The eastern provinces of the empire had been settled far longer than the Borderlands where Laurel had woken up. The population in these more northern areas was still sparse, but the evidence of long years working the land was clear in every tiny farming community Laurel ran through. This area might not have many people, but it was tamed. With her spiritual senses extended, Laurel knew she was about to enter another of the lead-lined rural towns she’d become accustomed to. She had spent a day in the woods outside the town trying to come up with a plan. All she had managed to scrape together was ‘book a room at an inn and wait for inspiration to strike’. The legends of her sect’s founding had been more about fighting overwhelming odds for a beautiful dream, and were thus light on logistics advice for a fledgling sectmaster.

She rounded the town and entered from the south road. The wide highway was arrow-straight and perfectly level as far as Laurel could see. If she set aside her resentment, that in and of itself would be an impressive achievement for mortals. The town was notable only for how clearly it resembled the other towns she’d seen in recent months. It hadn’t been noticeable at first but once Laurel recognized the pattern it was impossible to see anything else. The taverns and inns were in the same place, industrial areas and smiths in one sector, shops in another, housing in yet another area. It was an impressive scale of foresight and planning. Laurel couldn’t decide if she found it ominous or not.

A slightly deeper scan as she entered the town proper confirmed what she had already known. There was a Core present, but no one had cultivated it yet. The ambient mana was still anemic, but slightly less sluggish than the surrounding countryside, driven to movement by the small population. It would do. There was only one of her, a larger city would stretch her little sect’s abilities to manage the local mana. The population here was large enough to support a Town once she got the Core to the appropriate level. They could grow to a City after that when the sect had the resources and the manpower to defend it.

The town was remote enough that there was only one large inn, mostly for the intermittent traders that came this far north with essential supplies. Sparse enough custom to give Laurel a room without too many questions on her obvious lack of supplies or goods. The routine she established was a study in boredom. Her lesson on overt uses of cultivation had been well-learned, but it meant there was little for her to do. Even she had her limits for quiet meditation. Training with her sword would be unusual. Pulling books or other entertainment out of nowhere would probably cause a riot. The best thing about the place was the stray dogs and cats. They were always up for a little game in exchange for a scrap of food. But even that was limited if she didn’t want to end up the village freak.

Laurel spent her days wandering around town, exploring the area and listening to conversations, and evenings in the taprooms doing the same. People here were the same as people everywhere, most of their conversations surrounding that days’ chores or nearby gossip.

Eating lunch in the industrial area of town, she finally got lucky.

“The Rashan homestead is getting worse. I heard Caron talking about the number of voles coming into his fields. Thinks there’s a colony now that the old man’s gone.”

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“The son never showed up then?”

“Nope. Seems the boy’s married and settled down south. Not interested in bringing the family up here for a farm mostly gone fallow.”

Laurel interrupted the men. This was the first lead she’d gotten and she was out of patience. “Excuse me, are you talking about a farm that might be up for new ownership?”

The men started at the outburst and turned to Laurel. “Aye and what’s it to you young lady?”

“I’m new to town, looking for somewhere to set down some roots. A farm would be perfect.”

The older man looked Laurel up and down and she had to remind herself she couldn’t slap him around for the impertinence.

“All alone? It's a big property for a new farmer. Rashan couldn’t work more than a garden before he passed”

“Oh don’t you worry. I’m a bit more experienced than I look.” A few more back and forths and Laurel set out to find the mayor’s office and inquire about the farm.

*********

“One thousand silver. And that’s already extremely discounted because of the state of the property. Old man Rashan let things go when he couldn’t keep up anymore. No haggling, no trade.”

The man had introduced himself as Mayor Lister when Laurel arrived at the nondescript building serving as both the mayor’s residence and central administration building for Perin. The main room was mostly storage, lined with stacks of drawers, with a single woman reading through a stack of forms. The same woman had called down the mayor when Laurel announced she was there to ask after the empty farm.

“I don’t have that much on me. But I’ll be able to pay within a few years.” Laurel had picked up some silver from oblivious mortals on her way north after the first town. But not nearly enough to buy the farm outright. And she didn’t think they’d accept the currency from the kingdom her sect had been part of. As far as she had determined no one even remembered that kingdom had existed. It rankled. They should be throwing themselves at her feet and begging her to settle down here.

“Look, if I let you buy the farm on credit then the rest of the landholders around here will start demanding the same thing.”

Laurel ignored the slight to her own honor. This man was unaware of the weight a cultivator put behind their word. “Letting the property stay as it is has already started harming the community. Pests have been traveling to the other local farms. Let me stay and I’ll pay off the amount in three years, and fix the place up. If I don’t then the land will be in a better state for the next person.”

“I’ve heard the same offer about half a dozen times since the old man died. Everyone is so sure they can make it work if I just let them move in without paying. If I was going to let anyone buy on credit it would be one of the people I’ve known for years, not a stranger with an attitude.”

Laurel barely stopped from running her hands through her hair in frustration. “How about this: are there any big problems giving the town issues? A pack of feral wolves or something? I can take care of it and in return, all I’ll ask is that you accept items of equivalent value for the land.” She was loath to give away sect treasures but there wasn’t much else she could do unless she wanted to be alone in the wilderness. Figuring out how to build a house was not part of the plan.

The mayor didn’t say no right away. Instead he stood up and poured two measures of brown liquor from a decanter on a side table. He passed a cloudy glass over to Laurel and sat back down. “How confident are you, truly?”

“I can handle whatever it is that has you considering,” Laurel said in response.

“I know I said you’re a stranger, but I don’t want sending a young woman to her death on my conscience. If you’re serious, we’ve had some rumors of missing livestock on the farms east of the river. If you can figure it out, I’ll take you up on the offer.”

Laurel toasted the man and downed the alcohol. “Get that deed ready then, I’ll be back in a week.”