Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 107: Yearning for the wider world

The day of Xeno’s return was the day the pack released a collective sigh of relief. Hoping that nothing would happen is different than seeing the people you care about come back safely. Seeing their safe return, everyone was truly able to relax.

Uri and Visha felt him before they saw him. Their bond resonated, creating the balance they all knew and understood. It was a sense of completion.

As soon as they entered the caldera, Xeno shifted. He let go of the cart he was holding and went directly to Uri and Visha, wrapping them in a hug. His grin wide on his face.

After his greeting, he led them to the things in the cart. Seeing the variety of clay pots, Visha smiled. She saw a large pot housing two large fish.

"Iron scale fish," Xeno noted.

Visha nodded in response.

The delegation was sent to rest. Although they had come back early, Visha knew very well that staying outside, having to be on constant alert, was tiring. She sent them, Xeno included, to get some rest. As for everyone else, she had them direct the cart to the warehouse.

They made sure to wash the pottery pots, bowls, and so on. Things that could be used at home were separated among the pack members. The large ones to be used in the warehouse were placed in the sun to dry after washing.

Once dry, they placed the different items into different jars. The gloom root flour was placed in one of the largest jars. The gloom root was something they used often, so they had a large amount of it. There were jars that contained animal fats, medicinal herbs, and tea leaves. The spices they used were also placed in different jars.

This may seem like a small change to others, but the pack noticed the difference in using pottery versus using the claymoss jars from before. The clay moss wasn’t as good at preserving medicinal properties. They noticed that some insects actually like the smell of claymoss, so they may try to eat the jars or live close to or in them.

Their skepticism of the pottery was reduced just as quickly as it came.

One evening, when the pack was having its usual communal dinner, someone mentioned the iron scale fish.

"The fish from the River Clan is good," Cato said. "The scales are not what we are used to. In the water, they are soft, but as soon as they touch land, they become hard." He turned to Xeno. "Leader, you mentioned there were people who could make the scales hard permanently. Do you know how they do it?"

The pack turned to Xeno, who looked at Visha, who shook her head.

"We aren’t sure how they do it, but there is a way to get things that are just as hard," Visha said. "But we don’t have anyone who could make it."

"If we want to make armour, we can take the rediron to another tribe to make it," Kaelen said. "However, the rediron we have might bring trouble to the pack."

"Why?" asked Fil. "Iron scale, rediron, isn’t it the same? They are both iron, both tough."

Visha didn’t respond. She noticed that there were many things the Tiger tribe didn’t tell their tribe members. Either they didn’t know, or they were deliberately keeping them in the dark.

Kaelen has been here for a little over a month now. She came to understand that the Eagle tribe knew a lot about the different things happening on the continent. They knew about metalworks, farming, and pottery. There were tribes having wars with armour covering their beast forms as protection. There was clothing that didn’t look anything like animal skins.

This world wasn’t as backward as Visha had first thought. As to whether the Tiger tribe leader was keeping them unaware of the rest of the world, she wasn’t interested in knowing.

What she was interested in was letting her own pack know the things happening in the world. Because of this, Kaelen has become something of a teacher/storyteller. Visha didn’t expect Krag and Chi to reveal any information. She knew they were secretive. Even though they had opened up to some extent.

That night, Kaelen once again became a storyteller. He explained about things happening on the Beast Continent that left the pack yearning to see the wider world.

A month passed with the pack learning all sorts of new things. Things Kaelen hadn’t told them before. They learned about armour, the differences between large tribes, and the tribe they were in before. They learned that different priests actually had different abilities.

The night before they needed to leave to meet the River Clan, the pack members bombarded Visha, Xeno, and Uri. They all wanted to go out and meet the River Clan. Their enthusiasm was even higher when they heard that they might be going down the river with the River Clan to complete trades of their own.

For this meeting with the River Clan, it wasn’t necessary for the leaders to go. However, someone from the previous team would need to lead the way.

The morning they left, Visha made sure to have them carry a few more baskets of cement. They weren’t sure whether the River Clan would need them, but bringing it was better than not.

The team that set out still included Kaelen. Krag volunteered to go with them. The other persons were Fil, Cato, and Willa. Heta also wanted to go, but because of her pregnancy, she was refused.

The morning they left, Visha reminded them.

"Remember to confirm with the River Clan when they plan to go trading. Let them know we would like to join. If they seem concerned about us bringing cement, you will know they plan to trade it. Regardless of whether they plan to trade it, we will still bring some, but we will bring other things."

They nodded as they left, letting Visha know they understood.