“Eeewww Dad,” Piper yelled, the sound loud in their small room.

  “What?,” Loch asked, sitting up in his bed.

  He’d been laying down, reading a book, some fantasy he’d found in the Clan’s new library. Life In Exile by Sean Oswald. It was pretty good so far.

  “This message you wrote mom,” Piper said, holding up the paired notebook, pointing to one of the lines.

  Loch recognized it. He’d wrote it last night after he’d gotten done talking with Kelly.

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “I can’t wait to be with you again?,” Piper said. “Eeew, your daughters read this too.”

  Loch laughed.

  “Yeah, I can’t wait until she’s back with us again,” Loch replied. “Nothing else.”

  “Sure dad,” Harper said from the top bunk, where she’d been laying down reading a book.

  Loch laughed, sitting up on the bed, the frame squeaking. He set the book down as he stood up, walking over to the window. Outside the yard was full of activity. Guards patrolled the finished sections of the wall, workers putting up posts and logs for the rest. Farmers toiled in the field. Liam and his ranch hands dealt with the horses and the cows, including the new ones they’d found wandering the road with a handful of sheep. Pastures had been built, paddocks separating the animals. A barn was in the process of being constructed.

  Loch had never seen the Amish put up a barn, but he’d heard about the process. It was crazy to think that construction was being replicated in Northwood, thanks to a book from the library. One of the newer and lower Leveled Adventuring teams walked out of the Dungeon building, heading for Alison’s office to report their loot and gains.

  Looking past the Clanhold, he could see the trees up on the hill past the fields. The leaves had started to change color. Greens turning to browns and reds. Fall in New Hampshire had always been magical with the foliage. Everyone loved it. They didn’t love all the leaf peepers coming from far away to clog up the highways and the roads in the north. But the tourism had been good for the state.

  He wondered how the people that lived up north in the White Mountains were faring. What kind of monsters now made the mountains their home? Were there Invaders? The world had always been vast, but now it was more so. So many miles between places. There had to be survivors up north. What would the top of Mount Washington be like now?

  Loch couldn’t imagine going to explore. It would take months to travel to Lincoln or Franconia. There were other places to explore first. Concord or Dover, out to Portsmouth someday or down to Manchester. Too many options.

  He turned away from the window, sitting back on his bunk. Grabbing his new boots, he pulled them on, lacing them up. The jeans he was wearing still had some life in them and the shirt only had one hole. It was still fine. Standing up, he stretched.

  “What are you two up to today?,” he asked.

  “What time is it?,” Harper asked.

  “Let me check my watch,” Piper replied.

  Harper lifted her leg, slamming it down on the bed, making the whole thing shake. Piper laughed.

  “Hey,” Loch muttered, walking to the door. “Be good.”

  They were still arguing when he walked out into the hallway.

  ***

  Loch walked into the small office just off the lobby. Kristin and Ed were already there, standing to the side. Sitting at a small desk was an older man. Loch recognized him. He’d talked to him once.

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  “Ben,” Loch said, reaching out a hand.

  The other stood up, shaking it.

  “Lord Lochlan.”

  “Just Loch.”

  Ben sat down, motioning to the one other chair. Loch motioned to Kristin. She shook her head, as did Ed. With a shrug, Loch said down.

  “What do you have for me?”

  Opening a drawer in the desk, Ben brought out a handful of the Spirit Coins that had been rewards from the Dungeons. It was a small stack, just a handful of each type. He then pulled out a ledger book, flipping open to a page with a list of names and numbers. Loch counted fifty white, 20 blue, 20 red, 15 green and 10 gray.

  “These came from a Dungeon run two days ago,” Ben Border said, pointing at the names. “The team ran the Lynxia Dungeon. I’m still waiting for the group that ran the Painted Caves today.” He moved the coins around, sorting them into a large stack. “It’s been slowly growing, but having all the Dungeon groups drop off their coins in the bank has given us a good supply of coins.”

  He moved the ledger around so Loch could see it. Reading the lines, with names and numbers, Loch looked back up at Ben, not sure what he was looking at.

  “When they deposit, we’re converting it to credit that they can use in the new stores that we’re setting up.” He flipped to another page, pointing at a different set of names and numbers. “The non-Adventurers get credit for work done.”

  He flipped to the front of the book showing Loch a page with a bunch of different numbers and things they equaled out to. There was an ‘hours worked’ compared to ‘dungeon difficulty’ and a bunch of other things.

  “It took a bit of time to work out the equivalencies but I think it’s pretty fair,” Ben said, closing the book. “In all my years of banking, this was something new.”

  “Great job,” Loch said, really impressed. “What are we doing with all the coins?”

  “Holding onto them,” Ben replied. “I had a safe built, going to need a second soon. Once we have a big enough stockpile and can guarantee that the non-Adventurers will be able to get enough for their work, we’ll move away from the credit and to using coins.” Ben took the coins and put them back in the desk. “That’s still a ways off but we’re getting a good amount with all the new Dungeons being run.”

  “What are we offering in the store?,” Loch asked.

  Ben looked over at Kristin.

  “Not much right now,” she replied. “We don’t have extra food to offer. Things like a pair of boots, jacket, hat, gloves and such are given free it’s been mostly extra clothes and such. Want a different pair of boots? Trade the free ones in and buy another pair. Wear out a pair of jeans? Trade those in and buy a new pair.” She shook her head. “It’s not perfect and there’s been some grumbling, but it’ll work.”

  “Once we get a surplus of food, or get extra stuff that isn’t part of the three meal plan,” Ben said. “We can add those items to the store. If want an extra bag of chips, need to buy it.”

  “What about books and the games?,” Ed asked. “Some kind of rental fee?”

  “We are adding things to rent,” Kristin said. “But the entertainment items are free,” she finished, motioning to Loch.

  “Through the winter,” he said. “After that, we can reevaluate. What about any crafted goods?”

  “We’re adding as we get them,” Kristin said. “We’ve started to get some potions stockpiled but decided those are more important for the Adventuring teams, so we’re not putting them in the store.”

  “For now,” Ben added. “Once we get enough, we can start selling the extras. The idea is to have a threshold of free and stuff that we give everyone, adventurer, crafter or just a citizen. After that, if they want extra, they will need to pay for it.”

  “Hopefully after winter, we’ll have more stuff we can add to the store,” Ed said. “And hopefully won’t be long until we can have storefronts up in the fields.”

  “Good job,” Loch said, standing up. “We’re getting there.”

  He reached out, shaking Ben’s hand again.

  Ed followed Loch as he left the small office. Loch liked everything he’d heard. Ben and Kristin had set up a nice system for a beginning economy, one that had flexibility and growth. It was as fair as it could be considering how unfair the Connected System was to those that weren’t adventurers. Loch hated how the Connection favored those that fought. He’d do anything to keep Clan Brady from becoming Clan Silver Bark.