"Oh joy. This sounds like it will be quite the conversation," the Governor replied, accompanied with a swift roll of her eyes. "What do you need me to sign off on? Hand me the documentation so I can look at it myself this time. I don't want to agree to another Species Protection Pact like your previous visit. I'm still getting complaints from fisherman about how they can only catch so many silverfin salmons a day."

"I'm afraid that this matter requires far more effort than a mere Species Protection Pact."

The Governor's eyes opened wider. She shook her head in shock. "Even more effort? I'm already having difficulty sparing men to enforce that last request of yours! And even then, most of them won’t bother to address it in the first place! Talk about a waste of money and effort. What could you possibly request this time that would necessitate spending more resources than your previous suggestions?"

Chaston lowered his head, sighing in silence before looking at the Governor in the eye again. "I am here... to recommend an Extermination Measure."

The Governor froze. She remained motionless, staring at Chaston with enormous eyes. The maid at her side looked startled too, taking her gaze off the researcher to wave at the Governor.

"Governor?" the maid whispered quietly. Despite being spoken too, her eyes remained fixated perpetually on the researcher.

"I know it is a lot to ask for, but you must hear me—"

"No!" the Governor cried as she waved her hand. "There is no way that I am going to authorize an Extermination Measure. Under any circumstances! Are you trying to deliberately end my career?"

"You just need to hear me out. There is a deadly threat that is already starting to take over Abbus Forest!" With one hand he pointed towards the direction of the source of the infestation. "If we don't do something now, countless lives will be on the line!"

"Do you not recall what happened the last time an Extermination Manner was enacted on Farrowport?"

"Of course I do."

"Then you would know that was when the last Governor was forcibly ousted from his position, and I took over his role."

"I know,” Chaston replied, trying his best to prevent himself from coming across as condescending.

"Do you want the same to happen to me?" The Governor put her hand across her heart and stared at the researcher with a face of pure anguish. "After all that I've done for you, now you're here trying to get me to do something that would make me lose the role that I've worked so hard to achieve! What do you think would become of the research position that you hold so dear? Do you really think that whoever takes my place would let you keep it?"

'That's not my concern. If I have to lose my position as the town's chief nature researcher, then so be it. There is too much on the line to worry about potentially losing our titles!" Chaston reached into his bag and pulled out the jar containing the deceased specimen. He flashed it towards the Governor, holding it with both hands.

"This here has the potential to put an end to Farrowport! First it will take over Abbus Forest. And after that, all of the animals this species infects will come to where the citizens live, causing widespread panic and destruction." With one hand, he reached inside his bag again and pulled out a handful of papers. "I have the notes to prove it, too!"

"I don't care. You always exaggerate when it comes to your requests. I will not send the correspondence for an Extermination Request."

"I have witnesses, Governor. They can explain why it is so imperative that something is done about this new threat!"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The woman on the throne shook her head from side to side, keeping her eyes closed shut and her lips pursed. "No. Don't care. There is no convincing me to enact an Extermination Measure. Might as well turn around and forget it."

Chaston turned around and looked at the three he brought along before turning to face the Governor again. "Please. At least let them explain what happened in the forest. Within two days, they have already had two deadly encounters with infected wildlife. It is your duty to hear the pleas of your people, is it not?"

The Governor pouted. "Fine. Go ahead and have them speak. But I've already made up my mind. So make sure they don't drag on. I am a busy woman and have many other matters to attend to."

Tamma walked up the steps first with Miwah following suit, standing to her right. They looked at each other, with Miwah pointing at Tamma, indicating that she should begin. The Governor maintained her unenthused look, her fingers tapping against the metal arm of her throne as she waited for one of them to begin speaking.

"Governor, just the other day, my friend and I came across a lone grizlewulf in the middle of Abbus Forest. But it wasn't acting like how a normal grizlewulf would have."

"Is that so?" the governor ask condescendingly. "And what makes you the authority on how grizlewulfs are supposed to act, hmm? You look as if you could be my granddaughter! You expect me to base such an important decision on the word of a couple of... teenagers?"

Chaston stepped in between Miwah and Tamma, drawing the irked gaze of the governor. "Please. With all due respect, could you just let them finish? Their experience is quite chilling if you would just hear it out!"

"Fine." She waved her hand towards the hunter. "Go on. Continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying. The grizlewulf was not acting like how it should. It was far more aggressive. No, it was worse than that. It was absolutely mad! It tried to kill both me and my friend over here, along with my pet brillick."

"Sounds like a case of a couple of girls getting in over their heads by mucking around in places where they don't belong! There's a reason why most people don't go jaunting around in Abbus Forest."

Tamma froze, struggling to keep her anger from becoming visible on her face. She opened her mouth but stopped herself from saying something that would get her in trouble. Upon seeing Tamma go silent, Miwah continued the conversation.

"That was not our only encounter with the creatures. We returned to Abbus Forest to find another sample to show to you. We ended up encountering an entire family of willow lions that had been infected. Each one turned on us and the entirety of the pack chased us through the forest."

"And that wasn't even the worst part!" Tamma interrupted. She pointed at the jar that Chaston still held onto. "They multiply by laying countless eggs in their victims. We witnessed it firsthand! They'll crawl out of the body and scatter across the area, probably to go out and infect even more animals!"

"Sounds to me that you two girls are bad luck! It is not my concern if the youth of this town are so focused on getting themselves into trouble. Seems to me the easiest solution to this is to just close off Abbus Forest! Not like too many people go in there anyway when ninety-nine percent of our resources come from trade!"

"There are no hard boundaries between Farrowport and the forest!" Chaston cried. "Simply barring people from entering will not stop the animals from entering into town!"

"We'll just have to take care of the ravenous animals as they come through then." The governor smiled and giggled at her maid. "See? I just came a with a much better solution in just a few seconds!"

The researcher pressed one hand onto his forehead, shaking it in frustration. "It is not that simple, Governor. You'd have to quadruple the size of the Farrowport Guard at this rate if you wanted to keep the town safe. I know it is an enormous and risky request. But it will be worth it in the end. Even if you do lose your position as a Governor, think of all the lives you would save! If your duty truly is to serve the people of this town, then you would be willing to take the risk!"

"I am done with this conversation." The Governor pointed towards the door. "I want all of you. Out of here. I am not going to send the correspondence under any circumstance."

"But—" Chaston began. The Governor leaned forward in her throne, giving him a borderline sinister smile.

"I said out! If you're such an effective researcher, then perhaps you could come up with a way to deal with this threat! We pay you good money to look into this sort of matter. Perhaps you should be the one to come up with a solution! Then you would finally be worth the coin that we pay every month for your salary!"

Chaston clenched one of his fists. He quickly turned around, stuffing both his notes and the specimen into his bag. He then turned to the girls. "Come on you two. Let's get out of here." He walked down the steps and towards the door. Miwah and Tamma looked at each other in an awkward silence before looking at Chaston from behind as he left the Governor's quarters.

"That means you two as well," the Governor said before taking a sip from the wine glass on the maid's tray.

Silently, they obliged. Alson followed behind them, all exiting the room in disappointment.