Chapter 263: For His Boy

[Yes, Host. This world has its own variation of cockroaches]

Tera grew pale. She fucking hated cockroaches!

’VARIATION?’

[Correct]

[The local species differs from the one Host is familiar with in several ways]

[The most notable being the size, which is—]

"NO! SHUT UP! NOT ANOTHER WORD FROM YOU!" Tera screeched.

{BeastWorldAddict looks concerned}

{PervyGoddess runs off to go research on cockroaches}

Naiya, who had been halfway through calling Tera something else, stiffened and shut her mouth.

All the other beasts stared at her in shock.

’See what you made me do!’

[I was answering Host’s question]

[(?????")° ° °]

’I have changed my mind. I do not want to know. I will never want to know. Do not tell me anything about that thing! And you bet I don’t want to fucking set eyes on it either!’

[(????)]

Naiya snapped back to her senses, and her body shook as she stared at Tera, seething. How dare this nasty thing tell her to shut up?! A whole tribe leader?!

Before Naiya could say anything, she was interrupted by a cough.

It went on for too long and ended in a wheeze. Tera turned her head.

There was an old male sitting on the ground at the edge of the crowd. He was not watching the commotion and didn’t even seem to be aware of it at all. He was bent over with one hand braced on his knee, shoulders shaking, as he hacked into his other hand.

He was tiny. That was the first thing she thought. He had the frame of a beast who used to be much bigger and was not anymore. He looked so frail too that Tera was really concerned. Even his ears drooped.

But upon closer look, Tera recognised him immediately.

It was Ermin’s uncle.

Her eyes widened. She could not believe what she was seeing. How had he come all the way here in that state?!

’Did he actually journey all this way? HIM?!’

[This system is also attempting to understand that, Host]

[(⊙_⊙)]

Tera made her way to him.

"I am TALKING to you—" Naiya’s hand shot out to grab her arm.

Tera went past her without looking. She did not slow down or even acknowledge her pesky cousin. Naiya stopped dead as Tera dodged her.

Did the shiftless beast just move faster than her?

No, that was impossible.

Naiya had always been fast, and the shiftless girl who could not even run properly had simply not been where she grabbed.

Tervo, seeing this, immediately got angry at Tera’s insolence.

He stepped into Tera’s path and also tried to grab her, only for Tera to smack his hand away.

The bird beast staggered back, grabbing his own throbbing hand with an open mouth.

Tera glared at him. "Don’t touch me."

He didn’t say anything. He just held his wrist and stared at her.

Tera crouched down in front of the old male. He had not stopped coughing the whole time, and up close it sounded far worse.

’Please tell me he isn’t carrying something contagious before I bring an infection into my clan.’

[?????]

[There is no infection, Host]

[These are just the death throes of an old beast]

Tera’s head snapped up.

’That’s not funny!’

She quickly opened a portal beside her and carried the old man back without paying any further attention to the system.

[This system is not joking, Host]

[? (ó﹏ò?)?]

Tera stepped out into her clan, holding on to the old man.

"UNCLE."

Ermin rushed towards them, immediately taking him from Tera’s grip. The torn look on Ermin’s face worried Tera, and she turned to the rest of the clan.

Xavi was quickly making his way to them.

Tera called out to the others, telling them to start preparing some herbs. They needed to tend to his coughing and get him well-rested.

’System. Scan him. Tell me exactly what is wrong with him.’

- ※ - ※ - ※ –

That night, Xavi was asleep in his shelter with the cubs.

Tera sat on the floor of her own with Ermin held against her chest, his head tucked under her chin, while her legs folded around him.

His eyes were swollen shut from crying himself to sleep. Tera had never seen anyone cry for hours, and today was the first.

Tera slowly ran her fingers through his hair.

The system had not been joking.

The old man truly had been dying. There were no herbs in the storage room that could have helped the old male, and the system had shared that part of it had been due to the strenuous journey.

That many days across the wasteland with fairly little to eat, at his age, meant his body had simply spent everything it had left getting here.

At the very least, they had been able to help the old man with his coughing, and he had been placed in Ermin’s shelter to rest comfortably while Ermin spent time with him. When the old male gained more awareness, he obviously didn’t want to see Tera or even be near her, which she understood.

It was only normal that he would dislike her after what had happened back then. She would hate Tera too if she was the uncle.

But he had been so happy to see Ermin.

The old male had started crying, which in turn set Ermin off, and then the two of them had just sat there holding onto each other and crying.

Ermin had cried harder when he realised what was happening.

What had particularly been chilling was how his uncle had said he could go in peace now that he had seen his boy.

Almost as if that had been the only thing keeping him alive ever since leaving their damaged territory.

He died shortly after.

"Oh, Ermin," Tera whispered.

Her eyes stung. She kissed the top of his head and kept stroking his hair.

She felt so sorry for him, and she was furious at the same time.

Why would Naiya just exile Ermin like that? It still didn’t make any sense. Ermin had not done a single thing. The tribe had decided the old Tera was worthless, and they had been free to throw the old Tera out on her own, and that would have been that. Why take the one person who had nothing to do with any of it and make him leave too?

The old Tera had clearly drugged and forced herself on him.

Tera was angry at the rest of the tribe too. After all that had happened, and with their predicament, they still had the audacity to be snickering when a lot of them could barely even walk.

She wouldn’t be surprised if they had thought about taking over her clan too.

But most importantly, she was furious at the old Tera.

Regardless of how the tribe had treated her—fine, she would excuse her problematic antics—but why do that to Ermin of all things? She had lied and schemed and made herself into exactly the thing they said she was, and she had dragged Ermin down with her, and then she had died and left the whole mess for Tera to stand in.

How frustrating.

They were all idiots. Every last one of them.

At that moment, Tera’s thoughts drifted slightly to Calis. He and the others would be wondering what was taking so long. She would have to send Xavi to relay the news. She couldn’t leave Ermin like this.

Tera pulled him in tighter and pressed her face into his hair.