“You’re here,” the sun elf said with an obvious relief in her tone. “I was just showing Hosea and his family the land we’ll use for the farms.”

“It seems that these were harvested quite recently.” The man following the Regis noted while looking at the aftermath of the outlanders’ work.

“We did it this morning,” the dark elf stated. “Letty planted and fast-grew some crops with the help of the others so that we would have some supplies for the people.”

“Letty?” Esther asked as she and her daughter picked up a bright leaf from the leftover plants.

“She’s a wood elf nature mage and a budding alchemist. I’m sure you’ll get along fine since you have a lot of common interests.”

“Is she the one you mentioned that would be teaching my daughter?”

“Yes,” the spell weaver nodded as he kept on walking. “As you can imagine, there’s a lot of work to do and there’s only so few of us. We were talking about finding magically gifted people to help lessen the burden before and Lunet fits perfectly. If she works alongside Letty, then your daughter will be able to learn nature magic from the best we have while gaining first-hand experience.”

“Forgive me for my question my lord,” Esther spoke up with a slightly shaky voice. “But how hard is the work we're talking about?”

“How hard it is for her to plant a seed in a flowerpot, or to pour a cup of water on it?”

“That’s... not too hard.” The woman admitted awkwardly.

“None of us outlanders believe in child labour, so no one would make her work. Letty would simply teach her magic and meditation along with agricultural and herbology-related knowledge. Lunet would most likely get more tired from learning new things and practising magic than she would from actual physical work.”

“Will I be able to make flowers bloom?” The sudden question from the little girl forced everyone to look towards her, finding a pair of bright and inquisitive eyes.

“Among other things,” Regis nodded with a slight smile. “You will learn how to make even the most barren land fertile again, or how to grow plants with just a few words, but you must take things seriously. Magic is not a game and people can get hurt if you’re not careful.”

“I will.” She promised with a sunny smile, making it obvious that she was indeed quite smart for someone her age.

“Anyway,” the dark elf cleared his throat. “That hardened and empty line you see drawn on the ground not far from here is where the new wall of the village will be built. All of this empty area between the wall and the forest will be used for farming.

“This much land is enough for three or four families to work on, sir.” Bertram noted as he looked at the wide strap of land they could work with.

“There’s already yours and...”

“Hosea,” the other peasant introduced himself. “Your elven friend here claimed that your lordship can build us a home in less than a day. Is that true?”

“In a way,” Regis sighed. “I can create the walls and the floor, but the roof has to be built the old-fashioned way. Luckily, we brought along Jody who’s a carpenter. She should be able to craft the roof beams and either Bray or I could create the roof tiles.”

“So it’s magic?” The woman beside Hosea asked with fear in her eyes.

“Yes,” Sophie nodded reassuringly. “It’s perfectly safe though.”

“Alright let’s get to it,” the spell weaver said as he looked at the large strip of land. “First we should divide the land to equal parts then we’ll make a floor plan for the houses.”

“As you wish, sir.” They all nodded in agreement, spending the next five or so minutes drawing up the imaginary land markers.

Regis then began to draw a floor plan on the flat ground. He designed simple yet decent-sized homes for the new people, both of them having a main bedroom, three smaller rooms, and a kitchen that opened into the dining room along with a bathroom and a pantry.

“Are you sure about this milord?” Bertram asked as he looked at the drawing.

“Is it too small?”

“No,” the man hastily shook his head. “It’s quite the opposite. Our old home wasn’t even a third of this in size.”

“It’s not too much work to build it and besides,” Regis looked at the man and his wife. “You’re both still young and healthy. I’m sure Lunet would be happy to have a younger sibling or two.”

His statement earned an awkward cough from the man while Esther turned a few shades redder. Hosea couldn’t stifle the laugh that broke free from his mouth while his wife gave him a rueful look.

“Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?”

With that, Regis walked over to where he planned to build the house and began to flatten the ground using his ‘terraform’ spell. The refugees watched in awe as the ground shifted and flattened, turning into a perfectly flat surface. Then the walls began to rise one by one, segments fusing to create a whole outer shell. Some spaces on the walls had square holes where the windows would be, along with the place for the door. Although he had to stop twice to meditate, the entire building with both the inner and outer walls was done in less than an hour.

“Amazing,” Esther spoke up first as she and Lunet walked around to see the spacious rooms. “I never thought that magic could be used to do such things. We only heard about it ever being used for battles.”

“Magic is a diverse tool,” Sophie said as she touched the sandstone wall. “It can be used for a lot of things. We used magic to fight a lot of times, but we also used it to heal people and grow crops. Regis is good at building things while Mary can make statues and stuff.”

“I must say,” Hosea spoke up with a heavy voice. “Miss Sophie wasn’t jesting when she said that we’d get our new homes built faster than we imagined. If things would have been like this back home, we might not have had to leave.”

“What happened there, if you don't mind me asking?”

“Bad things milord,” Hosea sighed. “At first he only noticed that the crops became dull and greyish, the land dry and foul smelling. Then our pigs died along with the chickens. Mind you, this happened in barely three days. It was on the morning after that when the young lad from the neighbouring farm showed up at our gates, covered in blood and grime, crying and screaming.”

“I take it they were attacked.” The young spell weaver remarked, earning a nod from the man.

“The lad claimed that monsters killed his parents. Before we could make any sense of it, the same monsters appeared at the edge of our land, screaming like a dying pig as they rushed towards us. I managed to stab one of them with my pitchfork, but there were too many to fight off, so we fled.”

“And so you managed to reach the port town of Hunor.”

“Yes,” the man nodded. “For whatever good that to us. We got stuck there, unable to leave. Otherwise, the local lord's guards would rob us of everything we had.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“That’s when you arrived sir,” Esther added. “I’m sure those bastards were running towards us to stop us from leaving without handing over our valuables. Damn, mongrels!”

“What matters is that you are now here. Let’s get that other house raised while the sun is high. Hopefully, Jody will be able to start working on those beams as soon as possible.”

“As you wish milord.” The new villagers nodded as one, letting the spell weaver get back to work.

Soon enough the second building’s walls were built with earth magic, waiting only for a roof. Regis then headed back toward the village, finding Quentin at Landwaker Square. He was talking to Valerie as some of the new people helped carry away sacks and crates from the gazebo.

“Welcome back!” The dark elf greeted the young woman, earning a happy smile.

“Quentin just filled me in about your recruitment tour. I’m glad to see you managed to find so many capable people.”

“And I’m glad to see you brought along some supplies as well.”

“Osmond reminded us about the leftover materials at the enchanters’ room and the scribes’ shop, so we decided to bring them along with some spare tools we bought from the locals.”

“You would be surprised how fast commerce returned to East Fork once the people began to settle back in,” Osmond joined into the conversation after appearing from the inn. “We also had a short meeting with the new mayoress of the town.”

“Oh,” the spell weaver raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Was it a pleasant meeting, or...”

“Elder Jonah sang praises about us quite loudly, so she decided to give us a bit of a bonus payment for our services.”

“Extra money?

“Better,” Cruz said as she and Letty followed the shadow-touched spell caster from the inn. “She gave us the deed for one of the smaller stores at the local market square.”

“It was a pretty obvious trade accord, but who are we to decline an entire shop?” Osmond shrugged with a huge grin on his face.

“And I take it you already have an idea of what you’re going to sell there.”

“My first idea was to sell the premium crops we would grow after you enhanced their quality a few times, but then it occurred to me that we’ll try our hand at different kinds of alcohols. That would be an excellent sale article as well.”

“Sounds good. Once things settle down a bit, we could sell my enchanted wares and Letty’s potions on Scholars’ Square while the rest of our stuff at the market square.”

“Exactly.” Valerie smiled happily.

“And speaking of Letty,” Regis hummed. I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Me?” The wood elf asked surprised.

“We found a peasant family with a little girl who has nature affinity magic talent.”

“Really?” She fidgeted in excitement as she looked at the dark elf. “How old is she?”

“She’s six,” Quentin stated. “But she seems like a smart child. And she’s well-behaved too, although a bit shy.”

“Sounds familiar.” Cruz noted as she slightly elbowed her sister.

“Where is she?”

“She’s outside the village where the crops were planted,” Regis explained. “Her name is Lunet and her mother is called Esther.”

“Okay.” the wood elf girl nodded before leaving with her sister.

“It’s been a while since I saw her so excited.” Osmond remarked while watching the sisters leave.

“So, how are things back at Hunor?”

“Bad,” the paladin shook his head. “The Argents and the rest of the dark elves caused quite a stir back there. They were chased out of the city, but the local nobleman’s son died in the process.”

“Good riddance.” Osmond muttered, earning an agreeing smirk from Regis.

“After that, the nobleman became quite troublesome, shaking down the refugees before they would be allowed to leave Hunor.”

“That is, if they were allowed to.” The dark elf remarked.

“At least you managed to get these people out safely,” Valerie said. “Now we have the makings of a proper village.”

“Yeah. By the way; where’s Bray?” Regis asked from the paladin.

“He decided to take over the house near the stables.

“The one just beside the wall? I guess he enjoys solitude. I’ll go check up on him.”

“Go ahead. We’ll take care of the stuff here.”

“Thanks.” The spell waver nodded before heading out towards the back gate of the village where his old friend decided to take up residence.

When he got there. Regis saw the old man carry a few small things in and out of the place, dusting off whatever he could.

“I see you found yourself a pretty decent place.” He said with a smile as he approached the elderly man.

“It is indeed a lot better than my old camp at the sewers.”

“Definitely. So, where do you want me to build your new kiln?”

“Over there,” the man pointed at the wall on the left side of the small house. “I will ask that carpenter lass later to build a roof over it, turning this area my workplace.”

“Sounds like a plan. I have to admit though, I have no idea what a kiln actually looks like. You’ll have to guide me through it.”

“That’s fine lad.” Bray agreed as they walked over to the area where the new pottery workshop would be.

In the following half hour, Bray explained the looks of the kiln, correcting him from time to time before the finished product got turned into stone. Regis then went ahead and enchanted it with the same runic diagram he used for the oven part of the arcane stove back at the inn. A few side walls and columns later, the half-open workshop only needed a roof and a couple of tools, and it would be good to go.

“Do you want some clay to work with?” He asked the elderly man, earning a firm nod.

The dark elf cast the ‘clay wall’ summoning spell, raising a brownish-red wall of raw clay at the corner of the workshop where a square meter’s worth of floor was left as condensed earth.

“That should keep me busy for a little while.” Bray said as he grabbed the edge of the wall, tearing off a handful of slightly moist clay.

“Later on I can ask around in East Fork or Escroft to see if I can get you some tools.” Regis offered, but the old man just shook his head.

“I always carry a set of tools with me,” the old potter stated. “The rest can be easily built by that carpenter lass or your blacksmith friend, so don’t worry about it. I’m sure you have better things to do than to watch over an old potter.”

“Yeah,” Regis sighed. “Still, we’ll be at the inn if you want someone to talk to, or just a warm meal.”

“Thank you, lad,” Bray nodded with a slight smile. “For everything.”

“Don’t mention it, old man.” Regis answered before heading back to Landwaker Square.

The place definitely seemed livelier now with the new people walking around busily.