Staring at the sorry excuse for a soldier in front of her, Vanessa had to exercise an incredible amount of self-restraint to not simply smash his fat face in.
Having heard about the garrison soldiers deployed to Redwood Town, and having seen what was going on around Herald City, Vanessa could tell just how rotten the local military forces had become.
The state of Commander Manning himself, his rotund figure barely fitting into his armour and his residence inside the garrison grounds being so gaudy and opulent, only further reinforced her belief that corruption had fully taken hold here
What's more, this corpulent Commander's thinly veiled attempts to blame everything on the local Count greatly incensed Vanessa. While it was obvious that Count Richard Baker was a failure of a leader and a detriment to Herald City, Commander Manning, as the one charged with upholding the Kingdom's Law, was equally to blame in her mind.
Vanessa might have been free-spirited and a bit airheaded in her personal life, but she would never have risen to the rank of Regiment Commander if she was an idiot. The attempts to shirk responsibility on display before her were an insult to her intelligence, and it was difficult for her to not snap right then and there.
Still, Vanessa understood that if she lashed out now, the fallout from her actions would throw the already precarious situation in Herald City into total chaos.
Executing Commander Manning might make her feel better, and she had more than enough strength and authority to do just that, but then she would have to clean up the mess his death would inevitably cause.
Hmph, damn pig. I'll let you live a few more days, Vanessa cursed to herself while wearing a mask of indifference, turning around and completely disregarding the fat Garrison Commander.
She had a mission to accomplish, and she was damn well going to carry it out, whether that pissed off the local leaders of Herald City or not.
As for Commander Manning, he was left dumbstruck by Vanessa flat out telling him she didn't need his permission when, as far as he knew, according to the Kingdom's Law, she did.
Leonard would have exploded in a righteous rage had it not been for the ominous warning which had come at the end of Vanessa's scolding.
Marquess Balfour would be here soon!
Right now, that was the only thing that mattered to Leonard.
All his anger, all his rage, all his indignation were meaningless in the face of absolute strength and absolute authority, two things Celestina Balfour had.
Commander Manning could tell that Commander Clark despised him, but he could also see that she was more focused on completing whatever objectives she had right now than pursuing his faults. Once General Balfour arrived, however, Leonard wasn't even sure he'd have the luxury of a trial.
From all the rumours Leonard had heard, he felt there was a good chance the General would either cripple or simply execute him on the spot. As for whether his death would cause problems for her, Celestina probably wouldn't even care.
In Herald City, Leonard's fist was among the biggest, so his word was law, but in the Rockwell Kingdom, there were few, if any fists bigger than Celestina Balfour's.
Commander Manning knew that even if the Royal Court found the Marquess to be in the wrong for killing him, she would receive a token punishment at most, while he would be dead.
Quickly realizing how bleak his future had just become, Leonard Manning's expression turned solemn.
He knew what he had to do now.
Clearing his throat, Leonard asked in a serious tone, "If that is the case, I won't stand in your way, Commander Clark. Please let me know if you require anything of me while you are in Herald City."
Glancing back over her shoulder, Vanessa narrowed her eyes slightly at the sudden change in the local Garrison Commander's demeanor. His unusual calm and the lack of hostility in his gaze were unnerving to her, but she didn't have time to waste on him right now, so she simply nodded and turned back.
Not interested in entertaining the local Commander anymore, Vanessa walked off to assist her people in completing their mission. She didn't expect, nor did she want any help from the Herald City Garrison, so she simply ignored Commander Manning's offer, thinking it was of no consequence either way.
…..
While Vanessa was dealing with the Herald City Garrison Commander, Sasha was busy organizing the soldiers from the Raging River and Golden Wings Legions, along with the Redwood Town volunteer militia.
Ordinarily, Sasha wouldn't have been allowed to command military forces, but being the granddaughter of the Balfour Family Matriarch had its advantages.
In fact, one of the biggest reasons Sasha was the one sent ahead to lead the advanced force was because she was a Balfour. The volunteer defenders were already used to Sasha being in charge, and none of the soldiers would dare to disobey her knowing that Celestina was less than an hour's flight away.
For this mission, Celestina had even given Sasha her personal token and allowed her to use the Balfour Family's name when engaging in any kind of negotiation with the city's local forces.
It wasn't an ideal arrangement, but it was a practical one.
None of this would have happened, however, if everyone wasn't confident in Sasha's abilities. As much as she preferred to remain in the background, it was obvious to anyone of any importance that the one who handled Redwood Town's affairs was Sasha, not Charles.
Baron Newton was a fine leader who had earned his subject's trust and admiration by working side-by-side with them in the streets and in the fields, but it was no secret he was a terrible bureaucrat.
City-planning, finances, long-term projects, record keeping, and all the other boring yet essential parts of keeping Redwood Town functioning and prosperous were handled by Sasha, so when it came to choosing someone to send to Herald City, there was really only one choice.
Of course, there was actually one other name brought up when considering who should lead this advanced team, but everyone agreed that while Lucas was probably more than capable, his age was too much of a problem.
After unloading everyone from the Sunchaser, their weapons and baggage slung over their shoulders, Sasha briefly addressed them all, "Our goal here is simple, quickly secure a place for our fellow townsfolk to settle in while avoiding conflict with the local forces as much as possible. To that end, our first destination is the Eastern River District."
When the assembled volunteers heard this, many of them frowned and began whispering among themselves. Although Sasha had called it by its official name, the Eastern River District of Herald City was better known by its unofficial title, the eastern slum.
It was a poor place in every sense of the word. Poor infrastructure, poor residents, poor safety, poor everything.
Only those with no other options in Herald City would choose to live in the Eastern River District, so it was naturally a hotbed of poverty and crime. The thought of setting up camp there, even temporarily, was naturally unappealing to everyone familiar with the situation.
Seeing the nervous and reluctant looks on everyone's faces, Sasha cleared her throat and shouted, "I understand your concerns, but we have good reasons for choosing this spot. First, although it's outside the city walls, it's also on the eastern side of the Belton, so there will be a huge natural barrier between us and the rampaging Wild Beasts. Second, there are no entrenched forces or families with a claim over that space. Third, there is a river dock where our fellow civilians can disembark from."
Sasha went on to list a few more reasons why the slums had been chosen for the relocation effort, eventually convincing most people of the decision.
Still, one person couldn't help asking, "What about the gangs? There are several well-known groups of thugs that occupy the city's slums and lord over them in normal times. They've surely become bolder now that everything has gone crazy."
"If those criminals know what's good for them, they'll stay out of our way," Sasha declared coldly, her eyes emitting a chilling light, "But if they don't, we'll remove them."
It was a rare thing for the people of Redwood Town to see Sasha mad, much less talk about 'removing' people, but none of them doubted she was capable of this if she wanted to. If it had just been the Town Guard and volunteer defenders, some might be nervous, but when they glanced to the side and saw the professional soldiers of the army standing there in neat rows, any such worries disappeared.
With some 30 Core Formation and Sea Establishment Realm Practitioners among them, there really was no need to fear a few bandits and thugs. What's more, there was even a Spirit Initiate among their group, and they would soon be adding a second, making their group practically untouchable.
"Any more questions?" Sasha asked, sweeping her gaze over the crowd.
When no one raised their voice again, Sasha nodded before turning to her left, "In that case, Senior Farah, I will have to trouble you to lead they way."
With a gruff snort, Farah hoisted a huge sack onto her back, one that must have weighed over 100 kg, then grabbed her giant sabre before walking towards the garrison's exit.
There were no words spoken, no signals given, but everyone understood her meaning and quickly filed in behind.
The old Redwood Town butcher, knowing she wasn't of much use on the front lines, had decided to accompany Sasha to Herald City, where she felt she could at least serve as a deterrent to any of the local troublemakers.