Their next stop was, luckily, at the end of the road, oh the road didn't really end there, it just wasn't their village's business anymore, and as such, not their problem.

"Keith, mind driving on and seeing if there's something down the road, you know Sennwell doesn't care about this part of the road, we don't want anyone messing up delivery week."

She requested and got out of the stopped car.

"Do you want me to drive you back? That's a good hour walk?" He asked her good-naturedly, she waved him off.

"The sooner we know if the road is clear, the better, and driving to a point where Sennwell cares about the state of the road is a good two hours drive, don't mind me, and thanks for checking it out."

He waved her off and started his car again after bidding her a short farewell.

She sighed, feeling the headache brewing, and called the Chief.

"Hara, dear. I hope you have good news for me."

Her Chief said, sounding hopeful but not fully convinced.

" ...'Fraid not Chief, we've got a tree invading the road, that can wait a few more weeks before it gets bad, but we've also got a mudslide halfway out the road and if it rains again, chances look good that it'll cause another mudslide, worse than the one we've got now, other than that? Just the usual snapped branches and leaves."

She informed him as she jogged down the road.

"That's not too good, what's your verdict, can it wait?"

His voice sounded tired and she cringed in sympathy.

"I recommend against waiting to deal with the landslide, but if we keep an eye on it, maybe put up a barrier? No matter, it can wait, but if it rains again, it'll come back with a vengeance."

She said curtly, not wanting to sugar-coat such an important issue.

"I understand, I'll send someone to keep an eye on it, how does the rest look?"

He asked her, and she could imagine him sinking into his favorite armchair with a worried frown on his aged face.

"Looks good, like I said, a few twigs and branches, leaves, nothing surprising, I'm making my way to road 12 now, I'll call you when I'm done there."

The scenery was pretty and you could hardly see the road as it was coated in leaves, locals would know where it's leading, but foreigners would likely drive into a ditch, she grinned at the image.

"When can I expect your call?"

"Two hours, I need to walk back, Keith's off inspecting the road out, Sennwell, no need to say more on that, I sent him out, we don't want any nasty surprises."

She said, suddenly feeling nervous about requesting Keith to go out further without the Chiefs' okay on the matter.

"Good, I would have asked someone going to the city to check it, but Keith is quicker, I'll be expecting your call later, dear."

He hung up after giving a short goodbye, Hara sighed in relief and began her track back, this time running at a steady pace to cut back on time.

_____

30 minutes later.

______

She arrived quicker than she expected and heaved a deep breath, a bit flushed from her workout, she wasn't tired, but a bit breathless.

As she arrived at the entrance to the village, she saw a familiar face passing by.

"Good morning Ella, how are you?"

The forester grinned as she waved at the seamstress.

"Ah! Good morning Hara, coming back from an inspection dear?"

The woman asked her, smiling softly at her.

The young woman grinned in reply as she nodded.

"Where are you off to now? You look like you're in a rush."

The blond woman tilted her head as she gave her question, Hara nodded and stretched a bit.

"Chief asked me to check out a few of the roads, why, need something delivered?"

The seamstress nodded and handed her a bag.

"Mind bringing it to my son? The goof forgot it and just texted me about his plight, I was about to go myself, but~, now that you're here, can I ask the pretty lady for some help?"

Hara blushed bright red at the compliment and took the offered basket, "Yeah, class 5A?"

"Yes, thank you, deary!"

Hara waved the woman off before shaking the interaction away, the school was on her way anyway, because the village was small, they only had one school and one high school, although they had two kindergartens, toddlers were harder to care for than school kids, evidently.

The girl rolled her eyes and set off with a grin on her face.

The school soon appeared in her sight, it was a big building and painted in every colour and shape one could imagine, the let the kids paint it, after all, it was a small and sweet tradition, every time a class graduated, they got together with the new first class and painted over their classroom walls.

It took the saying "Pass the torch to the younger generation." fully into account and gave the school a nostalgic feeling for those who looked at it, some pictures stayed the same even after years had passed, as every graduating class was allowed a small spot that would never be painted over.

She went inside and looked around the colorful building, she had never gotten the opportunity to study here as she had moved into the little village after she was 14 years old, too old to stay in this school after all the paperwork and drama with her parents had been resolved.

The inside of the building, just like the outside, was colorful and full of life, covered from top to bottom in colours.

She stopped between the ocean-themed classroom door of the 5th-grade class and knocked on the door.

Her knock was answered by a blond-haired woman, her lip adorned by a piercing with a blue gem, her name was Angelica Lorray.

"Hara? What brings you here? Please come in, I was just about to call a ranger over."

The woman spoke in a kind and soft voice, her voice resembling chiming bells.

"How come?" Hara asked, now a bit worried, although not too much as the woman in front of her didn't seem to be in distress.

"Oh, Seth, one of my students, say hi Seth," The woman called and one of the boys in the class waved at her, the twenty-two pairs of eyes seated watching her with rapt attention.

"Brought in a few Flower mantises his parents brought from their trip to Sehara and agreed for us to raise them, but they appeared to have turned into beasts during the transport, I already called his parents and they don't want to keep the mantises anymore, but the students want to continue to raise them, I'm not sure if we can do that, but then again, there's no rule against it..."

Hara nodded while looking at the glass tank filled with flowers, and flower-like beasts within, the lid was shut tightly and placed on the teacher's desk, a tarp thrown to the side without care.

It must have been a great surprise for everyone involved.

She stopped then as the words registered, turned to give her a hard look and began to speak.

"I'm not sure, this is a first, I think I'll have to trouble the Chief with this."

Hara grumbled and sighed at the teacher's overenthusiastic nod and took out her phone.

"Chief, I've got a question." She began, feeling bad for taking his time.

"What is it?"

"What do we do if a class wants to raise beasts as a class project?"She was cringing already from voicing the odd request, and she was there to witness it being spoken.

"They want to what?" He answered flatly.

"One of the students brought in the "pets" they agreed to raise..." She trailed off, not actually knowing if that was the intended plan, but Angelica nodded at her probing look and she continued.

"When they unveiled the "pets", Flower mantises... they had turned into beasts, but the students want to continue raising them..."

The words felt ridiculous even to her and her tongue rolled in her mouth as the words felt foreign to her.

"... I'm sending a researcher over to see if they're dangerous... you know what, hand Angelica to me." He said, and Hara blinked, how did he know it was Angelica asking?

It seemed like she had voiced her thoughts as her leader replied not even a moment later, "Only Angelica would come up with such an idea."

He answered flatly, speechless, Hara handed the phone over and let the woman do what she wanted.