Chapter 225: Female Leader

The Old Beastman smiled faintly and replied neither arrogantly nor humbly, "Our Dragon Tribe only has one particular talent—we like keeping our homes neat and beautiful."

Sora looked around once again.

The house was indeed well built.

Although it wasn’t particularly large, every part of it was compact and carefully arranged. It gave off the feeling that, while the hut might be small, it still possessed everything it needed.

"If the Chief wants to see the houses, you should start with the Priest’s," the Old Beastman said as he walked ahead. "His house was the first one completed in the entire Tribe."

Sora was slightly surprised.

She hadn’t expected the Wooden Hut she had entered to belong to Drake.

"Since the Priest isn’t here, perhaps we should leave," Sora suggested.

The Old Beastman smiled.

"It’s fine. If the Priest knew that the Chief had come to inspect our homes, he would be delighted to let you look around."

Seeing how naturally the Old Beastman spoke, Sora guessed that Drake usually allowed the members of the Tribe to enter his house freely.

Thinking about this, she relaxed.

As the Priest, Drake’s house wasn’t particularly large.

Immediately after entering, there was a spacious common room that could be used for meetings. To the left was his sleeping area.

Several pieces of white animal hide were carefully hung against the walls with wooden pegs. Strange ancient symbols had been drawn across some of them.

Sora didn’t understand what they meant, but when she looked closely at the patterns, they resembled astronomical charts.

There was even a large ladle-shaped arrangement of stars that reminded her of the Big Dipper, along with what looked like a bright Morning Star.

She couldn’t help becoming curious.

So the Priest wasn’t merely skilled at managing people.

He also seemed to possess considerable knowledge of the stars.

The furnishings inside the room were simple, but everything was exceptionally clean.

A small flowering plant had been placed on the table, adding a touch of life to the otherwise plain room.

Sora looked around appreciatively.

"This room is quite nice."

The Old Beastman nodded.

"Yes. Our Priest has always been clever with his hands. He knows how to make many things. It’s only a pity that his house is a little small."

He sighed.

"Sometimes I feel that it’s unfair to him."

Sora turned toward him in surprise.

"Wasn’t the house originally this size?"

The Old Beastman shook his head.

"No. When we first divided the land, we gave the Priest the largest plot in the Tribe. However, he felt sorry for the families behind him who had two young beast cubs, so he gave part of his land to them."

Sora wasn’t surprised to hear that.

It seemed like exactly the kind of thing Drake would do.

However, the more she heard about him, the more puzzled she became.

If Drake was really this selfless, capable, and respected, then logically, the people of the Tribe should have been perfectly willing to elect him as their Chief.

So why had he insisted on coming to her?

Sora thought for a moment before asking, "Your Priest seems like a very good person. Have you never considered making him the Chief?"

The Old Beastman hesitated before answering.

"It’s not that we haven’t considered it."

He sighed.

"But the Priest himself said that as a Priest, he only wants to be responsible for matters concerning the Sky God. If he were to become the Chief as well, he believes the Sky God might be displeased."

Sora finally understood.

So that was the reason.

It actually made sense within the Beast World.

The beastmen living on this continent held the Sky God in tremendous awe. To them, the Sky God was sacred and inviolable.

Their religious traditions were deeply woven into their daily lives, and the Priest clearly took his position seriously.

Sora continued looking around the room.

After a moment, she remembered something.

"The people of the Wolf Tribe didn’t make things difficult for you, did they?"

After all, the dragons had suddenly arrived and occupied a piece of land belonging to the Wolf Tribe.

They were essentially new neighbors.

It would have been normal for the Wolf Tribe to object.

Yesterday, Sora had even been hoping that some difficulty might arise and force the dragons to reconsider staying.

But judging from the neatly constructed houses, there didn’t seem to have been any conflict.

The Old Beastman shook his head.

"No. The people of the Wolf Tribe are actually quite easy to negotiate with. The Priest spoke with them for a while, and they agreed."

Sora’s eyebrows twitched.

The Wolf Tribe was easy to get along with?

If she hadn’t personally experienced their attitude before, she might have believed him.

The Wolf Tribe wasn’t necessarily cruel, but they certainly weren’t universally friendly either.

They were extremely united internally, yet they could also be rather territorial toward outsiders.

The fact that they had agreed after Drake spoke to them for a while only demonstrated how capable Drake was.

Sora had no idea what exactly he had said to convince them.

After walking around the house for a while, Sora felt considerably more relieved.

At least the dragons appeared to be settling in well.

As they stepped outside, Sora noticed several beastmen sitting nearby and eating wild fruits.

She turned toward the Old Beastman.

"How’s the food? Do you need me to prepare something for you?"

The Old Beastman immediately shook his head.

"Don’t worry, Chief. We have enough food for now."

Before leaving, Drake had repeatedly warned them not to trouble Sora unnecessarily.

In particular, he had told them not to bother her about food.

It hadn’t been easy for the Chief to accept them into the Tribe in the first place.

If they now expected Sora to provide food for the entire Dragon Tribe, wouldn’t that place an unnecessary burden on her?

Sora didn’t accept his answer.

Instead, she chuckled softly.

"Uncle, you don’t have to hide it from me. A few wild fruits aren’t enough to fill your stomachs."

She pointed toward the distance.

"Go and have everyone catch some fish. I’ll cook for everyone."

The Old Beastman looked startled.

"How could we trouble the Chief to cook for us?"

Sora glanced at him.

"What? Is there some rule saying a Chief can’t cook?"

The Old Beastman hurriedly shook his head.

"No, that’s not what I meant. The Chief is a Female. As beastmen, we should be taking care of the Females."

He quickly added, "If the Chief wants to eat fish, we’ll go catch them immediately."

Sora laughed.

"Who says a Female can’t cook fish?"

She folded her arms.

"Besides, whatever you make definitely won’t taste as good as mine. Go on. Catch some fish and bring them here. Today, I’ll show all of you what real cooking tastes like."

The Old Beastman remained hesitant.

"Chief, there’s really no need. We can handle it ourselves."

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Aren’t you all calling me Chief? Then why aren’t you listening to what your Chief says?"

The Old Beastman looked embarrassed.

"No, it’s just..."

Sora saw that he was still hesitating.

Without giving him another chance to argue, she walked outside.

Several young beastmen were standing around nearby.

Sora pointed ahead.

"Go straight from here, then turn left. You’ll find a Deep Pool. Go there and catch forty fish."

"Yes, Chief!"

The beastmen immediately accepted the order.

Although they had no idea what Sora intended to do with forty fish, they didn’t dare question her.

They quickly left.

The Old Beastman remained standing there, staring after them.

For the first time, he felt that the Chief their Priest had chosen was truly different.

Not long afterward, the beastmen returned carrying baskets filled with freshly caught fish.

Sora inspected them and nodded with satisfaction.

The fish were large enough.

She looked at the Old Beastman.

"Where’s your cooking pot? We can start preparing them."

The Old Beastman immediately pointed behind him.

"It’s there."

Sora turned around.

A massive Stone Pot sat on the ground.

She stared at it for several seconds before shaking her head.

That thing was practically impossible to move.

Instead, she pointed toward several beastmen.

"You three, come with me."

The dragons exchanged confused glances.

They had no idea what their new Chief wanted.

Nevertheless, they obediently followed.

After a short while, Sora returned with them carrying several Pottery Pots.

She normally had only five Pottery Pots that she regularly used in the Wild Kitchen.

However, she had borrowed several more from Clare and Zainabu.

Sora sometimes wondered whether those two had become completely addicted to making pottery.

Together, the two of them had accumulated more than twenty pots.

Borrowing a few was more than enough for today’s meal.

Once everything was prepared, Sora skillfully started the fire.

She arranged the Pottery Pots one after another, added oil, and began preparing the fish.

Soon, the delicious aroma of food spread through the settlement.

She prepared several different dishes.

There was Braised Fish.

There was a sour soup fish stew.

And there was also charcoal-grilled fish.

The dragons standing nearby gradually became speechless.

They had originally thought that a fish was simply something to roast over a fire.

Yet their new Chief could turn one type of food into several completely different dishes.

The Old Beastman stared at Sora in amazement.

Earlier, when Sora had said she didn’t think their food was very good, he had assumed she was merely being polite.

Now he finally understood.

She really did know how to cook.

And she was extraordinarily skilled at it.

After finishing the preparations, Sora looked at the people gathered around her.

"Did you remember what I just did?"

The beastmen nodded enthusiastically.

"We remember!"

"Good."

Sora smiled.

"Then let’s eat."

She began pointing toward the different dishes.

"This is Braised Fish."

"That one is sour soup fish."

"And the one over there is grilled fish."

The beastmen immediately gathered around.

The moment they tasted the food, their expressions changed.

"This is delicious!"

"The Chief is incredible!"

"I’ve never tasted fish like this before!"

"It’s really delicious!"

One of the beastmen even looked as though he might cry.

"Wuwu... I haven’t eaten something this good in so long!"

Sora couldn’t help laughing.

"If you like it, then eat more."

She pointed toward the dishes.

"And don’t spend every day eating only wild fruits. You can eat fish too."

"Yes, Chief!"

"We understand!"

"Thank you, Chief!"

The once-reserved dragons were now completely absorbed in their meal.

Sora watched them eat and smiled.

Perhaps becoming their Chief wasn’t as troublesome as she had initially imagined.

At least, she could start by making sure none of them went hungry.

However, somewhere deep inside her mind, another thought surfaced.

Drake had deliberately given her his absolute loyalty.

The Tribe trusted her.

And now she had even begun caring for them.

Whether she liked it or not, she was slowly becoming connected to this group of dragons.

Sora sighed softly.

It seemed getting rid of them was going to be much harder than she had expected.