[Praise, Environment]

  About an hour later, Harvey walked back in.

  “Rose your site is total chaos, you have gnomes running all over the place. I hope you understand that those dirty creatures are communists, Rose do you understand that. They are trying to undermine our glorious capitalist society.”

  “Yes, isn't it wonderful, all the people who are going hungry today will have a chance to work and the problem of poor people needing free food will be solved. Except of course for those that can’t work, they’ll be provided for at both ends of town as the Magical Soup and Bakery are opening another location to give away free food. You look a little thin Harvey, head over to Madd Maggies. Tell them to put it on my tab, which they will probably just laugh about, as I never pay.”

  “Rose you still have time, like I said before you seem like a nice girl, you really should think about our offer. It’s enough money you could do some traveling, get out of this dingy store. You haven’t even asked what I’m offering Rose.”

  “Who do you work for Harvey?”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything?”

  “You’re not ashamed of your clients are you Harvey?”

  “No of course not, Rose, my clients are the elites of this community.”

  “What makes them elite Harvey, money, because they have more money then most of the people in town. What that makes them, Harvey is boring, what do they do all day. Make more money? Make sure they haven’t lost any money. Are any of them happy, or are they sad and mean. Did they come to town and try and close the very places where the poor can actually get something to eat, so their kids don’t go to bed hungry. Do they sound like happy people to you, Harvey?”

  “Of course they’re happy, they are rich.”

  “A stable source of reliable food and a safe place to stay, Harvey, that is the foundation of happiness. Money never enters the formula, only for the desperately poor or the obsessed money grubbers. Anyway tell them I make a counter offer, I’ll buy their lands and houses, and they can go enjoy their gold elsewhere. Otherwise they will be watching their gold rot in the ground as they have no market for their produce.”

  “Rose, you don’t want to make an enemy of these people.”

  “Harvey, if these ‘people’ want kids to go to bed hungry, so they can grab a few coppers from their desperately poor parents, shouldn’t you oppose them with all your might. Of course I don’t want to make an enemy of anyone. Tell them to go to the Burgomaster and offer a twenty percent discount for the rest of the month because they made a really stupid mistake and maybe their crops won’t rot in the ground.”

  “Money always wins in the end, Rose.”

  “Then tell them I’ll make it rain gold Harvey, have they got more money then that?”

  A little while after Harvey left, Draco and Opal portaled in.

  “We got one and a half farms done today, Rose.”

  “Thank you Draco, but don’t push yourselves, when the store closes I’ll go up and add the little I can. But I want you and Opal to stay safe, I think it’s amazing that you two can do as much as you do.”

  “Did you see Mas?”

  “Yep, he was ordering a troupe of gnomes around like he was born to it. I think the structure will be completed by tomorrow. Once the lumber mill is up and running the rest of the building should go up much faster.”

  “That’s great, the sooner we can move a family in, the faster the town will be producing their own food again. These magical farms will make all the difference in the world, year round crops. Why doesn’t everyone farm like this Draco?”

  “Well not everywhere has the ambient magic that Wyldwood has, Sparky said that Quintessence has even more. That’s how the bakery can output food forever and all the magic that the tower has it wouldn’t be possible in most places. Well we have to get home and start recharging for tomorrow.”

  “Honey, I’m sorry the writing lessons got put on hold, Sparky will be mad at me when he gets back, but I promise we’ll get back to it in the next week or two, alright?”

  “Sure Rose, but this is fun, my magic potential is growing everyday, I’m already ten percent stronger. So if Sparky is mad just tell him you had me focus on building my magic before teaching me more about writing.”

  “I will, sweetie, and thanks for all the hard work.”

  Draco and Opal portaled home to the tower. Shortly after that Arthur portaled in.

  “Rose, I just came to congratulate you. I don’t think anyone even noticed, besides the vendors, that the farms didn’t supply any of today's food.”

  “That’s what I was shooting for Arthur, I’m glad we pulled it off, I have three more days supply already to go. I hear the lumber mill is nearing completion and we have two and a half farms enclosed in magical fields so it won’t be terribly long before seeds will be able to be planted. Harvey Epstein came to see me today, and wanted to buy the property. I told him to have the cartel talk to you and if they offer a twenty percent discount you might let them back in town. I don’t know how long before crops start to rot, but I think you should hear from them soon.”

  “It’s an awfully nice thing you are doing, Rose.”

  “No Arthur, it was a nice thing that the town welcomed me with open arms. I love it here. We are just going to make this town better and better, little steps at a time.”

  “Well I have to go, I promised Nim that I’d go up to the site and hand out soup for a couple of hours.”

  “Good I’ll be coming up later to add a meager amount of magic to the cause.”

  Arthur portaled away, I wrote to Mossbeard

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Rose:Mossbeard could you please come to the store when you have a chance I finished the farmer’s contract. Please come pick it up.

  Mossbeard:Sure Rose, I’ll be there shortly.

  Then Arjun portaled in.

  “Hi Rose, any chance we can practice today?”

  “I’ll be happy to watch Arjun, but I can’t waste any magic for a while on practice. We are trying to cover farmland in a magical field, so as soon as the store closes I’ll be heading up there. Why don’t we go out into the lane and I’ll watch you.”

  “Why are you trying to cover farmland with magic?”

  “So that it can grow crops year round, although I was told they grow slower in the winter due to the shorter days, even so that’s still a big advantage, and if I don’t use my magic today it just sits there seems like wasted potential. I’ve gotten much stronger from doing all the portals and they are tiny things. But you should come here to practice, days like I said I’ll be happy to watch.”

  “No you know you are right, it is wasted if it’s just sitting in my body, I’ll come with you, I don’t have a lot, but let’s use what we have, Meet you back here at five?”

  “Are you sure it’s alright, what if someone needs to be healed and you’ve used all of your magic?”

  “I could portal to the farm and suck it back in.”

  “Yeah I suppose you could at that, I never would have thought of that. Alright then I’ll see you at five.”

  He portaled back to the clinic and a few minutes later Lu portaled in with a mug of soup in each hand.

  “Well this is a wonderful surprise, did you bring me soup?”

  “Yep, our favorite, cream of mushroom, Mossbeard told me you haven’t left the store all day, why not?”

  “You are going to think I’m being silly Lu.”

  “Never Rose, eat your soup, and tell me what’s bothering you?”

  “Sparky left me implicit instructions, watch the store, help Opal with her writing and don’t start any new civic projects. So what do I do, Opal hasn’t had time to write anything and I launched the largest civic project of all. I tell myself because of Sparky’s curse he’d understand, but that’s really just an excuse. So I make myself stay in the store, it’s the one instruction that Sparky gave me that I can actually follow.”

  “Rose, you are not letting Sparky down, Opal is more alive than I’ve ever seen her and according to Draco her magic is growing by leaps and bounds every day. So you are also not letting Opal down. She’s eleven she has plenty of time to learn to write, she may never in her life have as good a reason to pour out her magic. This project is good for the town, the citizens and all the people working on the project are also having a wonderful time. Everyone up there is laughing and smiling and working like crazy and that’s all because of you Rose.”

  “Oh Lu, thank you, I love you so much, you always say the kindest things.”

  “I love you too, and I wasn’t being kind, I was telling the truth. Now eat your soup, I assume you’ll be on site at five to add some magic to the fields.”

  “Yes Arjun was here just a little while ago, he wants to help too and he has more magic than I do.”

  “Too bad you don’t know any more magicians.”

  “Yeah it is really… Lu you are a genius. I don’t know if she can create magical fields but she’s more powerful than a god. Plus I’m not sure she’ll help me, I was pretty rough on Jaq.”

  “Go on, go ask her, I’ll stay here and look after the store for you.”

  I jumped to Tregaron, I rang the bell Collins answered.

  “Hi Collins, I’m looking for Nyx or Jaq”

  “Jaq is in the hedge maze and Nyx is currently Nyxi, last I saw her she was curled up in the sun on the window seat in the library. You know the way.”

  “Yes thanks Collins.”

  I hurried into the library, Nyxi was still there I went over and began petting her. When all of a sudden she scratched me. Then I heard a pop and Nyxi disappeared and Nyx stood in front of me.

  “Are you here for your punishment for all the awful things you did to Jaq, if so strip and I’ll get my riding crop. After a few welts maybe you won’t find it so funny.”

  “Nyx, if I hadn’t sent Jaq to Literal Hell for making fun of my opening line, she never would have met you. I never would have written those scenes when Nyxi was burrowed between the two lovers. Do you really want me to revise the story and not have Jaq wind up in Literal Hell?”

  “No, I guess, not. So if you are not here for punishment, why are you here?”

  “I wanted to know if you could create magical fields.”

  “Certainly, I’m a Demon Lord, magical fields are easy. Why?”

  “I was hoping you might help me, I’m not very good with magical fields, I can only create small ones.”

  “I will, under one condition.”

  “What is your condition Nyx?”

  “You’ll be nice to Jaq and Frida in the sequel, no breakups, no cheating on each other.”

  “Nyx I swear to you, I would never do that even if you wouldn’t help. I hate that trope.”

  “Yeah, me too, let’s go, the sun doesn’t last long in the fall and I want to get back for a little more Nyxi time, jump me to where you want the field.”

  We jumped to the bookstore, then portaled to the site.