Time passed by quickly as the flurry of activity around Redwood Town continued.
Although Celestina Balfour's arrival had brought some sense of security and stability to the situation, that only alleviated the immediate fear of death the townsfolk and villagers felt. There was still a mountain of other issues that needed to be addressed.
There were serious problems such as the numerous corpses, both beast and human, which needed to be burned or buried, and the vast number of injured who needed to be treated.
On top of all that, many mundane issues still needed to be dealt with, from housing and feeding all the people huddled together in the overflowing safe-zones to helping lost children reunite with parents they had been separated from.
It was a daunting task which kept everyone from the Town Lord's Manor running off their feet.
Even Charles and Sasha, who wanted nothing more than to stay by their injured daughter's side, could only spare a few moments to be with Eris, making sure she fell asleep, before getting back to work.
Among the people Celestina brought with her, only one truly had talent and experience regarding administrative matters, her adjutant Allina Crest.
As for the rest, while they weren't simple muscle-heads, they were all more martially focused, aside from the two Doctors, of course.
With that being the case, Sasha, who was the default administrator of Redwood Town, was now working side by side with this Peak-Rank Spirit Initiate, making for a rather unusual team to say the least.
At first, Sasha felt nervous even stating her opinion to this powerful master who she naturally recognized as one of her grandmother's most trusted confidants, but given the mountain of work before them, it didn't take long before the two women developed a simple work dynamic.
To put it bluntly, Allina was serious and straightforward, caring more about efficiency and competence than status and strength; Sasha only had to clearly lay out her reasoning for any plan of action she had or decision she made, and so long as it made sense and she had no better suggestion, Allina would agree and assist without any kind of posturing or objection.
In this way, the pair continued checking off items from the seemingly endless to-do list.
From ensuring enough fresh water was available to organizing volunteers to clear the debris from last nights' battles, the two of them were completely focused on getting as many tasks completed as quickly as possible.
"Who made this inventory list?" Allina suddenly asked as she was going over the town's food-supply situation.
As the one in charge of monitoring and maintaining the Raging River Legion's stockpiles, Allina was quite impressed to see such a well organized and clearly laid out record of all the foodstuffs in Redwood Town.
Allina knew just what kind of chaos could occur in the midst of a crisis, so it came as a surprise to her that in such a situation, someone had managed to compile such an easy-to-read report.
Lifting her head from the documents she was dealing with, Sasha peaked over at what her new colleague was talking about and answered, "I'm not sure who made this, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say it was Lucas."
"The General's new Disciple?" Allina raised her brow slightly before nodding. After interacting with the young boy during the previous meeting, Allina had developed quite the favourable impression of Lucas. At the very least, he was very different from the young masters of noble houses she was used to dealing with.
She also found her Lady's new Disciple to be far more mature and competent than his age would suggest, all positives in her book. Seeing this well laid out table of supplies, with clear estimates of just how much grain, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, and other foodstuffs were now stored in which granaries around Redwood Town, Allina's opinion of Lucas only improved further.
Just then, a loud cry rang out from up above, immediately drawing the two women's attention.
Releasing her Soul Sense, Allina swiftly checked the matter before her brow rose slightly and she muttered under her breath, "They actually sent Nessa?"
"Is there something wrong?" Sasha couldn't help asking.
"It's nothing," Allina quickly schooled her expression before saying, "We should head outside to meet the Commander of the team sent from the capital."
Saying so, Allina stacked and straightened the papers she was reading in a professional manner before turning towards the office's door.
Seeing this, Sasha set aside the questions she had and swiftly followed.
Soon after, in an open section of the Town Lord's Manor's yard which had been cleared out earlier in the day, Sasha, Allina, and Charles looked up as they saw a large golden bird slowly descending towards them.
The wind pressure was quite intense as the Golden Hawk made its landing, kicking up a cloud of dust which slightly obscured everyone's vision before quickly being blown away, revealing the Fourth Order Wild Beast which was gently furling its large, 5-metres-wide wings.
Hopping off the back of this beast was a soldier in full-body silver armour with subtle golden highlights. The soldier made a few arm gestures to the remaining black-feathered Tartans above, apparently signaling them to head east to land in the same open field where the Sunchaser had previously been moored.
After finishing with the direction of their subordinates, the soldier turned back and removed their helmet, revealing a youthful-looking feminine face with tied-up blonde hair and vibrant green eyes.
With her helmet in her left hand, this woman raised her right in a salute to Allina, while the latter returned the gesture.
Upon completing the proper formalities, the blonde-haired woman immediately broke into a cheerful smile and called out, "Allie! It's been too long."
Resisting the urge to face-palm, Allina Crest simply replied, "Greetings, Commander Crest."
Pursing her lips, the newly arrived Commander seemed to pout slightly as she walked over, patted Allina on the shoulder in a familiar manner, "Why are you always so stiff, Allie? We serve in different Armies now, but we're still friends, aren't we?"
In the face of the other party's persistence, Allina could only helplessly sigh and mutter with a wry smile, "It's good to see you too, Nessa."
Nodding repeatedly, Vanessa Crest smiled even wider than before as she cheered, "En en, that's more like it!"
Desperate to shift the conversation, Allina turned to the two next to her and introduced, "This is Charles Newton and his wife Sasha Balfour, the Lord and Lady of the local Barony."
Sasha and Charles made appropriate bows and gave the standard greetings to the newly arrived guest, while in return Vanessa actually walked up to them in a shocking display and hugged Sasha before patting Charles on the shoulder, "It must have been hard on you two."
The husband-and-wife pair were so dumbfounded they temporarily forgot to even offer their thanks for the other party's consideration.
Fortunately for them, Allina was there to come to their rescue as she loudly cleared her throat and continued, "Commander Crest, General Balfour has asked that you report directly to her as soon as you land."
At the mention of the General's name, even the seemingly carefree and cheerful newcomer assumed a formal expression and nodded, "Understood, please lead the way."
With a slight gesture, Allina ushered Vanessa towards the Town Lord's Manor, intending to take her to a small reception room where Celestina was currently waiting.
As the two were walking away, though, Sasha called out, "Commander Crest, would you like us to relay any kind of message or orders to your subordinates?"
Pausing in place, Vanessa seemed to think about it for a moment before she turned around and said, "There's no need for any special accommodations to be made. As soon as we finish our mission here, we'll be departing again."
"At least let us send your soldiers a hot meal. They must be famished after making the long trip here from the capital," Charles suggested, assuming a slightly more casual tone given how relaxed this new Commander seemed to be.
Glancing around and noticing that there were several large pots over open fires near the Manor being filled with ingredients for some kind of porridge, Vanessa acquiesced, "Please do."
With that said, the two Spirit Initiates entered the Manor, leaving behind a somewhat flummoxed Town Lord and Lady.
"She seems… friendly?" Charles commented off-handedly, with a slight hint of confusion in his voice.
"I guess there are all kinds of people out there," Sasha nodded in agreement, "But there's no doubt she's strong. The insignia on her chest indicates that she's a Regiment Commander, and given she was riding a Golden Hawk, it's likely she is the second or third in command of the entire Golden Wings Legion."
"Good," Charles smiled, "If the capital sent someone that important as a scout, it means they're taking the situation here seriously."
"Of course they are," Sasha snorted, "A General arrived here personally, so there's no way those old farts on the Royal Council can ignore our plight."
Seeing his wife, who normally tried to avoid talking about her family, showing such pride, Charles knew better than to comment further, instead choosing to arrange for some of Lucas' food-carts to make a delivery to the eastern side of town with enough supplies for both the Aerial Knights and their mounts.