Thirty-five days. Thirty-five busy days went by since Regis succeeded in bringing Galen and Magda over to Lady Zola to become her new mage advisors. The morning light of the thirty-sixth day found the young spell weaver in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He took a silent breath while rubbing his eyes, turning to the left with slow movements.

On his side, Letty was still sleeping, the soft cotton sheet hugging her petite yet curvy figure. Letting out a small sigh, the dark elf slipped out of bed to get dressed. ‘Where’s my… oh.’ He tried to look for his shirt, finding it on the sleeping wood elf. After grabbing another one from the cupboard, he silently left the room with his magic staff in hand. On his way toward the stairs, Regis looked at the mild cream-coloured empty wall that only had a couple of crystal wall lamps adorning it. ‘I’ll have to ask Tristan to look for someone with drawing or painting skills.’ He mused, heading downstairs.

“Good morning, milord!” A gentle voice greeted him at the end of the stairs.

“Good morning, Dana.” Regis nodded toward the muddy-red-haired woman. “Letty is still asleep, so please leave my room for last!”

“Of course, sire.” The woman gave a slight bow before returning to her duties.

With the maid gone, he was left alone again. Even without any paintings to adorn the walls, the main floor of the manor looked lavish with its black and white marble flooring and carved marble pillars. The magic crystal lamps were already turning dark while the stained glass window above the main entrance let through the morning light in a myriad of colours. Regis continued toward the carved oaken door to leave, deactivating the barrier and left the manor, barely taking a few steps before a familiar voice greeted him.

“Good morning, milord!”

“Morning, Tristan.” He responded as his steward joined him. “So, what’s today’s schedule?”

“You have five important tasks to oversee today.”

“Just five? I guess things are starting to settle down.”

“First, the construction of the bridge tower was halted due to material shortage. Secondly, the stained glasses of the chapel have been fitted into place.”

“So we have supply conjuration and quality control. Next.”

“Miss Nina requested your presence at the central store to finalize the list of wares to be bought and sold during her next trip to East Fork. Miss Valerie also requested that you visit her at the vineyard. She said that you ‘promised’ some arcane help to her.”

“Both should be manageable. What’s the last one?”

“The meeting in the town hall regarding the new settlers and a few other things. Shouldn’t take longer than an hour.”

“Good. Please remind me…”

“To go and train at the barracks after the meeting? I will, sir.”

“Right. And the…”

“I will also remind you about the spell and crafting-related practices as well.”

“Thanks.” Regis sighed relieved as they kept walking.

Obelisk Square was as pretty as always, the slowly fading arcane street lights dyeing it a faint gold colour that was brightened by the reddish-orange tint of the morning sun. The runic clock slowly ticked away in the middle of the square, bringing a semblance of modern art into the place.

“Good morning, milord!” He heard from a few people while walking, giving them a slight nod as a reply.

“I must admit,” Tristan sighed as he looked at the seven meter tall white marble obelisk that had a glowing analogue clock-shaped array on each side near the top. “It always baffles me how such a thing isn’t everywhere in the kingdoms. It makes following time a lot easier.”

“I’m more baffled by the fact that the Shardlands have an exact twenty-four hour timeline. If it wasn’t for the runic diagram Nina bought from that travelling merchant, I would have never found out about it.”

“Well, most people measure time using the sun and night-time is for sleeping and whatnot anyway.”

“Spoken like a true bachelor.” A quirky voice remarked, making Tristan’s eyes twitch.

“Morning, Cruz.” The dark elf greeted the woman.

“Is my sister…”

“She’s still sleeping.”

“Can’t you go easy on her?”

“We only had dinner last night and a warm bath. She was totally wiped after yesterday’s herb harvest.”

“Oh, poor you.” Cruz patted his shoulder with an obviously fake empathy.

“Yeah, yeah. So, where were you headed?”

“Morning practice at the barracks with Quentin.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Not as fun as hunting those remnant undead with Khan and his pals, but I take what I can get. See you at the meeting.” She said as she hurried on to reach the barracks in time.

“We should get going as well.” The dark elf noted as they headed to the nearby bridge.

The cobblestone streets were lined with recently erected buildings on both sides, the third bridge out of the five being speck in the middle of the town.

“Morning, sir!” One of the construction workers greeted him, the rest of his team perking up as they noticed the spell weaver and his steward getting closer.

Despite being unfinished, the third bridge was still quite impressive. Its thick granite columns reached three meters above the half-metre thick walkway, a sandstone tiled roof protecting the people from the elements. An unfinished tower took up the middle part of the bridge’s roof, two or so metres already built from the planned seven. Regis replied to the greetings with a firm nod before he began to conjure piles of bricks for the workers. A dozen square-shaped piles later the loremaster took the small stairs at the side of the bridge, melding the bricks of the already finished tower section together.

“To the chapel?” He asked his steward after returning, the man nodding in agreement.

“Morning!” The two heard as they reached Landwaker Square.

“Morning, Sophie!” Regis said with a slight smile as she noticed the sun elf coming out of the smithy.

“I just wanted to thank you for that enchanted leather-worker toolset.”

“I take it you have no complaints?”

“It’s awesome,” the young woman beamed with an elated smile. “I managed to craft a new set of leather armour with a quarter of the effort it took with my old tools.”

“I’m glad to hear it. What about Amanda?”

“She’s busy hammering away at the new swords for the guards.”

“Tristan,” the spell weaver turned to his steward. “Please note down that the guards’ new weapons will have to be enchanted as well.”

“Of course, sir.” The man nodded, scribbling the new task into a small leather-bound notebook he received from the dark elf a while back.

“Were you headed to have breakfast at Mary’s place?” Sophie asked as she heard a slight growl escape the dark elf’s stomach.

“As tempting as it sounds, I was originally called over because of the stained glass windows of the chapel.”

“Oh,” she hummed as she looked toward the white-walled Victorian-style chapel on the other side of Landwaker Square. “Now that you mention it, I did notice them fiddling with those window holes.”

“Want to check it out?”

“Okay.” Sophie nodded as the three-headed over to the chapel.

While walking, Regis took in the sight of their Landwaker tree. Its trunk was now thick enough that it needed two people to surround it and its branches were filled with lush and glowing leaves. The reinforced arcane barrier left plenty of space for it to grow and he could even see the first fruits growing on the lower branches.

“How long do you reckon until the first harvest?” He asked from no one in particular.

“Miss Letty estimated it to be in about five or six more days.” Tristan responded.

“Six days, huh? That’s not much. Should we hold a small gathering for the first harvest?”

“An excellent idea,” the steward nodded with a delighted smile. “The first harvest of a Landwaker is a symbol of the land and the settlement’s bountifulness. Given the true nature of Thornfell’s Landwaker, it’s truly worthy of celebration.”

“Yeah,” Regis sighed. “On the other hand, it’s going to be another set of expenses to deal with.”

“We’ll have to inform Miss Nina about the new additions to her ‘supply run’ but I’m sure that the current set of enchanted armaments she’s meant to deliver will more than cover the extra costs.”

“Good.” The spell weaver nodded as the three reached the chapel.

“Good morning Lithia!” Both Sophie and Regis greeted the priestess while the steward gave a slight bow.

“Oh, good morning!” She replied while walking closer.

“Whoa,” the sun elf chirped as she looked around. “They’re so beautiful!”

The walls on both sides of the chapel had seven large stained glass panels, mirroring the other side due to them both depicting the seven paths. The large circular panel above the entrance showed the image of a Landwaker tree with a myriad-hued leaf crown. Due to this, the morning sun bathed the chapel in a cacophony of colours.

“They are,” Lithia agreed. “When Regis offered to make a few stained glasses, I honestly expected something much simpler. To think that he managed to replicate the drawings from the ‘Tome of the Seven’ to such a fine detail is astonishing.”

“Magic has a lot of uses outside of combat.” the spell weaver remarked. “Did everything go smoothly?”

“Yes. The workers managed to put them in and temporarily sealed them into their places, but Lars said that you’ll have to finalise things.” The priestess explained.

“I’ll deal with it in a moment.” Regis nodded as he walked over to the side of the entrance where a long wooden ladder was placed next to the wall.

He climbed up so that the circular window would be within arm’s reach and used his earth magic to tightly seal the stone around the quartz panels before fusing those together as well. ‘One down, fourteen more to go.’ He thought as he climbed down, bringing it over to the first pane on the left. A quarter of an hour later all of the stained glasses were fused and sealed, making him let out a content sigh.

“Thank you,” Lithia said with a smile as she looked around. “This chapel is even more beautiful than the one in Hunor and East Fork.”

“Don’t mention it. I see Mary’s statues have already received their first decorations.” The dark elf looked at the white marble statues standing atop their pedestals at the far end of the chapel.

Each statue had at least one wreath of flowers placed on its head with some having more. Even at such an early time, some of the townsfolk were already there, their quiet prayers asking for help with their daily tasks and the like.

“The children decided to hold a small flower wreath-making contest yesterday.”

“And who won?” Sophie asked excitedly.

“Lunet.”

“No surprise there,” Tristan remarked. “She’s quite at home when it comes to flowers and plants.”

“At least they had something to do. How’s the school coming along?”

“Three-fourth done, sir. It’s one of tomorrow’s agendas to visit the construction site.”

“Good. With the influx of new people, we’re having a lot more kids to care for.”

“Twenty-seven to be precise. All of them between the age of six and nine.” The steward noted the important detail.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let Osmond teach them?” Sophie asked with a slight worry in her tone.

“Why wouldn’t it be? He’s good at teaching and it’s not like he would be dragging his skeletons around to scare the kids.”

“Let’s hope not.”

“Yeah,” the loremaster sighed. “Anyway, we should get going. There are still three more tasks to attend to.”

“Alright,” Lithia nodded. “Take care and thank you for your help.”

“Sure thing.” Regis nodded as he and Tristan left the church.

“Shall we go to visit Miss Nina?” The steward asked.

“Yes. She should be awake by now. After that, we’ll take the horses and ride over to Valerie’s place.”

“Ugh.” Tristan shuddered at the mention of the horses.

“Oh come on, it’s less than an hour ride. You should be fine.”

“Why can’t we take the carriage, milord?”

“And sit inside a stuffy box when we could enjoy the summer air? Don’t I get to be stuck indoors enough?”

“As you wish.” The two chattered with a surprising familiarity while walking through the town.

Back at Obelisk Square, the runic clock was about to turn to seven o’clock, and some of the townsfolk were already opening up their stores or busily moving about. The aptly named ‘Thornfell General’ served as the go-to place for the locals when they needed something their own crafts-folk couldn’t produce. If Nina’s people didn’t have it, one could be sure they would have it after the woman’s next supply run.

The lamps behind the quartz windows were already lit, an obvious sign of the store being open. Regis opened the door. The small bell above it rang with a pleasant tone to announce their arrival.

“In a moment,” a firm voice resounded from the room behind the counter. “What can I get… apologies, milord! I didn’t know it was you.”

“It’s alright Arden,” the dark elf waved off the young lad. “Is Nina awake yet?”

“Yes,” the young shopkeeper apprentice nodded. “She woke up an hour ago. Let me call her for you.”

Saying that, the youth hurried back through the door behind the counter. A good minute later, Nina showed up from the other room, still slightly sleepy from the looks of it.

“Good morning, sire! Tristan.”

“Morning, Nina. I was told you wanted to speak with me regarding today’s shopping tour.”

“Yes,” she nodded while inviting them into the room behind the thick oaken counter. “I have the full list of supplies that would need your personal funding.”

As soon as the three sat down around a small oak table, she handed over three scrolls, one of them having Regis’ name on top of it. The spell weaver read the densely packed rows before nodding in approval.

“Everything seems to be in order, but there ought to be a few more additions to the list.”

“Milord?” His merchant representative looked at him puzzled.

“The Landwaker should bear its first bounty in about six days,” Tristan explained. “And Lord Regis brought up the idea of holding a small celebration to honour the first harvest.”

“I see,” Nina’s eyes practically lit up after she heard the news. “In that case, I will add the usual celebratory supplies to the list as well.

“That will be for the best,” Regis agreed. “Is there anything else that requires my attention or approval?”

“There is the matter of the enchanted equipment commissioned by the Royal Army.”

“Already done and packed up,” the spell weaver remarked. “Kormac will bring it over around nine o’clock.”

“Excellent news, sir! Other than that, nothing else requires your attention for now.”

“In that case, we should get going.”

“Already?” Nina asked back with a somewhat downcast gaze.

“Valerie asked for help and the vineyard is a bit far away even on horseback.”

“I won’t keep you then. If everything goes well I should be back before the meeting at noon.”

“See you there.”

With that, they’ve left the shop with somewhat hasty steps.