18. Building for the Future (3)

The corners were set as the men came up to the main area. Fang growled at them and they all stopped moving. "Fang here." The pup ran up beside him and sat down but he was still glaring at the intruders into his territory. "Sorry about that. He is still a little leery of strangers." He pointed to the area he marked. "The corners are marked and there are some extra tools in the stable if you need them." Without a word the men went to work.

While they worked in the garden he headed to the woods a short distance away and started on the last section of his tree that would be worth the effort to cut into boards. He was almost done with the smoke house and then he would not have to worry about his meat situation. The second deer that he killed was almost all the way gone or turning and he knew that bad meat could kill him. He had just cleaned up the last board when the pup looked up and grumbled. The three men were headed towards him.

"Sir the garden area is finished."

"Already. That is outstanding. You boys would not be interested in a little more work would you. It would not be quite as much money as today and tomorrow, yes I will still pay you for what I committed to tomorrow, and then we will drop down to two silver a day each."

"What would we be doing sir? I am only asking so that we bring the right tools with us if we have them."

"Well I will have you plant the area that you tilled up today and then help me cut up and stack the rest of this tree and make some fencing and get it put up around the garden as well as extending the stable paddock. It was only made for one or two horses and I found myself with a few extra."

"That sounds like good work to us sir." The man looked a little embarrassed to ask the next question.

"Oh how would you guys like to be paid by the day or every few days. Some guys like a big payday after a few days."

"We are used to by the day sir but if you want to do just today and then lump the next few days together that would work for us."

Novum pulled out three gold and tossed it to them. "That was good work today men. I appreciate it." He pulled out one more gold. "Now I have a favor to ask and it is just a favor feel free to tell me know. But would any of you be willing to swing by the restaurant by the mayor's office and get me some biscuits in the morning. This is just for the biscuits and don't get any change. And it does not need to be a lot of biscuits half a dozen or so."

"It is on my way here sir I will stop by in the morning and bring them with me. And do not worry about the extra silver you have more than paid for me to do that for you." Novum tossed him the gold and the three of them headed back to town.

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After another ten day the work that needed to be done was done. The garden was planted and a few of the onions he planted were already starting to show change. All of the buildings that he wanted help with were finished. He was really happy with the way things had turned out. He still had a few things to build but he did not want a lot of people knowing about them or the mine. He felt his coin grow warm and was a little surprised since the only people that had been out lately was the workers that were standing in front of him.

"Fang stable." The pup who was bigger than a small dog ran to the stable and laid down on his blanket. A few minutes later the mayor rode up to the house. "Oh good afternoon mayor. What brings you out here so late in the day?"

"Afternoon Novum. Peter has finally finished up with everything and if you had some time this evening or in the morning to talk about it I would be much obliged."

"Well we are done out here so I can come to town with you now and get this sorted out. Gentleman you guys have been a huge help." He handed each of them two gold coins almost double what he owed them. "I know it is more than we agreed on but you have been a huge help. Have a good evening." Novum got Noctis ready and rode back to town with the mayor.

"You got a lot done with a little bit of help the last couple of weeks. Any more big plans?"

"Since I got the paddock so much bigger now and the sty only needed a few little things I am thinking about getting a couple cows and a couple of pigs. Not a milk cow just something that I can butcher and smoke. The deer in the area area great but it is nice to have a little variety. And a couple of pigs should give me piglets next year and I can either sell them to the locals or smoke the meat and sell it. Either way I see them as long term investments."

"Why not a milk cow? Just curious."

"They are a lot of extra work every morning and sometimes in the evening. Would fresh milk be great yeah but it is not worth the effort right now."

"That makes sense. Any chickens?"

"There are way to many foxes right now. Once I get them thinned out a little then I might think about it. So how much is left?"

"I am not going to talk about that out here. I do not want the citizens to know what was going on."

"I was not thinking about that, my apologies. I am also thinking about a few goats but I am debating on those. I am also going to be building my own wagon. I might need some stuff for the wheels but it will give me something to do this winter."

"An entire wagon. If you could do that you could make a fortune. There are not a lot of wagons here and they are expensive to rent for the time to go to the capitol and back."

"I will have to keep that in mind. Is there anyone local that would be willing to sell some livestock?"

"I do not know of anyone that would be willing to part with a live animal. They usually butcher it as a group and split it up."

"Okay, not a big deal I will just have to take a trip to the capitol and see what I can get my hands on." The conversation dropped because they could see city hall a short distance away.

Peter was waiting on them at the door and he had a huge stack of papers in his hand. Without a word he led them to a briefing room in the back that was very seldom used. Right now it was completely covered with papers and receipts and notes. Once the door was closed the mayor flipped a stone on the table and only then did Peter speak.

"Good evening. The damage that Jim could have done and had in the works to do has been minimized. According to his notes and plans, which were very meticulous by the way, you stopped him before he could do to much damage. But in two years he would have devastated this village to the point of no return. He planned to buy everything up for coppers instead of gold and turn it into a hunting area for nobles from the capitol. I also found a note with a different name on it and an account at the lenders with the same name and we assumed that it was a fake account for him and took all of that as well."

"I am glad that it all worked out. Given all of that what is left?"

The mayor spoke up this time. "As it stands right now there is just under a hundred gold missing. There are two options, first is that we hold everything and sell enough of his stuff to make up the difference. There is no telling how long that might take. The second option would be for you to pay the gold and then you take the keys to the house and everything in it. It puts a bigger burden on you until you can get to the capitol but it is more efficient."

Novum reached into his bag. "Then let's do it the efficient way." He counted out the gold that was owed and realized that he was getting to the bottom of the gold that he brought in with him. If he did not do something soon he would be completely out of money.

The mayor clapped his hands knowing that was coming and how good it would be for the village. "That settles that. Peter would you please bind the coin."

Novum held out his finger and was not surprised when he felt the link pop into place. "Peter is there a way to not have it alert me when someone comes on the property?"

"The easiest way is to not carry it. You could hide the seal or bury it, toss it in a drawer. As long as you are not touching it then it should not bother you."

<You have gained another property all bonuses now apply to both properties.>

"I guess I never thought about that. Well then I am going to go and take a look at everything and make arrangements for some carriages."

Both Peter and the mayor looked at him and the mayor finally asked. "Can we come with you and maybe buy a few things that we want?"

"I guess you can have first pick. But could you send a runner to the general store, the tanner, the blacksmith, the old lender and the lady that runs the restaurant and have them come over as well. They are the most likely to know the true value of everything and possibly have the funds to buy it. You guys can come tonight but everyone else can come tomorrow. But only in the morning. I have to get back out and take care of the horses by tomorrow evening."

'System please roll and appraise for each and every item in the house and keep them stored so that it can be called up as necessary.' <ping> 'Thank you.'

The three of them left the secure room and Peter handed a stack of notes to the runners and they all scattered to various parts of the village. It was not far to the house so they walked with Noctis following behind them. Novum felt it when they crossed the property line and realized that there was still a little way to the house. There was not enough room for another house but there was enough for a playground for the kids. He already started making plans in his head.

Once he opened the door Novum took his time and looked at each and every item in the foyer. He would only stop looking at an item when he heard a ping from the system. A few times he got a notification to pick an item up or touch the item. Only after that was done would the system send him a ping. Peter and the mayor were wandering around the house at the same time and both found items that they liked.

Novum walked into the master bedroom and slowly looked around before he started looking at items. As his eyes passed over a section of wall a new notification popped up. <Search skill has identified an anomaly.>