48 Unexpected Aid (1/2)

”There's an airship coming.”

”Really? Where?”

”There!”

Remian overheard the conversation while he was tending to Mandy the next morning. He glanced at where a raised finger pointed; there was indeed, a little blimp in the distance that looked very much like an airship.

”Could it be?” Remian perked up.

He glanced around; they were in the Guild Hall along with half the injured; the other half had had to be placed in medical tents in between the Guild Hall and the workers' quarters along with other temporary shelters set up for the survivors of Frontier Town.

To put it simply, they were in bad shape. There wasn't enough medicine, clothing, or proper shelter. They had plenty of beast meat, so food was no concern, and they had water to spare, but there were many injured who needed better treatment or suffer permanent disabilities.

They needed medicine and bandages. Actually, just clean fabrics would help a lot. Better yet; the injured could be brought to someplace safe to recuperate. A lot of people here seemed to have trouble relaxing or resting properly in these conditions, after such danger.

”Signal lights.” Charlie got up. He had been testing Mindy nearby, but at the sight of the airship coming in, he jumped into action. ”We need to signal the airship! Do you have any more Light scrolls?”

”Here!” Mindy held out two of hers.

”Take as many as you need.” Remian offered three of his own. All of them still had five charges.

”That would do.” Charlie took the scrolls and dashed out.

An hour later, not one but two airships dropped anchors from above the temporary shelters in between the workers quarters and the Guild Hall. Remian set his hired hands to tugging the airships down for a landing, an effort that usually wasn't required in a proper airport, but was needed in a rough landing like this one.

They were from Fal'Herim, which was a surprise. A bigger surprise was that they brought relief supplies; blankets, tools, quality tents, and yes, medicine and bandages.

”Can they evacuate the injured?” Remian dared hope.

”Yes. I've already asked.” Charlie said, frowning.

”So why don't you seem happy about it? What are they asking for?” Remian queried.

”That's exactly the problem. They're not asking anything.” Charlie shifted uneasily. ”On top of that, they arrived too quickly, and they brought exactly the kind of things we needed. Doesn't that tell you something?”

”Either someone got word out to the Desert King and he happens to have an extra pair of relief airships on standby, or…” Remian bit his lip. ”He's got agents here.”

That would explain a lot. It would explain how he was able to pre-empt the mercenaries offer, and why Fal'Herim didn't seem overly concerned about Wilds coming up from the south to attack them. Surely the king of the nearest city would want to keep an eye on this dangerous Frontier.

In fact, numerous kingdoms and nations had interest in the Frontier before. Many had sent colonization fleets. All had been badly mauled in the end, but perhaps they still kept an eye out?

In which case, perhaps help wasn't as far away as Remian feared. Maybe some of these interested nations would be willing to send other kinds of aid in return for long-term benefits. He just needed to find them. Before yesterday, that would have been a monumental task, but now there was an army of Lynxmice keeping tabs on the people in town…

”Also, the airships are not giving us supplies for free.” Charlie added. ”Their prices are average, comparable to Deutero's, but right now everyone is in dire straits. Some of them barely got out with the clothes on their back.Unless they find some kind sponsors quickly, a good many of the survivors are going to end up indebted into serving the Desert King.”

”Can we step in between?” Remian asked in a low voice. ”Pay for their medicine, and retain their services ourselves?”