Rangar did not call the elders immediately. Instead, he made Martin walk through Forest Hidden again the next morning.
"We've already tried building first and deciding what we were building afterward."
Martin could not argue with that.
They left the Light Tree hub behind and took the paths through the academy itself. Training grounds opened between the roots. Small workshops smoked beneath wooden roofs. Hunters repaired roads damaged by monster traffic, while beasts moved between buildings without anyone stopping to stare at them.
Martin had been in Forest Hidden long enough for much of it to become background. Rangar wanted him looking at it again.
Buracchu sat outside Spring Kitchen while an NPC worker read numbers from a ledger. The dog barked once, and the worker crossed something out.
Martin stopped.
"Did Buracchu just reject an expense?"
The worker looked up.
"He rejected three."
Buracchu barked again and looked pleased with himself.
Martin stared at him.
