“There we go…”

*Thud*

Roland pushed the large log with the propeller connected to it into the hole like last time. This was the last wind turbine which made it the third one that was now in his backyard. Bernir was close by to fill out the hole with rocks and this world's version of cement.

“I think this puts us a bit in the red this month…”

With his expansion continuing through the months that Bernir was hired Roland was slowly burning through his money. Due to the nature of these wind generators he wanted to make them with the best materials, he could afford.

The lumber they were made from was also quite special. The fantasy wood was very resistant and would be unaffected by the elements. There were also metallic parts inside which were mostly composed of deep steel which also had various appealing properties.

The magical alchemistic materials that the copper wires were coated in also weren’t cheap. They would also need to connect them to the four corners of the fence with the runic structures that delivered electrical shocks to any unforeseen guests. Now even more after he made a public appearance in the city and beat up some thugs.

“Should not be a problem after we receive the money from the auction house.”

“Yeah, wish they would lower the margins though…”

Roland was a bit maddened by the high transaction fee that this particular auction house was giving him. There was only one of them in this city and they even increased the margins after finally expanding in size.

This was also one of the reasons a black market started to appear. Bernir mentioned some rumors which they couldn’t confirm but it was quite natural for it to spring up. The information also carried something else, if a black market was being made then the thieves guild wouldn’t be far behind. The city was finally becoming something to be desired which would bring the criminal element over.

“I did spend a lot on that item, the prices here are ridiculous.”

The biggest reason they were close to being bankrupt was the ‘toy’ that he bought. While waiting for the guild to respond to his complaint they had spotted an old runic golem toy. It was about thirty centimeters in height and made from rock but it was somewhat functional.

Its design left a lot to be desired. From what he could tell it was supposed to look like a turtle but the craftsmanship wasn’t that great. The thing looked like a big jagged rock with four legs attached to it and a little head with stones for eyes. The uses were also limited but it could very slowly react to some basic spoken commands.

“Agni didn’t seem to like it that much, I think he thought it was another pet.”

An image from the previous day popped into Roland’s head of the time Agni saw the ‘turtle’ walking through the backyard. The little wolf pup actually tried attacking it after a few sniffs, luckily Roland managed to peel him off the rock turtle without much damage happening.

Now with a basic golem in his possession, he would be able to work on that automated operating system. Regretfully it proved to be quite convoluted and with a lot of lines of code. It would probably take him weeks or maybe months to get through it fully before being able to add his own flare.

The small puppy was still in his unevolved state as Roland was keeping it from progressing. The skill related to mana stones was close to maxing out now so the joyous occasion would probably be happening within this month’s time.

“Okay, let’s wait for this to set. This should be enough energy to run the whole workshop for now.”

Since Bernir’s accident, he was allowed down into Roland’s workshop. All of the runic tools were down there which his assistant was now allowed to use. They would remain down there for now while the dummy workshop was still used for disguise purposes.

Due to this, he decided to let Bernir expand the log shack to the side. If any thieves came around he would at least not be inside the workshop during the robbery. He was even planning to connect the two parts with a tunnel and put in a runic thumbprint of sorts.

With more gear at larger items came the need for expansion. He was going to be working on a prototype golem design that would need more space. The first one would be small and portable but later on, Roland did want to make it at least human-sized.

A group of golems patrolling the premises would probably keep most people away but also paint a bullseye on his house. Only people having things worth protecting would spend so much money and time on costly defenses. It would be clear to anyone outside that there was money to be made by performing a little robbery.

“Excuse me, I have a letter to a Mr. Wayland.”

While the two blacksmiths were about to get something to eat a voice of a young boy was heard from behind the gate. Roland expected this letter to arrive at about this time.

“Please leave your signature here.”

After showing the currier his adventurer card and signing his name he was delivered a letter. On it was the date of the guild hearing that he signed up to. Roland wasn’t wearing his armor anymore, the cat was out of the bag so there was no reason to hide. Soon the boy left and Bernir peeked at the letter.

“W-what’s the date?”

“In three days, you better wash up