CHAPTER 60: DAMAR DID NOT ANSWER

Damar shot glares at Fenric, with his arms folded, and Fenric shot back the same glares.

I could see lightning bolts flying out of their eyes and clashing.

This was such a mess.

"Damar, if you had such a condition, why didn’t you say it earlier?" I asked and he finally tore his gaze from Fenric.

"That’s because I thought it was only natural for him to aim for quality, not quantity."

But this is a competition about quantity.

"Only a weak male would take the easy route to look for food that’s lying around. And food that doesn’t even have enough flesh. Tsk." He turned his head again, annoyed. "I knew he was weak,"

"Hey!" Fenric was angry. I could see his fangs bare and his teeth gnashed heavily together.

The only reason why he wasn’t fighting Damar right now was probably because of me.

If not, he would have had no problem showing Damar how ’weak’ he was.

"Damar, you’re being too harsh, first. And second, we didn’t make a condition about finding only adult squirrels."

"I feel such a thing doesn’t need to be said when we’re hunting food for you, Ari." He said, his eyes softening out of nowhere. "If he is your spouse, and he cares about giving you the best, then he would’ve gone for the adults and not the babies that are in hiding."

So, he thinks Fenric had it easy and decided to take a shortcut by hunting kit?

(Baby squirrels are called kits)

Well, if I think of it like that, it doesn’t seem all that bad to me. After all, with the number of adults Damar caught, it’s easy to assume he hunted most of the squirrels, leaving only the children, and Fenric could only get the children.

Because I believe Fenric didn’t intentionally search for the children.

"You’re right. I did specifically search for the children."

I froze. Ah, I stand corrected.

He did intentionally search for the children.

"Weak dirty cub." He hissed, his eye flaring with hostility.

"Yeah, call me whatever, I won’t lose my temper and make Arinya worry." He said, flashing a smile at me.

It looked like he had let go of his anger. He was no longer gnashing his teeth and his red eyes that were raging were now calm and clear.

He dropped his hands on his waist but then pointed at Damar,

"You don’t know why we’re hunting for squirrels, do you?" He asked, his lips curved as he took over the situation smoothly.

"What’s that?"

But Fenric did not answer Damar and kept on with his talk.

"Sure, I went after the children but do you know that finding children squirrels is harder than finding the adults?"

Damar did not answer.

"While the adults roam around and are easy to find, the children are hidden in places that predators can’t find easily." He pointed out. "So, I, who isn’t even familiar with this forest, was able to sniff out all those kits and bring back so much even when they tried to scurry away with their nimble little feet. Hehe. I’d say I didn’t have it easy at all."

I nodded and then looked at Damar, hoping he’d understand.

I don’t know the first thing about hunting, honestly. But I believe Fenric had a reason for whatever he did.

He’s smart enough to think up a plan for the best possible outcome.

Damar looked at Fenric, unimpressed. He still stood by his ground that Fenric had it easy since he had to chase dozens of squirrels around.

"What’s the reason you chose squirrels?" Damar suddenly asked, his eyes on me. "Was there a specific reason? I thought it was just because squirrels are nimble and great for a competition."

"Well, not exactly," I said. "The reason we were hunting for squirrels is that I need their pelt to make clothes. Mine are... Not so comfortable."

His eyes fell on my bra top, and it almost felt like he was staring at my boobs, even if he wasn’t. But it still felt a little embarrassing.

"This one doesn’t hold your breast firmly." He suddenly said, and my face flushed.

"R-right..." I said, rolling my eyes away. That’s one other reason so let’s not argue.

"You see," Fenric said, looking victorious. "I went for the kits because their pelts are the softest. Sure, the adult squirrels have soft pelts, and they are harder compared to the kits, but I couldn’t just go for that. Arinya wants comfort, you see. And so I went for the kits, while damaging them as little as possible. While you..." He looked at Damar’s bloody and messy bundle. "...you ruined the pelts with your aggressive hunting. The squirrels you brought can be used as food, at most. But they can’t help with what Arinya needs right now. Clothes."

Okay, this was getting out of hand.

It felt like Fenric was berating Damar. And while all that he said is true, it’s unfair because we didn’t give Damar any of these instructions before the start of the competition.

We didn’t tell him what we wanted to use the squirrels for, so he could not exercise caution while hunting.

"That’s enough," I said.

It’s almost like cheating.

"I’ll call this competition null right now because it’s not fair."

"What? Why?" Fenric asked, looking confused but I shook my head and looked at Damar.

Can’t he see?

It kind of looks like we kept this information to ourselves just so we could get a head start and make a fool out of him.

"Damar, please don’t misunderstand," I said but Damar did not even look at me.

It cut my heart and I pursed my lips.

Had the misunderstanding been planted already?

"Damar," I hurried to stand in front of him, in front of his gaze but his gaze was on the floor.

The expression on his face wasn’t clear but that halo scared me. It made me very uncomfortable.

"Damar," I called, grabbing his arm but then he asked,

"Ari, did I make a mistake?" He asked, his tone heavy. "Am I useless?"

The way he asked that and the way his eyes were so devoid of emotion crossed my heart like a blade, and I felt like I had made a mistake.

"No, no, Damar. Please don’t say that." My hand holding his trembled — or maybe that was him. I couldn’t tell. My heart thrashed painfully, trying to reach him through to him.

He finally lifted his eyes, just barely, and the emptiness in them struck me like a blade.

It wasn’t anger, nor was it disappointment.

It was just... quiet hurt.

How do I know that?

"D-Damar,"

Because it was an expression I was more than familiar with. One I saw in the mirror every time I got tired.