I sighed, impressed at what we’ve done and just based off a scroll that contained a blueprint of the mayor’s old house. What? Of course, we had something to go off. Tom and the men had us covered. Sure, one could build a shack and call it a day, but it wouldn’t exactly be the idea shop. Eventually I hoped to sell more than just potions. Perhaps products formed from these potions. I expressed that to Tom and the others. The three townsmen brought to help us with construction were Lee, James, and Mandrin.

“You could always make pills, sell some ginseng…well, if you could find anything aged out there in the forest,” Tom explained.

“Pills?” I said, frowning. “I’m not looking to attract drug addicts, just legitimate customers.”

That made the men laugh and while I smiled, I meant it. Eventually, Big Ham seemed to catch my meaning and chimed in.

“Nate’s got a point,” Big Ham said. “What he’s implying is that we shouldn’t sell items that could attract magicians.”

Tom frowned. “I’ve heard about the crazy quality of your potions. I’m sure you’re fully aware that word may eventually get out, travel as far as the kingdom, perhaps into the Astral Empire.”

Suddenly the men looked nervous, but Tom waved off their concerns with a chuckle. The wood worker scratched the back of his head.

“That was in jest, mostly,” he said. “The Astral Empire has plenty of strong potion makers and even alchemists to take creations to another level. They wouldn’t waste time and resources to invade our kingdom over one guy.”

“What if they sent a spy,” Mandrin said. Bulky, dark brown skin, large beard, and brown eyes made up his appearance. The men stared at him. “Hey, I’m just pointing out the possibilities. But you’re right. We are but just a tiny town on the far east of the kingdom. No one will ever care about this place.”

“If anyone hears of our town, they’ll only know of it as a place where its folks are leaving in droves,” Lee said with a bittersweet laugh. He had a thin and muscular build, was pale as cement, and sported hawk-like eyes, goatee, and short hair.

I only had time to research the Kingdom. It never occurred to me to perhaps dig around and learn about some world history. Ah well, the info dump on my brain would probably cause it to fry anyway. Maybe later.

As we continued building the house, I explained additional ideas to the guys, including plumbing. They looked taken aback. If I was going to live here, I’d like to get as close to modern plumbing as possible. If the Romans did it, so can we.

“That’s a really interesting idea,” James said. He was a tan man, slightly taller than me, also slightly younger, and bright green eyes. I wouldn’t have taken someone like him to stay in a town like this, but he loved his betrothed, the town’s teacher. Yes, this place had just one teacher and she taught for donations only. “Running pipes to your place for water and using a stopper mechanism. You’ll have to construct a good setup to heat the tub, also another pipe for drainage into a specialized well for sewage. It’s kind of like that of the big cities.”

“You even want to create your own private outhouse, a warehouse for extended storage, and uh…” Big Ham paused. “A porch?”

“Somewhere for friends to relax, drink, you know,” I said, grinning. “Also, I’m sure Milia would like to have the garden as a view.” I stretched. “All of that stuff will be for later. I can always build a few things on my own time. For now, having a place to live and save me from terrible inn fees is where it’s at.”

“Damn right,” Big Ham said.

Throughout the day, plenty of townsmen joined in to help out. It was late that afternoon, when we concluded the day’s building, stacked everything neatly, and parted ways with a promise to meet at the tavern that evening. I cleaned up at the washhouse before eating with Milia and Wolverine.

It was after we finished eating when the trouble began. Because why wouldn’t it. Only one of the two robed men were walking around town followed by three guards.

“Get the hell out of the way,” one of the dick guards barked to a child. His boot raised, preparing to kick the five-year-old. You know, a kid just being a kid and playing with his friends. That’s when it all occurred to me. People of this world, particularly the nobles and maybe some of the guards who didn’t grow up as peasants, and a good deal of the magicians basically had no morals. I was well aware of the treatment of women in some places for this era. A version of the edo period.

Thankfully, before I went and blown my cover like an idiot, a vine grew out of the ground and pulled the kid out of the way. However, no one else noticed it, not even the guard. To my relief, they kept moving, you know, instead of running back to deliver the kicking blow. The mother of that child grabbed her son and furiously instructed her other family members to get inside. The robed man, a kingdom official, didn’t bat an eye.

They were headed right toward my favorite small restaurant. I wanted to do something about this, but a hand fell onto my shoulder. I turned, ready to ask for an explanation. It wasn’t Milia, but Harmony. Points on her for being able to sneak up on me like that. Okay, maybe I was obviously pissed, had the look in my eyes, but she stopped me before I could act.

“They’re leaving soon,” Harmony said. “Let’s not give them a reason to stick around.”

I frowned. “Why put up with this?”

“We have no choice,” Harmony replied, though her voice seemed to falter at the end a bit, her guilt obvious. “They’re kingdom officials. We’re…just a peasant town with no value to the kingdom except to scrape as much taxes as possible before we go under.”

“Officials or not, bullies are all the same,” I said. “They’ll keep this shit up until you punch them in the nose, get some blood on your knuckles.” I sighed. “Are you sure you’re okay with just letting them do whatever? Do they come around very often?”

“Once a month,” Harmony confessed. “The only thing we can be relieved about is them being too embarrassed to bring a magician with them, to a town at the center of a mana-deprived grassy wasteland as they call it.”

“We are certainly not in a grassy wasteland,” Milia said, hands on hips, apprehension in her voice. “The low mana density in this area is but a form in the cycle of life. The land wanted things to be this way, so it must be. Normal animals and even certain low-rank spirit beasts thrive peacefully here.”

Harmony nodded. “No one sees beyond the lack of profit or attractions. My father planned many projects, only for them to get cancelled due to the lack of funding and merchants leaving, driving up prices for many things. Demand for potions is especially high. It’s but a miracle you didn’t double your prices.”

“I sold at market price, mostly to get a feel for things, get to know everyone,” I said. “Also, while smart, that’d be kind of an asshole thing to do.” I glanced at Milia for a bit. She nodded. “It’s going to take more than just potions to bring down these prices. Our shop will do our part to the best of our abilities, but we need something unique to gain people’s interests, for word to spread, and to call back some of those who left. Maybe bring in a few people. We can’t let potions be the only thing we’re known for.”

“But—”

“I know, I know, they’re sitting at the top of the demand list of the kingdom,” I said. I clearly remembered the insanity of that health potion. Fuck, if only we had such a thing back in my old world. “What do you guys actually do for fun around here?”

Harmony seemed to wilt. “There used to be the annual Owlfruit festival. The fruits don’t grow as much anymore. With people leaving, we kind of gave up.”

“Owlfruit festival,” Millia said, intrigued. The stars in her eyes made me chuckle. “What’s it like?”

Harmony explained a night of everyone dressing up in robes, dancing and drinking wines, and also taking joy in various owlfruit dishes and pies. There were some women that tended to dress a little provocatively as they seek to attract a husband. Noble ladies had no such luck, plenty of them used as bonding pieces for arranged marriages. Which had to have sucked ass. Imagine getting ready to get your freak on when your dad walks over, points at the spoiled son of Duke Dickhead, and delivers the bad news: you’ll be getting married to him, whether you like it or not. Vice versa for men. Who’d what to be setup with an entitled daughter of that same Duke Dickhead.

“We really should consider bringing that back,” I told her. “Maybe after taking down prices a bit. I’d like to try the fruit, see if I can come up with any ideas.” I turned to Milia. “You ate it a few times, right?”

“I’ve had one before,” she said. “But they don’t grow in my forest.”

“There’s still one tree I know that has a few fruit left, in the River’s forest,” Harmony said.

“I—”

“So who’s building in the grasslands over there,” a voice growled.

I turned to see the kingdom official, surrounded by his few guards pointing at our erecting building. Okay, perhaps that was worded poorly, but you know what I mean.

To my surprise, no one wanted to point in my direction. Touching, but only more of a reason to resolve the issue before these assholes started attacking children again.

“It’s mine,” I called over to him. He turned, eyes dark.

“Explain yourself,” the official said. “Are you trying to evade taxes?”

I held my anger in, kept calm and answered. “Nope, I’m building a shop actually to help bring back business to the area.”

“So you’re not tax evading,” the official said. “Make sure you pay your silver to the mayor on time when it’s complete and I will be counting.” He shook his head. “To take a risk in this dump of all places, you’ve got guts and foolishness. You can hardly call this a town, it’s more like a village.”

“If you give up on a town of course things will start to decline,” I said. “People will leave, unsatisfied, naturally searching for greener pastures.”

“You dare speak to Lord Wingston that way. You’re courting death!”

“Not that stupid saying,” I deadpanned as the guard pointed a spear in my direction. Wingston held up a hand. “Don’t bloody your spear on the trash of this town.” He chuckled as he walked toward his wagon. The other kingdom official finally came out of the mayor’s office.

“Wingston, are you ready?” he asked.

“Do you need to ask?” Wingston snapped. He started walking without sparing another glance at me. The guard that tried to spear me attempted to do what every jackass does when they want to feel superior after a conversation got dismissed. He thought he was going to shove past me, knock me to the ground, but the surprise on his face upon finding empty air made me grin. The shit-eating kind at that. His face reddened with anger, but a buddy of his wisely told him to move his ass.

“What a basic bitch warrior,” I muttered.

“A what?” Harmony said.

“Huh? Anyway, I’d better start preparing for tomorrow. Would you like to join me, Milia?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t be a good employee if I didn’t,” she said.

“I…thought she was your wife?” Harmony said.

“Later,” I said as I continued.

Damned kids and their assumptions. I’ve never heard of anyone getting married to someone they’ve known for two days.

“Father, is that a white wolf pup?” a feminine voice said.

I looked in the direction of the kingdom officials and sure enough, they had a girl with them that looked to be perhaps around Harmony’s age, give or take. She was pointing at Wolverine, currently in Milia’s arms.

“Mistress, you shouldn’t touch anything from this town,” a butler inside said. “You’ll catch something.”

“Man, these people really are walking with sticks up their asses,” I said, a little too loud. “Shoved far up there. They’ll soon have brain liquids oozing out their nostrils.”

To my luck, the mistress whining covered up my words. That and they were just far enough out of earshot.

Harmony covered her mouth and turned around, poorly concealing giggles. Milia openly laughed. Once again, there was no way the Brady Bunch over there would figure out what was currently happening at their expense.

“I don’t care! I want that pup. He’s cute!”

“Sheesh lady, why not keep on flattering me, I’ll blush,” I quipped loud enough for them to hear this time, unable to stop myself.

“Well, she’s not wrong,” Milia said. “The white hair is odd, and you don’t see many humans with red eyes. A few from time to time, but it’s an interesting combination.”

“At least take me out to dinner first, Milia,” I said, laughing. The dryad woman joined in. We both knew this was going to piss the mistress off. And sure enough, the thin woman with hair the color of fire reddened out of shame, embarrassment, and anger.

“You stupid peasants. Guards, arrest them! How dare they humiliate me!” she yelled.

“Hide behind your guards,” I said. “Cause a commotion in a town you’ll probably never visit again.”

Wingston motioned for the guards to stand down. “The lad is right. Now, get back into the wagon. The last thing we need is an embarrassing reputation of laying waste to a town like this.” He glared at me. I glared back.

“Mr. Wingston, threats like that when nothing is wrong is unbecoming of you, especially in the presence of children,” I said.

“Don’t push your words or luck, boy, you don’t want to play that game with me.” He turned, only to stop when a hooded figure emerged from the van. I saw nothing but glowing blue eyes in that cloak.

He seemed tall, buff, and if I had to be a guessing man, was probably something like their personal knight or bodyguard. No one would spit in his direction. Well, glowing eyes aside, there could only be one title for this guy.

Otherwise, Wingston wouldn’t have flinched or looked so nervous.

“I thought you said they didn’t bring magicians to unimportant towns,” I hissed.

“They don’t,” Harmony whispered back, her voice nervous. Like obvious nervous. She looked as if she stared death in the face.

“The mistress is complaining,” the magician said. “Wingston, I didn’t hitch a ride with you to be waken up.”

“Well, there’s the immediate answer to that question,” I said. “Let’s just go. There’s no reason for you to stand around here, Harmony. You certainly don’t have to see anyone off.”

“Bastion,” Wingston said nervously. “Nothing’s wrong—please forgive us for waking you!”

“No, I need to work out my frustration,” Bastion said. “Mistress.”

Wingston gulped. He no longer looked like the hotshot from before, but just another person afraid of a magician. Not that I could blame him. Bastion looked quite intimidating.

Unfortunately for them, I was already walking away, pulling Harmony, Milia following with Wolverine.

We rounded a corner and seemed to be in the clear. I did that for Harmony’s sake. The poor girl looked like she stared down the ghost of Chuck Norris, while owing him money. Listen we may not be friends, but it’d be a dick move to the mayor to let his daughter stay in that situation right after I just promised to help contribute to the town.

“T…thank you,” Harmony said after sitting on a bench. She composed herself a bit before speaking. “I’m sorry, I…had some bad experiences with magicians.”

But she was okay with me? I wouldn’t say that of course. Saying something like that aloud felt like admitting defeat, perhaps blowing my cover. She didn’t tell anyone, so I’d continue as if nothing happened.

“I’ll get you a drink to calm down,” I said, then headed off.

“Wine will help calm the nerves,” Milia said as she sat by Harmony. “Make it two, please.”

Wolverine barked cheerfully. I stared flatly at him.

“Don’t tell me to make it three!” I quipped.

That got a laugh from both Milia and Harmony.

As I walked toward a stand that I knew sold wine, I thought about the prior night. You’re probably wondering why the hell I didn’t just stay, tossed the inn excuse. Yes, I know you are, you horn dog. Listen, I don’t care who you are, that damn forest was creepy, and you couldn’t pay me to sleep in it. That’s why we have stories of men disappearing after falling into the clutches of a beautiful woman, following her into God knows where.

I’m getting to know Milia better, but I have yet to understand her motives. What could she be waiting for? The dryad knew things, can sense things that I could not. Sometimes I wondered if she knew I was from another world.

I wanted to see if Wingston finally convinced Buff Mcgiggins to squeeze back into the wagon and make like a tree to…

Nope, of course he didn’t. The magician in robes was walking down the road, asking people something. If one were a betting man, it’d be for the whereabouts of our group. Good thing I didn’t fully round the corner, so I turned my happy ass around and motioned at the others to start running. There was one more corner and they were gone. Unfortunately, I turned around right on time to see the Arnold Schwarzenegger wannabe emerge.

And his eyes gave the “there you are you son of a bitch” flinch. Maybe he was just about to give up and my dumb ass just had to be here at this exact moment. How did he get there so fast? Oh, magic. I’m sure some kid didn’t mean to squeal me out.

Too bad no one was around to witness this guy threaten me, right?