Chapter 77: Panic For the Cub!
Ash smiled as he stared at her. "And how do you plan on saving him? You don’t even know where he is."
She smiled as she said, "Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to help. You just have to trust me," she assured him.
Ash smiled with a nod. "Okay.. I trust you.. now hurry up and wash up, let’s head back home. The cub is certainly waiting for us."
She nodded as she rounded up her beauty bath.
---
As Ayra and Ash got home, they were surprised to see a crowd of beastmen surrounding the environment. They were clearly waiting for her return, and when she did, they approached her.
The teens in front stared at her. "Are you okay? We heard that some people tried harming you!"
"Yes! Did they do anything to you? Tell us and we’ll go and make them pay!"
"Are you hurting anywhere?"
"Give her some space to breathe, you’re making her feel dizzy," the elderly insisted.
"Oh yes..." They stepped aside and gave them some space.
Ayra casually stared at them with a smile. "Thanks for caring. I’m fine.. nothing happened," she assured them.
But they seemed skeptical.
"Are you sure?" A young dog beastman asked, his ears twitching.
Ayra smiled as she leaned closer and patted the dog by his ears. "Yes I am, don’t worry about me at all."
"..."
The teen stiffened as he stared at Ayra. Ayra’s smile, her face, her scent, everything was glorious. He couldn’t help himself from freezing while his cheeks went pink at the moment.
"Maybe we should always move with the female to protect her," another said from behind.
"Yes I agree."
But Ash stepped forward and said, "Don’t worry, I’m here to protect the female."
They slowly stared at each other and nodded.
"Everyone get back to work now," Ash said as he took Ayra by the hand and took her away. And while they walked past them, the dog beastman immediately fell down on his back.
Surprised, everyone gathered him wondering what was wrong with him. "What’s wrong with him? Why did he collapse?!"
But the young man was staring at the sky with a smile lingering on his flushed face. "The female is pretty.." he blushed some more as he sniffed the scent in the atmosphere.
His other peers around also sniffed the atmosphere and also agreed to this.
"Her scent is so unique!"
"She smells like an S-rank female!"
"Even better!"
"And she keeps getting prettier daily!"
They couldn’t help but discuss the changes of Ayra which had them all impressed.
At that moment, someone rushed up to them. "Bad news!"
They turned to him, confused. "What is it again?"
"The little cub is crying!"
"What?!" Everyone panicked hard as they turned and stared at him.
Their little cub was crying?!
---
As soon as Ayra and Ash made their way into the house, they were shocked to hear the little one crying so loud.
And Ayra was also surprised to see almost everyone there. Vale, Commander Lynn, and even Zark! They were standing there with the teens Ayra had left to look after the cub.
And they were all standing and staring at the crying cub with pure confusion on their faces. No one knew what was happening and no one knew how to stop this little one from crying. They simply stared in panic.
Ayra approached closer to take a look at the little one. While she examined little Ally, Rai panicked.
"I didn’t do anything! I promise I didn’t make the little cub cry at all," Rai explained.
"Me too. I did not even carry her at all. We just stood there and it started crying," Kan explained. The teens were worried that they’d be punished for making the little cub cry while also being worried about what could have happened to the cub.
"What could have made it cry...? I don’t see any visible injuries around its body..." Vale expressed, a hand on his chin while he thought hard.
"Maybe she is sick?" Zark had said, looking worried even though he was keeping a calm expression. "Maybe we should go and get the best doctor across the tribes.. maybe from the higher tribes or something. We’ll give them all the food we have and they can come and check the cub," he suggested.
Ash approached. "Will she be okay? Is she hurting inside? Is that why she is crying? What happened to her?"
"Maybe I can go and look for some strange medicine across the lands.. even in the contaminated zones. Maybe we’ll find something!"
"I’ll come with you then to look for it in the contaminated zone," Commander Lynn agreed.
"Yes. I should come too," Ash agreed.
Everyone wanted to help in the way they could. The beastmen were already all panicking at what was happening. They didn’t know why the cub was crying so they were panicking while thinking of possible reasons and solutions.
And at that moment, Ayra couldn’t help but slowly smile as she ran her hands through the crying cub’s hair and ears. She was smiling at how dramatic the tribe leaders and the beastmen were being.
She found it rather cute.
At that moment, the beastmen paused and stared at her.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Yes. What happened? Did you figure out what’s wrong with the cub?" Ash asked, worried as he pulled closer to her.
Now they had their eyes glued to her like she held the answers to all their problems.
"Wait, she’s also a healer! She’ll probably know something," Rai blinked.
"True. I almost forgot. Did you find out something?"
"Tell us.." Vale leaned closer as they stared at her, waiting for what she’d say.
But Ayra didn’t speak immediately. She found herself smiling for a while as she shook her head. She couldn’t help but find their dramatic reaction cute and funny as she finally sighed and said.
"There’s no need for alarm or whatever. She’s fine," she said as she stared at them with a smile. "She only messed up herself."