"I'm afraid so. I've been trying to talk to their reinforcements, but…"

"Why are you trying to talk to their reinforcements?" Remian asked, puzzled. "You should be talking to ours."

"Ours?" George's question came back over the comms crystal even more baffled.

"You should be talking to Doom and Darian." Remian told him. "You should be talking to Tor'ndras and all the Kings of the Wilds. You need to prepare for battle! You should already be rus.h.i.+ng to the rescue!"

"War?! But… uh… I mean, I want to rescue Mindy too, but…"

"What does Shadowflash say?" Remian cut in.

"Shadowflash? What does he have to do with any of this?" George asked.

"Technically, he's the ruler of your region. As far as the Wilds are concerned… he's your boss."

"He's my boss?! I thought he was my pet or something!"

Remian rubbed his forehead. "What exactly have you done about this wave of treasure seekers and kidnappers?"

"Uh… supplied their s.h.i.+ps and hosted their crews?"

"Why are you even letting them pa.s.s?"

"Why not? I mean… it's got nothing to do with us. They're just stopping by on the way to the south."

Remian let out a long, heartfelt groan. "George, I think we need to discuss a serious s.h.i.+ft in your thinking."

"What's wrong with my thinking?"

"You do understand that some of us are now considered Lords of the Wilds? Including me?"

"Yeah?"

"And Darian is considered the King of the Eastern Edge?"

"Yes, I got that."

"What is our relations.h.i.+p with the Wildlands, then?"

"Uh…" George paused. "I guess we're… friends?"

"Friends? Friends don't get kings.h.i.+ps in their friends' lands."

"So… we're… part of the Wildlands now?!" George gaped. "Which means… we're Wilds?!"

"Pretty much. Given that mindset, how does this treasure hunt relate to us?"

"Treasure hunt… the hunt for the Source of Magic… if we're Wilds, then… they're coming to steal our stuff!!" George gasped.

"Why are you already surprised? They've already stolen Mindy. I thought you liked her."

"They… they…! They're hunting our treasure! They're kidnapping our girls!!"

"Now you get it. So, what should be our response?"

"Sound the alarm! All hands, battle stations!" George shouted. "Bring out the wolfcats! Call out the dragons! This means war!!"

***

"Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked, somewhat worriedly.

"Sure about what?"

"You basically got George to declare war on the whole world."

Remian shook his head. "It's not like that. We're just clearing out some pests. I doubt it would come to actual war."

"George seems to think it would."

"We can explain it to him later. Right now, I don't want to dampen his enthusiasm."

"Is it really wise to offend so many countries, though? Even if they're not officially representing their nations, we'd be essentially getting in between entire countries and their hopes for mana."

"We can ask our airs.h.i.+p crews to evict them politely. Maybe they won't be so offended if we kick them out nicely."

"I somehow got the idea that George was more likely to shoot them with cannons than tell them off."

"I'm actually more worried about what Darian might do."

"You mean Tor'ndras and Doom, don't you?"

"Them too, but mainly Darian. He's my brother after all. I worry he might get himself into more danger than he can handle."

"Well, then, you better talk to him and make sure he brings an army of dragons with him if he wants to go on a rampage."

***

To that, Darian only said one word in response, one word that meant everything.

"Understood."

It was spoken in a voice so cold with anger, Remian wasn't even sure it was his brother for a moment.

***

As for Mindy, on her part, she wasn't exactly feeling kidnapped.

[I could be there in ten seconds.] Chirpy offered, though neither her little bird form or her full giant form were anywhere in sight.

Mindy hesitated, then answered. [No, not yet. There are other human airs.h.i.+ps chasing us. If you act now, they'll see you. Just wait. We're outpacing them and heading straight for you. Soon enough, we'll be too far ahead of the rest to see, and right at your doorstep. You can freely take action then.]

[You need not be concerned about the rest of the humans. None of them will be leaving these lands alive.]

[Uh… Chirpy… some of those humans might be my friends. I'm pretty sure they're coming for me.] Mindy mentioned.

[Then tell them to bring their Comrades so we know who they are. Otherwise, we will kill them all.]

Mindy gulped. [Is that really necessary? I mean… if you kill all the humans here, more are going to come looking for them, you know?]

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[Even more will come if we do not. Doing nothing will only invite endless waves of catastrophe. Maybe fear will make them relent. See how accommodating even your people has resulted in such an invasion! If we do not teach them a lesson, they will think they could walk all over us as if they own our lands.]

Mindy grimaced, but she couldn't refute that. [Still… I'm not sure that even fear will be enough this time. The Source of Magic is much too big a temptation.]

[Then we will simply have to increase the fear until it is enough.]

[Is there any way I can talk you out of it?] Mindy tried one last time.

[This is the way it has always been. We have made exceptions only once, for your people, our Comrades, and look - it has already resulted in this audacity! No more! This is the unanimous decision of all Five Emperors.]

No chance, then. Mindy directly gave up trying to persuade the Wilds otherwise.

[Just be careful, all right? There are some ridiculously strong people here. These guys aren't like the humans before. These aren't some refugees or exiled criminals or hopeful pioneers. These are elite knights, the likes of Doom or even stronger.]

[How many of them are there?]

[Four, that I know of. I don't think there's anyone else here on that level.]

[That's fine then. I will have the Nine Kings meet them. If necessary, I'll make a move myself.]

[No, don't! If you make a move, everything here is going to die! I don't think it will come to that. Just the Nine Kings would be a lot already, thanks…]