Chapter 39 - Madman’s Plan

Three days later, the village looked different. Still rough. Still temporary.

But now, it breathed.

The shared bathhouse stood at the northern edge of the settlement, stone-lined and roofed with salvaged wood.

Buckets clanked along the rim. Steam drifted into the morning air, soft and steady.

The water for it came from the well Tobren had dug with the last breath of the drill, an effort no one had forgotten.

People laughed nearby, washing tired hands and dust-covered faces.

For the first time since arriving, the dirt beneath their feet felt a little less permanent.

To the southeast, the crops were growing. Neat rows of green pushed through brown earth.

The second field was nearly done, and the soil had already started to turn richer with use.

And the houses, nine of them now stood like crooked teeth around the tower. Some just finished, others patched and improved.

The Union builders were already setting posts for the tenth.

Ren wasn't giving orders today

He was working.

***

After finishing the bathhouse, his team had walked straight to the next house site. No break. No protest. Just move.

Ren was in the middle of it. Stripping bark from fresh-cut logs with a dull hatchet, hauling beams over his shoulder.

His boots kicked up dust as he moved in rhythm with the others, shoulder to shoulder, sweat darkening the back of his shirt.

Near the clearing, he dropped a log with a grunt beside the foundation line and turned to offer a waterskin to a villager slumped on a stump.

"Drink," Ren said, short and calm.

The man blinked, surprised, then accepted it with a nod. "Didn't expect you to be swinging an axe."

Ren took a seat beside him, wiping his brow. "You think this place is going to build itself?"

A few others chuckled nearby.

The man took another sip. "Still... you're the one running the village. You could stand back and point fingers."

Ren's expression didn't change. "If I stood back and pointed, why would any of you follow me?"

The others chuckled, shaking their heads.

They knew by now, Ren wasn't the kind of leader who barked from the back.

He worked. He sweat. He bled alongside them. And that, more than any order, earned their trust.

He doesn't understand how much they trust him.

Not yet.

***

That evening, most of the villagers gathered in the food tent. Eating, laughing, trading stories.

The air felt lighter than it had in weeks. This place, once dead and forgotten, now pulsed with life.

With the expert builders sent by the Trade Union, everything felt faster. Like the whole village was being constructed on fast-forward.

Their skills were sharp, their rhythm smooth. It was like watching professionals in motion. Ren couldn't imagine doing this without them.

Outside, behind the tower, he sat near the stable where Becca and Daro rested.

He crouched in front of them, slowly feeding them handfuls of grass.

His hands moved on instinct, one bundle after another, mind elsewhere.

He stared blankly into the open air.

His thoughts is… messy.

The builders.

The stone.

The watchmaker.

The mountain.

Footsteps approached, light, familiar.

Sera came to a stop beside him. "Ren. Dinner?"

"I already did," he replied. "Just needed a bit of space after all that. Honestly... I forgot what it feels like to work this hard."

She didn't sit, just watched him for a second. "What's your goal, really?"

Ren kept his eyes on the horses. "To live a quiet life," he said simply. "Peaceful. No worrying about food or money. Just… live."

Sera folded her arms. "Then why are you killing yourself over this?"

He smiled faintly. "Like I told you before... I was a rural planner in my old world. I helped broken towns rebuild, some destroyed by war. It was rough. Way harder than this."

"So... this reminds you of those places?" she asked softly.

Ren nodded. "I can't unsee the things I've seen here. I can't just run off to the capital, live quietly on the King's gold, and forget this place ever existed."

He leaned back, letting the evening wind brush past his face. "I figured... I'd work hard now, and maybe one day I can actually live the life I dreamed of."

Sera raised an eyebrow. "You think it'll ever be that simple?"

"No," he admitted. "But I still want to try. It's something worth chasing. That matters."

Together, they walked back toward the tower, the fires of the food tent flickering behind them. At the door, Tobren met them.

"What's next after we finish everything here?" he asked.

They all stepped inside.

The first floor of the tower had become their command room.

At its center sat a long, rectangular table, room for eight. Ren sat at the head, Tobren to his right, Sera to his left.

Ren leaned forward, placing a stone gently on the wood. "There's something in my world we used for power. It's called a battery. It doesn't use magic, but it stores energy and powering the machines."

Sera blinked. "So like... that stone?"

"Exactly. That's why I need someone who can reproduce the structure around it, to make the stones work. If I can find more of these stones, and someone who understands mechanics, we can recreate it. We can build… machines. That's what we called them."

Tobren scratched his chin. "So, the watchmaker we're bringing… is he supposed to copy the relic?"

"That's the hope," Ren said. "If my theory's right, we can make an automatic water pump."

Tobren frowned. "What is 'Automatic water pump'? actually I don't really understand."

Ren smiled. "You've seen the clocks in the central town, right?"

"Yeah."

"They move on their own. No one touches them. That's what automatic. It means, movement without help."

"And you think... water could be pumped without human hand?"

"Yes."

Sera lowered her head, shaking it with a faint smile. "You're insane. And to think that I've had swore a sacred magical oath to follow this madman. I'm really starting to regret it now."

Tobren chuckled. "Maybe the gods didn't give you magic or strength, but maybe they chose you to build something even greater."

Sera nodded firmly. "That, I can agree with."

The conversation doesn't stop there.

They spent the rest of the night talking.

Ren shared ideas. Even half of it, Tobren and Sera barely understood. Words like "pressure valves" and "system flow" flew over their heads. But they listened.

Because when Ren spoke, eyes wide, voice bright with enthusiasm. It was impossible to look away.

Even if they didn't understand every word...

They believed him.