The Hedgehog that confronted me at the village is a woman named Cheryl.
According to Cheryl several Hedgehogs have been taken by a bandit leader nicknamed The Hyena who has been terrorizing the nearby villages for several months now.
By Kidnapping people from the nearby town, The Hyena can use them as hostages to demand money and food from the villages in exchange for not hurting their loved ones.
"So can you really get rid of The Hyena?" Cheryl asks, "As the chief in command of this village, I swear that the village will join your Empire if you save our people."
According to Cheryl, The Hyena sends goons to collect "Taxes" Once a week. The goons should arrive on schedule two days from now.
The current plan is to place a group of Storm Guards in this village, While the goons come to collect payment from the villagers, The guards in wait will capture them for interrogation.
We should be fine to wait for a few more days, You can't just build a Storm Base in a day.
While waiting for the days to pass, I had the Soldiers train in their combat formations. Just because your not fighting now, doesn't mean your allowed to be rusty.
While waiting, I also sent more groups to other nearby villages. One village of hedgehogs has swore themselves immediately when they learned that I plan to liberate them from The Hyena. While a village of Bipedal Turtles decided to join for the job benefits.
Currently a Turtle named Hank is working on a research on the affects of Magic plants on the soil they grow in.
After a nice discussion with the middle aged turtle, I learned that the Turtle species is long lived and has minor, soil related, magical abilities.
Hank is forty years old, which according to him is considered young in Turtle Society. The Human equivalent to a college student, or early twenties. The Magical Abilities of turtles also allow them to soften and enrich the ground, even changing the mineral composition in the soil in some cases.
Once that Village joined, I immediately had all unemployed citizens above the age of 19 make farms for crops. I paid them obviously, And they gladly started. Some for the money, while others were sent by the older members of the village so they could start actually doing something.
The Unemployment rate in turtle society is fairly high apparently.
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While having a conversation with Strife about how the construction of the Storm Base of Kings Landing is going, I got a messenger from the group of Guards I deployed at the Hedgehog village.
Two people, A Dog and a Hyena entered the village and were apprehended by the new guards in place after being recognized as the goons sent by The Hyena in order to collect "Taxes"
After Taking a smaller airship towards the village in order to quicken the journey, I landed and met up with the group stationed there.
"Your Majesty, We have Apprehended the criminals sent by The Hyena, What should we do with them?" The Guard I placed in charge of the small group reported when I approached.
Looking around the village before answering, I see the children talking with some of the researchers that joined the group here, I recognize Gary as one of them. While the other Hedgehogs seem to be looking in wonder at the ship I came in on.
It's a smaller ship, Designed for faster, short distance travel. I had ships like these stashed in the hulls of the larger Cargo ships in the fleet.
Now that we are on land, We can actually work on building an Airship Carrier to carry these smaller ships.
I should also work on a redesign for my outfit. It doesn't really scream King. I was thinking of White with Blue. It should go well with my fur and eyes. I'm still going to Keep the flag the same, The Blue Storm Horns on the Black Background have been a flag of the Storm Kingdom since its founding, Can't really do much about it.
Looking back at the guard, I reply "Where are the prisoners, Captain?" I ask and he takes me to a building that seems to have once been a communal Bank before it was emptied by The Hyena, that has been refurnished and Turned into an office building for the Empire.
I already see a number of Storm Creatures working on Documents to make the villages joining of the Empire official. Cheryl will sign those once the deal is complete.
Walking around the desks and office space, I enter a room in the back, Where the Vault used to be. The two guards stationed outside of it salute me and open the door to the vault.
The Vault as it turned out, has become a makeshift prison cell for the two bandits.
The shorter of the two resembles an anthropomorphic French Bulldog, He has a collar around his neck with a name tag saying Scott, While the taller is an Anthropomorphic striped Hyena wearing a yellow button up shirt.
The first one to notice is the bulldog, that immediately tries to break out of the cuffs he's placed in.
"Ah ah ah," I wiggle my finger at him as I take a few steps closer, playing this character of The New Storm King is already becoming second nature at this point. "You aren't getting out of those chains so easily. Now, I have some questions and you have some answers. If you're polite I might have your imprisonment duration reduce."
The Bulldog stops struggling and looks over to his Hyena friend, The Hyena looks at the chains around his wrists and nods.
"What you want from us?" The Bulldog asks.
"Straight to the point, I like that. You see, You work for a bandit called The Hyena, correct?" I say more than I ask, But the Bulldog answers anyway.
"Yeah, We work for the boss, She the smartest lady in the area, she makes much money" The Bulldog answers, Revealing the gender of The Hyena in the process.
Now It's not surprising that The Hyena was a woman. In nature, Female Hyena's are larger than their male counterpart.
"Good, Now, Do you mind telling me where your boss is?" I ask the Bulldog and he immediately furrows his eyebrows.
"Now listen here Sir, I might not know how things are where ye' came from, But 'round these parts. Snitches get thrown in ditches for a night. And I don' wanna' sleep in a hole. I ain't telling you nothing!" The Bulldog closes his eyes and huffs, turning his head away from me as he does so.
"She's at the abandoned quarry in the valley" The Hyena looks at me and answers.
"What?! Why did you tell 'im?" The Bulldog asks surprised, looking at his partner in crime.
"Look at us Scott, Were stuck in a cage, and this guy is obviously someone important. The Guards that captured us were trained professionals, Not simple Militia like we're used to. The gig is up, We're done. Might as well hope for a reduced sentence." The Hyena explained to Scott.
Scott looks at him in astonishment before sighing and nodding his head, "I guess 'yer right. Might as well hope for a lighter punishment."
As promised, The two received a lighter punishment. Two Years of Working in the fields beats rotting in a cell for five years.
And now with the Location of The Hyena known, It is time to send a group to deal with a little pest problem.