The Imperial System: Architect of an Empire

By the time Kael reached the dining room the next morning, Lily had already discovered a fourth way to make the development reports unpleasant.

She had spread several housing records across one end of the table beside the road ledger, market notes, and the first incomplete village reports. None of the papers looked particularly alarming on their own. Construction was continuing, several newly finished houses had occupants, and the manor-side settlement had grown visibly since Kael first began rebuilding Blackwood. From a distance, all of it looked like exactly the kind of progress he wanted.

Lily waited until Kael sat before sliding one page toward him. "Before you become pleased with yourself, read the names."

Kael glanced down. The first household had moved into one of the newer homes six days earlier. A husband, wife, two children, and the husband’s younger brother. The second entry listed an older couple and their adult daughter. The third contained three unmarried workers sharing a house temporarily while employed on nearby construction.

He continued reading until the pattern became obvious.

"They already lived in Blackwood."

"Most of them," Lily said. "The first family came from Oakridge. The older couple moved from a smaller settlement farther north because their daughter took work near the manor. Two of those workers came from Stonebrook. Another came from Blackmere."

Kael looked through the remaining entries more carefully. "How many are actually new arrivals?"

"That is the problem. We do not know yet."

He lowered the paper. "How can we not know?"

"Because our housing records tell us who moved into a House-built property. They do not consistently tell us whether that person came from another village in Blackwood, another Imperial territory, or simply changed households within the same settlement."

Kael leaned back and stared at the ledger. The new houses had looked like population growth because more people were gathering around the manor. Some of them undoubtedly were newcomers, especially workers and merchants drawn by construction, but if Blackwood was simply pulling families out of its existing villages, then he had not increased the territory’s population at all. He had changed where the same people slept.

The Imperial System appeared at the edge of his vision before he called for it.

[Development Analysis Available]

Housing occupancy increased.

Population growth attributable to new settlement: Insufficient Data.

Internal population redistribution: Confirmed. Extent unknown.

Kael read the final line twice before looking back toward Lily. "That is worse than I thought."

She raised an eyebrow. "The houses being occupied is not bad."

"No. But I was treating occupied houses as evidence that Blackwood was growing."

"Blackwood is growing."

"In activity." Kael tapped the records. "Maybe not enough in people."

Lily nodded slowly. "That is closer to the problem."

Kael opened the House Management Interface and selected population. The category that had previously given him only a moderate-confidence estimate now expanded into several incomplete sections.

[Population — Blackwood]

Total residents: Insufficient reliable records for verified count.

Households: Partial records available.

Settlement distribution: Incomplete.

Working-age population: Insufficient Data.

Skilled labor distribution: Insufficient Data.

Dependent population: Insufficient Data.

Recent arrivals: Inconsistent reporting.

Recent internal relocation: Inconsistent reporting.

Seasonal labor movement: Not reliably tracked.

Kael frowned. "We know less about our own people than we know about stone coming out of Stonebrook."

"Stone does not marry someone in another village and forget to inform the House," Lily replied.

"That feels unnecessarily specific."

"It happened twice in the records I checked this morning."

Kael rubbed his forehead. "Of course it did."

The System changed again.

[House Objective: Measure Before Expansion]

Verified discrepancies: 3/3

New verified discrepancy: Housing expansion was interpreted as population growth without sufficient evidence. Available records indicate significant internal relocation.

Consistent reporting categories established: 3/5

Full reporting cycle: Incomplete

Corrective action: Evaluation pending

Kael stared at the objective. It had accepted the discrepancy because the mistake had been real, not because he had needed another number for a reward. That was reassuring, although he did not particularly enjoy what the discovery meant.

He closed the interface and pulled a blank page toward himself. "How many villages sent population records last year?"

Lily gave him a look.

"That bad?"

"Define population records."

Kael stopped writing. "I am beginning to hate that phrase."

"Some village heads maintain household rolls. Some report tax-paying households. Some report working adults. A few include children. One keeps births and deaths through the local healer. Another apparently records families by the amount of land they work."

"That last one cannot possibly tell us how many people live there."

"No."

"Then what does it tell us?"

"How much land they work."

Kael dropped the quill onto the table. "Meeting."

Lily sighed. "I knew you were going to say that."

"Edwin first. Then Bram. Darius and Grom too."

"Why military command?"

"Because if we do not know where people live, Darius and Grom do not know how thinly security is actually stretched."

Lily started making notes.

Kael continued, "Galahad too."

That made her look up. "The Guild?"

"The building is almost finished, and Galahad is going to need people to operate it. I want to know how many before we discover the answer on opening morning."

Lily smiled slightly. "That may already be too late."

Kael stopped.

"What?"

"Go ask him."

Kael stared at her for a moment, then stood. "We’re going to the Guild first."

"You have not eaten."

Kael reached for two pieces of bread.

Lily watched him wrap them in a cloth.

"That is not breakfast."

"It is portable administration."

"That phrase should never exist."

Kael left before she could stop him.

The Adventurer’s Guild headquarters had changed dramatically during his absence in Solmara. The main stonework had already been close to completion before he left, but now most of the scaffolding was gone from the front of the building. Workers were fitting the last sections of exterior trim around the broad entrance, while two carpenters adjusted one of the heavy doors. The sign had not yet been mounted above the entrance, though the iron brackets for it were already fixed into the stone.

Kael slowed as he approached.

This was no longer a foundation or a promise.

It looked like a building people could enter.

Inside, the difference was even greater. The central hall had been designed to handle movement rather than impress nobles. A long registration counter stretched across one side with several separate positions so a single clerk would not create a line through the entire room. Another counter had been built for contracts and payments. Space had been left for public notices, mission postings, Guild rules, and rank information. Doors along the rear wall led toward staff offices, secure record storage, meeting rooms, and smaller interview spaces.

The building smelled of fresh wood, stone dust, oil, and the kind of final construction work that made every surface appear finished until someone looked closely.

Galahad Charney stood behind the contract counter arguing with Master Rowan.

"No."

Rowan folded his arms. "It is a shelf."

"It is a shelf directly behind where the clerk stands."

"That is generally where shelves go."

"It is where every impatient adventurer will reach across the counter and knock something off."

Rowan stared at him. "Then hire adventurers with longer arms."

Galahad looked toward Kael as he approached. "Perfect. Tell him the shelf moves."

Kael examined it.

Rowan immediately said, "Choose carefully."

Kael looked from one man to the other. "Why am I involved?"

"Because you own the building," Galahad said.

Rowan shook his head. "He owns Blackwood. I built the shelf."

"That somehow made the question worse," Kael said.

Galahad pointed behind himself. "Clerks will keep active contract forms there. Reward authorizations. Temporary registration documents. Things I do not want scattered across the floor because someone with an axe became excited."

Kael considered that.

"Move the shelf."

Rowan looked betrayed. "You have changed."

"I learned about archives."

"That explains nothing."

"It explains more than you think."

Rowan muttered something about nobles and shelves before walking away to find one of his carpenters.

Galahad watched him go. "He will move it three inches and claim victory."

"Will three inches work?"

"Yes."

"Then perhaps he should."

Galahad stared at Kael, then laughed. "You were less annoying before Solmara."

Kael looked around the main hall. "How close?"

"The building?"

"Yes."

"Several days for the remaining carpentry. A little longer for the records room because I changed the shelving arrangement. The stable yard needs another gate. Training yard markers are not finished. Two upstairs rooms still need doors, though I could open without them if absolutely necessary."

"So a week?"

Galahad’s expression shifted.

Kael noticed immediately. "What?"

"The building could be ready around then."

"But?"

"The Guild will not."

There it was.

Lily had known.

Kael leaned against the counter. "People."

"People," Galahad confirmed. "I have a building large enough to process adventurers, contracts, payments, disputes, party registrations, equipment declarations, and mission records. Do you know how many trained Guild clerks I currently possess?"

Kael waited.

"None."

"That seems low."

"Excellent analysis."

Kael frowned. "You knew staffing would be necessary."

"I did. That is why I have been training the people I could get."

"How many?"

"Three who might be competent by opening day if nobody decides to become stupid."

"Staff or adventurers?"

"Yes."

Kael smiled despite himself.

Galahad came around the counter and motioned for Kael to follow. They moved through the main hall while workers continued around them. One young woman sat at a temporary desk copying registration forms. At another table, an older man was sorting sample contract notices into categories while a boy carried bundles of blank parchment between rooms.

"That is Mira Doss," Galahad said, indicating the woman. "Merchant clerk before she came here. Good with numbers, suspicious of everyone. I like her."

"She lives in Blackwood?"

"Moved here two months ago with her sister’s family."

New arrival.

Kael immediately wanted the record.

Galahad pointed toward the older man. "Pell Rusk. Before you ask, yes, I know about the other Rusk problem. No relation that anyone has found. He worked records for a grain factor. Slow, but accurate."

Kael made a mental note not to strengthen the surname collision more than necessary.

"And the boy?"

"Runner. Not permanent yet."

"How many people do you actually need?"

Galahad stopped walking. "For a quiet opening? At minimum? Four registration and contract clerks who can rotate. One person responsible for payment records with someone else checking them. Two runners. Stable workers. Cleaning. Someone who can inspect common goods well enough to know when an adventurer is trying to claim his broken sword was destroyed by a monster instead of his own stupidity. Someone responsible for the mission board. Someone handling incoming village requests. Guards for the money room. And that is before enough adventurers arrive to create problems."

Kael stared.

"You said minimum."

"Yes."

"How many do you have?"

"Not enough."

Kael looked around the nearly complete headquarters differently.

The building was ahead of the people.

Again.

Galahad continued toward one of the side rooms. "And I do not want you solving this by ordering Lily to take five competent manor clerks and give them to me."

"I was not going to."

"You were thinking about it."

"I was considering temporary support."

"That is how institutions steal staff from each other until everyone is understaffed."

Kael stopped.

Galahad had just summarized half of Blackwood’s current problem.

Stonebrook wanted workers.

Rowan wanted apprentices.

Garrick needed more skilled hands.

The roads consumed labor.

The manor administration needed clerks.

The Guild would soon need an entire staff.

Blackwood had been creating opportunities faster than it created people capable of filling them.

Kael looked toward Galahad. "How many adventurers have asked when registration opens?"

"Twenty-three individuals that I know of. Four existing parties have sent inquiries. Three mercenaries want to know whether prior contract work counts toward initial ranking. Two hunters from outside Blackwood have asked whether monster materials can be registered through the Guild. One man wants to know whether killing bandits counts as an adventurer contract."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "Does it?"

"Not when nobody hired him."

"Good answer."

"I am aware."

The number of interested adventurers did not sound enormous, but the Guild did not need hundreds on opening day. It needed enough people to begin functioning, enough contracts to matter, and enough structure to keep the first month from becoming a disaster.

Galahad looked toward him. "Do not delay the opening because staffing is not perfect."

Kael blinked. "You just told me we do not have enough people."

"We need enough to operate safely. That is different from waiting until everything is perfect."

Kael smiled faintly. "Everyone keeps telling me not to move too fast. Now you are telling me not to wait."

"That is because both can be stupid."

Fair.

"When will you know?"

"Give me seven days. I will run full mock operations inside the building. Registration, contract intake, reward claims, party disputes, emergency escalation, the works. I want Black Dragons pretending to be difficult adventurers."

Kael smiled. "Milo."

"No."

"You have not even heard—"

"I want problems we can realistically encounter."

"Milo is extremely realistic."

"He is a specialized disaster."

Kael laughed. "Use Elias."

"Sir Elias?"

"Yes."

Galahad considered it. "He would enjoy arguing with the clerk."

"He absolutely would."

"And Marcus?"

"He will find flaws in your forms."

"That is more useful."

Kael looked toward the unfinished mission board. "Darius and Grom need to be involved in the emergency side."

Galahad nodded immediately. "They already are."

Kael turned toward him.

"Unlike you," Galahad said, "Deputy Commander Grom understands that I sometimes make plans without waiting for a prince to discover them."

Kael stared.

"I was gone."

"You were gone for several days."

"Exactly."

"That is not a long time."

Kael was beginning to understand why Galahad and Lily got along.

They left the Guild shortly afterward, but Kael took the staffing problem with him.

By the time he reached the manor, Edwin had already been summoned. Darius and Grom arrived together from the morning training field, both still wearing Black Dragon command attire rather than formal clothing. Grom carried his spear with him, though he left it against the wall before sitting at the table.

Kael noticed the difference in how others responded to him now that his place in the command structure had been made explicit. Grom had always possessed authority through experience and reputation, but Deputy Commander of the Black Dragon gave that authority a clear place beneath Darius.

Darius commanded.

Grom stood directly below him.

If Darius was absent, there was no question about who carried Black Dragon command unless another arrangement had been specifically ordered.

Kael liked clear lines.

He liked them even more after Orinth.

Edwin arrived last, carrying two household ledgers and wearing the expression of a man who already suspected Kael had discovered expensive information.

Kael began without ceremony. "We do not know how many people live in Blackwood."

Edwin sat.

Grom raised an eyebrow.

Darius did not react at all.

Kael looked around. "Nobody seems surprised."

Edwin opened one ledger. "We know approximately how many households owe taxes, how many farms are registered, how many people receive certain House services, and how many workers are attached to specific projects."

"That is not the same thing."

"No."

Grom leaned forward. "Military estimates are better around roads we actually patrol. Worse farther from the estate."

"Because?"

"We count households, travelers, village watches, and anything relevant to security. We do not count every child."

Darius added, "Nor should soldiers become census clerks."

Kael nodded. "Agreed."

That mattered. His first instinct might once have been to use the Black Dragon because they were disciplined and mobile. But fifty elite soldiers should not spend weeks asking farmers how many cousins slept under their roofs.

Kael opened Lily’s housing notes. "The new houses near the manor made it look like the population was rising faster than we can prove. Some of that growth is people moving from one Blackwood village to another."

Grom’s expression sharpened. "That affects village watches."

Darius nodded. "And food production if enough working adults relocate."

Edwin added, "And taxation, labor obligations, grain estimates, school planning later, market demand, and House provisioning."

Kael looked toward him. "You seemed too prepared for that list."

"I have been asking for better household reporting since before you learned what a culvert was."

Kael frowned. "You could have said something."

"I did."

Lily, sitting beside Edwin, did not look up from her notes. "Repeatedly."

Kael decided not to continue that argument.

The System appeared again.

[Population Baseline Analysis]

Reliable territorial census unavailable.

Recommendation: Establish household-level baseline before major settlement expansion.

A second section formed beneath it.

Minimum useful categories:

Household size

Age bands

Primary occupations

Secondary skills

Apprentices

Dependents

Recent arrivals

Recent departures

Internal relocations

Vacant housing

Available agricultural land

Seasonal labor

Then came a warning.

[Administrative Warning]

Excessive data collection may reduce compliance and accuracy. Collect only information tied to defined governance needs.

Kael nearly laughed.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Nothing. I was just reminded not to become annoying."

Grom smiled. "Useful advice."

Kael ignored him and copied several categories onto paper. He did not write everything the System suggested. The warning mattered as much as the list.

"We need enough information to understand people, labor, and settlement capacity. We do not need to know what every farmer ate yesterday."

Edwin nodded. "Households. Ages broadly rather than exact where records are weak. Occupation. Skills. Apprentices. Land. Recent movement."

Lily added, "Births and deaths if local records exist."

"Existing records first," Kael said. "Do not make village heads recreate information they already maintain."

Darius looked toward him. "Security information?"

"Separate unless relevant to the census."

Grom nodded approvingly. "Good."

Kael looked toward the Deputy Commander. "You expected me to combine them?"

"I expected you to discover ten additional questions halfway through and send soldiers back to ask them."

"That sounds unfair."

Darius glanced at Grom. "It is accurate."

Kael sighed.

They began building the census procedure.

Each village would receive a simple household sheet rather than a book of administrative torture. Village heads could use existing local rolls as a starting point. House clerks would travel to settlements where records were poor. The purpose would be explained clearly: Blackwood needed to understand housing, labor, food, services, and future settlement capacity.

No new tax would be attached to the census.

Edwin insisted that point be written prominently.

"If people believe every additional child will increase their taxes, congratulations," he said. "You will discover that Blackwood contains remarkably few children."

Kael grimaced. "Put it in the instructions."

Grom tapped the labor section. "Do not only ask what someone does now."

Kael looked toward him. "Why?"

"Because a farmer may have spent ten years as a mason before inheriting land. A hunter may know leatherwork. A former soldier may be able to train a village watch. You are trying to learn what Blackwood can do, not merely what everyone did yesterday."

That was exactly why Grom needed to be in these meetings.

Kael nodded. "Primary work and useful secondary skills."

Lily added it.

Darius looked toward Grom. "Apprentices too."

Grom nodded. "And people looking for apprenticeships."

Kael stopped. "That could help Garrick and Rowan."

"And the Guild," Edwin said.

There it was again.

The census was becoming more than a count.

It could reveal people Blackwood already possessed but did not know how to use.

A young farmer who wanted to learn smithing.

A widow who had kept merchant accounts before marriage.

A retired soldier capable of training local watches.

A carpenter living three villages away from Rowan.

A healer’s apprentice who had never been included in House medical records.

Kael had been thinking about population as a number.

Blackwood needed to understand capacity.

The System updated quietly.

[Population Survey Framework Created]

Data reliability will depend upon local records, participation, and verification.

Projected House Management improvement upon completion: Significant.

Kael smiled faintly.

That was enough.

No magical census.

No instant answer.

Just a better framework waiting for real people to fill it.

The meeting continued until shortly before midday, when Grom finally pushed his chair back.

"I have training."

Kael looked toward him. "Stay a moment."

Grom sat again.

Darius glanced toward Kael, already knowing where the conversation was going.

"The Black Dragon," Kael said. "How stretched are we?"

Grom answered first. "More than six months ago. Less than you think."

"That sounds contradictory."

"It means the fifty are stronger, better organized, and more experienced. So each team can handle more than before. It also means Blackwood keeps finding new things to ask them to do."

Darius continued. "Road patrols. Merchant escorts. village response. Training. Prisoner security. Estate protection. Investigation. Special missions."

Grom added, "And now everyone who sees black armor assumes we can solve whatever bothered them that morning."

Kael leaned back.

"That is why the Guild matters."

"Partly," Darius said.

Grom folded his arms. "Do not make the Guild a cheap Black Dragon."

Kael looked toward him.

"Adventurers can hunt beasts, escort merchants, gather materials, investigate missing livestock, clear dangerous ruins, and take contracts that do not require Imperial military authority. They should not become soldiers whenever Blackwood lacks enough soldiers."

Kael nodded. "Different responsibilities."

"Exactly."

"And village watches?"

"Different again."

Kael smiled. "You have been planning this."

Grom looked offended. "I am Deputy Commander."

Fair.

Darius glanced toward him. "Grom has been reviewing village watch readiness while I handled other command work."

Kael looked toward Grom more seriously. "Results?"

"Uneven. Some villages have retired soldiers or hunters who can organize people properly. Others have five men with spears who believe standing near the same fence counts as formation training."

Kael almost laughed.

Grom did not.

"That bad?"

"Worse if something serious attacks."

"We improve them?"

"Yes. Carefully. Village watches are not replacements for the Black Dragon. They need enough training to raise alarms, protect civilians, control a small disturbance, and survive until proper help arrives."

Kael nodded.

Another piece.

Not today.

But soon.

The Black Dragon could remain elite if Blackwood built layers beneath it instead of demanding those fifty soldiers stand everywhere.

Grom rose again. "Now may I train them?"

Kael smiled. "Go."

Grom retrieved his spear.

Before leaving, he looked back. "And Kael?"

"Yes?"

"Do the census before offering half the Empire free land."

Kael frowned. "I was not going to offer half the Empire free land."

"Good."

Then Grom left.

Darius waited until the door closed.

"He was going to say that even if you had not summoned him."

"I gathered."

"He has opinions."

"That is one reason he is Deputy Commander."

Darius gave a small nod.

That was all the approval Kael needed.

After midday, Kael traveled to Oakridge.

He did not bring a formal procession. Lily came because she had the census draft. Bram came because he knew half the households personally. Elias joined them after training, still adapting to the fact that villagers now noticed the title before they noticed the man.

Walter was sitting outside a repaired storage shed when they arrived.

He looked toward Elias.

"Well, look at that."

Elias sighed. "Please don’t."

Walter smiled broadly. "Sir Elias Thorn."

"I survived the Church only to come home to this."

"You expected Blackwood to show mercy?"

"No."

"Then you are learning."

Kael laughed before Walter turned toward him.

"What trouble are you bringing?"

"A census."

Walter’s smile vanished.

"That sounds expensive."

"No new tax."

"That sounds suspicious."

Lily handed him the sample sheet.

Walter stared at it as though she had passed him a legal accusation. "You want to know how many people live here?"

"Yes."

Walter looked around Oakridge. "Could have asked."

"How many?"

He opened his mouth.

Then stopped.

Kael smiled.

Walter frowned. "That was a trick."

"It was not."

"Felt like one."

Bram sat beside him and looked at the sheet. "Households will be easier."

Walter nodded. "Some families share roofs."

"Exactly."

As they walked through Oakridge, the manpower problem became less abstract. One repaired house had a new roof but no family living inside because the owner’s eldest son had moved closer to the manor for construction work. A small workshop that once handled basic wagon repairs was operating only three days each week because its younger worker had taken better-paying work hauling stone. Several fields remained productive, but one older farmer admitted that both of his sons had begun considering jobs near the growing market.

None of those choices were wrong.

People went where opportunities existed.

The danger was that Kael could accidentally grow the manor settlement by draining the villages that made Blackwood function.

Walter said it more simply when they stopped near the old mill.

"You cannot make Blackwood bigger by moving the same people from one road to another."

Kael looked toward him.

Walter shrugged. "You can move them. Sometimes you should. But if Oakridge loses three farmers so your new market gains three workers, you still have the same three men."

Kael nodded slowly.

"What would keep them?"

Walter scratched his beard. "Depends why they leave."

That answer mattered.

Not everyone needed to stay.

A young person wanting different work should be allowed to move.

But if villages lost people because roads were bad, wells failed, there were no apprenticeships, no market access, or no reason to believe their children had a future there, then Blackwood had a development problem.

Kael looked around Oakridge.

The mill worked again.

The road was improving.

More could follow.

But not everything at once.

The System appeared.

[Settlement Observation — Oakridge]

Local infrastructure improvement: Confirmed.

Labor retention pressure: Emerging.

Primary observed drivers: Higher wages near major construction, concentrated market opportunities, limited local skilled employment.

Confidence: Low to Moderate. More data required.

Kael almost smiled at the final line.

"Insufficient data again," he murmured.

Elias looked toward him. "What?"

"Nothing."

Walter pointed at him. "He does that."

"I know," Elias said. "We stopped asking."

They returned to the manor near evening.

The first census packets would leave the following morning.

Not hundreds of pages.

Simple household forms.

Clear instructions.

Existing records first.

Questions only where they mattered.

Kael wanted answers, but he was finally beginning to understand that demanding too much information could produce worse information rather than better.

Before going inside, he turned toward the road leading to the nearly completed Guild headquarters.

Workers were still there.

The front doors had been hung.

Someone had finally started mounting the sign.

Blackwood was developing in two directions at once.

The villages needed stronger foundations.

The territory needed more people.

The Guild was days away from being physically complete.

Damien would leave for his frontier evaluation soon.

Victor remained at Greywatch.

Elias and Marcus had returned with titles.

Darius commanded the Black Dragon while Grom, directly beneath him as Deputy Commander, was already taking greater responsibility for training and village readiness.

None of those threads had stopped because another began.

That was what Blackwood had become.

Not one problem.

A territory.

Kael reached his chamber after sunset and found the System waiting.

[House Objective: Measure Before Expansion]

Verified discrepancies: 3/3

Consistent reporting categories established: 3/5

Full reporting cycle: Incomplete

Corrective action: Market staging evaluation in progress

A second panel appeared beneath it.

[Emerging Development Constraint Detected]

Population and labor capacity may limit continued expansion.

Current confidence: Moderate

Primary limitation: Insufficient verified population and workforce data.

Then a new objective appeared.

[House Objective Available: Know Your People]

Blackwood cannot plan settlement growth, labor allocation, public services, military support, or future development without understanding the people who already live within its borders. Establish a reliable population baseline without reducing individuals to numbers alone.

Requirements: Complete a territorial household census. Identify major labor shortages. Identify underused skills or available apprentices. Determine settlement capacity across existing villages before approving major population expansion.

Kael read the wording carefully.

The final requirement was the one that mattered most.

Before approving major population expansion.

The System was not telling him not to grow Blackwood.

It was telling him to know what he was growing from.

The reward appeared last.

[Reward: House Management Interface — Population & Labor Analysis]

Function: Organizes verified demographic, occupation, skill, settlement, and labor information for comparison and planning. Accuracy remains dependent upon collected records.

Kael accepted.

[House Objective Accepted.]

The window faded.

Kael looked toward the census forms stacked beside the development ledger, then toward the darkened shape of the Guild building visible farther down the road.

For months, his greatest question had been how to build more.

Now Blackwood was forcing him to ask something more difficult.

Who would live in everything he built, who would work there, and what kind of life would make them choose to stay?

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