Desolate World

Ace was walking home while thinking hard about it. The plan to build the night guards headquarter was delayed because of an unexpected problem. The communal event that he had just enjoyed had brought the problem for the construction of the secret base. 

The plan to build the headquarter of the night guards under the guild house had been approved by the elders in the last meeting. Aria also had allocated the materials and even the wages for the ones who would build it. 

However, they never expected the busy road around the area where the guild house would be built had become a problem. It was impossible to block the access of the road for the construction. As it would draw suspicion of the townsmen.

He had to find a way to make it possible. But saying it was easier than doing. He still didn't have solutions.

"What are you thinking about?" Sofia's voice could be heard from beside him.

Ace then realized that his family was looking at him with concern. Sofia, Geo, and even Sampson seemed to be curious about what he was thinking. Although Cloud was not looking at him, she was also silent.

Ace then told his talk with one of the builders during the dinner. He explained the problem that the builder faced. And his inability to solve it.

His family members then appeared to think about it. Even Geo seemed to be in thought. Ace smiled when he saw her son's gesture.

Then he saw his son lift his head and then looked at him with a perplexed expression. He then asked, "Does the underground place have to be built under the ground?"

Getting an innocent question from his son, Ace couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, because of that, it's called underground," Ace answered.

"So, if it is built underground, how can pedestrians see it? Aren't they walking above ground?" Geo asked a simple question.

Ace was silent for a moment. Because the question was so simple, he was confused about how he should explain it in simple words.

He then said, "You have dug a hole for making a grave with me before, right? So you should know that we need to move the soil outside to make a hole, right? When the pile of soil is too high, people will see it, right? So, it will attract the attention of many people. As many people want to inquire about it, we can't hide it anymore. So the supposed to be a secret will no longer be a secret."

Geo then nodded. He didn't ask again after that. Then Ace heard Cloud's voice, "Why don't you make a sewer system, so the people will not be suspicious if you build an extra building next to it?"

Ace thought it was a good idea. But, to do so, he should get the agreement from Mars and the elders. He would try to bring it up in the next meeting. 

And building a sewer will improve the hygiene of the entire town. But he also had to think about the surveillance method for the sewer system, so it wouldn't be used by enemies to enter the town secretly.

"Thanks, that's a good idea, Ma'am," Ace said.

***

In the next elders meeting, Ace told the elders about the problem that the builders faced. As it would be impossible to block the street, as it would cause more suspicions, Ace told them Cloud's idea to build a sewer system under the town. 

This project would increase the hygiene of the town, and cover the construction of the underground building.

The elders became interested in the concept. Aria even praised it as a brilliant idea. She directly supported the idea, and she couldn't wait to design the system.

Noah, Avril, and Ali also gave their opinion. Noah was concerned about the security issue, Avril was worried if the wastewater would contaminate the well water, as Ali reminded her about the complexity of its construction.

Because the talk began to touch on the details, Mars asked them to talk about it on another occasion. The elders then talked about the other issue. But, the plan for the construction of the sewer system was agreed upon. Aria was the one who would design the sewer. Ace would talk with his wife after going home to help the angel. After all, Sofia could teach her the mature sewer system design.

Another issue that took everyone's attention was Noah's idea to build outposts around the town. His debate with Aria these few days hadn't reached any conclusion yet.

Once again Ace listened to their debate. He, who was also related to this topic, didn't say many things. As he knew, it wasn't too urgent to be decided immediately. 

As the debate was going too long, Avril couldn't help but step in. She said that the outposts were important but not too urgent at that moment. She then offered her monster tamers' help to be an alternative surveillance means. Besides making monsters their pets, they also had the ability to domesticate monsters. 

Her idea was to make them domesticated small birds to work for the town to be spies in the forest. As there were many small birds around the forest, they could become the best surveillance agents. And no one would suspect that.

Her idea made Noah's and Ace's eyes shine. They could immediately know the plausibility of the idea. Ace knew for a long time that his son had the ability to do it. But, for some reason, he forgot about it.

Then Ace told them, if possible, the monster tamers could domesticate docile monsters to be used as mounts. He then told them about the big monsters like elephants that he saw more than a month ago. They looked docile, so he had thought of domesticating them. But he was too busy, so he had forgotten about the idea. 

The elders also agreed with the idea. They then entrusted Avril to gather all monster tamers in the town to build a facility to domesticate the monsters. Ace thought it was also a good activity for his son. After Geo made Avril's twin sisters friends, he often went to go to the elven block with Mia and other human children to play. It would be good if they had more productive activities.

***