Chapter 67 - 66: Building Velaris (2)
For several long moments, nobody moved.
The newly completed Village Center stood proudly at the heart of the clearing, bathed in the warm glow of the late afternoon sun.
Caleb slowly let out a breath. "...Okay." He rubbed the back of his neck before looking toward the building again. "Am I the only one who thinks that looked... different?"
Veronica glanced at him. "Different how?"
Caleb pointed toward the Village Center "When we built the wall." He frowned slightly. "It wasn’t like this."
The words made everyone pause.
Iris blinked now that he had mentioned it...
He was right.
The defensive wall had risen almost instantly, section after section, with little more than a brilliant flash surrounding the territory.
The Village Center had been completely different. They had watched its entire construction unfold. The glowing framework. The floating stone. The timber assembling piece by piece. Every stage had happened before their eyes.
Benjamin looked back toward the completed building. "...I noticed it too."
Henry gave a small nod. "So did I."
Silence settled over the group once more.
Caleb shrugged. "Any idea why?"
Iris instinctively looked toward the Territory interface floating before her. She quickly searched through the completed construction log.
Nothing. No explanation or comparison.
Nothing that explained why two buildings created by the same System had been constructed so differently.
She finally shook her head. "No."
Henry folded his arms. "Then let’s not waste time guessing."
Benjamin nodded in agreement. "We’ve been in Eldilon for less than a week."
He looked across the territory stretching beyond the Village Center. "We’re still learning how the System works."
"And," Caleb added with a grin, "it’s probably having fun confusing us."
A few quiet laughs eased the lingering mystery.
Henry stepped forward, his attention already shifting back to the work ahead. "The Village Center is finished."
He slowly turned in a circle, surveying the vast open land enclosed within Velaris’ walls. "Everything else will grow around it."
His expression became focused. The familiar look immediately returned. Architect mode. Benjamin noticed it almost instantly and slipped his tablet from beneath one arm.
Caleb sighed dramatically. "...There it is."
Veronica smiled. "What?"
"The look." Caleb pointed toward Henry. "That means we’re about to hear words like ’efficiency,’ ’future expansion,’ and ’leave the space’ about a hundred times."
"I won’t repeat myself a hundred times. Henry answered without looking at him. He paused. "...Unless necessary."
Caleb groaned. "I already miss blueprint paperwork."
That earned another round of laughter.
Henry ignored him completely. His eyes swept across the untouched landscape. "The Village Center becomes the heart of Velaris."
He extended one arm, indicating the broad open ground stretching away from the entrance. "The main avenue begins here."
His finger traced an invisible line across the grass.
"It runs straight through the center of the territory."
Benjamin followed the imagined route with his eyes before nodding. "It should be wide enough for six carriages."
"Three traveling each direction," Henry agreed.
"No bottlenecks."
"No unnecessary congestion."
"Good." He pointed again. "Secondary roads branch from the avenue."
"Residential district."
Another direction.
"Commercial district."
Then another.
"Agricultural district."
"And the military district stays closer to the walls."
Benjamin quietly checked the distances against the territory dimensions before nodding again. "Everything fits."
Henry continued studying the landscape "But only if we resist the temptation to fill every empty space."
Almost on cue, Caleb looked around. "...We could probably fit another row of houses over there."
Henry didn’t even turn. "No."
"What if—"
"No."
"I haven’t even finished asking."
"You don’t need to."
Caleb folded his arms. "...You’re no fun."
Henry finally looked at him. "Leave the space."
Caleb sighed dramatically. "There it is."
"The first one." Benjamin smiled faintly. "And it won’t be the last."
Henry returned his attention to the territory "Buildings grow."
"Villages grow."
"If we think only about today, tomorrow will force us to tear everything apart."
He looked toward Iris. "We’re building for fifty years from now."
The words settled comfortably over the group. Iris couldn’t help smiling.
That was Henry. He never built for the present. He built for the future.
After a moment, Henry looked back at her "Before we continue..."
He gestured toward the construction menu only Iris could see. "Can the System build roads?"
"And footpaths?" Veronica added. "It would be nice if people didn’t have to walk through mud every rainy season."
Curious herself, Iris opened the road construction category. Several new options immediately unfolded before her eyes. A smile slowly spread across her face. "It can."
Everyone looked toward her.
"It has roads..." Her eyes moved further down the list. "...Garden walkways too."
"Perfect." Caleb grinned. "I was just about to volunteer Benjamin to pave every single one by hand."
Benjamin didn’t even glance up from his tablet. "Your generosity is inspiring."
Laughter echoed across the clearing once again. Then Iris raised her hand toward the floating menu.
"Ready?" Henry nodded once. "Let’s give Velaris its streets."
Henry took one last look down the newly completed avenue before giving a small nod of approval. "The backbone is finished."
His gaze shifted toward the open land beyond the roads. "Now we give the village a reason to exist."
Everyone followed his line of sight. The residential district. Wide stretches of untouched grass still lay between the newly completed roads, broken only by clusters of mature trees whose branches swayed gently in the evening breeze.
Unlike the Village Center, this part of Velaris still looked untouched. For now.
Iris reopened the Territory interface. The familiar construction menu unfolded before her. Her eyes quickly found the blueprint they had spent the entire afternoon creating.
[Custom Residence Blueprint]
[Garden Villa]
[Status: Available for Construction]
A smile tugged at her lips. "So this is where our one thousand gold finally starts earning its keep."
Caleb clutched his chest dramatically "Please don’t remind me."
"I had finally stopped thinking about it. Benjamin didn’t even look up.
"You’ll recover."
"I won’t."
"You will."
"I absolutely won’t."
Veronica laughed softly. "I think you’ll survive."
Caleb sighed with exaggerated suffering.
"I suppose I have no choice."
Henry ignored the exchange entirely.
He was already studying the terrain again.
"This first row shouldn’t be too close to the avenue."
Benjamin nodded immediately.
"We’ll want room if the road expands later."
"And if the villas increase in size during upgrades," Henry added.
"Exactly."
Henry pointed toward a broad section overlooking one of the smaller side roads. "Place the first one there."
Iris selected the location.
A translucent outline appeared across the grass.
She hesitated.
Her gaze drifted slightly to the right.
A towering tree stood only a few meters from the construction boundary.
Its thick trunk split into dozens of broad branches that stretched across the sky, casting cool shade over the surrounding ground.
She frowned. "...Can we move it a little?"
Henry followed her gaze. "The villa?"
She nodded. "I’d rather keep the tree."
Benjamin quickly estimated the available space.
"If we shift the building another four meters west..."
His eyes moved between the road, the neighboring plots, and the surrounding landscape.
"...the spacing still works." Henry looked at the tree for a long moment.
Then he smiled faintly. "Move the villa."
Caleb blinked. "...We’re redesigning the neighborhood because of one tree?"
Iris looked at him.
"It’s healthy."
"It took decades to grow."
"It was here before we were."
"If we don’t need to remove it..." She looked back toward the towering canopy. "I’d rather build around it."
Veronica’s expression softened. "I like that. She slowly turned, imagining the completed neighborhood. "The shade would be perfect during summer. And it’ll make the street look beautiful."
Henry nodded once. "Then the tree stays."
"I surrender." Caleb raised both hands. "The tree wins."
Satisfied, Iris adjusted the blueprint. The glowing outline slid several meters away, leaving the old tree untouched. "Much better."
Henry continued directing the placement. "The next villa goes there."
He pointed farther down the road. "Not directly opposite."
"We will offset it." Benjamin immediately understood. "It’ll make the street feel less rigid."
"Exactly."
One by one, the outlines appeared across the residential district. None stood in perfectly straight rows. Some overlooked small green spaces. Others faced gentle curves in the road. Several sat beneath the shade of preserved trees. Every placement felt intentional. Every home seemed to belong exactly where it stood.
Rather than resembling identical houses copied across a grid, they looked like homes that had naturally found their place within the landscape.
"Good." Eventually Henry nodded in satisfaction. "Now the family homes."
Iris selected the Garden Villa blueprint again. Three construction outlines appeared. To anyone else, they were simply neighboring residences. Ordinary homes standing side by side along the same street.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing that would draw attention. Only Iris, Henry, Benjamin, Veronica, and Caleb knew what truly lay hidden inside the blueprint.
Behind those ordinary walls... Hidden passages connected the interiors. Emergency routes linked the buildings together. Privacy and security had been woven into the design so carefully that no outsider would ever suspect anything.
Henry studied the placement carefully before giving another nod. "Perfect."
Benjamin compared the spacing one final time. "Upgrade clearance confirmed."
"You know..." Caleb looked from one outline to the next. "They really do just look like normal houses."
Henry smiled. "That was the idea."
"If people notice your security..."
"You’ve already failed."
Caleb considered that for a moment. "... Fair point."
Iris looked across the floating construction outlines scattered throughout the district. Five standard Garden Villas. Three neighboring family villas. Eight future homes.
She drew a quiet breath. "Ready?"
Nobody hesitated this time.
Henry folded his arms. Benjamin nodded. Veronica smiled. Even Caleb abandoned the jokes long enough to answer seriously.
"Build them." Iris pressed the confirmation button. For the second time that day...
The System answered.