“And after I saw them approaching my hut, I armed myself with my most destructive potions and exited. I first tried to slip by them, but these idiotic brutes knew I’m there. In the ensuing battle, I downed five or six of their numbers, but one of them managed to club me. Next thing I remember is waking up, bound and gagged” alchemist was reminiscing of his capture. Lucas had left to the siblings to lead the conversation, his intense dislike of the hermit leaving him with no desire to speak to the man. Their road back to Camp Hearth was uneventful for now, creatures and beast currently roaming the forest content to avoid the party. Beasts had good sense in appraising power level of individuals or groups, knowing what to hunt and what to avoid. Monsters, on the other hand, didn’t usually have such keen senses, charging at anybody and anything they saw. For now, there wasn’t any monster in sight, the adventurer’s guild doing a terrific job defending the road to the dungeon.

“I guess all that money and experience they get from relatively easy, but profitable dungeon is being put to use” Lucas thought. Adventurer’s guild proved as invaluable to the city so far, particularly in areas of population numbers and accurate maps. When they opened, still under the Camp Hearth’s authority, people from all around flocked to it. Soon those people started spending money in the market, purchasing themselves new gear for new jobs. After them, came the people who would handle logistics. In that period, there was influx of new merchants who came and set up shop. They built themselves a home and they were now in the process of establishing a guild of their own. In the last wave, in the last two months, came just regular people, looking for a permanent home. Lucas was surprised how many people still didn’t have a home thirty years after the event which brought System to Earth, but as Bruce have explained to him, nobody was seriously worrying about that. For the first ten years, humanity was fighting for its right to exist and for their ownership of Earth. After the invasions closed, the strongest among humanity either left or started fighting among themselves. In volatile environment like that there wasn’t time to worry about regular people, except for those who wanted to use them as cannon fodder. Only in frontiers you could find a measure of stability, but frontiers demanded constant vigilance and fighting, which wasn’t something everyone was keen to do. So, when Bruce and Lucas brought some measure of stability back to Camp Hearth, and with their gargantuan efforts focused on building and population increase, a scores of people that were wandering or living in some ramshackle natural covers came to the town and made it their permanent home. Some of the people coming had children and the town now even had the noise of children playing, as it finally reach enough numbers for them to make a dent in the usual noise of the settlement. All in all, Camp Hearth grew to accommodate another one hundred thousand people, which was better than even the wildest projection Bruce had after the retaking of Camp Hearth. Massive population growth meant that all of their tasks became easier, as they had enough manpower for any of their undertaking. Currently, Bruce was in the middle of organizing crafters into their own guild and preparing for the elections of the head of the Adventurer’s guild. In a month or so from here, the Adventurer’s guild will become autonomous from the town’s administration, with just a contract to mark the cooperation from those two institutions. Bruce already wrote it in tiniest details, hoping the candidate who would win will be friendly towards town proper. It wouldn’t do to have the guild just uprooted after all the time and resources Camp Hearth put into its growth. That was one of the first tasks their fledgling spy network got, to find out who the candidates are and what stance toward the deal Bruce had written they have. Lucas could only guess a thick stack of report will be waiting for him after he gets back, seeing as they were only halfway there and the night was starting to get dark. It was getting harder and harder to properly see and they didn’t want to risk any ambush or monster attack. Lucas took the necessary items from his rings and the rest started setting up the camp.

“You seem distracted” Maggie said as she approached him

“There’s just too many shit to do and now there’s another problem” Lucas responded

“Well, it seems you have uncanny ability to invite more problems. I guess that comes with being the boss” Maggie said, smile decorating her pretty face. Lucas was momentarily distracted just looking at her, before recollecting himself.

“You know, for once I would like just the good sides of being a boss. You know, bossing around, other people breaking head over heel to please you”

“Would you know? What can I do to you, sir?” Maggie said, doing a mock bow.

“Well, I could use a change of guard shift” Lucas said.

“Hmm, let me think about it. No” Maggie said “I guess I quit now” she continued and then a burst of laughter came. Lucas joined her, lost in just looking at the woman besides him. He was pulled back to Earth when Margaret announced the dinner was ready, the courtesy of the alchemist. Lucas took some food and joined in conversation with other. The groups talking were changing, as the subject changed and so Lucas went with the flow, drifting from one conversation to another. He even managed to exchange few words with the alchemist, mutual dislike shimmering in the background of their talk. But soon, people were going off to sleep one by one, leaving Lucas alone by the fire, his eyes opened for any sign of threat that could feasibly emerge. The night was quiet, only nocturnal animals from deep into the forest making any sound. Soon, routine got to Lucas and he started to rewind the day’s event. Those invaders came with the intent to pillage and the Witch, their warchief spoke of someone named Harald and how he will came for them. That spelled problems down the line and Lucas was resolved to take this threat seriously. It was time to repair the fortification and to secure the shore line the best they could. It wasn’t feasible for them to secure it in its full width, as it spread for hundreds of kilometers, but they could certainly secure this path and its immediate vicinity, stopping any future attackers to get to the Camp Hearth in half a day. There was also a matter of experience for the Town guard who would bear the brunt of fighting and capability of their leaders to coordinate with the Adventurer’s guild, which would hopefully still serve as elite shock troops in defense of the city. There was also a matter of settlements that were near Camp Hearth. They are independent on paper, but their whole production is tied to Camp Hearth as their hub for selling their products and finding materials. Reavers from today hadn’t knew exact location of anything important, but next time they come, they will be prepared and Lucas guessed not even Bruce’s protections wouldn’t mask locations for long. Which means those settlements had to be fortified a bit and a clear path of evacuation had to be established. Camp Hearth was still on wobbly legs and loss of even one of these smaller settlements could potentially tip it out of balance, seeing as they were main source of food. Just as he had said to Maggie, too much to do with new problems cropping out seemingly every day. Margaret came to relieve him and he went to get some sleep with all this negative thoughts flowing in his head, making his sleep restless.

When Lucas finally woke up, the sun was fully up, but the menacing clouds were covering it, promising storm later during the day. They quickly packed their camp and started going at the faster pace, intent on avoiding being caught in the storm outside. After a bit over an hour, the settlement came into the view. Skyscrapers were still dominating the landscape, providing shade in which the town flourished. Relieved their trip back was uneventful, they rapidly approached the gate, passing a party of adventurers that were probably tasked with regular maintenance of the road, which means clearing monsters near the road and scouting to see if any brave monster decided to make its nest near the road and, if they found one, quickly dispatching both the monster and its nest. In front of the gates, they hailed the guards and were let in and immediately they set the course towards Bruce’s office. Even as early risers already filled the streets, they weaved and quickly got out of the worst of the crowd, picking their pace. In less than five minutes, they were standing in front of Bruce’s office and Lucas knocked. Old Loremaster told them to come in and they found him sitting at his desk, thick stacks all around him.

“Welcome back. And I see you brought company” Bruce said, spotting the alchemist.

“Bruce, my old friend” alchemist greeted him.

“So, what are we dealing with, that even brought Martyn from his self – imposed exile?”

Lucas took a deep breath and started recounting the events from yesterday.