Third Year Part 1

Another year passed.

By the beginning of the third year, the reconstruction of Helmarte had reached a point where it no longer relied on promises, blueprints, or imagination.

For the first time since construction began, ordinary citizens could see the results with their own eyes.

District One was complete.

Viewed from above, it was almost impossible to recognize the neighborhood that had once occupied the eastern edge of the capital. The narrow, uneven streets that had existed for generations had been replaced by broad granite avenues designed to accommodate increasing traffic for decades to come. Wide pedestrian walkways lined both sides of every road, separated from the carriage lanes by orderly rows of maple trees that had begun taking root during the previous spring.

The transformation, however, extended far beyond what people could see.