The girls were excited as we started out in the morning. There were no real estate agents in the new world, so Lux had just gone to the town hall like building and was shown what was available. We didn’t mind a fixer upper. Although I hadn’t really noticed any vacant buildings when we were walking around so thought our options would be limited.

Shadow was feeling lazy and wanted Lin to carry her. Lin didn’t seem to mind and absently stroked Shadow’s fur as we walked. The first property was fairly close to our inn, so it didn’t take very long to get there. It turned out to be a one-story house that had been recently listed for sale. It seemed like it might be a little small and it wasn’t lake front property.

It being situated on the lake wasn’t a big deal for me, but the girls insisted. They wanted their own dock. Therefore, we didn’t even bother looking inside the first house. The second house did have a dock, but it also had a lot of fire damage. In fact, it was half destroyed and would probably need to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch.

The third house was located at the far end of the lake, where new construction had been going on near the undeveloped area. The previous owner had started to build a mansion but had run out of funds before it was completed. The mansion was about 80 percent complete from what I could see. It was two stories with lots of rooms, situated on a large lot with a dock.

There was enough finished that we could theoretically move in, but it would probably be best if we waited until the construction was completed. It was also not furnished so we would need to buy a lot of furniture. Shadow jumped out of Lin’s arms to explore the mansion while the girls oohed and awed. It was a nice place with a lot of the best materials used.

We peeked into the completed rooms and walked around the property including the dock. From the look on everyone’s faces, I thought we had found what we were looking for. It looked like Shadow seemed to like it as well, probably reminding her of the old mansion we used to call our home. Still, we tempered our enthusiasm and kept looking at the remaining properties.

As expected, the few remaining on the list weren’t very impressive. The incomplete mansion was by far the best of the bunch. We stopped by the town hall so Lux could complete the purchase and inquire about workers. Afterwards we celebrated at one of the best restaurants in town. We were all excited to move in but would have to stay at the inn for the time being.

The next day we met some carpenters at the mansion to get it finished off. Luckily, we were able to hire the same crew that had worked on it previously. All they needed to do was finish their work, with a few changes here and there. The biggest change was to convert one of the rooms into a library for Ann. There would be built in shelving and a reinforced door with a magic lock. Her collection was priceless so we wouldn’t be taking any chances.

Lux stayed at the mansion to supervise the work while the girls and I went to see about furnishings. Shadow stayed at the mansion with Lux, continuing to explore the grounds. I didn’t really have any preferences so just went along with whatever the girls wanted. It was a long day, but I think we managed to get everything we needed. The items would be delivered later to the mansion, so we didn’t need to worry about transport.

Stolen novel; please report.

Buying the house, hiring the workers, and getting all the furnishings we needed cost us roughly half our fortune. I was fully expecting it to cost more, especially a mansion that size. We were able to find everything we needed locally so didn’t need to have anything shipped to the city and things did seem to be a bit cheaper in Lake City compared to Ashen or West Harbor. That meant we were still sitting pretty good money wise and didn’t need to sell anything else for the time being.

It only took a week for the workers to complete the mansion. By that time, we were all itching to move in. The day finally arrived, and we started getting settled into our new home. We each had our own rooms although I was pretty sure the girls would spend most of their time in mine. The furniture was rearranged more than once until the girls were satisfied.

I helped Ann put away her books. The way she lovingly placed each book brought a smile to my face. I also helped Lin get the kitchen and pantry in order. Lux was busy working on the yard. During the past week we had also purchased our own boat which was now tied to the dock. It was nothing too fancy and similar to what most people used.

The mansion even had a large basement which we had turned into a sort of training/testing area. The yard didn’t have a fence or wall which would have obstructed the view of the lake so we couldn’t practice there. It was best to keep our spells secret. When we learned even more power spells, we would have to find a suitable place in the wilderness as the basement would get damaged. Lin also had us set up some targets for her in the basement. She could practice archery in the yard but wanted to practice along side us, not by herself.

Once everything was settled, I hoped to finally have the time to decide on the next spell to learn. I also wanted to look through the books for clues on the runes we had seen on the strange obelisk. We hadn’t delved deep into any of the books so who knows what could be in them. Ann had only briefly looked at the books before storing them away as she didn’t have much time to choose what to take and what to leave behind.

I also hoped there was more information on the kingdom itself and hero summoning. Why did they feel the need to summon people in the first place and what were the heroes expected to do? Any clues as to how to get back home would be nice as well. Although I had a feeling that would be a long shot. I wasn’t dissatisfied at the moment anyway and wouldn’t want to leave the girls behind.

The girls had told me some of the legends they knew about heroes but they were pretty vague, having been passed down through the generations. Essentially just overpowered individuals from other worlds who somehow or other saved the world. What they saved the world from wasn’t clear except it was some great evil.

The last thing I was hoping to find in the books was more information on the capital. We had a rough map of how to get there but would it be intact like West Port? Did it have a summoning tower as well? There was no doubt that it was a much larger city than West Port had been. Also no one had visited it after all these centuries. While West Port was known as a cursed city there were only rumors about the capital and the location was previously unknown.

I had asked some of the villagers about the remains of the road we had found along the north side of the ruins of East Port. They were aware of it, and some had followed it but never far enough to find anything. The jungle was a dangerous place after all, so it was best not to stray too far away from the relative safety of the village.

Ann had mentioned there had been an expedition mounted to follow the road back when the ruins of East Port were still being explored. The expedition had never returned, and no others had been sent so it was a similar story to the cursed city. The road to the capital from East Port was longer than the road between West Port and East Port and it went through the heart of the jungle instead of skirting the coast. I could only imagine what kind of dangers there might be.