Chapter 74: Bored and Babied
Shortly after, Xavi had quietly pulled aside the three remaining members of Kiri’s group with a few of his trusted hunters. He had thoroughly interrogated them, and they were shockingly repentant. The females especially admired Tera now and were the most saddened by this.
Tera had forgiven them, and they had promised to keep this interaction a secret from Kiri. Tera had earlier pleaded with Xavi not to touch or involve Kiri yet, which baffled him. He reluctantly agreed, though mostly because Kiri was supposedly pregnant and he wouldn’t want to punish her yet.
Though he would not sit idle if he noticed any odd movement from her.
Tera found it thoughtful, and while she didn’t correct Xavi on Kiri’s supposed pregnancy, she was content to let that particular lie rot from the inside.
The fox’s day was coming.
In the weeks that followed, something strange happened.
The clan started working without her.
It wasn’t perfect or with the precision she would have liked, but more shelters were coming up. Some beasts had even taken the initiative by weaving the walls with dried branches and leaves before tying in the silk leaves.
And somehow, against all odds, nothing collapsed.
The beast folk had absorbed more than Tera had given them credit for. They still made mistakes. One shelter nearly had a door so low that only the cubs could enter without crouching, and another one had a roof that slanted so steeply that rain could actually shoot off it like a water cannon if it came.
Which was a mistake Tera had never in her life imagined someone could make.
But they were learning.
Before anyone could make further mistakes in the first week, as she had planned, Tera decided to appoint most of the females and two more capable males as her construction leads.
Since the farm did not require attention 24/7, and the females wanted to do something since they weren’t heavily pregnant yet, Tera had decided this would be the best role for them.
Kiri had dragged her feet, which made it far easier for Tera to leave her out of the process. She left Kiri part of the beasts handling the materials for the shelters.
Tera didn’t trust her with handling the farm, and she was sceptical about providing her with detailed information for building up the shelters since she could misuse that knowledge.
Tera noticed how the load was visibly off her shoulders with how the others started managing the shelters.
The supervisors she had put in place didn’t fully understand why she wanted things done a certain way, but they followed her instructions with the earnest dedication of students who had discovered that their strange, shiftless teacher was usually right.
The farm was thriving in its own quiet way. The herbs and faster-growing plants had been harvested, and a second round of planting was already underway. The tubers were still buried and growing, but Tera checked on them with the system’s help, and everything was on track.
Even the foraging teams had gotten efficient. They knew which plants were safe, which fruits were ripe, and which berries to avoid after the infamous orange berry incident that no one was allowed to mention in front of the beast male who had eaten them and nearly lost all feeling in his tongue.
Xavi and Ermin had become insufferable.
Not in a bad way. In the way that two powerful, protective males who had just learned their mate was carrying a cub became insufferable.
Tera was not allowed to lift anything heavier than a fruit. She was not allowed to climb. She was not allowed to stand for too long, sit for too long, walk too fast, walk too slow, eat too little, or breathe in a way that either of them deemed ’concerning.’
It was a bit odd since none of the other females was being treated this way.
Xavi had stubbornly refuted that Tera wasn’t as strong as the others, and while it was true, it still left Tera grumbling.
Every morning, food appeared beside her bed before she woke up. Every evening, one of them would casually position himself between her and whatever task she was attempting to do, until she gave up and sat down out of sheer exasperation.
[Host has been effectively demoted from clan architect to clan decoration]
[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]
’I am going to lose my mind.’
And she nearly did.
Watching the beasts work had gotten a bit boring since she wasn’t supervising like she used to, and after countless days of enforced rest, Tera was twitching with unused energy.
She was so bored, and she had nothing to do!
She sat on a flat rock near the edge of the settlement, watching a group of beast men carry thick branches toward the latest shelter frame.
They moved with practiced efficiency, calling out instructions to one another in the shorthand they’d developed over days of working together. A few of them paused to adjust a beam that had slipped.
’When did they get so good at this?’
[Host has been an excellent teacher]
[The clan has absorbed Host’s construction knowledge at an impressive rate]
[Host should feel proud]
[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]
’I do feel proud. I also feel... unnecessary.’
[Host is not unnecessary]
’Urghhhh!’
Still, watching the males from time to time helped Tera make sure none was missing to be with Kiri. And when Kiri was around, she was stylishly watching her.
Even better was how Tera had included the system’s help. The scan feature was the best thing ever. She had especially told the system to alert her whenever Kiri moved aside with a male.
But it did not stop Tera from feeling bored, especially since Kiri had not made any move lately.
Over time, Tera came to realise something.
Her body was weak. It had always been weak, and she clearly couldn’t keep up with the beast folk, especially with how she had the body strength of a damp leaf.
If she was going to survive this pregnancy, the birth, and whatever came after, she needed to be stronger.
Maybe she should have paid more attention to the pregnant ladies who had their classes at the corner of the last gym she used to go to.
’System. What heavy exercises can I safely do while pregnant?’