Chapter 303 Glass Garden
We sat at the table for hours, making plans and changing things. Overall, I was happy with what we came up with. I wanted to divide the work up, but in the end, there was only really work for Claire, Titania, and me; the rest of the girls were left to wander and gather some extra supplies. The next town was just over a day's trip, even if we went through the night, so we were going to need food, so I didn't have to catch it.
"We will all meet back here at lunch, and then we can get going after having a quick bite to eat," I said as I got up from the table, but Eliza jumped up with Chili.
"Can we come with you?!" Both asked, and I grinned and nodded.
"Of course! I think that I can find something for the two of you to do to help out," I explained, and both girls rushed over to grab me as Claire and Titania got up. "You two and go work on enchanting the bakery and the deli. Once you are done, head to the smiths, and then that should be lunch by the time you both get done enchanting everything."
"I will be riding with you on the way to the next village, Cat. I want to know what this new look is all about," Titania told me as she passed, turning her nose up at me, but it wasn't my fault that I couldn't go and talk to her. I was saving a buried goddess and an ungrateful cunt!
"Yes, we can talk all you want then; just please help the people of this town. Once we are out of here, I am all yours for a while, okay?" I asked, and she nodded and walked by me, leaving with Claire. The moment she did, Goldy hopped down and walked over to my side with the other girls.
"You must have room for one more, right? I want to see you in action with this greenhouse thing. I mean, I know what a greenhouse is, but the way you talk about it is a lot different than what I am used to," Goldy said, and I nodded. I was just glad she waited till Titania left, but then if she had gotten up sooner, the Fae Queen would have dragged Goldy with her.
"Great! Then let's go see what we can do," I said, and we left the inn after I said goodbye to the others.
"The next village is bothering you? Eliza asked, and I was pulled from my thoughts.
"Not just the next one. Kelly told me this was like the village where Joselyn has been sending duds, but the other ones are much different. I am just worried about you all," I said as we walked to the other side of town to an open plot that no one was using according to the innkeeper.
"We are not all weak, and there are more than enough of us that can protect each other. You just worry about what you have to do, and we will take care of us and the girls that you think are worth saving. I am sure that things are about to get really bad, and I am kind of scared, but I have a lot of friends now that I can rely on, thanks to you," Eliza said with a smile, and I leaned down to kiss her. She kept maturing more each day, and it was almost magical to watch her change, but she wasn't the only one.
"I am proud of you. You have come so far from the girl that was yelling to have an old lady beat up, and I am happy to have been by your side," I said, and Eliza just cuddled my arm while making small, content sounds.
"I hate to break up this little love fest, but we really need to get started on this if we are gonna finish it by lunch," Chili said with a soft giggle, and I just sighed.
"Fine! But you still have to stay on my shoulders!" I said as Eliza let go of my arm and took off running into the field like an eager puppy. Goldy giggled as she followed behind her at a much more sedate pace.
"Come on! I want to go run with Eliza!" Chili complained as she fidgeted on my shoulder until I let her down. She grabbed my shirt and pulled me down to rub my nose with hers before giving me a quick kiss and running off with Eliza.
The area was more than big enough for what I had planned, and Goldy was right that it wouldn't be a conventional greenhouse, but almost everyone seemed to have a little bit of magic in them, so they would be able to recharge the things that I made with relative ease, and not even know that they were doing it. They would just simply have to come into work inside the building, and the enchantments and glyphs would collect everything from them.
"What are you doing first?" Goldy asked as she walked back over to stand by me.
"First, I am going to need some sand, but there isn't much around here. It's mostly clay and rock, so I will have to transmute some," I explained as one of my nails became a claw, and I sliced my wrist and let the blood flow out and drip to the ground before healing myself.
"Ick, I don't do Transmutation for that exact reason! I don't like blood, and turning things into gold isn't as rewarding as finding it!" Goldy said cheerfully as she leaned into me, and I squatted down to put my hand on the ground as I gathered magic to it. The ground started to rumble, and then the rocks slowly started to change into sand. It took a while, but I had some time to kill, and when I was done with one part of the field, there was still more than enough room for how large it would need to be.
"Wow! You are really good at this! How long did it take you to learn?" Goldy asked as she watched me work on converting all of that clay into sand until everything looked just right.
"I guess about two months? Maybe less? I am cheating by using my blood, so I never had to learn the proper way," I said with a chuckle as I picked the sand up into a big air bubble. "Girls, come over here for a moment."
The girls came running as I started to make the sand swirl, and I heated it up to slowly start melting the pure sand into glass. Soon, I had a massive ball of glowing glass, and the girls all crowded around me.
"What are you going to do with that glowy blob?" Chili asked, and I smiled.
"Watch."
I created a spine down the center, and then more strings of curved glass spilled out and down to the ground to make the frame for the halfpipe-shaped building. The gaps between us soon filled in to use all the glass that I had melted. The extra I used to make glass birds hung from the ceiling.
The next step was to create a watering system and places to plant things, so I worked on the planters first and then the gutters. The final touch was a few small windows that would let in air, but they were low enough that someone could get to them if needed. Next was pulling up some stones for paths around the place, and then I started to make the food grow with some seeds that Titania had given me.
Once all that was done, the place looked nice, but it was just a normal greenhouse, but it wouldn't last long in the cold weather here, so it was time for the final step. I pulled in tons of magic, and cast a Repeating Glyph for warmth on the stone paths, placed a water stone in the place that supplied the water to keep the reservoir full, and then placed Sunbeam Glyphs all over the glass. Once I was done with all that, I turned to Eliza.
"How are your barrier skills doing? Do you think that you can help me with the barrier?" I asked, and she nodded.
"I might need some help, but I think I can. Are you sure you want my help? Wouldn't it just be better if you just did it yourself?" Eliza asked, but I shook my head as we all walked out to the warm building, and back out to the chill. There were already some women from the village gathered to look at the new building that had just appeared for most of them.
"If you don't practice, then you are never going to get any better. If you don't do it right the first time, we will just take it off and put it on again. Plus, it would be good for everyone to see that the Countess of Northwall is most than an adorably cute face, right?" I teased, and Eliza giggled.
"I am going to be so good at this that I will make you look bad," Eliza said with a grin, and I chuckled.
"Good! Now let's get started."