The First Step to Recovery: Knockin' On the Village Door

Hey, where the heck am I?

O-Oh, hello! Welcome, Sir, to Horai Village!

"Horai"? What kinda name's that?

The same one the old village of Horai had. I thought if I hoped to restore it to its former glory I should start by keeping the same name too.

Well, it might be Horai but it ain't much of a village. More of an empty patch'o weeds by the looks of it!

Urgh!

I promise you, it may look like that now but one day it'll be a vibrant and prosperous community. I'll make sure of it!

And howdja plan to do that?

I, uh, well... By having more people stay here bit by bit and then securing the infrastructure of the community and then...Uh, then...

Do you live here too, Spiky?

Uh, no. I'm just lending Marlowe a hand.

Wahaha! So you're tellin' me this village is just you and no-one else right now? What a hoot!

Excuse me?! Well, that's rather rude of...

I've made up my mind! I'm livin' here too!

What?!

What? The village needs more villagers if it's gonna get back to its glory days, right? Ain't that a good thing?

Of course, but... Are you sure? It's a big decision, after all.

No time for spur o'the moment, life-changing decisions like the present, right? Name's Terry. Good to meetcha!

It...It's great to have you on board, Terry!

All right! Now I just gotta work out a place to live. I'll start with choppin' some wood from the forest.

But who'll do the actual construction? We don't...

But what? You gotta learn to shut up and chill sometime, Mister Mayor.

M-Mister Mayor? Me?!

Well, ain't you in charge here?

I suppose so but I would never regard myself with such self-importan...

Well if you ain't, who is? There's me, who does the loggin' and the easy carpentry, and then there's you. There's nobody else to be mayor, Mayor!

Wait, you're a carpenter?

Yeah, and a lumberjack, all rolled into one. So buildin' houses ain't a problem, trust me.

I'll even fix up that old shack o' yours. Just leave it to me!

Is there anything I can do to help?

Actually, yeah, there is. I can't log and build at the same time. So you can do the loggin'.

Here! It's a little old and worn, but it does the job as good as any other.

But the way through the forest is blocked off by some very tall grass.

Then I'll have to cut it down, won't I? Thanks in advance, Aldo!

No problem. I'll go get you some lumber!

I keep tellin' ya, y'ain't gotta keep up that Mister stuff with me! Terry is just fine.

I-I'm sorry! It's hard for me to get used to being called Mayor, let alone addressing someone without a proper title as if I really am one...

I got you that lumber you wanted. Will this do?

This is some real nicely chopped lumber! This can't be yer first rodeo, right?

Well, back home I used to help my gramps chop wood sometimes.

Hah, good thing for me ya did 'cause this'll make for a real nice lil' place for me to live! I'm gonna start buildin' it right now!

I reckon I'll be at this for a while. I don't like to do things in half-measures. I dunno what ya plan to do in the meantime, but I'm sure you'll figure somethin' out.

Sure.

By the way, Aldo. I found this when I was rummaging through the things left inside my house. I thought you could use it.

Now you'll be able to reach previously inaccessible areas deeper within the mine.

Thanks! With this, I should have no problem going back and forth between levels in the mine. I'll head there and see what I can find!

Whaddya waitin' for? Hand over the lumber already. I can't start construction till ya do.

Woah! You seriously built that all by yourself, Terry?!

The craftsmanship is spectacular! Look at all this detail and...it's so sturdy!

And if that wasn't amazing enough, my ramshackle old house looks like a completely new building too!

Well, what else did ya expect? I told ya I didn't do things in half-measures, didn't I?

Horai should have no trouble welcoming more new villagers now. And it's all thanks to the two of you. Thank you so much, Terry and Aldo.

Anytime ya need somethin' built, ya know where to find me! As long as I got the materials I'll make ya anythin' ya need. I'm sure I can make ya some useful tools for y'adventures, spelunkin' and whatnot!

Thanks! I'll be sure to call on you when I need something made. And I'll be sure to get you the lumber you need for it.

Boy, it sure has been a long while since the construction began. I wonder if Terry's done by now?

I should get back to Horai and find out.