13. Stealing Food

Today it is raining quite heavily. The roar of the strong wind is also enough to make many trees bend and move according to the gust of wind. Many branches and tree branches fell. Of course everyone went straight into their respective houses.

They all hoped that there would be no storm today. A hurricane in the form of a hurricane has occurred two months ago. And the incident caused several houses to collapse because they were not made of solid building materials.

Even though it was raining heavily today, Jackson's troops did not give up. They had all gathered in a cave which was their headquarters.

The cave was quite large and the inside was very hollow. And in there a lot of equipment and materials for making weapons such as swords and arrows.

Yes, Jackson's army is making a lot of swords and arrows. A loud clank came from inside, a sign that some people were hitting the thin metal that was to be used as a sword.

Meanwhile, some of them were making arrows from wood, the tips of which were pointed and sharp. Jackson's troops did contain many men who were stocky and fierce-faced.

"How many weapons have you made?" Jackson asked one of his friends named Theo.

Theo immediately stopped his activities for a moment. Then he looked up at Jackson who was the leader of the squad. "The stash of weapons we keep underground amounts to about a hundred weapons. The number of swords is very safe, it's already too much. We just have to make as many arrows as we can."

Jackson nodded in understanding. "Okay, please keep an eye on them all. I'll be back when it's late. Bella will be here to bring you all a lot of food."

Hearing Jackson's words, all the men immediately cheered. Of course they were very happy to know that Bella would come to the cave with lots of food from the palace.

Bella had promised that. She will help Jackson's troops with food. In terms of food, Bella will guarantee that everything will not be lacking.

***

In the palace, everything seemed calm and fine.

But behind the royal kitchen, Bella seemed to put a lot of food into a large chest. He put in a lot of rice, roast beef, cooked vegetables, then fruit.

"Where are you taking all that food?" Ask Helen. The woman who works as a butler and the queen's right-hand man always catches a lot of things.

Hearing Hellen's question, Bella immediately stood up straight and sighed. "Ah, according to the queen's orders, all this food will be sent to the next village. I will accompany the guards to go there. We brought this large chest of food with a large horse-drawn carriage. Don't worry Helen, I can arrange all this."

Hellen looked a little confused, but she believed Bella's words.

The Diamond Kingdom is indeed very diligent in distributing a lot of food to the next village. Because there are so many hungry people there. And they do this every two weeks.

The village next door doesn't have a name like the diamond village. And the village next door contains many residents who really don't follow orders from any kingdom.

It meant the village next door, not a village located next to the territory of the Diamond Kingdom. Rather, the village was located on another island and that island was beside the island that was the territory of the Diamond Kingdom.

So, the village next door was on a different island. That was why King Arthur was eager to help all the residents there. If he manages to lend a helping hand to them and they all like him, then it's very likely that the island containing the leaderless population could join the diamond village.

Yes, King Arthur has a mission. The mission he did was to increase the popularity of the population and expand his territory. Therefore he wanted the inhabitants of the island to become citizens. That way, the land on the island would be claimed as his own as well. And there was an expansion of the territory and an increase in population.

However, it is not easy. Several other kingdoms competed with the Diamond Kingdom. They also sent a lot of aid to the island. And all the inhabitants of the island are of course confused that they should choose which kingdom to follow.

Back again to Hellan and Bella who were talking.

"But it's raining hard out there. Besides, don't you have to cross the ocean to get to the island? Of course the waves in the ocean are fierce right now. I don't want you all to experience anything out there." Helen said.

Bella swallowed her saliva and tried to face Hellen calmly. "Of course the rest of the guards and I will be waiting for the rain to stop. We're too late to send the food there anyway."

"Hmm, fine if that's your job. I just came here to watch over you. Then please do your job well. And make sure you're okay out there."

"Yes, Hellen. I'll be back safely." Bella said with a friendly smile.

Then Hellen immediately left the kitchen area.

Everyone in the kitchen is busy. They are still cooking for the royal dinner menu. And no one was suspicious of Bella. Because the food for the village next door was actually delivered three days ago. The reason that Bella told Hellan earlier was, of course, a lie. Bella will take the food to the base where Jackson's troops are located.

After Hellen left, Bella immediately had a straight face and didn't smile as friendly as before. Then she immediately ordered two bodyguards to lift the crate containing the food into a horse-drawn carriage.

"Make sure you pass through the palace gates safely. Ah, what a shame. I already promised Jackson to bring all this!!" Bella said. She also expressed her complaint.

The two guards nodded. And they were both actually Jackson's troops, but they disguised themselves as royal guards. Of course it was Bella who helped them both to enter the palace and gave the bodyguard clothes for them both.

Then, Bella immediately got into the horse carriage. She took a slow breath, because she was tired of putting so much food in the crate. She did this activity alone. Of course, because she intended to steal food from the palace.

Maybe the universe is on Bella's side. The guards who were standing at the gate of the palace entrance, they immediately agreed to Bella's words and ordered the horse carriage out.

Until finally, the horse carriage managed to leave the royal area. And Bella smiled happily, she managed to steal a lot of food to bring to Jackson's troops.

As for Athena, it just so happened that the woman was standing at the entrance of the royal hall. She was very confused when she saw her friend get into the horse carriage and leave the palace.

This was the first time Bella didn't leave a message for Athena. Because usually when Bella is doing something, Bella will tell Athena. But this time it wasn't like that.

"Your friend is going to send a lot of food to the next village. I told her that the waves in the ocean are very strong. But she insisted because she said that Queen Victoria asked her to go there." Helen said. Suddenly the woman was standing behind Athena.

Athena was slightly surprised. She just nodded her head. But her hands squeezed the surface of the simple dress she was wearing.

'Wasn't the food delivery to the next village done three days ago? And it's very unlikely that food delivery there is done in this kind of weather. Bella, where did you actually go? And that much food for you to give to whom?' Athena said in her heart.

*****