Every mont they hesitated, the situation grew worse. In just 10 to 14 days, the eggs laid by the female locusts would begin to hatch, and each female could produce 100 to 150 eggs per batch. With thousands of locusts already swarming in the West, a single hatch could easily push their numbers into the millions.
If that happened, the West could fall into chaos overnight, perhaps even worse than what the South was facing now.
"Have you asked Archmage Elric if there’s a way to destroy the locust swarm using magic?" Addison asked, still hoping for another solution. But her father shook his head and sighed before explaining.
"Elric has already looked into the situation. The locust swarm appeared so suddenly, without any prior warning or signs, it was as if they just materialized out of nowhere. If it had been caught earlier, he might’ve been able to contain it with an area-of-effect spell in the affected region. But now, the swarm has grown too large. Even if he mobilized all the mages from the Mage Tower, it still wouldn’t be enough to cover the entire swarm with magic."
"And as for creating a magical tool to deal with the problem, it would take too much ti to develop and refine. Unfortunately, ti isn’t a luxury we have. That’s why, even though we didn’t reach a definitive solution during the conference eting this morning, we knew we couldn’t afford to sit idle."
"After the eting, one of my advisors approached about the worsening situation in the West. It’s both urgent and ti-sensitive. That’s why I wanted your input, and the opinion of our Royal rchant, on whether he could help with transporting the crops."
"Using a teleportation gate is out of the question, too. If the locusts were to pass through the gate, they could escape containnt and spread to other regions of the kingdom. That leaves us with land transportation as the safest option. We might also be able to provide so aerial support."
"The plan is to transport what we can by land while aerial units contain the swarm and eventually drop biochemical agents in the infected areas. anwhile, the mages will do what they can to hold the swarm in place."
The Alpha King explained the strategy in full, and now that Addison had a clearer picture of what her father and his advisor had planned, she found it to be a reasonable but risky approach. But given how little ti they had, a carefully perfected plan wasn’t an option. What they needed now was swift action.
"But will the biochemical agent we’re planning to use also target the locusts’ eggs?" Addison asked, her tone sharp and serious. "Because even if we manage to kill the swarm, if the agent doesn’t affect the eggs, then the entire problem will repeat itself. And who exactly is providing the biochemical agent? No one ntioned its source earlier, and it doesn’t sound like it’s coming from the Mage Tower. So, who’s the supplier?"
"The Gypsies, I heard..." the Alpha King replied, though even he didn’t sound entirely certain.
"Says who?" Addison asked with a frown. "Aren’t the Gypsies known for breeding warhorses and raising sheep? Since when did they beco experts in biochemicals?" Her brows furrowed deeper. From what she’d learned, the ones most likely to supply a biochemical agent would be the humans, especially those who had established laboratories dedicated to groundbreaking research.
As far as she knew, the human continent was far from their own continent, which had enjoyed relative peace. But that peace had bred disputes over territory, leadership, and resources. Eventually, these tensions erupted into internal wars.
The tragic irony?
They were killing one another over land and power. But through that chaos, the humans had also made terrifying advances, creating destructive weapons and even biochemical agents capable of wiping out an entire population.
Addison clearly rembered reading about one such agent during her ti in the Sacred Land, one specifically designed to target and eliminate insects. But the Gypsies? Fierce warriors, yes. Often feared and respected as the barbarians of war. But biochemical experts? That didn’t add up.
"But aren’t the Gypsies a nomadic tribe?" Addison asked, still puzzled. "They don’t have a permanent territory; they move from place to place. So how would they get involved in sothing like this?"
The Alpha King nodded. "Exactly. That’s why it isn’t surprising they ca across sothing like this in their travels. They go through all kinds of places, so abandoned, so forgotten, and sotis they pick up things others overlook. But they’re not giving the biochemical agent away for free," he added with a sigh.
"I had my advisor send a Mage through a teleportation gate as soon as we heard about it, to strike a deal. The Gypsies are demanding a steep price: one hundred dairy cows, one hundred beef cattle, sheep, vegetables, and a large quantity of seeds."
He paused for a mont, weighing the cost. "Honestly, I don’t see a problem with their demand. If we fail to stop the infestation in the west, we might lose everything anyway: fields, farms, livestock. There might not be a single crop left. If paying that price ans saving what’s left, then so be it. It’s a deal worth making."
"But Father, have you ever considered that this might be a trap?" Addison blurted out, unable to stay silent any longer. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she beca. Her father ntioned that the locust infestation appeared out of nowhere, but that was nearly impossible.
Wouldn’t the farrs have noticed a surge in the locust population? Unless, of course, they dismissed it, thinking the insects would die off in a day and didn’t raise the alarm.
Still, if that were the case, and the western citizens deliberately kept this from the Royal Court to avoid responsibility, then appropriate punishnt could be handed down. But what if it wasn’t simple negligence? What if this was all part of a larger sche, an orchestrated plan to throw the werewolves into chaos and weaken them from within, just like they have always been suspecting?
With everything happening around the kingdom lately, the possibility of them being targeted wasn’t just likely, it was becoming dangerously real.
"Would the gypsies really do sothing like that?" the Alpha King muttered, his brow furrowed in thought. "They may crave war and be drunk on power, but they’ve never resorted to underhanded tactics. They’re the kind who wear their strength openly, real barbarians through and through. If anything, I’d say they’re just trying to kick us while we’re down, seizing the mont to get sothing out of us."
He paused, thinking it over more deeply. The gypsies were wild, yes, but simple in their intentions. They lived for battle, for drink, for pleasure. They didn’t chase complicated sches or covet territory; they moved where the wind carried them. Their hunger for power drove them into fights and wars, not deception. That’s why so many rcenaries ca from their ranks. They were fierce, reliable foot soldiers, but rarely more than that.
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