CHAPTER 36: KIDS BEING KIDS

"It’s close by. I’ll show you the way." The elderly beastman stated before shooing the other beastmen away. He then led Kiro and Serena into the village and added, "By the way, you may call me Elder Samuel. I’m the chief of this village."

Serena nodded her head in understanding. "The name’s Serena and this is my brother Kiro. The tiger beastman is called Theo."

As she spoke, she glanced around the village, taking in her surroundings. The place was bigger than it looked from the outside, however, it seemed quite underdeveloped.

The mud huts seemed to be roughly made and quite small for families. There were patches of greenery near almost every hut and she spotted a few people here and there.

Even the large wooden fence surrounding the village perimeter seemed crudely made. Serena wasn’t sure how they would survive an attack from rootless beastmen. Especially during the cold season.

Then again, this could be purposely done as a way of making the village look weaker than it really was. Make others think it wasn’t worth raiding. A smart, but also dangerous tactic depending on how they made it work.

"The cub is your brother?" Elder Samuel suddenly asked, looking over at Kiro in surprise.

Serena turned her attention back to the village chief and could see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out the situation. So, Serena said, "Our parents passed away, so I look after Kiro now."

"Ah." Elder Samuel nodded his head in understanding. "That’s quite nice of you to take him in..."

Serena gave him a stiff smile. "Thank you."

She could see in the old beastman’s eyes that he wanted to say more, but was holding back for some reason. He clearly didn’t want to say what he was thinking in front of Kiro, making her wonder if it was something bad.

"Anyway..." Elder Samuel coughed, trying to break the awkward tension. "You’ll be staying in one of the older huts we have. It’s not in the best condition, but it’s the only free one we have. I’ll have some of the males come help clean it up."

"I’ll be grateful for that." Serena murmured.

The group fell into silence and they quietly walked through the village. Serena made note of the route they were taking and noticed that it was mostly beastman hanging around.

A beastwoman appeared here and there, but it was rare. Still, the place looked quite peaceful with everyone going about their business. A few glances were stolen, but otherwise others kept to themselves.

It would be a nice place to stay, but I’ll need to check defenses. Serena thought to herself. No point sticking around if they’re at risk of constantly being raided.

Suddenly Serena heard a bunch of screams and shouts and instantly turned to the direction of the noise, putting herself between Kiro and the sounds.

Elder Samuel came to a stop as four young children raced over to the group with a beastman chasing after them. They all looked to be rabbit beastmen with the three boys chasing after the girl. Serena noticed one of the boys was holding something in his hands.

"Grandfather, save me!" The young girl screamed as she ran towards Elder Samual. "Michael has a worm!"

Elder Samuel moved faster than Serena could blink and picked up the young girl before turning to the boys to scold them. "Why are you scaring, Becky again, huh?! Didn’t I tell you three to behave?"

The boys immediately came to a stop and shifted into their beast forms before running off. Elder Samuel continued to yell at them while the older beastman, who was probably their caretaker, chased after the boys.

Once they disappeared, Elder Samuel turned back to Serena and sighed, "I’m sorry about that..."

"No worries." Serena waved her hand in the air.

"Grandfather, who’s this?" The girl asked, sticking her noise in the air. Her nose twitched twice before she added, "Why do they smell strange? They look weird too. They don’t have long ears like us."

"Becky, don’t be rude. They are the village guests and are snow leopard beastmen." Elder Samuel stated. He then turned to Serena and murmured, "Please forgi-"

Before he could finish speaking, his granddaughter blurted out, "Leopard beastmen! But didn’t Grandmother say leopards eat rabbits... WAAAHH! Are they g-going to eat us?!"

The young girl began bawling her eyes out and Elder Samual seemed at a total loss for words. A few beastmen glanced over at them, but most ignored them clearly used to this kind of thing.

"Come now Becky." Elder Samuel rubbed the young girl’s back to comfort her. "That’s only wild leopards. Serena and Kiro are nice people. They won’t eat you."

"Sister..." Kiro murmured softly as Elder Samuel continued to comfort the crying girl. Serena looked down at her brother as he said, "Is she dumb? Beastmen don’t eat each other."

Serena felt her lip twitch, resisting the urge to laugh. She wanted to tell Kiro not to say that, but it seemed the girl had heard his words.

"I’m not dumb!" Becky huffed out in anger, forgetting her fear instantly. "You’re dumb!"

"Becky..." Elder Samuel sighed, putting her down on the ground. "Why don’t you head back to Grandmother. I’m sure she’s worried about you."

"Okay!" Becky nodded her head before she raced off to find her grandmother.

Once she was gone, they began walking again and Elder Samuel said, "I do apologize for my granddaughter’s behavior. I hope she didn’t offend you with her words. She tends to be quite blunt."

"It’s alright." Serena murmured. "She’s still quite young, and there was no harm done so all is good."

’Thank you." Elder Samuel smiled. He then stopped once more and stated, "Ah, there’s the hut. Why don’t you settle down while I go get some help."

Serena glanced over to where the elderly beastman was pointing at and spotted a lone hut sitting on a small hill. It was surrounded by long grass and the thatch roof had seen better days. It would definitely need some work.

Still at least they had a somewhat safe shelter now.

"Alright." Serena finally answered. "Thank you for the help."