I walked into what I thought was an empty barracks’ bathroom only to find Gregor. He was squatting over one of many holes that led directly to the Void under the Nexus. I felt bad about feeding a prime god with sewage and corpses. I hoped it wouldn’t take it personally, but I was certain it’d be pissed when it woke up.

However, the bigger question was - what the hell was Gregor doing? Could ghosts even do that? What did they eat? I didn’t want to ask.

He grumbled when he saw me, stood up, and smoothed his bathrobe. “I can’t bloody go for days now.”

I winced. “Ahem, yeah?”

He brushed it aside with his hand. “It’s not important.”

Honestly, I was more than happy to avoid a conversation about his ghostly constipation. I took a step back, eager to leave.

“I have meant to speak with you-” Gregor cleared his throat and it turned into a coughing fit.

Was he about to ask about my intentions with Darya, his granddaughter? I wasn’t sure I wanted to have that awkward conversation. How much had he been spying on me and Darya anyway?

Gregor wiped his mouth with the side of his sleeve. “As I was saying, this is quite the place you have come to possess, and I would like to ask for a particular building for myself, if you will? It appears you are able to conjure them out of thin air.”

“Not quite that easy, but close,” I replied. “I have to pay for them with gold, but fortunately, it isn’t too much. What building would you like?”

“A wizard’s tower.”

His request took me by surprise. What did a ghost need a tower for? I never really took him for a magic user, much less a wizard. Given his undead state, was he a necromancer, or something? There was a bit of mystery about this man, though none of it seemed nefarious for now.

“I don’t think I have that specifically, but I can do a-” I scrolled through the lists and found three towers of different sizes. I went over the differences between the three with him, and of course, he picked the largest. But did I want to spend 160 gold for a 120 foot tall tower?

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“What do you need it for?” I asked him.

“Oh, I uhm .. nothing in particular really, just wanted to have a place of my own. I’m sure you understand? I would be able to repay you later for the cost,” he said.

“With gold?”

He nodded, adding that he’d like the tower far away from the barracks and the walls - for the peace, and quiet. After that he wanted to know if I was going to leave the portal to the swamp open for a time.

“Yes,” I told him. “The villagers need at least a couple more days. Why do you ask?”

“I very much like taking nightly strolls through the swamp -- it’s good for my health.”

I wanted to ask him, ‘What health?’ But knew when someone wanted to dodge a question.

The door behind me creaked open and Darya stuck her head in. “Who are you talking to?”

I jumped at the sudden intrusion. “Uhm, no one? Just myself.”

Darya raised an eyebrow, glanced around the room, but Gregor was already gone, not that she was able to see him before anyway. “I’m worried about Frank,” she said. “He should have returned by now.”

“Mhm, me too. For now all this meat, plus those planting beds should be enough to feed the village.”

She smiled. “More than enough, we’ll have a feast tonight. Amelia is over the moon with you.”

I motioned for her to follow me, and we walked out a short distance outside the barracks. Outside in the Nexus, the villagers were busy hauling in chunks of the goliath turtle using donkey pulled carts. They wanted every bit of the remains: bone, meat, organs and even the shell.

I put down a couple of warehouses on the north side of the Nexus and they turned one into a smokehouse. The other was used for storing an increasing number of barrels of salted turtle meat, and drying bone. Except, they were quickly running out of salt.

I looked around before asking her. “Do you know a fella by the name of Gregor?”

“Well, of course, that’s my grandfather. How did you know?”

“What was he like? Was he a good man?” I probably should have asked around about him earlier, but he hadn’t done anything so suspicious before.

“Sure, sure. He was a bit of an oddball, but decent overall. Why do you ask?”

“When did he die?”

She shrugged. “Nobody knows, one day he simply vanished. Some say he fell ill and got eaten in the swamp by the merms. He loved going for walks there. I could never understand trudging through that place. What did he see in it?”

“Maybe it was good for his health?”

Darya chuckled at that. “The man was always sick. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.”

“Is that right?”

“But you know who might have a clue as to what happened to him?”

“Who?”

Darya moved closer to me and whispered. “Ivy.”

“Ivy?”

She nodded. “She’s a lot older than she looks. A lot.”