The concept of a greenhouse sounded simple enough. A glass house to trap heat and grow food.
But as Ignis pointed out over breakfast (a porridge made from the newly acquired oats) the logistics were a nightmare.
"We have wood for the frame," the Dragon strategist said, tapping his birch-bark map. "But glass? Glass requires sand, soda ash, and lime. And a kiln capable of reaching temperatures that would melt Kael's face off."
"I can build the kiln," Kael offered, flexing a bicep. "I like fire."
"And the soda ash?" Ignis countered. "The lime? And most importantly, the sand? This is a forest, not a desert. The soil here is loam and clay."
Valeria sat at the head of the table, nursing a cup of tea. She looked calm, which infuriated Ignis.
"The Village Chief," Valeria said, setting her cup down. "Why does he want this land so badly? The soil is poor. The house is falling apart. Yet, he has been trying to drive the Garnetts out for years."
Ignis frowned. "Because he is greedy?"
"Because of the water," Valeria corrected. "My memories of Elise are filled with boring dinner parties where nobles complained about the 'dry wells' in Oakhaven. But this estate never runs dry. The well is always full, even in drought."
She turned to Caspian.
The Shark beastman was sitting by the fire, wrapped in a damp blanket Lucian had soaked for him. He looked miserable in the dry heat, but better than before.
"Caspian," Valeria said. "Can you hear it?"
Caspian blinked his dark, fish-like eyes. "Hear what?"
"The water," Valeria said. "Under us."
Caspian tilted his head. He closed his eyes. His gills flared slightly.
For a moment, there was silence. Then, a look of profound concentration crossed his grey face.
"Yes," Caspian whispered. "Deep. Very deep. It rushes. It sings."
He pointed a clawed finger toward the floor. "A river. Running through stone."
"An aquifer," Valeria confirmed. "And where there are underground rivers running through limestone caverns, there are often deposits of pure silica sand. Quartz sand. The kind that makes clear glass."
She stood up. "Suit up, boys. We're going spelunking."
The entrance to the aquifer wasn't in the house. It was a mile north, in a rocky ravine that the locals considered cursed.
The snow was waist-deep here. Kael plowed the path, with Valeria and Caspian following in his wake. Ignis and Silas had stayed behind to guard the house and Lucian.
"Here," Caspian rasped. He stopped in front of a narrow fissure in the ravine wall. Cold, damp air drifted out, smelling of wet minerals.
"It's tight," Kael noted, eyeing the crack. "I won't fit."
"I will," Caspian said. He dropped his heavy cloak into the snow. Without the bulky fabric, his unique physiology was visible. He was lean, muscular, and covered in smooth, grey skin that seemed to absorb the light.
"I'll go too," Valeria said.
Kael spun around. "Absolutely not. You are soft. Rocks are hard."
"I need to inspect the sand quality," Valeria argued. "If Caspian brings back mud, we waste a day. Besides..."
She pulled a small, glowing orb from her pocket.
[Item: Ever-Light Crystal.]
[Source: Library (Mining Section).]
"I have a flashlight," she smiled.
Kael grumbled, but he knew he couldn't stop her. "I will guard the entrance. If you aren't back in an hour, I'm tearing the mountain down to find you."
"Deal," Valeria said.
She squeezed through the fissure.
The darkness was absolute until she activated the crystal. Cold blue light illuminated a limestone tunnel that sloped sharply downward. The walls dripped with condensation.
Caspian moved ahead of her. On land, he was clumsy and slow. But here, in the damp, cramped dark, he moved with a fluid grace. His webbed hands gripped the slick rock with ease.
"Careful," Caspian hissed, his voice echoing. "Slippery."
He offered her a hand. His skin was cold and clammy, but his grip was like iron.
They descended for twenty minutes. The air grew heavier, thicker. The sound of rushing water became a roar.
Finally, the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern.
Valeria gasped.
It was an underground cathedral. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like jagged chandeliers. And beneath them lay a vast, black lake. The water was perfectly still, reflecting the blue light of her crystal like a mirror.
"Beautiful," Valeria whispered.
Caspian didn't look at the view. He walked to the edge of the water. He knelt and touched the surface.
A shudder of pleasure went through him.
"Home," he murmured.
He turned to Valeria. "The sand is at the bottom. I can smell the quartz."
"Is it safe?" Valeria asked, shining the light over the water. "Are there... things in there?"
Caspian stripped off his linen shirt. On his back, three rows of dorsal fins began to rise from his spine, a sign of his partial evolution from the Spirit Water bath.
"Only snacks," Caspian grinned, revealing rows of serrated teeth. "Wait here."
He dove.
There was barely a splash. He sliced into the water and vanished.
Valeria sat on a dry rock, wrapping her arms around herself. It was freezing down here. She watched the water, counting the seconds.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Bubbles rose to the surface.
Then, a shape moved in the deep. It wasn't Caspian.
It was long, sinuous, and glowing with a faint, bioluminescent green light.
[Target Identified: Cave Eel.]
[Rank: D-Class Beast.]
[Trait: Electric Discharge.]
"Caspian!" Valeria shouted, aiming her light at the shape.
The water erupted.
Caspian burst from the surface, but he wasn't fleeing. He was attacking.
He had fully transformed. His legs had fused into a powerful tail. His skin was dark blue. He slammed into the giant eel, his jaws clamping onto its midsection.
The eel thrashed, releasing a pulse of electricity that lit up the entire cavern with a blinding flash.
Valeria shielded her eyes.
When the light faded, the eel was floating dead on the surface. Caspian was treading water, spitting out a chunk of glowing green flesh.
He swam to the shore and hauled himself up. As he left the water, his tail split back into legs, though he remained covered in scales.
He dragged a heavy mesh sack with him.
"Spicy," Caspian commented, wiping blue blood from his mouth. "But good texture."
He dumped the sack at Valeria's feet.
Inside was a pile of glittering, pure white sand.
[Item: High-Purity Silica Sand.]
[Quality: A-Rank.]
[Suitable for: Glass, lenses, mana crystals.]
"Is it good?" Caspian asked, panting slightly.
"It's perfect," Valeria said. She looked at him. There was a nasty burn mark on his shoulder from the eel's shock.
"You're hurt," she said, reaching out.
Caspian flinched back. "Don't touch. My skin... it has slime coat now. Toxic to land dwellers."
Valeria ignored him. She pulled a small vial of [Basic Salve] from her pocket—something she had mixed using the leftover alchemy supplies—and applied it to the burn.
"I'm not a land dweller," she said softly. "I'm your wife. Sort of."
Caspian froze. He looked at her hand touching his "monstrous" skin. Most humans retched at the sight of a shark beastman's true form. Elise used to scream if he dripped water on the floor.
"You are strange," Caspian said. The darkness in his eyes softened. "You don't fear the deep."
"I fear starvation," Valeria said, capping the vial. "And this sand is going to feed us."
She stood up. "Can you carry more?"
"I can carry the whole beach," Caspian boasted, puffing out his chest.
[System Notification: Husband Affinity Updated.]
[Caspian: 30% (Respect). Note: Subject feels validated in his element.]
They emerged from the fissure an hour later, loaded down with four heavy sacks of wet sand.
Kael was pacing in the snow, looking ready to punch the mountain. When he saw them, he let out a breath that looked like a steam vent.
"You're late," Kael growled. "Five minutes late."
"We ran into an eel," Valeria said casually. "Caspian ate it."
Kael looked at the Shark. Caspian was shivering again in the cold air, but he was grinning, holding a chunk of eel meat.
"Sushi," Caspian offered.
Kael rolled his eyes. "Let's go. The Dragon is probably pacing a hole in the floor."
Back at the farmhouse, the sand was spread out on tarps near the fire to dry.
Ignis inspected it with the Merchant's Monocle Valeria lent him.
"This is 98% pure silica," Ignis marveled. "With this, we can make clear glass. Not the cloudy junk the villagers use."
"We start the kiln tomorrow," Valeria ordered. "Kael, you're on construction. Ignis, you're on mold design. Lucian..."
She looked at the Phoenix. He was currently staring at the glittering sand, fascinated by the sparkles.
"Lucian," Valeria said. "I need you to grind the limestone chunks we found into powder. We need lime for the mix."
"Grinding?" Lucian looked at his delicate hands. "Like... manual labor?"
"Like making glitter," Valeria framed it. "If you grind it fine enough, it sparkles."
"I'll do it!" Lucian chirped.
The house settled into a rhythm of industry. But Valeria knew the clock was ticking. The Village Chief wouldn't sit idly by while the "destitute" orphan built a glass palace.
Two days later, the first pane of glass was poured.
It wasn't perfect. It had bubbles and waves. But it was solid, transparent, and undeniably glass.
They stood around the cooling rack in the yard, staring at it.
"We made this," Silas whispered, touching the cool surface. "From dirt."
"From sand," Ignis corrected. "And science."
Valeria stood back, watching them. They were dirty, tired, and covered in soot. But they were working together. Kael bumped shoulders with Caspian. Silas leaned against Ignis.
The broken kings were mending.
Suddenly, the system chime rang in her head.
[Mission Alert: The Greenhouse Effect.]
[Objective: Build a functional 20x20 greenhouse before the next blizzard.]
[Time Limit: 72 Hours.]
[Reward: Library Level Up. Unlocked: "Mana-Infused Seeds".]
Valeria sighed. "No rest for the wicked."
She clapped her hands. "Alright, gentlemen. That's one pane down. We need two hundred more. Back to work."
As they groaned and turned back to the kiln, Valeria looked toward the village road.
A lone figure was watching them from the treeline. She couldn't see the face, but she saw the glint of a spyglass.
The Village Chief, she guessed. Or the Guild.
She fingered the stone in her pocket.
"Watch closely," she whispered to the unseen spy. "You're about to see how a Villainess farms."