"All orders for Ignota that were supposed to arrive this month?" She whimpered quietly enough that it shouldn't have been heard on the other line.

"Yes, we are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience."

Inconvenience? Inconvenience he says as if he wasn't fucking them over, hard.

The reason for the deliveries arrival times was so that they could unload and store everything without anything breaking or going to waste, people were still cleaning the warehouses out to make room for the coming delivery, where were they supposed to store everything?

Ignota rarely had deliveries, due to the large distance between Ignota and the rest of the world, the fact that they were largely self-sustaining, and that Ignota had the space to handle that many things coming in and out.

Some of the fields were still being harvested, too.

The schedule Ignota had for the deliveries wasn't just for fun, there was a lot of work and preparation that needed to be done before they were ready to collect what they had ordered, and because the schedule now went out the window, more and more problems would keep popping up.

If they even got the delivery before Sinnwell got their dirty paws on them.

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, Hara bit the bullet and gave a promise she wasn't qualified to handle.

"Alright, we can drive out and collect the orders ourselves, do not sell anything to Sinnwell before we get there." She said, her voice far calmer than she felt, Lyth was looking at her with worry radiating from her and she sent a wave of reassurance over with an apologetic smile.

"... Alright, we can do that, when will you arrive tomorrow?"

"I will need to schedule this with my partners, we will call you back tomorrow morning." She informed him and felt the headache brewing as she knew she needed to wake half the village up to deal with this.

"I understand, once again, I am terribly sorry for the short notice." He hung up on her after saying a quick goodbye.

Biting the proverbial bullet, the woman dialed a number she knew by heart.

"Chief? I have bad news, very bad news." She said after he picked up the call.

________

Tired from the day but wide awake Hara knocked on her leaders' door and watched as the warm light spilled out from inside.

"Come in Hara."

Hara nodded silently and stepped inside, Lyth in her arms and the only reason she wasn't shaking or fidgeting.

---

"Now, what's the problem, you were vague on the phone."

"Chief, I think Sinnwell fucked with us, this time they've really done it." She reported and bit her lip.

The old and aged man, still in his nightwear, looked at her and suddenly looked fully awake, his eyes sharpening like a hawk spotting prey.

"What did they do?" He asked, the tea by his hand now forgotten.

"The blocked road 5, mudslide, they said, but we both know that the road was clear not even 20 hours ago."

Her leader's hand twitched and he started thrumming his fingers on the blackwood table.

"They did, now did they?" His voice was soft and deadly calm. like the eye of the storm, Hara knew he was itching to call Ignotas lawyer and sick him on Sinnwell for sabotage and a slew of other things.

"It gets worse," Hara stated, looking to the side in shame and holding her beast closer.

"How?"

"... The deliveries were re-scheduled and were supposed to arrive today."

"WHAT?!" The aged man shot up from his chair and banged his fist on the table, making everything on it shake as Hara flinched back and Lyth went eerily still in her arms.

"Lane 7 is too small for the trucks... I told them we'd come to collect them tomorrow." Hara mumbled and shrank back further, expecting her leader to lash out at her for overstepping her boundaries.

"You did?" He asked, somehow calm again, not that she believed that he was, she gave a strong order for Lyth not to attack as she felt her beast rear up to attack the threat to her mistress's safety.

"They called me not 30 minutes ago and I told them we'd come to collect everything tomorrow, I also told them not to sell anything to Sinnwell before we get there." She said the last part as a defense for her actions.

"Did they agree, Hara?"

She gave a strong nod.

Like a puppet with his strings cut, the elder sank back in his chair.

"Good, good, we can work with that."

Gulping noiselessly Hara said.

"We can?"

He looked her right in the eyes, the brown, dark, and full of life.

"You did good Hara, we can work with this, as long as Sinnwell doesn't get the deliveries we paid for, then we can salvage this, did you tell them a time when we'll arrive?" He asked, Hara looked up hesitantly and shook her head, feeling like a ton of bricks had fallen off her shoulders.

"No, I told them that we would call back in the morning to give them a time."

"Alright, we can work with this. Hara?" He called for her attention and she gave it.

"Yes, Chief?" She asked, Lyth settled in her arms again as the perceived threat disappeared.

"I'm afraid we'll have to pull an all nighter."

"As long as you need me Chief."

___________

Just as Hara predicted, it was a flurry of motion after her talk with the Chief.

The silent village awoke and doors were thrown open as men and woman alike rushed to do their jobs.

Hara was on the phone with nary a break, answering questions ranging from "Where is the tractor" to "Where do we store the grain and fruits?" She answered them all, from people asking what is happening to what can I do, the questions and calls were endless as the whole village sprung into motion at the elders' command.

The Chief was just as busy, ordering people around and documenting stock, looking for solutions to problems that arose, and much, much more.

It was loud and wild, people running from place to place, arranging things and people arriving from further out to help with the humongous task of organizing the half finished preparations for the delivery week that wasn't supposed to start until Thursday.

Everyone knew just how important these deliveries were and there was nary a complaint about the late hour and large workload.

Ignotas' legal team, for one, was out for blood, as in, they were getting ready to sue Sinnwell for everything they had.

Either that, or getting away with murder.

Hara couldn't be sure, they looked ready to tear throats out with their bare hands, and if those were occupied, then with their teeth.

After the organization was done best they could on short notice and the sun was peeking out from behind the mountains, Hara was ready to drop dead from stress, but her day hadn't even started yet.

The Chief had another job for her, one just as important as organizing, she was to drive out to Sinnwell and help load up the deliveries and handle everything in official capacity, as the elder was too tired and worn to drive out to Sinnwell after the long night they have had.

Hara didn't blame him, but was very sympathetic towards the elder, he was old enough to retire by far, and looked the part.

She was needed due to her new ability to lift things far above her own weight, and they only had so many heavy lifters ready to drive to Sinnwell and not start a fight with Sinnwells' people.

__

And so, the tired woman climbed into one of the prepared cars and leaned back in the leather seat as the car sprung to life and rumbled down the road, Lyth still in her arms as the female closed her eyes for a short, but much needed, nap.