Lane told Edwick everything that was on his mind. After listening to all of it, Edwick said:
"You really detailed everything. The plans for the place we're going to live in and all that, everything is there... but this all feels a little like a utopia to me."
Lane's face fell when he heard that.
"These aren't a utopia. They're things that can absolutely be done. Since when has self-improvement become some kind of fantasy?"
There was a faint mocking tone in his voice.
Edwick replied:
"Self-improvement isn't a fantasy. That's not what I mean. What you want to do is too much for the people of this village. You don't want to build a village and help it grow, you're straight-up trying to build a multi-purpose military base."
Lane thought to himself:
Edwick is being way too suspicious. If I explain more, he'll get even more suspicious. I need to distract him.
He answered right away:
"Edwick, we already talked about building a military base from the start. Everyone agreed. Now let's start getting ready. Sara and Gorn are coming. Give everyone orders and tell them to get themselves together. We need to clean up everything left from yesterday."
With his mind still full, Edwick just said, "Alright," and left.
After Edwick was gone, Lane muttered to himself:
"I need to lead this village the right way. If questioning increases, there will be a gap in the leadership. That won't work in my favor."
He paused for a moment, then turned his eyes toward the depths of the forest.
"I need to explore this forest better. It looks different from what was written in the book. Especially the inner parts."
Lane picked up his sword and went to scout the forest. He was observing his surroundings carefully.
"This place is full of thick trees... A solid storage house could be built here. And it would be away from everyone's eyes."
Then he marked the trees by slashing them with his sword. After that, he kept walking deeper into the forest. With every step forward, he left marks on places that could be used strategically.
After a while, he slowed his pace.
"This place is swampy... And from what I can tell, the deeper I go, the larger the swamp gets. I'll need to find a solution for that."
Lane cut down one of the trees with his sword and made it fall over the swamp. Then he left a large mark on the trunk and continued on his way.
With every step, he was going farther into the darker parts. Beyond this point, things looked more troublesome.
"From here onward, this is probably where the orcs and the harpies live... I should keep this place in mind. I'll bring hell here as soon as possible."
After a while, he let out a breath.
"This much scouting is enough. I need to go back. I should write down what I discovered in the forest and start planning."
After saying that, he slowly turned back.
There was still a large part of the forest left unexplored. One of the things Lane wanted the most was to find a route leading to the bay.
Lane slowly made his way back to where he had come from. But when he returned, he couldn't see anyone around. He frowned.
"Where the hell did they go? I told them to get ready, not disappear in a rush."
Right at that moment, one of the zipples exploded in the air. Lane's frown deepened.
"Who's using a zipple like that?"
Lane immediately started running in that direction. As he neared the edge of the forest, he saw Edwick welcoming the arriving group. He quickly reached his side.
"Did Sara and Gorn arrive?" he asked.
Edwick nodded.
"Yeah, they're coming. I don't get how they managed to get here this fast. They got here in two days instead of almost three."
Lane was briefly surprised.
"Damn, seriously... I was planning for it to take three days too. Good result, though. We might just get chewed out a little, so keep that in mind."
Edwick raised an eyebrow.
"Why would we get chewed out?"
Lane smiled faintly, confusing him even more.
"I told them I'd arrange a place for them to stay once they got here. I thought it would be ready by today, but I didn't plan for them to arrive this fast."
Edwick shuddered at once.
"Why the hell don't you say these things on time? I'm the one dealing with Sara's attitude because of you."
At that moment, the caravan had nearly arrived. Sara was at the front. Two riders were beside her, Gorn on one side and Morris on the other.
Sara got off her horse and approached Lane and Edwick.
"Hello, how are you? From the looks of it, you've been through one hell of a mess... So then, were you able to clear out the forest?"
Edwick answered in a calm voice:
"We cleared it, but not completely..."
There was something in his voice, as if he were hiding something.
Sara immediately furrowed her brows.
"What do you mean, not completely? Lane, what is this man telling me?"
Lane answered:
"What he said is true, we didn't clear it completely. We cleared as much as we could. The part of the forest for now is clean, but we'll clear the deeper parts later too. With the strength I had, this was as much as I could do. What do you want me to do, hand you a house on a golden platter too?"
His voice had risen a little, but he still couldn't fool Sara.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute... So you're telling me you didn't clear the forest completely, and on top of that you're saying, 'Should I hand you a house too?'"
Sara drew her daggers.
"Hey, little boy, who exactly are you trying to fool? Didn't you say from the start that everything would be fine?"
Lane spoke with a faint smile:
"Wait, wait. Don't worry. I'll finish it today. I'm a man of my word. I'll clear that forest too. Just be patient."
Lane was trying to calm her down. But the more Sara heard, the angrier she became.
At that exact moment, Edwick stepped in.
"Sara, calm down. I fought together with Lane. The guy broke his ribs in that battle. We did the best we could. What more do you want?"
Sara let out an annoyed breath and sheathed her daggers, but her anger had not completely faded.
Then Lane raised his voice and said:
"If you've calmed down, follow me. Everyone, move deeper into the forest."
At that, everyone started following Lane.
Together, they reached the center of the forest. Tall trees surrounded the entire area. The forest was dense and closed off, yet strangely, sunlight slipped through the branches and lit up the surroundings. Long pine trees rose in an orderly way, while the bushes on the ground were sparser than expected.
The people coming from behind also reached the center shortly afterward. People started getting off their horses. Some of the children were crying, while others looked around with timid eyes.
Sara quickly got off her horse and walked toward the middle of the forest. She lifted her head and looked upward. Her eyes suddenly lit up. The anger from earlier seemed to have given way, for a short moment, to admiration.
"What a beautiful forest this is... When people don't interfere, nature is always full of miracles."
Lane and Edwick looked at Sara's actions in confusion. Lane frowned.
"What the hell is this woman doing right now? Why is she talking all weird and spinning around on her own?"
Edwick nodded in agreement.
"Seriously, what's wrong with this girl?"
When Morris saw their baffled looks, he spoke:
"You two really would stay single with this mindset when it comes to women's emotions."
Lane and Edwick both felt a little embarrassed and annoyed when they heard that. Morris saw the look on both their faces and burst out laughing.
Lane grumbled lightly.
"Alright, mock us a little more... For now, let everyone rest. Later, I'll explain to you all what I explained to Edwick. In the meantime, our soldiers will set up the camps for now."
This time Morris answered seriously:
"Alright then. What comes next is very important. If the foundation isn't strong, everything will go to waste."
Lane turned to Edwick.
"Edwick, you already know the matter, the plan, the building arrangement, everything. I'm leaving the job of setting up the temporary camp to you for now, alright?"
Edwick placed a hand on Lane's back, winked, and made an okay sign with his hand before walking away. Lane responded with a faint smile and thanked him.
Then he approached Morris.
"Alright, before I explain the plan, let's call Sara and Gorn over too."
Lane called Sara and Gorn over. Then he began explaining everything that had happened and all the details of the plans in his head.
When he finished speaking, Sara frowned and said:
"What kind of way of life is this? You're seriously thinking about building a military base here."
The anger on Sara's face suddenly hardened. For a brief moment, Lane flinched and took a step back without making it obvious.
He thought to himself:
I can't dodge the answer anymore. I need to tell the truth, but in the way I want.
Then he spoke calmly:
"Yes, it will be a military base. But that won't be its only purpose. I'll raise the welfare of the people living here to the highest level. I'll arrange the education, the order, everything. What more do you even want?"
Hearing that, Sara got even angrier and objected seriously:
"What do you mean, what do we want? These people are going to move according to your will afterward. I'm not even getting into the way you plan to gather the children... You're a child yourself. How can you even think of something like this?"
Sara was now openly pressing Lane.
Lane, meanwhile, thought to himself:
This woman is far too compassionate toward people. She must not realize that I look ten but I'm actually forty. I need to soften the matter.
At the same time, Morris believed this was an extremely good thing. Because he understood the importance of labor better than anyone else.
Gorn remained silent, simply watching everything unfold. Even Morris found his silence strange.
In this situation, only Sara looked ready to stand up for the oppressed.
Noticing this, Lane turned to Sara.
"Sara, come with me. I want to talk to you alone."
Without breaking her serious expression, Sara walked after Lane.