The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 174: It moves on its own

The work started early in the morning and towards the afternoon, we still weren’t done—not even halfway done.

It was the kind of work I didn’t see myself doing even in a thousand years.

I mean, I would naturally leave this for the professional, but given the complexity, given how I didn’t know how to structure it well in a diagram, I needed to be the one putting this and that in place.

Rotating and spinning, to make sure it was exactly how it was supposed to be.

It was exhausting. My back ached, and my hands were raw. I felt a surge of frustration when it didn’t work out the way I wanted and I inwardly cussed at my lack of interest in science and technology—why didn’t I pay more attention in science class when I had the chance? I wondered.

I knew I would end up in art class anyway, and was striving to become an actress, so I didn’t look in the direction of anything related to science.

I regret it now.

Well, not like I ever knew I would transmigrate into a primitive era that would need my expertise.

I sighed.

I wanted to just stop at some point, but every time I looked up, the workers were watching my hands with wide, focused eyes.

They saw me struggling with them, and for the first time, the ’wicked dominance’ was replaced by a shared goal. A goal to make an interesting invention.

I lit the spirit of creativity in their hearts, and because of that, I couldn’t give up.

I had to see it to the end.

When testing the prototype, the first wheel snapped. The second was lopsided and made the whole frame wobble like a drunkard. I wanted to scream.

"Arinya, breathe," Damar whispered, his cool hand pressing against the back of my neck.

I took a breath. I looked at the light wood they used for the house. It was perfect. We built a simple flatbed—a ’troller’—with two wheels and long handles that connected at the front with another stick in a rectangular shape.

By the time the sun began to dip, we tested it.

We piled the cabbage and lettuce onto the flatbed. One rabbit stepped up, grabbed the handles, and pushed.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head as they widened in bewilderment.

"It’s... It’s light! It moves on its own!"

You’re the one moving it but what the hell. Think whatever you want.

The village erupted in cheers at this news.

They had lived for generations carrying things in their arms, and then suddenly, I’d given them the wheel.

This way, when one rabbit tires out, another will take over and make the world a lot more efficient.

"It works," I breathed, leaning back against Damar’s body, utterly spent.

"You’re amazing, Arinya," Fenric said, his voice thick with pride. He didn’t care about the wheel—he cared that I had made it.

"Yeah, I guess I am," I chuckled. I didn’t even try to be humble. What was the use? "Anyway, it’s already late. So," I closed my eyes slowly, "let’s sleep here for one more night. I am not walking a single step until I’ve had a good. night’s sleep."

"Alright, Ari. I’ll wake you once the sun rises." Damar whispered to me and I smiled faintly.

The next morning came and we said our goodbyes.

The final goodbye was quieter than I imagined. Well, not like I had a lot of folks who liked me anyway.

Dani waved from the front of the crowd, his eyes lingering on my face until we were deep in the trees. The trade party followed us, two rabbits pushing the new ’troller’ with ease, their ears twitching with every new sound of the forest.

The further we go, the farther we get from the rabbits’ territory, and I could somehow feel it in my bones.

Fenric and Damar were on high alert. The mating session had changed them subtly, according to my observation.

Yes, they used to be very protective and possessive, but it got an extra tier after my heat. They were a perimeter that stood at my side, making sure no harm or males approached me.

They walked so close to me that I was constantly bumping into one of them.

"Arinya," Fenric said suddenly.

I looked up. He was wearing a look I knew well—the one he always wore when he wanted to impress me and get a praise.

"Remember the wooden spit and boar?" he asked, though his pronunciation was a bit off. "You said to remind you about it."

He shot a lightning-fast, smug smirk at Damar after saying that. It was a clear ’I remembered first’ look.

Damar’s jaw tightened, and he pointedly turned his head toward the trees, his expression one of silent, stinging defeat.

I snapped my fingers, laughing.

"Ah, that’s right. I already forgot about it." I said and this added to the smugness Fenric felt.

"I did good, right?" He asked, his tail swinging happily behind him and I chuckled.

"Yes, yes, you did good," I said and then turned to Damar. "Damar, are there any big animals nearby that we can hunt?"

Among the three of us, Damar had the sharpest instincts when finding prey. Even Fenric wouldn’t argue with that.

But it seemed like my words were misunderstood because as soon as I asked that, the rabbit traders behind us froze. Their ears shot up like lightning rods, their fur standing on end.

They slowly looked at me, their necks creaking in horror, and then at the goods, then back at me, their little hearts probably beating like hammers. It looked like they were considering abandoning the goods if their life turned out to be in danger.

Damar looked at them, then back at me, his voice flat.

"No, Arinya. Nothing but small... prey."

I don’t know if he did that on purpose but it definitely had an effect.

"Hm, that won’t do. Let’s try to see if we can find something as big as a boar,"

I saw the rabbits relax only slightly. I sighed. Even if I’d built them a cart, to them, I was still the tiger. And the tiger appeared to be hungry.

What do they see me as anyway? I don’t war human like beasts. If I did, we would’ve had those Stone Martens’ corpses hanging over a fire and salt sprinkled over them.

The thought disgusted me though, so it never appealed to me.

"Let’s keep going. Once it’s time for dinner, we can consider looking for prey. For now, let’s just live off the jerky I made." I said and they nodded.