Chapter 234: Scheming Enemy?

The more Sora listened, the stranger the whole matter seemed.

"However, I did manage to uncover some other information."

"What information?"

"The Leader’s Mother has a son. Judging from his age, he should be eighteen years old."

Sora fell silent for a moment.

If that was true, then some things finally made sense.

It explained why the Original Owner had no memory of Damien, who had suddenly appeared in her life.

How much of an impression could a little boy have left on her when she had been so young?

Even so, another question remained.

How exactly had this childhood engagement come about?

When the Original Owner returned to the Wolf Tribe, she might not have been particularly old, but she certainly wasn’t a little child anymore.

The timing of this supposed engagement was simply too suspicious.

Sora narrowed her eyes slightly before asking,

"Then what about the childhood engagement with Damien?"

"I investigated that as well. The Leader’s Mother did indeed seem to have such an intention."

Sora’s thoughts immediately became complicated.

So the engagement really had existed?

A relationship involving a younger man?

What exactly had the Black Bear Foster Mother been thinking when she decided to pair her handsome son with a Female who had been considered unattractive like the Original Owner?

And there was such a large age difference between them.

Yet Damien certainly didn’t look five years younger than her.

If anything, he looked much more mature.

Of course, some people simply developed differently. It wasn’t impossible for someone to look older than their actual age.

Sora rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

It seemed that if she wanted to uncover the truth about the Black Bear Foster Mother, she would have to investigate Damien more thoroughly.

After all, he could receive letters from the woman.

That meant there was still some form of communication between them.

Perhaps she could use that connection to locate the missing woman.

Although she had gone through all this trouble and hadn’t uncovered as much as she had hoped, at least she had obtained some useful information.

She now knew that she and Damien had a five-year age difference.

She also knew that the Original Owner had left the Black Bear Foster Mother at a relatively young age. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

That meant Damien probably wouldn’t know everything that had happened during the years they had been apart.

Even if the Original Owner had done something unreasonable during that period, Damien wouldn’t necessarily know about it.

That realization eased some of Sora’s concerns.

She thought for a moment before asking another seemingly casual question.

"It’s been such a long time since I’ve eaten anything prepared by my Adoptive Mother. When you went there, did you eat food prepared by the Black Bear People?"

Drake shook his head.

"I didn’t dare reveal my identity, so I prepared my own food."

Sora nodded thoughtfully.

"I haven’t eaten their cooking in so many years. I wonder if their cooking skills have changed?"

She deliberately allowed a trace of nostalgia to enter her voice, making it sound as though she genuinely missed the food from her childhood.

Drake shook his head.

"It doesn’t seem so. I watched them prepare their meals. Their cooking wasn’t nearly as good as yours, Leader."

Sora’s eyelid twitched.

That wasn’t quite the answer she had been looking for.

Her original purpose had been to indirectly determine whether the Black Bear Foster Mother was actually a good cook.

Unfortunately, the woman wasn’t currently in the Tribe, so Sora could only investigate through the surrounding Black Bear People.

Now that Drake had told her their cooking wasn’t particularly good, she could roughly infer that her Adoptive Mother probably wasn’t especially skilled in cooking either.

It seemed she would have to continue searching.

Although Drake had already formed a covenant with her, Sora still didn’t feel comfortable telling him that she wasn’t the Original Owner of this body.

Once that secret was exposed, her life could be in danger.

She knew very little about Drake’s true background.

For this investigation, she had simply used her supposed lack of understanding about Damien as an excuse to send him out to gather information.

She had deliberately concealed her actual objective.

Her experiences during the Apocalypse had taught her one important lesson:

Never become careless just because someone appears close to you.

Sometimes, the people standing closest to you were the ones capable of delivering the most fatal blow.

Even so, she couldn’t deny that having Drake on her side was extremely useful.

Thinking of him reminded Sora of another problem.

The Flower Rat matter.

Although Drake had cleverly helped cover for her when Lucas had questioned her earlier, she still needed to make sure the story remained consistent.

Sora smiled.

"You worked hard today, Drake."

"It’s what I should do."

Drake looked at her sincerely.

"You’re also very good to the people in the Tribe. They told me you even taught them how to cook fish."

Sora chuckled.

"Yes. If they keep eating only wild fruits all the time, their stomachs will eventually suffer. Once we’ve finished milling the rice, they’ll have another source of food."

Drake smiled.

"Thank you, Leader."

"Since I’m your Leader, you don’t need to be so polite with me."

Sora paused.

Then she carefully brought up the subject she’d been thinking about.

"About the Flower Rat matter today..."

Before she could finish, Drake immediately understood what she meant.

"Don’t worry, Leader."

He nodded calmly.

"I went looking for the Flower Rats today. Our Dragon Tribe does indeed have quite a few of them. Tomorrow, I’ll take some people there and bring back more Pox Scabs."

Sora’s eyes brightened.

Talking to intelligent people really was comfortable.

Sometimes, a single hint was enough.

There was no need to explain everything.

Sora smiled.

"Alright. I’ll leave this matter to you."

Meanwhile, while Sora had quietly settled one troublesome matter in her heart, another calculation was taking place elsewhere.

At the Black Pig Tribe, Serena was preparing to make her next move.

"You said you found a Salt Well?"

Henry stared at Serena.

"Is that really true, Serena?"

He held her face and leaned closer, seemingly wanting to kiss her.

Serena immediately turned her face away.

Henry’s expression darkened for an instant.

He had been about to scold her when Serena suddenly revealed something that immediately captured his attention.

She had discovered a Salt Well.

Serena nodded.

"It’s true. I accidentally discovered a Salt Well some time ago. That’s why I was chased and eventually collapsed nearby."

Henry’s eyes widened.

"A Salt Well?"

"Yes."

Serena lowered her eyes.

The people in the Tribe had been growing increasingly dissatisfied with her lately.

They were beginning to suspect that her cooking wasn’t nearly as impressive as she had claimed.

Some of the dishes she’d prepared weren’t even as good as what they could make themselves.

If this continued, she would gradually lose their trust.

She needed something new.

Something that could make everyone recognize her value again.

The Salt Well was exactly the breakthrough she needed.

She possessed the ability to Purify Salt.

With such a valuable skill, how could the people of the Black Pig Tribe continue looking down on her?

Henry frowned.

"But we don’t know how to make salt. Even if there really is a Salt Well, what good is it if nobody knows how to extract the salt?"

Serena looked at him with a mysterious smile.

"Isn’t there already a salt maker standing right in front of you?"

Henry stared at her.

"Serena... are you saying you know how to make salt?"

Serena smiled.

"Yes."

Henry still looked doubtful.

"Serena, you can’t joke about something like this. Purifying salt isn’t simple."

Serena’s expression immediately darkened.

"Henry, what do you mean? You don’t believe me?"

She crossed her arms.

"Don’t forget, I was the one who told everyone about beggar’s chicken and pottery."

Seeing her become angry, Henry immediately softened.

He wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I didn’t mean it that way."

His expression quickly became flattering.

"I just didn’t expect my luck to be this good. I actually formed a Contract with a Female who seems to know everything."

He smiled.

"Serena, you’re truly my lucky star."

Serena’s displeasure finally eased.

"That’s more like it."

She smiled.

"Once we have a reliable source of salt, the Black Pig Tribe can become self-sufficient. We can even use salt to trade with other Tribes and expand our strength."

Serena’s eyes gleamed.

She had already begun calculating.

The Wolf Tribe was slightly stronger than the Black Pig Tribe, but its population wasn’t particularly large.

If she could help the Black Pig Tribe increase its population and resources, its overall strength would grow rapidly.

And if she could recruit several powerful Beast Husbands whose strength approached that of Sora’s Beast Husbands...

That would be even better.

Henry’s fourth-rank Beast Rank wasn’t particularly impressive compared with the powerful males surrounding Sora.

Serena knew this.

She needed more.

Much more.

Unfortunately, Henry was completely unaware of the calculations running through her mind.

All he could think about was salt.

"Then where is this Salt Well?"

His eyes shone with excitement.

Salt was an incredibly precious resource.

If Serena could really lead the Tribe to a Salt Well, they would no longer need to worry about obtaining salt.

They could even trade salt with other Tribes for valuable resources.

Perhaps they could eventually trade directly with the people of the City-States.

After all, weren’t those City-States becoming wealthier precisely because they possessed the knowledge and resources needed to produce salt?

Henry’s excitement grew.

But Serena remained calm.

The truth was that she hadn’t actually found the Salt Well yet.

She had only remembered that such a place existed.

But as long as she kept watching the Wolf Tribe, she wasn’t worried about eventually finding it.

"The place is quite far away."

She deliberately hesitated.

"I need some time to remember the exact route. Once I’ve recalled it properly, I’ll draw a map for you."

Henry’s expression fell.

"Then I still have to wait?"

He had clearly been hoping they could leave immediately.

"I thought we could set out tomorrow."

Serena silently rolled her eyes.

So his brain wasn’t particularly clever, but his ambition was certainly enormous.

She didn’t bother showing her contempt.

Instead, she turned toward him and smiled.

"Henry, how is your training going?"

Henry looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Your Supernatural Ability."

Serena tilted her head.

"How is your training progressing? Are you close to breaking through your Beast Rank?"

Henry’s expression immediately became serious.

He clenched his fists.

"I’m getting close."

Serena smiled.

"That’s good."

But inside, her thoughts were already moving in another direction.

If Henry could break through soon, his value would increase.

And if the Black Pig Tribe could obtain the Salt Well...

Then everything would begin falling into place.

Serena lowered her eyes, hiding the calculating light within them.

She had no intention of remaining weak forever.

If Kaelira could build a powerful position for herself in this world, then she could do the same.

Perhaps even better.

All she needed was enough time.

And the right opportunity.