Noises outside his cabin rousted the man who napped in the forest. He peeked out a small hole and saw a cart full of tools and a handful of men hacking away at the forest in his direction.

Thinking the worst the man dashed outside knife in hand.

"Ah! There you are!" A voice says from the table around the corner.

"Philip." The man says glancing at the men, than at his friend. "What brings you?"

Placing his knife at his waist the man sits down across from the king. Still occasionally glancing towards the men who slowly worked towards his home.

"Right, how do you feel about your house?" Philip asks quickly getting down to business.

"My house?" The man glances at the small shed he lived in. It was a good place, it kept him dry for the most part, and he had grown a bit attached over the last couple weeks. But at the same time he won’t kid himself. It wasn’t permanent, a strong storm could destroy it easily. And snow which apparently fell in the area during winter would certainly destroy it.

"The sale of this herb is going even better than I expected. And seeing as you yourself have little need for money what better way to spend it?" The king thought his plan was perfect. He had always feared a disaster befalling the man in the forest. And not only concerning his hut, there was no telling what people might do if they knew the source of the herb was a lone hermit. But with a large group of Royal Engineers no one would dare lay a hand on the man. And its no great secret that many of them are former Royal Guard members.

Slowly nodding the man in the forest agreed. It would be hard to leave his current home but he did share half of Philip’s concerns.

Glancing again at the builders who slowly stepped through the brush towards them he noticed they had actually already roughly began. The trees they fell were being rolled in piles to be dried by a mage while the rest were digging and placing a stone road towards the hut.

"The road is first so that large materials can be brought in."

"I see." The man nods as another tree cracks and tumbles. They seemed to be purposefully dodging the stone wood trees the man found it strange. Sure they took awhile to cut down but once you get the hang of it they aren’t to much trouble.

As the man thought, a builder stepped towards the two of them. He saluted to Philip before speaking. "We have determined three possible locations for the residence."

"Good. Shall we?" Philip asks standing up and glancing at the man.

The first location was slanted and rocky but it was already mostly clear of trees. Indeed the man in the forest noticed the location when first planning his home but its slant made it impossible. Apparently the builders had planned to make a foundation of stones to build the house upon so this wouldn’t be an issue.

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The next option was actually atop the stone wood stump. All the builders found that option incredible enticing. Most had never seen the rings of a stone wood tree so they clamored to use it. Luckily the builder we spoke with was wiser and pointed out several faults in the plan.

The final location was the pond. The man struck that one down without hesitation.

The first location was chosen in the end and the builders began to stack stones in the area. Others mixed bags of sand and a fine powder with water and poured it in the large voids between stones. Later the slurry would solidify bonding the rocks together better. Occasionally amongst the stones they would place large metal rods and again fill the area with the wet sand mixture.

The work seemed tiresome and backbreaking so the man grimaced just from the thought, but the builders didn’t complain a bit which impressed the man. Turning away from the builders the man stepped towards his shack to prepare his cooking supplies.

Today he would try a new recipe. It was the least he could do for these men were working so hard.

Grabbing a large pot he first headed in the direction of the pond. Filling it with cool water he returned and placed it above the fire rack. Then he began to prep the ingredients. Wild potato, onions, thin slices of a tree bark to add flavor and last a large slab of boar meat Bear had brought a few days earlier.

Each chunk was diced to bite size pieces. The boar meat was tough but in a stew it would loosen properly. With the water boiling he added the vegetables and began searing the meat.

Several pounds of meat were seared and added to the pot before the man eventually collapsed with satisfaction. Placing a lid on the pot and disturbing the fire beneath the pot he settled in and turned his attention back to the builders.

Only to find they were all staring at him hungrily. Even the Philip seemed enticed by the smell.

"It’ll be a few hours so…" The man says hesitantly.

Without another word all the men turned back to their work and hastened their speed. It seems good food is a good motivator.

Even Philip who had intended to leave once the details were laid out had decided to stay for lunch.

When the time finally came everyone was glad they waited. Moments before serving the man added a handful of whitish powder he had processed from dried potatoes. The starch in the powder instantly turned the boar infused water into a thick stew with a vivid sand color.

It was thick like honey making it a strange consistence for stew but the moment each builder dipper their spoons they realized their mistake. This wasn’t stew. This was something entirely different. Instead of wanted to dip bread in the liquid they imagined spreading it on bread like jam.

"This is incredible." One builder says leaping from his seat with wide eyes.

"I want to bring some home to my wife!"

"Oy if you leave a drop ill eat it! So no chance of bringin’ it home Kilvin."

"Same. And who says your wife can cook anything like this? Wasn’t your braat burnt yesterday?"

"That…"

"Oy! Don’t touch! It’s mine!"

"Ah! How did I finish it so quickly!?"

Various shouts of a similar fashion resounded around the table. When the man offered seconds every hand went up.

One of the voices was definitely Philip’s. And he thought he recognized Dave, the man who had walked the three locations amongst them as well.