A massive explosion had happened somewhere deep inside the Great Western Forest, probably 350 to 400 km away from where Lucas now stood, but even though its epicentre was so far away, the blast would undoubtedly create catastrophic problems for Redwood Town.
For instance, the heat from the explosion had no doubt set a huge swath of the forest on fire, and those flames would surely begin spreading out rapidly.
While a vast forest fire was no doubt a looming danger as the winds generally blew down from the Barrier Mountains towards Redwood Town, the cold temperatures and frequent seasonal rains this time of year would likely take care of it before it became a real threat.
The much more immediate concern was the enormous number of Wild Beasts that were affected by the explosion.
Given the intensity of the blast, Lucas guessed that every living thing within a 10 km radius of the explosion had been vaporized, with most creatures in the surrounding 20 to 30 km also suffering life-threatening injuries. However, that also meant that every living beast between the certain death-zone and Redwood Town would now be in a state of complete panic, likely doing everything they could to escape away from the devastation.
A huge stampede was about to take place.
Worst of all, with the vast Barrier Mountain Range to the west of the explosion, the seemingly endless Cerulean Ocean to the south, and much denser forest terrain to the north, almost all the beasts which were being dislocated right now would probably head towards the much easier to access eastern plains where Redwood Town was situated.
This wasn't a coincidence, as the Newton Family had specifically chosen Redwood Town's location with future westward expansion in mind.
A place with wide-open grasslands, calm rivers, gently rolling hills, and thinner stands of trees was naturally a better place to build a large human settlement than some rocky mountain or ancient forest.
Charles had been so distracted by the awesome power of the explosion that he hadn't consider its aftereffects until Lucas and Farah pointed out the issue. In the slowly fading light of dusk, the Great Western Forest now appeared more daunting and threatening than ever before.
Turning to the small group of men and women standing behind him, most of whom were shivering in panic but hadn't fled yet, Charles shouted to get their attention, "Everyone! Gather 'round and focus up!"
It took a few seconds for these people to return to their senses, but then soon gulped down their fears and ran over, awaiting their Lord's instructions.
Seeing that he had his subordinate's attention, in rare authoritative tone, Charles commanded, "Sweep the western part of town and have everyone move towards the Town Square or the Manor. Most people have probably already escaped, but there are probably some who are too scared to move, and others too stubborn to leave."
"On my authority as Lord, empty all the houses as quickly as possibly. Tell everyone to take only what they can carry on their backs."
After receiving this order, the 6 members of the Town Guard and 2 administrative staff who had been accompanying their group for the field inspection today immediately nodded.
Before they could run off, though, a young voice called out.
"Wait," Lucas shouted, "We also need to warn people that in a few minutes, there will probably be another shockwave."
"Another one!?" Farah and Charles asked incredulously.
"I'm not saying there's going to be another explosion," realizing he hadn't made himself clear, Lucas hurriedly explained, "Rather, the shockwave from the initial explosion is likely on its way and will hit us soon."
"The shockwave from the initial explosion?" Charles and the other adults who had gathered around by now were only more confused by this explanation.
On the other hand, Farah seemed to understand what Lucas was talking about and asked, "You mean, the wind kicked up by the explosion, right?"
Although she hadn't experienced anything of this scale before, Farah had been around plenty of explosions during her time in the Royal Legion, so she wasn't unfamiliar with this phenomenon.
Nodding, Lucas continued, "A blast this size will surely have pushed all the surrounding air out from it, creating a shockwave that will probably continue outwards for quite a distance."
"How dangerous do you think the blast will be?" Farah pressed.
Knitting his brow, Lucas thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, "Probably not too bad. It'll have to travel several hundred kilometres through the forest to reach us, so at worst it should feel like a very strong gust of wind. It might blow some people over, but it shouldn't cause any destruction."
"Really?" Charles remained somewhat skeptical, not quite able to believe that the wind whipped up so far away could still have that much power by the time it reached Redwood Town. Still, he decided it would be better to err on the side of caution.
Turning to his subordinates, Charles began dividing up the western part of the town among them while also telling them to spread the word not to panic if a powerful gust of wind blew in.
"I'll stand guard at the edge of town," Farah volunteered, though she also mentioned with a frown, "Just don't expect too much from me. There's only so much I can do in my condition."
"I understand," Charles bowed his head, "Any assistance you can provide us is appreciated, Senior."
"En," Farah nodded in her usual gruff way, scanning the forest in front of her for any signs of movement.
Just as Lucas was about to make some further suggestions, he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned his head to see a young girl staring at the ground between them while shaking slightly.
Chiding himself for having forgotten something so important, Lucas reached up and patted the small hand which was gripping his shirt and comforted, "Don't worry, Big Sister Eris, everything will be fine."
Unlike Lucas, who was a unique case among unique cases, Eris was just an ordinary 13-year-old girl, so almost everything about the previous discussion had flown right over her head.
However, just because she didn't understand exactly what was going on didn't mean Eris was completely ignorant of the situation.
A disaster had occurred, something far worse than anything she, or even her father, had ever encountered before. That was enough to induce panic in the young girl's heart.
At this moment, Eris was deeply frightened and wanted to seek some kind of security, a natural reaction for a child her age, but seeing everyone around her talking with such serious looks on their faces, she hesitated to interrupt them.
Even the act of grabbing Lucas' sleeve was done unconsciously.
Feeling Lucas' hand on her own, and hearing the words he spoke to her, Eris' breathing began to steady as she nodded slightly.
Taking a few deep breaths, the young girl slowly began to calm down and soon her cheeks went red, You're the Big Sister here, Eris! You should be the one comforting Lucas, not the other way around!
Whether it was out of embarrassment or stubbornness, somehow Eris managed to straighten her back and look Lucas in the eye, though she still didn't remove his hand from hers. She was scared, and her shivering hadn't stopped entirely, but she still managed to force out her voice, "W-What can I do to help?"
Lucas immediately frowned, because he honestly had no idea how to answer that question. Although he might actually be the one who best understood the situation they were in, that also made him realize just how little there was he could do to really affect things right now.
This was a disaster that would surely have repercussions across the entire Rockwell Kingdom, possibly even beyond its borders. In the face of such a crisis, Lucas couldn't help feeling small and powerless.
There were, of course, a number of things Lucas could do to help out, but everything that was currently coming to his mind felt trivial and unimportant.
If Lucas was having trouble coming up with a way to help, how was he supposed to think up a way for his Big Sister to contribute?
Fortunately, Charles came to the boy's rescue, "Eris, I need you and Lucas to head back home as fast as possible. Find your mother and tell her about what's happened here. She'll know what to do next."
""En,"" Eris and Lucas both nodded.
With all the adults in their group busy trying to evacuate the townsfolk, the best thing for the 2 children to do was to deliver a message to Sasha, who was surely already trying to coordinate the town's response. This also had the added bonus of sending them out of the immediate danger zone, which would decrease Charles' worries slightly and allow him to concentrate on handling the situation.
As such, Eris and Lucas ran over to the wagons and unhitched one of the horses before climbing onto its back and riding off towards town.