Chapter 36

Even though the gardens at the top of the slope could’ve benefited from the nutrients in the dead slavers’ bodies, Flint got the new guard to bury them outside the walls. He didn’t feel right about grinding up human bones and wanted to spare the children the sight. It was likely most of them had seen worse already, but it was a happy day for them, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Unlike the humans, the fae in the watch had nominated a female brownie. The males didn’t appear particularly willing to talk to anyone that wasn’t one of their kind. Flint couldn’t tell whether they belonged to a matriarchal societal structure. He didn’t know a lot about the fae, but most of them were led by women, unlike humans.

Winona was a prime example. He hadn’t asked for details, but her passing mention of the Order of Sun and Moon had given him a rough idea of fae society. The female-led order once functioned as a policing force, led the Wyld’s forces against monsters from beyond the disk, and guarded their land’s borders. The way Winona took charge also suggested that she was used to being the one that made decisions and directed people.

The female brownie took the lead, guiding a small force down the slope with the cart. Flint was pleased when a couple of the teenage boys followed. They dug graves together and buried them. He could see the group taking pleasure in disposing of the corpses together. He wasn’t surprised. If it were him alone, he would’ve dug a pit, thrown the bodies in, and set them ablaze. It was more than anything slavers deserved.

The rest of the day passed in reasonable harmony. Flint fixed up the three most intact buildings by the outer walls. He hoped eventually fae, and humans could peacefully cohabitate. For the time being, to deal with racial tensions, he made the living quarters on opposite cliff walls. The building in the middle would serve as their mess hall, armoury and whatever else they needed. Eventually, he planned on fixing up more structures in the area. It would make it convenient for the hunting party to drop off their kills and collected materials near the gate for processing.

Every member of the new guard expressed some degree of displeasure at the shift pattern Flint put together. He forbid switching at the start too. Every watch needed someone capable of comfortably using the gate mechanism and [Keen Eye] or eye enhancement magic. Even though it was possible to arrange one shift with only humans and another with just fae, Flint enforced a mix of both sides. He reasoned it would force them to communicate and cooperate. If they didn’t want to follow his shift pattern, they’d have to address the matter behind his back and make other arrangements. Both scenarios had them working together, which worked for him.

When Adam swung by the gate, Flint used his help to construct firepits. Two would burn atop the walls and keep the watch warm. Then he placed two at ground level too—one in the mess hall and one just outside. The stone pot of porridge from the morning was still half full. Once Flint got back to his stone hut, he sent two youngsters down with an urn of water each. He instructed them to ensure the guard always had water stores and hydrate the porridge before heating it up over the fire.

Most of the humans had set up their camp around Flint’s water source. He told them that it would be safer for all non-combatants to find homes in and around the fort. It soon became apparent that not everyone was willing to stay as close to the fae as the guard. It was mostly the older humans that hung around and the few youngsters they had successfully influenced. There were a few outliers as well—the pregnant women.

“Who is going to fetch us water and run our errands?” One of the older men asked. “It’s the young’s duty to serve the old. Anyone that went uphill chasing the fae is an ingrate and a traitor to their kind.”

Flint had to bite his tongue. He would’ve liked it if people like them got on the carts to Hammercrest. It would reduce the chance of conflict in the community he wanted to build. People like the old man would only plant seeds of discord and resentment. Flint considered people like him cowards. They didn’t like the fae and didn’t care about his cause. They were too scared to take the trip through the Verdant Plains. If the man’s remaining hair wasn’t snow white and his skin weren’t wrinkled, he would’ve given them a piece of his mind.

“Fair enough.” Flint sighed. “It would’ve been easier for you by the fort since you’d just have to help in the gardens and tend the young ones for work. Things won’t be easy down here. People living around here will have to partake in hard manual labour.”

The man and his surrounding huddle had glared at Flint but didn’t speak up against him. After all, they’d sworn to work for the fort’s betterment. Perhaps they didn’t expect him to enforce it on them for their age, but Flint believed in tough love.

“Only the sick get away with not doing anything. People that want food and shelter need to work.”

“I’m pretty sick, Mr Flint,” one of the older women said. “My body can’t really deal with the climb or hard labour.”

“Well, the healer’s centre is at the fort,” Flint said. “If you can’t get up there yourself, I’ll arrange for the young puck lads to carry you up. The easiest job I have down here involves tending to the horses.” Flint glanced around the fire, looking at the clenching jaws and narrowed eyes. “I suppose the watch needs someone to clean up after them and cook their meals too.”

No one bothered to express their distaste for the fae afterwards. Flint expected the numbers to halve after morning came. The young men and women didn’t appear to care about his declaration, but the rest didn’t appear as sure. Ed and Agatha approached him with both their tasks completed. He thanked the pair and sent the latter uphill.

Meanwhile, Ed got an invitation to share the shelter with Flint and the dogs. Once again, the older folk appeared surprised that Flint didn’t offer to give up his home to them, but he ignored them. Instead, he refreshed both totems and hoped they’d serve everyone well.

Fresh meat, vegetables, and bread arrived later in the day. Twylip had sold more of her creations for supplies to last everyone a couple of days. Thanks to Lefa and a couple of new arcanically gifted friends, she hoped her garden would start producing fruit and vegetables to start feeding everyone. However, they’d need to arrange a trade deal with Lea’s Slumber for grains and more lumber.

“I need to find more craftsmen or use the skill stones to create more,” Flint said. “We’ll need to trade a fair bit with Lea’s Slumber if we want to live comfortably. I don’t want all the pressure to be on you and your alchemical creations.”

“I’m okay for now but would eventually like to reap some of the profits for myself,” she replied. “Lefa has given me a list of plants she’d like, and Miss Lya has stores containing almost all of them. She claims a couple of them are great for making fabric. The village doesn’t have many options other than wool, and everyone makes their clothes at home. It would be great if we had a tailor or seamstress that could make the most of it.”

“Then we can trade it with the village.”

Flint looked over the ledger and was glad to find a tailor and a seamstress. The latter was a young woman with only three ranks in [Tailoring]. The other had almost maxed [Sowing], but the name and age suggested they were among the elderly folk shooting him death glares. However, the old man had [Clothier] too. Which meant they had experience turning rough material into thread and fabric. If Flint could get them to train new people, it would make life a lot easier.

Fortunately, Ed’s list mentioned [Clothier], [Sowing], and [Tailoring] too. There were two of the first stone and one each of the latter. Flint imagined it was enough to set up a textile or clothing trade with Lea’s Slumber.

“It’s doable,” Flint said. “We have two people to start and stones for training others up. It might take us a while, but it’s certainly an achievable goal.”

“That sounds great!” Twylip exclaimed. She took the lists off him to gloss over them. “Imagine what would happen if the life quest gave you [Artificing]? Not everyone in Lea’s Slumber could afford their creations, but we could negotiate better deals and use it for defence.”

“Let’s not count our chickens yet.” Flint laughed. “That’s a third-tier skill stone. Permanent enchantments are indeed useful, but the chances of us getting something like it are incredibly low.”

Even though the planning got Flint excited, and he found himself dreaming of the settlement flourishing, he needed to rest. One of the older folks had [Cooking], and they used it to whip a glorious braised lamb dish using the ingredients. The heat warmed Flint inside and out, and he wanted to go to bed as soon as he finished.

Much to his surprise, it wasn’t just Bjorn and Flint that followed him in. The three new bloodhounds followed too. They snuggled up to one another in the far corner away from Flint. He didn’t mind. Flint guessed the slavers didn’t treat them particularly well given their lean state and missing clumps of fur. The humans didn’t display much fear of them, so he assumed they were primarily used to keep the fae in check.

[Totem of Healing] would fix them up overnight—hopefully, get rid of all fleas and ticks too. Then Flint would try to get close to them once day time came. Flint’s empathic sense helped identify their concerns and fears. So, he made a show of stroking Bjorn’s head. If they saw him treat the big lug well, they’d want some of the same affection, too, with time.