Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Scheming Fox II

She had been sitting with a group of females during one of the breaks Tera had allowed. The shiftless one had been across the clearing, doing something with sticks and leaves that Kiri refused to care about.

"I am so tired," Kiri had groaned, stretching her arms above her head. "This is ridiculous. She has us working like pack mules from dawn to dusk. We are honourable beast folk, not slaves."

She had expected agreement and sympathetic nods. Maybe a few grumbles about sore muscles.

Instead, Yara had looked up from something she was weaving called a basket—some nonsensical thing Tera had taught her two days ago.

"I do not mind it."

Kiri had stared at her. "You do not mind it?"

"No." Yara’s deer ears flicked forward. "Before this, what did we do? We sat and waited for the males to bring food. We slept, and then did nothing. The days were so boring." She held up the half-finished basket. "This is the first time I have made something with my own hands. It feels nice to be making use of my time."

"Nice?!" Kiri could not believe what she was hearing.

Another female, a younger badger woman named Suri, nodded eagerly. "I like the farm! Watching the green things come out of the ground is exciting. I check every morning!"

"You check dirt every morning," Kiri said flatly.

"It is not just dirt! Things are growing! From the ground! Did you know food could come from the ground?"

"Everyone knows that!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"I did not," Suri said cheerfully. "And now I do, because Tera showed us. She also showed me which leaves make your hands soft if you crush them and rub them together. Look!" She held out her palms, which did, annoyingly, look softer than before.

Kiri had turned to the two females who had been part of her inner circle. The ones who had huddled with her at night and whispered about the shiftless one. Her allies.

They weren’t meeting her eyes.

One of them was running her fingers along a length of the strange thread Tera had pulled from the bark trees, examining it with a fascination that made Kiri’s stomach curdle.

"This thread is so strong," the female murmured. "I wonder if I could make something for the cub with it."

Kiri was immediately irritated. "Are you all listening to yourselves? She is using you. She is making you do her work while she—"

"While she what?" Yara asked mildly. "Works harder than all of us? Sleeps less than anyone? She has not taken a single day of rest since she arrived."

"She does not even eat her full portions," Suri added. "I saw her giving food to the cubs when she thought no one was looking."

Kiri had glared at the two former allies. They shrank back slightly, their ears flattening, but neither spoke up in her defence.

Traitors. Weak, easily swayed traitors who had abandoned their position the moment someone showed them a pretty leaf and a basket.

It grated her ears to hear them praising that female like this.

Which had led her to a brilliant idea.

She had managed to gather all the females together and suggested that they should all have cubs since they had finally found settled land. They wouldn’t have to move from one place to another anymore, so this was the perfect time to start populating the clan.

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