It had been two weeks since the spell to begin expanding the influence of the Fae Forest had been cast, stretching the borders of the territory that Wolfe and his Witches controlled from just the boundary of the original thirty kilometres to over fifty in every direction from the village.
Fortunately for them, the spell had worked as intended, and the grasslands outside of the Forest remained similar to how they had always been, but the mana density was slowly increasing, and the grass was looking more lively than it had ever been, with new species of plants beginning to emerge.
The monsters had also started to change in the region around the forest. They were no less huge and monstrous. In fact, they seemed to be getting even larger.
But they were not as mindless or aggressive as they had been. The reports of attacks were way down, and the villages who had received today's supply run were starting to report that they actually had a few leftover potions from the last batch, a big achievement for the villages and an essential preparation for the much more dangerous winter months.
Today also marked the first trip that Wolfe would be making out of the loyal region around the village to attempt to gather support along the coast for their efforts to stop any potential invasion that might happen this winter and expand the influence of Forest Grove through the Frozen Wastes.
In theory, the effort shouldn't be that hard. They all knew the legends of the Snow Demon from last winter and knew that he was capable of supporting them in a much better position than they could maintain for themselves.
But there was still the fact that most of the villages were fiercely independent and that some of them were close enough to the coast for the newly developed submarines of the Grand Dutchies fleet to bombard them.
With a thought, Wolfe used air magic to shave the beginnings of his beard, letting the dark brown hair fall to the sink in front of him before being whisked away to the trash can.
Then, with a quick brush through his hair, he was ready to head for the edge of the forest and catch his ride.
He wouldn't be alone on this trip. He was taking Cassie with him while Ella was staying to keep working with the development department to convert the military vehicles that Dali, their Kitsune ally from the East, had brought to them.
The magical transport trucks would be a key part of their winter plans this year, and they were hoping to have enough of them finished so that they could replace the deliveries that the planes were doing when the attacks began.
The plane was too easy to track to its destination, but a truck could drop off supplies at any point along its route. When there were enemy military units around, they were a much more discrete choice.
Cassie came into their shared bedroom a few minutes later, already dressed to go, with her dark hair pulled into a thick braid that Wolfe's sharp senses could tell was lined with magical amulets held in place by decorative ribbons.
It was a new idea that she had. Kira, the resident Kitsune Demon, had a set of enchanted clothes with spells all over them so she could use more magic than her species innately allowed. Cassie and the other Witches didn't suffer from that restriction but needed reagents and time to use a lot of their magic.
So, she had come up with the plan of the amulets either sewn into the clothing or, in this case, tied into her hair so that she could also use a wider variety of magic in an emergency situation where seconds counted.
"I'm ready to go. Do we have everything that we need?" Cassie asked, then stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"Yes, I had all the supplies sent ahead so that we could fly out as soon as we arrived. Have you got everything that you'll want for the trip? I know it will be a pain without being able to speak to the locals, but the Curse isn't broken that far east yet." Wolfe reminded her with a sigh.
"Yeah, I've got a chalkboard, a bunch of notepads and pencils. That should do the job, and I can tell you what to say the rest of the time." She agreed, her violet eyes sparkling with mischief.
That was one of the great advantages of the Consort Bond. She could speak in his mind as easily as out loud, so in a situation like this, he wouldn't have to miss out on her running commentary on everyone that they met.
The fan-propelled riverboat took them to the plane just after dawn so that they could get an early start on the day and hopefully have their first meeting with the villages on the Eastern Border around noon.
Dali, Kira's father and their sole ally on the border with the Grand Dutchies at the moment, had set up the meeting with the villages, but many of them were fearful of retribution from the human armies, and it had not been easy to get them to agree to a meeting with a stranger whose territory was so far away.
The twin-engine airplane, built for maximum cargo capacity, was loaded with weapons and magical items that would help the villagers they were hoping to make a deal with. But that wouldn't stop it from taking off on the short stretch of river where it was currently floating.
The magic-driven engines were incredibly overpowered for the purpose and would drag it vertically through the air if needed, even without activating the Gravity Magic inscriptions that would let it be literally lifted vertically.
"Have a safe trip, and we will see you in a day or two." Jenna, one of the Rank Two twin mages, called out from the welcoming center, a small hut built along the tree line, as Wolfe and Cassie got off the boat.
"Be safe, and let Ella know if you need us to come back early. She won't have a problem reaching us from anywhere." Wolfe reminded them but didn't stop walking.
The sooner he was in the air, the better.
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