“I have a plan.”

Garrett held up a finger and looked at Bard.

“Don’t you think the roads around here are a bit too difficult to travel?”

“I think… they’re adequate?”

Bard thought back carefully. Although the roads around here couldn’t be called smooth, it took less than a day to travel from Lake-town to Dale. Plus, there were no enemies nearby who would risk approaching. Whether transporting goods or simply traveling, everything went smoothly.

“Some merchants have already heard that Dale is being rebuilt, and quite a few have arrived recently. They first reach Lake-town, then take relatively smooth roads to Dale. There’s been virtually no trouble; it’s all gone quite well.”

Hearing Bard’s report, Garrett shook his head.

“I’m not talking about the roads here, although these do need repairs too. I’m referring to the route from Dale to Wayfort.”

“Wayfort?”

Bard looked puzzled. That name sounded completely unfamiliar.

“Where is that?”

“It’s west of the Misty Mountains.”

Bard couldn’t help but lean back in surprise.

“That’s not just distant, that’s extraordinarily far. With all due respect, building a road that long might be somewhat…”

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly stopped.

Wait, that was not quite right. It would have been impossible before, but now, if everyone could use even a little of Garrett’s construction abilities… It might actually work?

“Not… not easy to complete in a short time.”

“Of course it can’t be done quickly.”

Garrett examined the small box in his hand and said, “That’s why it’s a long-term project. Once the city and town here fully recover and prosper again, the people will need new work.”

Honestly, even now, long before full infrastructure recovery, everyone had already been freed from basic production tasks. They just needed time to adapt and adjust.

“Naturally. Of course, you’re in charge.”

Bard fully embraced a “whatever you decide, I’ll make it happen” attitude.

As for any potential difficulties during actual execution, what obstacle could possibly stump their lord?

“Then let’s start planning the initial phase.”

Garrett asked Bard to bring a map, spread it out on the table, and pointed to Dale.

“First, we need a smooth road from Dale to Lake-town. This area is relatively safe, so the road can be built on the ground, which will be more convenient.”

“That’s manageable.”

Bard recalled the terrain between the two places and gave a confident reply. As for the second half of Garrett’s sentence, he honestly didn’t understand it, so he simply ignored it.

After all, Garrett said puzzling things far too often.

“Great. Next, we continue southwest from Lake-town, building a short stretch of road to here, as a buffer zone.”

He pointed to the entrance of dense woodland near the borders of Mirkwood.

“The road up to here is fairly safe. Plus, there are elven watchtowers guarding the forest’s edge. I’ll place some iron golems as well, and that should cover everything.”

“And then, here—”

He slid his finger across the map.

“From this forest border, we go up.”

“Up… You mean north?”

But wasn’t there already a path to the north? Was he planning to build a redundant one?

“No.”

Garrett picked up a pen and drew a line.

The line started at the border between eastern Mirkwood and western Lake-town, extending westward in a straight line, across the sky above Mirkwood, over the Vales of Anduin, through the Misty Mountains, even over the Trollshaws, reaching directly to Wayfort.

“We’ll take the sky road.”

After understanding what Garrett meant, Bard was genuinely stunned for quite some time.

That moment of silence felt like a long fuse, steadily burning. When it finally reached the end, boom, his mind exploded like fireworks. His eyes widened as he looked up at Garrett.

“This… is this even possible?”

“Of course it is.”

Garrett smiled and said, “After all the time we’ve spent restoring the ruins of Dale, haven’t you figured out how those blocks work?”

Bard thought for a moment.

Yes, those blocks were truly miraculous, they could bond together instantly, the seams so seamless it was as if they had always been one piece. And they never collapsed, no matter how precarious the structure appeared.

What’s more, they were incredibly easy to gather and transport. Given enough time, perhaps it really was possible…

“Let’s start with the roads on the ground. I’ll take a trip to Mirkwood, this is something we need the Woodland King’s approval for.”

There was no need to rush.

The full restoration of Dale’s infrastructure, the industrial development of Lake-town, and the continued expansion of Wayfort, everything would take time.

And he had time. At least for now, he wasn’t lacking in it.

After a brief discussion with Bard, he retrieved some stored blocks from a chest and began building a short stretch of road from Dale toward Lake-town, just a sample to initiate the project.

Then he made his way to Lake-town, and following the river north, laid down another short stretch of road, thus marking both the starting and destination points.

“I see.”

Dale and Lake-town were connected by a river as well. That meant, in the future, there would be both land and water routes running in parallel. Considering the terrain here, residents could even construct homes and various facilities along this road, gradually expanding both settlements.

If the population grew enough, perhaps after some time, Dale and Lake-town could merge into a single great city. By then, the place would surely be thriving like never before.

—

At the city gate, Bard looked at the brand-new, smooth road that had appeared overnight. A genuine sense of determination surged within him, his heart pounding like waves crashing against the shore.

If even a surface road could be this beautiful and seamless, just imagine what kind of breathtaking sight Garrett’s so-called “Sky Road” could become?

But just as Garrett said, whether or not that road could actually be built depended on the King of the Woodland Realm.

After all, strictly speaking, the entire northern portion of Mirkwood belonged to the elves. If Thranduil didn’t approve, Garrett wouldn’t be able to claim the territory, nor could he bring his special abilities into it.

Looking toward Mirkwood, Bard silently offered his blessing to Garrett.

“May your path be clear of obstacles.”

A smooth journey, that was impossible.

—

At that very moment, deep within Mirkwood, countless ferocious giant spiders were swarming toward a single point. At the center of this convergence, bursts of flame kept flaring up, only to die down moments later. Occasionally, chunks of burning charred flesh were flung out, landing on the ground or splattering against tree trunks.

Strangely, the fire seemed to possess its own intelligence, targeting only enemies and leaving everything else untouched.

Even as the flaming spiders crashed to the ground, no forest fires were started.

“You guys really have no idea what the word ‘bane’ means, huh”

Garrett slashed through waves of spiders, his arms already growing somewhat numb from all the fighting.

All he’d done was sweep away a few webs while passing through and let a couple of trapped critters go, was that really worth this level of vengeance?

Hissssss.

The spiders screeched with fury, pushing and clawing their way toward Garrett without end.

If he had been close enough to hear, he might have caught their heartfelt battle cry: “Human! You destroyed our roads and freed our food, we’ll destroy you! VENGEANCE!”

Bane gleamed with a hazy enchantment glow in Garrett’s hand, taking the life of spider after spider, cutting through webs like paper.

As the corpses piled up and that human showed no signs of exhaustion, the spiders finally realized something was amiss.

Perhaps… they shouldn’t be stopping him…

While Garrett was entangled in battle with the spiders, from the western edge of Mirkwood, a figure stepped into the dense woods, making their way toward the Elven-king’s halls.

—

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