Within just a single hour Lord Albinus had a wagon full of supplies ready with two of his scribes and a handful of guards to escort it that was to follow me as I returned home.

  The trip was quite long and quiet as we were transporting a full wagon of supplies through a rather empty part of the area, everyone's eyes were watching the few trees and the path ahead for anything or anyone that might decide to poke their heads out.

  When we were only a handful of minutes away and had a good view of the tower. I could make out a few tents pitched up around the base and I could see the smoke rising from a fire somewhere in the middle.

  As we rode up I managed to get a good look at the refugees, they were a mix of young and old all dressed in worn and in some cases torn clothing. They avoided eye contact and mostly huddled around the fire or anything else that was warm.

  Calavia, like I expected, was standing near the entrance to the tower as she healed everyone who had so much as a scratch. When she was finally within my sight I saw her healing a young boy no older than eight years old.

  “There you go, you should be as good as new.” Calavia told him as she stood up fully.

  The boy looked down at his arm with a mix of surprise and confusion, slowly he started moving it around and flexing his fingers. Only when he eventually popped the bones in his arm did he start to smile.

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He managed to say after a moment of hesitation.

  “Well I certainly hope it doesn’t.” Calavia chuckled. “I spent a lot of time learning healing magic to make such a simple mistake.”

  The boy couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as well and for a moment the two just chuckled between themselves.

  Eventually Calavia looked up and saw me standing just off to the side leaning against a tent.

  “If it's alright I need to speak to someone else.” Calavia quickly turned to the boy.

  The boy turned to look at me before looking back to Calavia. “Who is that?”

  “That is my husband. Now go play with the other kids, okay.” Calavia gave him a quick pat on the shoulders before walking over to me.

  “I see you have been busy while I was gone.” I gestured to the boy as I stood up straight. “How bad were their injuries?”

  “Quite bad, that boy has been one of the better cases out of the fifty or so. One old woman was half conscious and missing an arm, she kept asking where her husband was even as she could barely stand let alone walk.”

  “Lord Albinus was kind enough to send a full wagon of supplies.” I said as I pointed towards the large wagon where the scribes were handing out fresh food and clothes. “The two scribes that came along are here to bring some job opportunities to these people so they don’t need to rely on charity.”

  “How many do you think will be able to find something to support themselves?”

  “I was hoping that most should be able to. Lord Albinus told me himself the farms are the most likely place for these people to find work, it obviously won’t be easy but they should have enough to eat and survive until they can find something else.”

  For a while the two of us just stood there looking towards the refugees as they received clean clothing and ate their food around the fire.

  “I am mostly worried about the kids.” Calavia broke the silence. “There are about five of them and they don’t even understand what is happening. One of them asked me why they had to leave their home, I didn’t even know what to tell them.”

  Calavia’s voice cracked slightly as she finished and I turned to look, I saw she was grabbing her hands and she was shaking slightly. Without thinking I quickly pulled her close and she did the same.

  “Why is this happening?” She muttered as she kept her eyes closed.

  For a moment I didn’t know what to say, the time I spent fighting near the Niveis Pass and those dark dangerous mages wielding their red smokey magic rushed through my mind.

  “I don’t know.” I eventually confessed. “All we can do is our best and hope things turn out better. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Calavia replied and she pulled me closer.

  **********

  For several days the refugees recovered before they started looking for actual work. The handful of young men were the first to approach the scribes and ask about what was available in the city and the surrounding area.

  “That would depend on what you are looking for.” The scribe said to the young men as he reached into his bag and pulled out several pieces of paper. “Right here I have a list of positions that are available at the moment. Though do be aware the higher paying jobs do have certain requirements, the apprenticeships are the most obvious examples.”

  The young men looked between themselves with a mix of anxiety and worry, given they were mostly village folks they didn’t have much in the way of specialised skills.

  “Most of the other jobs are mostly manual labor, the place with the most openings is definitely the farmers who will need people to help with planting, watering, and then harvesting the crop. If any of you have experience with growing anything then this is likely your best bet for a long term job.”

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  “And just how much are they offering to work in the fields?” One of the young men asked from the small crowd, the other nodded with him as it was a good question to ask.

  “The farm will be paying you each a copper piece per day or labor just like just about every other manual labor job that I have here, the only exceptions are the apprenticeships.”

  The young men looked between themselves with uneasy tension in the air, most were simple workers in their home villages where they made enough to eat, drink, and sleep without worry. Now they were forced to take on jobs they would have rather not just to keep themselves fed, and for those who still had family members with them keeping food on the table for so many was going to be rather difficult on a copper piece a day.

  “What about the people here? They look like they might need some help.” A brave man towards the back of the group asked.

  “I am not sure about them, they were not asked nor did they contribute to the survey. You would need to speak with them yourself and ask about work that way, but I honestly doubt they have anything for the long term.”

  Most of the young men nodded along with the scribe, it made sense after all. There were only two people living at this odd tower, while they did offer some food and shelter for the time being they likely didn’t really have any need for long term workers. But there were two young men who thought otherwise.

  Two brothers born a year apart by the names of Canus and Placus were very close and had worked together on the fields for several years before the empire came. Canus was the oldest of the two and by extension he was the one always coming up with all the little schemes and ideas the two brothers were always getting into.

  While everyone else was preoccupied with the scribe and all the job listings the two brothers stepped off to the side just out of ear shot to speak just between themselves.

  “What have you thought up now Canus? It better actually be good this time, our livelihoods could be on the line this time and we don’t have anywhere to fall back on.” Placus said, pointing his finger towards his brother's face with clear suspicion.

  “Nothing dangerous or illegal Placus.” Claimed as he gestured his arms outwards.

  “Nothing dangerous or illegal this time you mean.” Placus stepped forwards as he ‘corrected’ his brother.

  “Yes, nothing dangerous or illegal this time. You have nothing to worry about, and if this plan fails we still have other avenues of sourcing work.”

  Placus didn’t say anything in response, but his expression said everything. He gave his brother a stern and unhappy look as he waited for an explanation.

  “Unlike just about everyone else here I have been paying attention to the two people that live here, and I noticed they are growing some very unique plants.”

  “So what? They are probably just some sort of collectors or something. They probably spent even more money on building an isolated tower around an hour away from the nearest city.”

  “And what about the woman who was casting spells, obviously she is using the plants for her magic. All we need to do is offer to help out in exchange for some money and perhaps she will throw in a free magic lesson every once and a while.”

  “And how do you know she even needs us? For all we know she has some sort of magic spells that do all the farming for her.”

  “Admittedly I don’t.” Canus said as his younger brother rolled his eyes and turned away. “But this could be a very large opportunity for the both of us. If we do not take it then someone else will and all we will have is some farming job outside a city we know very little about.”

  Placus gritted his teeth as he weighed the options. On one hand the scribe had a guarantee of work somewhere in the city, but that work would most certainly be difficult and not very rewarding. On the other hand working for a mage that was cultivating plants in front of her home would certainly open several opportunities, and even if she wasn’t looking for help the worst that could happen was being told no.

  “Ugh, fine. You get your way, Canus, but I will be the one to speak with her. I still remember the last time you tried speaking with a woman, it ended with the guards watching you like a common thug.”

  “Hey, that isn’t fair. That woman was trying to make me pay for all her friends, she only cried wolf when I told her to leave me alone.”

  Without waiting to hear the rest of his brother's excuses Placus turned towards the large stone tower and started walking towards the front door as his brother quickly followed.

  As he walked towards the tower Placus took a good look up and down it, something he didn’t really have the mental wellbeing to do beforehand when they first arrived. He took note of how simple the tower looked, just a square base that went up two or three floors with a window or two on each. The door and the hatches on said windows were all made from what looked to be local wood and all looked to be rather new, perhaps only a year or two old.

  With a slight lump of nervousness in his throat Placus gave three firm knocks on the wooden door and waited for a response. Within a few seconds on the other side he could hear someone walking down the stairs and across a wooden floor before fiddling with the lock and turning the knob. The door swung inwards to reveal the woman mage who was healing everyone with magic when they first arrived.

  “Oh, good morning. Has someone gotten hurt?” She asked as she stepped outside, her eyes darting between the tents as she looked for signs of someone injured.

  “Not that either of us know of miss, we actually have something to ask you regarding those plants you are growing outside of your home.” Placus said as he gestured towards the garden just a few meters from where they all stood.

  “If you are asking me if you can take some I am unfortunately going to disappoint you, my husband needs those for his alchemical potions.”

  “No no, we don’t want to take your plants, we were actually wondering if you needed help in growing more. You see me and my brother are both farmers, have been our entire lives, and we would most certainly be able to help you produce a significant amount of those plants for whatever you need them for.”

  Calavia opened her mouth to say something before quickly closing it as she gave the idea some thought. “Well… that is something I would need to ask my husband about since he is the one actually using them, come inside for a moment while I go and get him.”

  The two brothers quickly stepped inside and took a seat on a wooden bench while Calavia closed the door and rushed up the stairs calling out to “Arthur”. Up on what sounded to be the third floor a male voice called back.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  “”No, there are two people here to speak with you. They told me they want to help out with the garden, I think they want a job working for you.”

  “Really? Where are they now?”

  “They are waiting downstairs by the door sitting on the bench down there.”

  The two brothers listened as a set of feet came down from the third floor and down from the second, and when they saw the source of the footsteps they couldn’t help but be a little surprised by who they saw.

  Walking towards them was a young man in grey mage attire who didn’t look any more than a year or two older than them, and yet this young mage had an air around him they couldn’t help but describe as authoritative and yet very reasonable.

  “Good morning you two, I heard you had something to speak with me about.” The mage said as he came to a stop just a meter from the two brothers.

  “Yes sir, we do.” The mage raised his eyebrow at the word sir but allowed Placus to continue. “We are farmers and we noticed you were growing some plants outside your home in a garden, given that we currently have very few job prospects. We would like to ask if you were looking for anyone to help with expanding the garden into something more like a proper field, or perhaps even a small farm.”