Set Dressing

Chapter 162

I only had a couple days before the former Silvertree serfs would be arriving. Unlike the Lepusan group, they would have children with them and likely want to explore the town a bit more. Ban and his friends were interested, but their focus was on returning to their band and bringing them to the valley.

As such I was busy tidying things up and getting skill-focused skeletons into place in various roles the combat ones hadn’t elected to fill. On another day, this likely would have felt tedious, but with actual locals inbound it was honestly thrilling.

With the adventurers' guild and associated buildings nearly complete, I turned my focus to recruiting teachers for a proper schoolhouse. I’d decided that Erica would function as principal, more or less, as well as teaching a few subjects. She’d have clout with the new human residents one of my skeletons wouldn’t and I wanted as easy a transition as I could manage.

“This is… rather nice,” Erica muttered as she examined the building I’d supplied. It wasn’t a purpose-built school. I planned for there not to have been one previously since I’d been told that was common. Normally whoever was head of the village allowed any such lessons, if they happened at all, to happen in the village hall.

I deviated a bit from that by offering up what would seem like a sturdy but previously abandoned store for the location. It wasn’t a huge building, but it had a nice reception area that would have been the sales floor and a storage room that could be converted into a classroom. The upstairs would be a decent area for a library and a few private study alcoves along with the teachers' office.

“But not too much?” I asked, a bit concerned. It would need a bit of cleaning and repair but that would make more sense than a town without any kids in it having a purpose-built one. A fact Dawn had to point out to me. I’d had a really cute design in mind originally.

“No, there are enough empty buildings about that nobody will question us using one much. Everyone from Silvertree will likely assume I’m getting a favor in some way, but that's all,” Erica said with a shrug.

‘Good,” I replied.

“It's killing you a bit to not make a nicer one, isn’t it?” Erica asked wryly.

“Maybe,” I agreed begrudgingly. I was trying to be good, but that didn’t make it easy.

“It's so funny how you are about things. Like a child building model houses, only,” Erica gestured at the building around us.

“I enjoy what I can do,” I said with a shrug. Erica just hummed in amusement at that.

Though the building was barren for the moment, I’d already dealt with the plan for the interior. Rather than have everything waiting I’d scattered sturdy wood furnishings through the other ‘abandoned’ buildings. The new folks would be invited to scavenge for it to supply the school with their own residences as there would be more than enough to go around.

The books and associated shelving would be supplied by the library I’d set up topside in what would look like a converted warehouse. The initial lessons would largely be oral and focused on imparting basic literacy, but I had to plan further along than that. Slates and chalk would serve for the initial writing lessons before paper the school recycled itself would enter the picture.

Knowing that being in the school would be uncomfortable at certain times of year, I added a sheltered outdoor room. It would be easy to head outside and catch a breeze in the shade and likely make things easier on students and teachers alike.

“Is there anything else you might need in here aside from the slate board?” I asked. I’d made time for the walk-through but was eager to move on to other projects.

“No, no, everything should be fine and if I’m missing anything it’ll just make it seem a bit less strange,” Erica offered.

“Right,” I agreed, only half listening.

I’d been short on inspiration for the abandoned butchery building initially. I liked the idea of a spooky spot just fine, but actually coming up with the design was another matter. I’d focused on making sure the everyday butchery in town was ready to go instead.

From what I’d read most monsters were edible, or at least parts of them were. That didn’t mean they were known as such and I’d gotten mixed reports from everyone about what they thought on the subject. Elim and Erica just looked at me like I had lost my mind when I asked if they’d ever partaken.

Now though, as the day was slanting toward dusk I’d been hit with a bit of inspiration. After seeing Erica off, I decided it was time for a bit of shameless indulgence. The building itself was sturdier than it had any right to be, considering the aesthetic I had planned, but I didn’t weaken it. I wanted it to look abandoned and offer some fun scares, but nothing too dangerous.

While I still had the light I focused on making the exterior look worn and neglected. I started by making the wood well-weathered, with peeling paint and spots of mold. Thick cobwebs covered the eaves and stretched across the door frames. The windows were greased paper giving off a faintly unpleasant scent with some torn, their remains still clinging to the frames.

The interior set up a hint of mystery. The space was dirty and neglected but almost empty aside from large fixtures and a few scattered things. Some tools, rusted or broken, a stained apron, a single glove, and random detritus from its former use lay strewn about along with scraps of paper covered in scrawled orders and tallies.

The working surfaces were scarred and worn in layers, as if they’d been in use for a long time. Stains from the work in various faded colors added to the air of neglect and strangeness. For fun I added a few bloody boot prints, old and browned, but a little out of place to haunt the observant.

For ambiance I played with the boards, making sure they were likely to creak or groan at random. Wind through the damaged windows would produce eerie sounds. I didn’t have ghosts in my monster shop, and wasn’t keen on them anyway, but sound effects were easy enough.

I even scattered a few smaller bones about to create far more questions than they’d ever answer. Stepping back, I surveyed my work. The empty building managed to convey a sense of danger without providing any real threat. I thought it would make a fun locale for a ghost story or two among the townspeople.

It wasn’t in such bad shape it couldn’t be refurbished to serve its intended purpose, however. If the time came it was needed, the new operator would find themselves in possession of a building with good bones despite the creep factor. For the moment though, it was an eerie little curiosity, something for people to talk about.

With the schoolhouse and butchery squared away for now, I decided to check on the progress in the adventurers' guild. Dawn had been hard at work drafting notices to attract those brave or stupid enough to test their mettle in my dungeon.

Stepping inside, I found Dawn arranging freshly printed notices across the front desk. She looked up and started just a little. She didn’t mind my Quarante Deux appearance, but it still surprised her to see it at times.

"Oh, good. Take a look," Dawn said and huffed irritably. She’d been doing the work, but liking it was another matter entirely.

I picked up one of the notices. It wasn’t much different from the lure I’d given Elim to use with the hero party. It mentioned trouble in the valley involving some missing sheep and a cave and an odd glowing stone. Enough to possibly hook a particularly curious adventurer, but not start a treasure-seeking stampede.

“I think it's fine,” I said. Dawn nodded, then reached under her desk and took out a stack as thick as her rather sculpted biceps. She’d been busy and I’d been fucking around with scenery. She shouldn’t have known that but I was sweating a bit anyway.

“Right, let me… help,” I said, not honestly wanting to, but knowing I should.

“But first, badges!” I said before she could reach for more paper. I took a set of dogtag-like charms out of my inventory. They were nestled in a velvet-lined box and went iron errand runner, copper apprentice, silver journeyman, and gold master. There were also a few stamps and stones to add a little more flair and indicate jobs within the guild itself.

“Very nice,” Dawn said, eyeing them for a few moments. She was also none too subtly pushing the stack of adventurer advertisements at me. Apparently she wasn’t going to be distracted by shinies and I accepted my fate.