Lucia kept looking over the documents and old records. Every time, she failed to figure out what the logic was. Yet, she felt compelled to try.

The Gascian economy could be measured in its soldiers and its resource production. The latter was easy; with Life Mages assisting in tending the lands and ensuring an explosive animal population along with wood and various crops, they couldn't get rid of their supplies fast enough. Hell, even their mines, filled to the brim with iron and copper along with a mithril mine, seemed like an exercise in futility in gathering it all. It was something House Carafa was quite eager to brag about.

Unfortunately, the former was more a necessity than a bragging right. The sheer amount of resources here meant that raiding parties from orcs and goblins were fairly common, and to see a slowdown in production could easily lead to a famine across the countryside. Rather than make something sensible like a storehouse or three, Lucia's ancestors decided to instead militarize the majority of the population; whoever wasn't collecting resources would protect the collectors. Apparently this was also a response to the Celestial Wound, a massive uncleared dungeon that had also been used as a resource gathering point but had issues with groups of female monsters escaping from time to time. While they eventually managed to prevent any further excursions in time, the damage was done and a sizeable population roamed the lands. Sometimes they worked with the Greenskins.

Ever since then, the entire domain kept treating itself like an outpost. Gathering as much as possible, and protecting those gains with their lives.

On paper, it looked absolutely stupid. Yet somehow, they made it work in practice. Gascians took to the role with a sense of pride, using it to bolster their confidence in regards to their role in the Empire. Nobody in Gascia was winning any medals, or doing grand deeds that would be passed down in legend for centuries to come. But everyone came to accept that their job was a necessary one, and that surrounding domains depended on them even if they would never admit it.

Even more shocking, the populace convinced themselves that it was better to draw the eyes of such tribes and monsters onto Gascia, so they didn't antagonize anywhere else. Monsters being here meant that many less monsters preying on innocents elsewhere.

And so, it evolved into a heavily militarized culture. Soldiers on every road (doubly so for the Dawn Road, the primary trade route through the domain), and no farmer or merchant group was without bodyguards. There would have been counter-raiding groups, but the Celestial Wound required the attention of two regiments alone. It was an expensive expenditure, but the materials brought out from the dungeon would fetch a king's ransom on the 'Basket Market' in Sogena, the capital of Gascia.

But even with all of that, efforts were... strained. Even with the intense training recommended by Marshal Piero, it took coordination and effort to put down orcs, much less monsters with strange powers.

It was why when the Isle of Groan accepted the offer for negotiations, she was pleasantly surprised. When their broker, Juno, came in on a shiny new magitech airship? It was like a breath of fresh air for the troops.

The domain damn near broke out into a collective frenzy upon news of a trade deal being struck: Food, materials and a contingent of soldiers would be sent to Groan. In exchange, high quality industrial goods and even magitech would come into Gascia, both civilian-grade and military-grade. Even more surprising was that said airship was considered a gift. It was more than Lucia could have ever expected, and word from Juno was that Lord Steerpike was very interested in said deal forming the backbone of an alliance. Neither would infringe upon the autonomy of the other, but it would mean they would depend on each other to shore up perceived weaknesses.

Between that news and the considerable influx of adventurers that had flooded into Gascia looking to find their fortunes with slaying monsters and delving the Celestial Wound, Lucia was cautiously optimistic about the the future of the domain. There was even a large harbor being constructed specifically for the ships of Groan to arrive in for future shipments, and talks of training a naval warfare group for the purpose of protecting the shipping lanes. Pirates were always an issue this far south after all, and-

"My Lady?"

Lucia nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice, turning around to a nearby shadow. "DAMN IT Amelia, you know what I said about coming in announced!"

"Apologies, it must have slipped my mind." Amelia spoke with the tone of someone who had done this before, and would gladly continue to do it again. She was a damned good spymaster, but Lucia swore that Amelia lived for the fear of people failing to realize her arrival.

"Just... good God, Amelia." Breathe. Remember to breathe. Amelia was a friend, not a foe. She relied on Amelia to run internal policing with that 'Shadow Cabal' of hers. "There something the matter?"

"...there is, My Lady." Amelia gave a small bow before continuing. "While morale has spiked considerably, there seems to be an issue amongst the taverns. Seems our people are... laughing at the name of our new allies."

"Laughing." Lucia looked quite nervous with Amelia's nod of confirmation. The name of 'Groan' was unorthodox, yes, but she didn't think people would be laughing or poking fun. It may seemed harmless on the surface, but little things like that could needle travelers and cause resentment to slowly brew. This would not stand. It wasn't just her domain's reputation, but the trade agreement in general that was at stake.

"Talk to Marshal Piero. Have him spread word that this prodding fun at our new allies will not be tolerated. I will not have our only source of magitech or new weapons get self-conscious over this kind of levity, no matter how relieved they feel. If there is any laughter, we laugh WITH our allies, not AT them."

Amelia gave a small nod in acknowledgement again. Good. Very good, Lucia knew it would get done then.

"What of the current attempts to placate the Beastmen?"

Amelia paused for a moment, in thought as she searched for the right word. "...slow. While there are a number who have accepted the offer of citizenship via enlistment, many more still roam the wilds in league with the orcs and monsters. We suspect that their numbers are being bolstered through reproduction between monsters and captured males, who in turn devolve into goblins when their essence is fully drained. We will need to think of a more suitable method of convincing them."

"...damn. Maybe the improving infrastructure and magitech weapons might convince them. If they won't listen to the carrot, then the stick." Lucia nodded with a frown. It didn't feel right, but their status as a top resource trader depended on it. She would not let it all burn. She refused to. "Barring that, see if our new allies in Groan have any ideas. They have a lot of magical options, they might have something."

Lucia was waiting for a reply for a few seconds before realizing Amelia was already gone. That never failed to spook her.

She got up from her desk to get some more paper. She could look through family records later, she needed to cut down on this disrespect for the Isle of Groan NOW. That airship floating above Sogena was proof that she needed to secure the alliance by any means.