"You brat..." He stood up and rubbed the dirt off his pant legs. "You did well."
Su Li narrowed his eyes. This was the first time Old Buck had openly praised him.
"Come on, I'll show you the forge." Su Li patted the dirt from his knees and stood up. "The new furnace was just built yesterday. It's three times bigger than the one in Wading Village."
Old Buck followed behind him. He did not turn back to look at that fertile land unlike any he had seen in a lifetime of farming.
Only, his steps were steadier than when he had arrived.
At dusk, in front of the temporary wooden cabins on the western side of the wilderness.
Four long benches had been arranged in a square, with a pile of firewood burning in the middle.
Saina's temperature-controlled pot sat over the fire, white steam curling from the edge of its lid.
Old Buck sat on the farthest bench, cradling a bowl of hot soup in his arms. Martha sat beside him, putting food into his bowl while endlessly nagging, "Eat more meat."
Su Li sat beside the fire, one hand stroking Silver, who lay across his lap. The cat's tail dangled to the ground, its nose pointed toward the pot.
Elonore carried a stack of blueprints out of the cabin, sprawled over a bench, and marked the locations of greenhouses with a charcoal pencil.
She planned to build a row of magic-forged greenhouses in the northeastern corner of the wilderness, for cultivating high-grade medicinal herbs and special grain varieties.
Talia stood some distance away. Today, she had submitted a formal application for a long-term technical observation slot.
Her stated reason was: "The daily work of a fifth-rank Magic Forger possesses irreplaceable academic value."
Su Li approved it.