"What? Where?" Mandy wasn't sure what to make of it as she followed Mindy down the road.

"This!" Mindy said, taking out a runestone and tapping it on the heavy ornate doors of the mansion they were pa.s.sing by…

Wait. They weren't pa.s.sing by. Why weren't they pa.s.sing by? Why was Mindy…

The doors opened.

"Mindy…? What did you do? What did you DO?!" Mandy panicked. "You can't just illegally enter people's houses with home-made runestone keys! That's trespa.s.sing! That's burglary! That's… I don't even know what that is!"

"Relax! It's fine!" Mindy said, taking out a sheet of paper. "See?"

This was a heavily magicked sheet of paper, with a layer of mana protection, and sealed with nine different kinds of runes… "What is this?"

t.i.tle, area, registry number… and the words 'Property Deed'. Mandy read the paragraph that followed. "This is to certify that… Ardent Gale Mansion… belongs to Mindy Summers… as of the date… today?!"

"This is MY house!" Mindy exulted. "Like it?"

"Mindy! What did you do? How did you… Who did you…?!"

"Hey, I didn't do anything wrong! I bought it! I paid millions of lir for it, in cas.h.!.+" Mindy told her, up front.

"In cash?! Where did you get that cash? Whose cash did you take?!" Mandy demanded.

"I earned it by trading with my airs.h.i.+p, just like Charlie. Except I have more than one airs.h.i.+p." Mindy told her.

"Your airs.h.i.+p?"

"I have a Sky Galleon. And a military Frigate. I make tens of thousands of lir in profit every trip." Mindy said. "That's why… I don't need to go to school to get a job or some such. I'm already a multimillionaire. This mansion is really mine. Oh, and the one next door too. And the one after that."

"T-three mansions?!" Mandy gaped. "What would you ever need three mansions for?"

"Oh, I'm thinking I could sell them at a profit once the war ends." Mindy shrugged.

"But Ashdale is losing the war! Germat is getting closer every day! That's why everyone's running! That's why people are selling their mansions for cheap! And even if you buy them now, after the war, their original owners are going to claim them back, and these are rich and powerful people, t.i.tled n.o.bles and such! You don't want to get into trouble with the likes of them!" Mandy barked.

"Hey, I bought these mansions fair and square! If they want them back, they're going to have to buy them back! At market prices!" Mindy insisted.

"Do you really think they'll be that nice to you? A little teenage girl with no background, no support, and no education? They'll lawyer up and trample you into the ground! You're playing with fire!"

"Oh? Does that mean the Ashdale legal system is rubbish? That your beloved Ashdale won't even honor its own t.i.tle deeds?"

"Ashdale is a good and honorable nation, but these are people's homes you're talking about, and the people involved are n.o.bles! n.o.bles, Mindy! They're far beyond the likes of you and me!"

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"No, they're not. There is n.o.body beyond the likes of me." Mindy said, suddenly dead calm and cold. Her hand stroked the hilt of the sword at her side. "You have no idea, Mandy. You think the n.o.bles are powerful, but you have no idea what power really is. No idea at all."

"Violence? Is that your answer? This is a civilized, developed nation, Mindy! You can't just run around waving your sword and expect to get your way!"

"Who's going to stop me? The Ashdale army? The very one that's being beaten by Germat and Auria?"

"Never mind the army, the police alone are enough to put you in jail the rest of your life!"

"For what? Defending my property? The property I fairly bought, and whose t.i.tle deeds I hold?" Mindy snorted. "Some developed nation this would be, if that's the case."

"Mindy…" Mandy tried again.

"No. I've had enough." Mindy's voice was steel. "I thought to impress you, but you're still thinking too small, too caught up in your own little fairytale of great Ashdale rescuing you the damsel in distress. Well, I'm not a damsel in distress, and I'm not afraid of everything like you! I've already made my own way in this world, and if a few mansions and airs.h.i.+ps aren't enough to impress you, then I'll jolly well just go and find something that does!"

She stomped into the mansion – her mansion – and slammed the door behind her.

"Mindy!" Mandy gaped, but Mindy did not reply. She stood there for a minute, staring at shut door of her sister's house, before biting her lip and turning away. She returned to the Meadows household without saying anything more.

Mindy watched her go, but there were no tears on her face. Instead, her eyes carried only a cold, hard glint.

***

Days since last Beast Tide: 75. Current Kill Count: 7093 (250 since yesterday).

Location: KarGoth.

George stared at Song Chen in a daze as he heard the latter's latest report. "The Fog Pegasus Lord did what?"

"Declared war." Song Chen confirmed. "Also, he's not the only one. The Rock Fist Ape Lord is demanding tribute that Aren already refused, so he's threatening to attack, and his forces started gathering this morning. Plus, the Rain Pegasus Lord is the Fog Pegasus Lord's brother and closest ally; we can expect him to jump in too."

"Why the sudden hostilities?" George groaned.

"Well, in the Fog Lord's case, there was this brave stallion who liked a pretty mare in one of our farms…" Song Chen began. "As I understand it, he and the ranchers got into a disagreement and it turned violent. A squad of Defense Force mercenaries stepped in and ended it with the stallion's death. That stallion turned out to be a rather well-loved nephew of the Fog Lord, and things basically just went downhill from there."

George groaned. "We're getting into war with the Wilds because of a horse romance, now? What about the Rock Fist Ape Lord? We don't have any female apes in our farms, right? And don't make any implications about Madam Domei!"

"No, the Rock Fist's problem is something else. He says we've expanded too far into his territory and cut down too many trees."

"We did what? Since when?" George stared.

Song Chen spread his hands. "That's just the thing. We didn't. We've been extra careful not to cross the river border between us and the Emerald Woods. We've never intruded into the Rock Fist's territory as far as I can tell."

"That's really odd. Do you think maybe he just wants to fight and was just making up excuses?"

"Could be. He's got a reputation for being the violent type and loving fights. But if a fight was what he wanted, he didn't need to make excuses. He could have just hopped over and started throwing punches."

"That's very, very strange. We should investigate. Send word to Three Pines. We could use some help from the birds."

"Do we really need the Eagle Lord to send help? Maybe the wolfcats, or the lynxmice would suffice."

"No, I don't want to risk casualties. I want scouts far out of the reach of even the ape lords. That means, flyers."

"Wasps, then. We can ask the Feelo-Wasp Queen. At least she works with us. The Eagle Lord isn't quite committed to being our ally or friend as yet."

"Fine. Wasps, wolfcats, lynxmice… send a cow if you have to, but find out what's going on, and don't get hurt in the process!"

Three hours later, they got their answer.

"There's a colony?" George stared blankly. "There's really a bunch of people setting up a colony in the Emerald Forest?"

"The Wasps aren't too clear on who they are, but they're definitely human, and they're definitely cutting down trees and killing Wilds." Song Chen confirmed.

"But… but why? Why don't they just come to KarGoth and live with us?" George frowned.

"Maybe they just want to do their own thing rather than live under your rule." Song Chen shrugged. "It's not like we have laid claim to the entire Wildlands. We can't really stop them or anything."

"But… the treaties…"

"Haven't you noticed? There's a world war going on out there. Enforcing old treaties in the Wildlands is going to be the least of anyone's worries right now."

George suddenly had a bad feeling. "They might not be the only ones. Send out more scouts. Scan the entire desert border. I want to know if there are any other new human colonies popping up around here."

It was the next morning before he got his answer.

"Five?! There are five new colonies?!" George groaned. "Who are these people? What do they want? Haven't they learned anything from past mistakes?"

Apparently not. There was a whole slew of new colonies in the Wildlands now, and the other colonies were not at all shy about killing Wilds.

The Wilds began to attack them in earnest. They fought back. The kill count soared.

Days since last Beast Tide: 76. Current Kill Count: 7547 (454 since yesterday).