BXBX NOVEL Chapter 102: Opaque reality [ 22 ]
Thanks to his knowledge of architecture, he was able to produce a satisfactory plan after about an hour.
After finishing the drawing, Rowan didn't wait for anyone. With a renewed sense of purpose, he grabbed a shovel and began working immediately, eager to turn his plans into reality.
His digging speed was astonishingly fast. He was able to dig the foundation of one house in less than three hours since he didn't have to hold back like he did the day before while laying the foundation of the first guardhouse. His enhanced strength allowed him to work tirelessly, moving earth with ease and precision.
With his incredible speed, he was able to dig the foundations of three buildings before evening finally arrived, and he retired along with the other soldiers.
As the sun began to set, painting the sky with hues of orange and pink, he walked back home alongside some of the farmers and soldiers who were returning from their places of work. The group moved together, sharing stories of the day's efforts and laughing at small jokes to lighten the mood.
Everyone was very happy to tell Rowan how their work had gone for the day and how much progress they had made.
Elara was among them, and she approached Rowan with a determined expression. She told him that she and the other ministers of agriculture had decided to start clearing the uncultivated parts of the farms to begin planting as soon as they could.
According to her, it would take them more than three days to finish clearing since the land was really big and because they didn't possess that many farm tools for clearing; only a few of the farmers in Winterseed possessed cutlasses and hoes.
Rowan only realized this now and noted it inwardly to ensure he would purchase as many farming tools as he could the next time D'andre visited.
As for the soldiers working on the guardhouse, they reported that their project was almost halfway done, which made Rowan smile a little bit.
He went back home and was greeted with exciting news from Riela.
"I enchanted a dress that can warm the body during the cold season!" she told Rowan cheerfully, her eyes sparkling with pride at her achievement. She held up the garment for him to see, the fabric shimmering slightly with magical energy.
Rowan was elated and immediately congratulated her on her accomplishment.
The more Riela improved in her craft, the happier Rowan became as he realized the problem of clothing would be solved very soon. She was his only hope in that sector, and he wanted her to grow as fast as she could.
Both of them enjoyed the night together before a new day began, and they left as usual to continue with their tasks around the village.
Rowan first went to supervise the soldiers at the borders and then the farmers before proceeding to lay more foundations.
Around forty houses had been destroyed during the goblin raid, and he had to dig the foundations for all of them as soon as he could in order to begin rebuilding.
Those people who had lost their homes had been living with other villagers, leading to overcrowding which might lead to a lot of negative events like disease outbreaks and spread if care wasn't taken.
There hadn't been any case of a major disease outbreak in the village, and Rowan was ready to maintain that for as long as he could. Rebuilding the houses was his way of preventing such problems.
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Liara could be seen venturing outside the northern border, looking for herbal plants to pick and store in case there was anyone in the village who needed them.
Not too far away from where she explored, Bruce and his soldiers were working on the guardhouse, thus she was safe exploring the area without fear.
"The red sunflower is absolutely essential for treating any cold-related illness. I need to find a reliable supply as quickly as possible before the rainy season hits, because once the rains start, the flowers die off and become nearly impossible to find," she muttered to herself as she looked around.
She was holding a woven basket in her hands, and there were varieties of herbs in it ranging from oddly shaped leaves to small, tiny fruits with peculiar shapes as well.
Liara had been a plant enthusiast since birth; she spent most of her childhood in the bushes picking beautiful flowers and tending to lovely plants which she grew to love. Nevertheless, when she learned from Ren that she could use those herbs to help the sick, she became really interested and curious to find out more.
Because of her piqued interest and curiosity, she was able to learn a lot from Ren in the very few hours they spent together.
When Ren described plants to her, she immediately identified most of them because she had seen them before, while she noted the ones she hadn't seen before in her head and made sure to go hunt for them every opportunity she got.
Since she returned from Glenwood, she spent most of her free time going around the village looking for special herbs among the grasses since she couldn't leave the village to explore the forest and bushes beyond the border.
While she was picking herbs this morning, Winston approached her and told her she could accompany them to look for herbs in the bushes close to the north border, and she happily went with them.
At this moment, she strolled gradually, looking for the red sunflower which was pretty hard to find.
After a few hours of searching, she finally spotted the red sunflower and ran towards it with a joyful smile on her face.
The red sunflower was almost the same as the usual sunflower; the only difference was its size, which was three times bigger than the usual sunflower and its blood-red color instead of yellow.
Liara squatted in front of the flower and observed it for a few minutes with a gentle smile before gently harvesting the petals in a way that didn't affect the main plant. She had learned this process from Ren.
"If this one is here, then there might be others," she muttered happily and looked around. Luckily, she found a few other red sunflowers a few meters away and quickly ran to pick them up.
She was so focused on finding and collecting red sunflowers that she failed to notice Dragun strolling casually behind her, observing the herbs in her basket with a calm expression on his face.
He was standing so close beside her, but she couldn't see him; in fact, not even the soldiers noticed him on his way here because he had activated a spell called GLIMMERFADE which hid his presence from others. He could only be detected by those with stronger mana than his.
He had been using GLIMMERFADE all the time in the village to avoid much interaction with others.
His eyes at this moment were mostly focused on the red sunflowers she collected, as they were an important ingredient in the brewing of a special magical potion he had in mind.
Thankfully, he was here on time to see her discovering the red sunflowers. Nevertheless, seeing how she was eager to pick all the red sunflowers on sight, he couldn't help but silently hope that her basket would get filled up quickly.
Dragun was still walking beside her, noting the spots where the red sunflowers grew so he would be able to come harvest the petals when they grew back in the future. Suddenly, he felt a monstrous presence deep inside the forest approaching the village.
His eyes darted towards the forest; he applied mana to his eyes and was able to see clearly through the trees and spotted a red-scaled snake hissing as it observed Liara.
Dragun didn't waste time and immediately sprinted towards the snake and killed it before it could even notice him. Sadly, he didn't have any use for any part of the red-scaled snake.
Liara felt the breeze blow weirdly fast against her face and looked around her cautiously before returning her gaze to the red sunflower in front of her, unaware of how her life had just been saved by Dragun.