"They're gifts, Greeves, not gold. I'm not going to sell them," Oliver said impatiently.
"Maybe you should. As funds for building the wall," Greeves said.
That made Oliver pause, but he still shook his head. If they'd known that they would be used as funds for building a wall, then would they have given them all the same? He didn't know and he hadn't asked, so he couldn't just up and use them. It would be disrespectful to do so.
Nila rejoined them shortly enough. That conversation with the earlier man had led to another conversation with another man, which had led to some of her employees finding her to ask her advice. Oliver was surprised by just how busy the little girl he'd known had become, but he supposed that was simply the price of building a business as quickly as she had.
"The battle is what did it," Greeves commented, just as Nila found them once more.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Oliver said.
"Well, you were wondering, weren't you? You were eyeing little Nila up, a thoughtful look in her eyes. I reckon you weren't thinking about giving her that necklace, were ya? Naw, you're too dense for that. So, I supposed that you were probably wondering about how she'd managed to get something built as quickly as she did. I'm right, aren't I?" Greeves said.
"Well, I was maybe thinking of it a little…" Oliver said.
"True. The battle is most likely what did it. I was trying to build a business before it happened, but after the battle, everyone was so much keener to help…" Nila said. "I can't take all the credit for it. It was like having three hundred friends who wanted to see me do well. It was quite – and still is – endearing, really."
"The sight of the little lass taking charge like she did definitely tugged on a few heartstrings," Greeves agreed. "Shame they didn't spare the same consideration for an old merchant, though I suppose they did sort of soften their attitudes towards me a bit."
"Mm," Oliver murmured, considering it. "Strange… I would never have guessed that it would have had so many ripples. In the Academy, that battle is still shrouded in fog. Most don't believe it."
"Of course they don't. They don't want to believe it. The High King has offered a convenient narrative on you. No man is going to willingly believe that there's a monster out there, performing far better than he could ever dream of, on far less training," Greeves said. "The peasants, though, have reason to believe. There's hope to be had in that belief.
There's a difference."
It certainly made Oliver think. It was that gravity of competence that Verdant had talked so often about in effect once more. A battle of that magnitude couldn't avoid repercussions. Oliver had been so isolated from the epicentre of it that he had almost started to assume that it only mattered to him, and the people involved. How wrong he'd been.
How silly it had been to assume that an explosion of that sort could not affect a significant amount of change.
"And now they speak again – listen," Greeves said, as they walked past a group of village women, looking Oliver's way, sharing quiet conversation as they seemed to debate whether to speak to him or not, just as the others had before them.
"He slew a thousand bandits just last week!" He heard a woman say in an urgent whisper. "Fort Dollem, they said. A thousand of them! He only had fifty men, I heard. And he's been given five hundred men of his own to lead by the High King. I heard the man apologized, realizing that he'd been barking up the wrong tree all this time."
"A thousand…" Oliver said to himself once they were out of earshot.
"Well, I didn't say that they got it right all the time. I just said that they were listening." Greeves said with a smile. "Yer retainer up in that Academy, and that bloomin' General you're working under, they were right about those missions. They're useful for you. More than you reckon. As strong as you are, they're a proper golden ticket."
Soon enough, they arrived at Nila's place. Oliver was surprised that they were still living in the same house, despite all the money that Nila was earning now. Nila had explained it away with a shrug, saying that they needed no more. That it was pointless to have something new built in the heart of winter whilst everyone else was struggling.
In line with that struggle, Oliver had seen the remains and rubble of various buildings as he'd walked down that familiar road, on the way to the forest, in the direction of Nila's house. But even of the rubble, there was less than he'd thought they'd been. And there were plenty of new houses too.
The mood in the village that he'd expected to be sad – given all that they'd lost – was the opposite. There was a hopeful optimism there, seen best in the glowing faces of playing children. It was gratitude and hope that those villagers wielded, despite the harshness of winter.
They were all living quite well, after all, through Lord Blackwell's efforts, and Lombard's careful administrative gaze, they'd made sure that the destruction would leave no lingering effects. The local merchants – Nila and Greeves amongst them – ensured the same. There was a spirit of charity that kept the villagers just as close as they'd been in the heart of battle.
They were a rock-solid union now. The more Oliver saw of Solgrim, the more he realized what a gem it was.
And now he saw David and Stephanie too, just as excitable as the children that he'd seen before them. The second Nila had opened the door, Stephanie had come rushing out, with a broad smile on her face, as David chased as playfully with a stick, only pretending to be trying to catch her, whilst he purposefully kept his speed in check.