The builders ushered us inside the structure. It was well lit just like the dome of the Hornies. On either side of the main door were arches leading to the servants’ quarters. Proceeding straight, we arrived at the throne room. The impressive royal seat was hewn from rock.

Nora laughed when she caught me regarding the throne with a critical air. Perhaps she guessed my concern if it would be comfortable sitting on the chair of supreme authority.

“Do not worry,” Nora said, “we will make cushions for you!”

There were lines of seats in the room for my ministers too. I liked that everything was well spaced. Back in my chamber in the village while carrying out any discussion, I would always feel overwhelmed by the sheer presence of so many monsters in such a close proximity.

Behind the throne there was a door which led to a flight of steps that took us to the first floor of the palace. There was only a single bedchamber on the first floor, apparently meant for me and for Kiara.

There was a large mirror inside it. Work was underway on a massive bed—of wood, not leaves. There was even a chair. I went and sat on it, loving the feel of its arms and the ability to lean backwards without fear of hitting my head on a wall. It had been months since I had last placed my buttocks on a chair. I thought the chair was quite an accomplishment since the Skhites hardly ever used any furniture.

“We made that,” Nora said with a proud twinkle in her eyes. “Do you like it?”

“It’s so comfortable I would fall asleep if I sat a few more minutes,” I complimented their effort. “As for this new home, thank you, it’s really a good place.”

“We are glad you like it,” the builders said. “The home of the Hornies is two kilometers to the east, and that of the Skhites is two kilometers to the west from here.”

I thought it was a sensible decision to build the palace at an equal distance from each clan.

“So when are you moving in?” Kiara asked me.

“How long will that bed take to finish?” I asked Nora and Nadir. The last time I slept soundly on an actual bed was ages ago in my hospital room.

“A week at most,” Nora said, “but we would like to make it the best bed there is… so I think we would take two additional weeks.”

The remainder of the day I spent in my chamber in the village of the Skhites, mulling over plausible solutions for the irrigation issue. A few things were clear: More farms would be pivotal to accelerate evilese production. And those farms would consume lots and lots of water. Water that couldn’t be brought from the village of the Skhites or the dome of the Hornies. The monsters’ reservoirs were composed entirely of rainwater, and for a while there had been no rains.

I needed an alternative plan… There was the stream not very far away. Somehow, I knew that it would be vital for my agrarian pursuits. Should I build canals? Not logical. The village was located at an elevation from the stream. The idea of canals could be discarded.

That night I even forgot to create the portal for Kiara to come to Dharti and spend the night with me as she always did. It was probably around midnight when the light bulb went on in my head and with a rush of euphoria I realized what my next action plan should be.

There was no use building canals. But why bother with canals when I could just set up farms near the stream?

The idea seemed so simple and effective and yet it was astounding that I should take such a long period to arrive at it. The only hiccup was that I would have to take Kiara everyday to the farms so that she could cast her protective charm. But she shouldn’t mind a refreshing morning walk, right?

It was only early next morning when I realized that I had not created the portal for Kiara, and felt stupid.

In the early hours itself, I trekked to the stream with a considerably large group of Skhites and Hornies. Along the bank we searched for a proper place where the farms could be set up.

After about an hour of examination we found a perfect spot where the ground was level and a large farm could be created that stretched along the bank for a couple of hundred meters.

I asked the monsters to clear the area of unwanted plants and set up fences. This task alone consumed the better half of the day.

I had the seeds that I had recently purchased from the Zombies (they had given me a total of eighty this time, and the perk was that they had lowered their price of gold per seed), but I decided not to sow them yet. Instead, I instructed that the land be tilled so it would be easier for the plants to spread their roots.

That night I connected to the real world to find an anxious Kiara.

“You didn’t come yesterday night,” Kiara said, “I was afraid something happened to you.”

I dismissed her worry with a laugh.

“What can happen to me?” I said. “I am the king of two clans of monsters!”

That didn’t settle Kiara’s distress. She bit her lips imagining all the things in the universe that could go wrong.

“Is there no way we can remain connected with each other all the time?” she asked.

I rubbed my chin. An old piece of memory floated to my mind.

“Wait a minute, the first time when I came to this world, I talked with you on the phone, didn’t I?”

Kiara’s mood brightened immediately. However my phone was probably still in Sam’s room at the inn where he stayed. I recalled he had mentioned the phone’s battery dying the last time we met. But there was no facility in the game world to charge phones, and an attempt to retrieve the device from the town would be too risky. I had no desire to be stabbed a second time. I could ask Sam to bring the phone the next time he came to the village, if he ever did. I told this to Kiara, but she grimaced at me like I was an idiot.

“Who knows when he would come,” she said, “I will just buy you a new phone. We can always remain in touch then.”

“Uh, right,” I said.

Too much concern over the farms had made my brain dull.