The call took longer than Hara expected, and at the end, Angelica was looking positively giddy, grinning from ear to ear she handed her phone back.

"Thank you for your help, Hara." She smiled widely at her and Hara tilted her head, feeling apprehensive, she began to speak hesitantly.

"For what exactly?"

"Chief said that because they're beasts, you'll keep them for us!"

The class cheered and the teacher grinned, Hara blanked out for a moment.

"I will what?"

"They're too dangerous to be left alone after school hours, so Chief said that you'll watch them for us."

The blond woman grinned at her, it was like an angel had descended, Hara deadpanned at her,

"Did he specifically mention me, or just rangers in general?" She asked flatly and Angelica started to look flustered.

"They're to be monitored at all times by rangers or hunters." Came a despondent response.

"Good to know, but Angy, I'll be gone for an exploration starting next Tuesday, I can't look after them while I'm gone, you'll look for someone ready to watch these, "pet beasts", on your own."

The woman nodded like an overenthusiastic puppy wagging its tail, Hara sighed.

"But for now, either wait for the researcher to come and collect the mantises or bring them to there to get started."

She instructed the teacher, she, along with her class, nodded.

"I just wanted to bring someone their lunch, how did I get roped into babysitting beasts?" She complained weakly and gave the lunch to the brat this all started with, he had the gall to look sheepishly at her.

With one more headache added to her list, the woman left to do her job and report back to her Chief.

Road 12 was next on her list and it was in her forest, it was a paved road that weaved through the forest and into a plain that belonged to Sennwell, the closest place around them, and it was still a good four-hour drive away, it owned a large amount of land, as did Ignota, and one could say that they were neighbors.

Neighbors that hated each other's guts, but neighbors nonetheless.

The Chief and the idiot next door didn't get along, as the other Mayor was among the people to try and get the land Ignota owned, and he never stopped trying after getting kicked and banned from the village.

Sinnwell was a huge headache for them as they tried to destroy their village, either through legal means, or non-legal ones, for example, they owned the land the road was built on and needed to let them pass through, they were also legally required to fix the road for coming traffic but...

Because no one from their village usually used the part of the road that led to Ignota, they ignored the road and never cared to repair it unless they got a letter from Ignota's lawyer, who was an expert at settling land disputes by now.

Even after getting a letter, they would drag the issue out as far as they could, as the companies that came to the village to receive and deliver goods needed to pass through Sinnwell and they tried to sabotage them whenever they could.

If the road was blocked then the delivery trucks and drivers needed to wait, which could result in them buying and selling only in Sinnwell, leaving without even arriving at Ignota, ruining their business and livelihood.

Hara sighed as she stepped on the road she needed to inspect and jogged along it, hoping to get it done swiftly.

This road was a small side road that smaller companies used to enter Ignota, as it took less time than driving through the main road, it was smaller but usually faster to traverse.

Hara was in luck as they only needed to call a clean-up crew to get rid of the branches and twigs along the road, no major blockages or damages.

"Hello Chief, road 12 is clear, just needs a clean-up crew."

She informed him happily, glad that there was less of a mess to clean up, she heard a happy exhale from the other end.

"Good, very good, thank you for your work."

"No problem."

He hung up and she prepared to inspect the last road her Chief had asked her to prioritize, she didn't get as lucky this time, the last road was completely blocked by a felled tree, the stump shattered and wood splinters everywhere, she climbed over it and finished looking at the rest, yet another tree blocked the road, this time ripped out by the weakened roots.

"Road 5's a bust, two fallen trees, one shattered in the middle and another uprooted."

"We'll see if it can get cleaned up before delivery week, good work Hara."

"Understood, I'll give you a report on the rest of the roads when I'm done."

"Good."

Just as the woman said, the rest of her day was spent making sure that the roads in her forest were clear and that nothing worrisome had happened after the storm the night before.

She went along some of the rivers that ran through the Emerald forest and were pleased to see that they weren't flooded, there were a few trees that didn't make it through the storm and a mudslide down a mountain, she marked the places down and sent them off to the Chief and the people that needed the information.

She felt that they were quite lucky, the storm had seemed worse than it had been.

Hara arrived back at her cabin after nightfall, the stars were in full view and the moon was clear to see, with no clouds anywhere.

The forester was ready to fall into her bed and call it a day when a call came, biting back a tired groan of despair, she picked up.

"Yes?"

"Zenn Firy here, I'm the researcher sent to investigate the mantis beasts? We were told to deliver them to you after examination and handed this number to call?"

The girl stilled and held back the urge to bash her head against a wall or another flat surface as she replied.

"Yes, that's right, the house in front of the Emerald forest, it's hard to miss."

"Thank you, ma'am, as for the beasts, they seem to have hardened carapaces and sickles but are otherwise harmless, we suggest using gloves for handling them."

Hara wrote that down, ready to hand the note to the demon in Angels' skin, it was to be mandatory as far as she was concerned, you either wore gloves or you skipped.

"Got it, when should I expect your arrival?"

"Half an hour, thank you for your time."

*Beep, beep be-*

Hearing the beep tone that signaled the end of the call, Hara gave in to the desire to bash her head against something, letting her pounding skull collide softly against her cold wall.

After a quick thought, she gave the reason for her plight a call.

"Angelica here! How can I help you?"

Enthusiastic as always, the female answered the call with a cheerful greeting.

"I'll be getting the beasts soon."

She informed the teacher and was rewarded with a squeal of delight.

"That's great! I already have the green light from Chief! This is going to be great! Can you do me another favor? Can you see if the mantises eat beasts? Oh, and if they come in one container, separate female and male please, the females tend to kill their male partner!"

Hara took a deep breath.

"I'll try, I promise nothing, and if some of the beasts died during transport or their stay with me and the other rangers and foresters, then it's not my business."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, you can bring them over at 9 or so, and if they die then that's that, we're already asking a lot of you!"

With that, the cheerful lady hung up.

The young woman heaved a sigh and shot a text to the teacher.

-Only touch the beasts with thick gloves on.-

She got a thumbs up not a second later.

Hara debated on taking a shower later but discarded the idea in the end, there were still things left for her to do.