The wall is now completed, the crayfish are contained, and there's a funnel for them to enter the various parts of Misery Swamp to allow them to grow. In some parts, I even planned to allow for children to enter since the aberrants there will be smaller and younger.

  But that's after I make sure that the place is actually safe and that there aren't anymore aberrants hiding underneath the ground. Because that can happen, it has happened.

  People in the past mistook an empty area as devoid of aberrants and we have learned our lessons, the ground must be checked for any signs of the crustaceans before assuming that it is safe to camp in.

  Maybe my roots will be useful during that time? I'm not really sure yet. I mean, how do I even use them? I'm supposed to be a tree now, where are my roots?

  Getting excited to grow roots out of my feet is pretty weird as well all things considered and I should definitely stop thinking about this.

  Moving on, with the wall finished and the Aberrants contained, I am now able to focus on other parts of my project: mainly the stores and other places that will serve as the main source of income for Flotol.

  Aberrants will be the main attraction and the stores will serve as the places where people get fleeced for their money. I would go as far as to say that I'd allow higher prices for aberrant adjacent products, it is what tourism is about right? Unnecessarily increasing prices for tourists knowing that they come here with money?

  Or maybe that's bad business practice, and also, most of the tourists will be peasants who will come here to have a wonderful time with their family.

  ... Commission stores who cater to nobles maybe? They like that kind of stuff, and I like money so it's a win-win?

  Yep. Definitely. That's the plan then, I lower the prices for normal people and then have dedicated areas that caters to the nobility, and if some arrogant village boy thinks he can walk alongside nobles then it's his fault for spending too much.

  Entering my new room and then opening the map was just the start of this plan. Flotol as a territory is big enough that I can make multiple districts with each one dedicated to one specific thing, and it would be even bigger if I include the land surrounding the swamp.

  Problem is, I don't know if it's a good idea to drain it or not. Swamps were commonly drained back on earth to make way for farms or even cities but would that be efficient here? Magic exists so there must be a way to make cities coexist with nature right?

  Sure, this place is full of insects that carry diseases for a living but that's solvable after a certain point. Come to think of it, the insect eating plants that I've placed around Flotol have been effective. No insects have disturbed me whenever I walked the streets and I wasn't even wearing clothes made from poisonous plants.

  The pencil in my hand spins back and forth as I try to come up with something that can help with Flotol's ensuing progress. Sending workers and prospectors to check the land would be a good idea I think? Yep.

  Check the lands for aberrants first and then see if it's a good place to put buildings in, and if it is, begin the construction of the noble district.

  Now, what should I put there? Expensive Inns, obviously, but what else? Restaurants? And do I own all of it? No... Merchants should be given some of it to rent? Actually buy? Rent. They should rent it.

  Grinning like a lunatic, I start writing down more plans for the future noble district.

  Merchants renting the lands mean that they would advertise Flotol for themselves, especially if they're on the lower end of society. The poorer the merchant, the more they would want to keep a cheap piece of land, which yes, I will rent to them for cheap.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  They travel, tell people about Flotol, they come here, see the changes, and then tell more people about this place until eventually, this place becomes popular and actually turns into a tourist spot!

  Maybe even the prince and princesses would want to come here?!

  "Okay, no." I slap myself lightly, prince and princesses? Am I delusional? There's no way in hell that kind of expectation is realistic. "Let's start slow first, go for nobles and cater to them, make restaurants with fancy sounding names and... Local wine."

  Another idea gets written down, they make the plan feel more whole, make it make sense in ways that would otherwise sound insane without them in the list.

  "Everything is falling together nicely." I nod and continue jotting down more ideas.

  Hours pass and soon, night comes around. Usually, I would stay in my room and wait for myself to eventually fall asleep but tonight, I had other things in mind.

  Flotol is dark out most nights, lanterns don't work here, the humidity is too high and torches are bad either, on account that everything is made of wood.

  Glowing plants would be the solution to this, but all my tests so far either ended with them eventually mutating into man-eating monsters or that they just die due to the corruption. Several trials later, I finally managed to make a plant that grows glowing fruits.

  Videos of people using lemon and oranges to make lightbulbs shine were my main inspiration for making this strain and so, I obviously had to use the only citrusy plant within Misery Swamp.

  Paati is what everyone calls this plant, I have used them whenever I made mayonnaise in the past as well as on some other dishes. And now, they're gonna serve as the natural lighting within Flotol.

  With my ability, I willed the seeds I planted around the village to grow. Stems sprouted from pots around houses, pillars, and street sides. I feel them go up to the sky, then I stop once they're 8 feet tall.

  Branches produce flowers afterwards and despite the lack of pollination, sprout bulb-like fruits that grow to the size of a ping-pong ball. Once the fruits mature, their skin turns transparent, making their fleshy insides more vulnerable to the ambient mana and once magic makes contact with it, a spark comes alive and the fruit begins glowing.

  Next to me, a Paati sapling grows to maturity, it attracts the attention of several people and they come around to watch the spectacle. Similar sights happen all over Flotol, with people going out to watch the plants grow.

  Once my business finished, I left and went back home.

  Home, of course, being the old house that Nogjaf used to occupy. And yeah, I understand that it's fucked up to take over someone else's home after you kill them but the adventurers he hired did burn down our house so I think it's only fair we take his after his death.

  Once I was back in my room, I lay down in bed and slowly fell asleep. Come morning, my mother calls me for breakfast and after what felt like forever, I finally sit with my family at the same dining table again.

  "Good morning Rontress." My mother waved as I reached the bottom of the stairs, I changed into a pair of slippers.

  "Morning." A yawn escapes me and I roll my shoulders to remove the stiffness I am feeling.

  Laself has taken over my role as the one to fix the table before every meal and currently, she's working hard, cleaning, sweeping, and just doing household chores in general.

  In the kitchen, vases and other pottery sits on top of the counter. My mother may be cooking our breakfast right now, but later, she'll start preparing the ingredients for the store alongside Laself.

  Dad and Howaph are missing, I'm guessing the former is currently rallying and doing role calls for the workers while my brother is... I'm not sure actually, he's probably out there, doing whatever it is he's doing.

  Fishing maybe? I hear Laself has been craving fish eyes lately, so there's been a demand for that in our house.

  The extra fish would probably serve as ingredients for the store or as a meal later today.

  Everyone is busy doing their own thing, and it's like we didn't just go through the worst winter of our lives. Something-something, this is proof about how resilient humanity is at the end of the day.

  Something like that.

  As for me, I'm just sitting back and enjoying myself, this gets boring after a while so I decided to push my consciousness into the plants around Flotol, I spied on people, took note of what's happening, and just did surveillance in general.

  Who would have thought that spying on everyone would get me to learn so many things about them? Not me.

  Regardless, sensing what's going on around the village through my plants will definitely be part of my mornings from now on.

  I close my eyes. Expecting my life after getting a class to be hard wasn't a mistake, but in the end, I think I may have overestimated the world's ability to stick to the canon story that I know of.

  Rontress didn't become a Dryad, nor was she this powerful at 8 years old, and more importantly, she wasn't a [Brutal Trapper].

  My class being completely different from the original should have been my first clue that fate isn't as powerful as it is. Am I stupid? I totally am.

  Paranoid may be the appropriate term.

  Not that I regret my actions of course, if I ever get the chance to go back, I will definitely make the same decisions without hesitation.