Chapter 269: Believe Me Now?
The eagle tribe leader was sitting on his seat, eyes fixed on the wood before him while he read through the information like a thousand times.
He had been on it for ages now. He couldn’t bring himself to sleep while going through the information and wondering if what he was reading could be right.
Early that morning, he had sent someone to go and summon the female. Since the message had mentioned the female, he had a feeling that the female might actually have something to do with it.
And so he needed to see the female for confirmation.
---
The eagle leader was still seated when Sunnie made her way into the room early that morning. The guard who had brought her in stepped outside and waited for them while keeping guard.
Inside, Sunnie approached him and looked around. "The eagle lord summoning me early this morning... I wonder what it’s all about." She stared at him. "Don’t you think people will find it rather suspicious?"
She smiled as the eagle lord cast her a cold glare before he said, "I don’t have time for this. Let’s get straight to the point." He said as he tossed the wood to the floor.
Sunnie paused as she stared down at the wood on the floor. She smiled as she slowly bent down and picked it up. Sunnie read through the details of the wood and smiled. "And this is...?"
"I believe you should know better, shouldn’t you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "And that’s why I called you here to explain it all. I don’t have the time and patience for anything, so make it quick."
Sunnie stared at the wood again with a smile, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she casually said, "I believe you could read... so why ask me these things when it’s clear what it means?"
He frowned as he said, "Would you love to die then?"
Sunnie smiled. "Then maybe you can try killing me and let’s see how you’re going to get the information you need."
The eagle narrowed his eyes at her as he said, "Do you know what I’m talking about?"
Sunnie smiled as she paced around for a while with a hand behind her. "What if I say I do know... what do I gain from it all?"
The eagle hesitated before he said, "I’ll set you and your friends free," he said.
Sunnie smiled. She couldn’t fully trust him on that because she had to play along. At the end of the day, they were still headed to their doom.
She smiled. "Then remember to keep to your word."
"Sure will."
Sunnie took a seat, legs crossed as she stared at the inscription on the wood yet again. "I guess the person knows a thing or two. And I also know that I might have an idea."
She stared at him and then said, "Well, before anything, let’s get it straight that I’m not the one who sent that information to you. And secondly, what I have to say is basically this—I’m only giving my opinion on the matter. And I’ll confirm..."
"All that is written here is true."
The eagle was quiet for a while, staring at her while studying her statement. "And how am I supposed to believe that?"
She scoffed. "I won’t force you to do so. You can choose not to believe it and sit around waiting for it to happen. Maybe when everything comes true, you’ll believe me then."
The eagle was calm, staring at her while studying her calm expression and all. Then he slowly leaned forward and asked, "And why do you care so much about letting me know about it?"
She stared at him. "I don’t."
"...."
He leaned back and stared at her again. "Then how do you plan on proving it to me?"
She folded her arms as she rolled her eyes. "I’m not really interested in doing that though." She folded her arms. "But I guess if you can keep to your word, I’ll consider giving you the details."
Silence as the eagle smiled with a nod. "Okay... I’ll keep to my word. Now let’s hear what you have to say."
Sunnie hesitated before she spoke. She explained what she knew—explaining how she had also made observations of the tiger beastman working towards taking the food for themselves.
She backed up her statement by explaining how the tiger beastmen had summoned her to ask some questions while also playing some suspicious acts towards the sharing of the food.
"...You can confirm if you want. I spoke with him the other day, and that’s basically what we spoke about." She explained. "But since you’re being generous to help us escape, I considered letting you know about it."
"So now it’s up to you to decide what you want to do with the information and how you wish to handle it."
The eagle was quiet in thoughts for a while. He could see some truth in it, especially with the suspicious questions of the tiger a while back. And owing to the fact that the tiger was already suspicious to start with, the eagle knew that this couldn’t be far-fetched at all.
The eagle leaned closer with a calm expression as he said, "Perhaps, what is the movement that the tiger is making at the moment?"
Sunnie stared at him for a while as she smiled. "Are you really that curious to know?" She leaned back. "Okay, then. If so, then why don’t you go to the food store cave and see for yourself?"
The eagle raised an eyebrow. "And see what exactly?"
She sighed. "If you get there... I’m pretty sure you’ll see some sign that will be enough to tell you that someone is making some suspicious movements on the food. I don’t know what it’ll be, but I’m certain that you’ll find something."
He stared at her for a while, thinking about her words. It wouldn’t hurt to try out what she had recommended. After giving it some thought, he leaned back as he said, "Okay... I’ll do as you say. I’ll confirm the information you’ve presented. And I’ll have my men go and confirm."
The eagle said, narrowing his eyes at her. "And if I do go there and I don’t find anything interesting..." He stared at her. "Then I’ll make you pay for putting me through all this stress."
She smiled as she raised her chin. "Then I hope you won’t be disappointed with what you discover, then."
---
The tiger tribe leader was in his lair, sitting impatiently and staring into the distance, waiting.
He had been waiting for a while, waiting for the outcome of what he had sent his men to investigate.
Sunnie had given him some clue. She had told him that the eagle lord would be secretly getting her out of prison to meet him.
The tiger had sent his men to keep an eye on the prison house early that morning. He had also sent his men to follow them and see where the men would be taking Sunnie to.
Now he was sitting in his lair and waiting for news.
Not too long after, the guard walked into the room and came to kneel before the leader. The tiger got up to his feet and stared down at him.
"What did you find out? What happened?" He inquired, curious.
"Yes. I did find something... and it’s just as the female said." He explained.
"Early in the morning, I hid at the side and noticed someone from the eagle tribe sneak into the prison and secretly get the female out."
"After that, I followed them to know where they were taking her. And as the female said, he took her to his lair. And they were there for some time... so I think they’re actually talking about what the female had said."
"It seems the eagle tribe really is plotting something against us." He explained.
The tiger was calm and quiet for a while, staring into the distance with a scoff. He guessed something was really happening behind the scenes, and the eagle was not to be trusted that much.
"Summon the female... I need to see her as soon as possible," he instructed as the guard got up to his feet with a nod.
"Yes! I’ll do that immediately!" He said as he turned and left.
---
Soon, Sunnie was sitting down opposite the tiger tribe leader, who didn’t seem at ease at all. The tiger stared at her with cold and immense attention as Sunnie smiled.
"Now do you believe me?" She asked.
The tiger was quiet for a while before he asked again, "Why are you telling me all this?"
She leaned calmly before she responded. "So you can set us free." She explained. "At least that should be a decent deal. I help you, and in return, you set us free. What do you say?"
The tiger said nothing for a while. He simply sat there staring at her while weighing the thoughts in his head.
After a moment, he casually said, "What time will they be making their way to the storage cave?"