Novel Full Chapter 979 979 Growing The Grove
With the influx of new students, and the already expanded population of the city set deep in a Fae Forest, Wolfe was beginning to realize that even expanding underground was not going to be a feasible option for much longer.
Most of their residents wanted to be in the trees, to enjoy the sunshine and the open skies.
In short, they needed to expand the city, and they needed to have it done before the Festival in a week, when a huge number of visitors would be arriving from the Covens and the various nations.
The witches from the One World Army had agreed to open portals all over the planet for those witches who wanted to visit, so they were expecting thousands more guests than usual, and they simply didn’t have enough space anymore.
That was the topic of their afternoon city organizers’ meeting, and the attendees had quite a number of interesting ideas.
The Faeries, who were simply impossible to keep out of any room, especially if you tried to lock the door, which only made them more curious, suggested that the town should be made like the human towns they had heard about from the newcomers, but made from the forest.
An inner city, which was as it was now, with a second ring of walled city outside of that, divided up to contain all the essential functions, like tradesmen’s workshops, more markets, housing and an improved transit stop.
The Faeries loved the underground highways, and had decided that the cargo trucks and buses that ran through it were essentially public transport, since they could just grab a ride and go see new cities, then ride another one back.
It was wonderful. They got to explore, and nobody could tell them no.
Of course, the bus system was paid by merchants and villages, so they wouldn’t be told no even if they wanted to ride inside the bus instead, but nobody had bothered to tell the Faeries that.
“There are already too many structures built on the outer wall to tear them down to expand the city, so I think that the Faerie idea of a double ring, with openings made in the wall to allow passage through on the walkways, as well as the two main gates at ground level, would be a wonderful idea.” Cassie agreed.
There was a murmur of excitement as the others began to give ideas on what could be put where, loosely based on the setup from the most recent festival.
The logical option was to put the new shopping districts and commercial areas by the main ground exits, with the upper walkways leading to homes and workshops. That seemed better for everyone, as nobody wanted to be bothered while they were working, just because they were too close to the main road.
Instead, they could set up a small storefront and sell from there.
Forest Grove already had ‘brokers’ as they called themselves, who ran mercantile stores. They were a one-stop shop for general useful stuff, and quite popular when shoppers didn’t want to check a dozen shops for a particular item.
They only had the most popular stuff from the craftsmen who worked with them, along with a label that informed shoppers where to find the maker for a custom piece or an out-of-stock item.
Most of the craftsmen hated doing their own marketing, and many preferred not to even deal directly with customers unless it was for something interesting, so those sorts of shops where they could have someone else sell their more common goods for them was even better than having a clerk in the front shop.
Wolfe looked at the plan. “Alright, who are we forgetting? No matter what, there is always some group left out, and I want you all to think of as many people as you can, and where they fit into the expanded city.”
“We forgot the new researchers for the human magicians. They will need a proper study place, other than the basement test facility. It needs a large library, and that means it will be better above ground.” One of the witches realized.
“And the apartments. They’re well spaced for access to the city, but that’s the problem. When the beastkin get drunk they tend to get territorial, so having them that evenly spaced will lead to intermingling issues and spread the drunken revelry, if that’s what you want to call it, all over the outer city.”
So, the plan went back to the drawing board, and after a half dozen revisions and over four hours of work, they had a plan that they were fairly certain would work out for everyone involved.
There were no more groups that anyone could think of who would want to live in the new city and didn’t have a suitable spot. There were spaces for both large and small species, and comfortable access for most through all the common areas.
A ten-metre tall Wrathbringer would never be able to move easily in a crowd, but there was enough room for them to traverse the entire ground level, and they could fly to the upper levels wherever they wanted to, in order to avoid the swinging bridges, which would be a pain for their hooves to traverse.
They had even agreed to putting a stream through the outer city, making a loop with artificial ponds both as a natural green space, and to allow the aquatic species of Fae to move around the city more easily.
“Alright, that should be it for now. We have effectively tripled the area covered by the city, so we should be good for a year or two, I hope. If not, we will expand again.” Wolfe announced.
“So, when do we start on the improvements?” One of the Faeries asked, eager to see their idea in action.
“Tomorrow morning. Everyone, please get some rest, and if there are other powerful magic users in town, feel free to bring them tomorrow as we start the work.”
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