Three days remained before the grand opening.
By then, anticipation had already seeped into every layer of Lootwell.
It showed in different ways depending on who one looked at.
And outside the barrier, the world had already begun arriving.
At Lucien's order, the outer barrier no longer remained completely absent to ordinary eyes.
It showed itself now, but only enough.
From a distance, outsiders could see the faint suggestion of something vast where the old dead desert should have remained empty.
But no matter what methods were used, no one could see through it.
That only made the waiting crowds more restless.
Camps had already formed outside the outer perimeter.
And it kept spreading.
If Lucien had not seen them himself, he might have thought some enterprising fool had decided to build a city in front of Lootwell out of sheer curiosity.
At the edge of the Stillness Palace, he looked down upon the growing sea of temporary settlement and let out a slow breath.
