Soon, a week passed.
And in that single week, the once-quiet village had transformed completely.
It began with tents—vivid things, their fabrics dyed in eye-watering hues of orange, indigo, and emerald. They bloomed like flowers across the outer fields, sharp-peaked and fluttering in the breeze. The grassy meadows, once trampled only by goats and the occasional deer, now bore the deep grooves of carriage wheels and booted feet.
The carriages came next—sleek, reinforced wagons with gleaming brass trim and runic wards etched along their sides. Some hissed with steam and alchemical exhaust, others glowed faintly from embedded enchantments. Adventurers spilled from them in waves—swaggering, loud, shining with pride.
They arrived from the east, west, and north—from cities whose names Shad couldn't pronounce and didn't care to remember.
They came with steel swords strapped to their backs, lacquered staffs in hand. Their laughter rang out like bells, bold and unbothered, echoing through the trees and bouncing off the rooftops.
Shad, who usually spent his mornings shaping wood, stone or tending his quiet rows of vegetables, had only a few sacred haunts: the river bend, the cliff overlooking the valley, the ancient tree whose roots curled like slumbering serpents, and the plot of earth behind his hut.
But that morning was different.
He went toward the village center—and nearly didn't recognize it.
The narrow mountain trail, once little more than packed earth, had been widened and leveled. Reinforced planks now lined its curves, and fresh gravel crunched beneath each step. Along its length, guard posts had risen—angular, efficient structures manned by men with sharp eyes.
There were also new sturdier fences and watchtowers.
And at the heart of it all, towering over the largest tent, the crimson standard of the Margrave flew. Its emblem—a black eagle mid-flight, wings spread in dominion—clawed at the sky like a herald of power.
Shad's sharp eyes counted dozens of trained men. Where once only hunters and farmers roamed.
Then came the scholars.
Men and women covered in thick robes carrying scrolls and mana-detecting devices that beeped and pulsed. One even brought a floating orb that followed him around like a puppy.
These scholars had set up alchemical stations, and had claimed an entire shed near the edge of the village, where they began testing soil samples and "mana exposure density."
They used words the men in the village did not understand. They acted like they were discovering the secrets of the world.
And in their wake came coin. Lots of coins.
'My orders for sculpting had increased lately. Is this also the reason?'
Luckily, sculpting had been way easier for him lately thanks to his improved physique and the partial return of his shadowy powers. Otherwise, he would not be able to make so much. He could even sculp stones now.
He first visited the inn where most of the orders came from.
The inn, once barely visited, and the only inn in the town was apparently now always full.
The tavern ran out of ale within days. Hunters were paid triple their usual rate to serve as guides—though few dared go near the gate. Grab, the cheerful hunter with the crooked smile, had somehow become the most sought-after guide in the village.
A man named Callum, who once sold onions and potatoes, was now charging silver just to rent a stool near the campfires to listen to adventurers boast.
Even old Joseph had laid down his bow. Now, he stood at a forge, sparks dancing around him, hammering heated steel beside his apprentice like it was all he'd ever done.
On top of the village walls, Shad watched past a duo of adventurers sparring with wooden swords in the fields.
The adventurers were probably the same age as him. Their form was decent at best. They probably wouldn't get killed in a beast attack that easily.
Shad had to admit though. The place, the village, had changed. Was it still the same quiet peaceful village he had randomly woke up into?
He watched the sunset, moving past the horizon.
Then his fingers curled at his side. The mana pulsed softly beneath his skin, steady and warm.
Shad had also changed. Before he always remained expressionless and cold. Now he was not like that no more.
'That's right. Why do I even want to leave this place? This is no longer the demon continent. Even if something happens, I can actually take care of it. This place has become precious.'
Soon, the old man, Chief Erdan, had arrived. Like the others, his flour shop, had also flourished. He did not even need to ask.
First, he handed him another wolf carving. It was his last stop.
"Oh, the way you makes these things are really getting better. Even though it was already so good last time. I tell you, even If you go to the capital, it's hard to find something with this quality." The old man praised.
It had been two years since he had met this old man, and he had aged. There were now white hairs on the sides of his head, when it used to be all brown.
Then the old man looked at him.
"Are you and Jess perhaps fighting?" he asked, "She has been somewhat seemed sad lately. She doesn't talk about you as much as well."
Shad then brought out a bag of coins from his pouch and grabbed several copper coins from it.
"Give me a land. I want the one near my fields." Shad said.
"Huh?"
The chief was stunned but he had seen that the boy had more coins with him.
"Hm, the price of land had increased lately." He said cautiously.
"…"
"It's true." the old man laughed nervously, raising both hands.
Shad stopped and stared at the old man.
"How much?"
'He's serious?!' the old man was surprised.
But that land, huh. The chief hesitated. He was indeed the one who sells the land here on behalf of the margrave. And he had refused to sell that land no matter the price because it was near the daughter of his friend.
But this was an exception. He decided to trust the boy. Now it was real trust.
Before the sun completely fell, the deal was done.