Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 195: Hidden Worry

Visha walked back to her home. It was only her today. She was hungry, so she decided to make herself something to eat. She walked around the room. She had never stayed here on her own. The house felt too large.

She ate and rested. Ocassionally she would use Land Resonance to take a look at the pack. She made medicines and tried to contact the system.

Ever since saying it was fine, the system hasn’t shown up again. Visha thought it was still digesting the crystal from earlier. When it finally finished, she wondered what it would ask her to do next.

Some time later that day, a frantic knock shattered her thoughts. Different from the usual respectful knocks, she had never had someone come to her door like this. It was amusing at most, disrespectful at best. She wanted to see who had the courage.

Opening the door, she saw two people. It was the woman who had opposed her child joining the vital energy circulation earlier. She held the child with one hand.

"Priestess," she said, eyes wild. "With all due respect, you have no right to force my cub to learn those things."

Visha’s expression was indifferent. "The cub made her own choice." Visha looked down at the small cub. His brown hair swayed slightly in the wind.

"She’s a cub; she shouldn’t be given a choice for something like this. What strength? What bloodline? I don’t care. Don’t force my cub to do it!"

This child was one of the children who was able to take in vital energy. She had seen how quickly she took to it, and she had high hopes for her. Then she looked at her mother. Her wild eyes made Visha only mildly curious. Still, she made her stance.

"The cub will continue because this is what she wants to do." Her tone gave no room for negotiation.

"She’s weak. She’s a gentle soul. She doesn’t need to do this. She is quiet and small. She doesn’t need to endure these kinds of hardship."

Visha listened as the woman continued talking. She didn’t interrupt. She wanted to see what else she would. Her strong disapproval still made no sense to Visha.

Finally, the woman’s voice became hoarse from shouting. Visha spoke. Her voice was quiet. "Are you finished?"

The woman sputtered, unable to form a sentence properly.

"You call me priestess, then you speak disrespectfully. When you did the pack bind, did you not understand that you were no longer a part of the Ram tribe?"

"I have listened because I think you might have a valid concern. But all you have done is berate me for letting your cub do as they please."

"I offer a chance to protect herself. This life doesn’t care about whetheryour cub is gentle, kind, or soft. What matters is strength. You don’t have the strength to protect her. Why shouldn’t she have the strength to protect herself?"

The woman flinched. Her face crumpled. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "You don’t understand," the woman whispered. Tears were streaming down her face. "I don’t want her to get hurt."

"If she practices, she won’t," Visha stated. "The entire point of having them learn is to make them less vulnerable. What you are doing doesn’t help her."

The woman looked at Visha as though she had made a choice. She lifted the top the child was wearing.

"She was born like this," the woman said.

Visha saw the cub’s stomach. It was covered in wool. It was not obvious. It appeared to have been trimmed.

"I didn’t want anyone to know. It’s not normal for her to be like this. She had been strong ever since she was born. The only person besides myself to have seen the child is my Ma. She died, now it’s just me. Even my partner doesn’t know."

Visha narrowed her eyes. "Is this why you’ve stopped the cub?" Visha laughed, disbelieving. "Unbelievable. You’ve been hiding the child because she is a half-shifter."

"Look at me. Am I not a half-shifter? The majority of the people in the pack are half-shifters. Has it never crossed your mind that we might not care?"

Visha finally understood why. But the reason doesn’t make sense here. She felt that should be another reason. She took a deep breath. She felt she wanted to throttle this female.

"This is a place of acceptance. Why would we care about whether she is a half-shifter? More than half the pack are half-shifters."

The woman opened her mouth. Her eyes went wide, her lip trembled, and tears streamed down her face. She fell to her knees, hugging the cub. Her shoulders sagged as though she had let go of a heavy weight.

Visha couldn’t fault her for caring about her cub. But the way she went about it was wrong. She linked Roc. The woman would still need to be punished.

"I understand your concern, but you have gone about it the wrong way. I hope you know I will still have to punish you for the disrespect."

The woman looked up at Visha, then at Roc, who was approaching. Her body shivered, but she didn’t move. But she spoke quickly, "I’m sorry, priestess. I wasn’t thinking. I apologize for the disrespect. I will make sure Rin practices."

"10 lashes, then send her and the cub home," Visha ordered.

She closed the door, no longer looking at the people outside. Visha could understand the mother’s desperation. That’s why she wasn’t harsh on her, but punishment is unavoidable.

She was glad the woman accepted punishment gracefully and didn’t throw a crying fit. It shows she understands where she went wrong.

Visha walked upstairs. She hadn’t dealt with much today, but she felt drained. She decided it would be best to go to bed. She could wrap herself in the furs on the bed and pretend her two mates were still here.

She sighed as she fell into bed and closed her eyes.