house wouldn’t be four stories tall. It was a lot like a family home.

“It’s beautiful,” Noa said.

“That’s what I like to hear. So, when do you plan to start building?” Padern asked.

“Not until the ogre threat is resolved. I purchased the other orchards, and I plan to build on the flat land there,” Noa said.

“Huh, that view’s going to be great,” Harn noted. “Don’t you have a lot to do before you can build anyways? Say, recruit healers?”

Noa groaned, giving a nod. “Yeah, at least six of them,” he said.

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“Then I’ll hold onto these until you’re ready,” Padern said, tucking the drawings away in his bag. “I’ll be in town for a long time, and until the new church is built, you can find me in the one in town.”

“If you’re not working, lad,” Harn said, patting Padern’s back, then looking at Noa. “Speaking of working, why are you here, lad?”

“High Prelate Caradec forced me to take a day off,” Noa said.

Harn frowned, staring at him. “This is what you do on your day off?” he asked.

“What... else is there?” Noa asked.

“Relax, spend time with a friend,” Harn suggested.

“All my friends are busy,” Noa said.

“Then go make new ones, or something!” Harn said.

“Erm, sure,” Noa said. Yeah, no, he had too much to do to go make new friends. Or rather, he enjoyed catching up on things he hadn’t been able to do.

“Off with you!” Harn said. “Mostly so I can get back to work.”

Noa chuckled, shaking his head. “Thanks,” he said, nodding to both the carpenter and architect in turn, then moved away, heading deeper into town.

Briefly, he compiled a list in his head of what he needed to do:

Recruit healers.

Meet with Eliaz’s guy to build guild.

Max out Comforter and go to school.

Find out who is trying to assassinate me.

Noa frowned. The list was alright, though there definitely were things missing, and he didn’t even know where to begin with the last part. He crossed that off the list as a dead end, and turned down another street, going towards his farm. Although it wasn’t intentional, he found that the destination was a good one. After all, he’d been hoping to recruit unsatisfied apple workers to become healers.

I need to invest in a hat, he noted to himself, the sun bearing down on him for the remainder of the walk, only relieved after an incline into the shade of the orchard.

The work on the farm continued to bustle, but the person Noa wanted was Finbar. He’d be the most likely to know who would be willing to become healers. Fortunately, the man found him.

“Minister Noa,” he said, Noa stopping halfway towards the farmhouse. “We need to discuss the budget a bit more.”

“What is it?”

Finbar held the ledger up for Noa to see, and it took him a couple of minutes to sort through the numbers.

“Apples only grow in one season,” he said.

Oh. Oh, this was bad. How come this didn’t occur to Noa sooner? “You mean to tell me that the plats we’ve already received will be the revenue until the next harvest season?” Noa asked, realizing that he was, in fact, not rich.

“Yes, and that during the off season, you will still need to pay for some workers to tend to the orchard. The rest, however, will move to another seasonal job,” Finbar said.

“So, after purchasing the other farms, how do we look for the rest of the year?” Noa asked.

“We’d eke by, but it’ll hurt,” Finbar said. “Assuming you chose to eat the bare minimum, that is.”

Sighing, Noa shook his head. “So I need another income source.”

Finbar nodded.

If I could start the clinic now... Noa thought, running a hand down his face at the new stressor. Then he looked at the farmhouse. The only things he used in it were the kitchen and the upstairs. Even then, he didn’t use the master bedroom.

“I’m going to open up a clinic right out of the farmhouse,” Noa pointed. “I assume the workers’ home is occupied?”

He looked to the building that was just a tad smaller than the farmhouse sitting on the opposite side to the shed. Yana had crammed everyone in it in two large open rooms, one on the ground floor, and another on the second floor.

“Right now, yes. It can’t fit everyone,” Finbar said. “Did you have another plan for it?”

Noa shook his head. “Better living circumstances for folks, but I can’t afford that yet,” he said.

“That would be enticing to grow the farm and bring in more workers if you expanded living quarters,” Finbar said.

Noa nodded. Best to leave that building alone for now.

“Would you say anyone here would be willing to become healers?” Noa asked.

“Healers?” Finbar raised an eyebrow. “You mean, to eventually be Grand Healers and Bewitchers?”

“And quickeners.”

Finbar gave an amused snort. “You’d be lucky to snatch a quickener. Those are rare, but if you manage to in the future, have them restore Derian’s arm.”

“Quickeners can do that?” Noa asked, blinking.

“The only ones who can do full restorations. Usually costs a man his house and wife to even get in with one though.”

Damn, quickeners must be rich, Noa thought. “So, anyone you can think of?” he asked.

Finbar hummed, scratching his stubble. “Teenagers, probably. The problem is getting their parents on board with the idea. Healing is good money, but healers get taken advantage of a lot.”

“Yeah, I realized that early on,” Noa noted, “which is why I’m building a guild to help protect healers.”

“That... might actually do it,” Finbar said. “Here, let me go talk to some folks while you work on your clinic-y stuff.” He stepped away, paused, then turned. “Why... are you here?”

“Forced day off,” Noa said.

“And you came to work? Why not relax or something?” Finbar asked.

Noa sighed. How many more times was he going to get asked that? “This is me relaxing.”

“Huh, okay then.” Finbar turned back around.

Noa looked at the farmhouse, humming. Eliaz was busy, otherwise he’d go talk to the elf about this clinic stuff. With a little shiver up his spine, Noa started his trek to meet with the baroness. Surely she’d know something about Eliaz’s clinic workings.