Chapter 113: Revenge?
There was silence as they stood there thinking of what to do next.
In that moment of silence, Azure arrived with little Maren in his arms. Everyone turned and stared at them as they approached, shock on their faces.
Little Maren looked calm and neat after taking her bath. She was indeed sparkling clean. Azure, on the other hand, looked like a complete mess. His attire was shabby from all the chasing, and his hair didn’t look any better. It was as though he had gone on a wild goose chase. On his cheek was the obvious red mark left by Maren kicking and slapping him with her tail.
Everyone simply stared at him with a blink. Then they stared at the little one in his arms.
"He actually bathed her," Eris observed.
"Wow. That’s something. She finally allowed him?" Luka blinked.
As soon as little Maren saw Sunnie, she instantly jumped from Azure’s arms and rushed toward her.
Sunnie smiled as she carried her. "How was the bath?" she asked, but Maren didn’t say anything. She simply turned to stare at Azure, who was looking a mess.
Azure removed the leaf from his hair as he said with a smile, "It was chaotic indeed. But at least I succeeded in the end," he expressed.
Eris shrugged. "I guess that’s valid."
Sunnie smiled as she stared at Maren. The system beeped.
[Ding!]
[Host, congratulations! You’ve successfully accomplished the double task.]
[Mer Husband has successfully cleaned up the mer cub!]
[Reward granted.]
[Host - Your reward is ready - Clothing Material.]
[Would the Host like to view them now?]
Sunnie stared at the system tab. She was curious to view them, but she guessed now wasn’t the right time. Because at that moment, Azure had asked, "And why’s everyone out here? What happened?" He looked around, noticing the women’s worried expressions.
At that moment, one of the women sighed as she said, "I fear we won’t be having any meals anytime soon."
Azure was confused. "What do you mean by that?" He stared at Sunnie and Little Black. Little Black explained the situation to him.
He added, "So we think someone is intentionally targeting us by ruining the crops and stuff so we won’t have anything to eat."
Azure thought as he said, "But it’s an isolated land. Who could possibly be around to even do that?"
Little Black folded his arms. "Exactly."
There was silence as they thought it through. At that moment, they heard some noise.
They turned to see the wolf approaching. The wolf stopped at a distance, staring at them.
Sunnie stared at it while approaching. "What are you doing here?" She had noticed the wolf’s paw—it was bleeding, and it was clear someone had wounded it. "What happened to you?"
Little Black approached and stared at it. "I think the wolf has something to say."
Sunnie stared at Little Black and then at the wolf. "Something to say? What is it?"
The people came closer together to hear what the wolf had to say. Little Black leaned closer to get the details; he could at least understand what the wolf spoke. At that moment, he was able to gather some information from the wolf, if not all.
"Oh no," Little Black said after hearing a bit of what the wolf said.
"What is it?" Sunnie stared at him.
"What did he say?" Zuna inquired.
Little Black looked scared as he explained, "I think we have some enemies who have intruded on the land."
There was silence as they stared at themselves, confused. Sunnie asked, "What type of enemy? Who are they, and what do they want?"
Little Black listened some more and explained, "He says that he saw some strange people moving around the land. And they were destroying the crops, plants, and stuff. He tried stopping them, but they hurt him... He managed to escape."
There was silence as one of the women said, "Why would they do that? I don’t remember us offending anyone around here."
"I don’t think they’re from here at all," Little Black added. "From what it’s saying, I think they’re outsiders who don’t live in the forest."
Sunnie was curious as she asked, "Who could they be then?"
Little Black listened attentively and then said, "Hyenas... from outside the evil forest."
As soon as he announced that, Sunnie and Azure’s expressions went pale with shock. They instantly recalled the fallout they had with a hyena hunter a while back.
At that moment, the reason behind this illogical action became clear to them. It simply made sense that their reason for doing so could be out of revenge.
"The hyenas? From outside the evil forest?" Eris asked.
"And what does that bunch of fools think they’re doing? Are they trying to get a death sentence or something?" Karl demanded, instantly pissed.
"I see they’ve grown some guts," Zayn added, arms folded. "I wonder what gave them the courage to play such silly tricks."
They speculated on possible reasons why the hyena tribe would even think about coming for them through such silly means.
At that moment, Azure said, "Probably for revenge and aim for glory."
They stared at him. Eris asked, "Revenge? What revenge? I don’t remember doing anything to them. We didn’t ruin their land or steal from them or anything. So what revenge are they looking for?"
Azure hesitated, clearing his throat as he said, "I beat up one of their members who came in here a while back."
"....."
Everyone was silent as they stared at him. They were shocked and confused at the same time.
"You beat him up?" Luka asked.
"Why?" Little Black asked.
"They probably deserved it," Eris shrugged as Sunnie explained.
She explained how the hunter had wanted to shoot at little Maren, and then Azure had come to the rescue and beaten him up.
After she was done explaining, Eris shrugged again. "You see, like I said. He deserved it big time. I would have cut off his head if I were the one," he said proudly.