"I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing right now," Eris muttered after a while, seemingly not knowing what else to say.
Lucas knit his brow, wondering the same thing.
If he was in charge, the first thing he would have done is gather all the Town Guard together, armed and armoured them, then sent most of them out to evacuate as many of the townsfolk as possible.
As for where to bring everyone, Lucas felt that the Manor and Town Square would probably be the best choices. Both places could hold a large number of people and were the most easily defended in town.
Of course, there was no fortress or military base in Redwood Town, nor were there any high walls which could be used as defensive barriers. That said, the Town Lord's Manor had multiple stone buildings which were quite sturdy, while the shops around the Central Square were all of good construction as well.
At the very least, First and Second Order Wild Beasts would have much more difficulty knocking down such buildings compared to the simple wooden houses that most families lived in throughout town.
As for what else could be done, perhaps setting up barricades on some of the roads or digging ditches to act as obstacles was an option, but Lucas wasn't certain if there was enough time for something like that.
The young boy wracked his brain trying to think of other things which could be done to help prepare, combing through his inherited memories for inspiration, but ultimately, the lack of time, manpower, and resources left very few options on the table.
It was only now that Lucas fully realized that despite having a wealth of knowledge from a trained soldier who served in a massive, highly advanced military, it was the reality on the ground which mattered most in war.
He could understand the situation better, and had knowledge others didn't, but when it came to actually applying what he knew, Lucas still had to figure out everything on his own, and his lack of worldly experience put severe restrictions on his ability to do that.
"Lucas?" Eris called out, worried about the deep frown which had appeared on her little brother's face.
Snapping out of his daze, Lucas looked up and smiled faintly at his big sister, "Sorry, I was just… lost in thought."
Eris also wore a gloomy expression when she heard his answer as she was feeling quite useless as well.
The children sank back into silence, but were soon drawn to the sound of approaching footsteps. Turning their heads to the door, Lucas and Eris saw Sasha arrive together with Carl, the two of them still deep in discussion as they moved at a half-walking, half-running pace.
"Half the Town Guard are already moving to join up with Charles on the western side of town, the other half are maintaining order around here."
"What about the volunteers?"
"Most of them are getting their own families settled right now. We're doing our best, but there's just not enough…"
"I know there's not enough time! Just keep things moving!"
"Right."
The two adults didn't even notice the children in the fading evening sunlight as they dashed by and headed towards the back of the Manor.
Lucas wanted to ask how things were going, but after hearing his Aunt Sasha raise her voice in frustration, he held back as he didn't want to bother her.
Fortunately for Lucas, Eris didn't seem to have the same inhibitions, or perhaps she just lacked the same level of restraint, "Is there anything we can do to help, Mom?"
Seemingly startled by the voice, Sasha and Carl finally turned their eyes to see the kids sitting nearby.
Sasha knit her brow and seriously considered it for a moment.
Currently, they were so short of hands and time that anyone who was remotely competent was being put to work.
Lucas didn't have the strength necessary to join the front lines, but he was well respected among the townsfolk and already has plenty of management experience from running his soap workshop and the bathhouse, so he could definitely handle some non-combat tasks.
As for her daughter, Sasha momentarily considered having her join the volunteer defenders, but she soon shelved that idea.
Eris might have the necessary strength, but she lacked real combat experience, It would be better to keep her together with Lucas as his assistant, there will surely be things he needs help with, so she can still make herself useful.
Having quickly thought the issue through, Sasha sifted through the things she needed to take care of and promptly decided on one to assign to the kids, "Lucas, Eris, head to the yard where the storehouses are and take charge of the food collection situation. A few of the Manor staff should already be there, so work with them and any volunteers you need to recruit to bring in, take inventory, and organize our supplies."
While this task might seem mundane and unimportant in the current crisis, it was actually a critical matter for the coming days. Defending the town and its residents from a beast tide was naturally the first priority, but how to shelter and feed the 3,000 odd townsfolk for the foreseeable future was no less important.
After Sasha managed to gather most of the leaders of the town, they quickly hammered out a two-part plan and began dividing up the available workforce.
The first part of the plan was for all residences and buildings west of the Town Square and Town Lord's Manor to be evacuated. Those who lived in the outskirts of the eastern half of town were also told to leave their homes and seek shelter in more central locations.
At the same time, anyone with any combat experience was told to equip themselves with whatever weapons they had and then begin setting up barricades and traps to funnel the beasts away from the safe-zones.
Fortunately, there were a lot of hunters and adventurers in Redwood Town, so there was no lack of knowledge about how to herd and divert Wild Beasts.
As for how effective these measures would be against a full-on stampede, that remained to be seen.
The second part of the plan was for those who couldn't fight to gather as much food as possible and bring it to either Farah's butcher shop or the Town Lord's Manor.
There were 5 granaries in Redwood Town, one in each quarter and a large central storage at the Town Lord's Manor. Additionally, there were 2 large-scale warehouses equipped with Freezing Tools; one at the Manor, and one at Farah's shop.
Consolidating the food supply now was pivotal for the long-term survival of the town.
As for whether there would survive long-term… no one wanted to think about that right now.
A group of volunteers had already been sent to the western granary with all the carts, wagons, and carriages they could find, even the ones left behind by the Roth Family caravan. Their orders were to empty out as much of the fall harvest from there as possible.
Putting 2 children in charge of something as important as the town's food reserves seemed inappropriate to Carl, but when he recalled all the things Lucas had accomplished around town over the past year, he ultimately held his tongue.
Lucas was no ordinary child, that much was obvious, so given the circumstances, leaving this matter to him for now was acceptable.
If Lucas could hear Carl's thoughts, he might have actually agreed with the Vice Captain's worries. This was an important task, and while the young boy felt he could handle it, that didn't mean he wasn't a bit nervous about suddenly being handed so much responsibility.
As for Eris, she was just eager to help out and nodded, "En!"
As far as the 13-year-old girl was concerned, as long as she was together with her smart little brother, things would work out. After all the miraculous things Lucas had shown and taught her over the last year and a half, Eris had developed the impression that there was nothing he couldn't do.
Sasha, who was aware of just what was in Lucas' head, also felt fully confident in her decision and declared, "Lucas, I'm sorry to have to push this onto you so suddenly, but I need your help right now. Find a way to get it done."
Lucas pursed his lips slightly before nodding, "Alright, Aunt Sasha. I'll handle it."
Quickly considering the task which had just been assigned to him, Lucas turned to the other adult in the room and lowered his head, "Vice Captain Carl, I need to borrow a couple of the Town Guard. I know we're short on hands right now, but in order to maintain order and reassure people that our food stores are secure, I think a show of force will be necessary."
Carl raised his brow at this request, impressed by Lucas' rapid assessment of the situation. Seeing no problem with it, he nodded, "Alright, I'll re-assign a couple of people from crowd control to the warehouses and tell them to follow your instructions."
"Thank you," Lucas bowed once more, with Eris getting up and following along. She wasn't quite caught up on what was happening, but she figured if she followed Lucas' lead, things would work out.