Chapter 22: Risk

“Hey, Laila…” Caleb’s voice stopped her mid-track as the brunette turned to look at the man with her brows frowned.

“What?”

Caleb got up from the bed and asked, “What did you do to earn this much?” He asked while pointing toward the pouch resting on the table.

Suddenly, the memories of last night flashed by her eyes and she paused.

She…couldn’t bring herself to tell Caleb that her brother used her like a thing to pleasure himself.

She couldn’t tell him that she had tasted her brother’s cock yesterday to earn those coins.

In the end, she glared at him and said, “Since you can’t earn shit, I have to do something right? So shut up and let me handle things from now on.”

While she said that, was she really prepared to face Luke’s demand once again? What if he actually asks her to mate with him the next time?

Her heart trembled but without her knowing her lower lips had started to salivate at the thought.

….

In the end, out of ten people, only three agreed to go hunting, and among them were Lex, Luther, and Dart. The others chose to guard the chief’s residence.

Was this village filled with men who preferred easy, risk-free tasks? Not really. The truth was that most of the strong warriors were currently at the main village.

Those who remained were not seasoned hunters.

Luke glanced at his elder brother and muttered, “You seem quite eager for the hunt. Planning to gather funds to afford my services?”

Lex snarled. “Mind your own business. And you still haven’t healed Dalia completely.”

“But there’s some improvement, isn’t there?” Luke asked with a grin.

Lex groaned but did not deny it. When he returned to his room last night, his mate had admitted she felt better. However, she had asked him to let Luke continue the treatment.

Lex was stunned that Luke had actually managed to improve her condition. Still, she was his mate, and he trusted her words. Now he had no choice but to gather the toras needed to pay this stupid asshole.

Without another word, Lex turned and walked away, his axe resting over his shoulder.

Luke looked at the big axe held by Lex which reminded him of something.

Despite his foul temper, it was undeniable that after his uncle, Lex was the strongest in the house.

[Name: Lex]

[Race: Human]

[Str: 20]

[Spd: 25]

[Def: 18]

[Int: 19]

Just then, Dart approached the green-haired man and said, “He’s your brother, yet it doesn’t seem like you two get along.”

Luke shrugged. “Forget about him.”

The two began walking toward the village entrance as Dart asked, “Are you a healer? You mentioned charging a fee for treating Lex’s mate.”

Luke hummed. “Why are you asking?”

Dart sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Didn’t I mention my mate has been quite disheartened lately? Actually… it’s about her.”

Luke nodded. “Tell me more.”

Dart let out another weary breath. “We’ve been trying for a long time, but she hasn’t been able to bear my child.”

Luke nodded in understanding. “I see.” He looked ahead and added, “Did you take her to a medic?”

Dart nodded. “Yes, but no one could tell me what’s wrong.”

Luke fell silent for a moment before asking the system, ’The medical field in this world is pretty underdeveloped, isn’t it?’

[Indeed, host. They still rely on herbs and blessings for most treatments.]

Crossing his arms, Luke asked again, ’Can you inspect what’s wrong with him? Maybe with the special eye?’

[The host would need to specify what to assess. If it concerns the subject’s physical form, a simple inspection will suffice. However, a deeper evaluation regarding fertility would require a sample of the target’s semen.]

“…” He was definitely not asking for that.

Shaking his head, Luke said, “I’ll come by sometime and take a look at her condition.”

Dart’s face lit up. “You will? Thank you. I can’t express how much this means to me.” His shoulders slumped slightly as he continued, “I ran away from my tribe, so I’m not treated well by most people. But you’ve always been kind to me.”

Luke gave a wry smile. “I’m still new to this society, so I don’t really follow their ways.”

Dart grinned. “Let me share a secret with you.” He paused and pulled something from his belt.

Luke raised a brow when he saw the piece of leather in Dart’s hand. It had a rough map drawn with coal.

Two rings and several markings covered the surface. Pointing north, Dart said, “This side of the inner perimeter is relatively safe. It leads toward the chief tribe.”

Then he shifted his finger east. “There’s a lake here, so most wild beasts stay between the village border and the lake. It gives them easy access to water and multiple escape routes.”

Luke rubbed his chin. “What about this side?”

He pointed to the darkened mark in the south.

Dart’s expression hardened. “That’s where the king of the forest, Darwan, resides. A two-faced hydra. It’s not even a magical creature, yet it has defeated one in the past.”

Luke was taken aback. From what he had heard, magical beasts were on an entirely different level from ordinary ones.

“Then…why doesn’t it attack us?”

Dart sighed, “Well, because of our chief. He has a sealing ability that has restricted the beast within a certain range. The chief regularly goes to inspect the seal.”

Luke nodded in understanding. He looked down at the map once again, particularly on that black spot as he muttered under his breath, ’I hope I don’t get to see that thing any time soon.’

Just then, Dart asked, ’So? What area are you choosing for the hunt? I would suggest this side(North) since you are quite new in this field.”

Luke thought for a moment before shaking his head, “Nah, I would take some risk and get to the lake side.”

Because that’s what the system demanded,

[Quest: Explore the eastern region]

[Reward: 30G

Throwable Knife.]

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.

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