Lux’s eyes lit up at the prospect of the permit problem being so easily solved. He grinned, rocking back on his heels, barely able to contain his excitement. “Well don’t keep me in suspense, how do we fix the issue.” he quipped, giving Trella an expectant look.

  Trella, for his part, remained steady as he explained, “If you don’t have a town hall to process paperwork, the founder can use his official seal. There is a declaration form that can be used in these circumstances, basically it states your town hall is not functioning yet. The next step is for the founder to approve the construction, another declaration form is needed for that because another city cannot approve construction outside of their territory.”

  “With the declaration forms and land permit any town hall can issue approval for construction. Once you have the construction permit you can hire labours, you can even source materials from the guild.”

  When Trella finished, he regarded Lux with a calm, almost resigned expression. Lux waited, expecting the man to say more. “I believe that resolves the permit issue. If there’s nothing else, I’d appreciate being on my way,” Trella said, his tone even and polite.

  “Go? Uh, yeah, you’re free to leave. Sorry for the mix-up.” Lux offered a rueful smile, scratching the back of his head. If Lux had any doubts about Trella being here against his will, that line confirmed it. Trella’s sceptical gaze remained unchanged, though he didn’t look rattled, just cautious.

  Lux threw his hands up in a half-hearted gesture, flashing an apologetic grin. “Sorry about my friends, they can be a bit much. If it helps, I promise we’re usually only this weird on weekends.” He tried to keep the mood light, hoping humour would smooth things over.

  He really wanted to get Trella on his side, grovelling was always his last resort, but he’d totally do it if it meant saving his plans for Silver City. Lux hated being idle, boredom was his arch-nemesis.

  He was already brainstorming ways to win Trella over when Ruby strode back in. The moment the beautiful red-haired woman entered, Trella shifted, posture still relaxed but his eyes tracking her warily. “Is it sorted?” Ruby asked, voice sharp.

  Lux let out a heavy sigh. “Ruby, it’s only been five minutes. I haven’t even had time to mess anything up yet.”

  “So?” Ruby’s foot tapped impatiently.

  Lux rolled his eyes. “We need a seal for the paperwork. No idea if Silver has one.”

  Ruby tilted her head in thought, “I’ll check his stuff.” Ruby left and soon returned with a small chest. She opened it, and Lux peered inside.

  Papers were neatly stacked at the bottom, and on top sat a wooden stamp with a rubber bottom. Ruby pulled out the stamp and handed it to Lux. “You keep that. You’ll need it for the paperwork.”

  Lux held the stamp by the handle, turning it over. The base had an intricate pattern, but Lux couldn’t make out what it meant. He flashed it to Trella. “Is this the official seal you meant?”

  “Yes.” Trella leaned over to look in the chest, eyebrows lifting as he pulled out the top sheet of paper. “Lux, this is a permit for the labours guild,” he said, voice measured.

  It looked like Silver had already started preparing to hire labourers. Lux’s curiosity grew. He reached into the box, pulled out the stack, and started sorting through them.

  There was a mining permit for the mountains near the lake. Multiple land certificates, including Silver City’s land title, it looked like Silver had started purchasing all the land around his city. The rest of the parchments were blueprints for different buildings. Lux pulled out a logging factory blueprint from the pile.

  He handed the blueprint to Trella. “Any clue how much it’d cost to build one of these?”

  Trella examined the details, face growing serious. “The machine in the factory is a state-of-the-art magic logger. Anyone can operate it, all they need to do is place the tree on the conveyor belt. Once it goes through the magic logger, the wood will be processed, and the timber will be cut and ready for use. The only problem with the magic logger is the price.”

  “How much we talking?” Lux really hoped it was within his budget. A magic machine sounded like a bargain, at least in theory.

  Trella’s fingers tapped lightly as he calculated. “Roughly around one hundred thousand gold for the materials. Labor will be extra,” he said, his tone practical and unshaken.

  Ruby, who had been quiet, suddenly cursed. “Fuck! How much did you say?”

  Lux, on the other hand, took it in stride. He wasn’t even surprised at the amount. If he was honest, he thought it was a bargain. One machine could do the work of many, and he wouldn’t need experienced workers to operate it. “Can the labours guild build this factory?” Trella nodded.

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  “Perfect! Ruby, let’s buy ourselves a logging factory and hire some construction workers!” Lux stamped the seal on the labourer’s permit, then handed the parchment, the blueprint, and a bag of money to Ruby.

  Ruby’s eyes flared a deep, brilliant gold as she stared at Lux. “Little human, I really hope you know what you’re doing. One hundred thousand gold is not a small sum.”

  Lux just grinned. “What’s the worst that could happen?” The logging blueprint was in the chest Silver had given Ruby. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Silver had plans to build this factory. He confidently gave Ruby the task.

  Ruby tucked away the pouch and blueprint, then pointed a finger at Trella. “You, boy, come along. We have work to do.” When Trella didn’t get up fast enough, Ruby flicked a small fireball at his feet. “Don’t waste time, or I’ll burn you alive!”

  As he watched them leave, Lux sighed. “Man, I was aiming for ‘friendly’ and landed on ‘accomplice to intimidation.’ Oh well, as long as the factory gets built.” He had no doubt Ruby would get a good deal at the construction guild.

  Two days later, Lux was surprised to see Trella return with a convoy. Lux’s face split into a wide grin. He had been bored out of his mind waiting for materials to start construction. All he had done for the past two days was direct the clearing of land for the logging factory, answer Twiggs’ endless questions about earth, and help at the farm.

  Now, with a shiny new team to boss around, his spirits soared. Lux watched as a line of carts rolled in front of the shoddy houses. Huge beasts bellowed and snorted as the procession came to a halt. Lux looked at the creatures with curiosity.

  They looked like giant pigs, but with shaggy hair covering their bodies. Their legs were short but muscular, at least compared to their massive bodies. Lux walked up to one and was dwarfed by its size.

  As he was admiring the animals, Trella walked over. “Morning, Lux. Can you show us where the logging factory is to be built? The Pigbulls are difficult to get moving if they rest for too long.”

  Lux tucked away his questions about the animals and led the group to the logging factory site. Four acres of flat land, surrounded by trees, was ready for construction. A large pile of trees, neatly stacked, was waiting to be processed.

  The Pigbulls were led to the edge of the clearing and released from the straps linking them to the wagons. Surprisingly, the animals didn’t wander. They just moved out of range of the carts and started to graze.

  Trella started giving orders in a loud voice, and the group of construction workers began to unload the carts. The different sounds filled Lux with joy, it had been weeks since he’d heard the hustle and bustle of a large group of people.

  With eager steps, he made his way to Trella’s side. “How long will it take to build the factory?”

  “Not long. There are some construction mages among the group. The factory shell should be completed today. Tomorrow, another convoy will arrive with the logging machine. The factory will be in working order on the third day.”

  Lux’s eyebrows shot up. This was well beyond his expectations. He became excited at the thought of watching the whole process. The materials were unloaded from the wagons in record time, and then Lux got to see the construction mages in action.

  Metal poles started hovering in the air, then moved to the clearing. They were placed on the ground, forming the skeleton of the building. Once a set of frames was laid in place, another group of workers was flown over to connect the metal poles.

  That’s right. Flown over! People were lifted into the air by an invisible force and moved around the metal structure. The shape of the factory quickly took form as more of the frames were connected.

  The skeleton of the factory was in place before mid-morning. Lux couldn’t help but rub his eyes, wondering if what he was seeing was real. When the large skeleton was still standing, Lux let out a joyous laugh. “With this type of speed, I can really build a whole city before I go home!”

  Trella was standing next to him at the time and let out a laugh of his own. “Well, if you have the money, anything is possible. But it’s not often people will splurge on this many construction mages. Normally, only one is employed for a job of this size.”

  Lux suddenly had a bad feeling. “What do you mean only one is usually hired? How many did we employ?”

  “Ruby purchased fifteen construction mages for this project, and twenty-five regular construction workers,” Trella informed him.

  Lux could feel his palms start to sweat. “Trella, what’s the price difference between a construction mage and a regular construction worker?”

  “Regular construction workers cost 20 silver a day. Construction mages cost 5 gold per day.”

  With trembling hands, Lux took out a sheet of paper and started to calculate the cost of hiring this construction crew. It would come to a total of 160 gold! That was on top of the 100,000 gold he’d already paid for the factory materials!

  Lux nervously took out his ledger, keeping track of the funds. When he removed the money for building the logging factory, there was only 45,700 gold, 98 silver, and 15 bronze coins left. Lux hummed in annoyance. Bringing money into Silver City had just become his top priority!

  The only way he could think of was to export produce, but first, he would need to expand the farm so there would be excess. Expanding the farm would also require workers to manage it. Twiggs could handle the farm on his own for now because it was just watering, but when it came to harvesting, it would be a different story.

  If he hired workers, they would need a place to live. Lux felt a headache coming on and rubbed his temples. Building a city in real life was completely different from a game. He even started to contemplate finding something else to occupy his time, but then remembered that his city-building lie was what was keeping him safe.

  He closed his eyes, blew out a breath, and straightened his shoulders. “You’ve got this, Lux!” Trella raised a brow at Lux’s outburst, but he ignored the look and surveyed the area. He decided he wasn’t needed at the construction site.

  Trella was managing the workers efficiently, and Lux felt that even if he took over, he wouldn’t know what to do. He’d never built anything in real life, after all. Playing with dirt was different to making a structure stand upright.

  He decided to go find Twiggs to discuss expanding the farm. Thankfully, he wouldn’t need to hire farmers just yet, it would take a while for the produce to grow.

  Lux bid farewell to Trella and made his way back to camp. When he arrived, Ruby was flinging fireballs at the house assigned to Silver. What surprised Lux was that not one of the fireballs made any damage to the rickety house. The earth surrounding the residence was in a different state, the previous green grass was now piles of ash, and a burnt smell hung in the air.

  Lux’s curiosity got the better of him. He eyed Ruby, unable to stop himself. “What are you doing, Ruby?”