Ring Island Governor's Mansion.
As usual, Channing walked into his office, tossed the newspaper he had picked up along the way onto his desk, and prepared to begin another day of tea and reading.
However, the moment he sat down in his chair, a pungent fishy stench made him frown involuntarily.
"What's that smell?"
Why did it stink so badly?!
Getting up and walking over to the window, Channing intended to open it for some fresh air. But he had barely cracked it open when a foul odor blew into the room with the sea breeze.
The smell stung his eyes half-shut, but this time he finally figured out where the overpowering odor was coming from.
Slamming the window shut, he pinched his nose and walked to the office door, beckoning over the secretary from the next room.
"Damn it... what are they doing over at the harbor? Why does it smell so bad?!"
The secretary had clearly been hit hard by the smell too. Facing the governor's question, he replied helplessly.
"...The Northwest Wind cargo ship that docked just now brought in over a thousand pelts."
"Pelts?!" Channing stared at him blankly and blurted out, "How could pelts smell this bad?!"
The secretary replied with a bitter expression.
"They were freshly skinned from mutated creatures. Not only had the blood and grease not been cleaned off, but they also seemed to have fermented for some time."
"Freshly skinned pelts from mutated creatures?" Channing's eyes widened in surprise. "Where did they get them?"
Over a thousand freshly skinned pelts...
That was no small quantity!
Although the residents of the thirteen islands in the southern waters occasionally sailed to hunt on the beaches south of the Boro Province, even experienced hunters generally dared not stay too long. Bringing back one or