Quinn

After dinner, Uncle Colt, Mr. Morton, Allan, Mark and his wife Frances, Eden and her husband Miles, some important members of the Norsewood community, and I had a meeting in the conference room. Apparently, I'd be taking the lead, and after creating myself a pen and a book to jot down notes, I began.

"As I've announced earlier, I'll be making us a temporary shelter, which I'll call Norsewood Lodge for easy reference. Now, I need to know how many families there are likely to stay at the lodge during this winter. I think it'll also make my life easier if I know the number of Norsewood population."

Mark said, "Before the dungeon break four years ago, our citizens numbered ten thousand. The monsters' attack halved that down to five thousand."

I swallowed hard at hearing that. I couldn't believe they had lost that many people.

Allan said, "Since then, roughly one thousand have left Norsewood, seeking homes elsewhere. Then we lost about two hundred after the surprise attack one month ago."

"Due to the loss of our food supplies, half the survivors left Norsewood to seek shelters from their relatives in other regions for the winter," Mark said. "I know it's cold of me to say this, but that helped reduce the number of mouths we needed to feed. Of course, that no longer matters now that you're here, Quinn, and the fact that we discovered rice."

Everyone around the table nodded their heads in agreement.

Allan summed up the number for me. "Right now, there should be around two thousand across Norsewood."

"Two thousand," I said as I jotted down the number. Then I asked, "On average, how many is per household?"

"I'd say eight to ten," Allan said.

I widened my eyes. "That many?" Then again, homes here were multigenerational, meaning family consisted of parents, children, and grandparents. Personally, I didn't think it was suitable to have that many people in an average-sized unit. I said, "On average, how many children do parents have?"

"Three to four, five at most," Frances said.

The number sounded like I'd have to create more than two to three bedrooms. There'd also need to be a common space for the family as well.

I said, "Then getting the data on each family's number is important so I can create a unit that's big enough for them."

"Unit?" Allan asked. "You've mentioned that before at the announcement. What is a unit?"

I chuckled, having forgotten that this was another world and that they were not familiar with certain terms. I said, "I'm referring to a family home in the lodge as a unit."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"How big will this unit be, my lady?" It was Mr. Lamont who asked that question, the man who was so very intrigued with the double-glazing windows.

I said, "It depends on the size of the family. For example, an average-sized room will fit two to three individuals."

"That small?" Marked said.

"It is very small, isn't it?" a man sitting beside Mr. Lamont said.

I didn't think an average-sized room was that small, but I wondered if their metric was different.

I stood up and then walked around while everyone eyed me. I stopped in the middle of the room and said, "About here to the end there," I said. "That's an average-sized room."

Their eyes widened in surprise, and Mr. Lamont said, "That's the size of a small cottage, my lady."

I nodded. "That's an average-sized room. If there's a family of seven, say parents, grandparents, and three children, if the children are all under thirteen, we can put them all in one room with bunk beds, and the parents and grandparents in one room each, so there'd be three bedrooms in one unit."

Frances said, "Then when we register the family, we'll have to include their ages, too."

I nodded my head. "And gender. I'd prefer that we don't mix genders in one room, especially if they're thirteen and older."

Frances and Eden and the other women nodded in agreement.

Now, on to the next agenda then. I said, "Who's best to record the family's data?"

Mark put his hand up. "I'll do that since I know almost everyone. It's my duty working under Aldric, after all."

I said, "We'll need at least five to six people to take records of everyone, to make things faster. If you can find some people to work with you, Mark, that'd be wonderful. They'd need to know how to read and write, of course."

"There shouldn't be any problems with that," he said. "I already have people working under me."

I nodded. Then I said, "And the suggestion team? Who wants to take care of that?"

Miles put his hand up. "I'll do that, and I'll ask Caine to help and a couple of other people, too."

I nodded. "Thank you." To the next topic, I said, "Now I want to touch base on what I'm thinking of having as part of the lodge. Please tell me your thoughts. The facilities will be for everyone, and I want to make sure that they are going to be useful."

I looked around, and seeing that everyone was nodding their heads, I continued. "We'll have a dining hall, which will act as an eating and gathering place. There will be a kitchen, public bathrooms, classrooms, a childcare center, health clinic, a textile room, and a stable for the horses. I'm wondering if adding a workshop for woodworking, blacksmithing, and a greenhouse would be a good idea, too."

Frances said, "What's a health clinic and childcare center and textile room?"

I guessed most of the things I listed were new terms the Norsewood people had never heard before.

I said, "A childcare center is, as the name implies, a place offering childcare for working parents. A health clinic is where sick people go to get examined and healed, and a textile room, or maybe I should call department, is a place to make clothes and other garments. I'll create fabrics, sewing machines, and other essentials for the department."

One woman said, "I think all three are necessary, my lady."

The other women agreed.

Eden asked, "What's a sewing machine?"

I smiled. "It's a contraption that sews, but you'll still need to operate it."

"I see," she said. "I didn't know such things existed."

Mr. Lamont said, "Personally, I concur on having workshops for woodworking and blacksmithing."

"And I on the greenhouse," Mr. Kent Ingram said.

"We, the Lamonts, are a family of builders, my lady," he said. "We've lost everything, our home and workshop, after the monsters' attack four years ago. If we could have a workshop, we can work on rebuilding Norsewood."

Uncle Colt said, "It's the Lamonts that build cottages for the survivors after the monsters' attack, lassie. Unfortunately, they were all burned down by the raiders a month ago."

"We, the Henleys, are a family of blacksmiths, my lady," Mr. Darell Henley said. "We made swords and other weapons for Norsewood warriors as well as other household, everyday use items. Unfortunately, like the Lamonts, our homes and workshop have been destroyed."

"We, the Ingrams, have been growing all types of plants for generations, my lady," Mr. Ingram said. "A greenhouse will be a great asset to Norsewood, especially in the winter season."

Mr. Spencer Dunn, the middle-aged man who had guided me and Aldric's stallion to the manor when I had first arrived in Norsewood, said, "Thank you for adding the stables into the floor plan, my lady. The horse needs a new place since most are currently out in the elements during the night as there is not enough space inside the sheds."

"The stallions need to be warm, well-fed, and healthy. If we leave them outside when winter gets worse, which it will, they'll die. The warriors need them," Uncle Colt said. "Without our stallions, we can't do much when a raid or war breaks out."

Mr. Morton nodded his head in agreement. "They are an important asset to Norsewood."

If that was so, then I'd have to check out all the horses' health later when I get the chance, I thought.

I said, "Then it's agreed on that there'll be classrooms, a childcare center, health clinic, textile department, woodwork, blacksmith, greenhouse, and stables?"

There was a series of yeses and some nodding of the heads.

I said, "Once the lodge is complete, would you be able to take charge at operating the woodwork department, Mr. Lamont?"

He nodded. "Yes, of course, my lady."

I turned to Mr. Ingram. "Will you do the same for the greenhouse?"

"Of course, my lady," he said.

"And you, Mr. Henley?"

"Leave the blacksmith department to me, my lady," he said.

"Mr. Dunn?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'd be honored to take care of the new stables, my lady."

I said, "Thank you. Then to make things easier, if each of you could draw me a plan or layout of what you require, including equipment you need and type of spaces, rooms, or offices, that would be great."

I summoned my magic and created pens and notebooks for them. As I passed those out, I said, "I hope you can read and write?"

They nodded, and Mr. Lamont said, "Just the basics, my lady."

"The basics are good enough," I said, and then our meeting came to an end.

For the next three days, there was a lot of hustling and bustling and noises as families lined up to get themselves registered while others yet made suggestions. Meanwhile, I was busy with Mr. Lamont, Mr. Ingram, Mr. Henley, and Mr. Dunn going through their notes and floor plans. When I had some spare moments, I'd made additional notes as to what to add to the lodge.

During this time, too, I'd think about Aldric since I missed him dearly. Then I'd think what I should add to aid him and his soldiers, since they were the protectors of Norsewood. Without them, we'd be doomed if there were monster attacks or another raid from the enemy who was determined to annihilate us. My conclusion was to add in the military department. Though temporary, there'd be a training gym, sleeping quarters for the soldiers, and of course, a watch tower, or a surveillance unit with the latest equipment.

During the three days also, more new people arrived, looking cold and haggard and very hungry. A team was already formed to take care of them, setting them up with new clothing and sleeping bags. I was informed about the severely sick and taken to them to heal.

On afternoons when the sky wasn't spitting out snow, Uncle Colt and Mark would take me to inspect possible sites for our lodge, and on the third day, I decided on a flat section on the hill that overlooked a vast expansion. Finally, on the fourth day, it was as if heaven understood that I needed the sky to clear for the initiation of my creation, my first attempt at something big.

Truth be told, I wasn't even sure if I had enough mana to make it work. For certain, I wasn't sure if I could even make it work. I wouldn't be surprised if everything backfired, and I got blown to smithereens. But there were people behind me, looking up to me, and I couldn't let them down. I wasn't going to let Aldric down and let his people suffer.

Upon the hill, I headed to the middle of the vast land. Behind me in the distance was a throng of people, including Uncle Colt, my new sisters- and brothers-in-law and their families, the important members of the Norsewood community such as Mr. Morton, Mr. Lamont, Mr. Ingram, Mr. Henley, Mr. Dunn, and their families. There were even the children, too, wearing their thick jackets and gloves and boots, all looking very adorable.

Many eyes were on me as I crouched down and planted my palm on the land. By this point, I had gotten used to being watched when I performed my magic. It seemed they never get tired of seeing me conjure something out of thin air.

I closed my eyes and prayed, hard, that this would work out. As I summoned the circle, I said softly, "Well, Vicky, you've got all the data and the floor plan, please make it work. Create us a lodge."

I had come to call my creation magic as Vicky since it seemed to know and understood everything I wanted and beyond, like the webpage Wikipedia with all the information and data stored. I wondered if perhaps Vicky had already garnered all and every information from Earth when I reincarnated here. Perhaps every bit of data that was Earth related transferred into the magic. I didn't know, but if that was so, then it explained why I could create things by just thinking about it without knowing the exact details.

Vicky appeared, an enormous magic circle that glowed, with light bursting up to the sky. As the glow grew stronger and the signs, symbols, and scripts started to turn, I heard a voice in my head state: Data and floor plans analyzed. Suggesting a few changes.

What the heck was this? Instead of a screen popping up, a voice was echoing in my head instead.

Changes? Could a magic circle even do that? Suggesting changes?

Would you like to see the suggested changes? the voice stated.

This was not the time to question my magic. I needed to get this building started now and said, "Yes."

Add playground. Add trees and courtyard garden. Add glass dome roof to protect playground, courtyard garden, and terraces from harsh elements.

I chuckled. My, how could I forget about that? A playground for the children and courtyard garden for outdoor entertainment and barbecuing. Of course, the glass dome rooftop, too, like the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Conservatory in Singapore, which would protect the people from the harsh elements, especially during winter, hence allowing outdoor activities without the worries.

Would you like to add these?

"Yes," I said. "And for the trees, I'd like cherry blossom, please. It'd be nice if they can bloom for longer, too."

Understood, the voice in my head stated. Then, Building Norsewood Lodge initiating. Please standby. Building will be complete within... Five days.

I raised a brow. Five days? That long? Well, I guessed it was an enormous project, after all.

"Thanks, Vicky," I said. There was a hum, and then suddenly, I felt like an enormous amount of mana left my body. The world spun, and I swayed. I said, "What's... going on?"

Mana depletion to below ten percent. Complete mana restoration will take... three hours.

Gosh, didn't that sounded just like a battery running out? Ah, damn, I felt the spinning getting worse, and then I blacked out.