Chapter 54: Chapter 53: Designing Home
Morning arrived quietly over Velaris.
For the first time since arriving in Eldilon, nobody woke to the sounds of panic.
No monsters were chasing them. No alarms were ringing.
No desperate scramble for survival greeted the dawn. Instead, a dark stone wall surrounded the territory.
The sight remained strange every time Iris looked at it.
Even now, she could still hardly believe it belonged to them.
Velaris village.
A protected territory. A place they could finally begin calling home.
At least, that was the goal.
After breakfast, Iris gathered everyone near the campfire remains.
The others quickly noticed the serious expression on her face.
"What’s wrong?" Veronica asked.
"Nothing’s wrong," Iris replied. "Actually, I wanted to discuss something important."
Caleb immediately straightened.
"Are we building something?"
Iris blinked.
"...How did you know?"
"Your planning face."
"My what?"
"You get a planning face."
Several people nodded.
"I hate that everyone knows that."
"You absolutely have a planning face," Claire confirmed.
Iris chose not to argue.
Instead, she opened her Territory Panel.
Nobody could see it, of course, but she had already described enough of it that everyone roughly understood what she was looking at.
She navigated to the customization section she had discovered the previous night.
"I found something before bed."
That immediately got everyone’s attention.
"What kind of something?" Daniel asked.
"The dangerous kind," Caleb guessed.
"The expensive kind," Benjamin guessed.
"The useful kind," Henry said.
Iris pointed at her father.
"A new one." She quickly explained what she had discovered.
Custom Structures, Custom Residences and even custom Interiors.
The more she spoke, the wider everyone’s eyes became.
"Wait," Veronica interrupted. "You’re saying we don’t have to use the standard houses?"
"Apparently not."
Benjamin sat forward.
"We can design our own?"
"Apparently yes."
Henry looked genuinely stunned.
For a man who owned an architectural company back on Arilion, that statement carried an entirely different meaning.
"That’s absurd," he muttered.
"I know."
"No, seriously."
Henry rubbed his forehead.
"Do you understand how valuable that is?"
"I assumed it was useful."
"Useful?"
He almost laughed.
"Most territories would kill for something like that."
Benjamin nodded immediately.
"The difference between a standard structure and a custom structure is enormous."
"I gathered that much."
"No," Benjamin said. "I don’t think you did."
He leaned forward. "If this system works the way you’re describing, we aren’t choosing between building types." He paused. "We’re choosing how an entire civilization develops."
Silence followed.
Even Iris found herself staring at him.
When he put it that way...
The customization system suddenly felt much bigger.
Before anyone could continue, Iris raised a hand.
"Before we start discussing houses, there’s something else."
The group looked at her.
Iris hesitated briefly.
Then she sighed.
"I don’t want people to know I’m the lord."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Several people blinked.
Caleb blinked twice.
"You’re what?"
"I don’t want people knowing."
"Why?"
"Because it sounds exhausting."
That answer earned several laughs. Unfortunately, she wasn’t joking. Iris folded her arms.
"If people know who the lord is, every complaint comes to me."
Nobody argued.
"If somebody has a problem, they come to me."
Still true.
"If somebody wants special treatment, they come to me."
Very true.
"If somebody wants to argue about territory rules, they come to me."
Also true.
She groaned. "I don’t want any of that."
A smile tugged at Veronica’s lips.
"You really thought this through."
"I absolutely did."
Henry looked at her for several moments.
His expression softened slightly.
The look made Iris immediately suspicious.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Don’t."
"Don’t what?"
"Whatever emotional parent thing you’re about to do."
"I wasn’t doing anything."
"You were."
Henry coughed.
Benjamin looked away.
Veronica suddenly found the morning sky fascinating.
Iris narrowed her eyes. Nobody fooled her.
Not for a second.
Eventually Henry shook his head. "If that’s what you want, then we’ll support it."
Relief washed through her. "Thank you."
"Although," Benjamin added, "how exactly are you planning to run a territory while pretending not to be the lord?"
"I thought about that."
Everyone turned toward her.
"The system already allows territory announcements."
Several expressions changed.
"Oh."
Iris nodded. "A lot of things can probably be handled remotely."
"That’s actually clever," Claire admitted.
Daniel raised a hand. "So we’re being ruled by invisible bureaucracy?"
"Daniel!."
"What?"
"No."
"I was just asking."
"You were absolutely not just asking."
Laughter spread through the group. The mood lightened considerably.
Satisfied that the matter was settled, Iris moved on.
"There’s one more thing."
The bodyguards immediately became alert.
Elias looked up.
"So serious."
"It is."
She glanced toward them.
"Pricilla. Daniel. Claire. Marcus. Victor..." she call out to the bodyguards one after the other.
They all exchanged looks.
"If we’re planning for the future, I need to know something." She paused.
"Do you still intend to remain as bodyguards?"
The answer came immediately.
"Yes."
Not one person hesitated.
Iris found herself surprised. "You answered that awfully fast."
"You hired us." Marcus shrugged. "We chose to follow you."
Daniel nodded. "Besides, somebody has to keep Caleb from doing something stupid."
"Hey!"
"You literally wanted a slide before we even had a house."
"That’s a perfectly reasonable request."
"No, it isn’t."
"It absolutely is."
Ignoring them, Iris continued. " Then would you prefer separate residences?"
The bodyguards exchanged another glance. This time the answer took slightly longer.
Finally victor spoke. "Close."
"Close?" Iris had to ask.
"If we’re doing our jobs properly, staying nearby makes more sense." The others nodded.
"It would make responding faster," Evelina agreed.
"And easier," Claire added.
Iris considered that. It did make sense.
The problem was that another realization was already beginning to form.
Benjamin apparently reached it first.bHis expression shifted. Then he sighed. "That complicates things."
"How?" Caleb asked.
Benjamin looked toward Iris. "If she’s hiding her identity, we can’t build anything that makes us look special."
The entire group immediately understood.
And just like that, the real housing discussion finally began.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The excitement from earlier cooled slightly as everyone considered Benjamin’s words.
It was true.
If they built some enormous mansion while everyone else lived in ordinary homes, people would eventually start asking questions.
Questions led to attention.
Attention led to suspicion.
Suspicion led to trouble.
Exactly the sort of trouble Iris wanted to avoid.
"Then we just don’t build a mansion," Veronica said.
Benjamin nodded.
"That would be the simplest solution."
"Good."
Caleb immediately looked disappointed.
"You’re giving up way too easily."
"What did you want?" Claire asked.
"A castle."
"No."
"A manor?"
"No."
"A giant fortress?"
"Still no."
"A slide?"
Several people stared at him.
Caleb crossed his arms.
"I maintain that the slide is a good idea."
"It is not."
"It absolutely is."
"It isn’t."
"It saves time."
"It breaks legs."
"Only if you’re bad at using slides."
Daniel looked horrified.
"Why are you like this?"
"I ask myself that every day," Veronica sighed.
Laughter spread around the group.
The tension eased immediately.
Meanwhile, Iris was already thinking.
If a mansion was impossible...
Then what?
Her gaze drifted toward the dark wall surrounding Velaris.
The territory was large.
Far larger than what fourteen people needed.
Eventually, hundreds of people might live here.
Maybe thousands.
When that happened, what kind of community did she actually want?
A cluster of random houses?
Or something organized?
"What if we don’t design a house?"
The words left her mouth before she fully realized it.
Everyone looked at her.
Benjamin tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
Iris pointed toward the territory.
"What if we design a model instead?"
Now Henry looked interested.
"A model?"
"A housing model."
She leaned forward slightly.
"Instead of creating one perfect house for ourselves..."
Her eyes brightened.
"What if we create a residence blueprint that can be reused later?"
Silence followed.
Then Henry slowly smiled.
"There it is."
"There what is?"
"The real idea."
Benjamin nodded immediately.
"I was wondering when you’d get there."
Iris blinked.
"You already thought about it?"
"Of course."
He gestured toward the territory.
"We aren’t building a home."
He paused.
"We’re building a village."
That sentence settled over everyone.
A village.
Not a camp.
Not a temporary shelter.
Not a collection of survivors waiting for disaster.
A village.
A future.
For the first time, it truly felt real.
Veronica’s expression softened.
"I like that."
"So do I," Pricilla admitted quietly.
Henry rubbed his chin.
"If we’re designing a model, then we need to think differently."
"How?"
"Not what looks impressive."
He pointed at the ground.
"What solves problems."
That immediately shifted the discussion.
Water, Waste disposal, Storage, Ventilation, Future expansion, Privacy and Maintenance.
Things that sounded boring until someone actually had to live without them. Soon everybody was contributing.
"I want storage space," Daniel declared.
"You always want storage space."
"Because I carry things."
"You carry junk."
"It becomes useful eventually."
"No, it doesn’t."
"It absolutely does."
While Daniel defended his collection of questionable treasures, Li Wei raised a hand.
"A larger kitchen."
Several people immediately agreed.
That earned a satisfied nod.
"I refuse to spend the apocalypse cooking in a tiny kitchen."
"A fair argument," Veronica admitted.
Claire hesitated before speaking. "I’d like an anteroom."
Everyone looked at her.
Claire shifted slightly. "The living room feels private."
Nobody laughed.
Instead, they all nodded.
A space where visitors could be received without immediately entering someone’s home actually made sense.
Iris quietly added another note.
Then Caleb raised his hand.
"Oh no," Iris muttered.
"I still want a slide."
"Denied."
"You didn’t even think about it."
"I don’t need to."
"You people hate innovation."
The group burst into laughter again.
Even Henry failed to keep a straight face.
As ideas continued flying back and forth, Iris noticed something interesting.
Nobody was discussing luxury. Nobody was asking for gold decorations. Or giant bedrooms. Or expensive furniture.
Instead, everyone focused on comfort, Safety and Convenience. Things that made a place feel lived in. Things that made it feel like home.
For people who had lost everything, perhaps that wasn’t surprising.
Eventually Benjamin looked around.
"We should also consider future expansion."
"Meaning?" Iris asked.
"If more people arrive, we’ll need more housing."
He tapped the table thoughtfully.
"If the design is modular, we can simply repeat sections."
Henry immediately nodded.
"That would make construction much easier."
"Exactly."
Instead of creating dozens of different layouts, they could create a reliable foundation and build outward as Velaris grew.
The more they discussed it, the more sense it made.
What started as designing a home was gradually becoming something much larger. A housing system and community layout.
The first foundation of an entire settlement.
And for the first time since arriving in Eldilon, Iris felt as though she could actually see the future taking shape.
Not perfectly.... Not clearly.
But enough, Enough to imagine, Enough to hope, Enough to believe.
Velaris was no longer just surviving. It was beginning to grow.
