CHAPTER 47: FRIENDS

Serena gazed at the new messages, pleased to have completed her first mission. She was excited to test out the subspace, however now was not the time.

It was getting late and she wanted to bathe before the sun went down. This was because they needed to head to the river on the outskirts of the village since they hadn’t built a bathroom yet.

Most of what they’d done to the house were basic things to make the place livable for short term living. But now that it was confirmed that they could join the village, they could plan for the future.

As if thinking on the same wavelength as her, a new system notification appeared.

[ Mission Triggered]

[Prepare For The Cold Season]

[With resources rare during the cold season, you need to prepare well in advance. Collect the following before the start of the cold season:

25 Animal Furs 100 Pounds Meat4 x 50 Pounds Vegetables (Different varieties of your choosing)175 Firewood Bundles]

[Rewards: Winter Clothes, 5 Pounds Salt, 1000 Coins]

[Accept] [Decline]

[Note: Once a mission has been declined, you’ll not be able to gain similar type rewards again. Coins excluded]

The new mission triggered had confirmed Serena’s suspicions about the system wanting her to live here. It was quite funny to think that she was suddenly getting one mission after the other after waiting so long for them.

It did make her wonder what exactly it was about this village that had the system wanting to stay here. She hoped it wasn’t something that would cause her trouble in the future.

"Sister, you coming?" Kiro called out, noticing his sister had suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"I’m coming." Serena called out before turning back to the system message.

Since this was something she was planning to do anyway, Serena clicked on the accept button. The system rewards were a bonus that she could definitely make use of.

[Mission has been accepted.]

Serena barely glanced at the new notification before going after Theo and Kiro who were already inside the hut. They quickly prepared Serena’s basket with their bathing supplies before heading out to the river.

All while Serena quietly made a mental list of what else she needed to stockpile for the cold season.

***

Theo and Rico headed out early the next morning, leaving Serena and Kiro to their own devices. Since there wasn’t much she could do in the hut due to a lack of supplies, Serena decided to head to the village center.

They were preparing for the evening bonfire party and Serena wanted to take this chance to introduce herself and Kiro. That way they could more easily integrate into the village and Kiro could hopefully make some friends.

She didn’t want the cub always sticking around at home and helping with chores. He needed to also have some fun too and perhaps lose some of that endless energy he always had.

When they got to the village center, Elder Samuel was busy directing various beastmen to do things. He waved at them in greeting and Serena gave a small wave back, however, didn’t stop to chat as the rabbit beastman seemed quite busy.

Instead, she set her sights on the group of beastwomen sitting under the giant oak tree as usual. It seemed like some sort of meeting place for a lot of the beastwomen.

And some even had their cubs there, making this the perfect place for Serena to start. She slowly walked over to the group, making her presence known as to not scare them.

The last thing she wanted was everyone hating her.

The chatting beastwomen came to stop and turned their attention to Serena and Kiro upon noticing the two. Serena gave them a small smile as she stopped a few feet from the mat they were sitting on.

"Good morning." Serena greeted. "Do you mind if we join you? I’m Serena and this is my brother, Kiro whom I’m raising. We recently moved to the village. I do apologize for not introducing myself to you all earlier.... Things have been busy."

Hopefully that should be friendly enough for them. Serena mused to herself. They shouldn’t be too arrogant, but I said the apology just in case. I want as few problems as possible.

The beastwomen glanced at each other for a moment before one of them finally turned to Serena. The brown eared beastwoman around her age then said, "You can join us. I’m Wilma and those two running over there are my cubs, Thomas and Henry."

Serena glanced over to where the beastwoman was pointing and spotted two brown rabbits chasing each other. There were a few more cubs around them, some in their human form and others in their beast form.

"Nice to meet you." Serena replied, turning back to the group and taking a seat. She then turned to Kiro and said, "Why don’t you go play with the other cubs... That should be fine, right?"

The last part was directed at the mothers with Wilma who said, "That’s fine."

Kiro looked at Serena for a moment, debating whether to stay or go. Eventually, he decided to go play with the other cubs, leaving the beastwomen alone.

Once he was gone, the other five beastwoman introduced themselves as well as pointed out who their cubs were. Only two didn’t have cubs.

Emma, a middle-aged beastwoman and Fay, the youngest of the group, were the wariest of Serena because she was a snow leopard beastwoman. They feared her arrogance, but after chatting for a bit they warmed up to her.

As they spoke, Serena would occasionally glance over at Kiro, making sure he was having a good time. At first it seemed the cubs were a little scared of him because of his predator nature.

But soon enough they were including him in whatever game of chase they were playing. It made Serena happy to see that her plan had worked and thatKiro was finally making some friends.