Chapter 226: Sneaking Around

While things were bustling with activity over at the Dragon Tribe, the Wild Kitchen was unusually quiet.

Lucas walked inside and glanced around the empty kitchen. After failing to spot the familiar figure, he frowned in confusion.

"Where’s Sora? Why can’t I see her?"

Ace, who was sitting nearby, pouted and pointed toward the distance.

"She’s staying over at the Tribe ahead. She probably won’t be back for a while."

"The Tribe ahead?"

Lucas looked puzzled.

Before Ace could explain further, Xavier arrived at the Wild Kitchen a moment later. He immediately scanned the area, searching for Sora.

When he failed to find her, his gaze landed on the empty cooking area.

"Why is everything gone? Where are the pottery pots and bowls? What delicious food did Sora run off to make this time?"

Ace nodded.

"Yeah. She really did make quite a lot of delicious food."

"She made delicious food?"

Ryan walked in from outside, his eyes lighting up.

"Then I’ll go help her. Where is she?"

"I’m afraid she doesn’t need your help," Ace replied casually as he chewed on some food.

Ryan immediately noticed the strange tone in his voice.

"What do you mean?"

Ace merely snorted softly and refused to explain.

Instead, Damien, who had been standing nearby, curled his lips and said, "Kaelira is at the Tribe right now. She doesn’t have time for us."

"The Tribe?" Ryan frowned. "Did the Leader order her to do something again?"

"It’s not the Wolf Tribe," Ace answered while crunching on a piece of pickled potato stalk. "It’s the Dragon Tribe."

"The Dragons?"

Lukan arrived a moment later and was surprised by the news.

"Didn’t Kaelira say she was going to drive them away?"

Lucas gave a light scoff when he heard that.

"I’m afraid they can’t be driven away anymore. Kaelira has already agreed to become their leader."

"What?"

Ace’s expression changed immediately.

He had clearly not expected such news.

Lucas explained, "This morning, I saw the Priest of the dragons establish a covenant with Kaelira."

"What?!"

"When did that happen?"

"Why didn’t she tell us?"

The moment Lucas finished speaking, the Wild Kitchen erupted.

Ace, Xavier, and Lukan reacted the most strongly.

Ace and Xavier looked completely bewildered, while Lukan’s expression became serious.

Such an important matter had happened, yet Sora hadn’t told any of them.

Ryan remained relatively calm.

"She probably hasn’t had the chance to tell us yet."

Xavier’s eyes immediately darkened.

"So she’s with that dragon right now?"

"Not exactly," Lucas replied. "Drake left after making the oath with Kaelira."

"Left?"

Ace frowned.

"Where did he go?"

Lucas shrugged.

"He said he was going to look for Flower Rats. The Pox Scabs are running low, and they couldn’t find enough Flower Rats, so Sora sent him to search for more."

"Looking for Flower Rats?"

Xavier narrowed his eyes.

"We snakes are the best at finding rats. Why didn’t she come to me?"

Ace also found the situation suspicious.

"If she’s only looking for Flower Rats, why is she being so secretive about it?"

Lukan lowered his gaze thoughtfully.

"I’m afraid this matter isn’t that simple."

"No."

Xavier’s expression became even darker.

"This isn’t really about finding Flower Rats. Sora must be hiding something from us!"

He crossed his arms and thought carefully.

"The Dragon covenant isn’t that simple. That beast group is famous for using covenants to demonstrate loyalty. Who knows what that Priest is planning?"

"Then what is Sora’s intention?" Lucas asked.

After hearing Xavier’s reasoning, even Lucas began to feel suspicious.

"I don’t know what she’s thinking," Xavier said coldly, "but she’s definitely hiding something from us."

He glanced toward Damien.

"She better not think she can hide things from us and make history repeat itself."

Damien’s expression didn’t change beneath Xavier’s stare.

He clearly didn’t take the provocation seriously.

Instead, he looked directly at Xavier.

"So what are you planning to do?"

Xavier sneered.

"Follow her and find out what she’s really doing, of course."

None of them realized that they were about to discover something completely different from what they expected.

---

Meanwhile, Sora had no idea that several of her Beast Husbands were hiding nearby and secretly observing her.

She was currently watching the people of the Dragon Tribe happily eat the various fish dishes she had prepared.

The once-simple meal had transformed into a feast.

Braised fish, sour soup fish, grilled fish, and several other dishes covered the tables.

The Beastmen ate enthusiastically, their faces filled with satisfaction.

Sora smiled as she watched them.

"Now that you’ve learned how to prepare these fish dishes, you can make them yourselves in the future."

She pointed toward the different dishes.

"There are many other recipes as well. If you want to learn them, I’ll have Clare teach you later."

The dragon Beastmen nodded eagerly.

"Leader, the food you make is truly delicious!"

"We’ll definitely study hard!"

"That’s right! We’ll remember everything you taught us."

The Old Beastman nodded repeatedly.

"In all my years, this is the first time I’ve eaten something so delicious."

Sora smiled.

"There are many more delicious foods for you to learn. I’ll teach everyone when the time comes."

"Thank you, Leader!"

"Thank you, Leader!"

"Thank you, Leader!"

The gratitude of the Beastmen was sincere.

Seeing how approachable Sora was, the Old Beastman felt increasingly pleased.

At first, he hadn’t understood why Drake had insisted on choosing this particular Female as their leader.

Now, he understood.

What other Female would personally prepare such delicious food for her people?

Sora glanced at the cookware.

"However, you’re still using stone pots and stone bowls. They’re too cumbersome."

She picked up one of the pottery pots.

"Cooking with pottery pots and bowls is much better. They’re lighter and easier to use."

The Old Beastman immediately looked embarrassed.

"Pottery pots and bowls are too precious. We can’t afford them unless we trade with people from the City-State."

Sora waved her hand.

"You don’t need to buy them from the City-State."

She smiled.

"I’ll teach you how to make them another day. These pottery pots and bowls were made by me."

"What?!"

The Old Beastman stared at her in disbelief.

"The Leader can make pottery pots and bowls too?"

The other Beastmen looked equally shocked.

When Sora had ordered them to bring over the pottery cookware, they had secretly assumed that the Wolf Tribe must be extremely wealthy to use such expensive items as ordinary kitchenware.

They had never imagined that their Leader had made them herself.

"Is... is that really true?"

Sora nodded confidently.

"Of course. When I have time, I’ll take everyone and teach you how to make pottery."

Clare and Zainabu were already busy dealing with the Pox Scabs and probably wouldn’t have enough time.

It would be better for Sora to teach the dragons herself.

Besides, it could also be considered a way of repaying them for the help Drake had given her.

---

Not far away, several figures were hiding among the bushes.

Lucas narrowed his eyes.

"Telling them to make pottery instead of continuing to use stone pots and bowls... That sounds normal enough."

Ace snorted.

"It looks normal now. Who knows whether it’ll stay that way?"

Ryan shook his head.

"How could it? Kaelira, she—"

Before Ryan could finish speaking, Sora suddenly left the Dragon Tribe.

The group immediately became alert.

Sora walked toward the small forest to the east.

She still needed to deal with the rice she had harvested.

Once the rice grains were separated from their husks, they would need to be milled.

As she walked, Sora began calculating how she could create a simple rice-milling tool.

She had already discovered so many useful resources in this world.

If she could figure out how to process rice efficiently, the Tribe’s food supply would become much more stable.

However, just as she stepped into the woods, a melodious voice suddenly drifted toward her.

"Kaelira, I have something to tell you."

Sora stopped.

She turned around.

Her expression immediately changed when she saw who was standing behind her.

It was Nick Wilde.

Why was he here?

She had barely opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when Nick Wilde walked toward her with an unusually serious expression.

His gaze burned intensely as he reached out and took her hand.

Then he pulled something from inside his robe.

Sora blinked.

"What is that?"

She hadn’t expected him to appear here, much less behave so strangely.

What she didn’t know was that several figures were watching the scene from the bushes.

Xavier’s eyes widened.

His expression instantly became dark.

Lucas stared at them.

Ace’s jaw dropped.

Even Lukan looked shocked.

Then Xavier’s voice came from behind the bushes.

"I told you she wasn’t simple!"

He pointed toward Sora and Nick Wilde.

"Look at this! If we hadn’t followed Kaelira today, we wouldn’t have known she was having a secret meeting with Nick Wilde!"

The others stared at the two figures in the distance.

Nick Wilde had been unusually quiet over the past few days.

Because of this, they had gradually lowered their guard around him.

Who would have thought that this seemingly quiet Beastman had been secretly planning something?

Xavier’s eyes narrowed.

"Hmph."

Sora had certainly been causing quite a stir lately.

Now they finally had a chance to see exactly what she had been hiding.

"Let’s wait and see what she has to say for herself."

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the misunderstanding unfolding behind her, Sora stared curiously at the object Nick Wilde had just taken from his robe.

She had no idea that, behind the trees, several jealous Beast Husbands had already imagined an entirely different story.

And judging from their expressions, explaining herself later was going to be anything but easy.