The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 132: Let’s head in now and start packing

I didn’t think she would come up with something so drastic.

Does she mean she wants to leave her life and go with us? But...

"Oh, I don’t mean I’m going to join your trip, I mean we’ll depart together." She said and that made me sigh in relief without even realizing it.

She laughed and for a second, I was caught by her enchanting laugh. She really was pretty.

"I’ll tell my father we’re traveling back today," she said quickly, as if afraid I’d interrupt. "I’ll go with my brother Fenric. Our paths split eventually, but until then, we can travel together. I’ll go tell him right away."

My first instinct was refusal. I wanted to say it would be better not to, but my words got stuck.

Our roads weren’t the same. We might pass a few forests together but it ends there.

But... I guess it’s not too bad.

We could catch up on the moments we never got to have on our way. As long as Veyra isn’t nearby, I can take on any risk.

"Alright," I said finally, smiling faintly and Solin smiled widely, relieved.

"Thank you," she threw herself on me and I noticed Solin was quite light.

She didn’t weigh much so when she threw herself on me, I didn’t feel a weight pulling me down at all.

But... I could feel the sneers they were throwing at her from behind my back.

I understand Damar gets jealous of everyone, but why Fenric? She’s his sister for crying out loud.

"I’ll go now." She said and was about to leave when I grabbed her arm.

Just in case...

"Don’t let anyone else know we’re leaving today," I said and she looked at my hand on hers.

She smiled and nodded.

"Of course. I’ll only tell my people."

I nodded and let her go.

I watched her leave gleefully and then let out a sigh.

I thought Solin came here to find a mate. It looks like she’ll be going back without any.

I’m happy she didn’t find any, actually. This tribe is filled with morons. She’d be better off picking a mate from her own tribe than here.

Though it seems Fenric found what he came here for, though.

"Phew," I turned around to face them. "Let’s head in now and start packing," I announced, but then my stomach growled.

My face went flat with embarrassment.

Maybe all that crying and staying up late caught up to me.

"We should find something to eat first," Fenric said, and then Damar suggested going hunting.

"I’ll hunt this time around." He said and turned his back to leave.

"Hey, wait. You can’t just..."

"It’s fine," Damar said.

I wanted to stop him because just his going around would be inviting trouble, but he seemed adamant. I wanted to listen to his wishes, but there was a nagging in my chest that told me it was the wrong decision.

If I let him go on his own, something terrible was going to happen.

"You’re just doing this so you can get out of packing, huh?" Fenric said, taking the matter lightly.

I pursed my lips, wondering if I was just being paranoid.

"Damar," I called and he looked back again. "Please, don’t let anyone provoke you."

"Yes," he said and started leaving.

I have to believe he’ll be mature enough not to get into trouble. He knows more than I do that if he gives in to any form of provocation, we’ll be getting ourselves into an unnecessary ordeal.

"Trust the snake," Fenric said siding his arm around my waist. "He’s not a fool."

"Yeah," I muttered, but my heart wouldn’t stop racing.

I frowned, unease creeping in despite myself.

It was quite a strong omen.

I don’t believe anything can harm Damar, but... What if they plan something more devious?

"Let’s start packing in the meantime," Fenric said and I nodded, going inside with him.

We began packing.

We had two pots, and several bowls. Luckily, the bowls could fit into the pot. So that was taken care of.

The next thing to pack up was the blanket I had been working on.

It wasn’t very great, pretty crude, but I did my best, though I managed to prick my fingers in the process.

They say aiming for a comfortable life wasn’t easy and they were right.

Still, it was easier to make than the skirt and top I was working on, which were based on my measurements.

And one more reason was that Fenric and Damar ended up catching a bear. So, we skinned it and got a really large piece of material. Soft material.

Who knew ferocious bears could have such soft pelts? It would serve as a nice blanket.

We ate the meat all in one go, as if we had been starved for so long, roasting parts of the huge bear over a fire.

It was really a feast.

Ah, some may wonder what happened to my squirrel meat stock, which I was preserving with salt?

Well, if we could eat an entire bear in one sitting, what do you think happened to those small squirrels?

It was either we finish them earlier or wait for them to rot, and I chose the former.

I wrapped our tools and utensils with the blanket and then used a vine to bind them together. It was sturdy.

Now, all I needed to do was drop it on the carrier I had Harok make.

I remember seeing something called a jige on old art illustrations. It was a type of A-shaped carrier that servants used to carry firewood back in the Joseon period.

The jige consisted of two long vertical wooden poles connected by several horizontal crossbars. These crossbars formed a shallow cradle against the carrier’s back, allowing bundled loads to rest securely without crushing the spine.

I just made a few adjustments to the image I remembered, to make it suitable for carrying this kind of load.

With this, one of them could carry our entire load on their back without getting tired quickly, and when one eventually got tired, the other would take over.

Though, I doubt any of them would get tired quickly. After all, the only heavy stuff in the bundle was the pots made of rock.

And they carried these rock pots like they weighed nothing. Their strength was quite extraordinary.

"Phew, we’re done," I exclaimed as I sat on the floor, my eyes gazing at the ceiling of the cave.

I remember looking at this ceiling so much that I’ve grown sick and tired of it.

I’m sure Arinya must feel the same.

It’s time to finally leave this forsaken place.

But... What wasn’t Damar back yet?

I hoped it wasn’t what I was thinking. I hope he hadn’t gotten into any trouble.

"Fenric," I called, "Can you go look for Damar?"

"Why? Are you worried he would cause trouble?" He asked but I couldn’t answer that.

Whether he was the one who caused trouble or someone else, trouble was still trouble.

"Just... For safety reasons."

"If I leave, you’ll be here alone." He pointed out.

"Well, I’ll just stay here. I doubt anyone would come into my cave just to find trouble with me." I said, darting my eyes aside as I couldn’t look him in the eye as I said that.

"Well, I guess I just had a reason to stay back." He said, his eyes turning sharp as he looked towards the entrance.

"What are you...?" I paused as my ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps. "Who is it?"

"Arinya," I heard Kaelor’s voice and my eyebrows furrowed.

Kaelor stopped short as soon as he walked through the entrance, and he saw our packed belongings.

His gaze dropped with heavy sadness.

"You... You’re leaving already?"