A red streak, blending into the fiery clouds, flew in from the west and slipped through a window of the Reeves Family Castle.
A young woman sat at a desk by the window, quietly reading the damage reports sent from the territory. A Magic Lamp cast a soft glow over her.
The injured farmers could heal, and the damaged houses could be rebuilt. The real problem was the farmland contaminated by Ratfolk.
It was not just their breeding speed that made humans fear Ratfolk. Wherever they went, they contaminated the fields and water.
The alarming figures in the report, together with the losses from the attack on Levis and the unrest that followed, meant Ossulund Territory's harvest would be poor this year.
Only a month remained until the Autumn Harvest, but disaster had struck before they could bring it in.
She took a quill from the inkpot and wrote an elegant note on the report:
Do not drink standing water. Fill in the wells at the affected sites. Boil all drinking water. Burn the contaminated wheat fields. Search the farmers' barns and homes to make sure no one hides contaminated grain out of reluctance to waste food and allows the Corruption to spread.
A fiery blur suddenly landed on the windowsill and hopped onto the desk. Its beating wings dried the ink.
A smile touched her composed face. She moved the report aside and took the letter from the Fire Crow's leg.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Bang!
A lively Girl burst into the room, her black skirt flaring as she called out.
"Did our silly little Younger Brother write again? What did he say?"
"He said he heard what happened in the territory and bought a thousand Gold Coins' worth of grain to send back."
"That