“Daen…” Gollard spoke as we gazed upon the land that had been ruined for two days in a row now. More Beastkin had arrived to assist this morning, with our total nearing seventy. It was a cloudy day, which reflected my mood very well. Cloudy with a chance of a shitstorm. With loud grumbles, my workers began the cleanup process. My greatest hope was that Troosk had found out the perpetrators of the vandalism. I scanned the surroundings and found the big bear bumbling towards me with haste.

“Wait here Gollard, I need to speak with someone.” The High Priest of Honor nodded and strode towards the ruined land to assist with the cleanup.

“We’ll speak when we break for lunch.” Gollard suggested and I nodded. I then jogged over to meet with Troosk.

“What have you got for me?” I asked in a hushed and serious tone. “Whose the bastards that did this?”

“Slaves.” Troosk said simply, which took me by surprise.

“Slaves did this?” He nodded,

“Yes. But not on their own. They were commanded to do this.” Troosk then explained, in vivid detail, everything he had seen and heard the night before. I stood in silence as he spoke, thinking.

“Then who could their master be?” A wealthy noble for sure, Troosk had said there were four hands of slaves at work destroying everything. The big beast merely shrugged.

“I followed as much as I dared until they reached the gate, but none spoke their master’s name.”

“They must have ordered them to not speak their name then.”

Using slaves to do your own dirty work, effective, but very distasteful. This person was flagrant enough to do such a thing, yet smart enough to cover their own tracks. Best I could think to do at this point was to have a watch set up to follow those returning from vandalism tonight. We’d learn where the slaves were coming from, which would prove who the guilty party was.

“I’m sorry to ask so much from you Troosk, but I’ll need another favor.” I then explained that he’d need to keep watch at the gate from inside the city tonight and to follow the slaves back to their master. After a moment’s thought, I told him to bring along a few more witnesses that he could trust. One Beastkin’s accusations wouldn’t hold up very well as evidence, but many would hold more weight.

He readily agreed and we shook on it. Now it was time to get to work.

“Daen.” Gollard spoke as we rested for lunch. “I believe I have a solution to this problem.” I already had one myself, but I motioned for the man to continue. “This land has not been formally declared as land owned by our Kingdom. And I-”

“You mean we’ve been working in another country’s lands?” I interrupted with intensity.

“Good heavens, no!” Gollard laughed, “We would have prevented such a thing from occurring in the first place if that were the case. Nay, this land just hasn’t been declared to be owned by the Kingdom. Meaning that it is open land for any to settle upon. Any who would settle here however, would still have to pay tax, as they live within our borders.”

“I see, so by declaring this land as owned formally…”

“Then such vandalism would cease in a hurry, as any attacks, or acts of vandalism in this case, would be met harshly as the law dictates.”

“And what would such punishments be?”

“The responsible party would be forced to offer restitution to those they had offended. If they cannot afford it, or refuse to do so, their assets would be seized and then they would be banished or executed based on severity.” Gollard spoke factually.

“So they’ll be too afraid of the repercussions to act again. But that won’t change what they’ve already done. Would they pay restitutions on the damages they had already caused?”

“No, because we didn’t truly own this land at that time.”

I chewed on my hardened bread as my brain raced through the two solutions at hand. If we did my idea, we’d find the source of our hardship, but we wouldn’t be able to punish them unless we took matters into our own hands. While vigilante justice was certainly attractive, laws were established for a reason. As much as I loved using my own solutions, in this matter Gollard’s made the most sense.

“Very well.” I nodded to the High Priest, “have this land declared to be the Kingdom’s.” Gollard smiled and nodded, “However, I will be the one that controls what is done here. Unless I am otherwise unable to oversee things, in which case you will be in control.” He nodded once more,

“I’m pleased that you trust me so greatly.”

“We’re both of the same mind Gollard, we want to help people. Be they man or beast.”

After lunch we had finished clean up and began to work on the next hill to flatten out. Gollard had procured a guard for the purposes of relaying information back to the Citadel to declare this land as the Kingdom’s own personal property. I spoke with Troosk privately and still asked him to watch the gate to see if anyone tried anything. He nodded in response. We both worked side by side until it was time to return.

The next day my mood soured greatly when Troosk relayed that he had seen slaves leaving and returning in the night. He had followed them to their residence, a large home in the noble district of course, and said that he would show us the building itself when we returned. Once more, we spent most of the day cleaning up the damages that had been done. Needless to say, we were all furious. Many, myself included, hoped that the attacks would stop now that this land was sanctioned by the Kingdom. Gollard even looked like he was about to burst a vein in anger.

“How dare they? Have they no respect for the Kingdom?” He fumed as we walked home.

“Worry not Gollard, we know who did this.”

“You do?” He seemed confused. “How?”

“A little bird told me.” I grinned.

After the Beastkin, except for Troosk, returned to their homes we set forth towards the eastern nobles district. We stopped before a large house made of white stone, walled off by a small brick wall. Hedges lined the pathway up towards the main doorway beyond the gate. I could see a multitude of humans working in the gardens and in rooms near open windows. But no slaves.

“The Delons residence.” Gollard explained. “A middling noble who owns a multitude of farms in the east, close to where I grew up. He mostly grows cotton for money. I hear hes been recently expanding into the textile market as well.”

“So hes trying to muscle out my competition?”

“Unlikely, your farm shouldn’t be in direct competition with his…”

I shrugged, as far as I was concerned the man was already guilty. We were then let into the grounds by a pair of guards who escorted us to the doorway. Troosk, Kyrrah and Frio were made to wait outside, which annoyed them to no end, but I assured them that everything would be fine. After they had been left behind, we were escorted to the home’s den. A human maid brought us some refreshments and said that the master would be along shortly. It wasn’t long until a large man entered the room wearing silk clothes that did nothing to conceal is girth.

“Ah, the Blessed One and revered High Priest, what brings you to my home?” The man sat in a luxurious chair before us. The same maid had brought us our drinks laid out a plate of fruits on the man’s lap. He quickly snatched a strawberry from the plate and plopped it in his mouth, chewing noisily. “Ah how rude of me. My name is Zanach Delons.” He bowed as much as he could in his seat and resumed eating.

“We are here to accuse you of destruction of property owned by the Kingdom.” Gollard spoke hastily. The man choked on his strawberry and pounded his chest to cough it up.

“Blech! Pah!” A maid gave him a glass of water which he quickly downed, “By the Five, don’t accuse a man so heavily while hes eating!” The man gasped and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

“We believe you ordered your slaves to disrupt our declared farmland.” Gollard explained, “We have a witness saying that he saw your slaves enter your property last night.”

“And where is this witness, hmm?”

“A guard said the Beastkin were to wait outside.” Zanach looked a little angry as he glanced at the maid.

“Bring this Beastkin to us.” She bowed and quickly left. A short time later, Troosk arrived, having to bend low to make it through the doorway without hitting his head.

Zanach looked at the bear Beastkin up and down for a moment. “Quite the bulky fellow.” Troosk merely grunted. “So you say you saw my slaves enter my property last night after they vandalized your land, correct?” The three of us nodded. “How peculiar, for my servants found signs of trespassing within my property this morning.”

“I know what I saw.” Troosk spoke. “The guards at your gate let these slaves in.”

“Well and truly?” Zanach rubbed his chins in thought. “It seems both our parties are now at an impasse. You have accused me of wronging the Kingdom, where I have done no such thing. And now I find that someone has been letting slaves into my property without informing me.”

“So they weren’t your slaves?” I asked disbelieving.

“Blessed One, have you seen any slaves on my property when you arrived?”

“Well no but-”

“And what would possibly be my motive for such a thing as vandalism?” The man interrupted me.

“Simple, you dislike competition in farming.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“And what, pray tell, were you going to grow at your farm?” He grinned

“Food mostly.” He nodded vigorously, sending waves of flesh down his person.

“And that is why I have no quarrel with your plans, Blessed One!” He laughed, “Food for the poor, the Beastkin in fact. While I may not be fond of the creatures, I certainly adore your idea of building up their community so that they may also enrich our fair country. Such a novel notion, one would think that you were planning to make them our equals!” He grinned widely, “In fact, I’d even be willing to donate to your cause if you would like.”

“Huh?” I was taken aback by his shift in demeanor.

“I’d be willing to help your endeavor, Blessed One. While most of my farms may produce a fair amount of this country’s cotton, I still have a few farms that grow food. Mainly to feed those who work for me. But I’d be willing to send some of that food to the western quarter to help stabilize their starvation.”

“And why are you only suggesting that you help now? Why not have started helping them before?”

“Because I simply wasn’t interested in helping them.” We waved his hand dismissively as he took a drink. “A part of me still isn’t in fact. But I can see from your plans that you have some small sense of business acumen.”

“We’re getting off topic Zanach.” Gollard remarked, “You still stand accused of vandalism.”

“And I remain in the position of saying it wasn’t me. My evidence being that I don’t even own slaves!” The two glared at one another.

“Then we are at an impasse. Thusly, we will take our leave. But we will be watching Zanach.” Gollard stated as he stood and walked from the room, motioning us to follow. Troosk obliged and I stood to follow.

“Blessed One.” Zanach stated from his seat. I turned to him,

“Yes?”

“I am a patriot. Know that I would never disturb your lands.”

“They are the Kingdom’s lands, not mine.”

“Ah, I misspoke. You are a smart child.” He beamed at me. “But know that I speak with all honesty, upon the Five themselves that have blessed you, that I had nothing to do with your troubles.” He stood and bowed deeply to me. I returned his bow which changed his face from reverent to surprise.

“I thank you for your honesty. Hopefully we will catch the perpetrators of this mess.”

“This city holds many rats, Blessed One. And I don’t mean the Beastkin kind.” I didn’t respond as I left the man in his den.

“Daen, did he speak with you before you left?” Gollard asked as we walked towards the Citadel.

“Yes. He swore that he had nothing to do with our predicament.”

“And do you believe him?”

A part of me wanted to, but I had to keep myself grounded in reality. If I knew human nature, we could lie as easily as we drink water. “No.” I said simply. I only truly trusted Kyrrah and Freio. Troosk had also proven trustworthy to an extent. Gollard surprised me today, normally hes quiet and non confrontational. I guess even he has a point where he cannot take any more, just like the rest of us.

“Regardless, I’ll now be assigning some guards to camp around the area.” Gollard stated. “This will not happen again. One way or another.”

Before Troosk could bid farewell to us I gave him some extra coin as thanks for helping out when he did. With a big grin, the man took off towards the West District.

The following day, nobody had disturbed our work site. Over the next few weeks we flattened the land to an acceptable state and began laying out plans for residences and fields. Cyn had returned during this time, speaking well of my family and the Tindolsts. She even handed over a golden lily that Ilsha had sent to me as a gift. Cyn then told me that the flower itself was perceived to give luck. Bless that girl's heart.

Future expansion of the farm would have to wait until the ball got rolling. For now, we’d have a single barracks-like home for any Beastkin interested in farming to live in and four fields. As a measure of trust, Zanach sent us one of his veteran farmers to help along with the preparation of the soil and the seed. He had also begun shipping small increments of food after each harvest to the West District.

All in all, besides the initial problems, things were looking up as time passed.