Thud... thud... thud…
The heavy sound of galloping hooves echoed across the landscape. In what was once the territory of Viscount Joshua—now known as Bella's Territory—a squad of beastkin knights was returning from a raiding mission.
At the main gate of the city, Nancy, a fox-kin woman and the territory's administrative secretary, watched the approaching dust cloud with a flicker of hope in her eyes.
"Welcome home," Nancy called out as Obi, a massive bull-kin knight, pulled his mount to a halt before her. Her eyes immediately swept the rear of the column. "Sir Obi, how much wheat did we secure today?"
She couldn't be blamed for her desperation; she was the one tasked with managing the territory's internal affairs and food supplies. Bella only cared about the final reports, and if those reports didn't satisfy her, Nancy would be the one suffering the consequences.
"Uh..." Obi lowered his head in shame.
"You didn't get any?" Nancy's heart skipped a beat, and her expression soured instantly. She noticed that behind the knights, another hundred or so beastkin were following the tail of the group.
No wheat, and yet more mouths to feed? Are we trying to starve to death?
"The human merchants have wised up," Obi muttered bitterly. "They aren't using the main trade routes anymore."
Viscount Joshua was successfully sabotaging them, ensuring no human merchants would willingly trade with beastkin. Bella had ordered raids as a countermeasure, but after a month of successful looting, the well had run dry. No one was coming through their territory anymore. Worse, their reputation for taking in any beastkin had spread far and wide; refugees were flocking to them, but the looted grain couldn't keep up with the growth.
"Heavens... what are we going to do?" Nancy gripped her hair in frustration. "The wheat we have won't last long at all."
"We have to report this to Lady Bella. I also spotted Viscount Joshua's scouts nearby; that snake is definitely watching us," Obi said seriously.
Nancy sighed and turned toward the castle. She and Obi found Bella in the courtyard, deep in a training session. She was sparring with two other beastkin, her wooden practice swords clashing against their armor with heavy thwacks.
"Hah... that's enough. Get out," Bella commanded, disengaging from the fight. Her eyes landed on Nancy and Obi. "What's the bad news this time?"
"My Lady... we failed to secure any wheat," Obi forced out.
Bella froze for a moment. She turned to face him, her voice dropping an octave. "Explain."
"Our reputation has preceded us. No human merchant dares to use the nearby trade routes anymore," Obi explained quickly.
"Nancy, how much food is left?" Bella asked. She knew that a territory with no income and no food was just waiting for a slow death.
"Only enough for fifteen days," Nancy replied, looking down at her feet.
"Fifteen days? How is that possible?" Bella's voice rose in shock. "I remember our stores were supposed to last over a month!"
"My Lady... the population is exploding. We have nearly five thousand beastkin in the territory now," Nancy whispered.
"..." Bella was stunned. Five thousand? Five thousand beastkin appetites?
"You said we should accept any beastkin who came to our gates," Nancy explained cautiously. "The numbers just... kept growing. Another hundred arrived today."
"Stop. I need to think," Bella snapped. She rubbed her temples, feeling a massive headache coming on. Managing a territory was a hundred times harder than she had imagined. Having five thousand mouths waiting to be fed was a pressure that made her want to smash things.
CRASH!
Bella hurled one of her wooden swords against the floor, startling Nancy and Obi.
"Are you telling me not a single human merchant is willing to work with us?" Bella hissed.
"One was willing, but..." Nancy hesitated.
"Speak!!"
"The merchant wanted to buy our goods at fifty percent below market value," Nancy said, her voice filled with indignation. "And then, when he heard we were raiding other caravans, he got spooked and ran off. Now he won't even buy at the fifty-percent discount."
"Infuriating!" Bella threw the other wooden sword. It was a cruel irony: the goods they had risked their lives to loot couldn't even be sold at a massive loss because no one dared to touch them.
"My Lady, I saw Joshua's men today," Obi interjected.
"Forget them," Bella said, forcing herself to calm down. "How many were there?"
"About two hundred."
Bella didn't care about the numbers; she had over six hundred beastkin knights under her command. Even if most of them were armed with wooden clubs instead of steel, they were still a formidable force. Her priority was feeding her people.
"My Lady," Nancy said, presenting a plan she had been ruminating on for a while. "We can't wait for merchants to come to us anymore. We have to take our goods elsewhere and sell them ourselves."
"Oh?" Bella's eyes brightened. One place immediately came to mind: Sedona City.
"Excellent." She patted Nancy's shoulder with a rare smile. "Nancy, I'm putting you in charge of this. Pack up our looted goods, take them to Sedona City, sell everything, and bring back as much wheat as you can find."
"Understood!" Nancy replied. This was their last resort.
"Obi, take two hundred knights as an escort," Bella commanded. She couldn't leave the territory herself; she needed to stay and guard their borders.
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