On the evening of October 10, in Dog Forest City, the castle belonging to the Scorch Wolf Tribe was decorated in a somewhat rustic style, yet it lost none of its grandeur or splendor. Dozens of thick square wooden pillars stood in the hall, each carved with the likeness of a different class of Magic Beast.
In the center of the hall, a werewolf Butler was reporting on the city's developments to the leader left behind to hold the fort—Tagwa, younger brother of Retainer Tata.
"Chief, the goods from all the mines have arrived recently, and the five Workshops have finished producing their first batch of products. But..." The Butler glanced at Tagwa's expression and forced himself to continue. "But half of the orders previously placed by various families have already been canceled."
Tagwa frowned. "Because the roads aren't passable? Don't we have the Gallop River transport route now?"
The Butler shook his head. "It's not just transportation. Many families say they're short on funds. They still need loans from the Dulciz family of Abadi, City of Commerce, just to keep production going, so their procurement plans have all been postponed or scaled back."
"Mm..." Tagwa nodded, then asked, "How is the battle outside the city going these past two days? Have those rats made it into the woods?"
"How could they? I heard the rats took heavy losses last night. One guerrilla unit broke through the Ratmen blockade and has already reached the vicinity of Tikar, City of Life. They say it ambushed two Ratman tribes along the way, then vanished into thin air."
"That far?" Tagwa pondered for a while, then said with a smile, "Looks like that guerrilla unit has already started trading blows with the tribes of the Royal Court. We don't need to worry."
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