"Well." I sighed heavily. "I guess this is it."
"For now." Amun turned to me, nodding, only to stop and give me a curious look before saying. "Four years isn't that long."
'So you are an old man.' I mentally chuckled, then turned my eyes to the other saviors- the royals of Hill Base, to give them a departing nod before they took off.
They left as quickly as they came. Wherein what was both days and months ago, they appeared on the trail, seeming like naive adventurers. Though truly, they were led by a Devil. And as I swore so long ago, I sold my soul to him in order to bring prosperity to our home.
If that would one day lead me to the Abyss, it was damn sure worth it.
"Alright, everyone!" I whipped around on my heels to begin shooing the gawking citizens away. "We still have work to do!"
Though that work wasn't nearly as much as the work we just completed. The superstructure of the Inner Yard was complete and so too was the clock tower in the outer yard. That moved Ken's priority to the main avenue leading up to the Bureau.
It was a marvel, watching it grow over the course of a few weeks. From the gate to the tower, a rather complex and exceedingly durable road had been laid and lined with hedges and palm tree sprouts in the center. Meanwhile, the outer edges were blocked off to traffic by waist-high pillars that doubled as impromptu merchant booths for the opposing sidewalk and open porches for the inns and taverns to be.
Separated by at least five meters, the buildings formed a network of paved alleyways that led to pedestrian zones which, over two months, quickly grew into an evening entertainment hub. Set before the parks and wildlife areas, it became the perfect location for singers and dancers alike. Artists were found painting landscapes at all times of the day and night.
Even I liked to take a stroll through there from time to time.
For all they were worth, however, Ken's endeavors were but a small slice of the pie Amun left for us. Savannah Otto was prowling the citizens like a hawk to ensure we were recycling kitchen scraps or paper or anything organic in our residential compost bins and making Dan Glenn and Violet Reid spread them across the Outer Yard and beyond to reclaim the soil as Amun instructed.
Yaramin worked tirelessly to establish the first trade run as soon as possible. According to the report, tensions were high, at first, though they eventually became impressed by the quality of our tools and abundance of materials and thus grew eager to trade livestock in exchange.
Now, we had multiple contracts established with the region and had a sizable population of goats roaming in the mountains above us. Similarly, the many horses, pigs, cows, and chickens were, under Amun's tutelage, left free to roam in the vicinity of the hunting and foraging cabin. Protected by the ever-watchful eye of the shepherds.
Many of the open jobs had either been taken up or had apprentices learning the tools of the trade before they came of age and Ken's workers were in the midst of building a much-needed road to connect our city with the developing town of Colis, which itself has seen extensive development due to the tools and materials we were bringing in.
It was over five thousand kilometers away and to accommodate the passengers, the craftsmen used Edward's design to create caravans that had no need to stop along the journey. They were designed to be driven intermittently with our Doppelgangers. Giving the passengers a means to cook or eat meals, answer the call of nature or rest inside during the roughly 40-day journey to Colis and back.
A road would surely increase comfort while simultaneously decreasing the transit time.
Though, it also rose the prospects of danger.