Whose Child Belongs to the Emperor - Chapter 4- Part 4

Chapter 4 – Part 4

In the village adjacent to the forest, wild animals often came down.

Wild boars would gather, sometimes devouring potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn that had been carefully planted. Occasionally, large predators would take away people or livestock.

Therefore, the village had no choice but to welcome skilled hunters.

“Boooo.”

Tenere confirmed that the wild boar’s breath had ceased, and he blew the horn.

Before long, several villagers came running with a cart.

“Wow, it’s been a while since we had wild boar. We were wondering if they’d come again.”

“As expected, Tasha. You finished it off with one shot.”

In the village, Eric used the alias ‘El,’ and Tenre used her mother’s name. They didn’t want anyone to recognize them as runaways.

Thanks to that, whenever the villagers praised her, Tenere felt a strange sense of discomfort.

“Leave it to us.”

After capturing wild animals, the villagers would divide the meat among themselves, and the skin was taken to Abila to be sold.

The villagers would help Tenere by processing the skin and meat.

“Are you going again? Are you not going to wait for your share?”

“You know I can’t stand watching.”

Hans grabbed her, but Tenere smiled and shook her head.

Even though she hunted for survival, she wasn’t comfortable enough to watch the process of burning the fur and cutting the meat from a dead animal.

She had once mustered the courage to watch someone catch a chicken, but she still couldn’t bring herself to eat chicken after seeing a beheaded chicken running around without a head.

But Hans found her hesitation irritating.

“Ugh, these greedy men are taking all the good parts. What are you going to do if they take everything?”

“They’ve always brought me the good parts.”

Tenere smiled. It wasn’t that they didn’t, but when Tenere entrusted the rest to them and left, the villagers would process and bring back the best parts.

Tenere was grateful.

“That’s because I keep an eye on them, so come watch today, and if you’re really scared, you can count on me.”

Hans coughed raggedly. Not surprisingly, the men booed.

“Oh, look at that guy trying to act tough.”

“Just shoot him, Tasha. We’ll quietly bury him in the forest.”

Anzu held a shovel and said, Tenere looked at the arrow wrapped around her shoulder and then back at Hans.

“It might be heavy; I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”

“Is that so?”

Hans snapped. Tenere smiled a little sheepishly and turned away.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, and thank you for everything.”

Hans tried to grab her wrist, but Tenere laughed and pulled away. As she was about to return home, she stopped in her tracks. Her violet eyes focused on something dead on the ground.

“What’s wrong, Tasha?”

“What is that?”

Tenere’s gaze fell on a small plant.

The white grass didn’t stand out on the snowy ground, but the uncovered areas shone brightly enough to catch their attention.

As Tenere approached, Hans also noticed the grass she was talking about. His eyes widened.

“What kind of grass is that, Mr. Anzu?”

Anzu, who was tying the legs of the wild boar, lifted his head at Hans’s call. But his face turned pale as soon as he saw what they were looking at.

“Hey, everyone, don’t get too close! It’s Rivano!”

“What did you say?”

At the mention of ‘Rivano,’ the men all cringed. Anzu shouted to Hans.

“You mustn’t touch it, Hans! Come over here!”

“What, what, will I die if I touch it?”

Hans hesitantly backed away. Seeing that he didn’t say anything to tell her to back off, Tenere felt a little bitter.

“So much for being an outsider.

“Tasha, Tasha, you need to go to…”

Hans quickly grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her towards him, but Anzu shook his head.

“No, no. Tasha’s fine; she’s fine.”

“What?”

Tenere asked in surprise. Mr. Anzu and the other men trembled as they huddled together.

“Women can touch it without any problem. It’s incredibly lethal to men…”

“What?”

Tenere asked in disbelief. The men, terrified, shivered as they avoided eye contact.

“Why, what happens if a man touches it?”

Hans asked with a frightened expression. Anzu replied in a meaningful tone.

“If a man eats that, he can’t get pregnant.”

Hans’s body froze. He released his grip on Tenere’s wrist and staggered towards the group of men.

Tenere scratched her head.

“Aren’t men supposed to be unable to get pregnant?”

“He…… does, but…… is too explicit a word to say to a lady, so…… he goes.”

“They’re going to lose their seeds, Tasha.”

Someone else spoke in place of the embarrassed Anzu. He had a horrified look on his face, like he was recounting a horrible tale.

“It’s a manly pride thing.”

“Even a village chief over sixty won’t touch a Rivano.”

“……aah.”

It didn’t make much sense to Tenere that older men with children would tremble at such a thing, let alone Hans, who was still unmarried.

But she did feel a little sorry for the big, burly men, who looked terrified.

“Do you need help?”

Tenere asked, and the men nodded as if they had found a savior.

Ruby quickly dug a pit with a shovel, and the others handed her dry straw and matches.

Tenere lined the pit with dry straw and uprooted white grass.

She threw in a lighted match, and the men looked relieved.

“Thank you, Tasha. You saved our lives.”

“I’m glad I can help, and I’ll tell my brother to be careful.”

Tenere pushed the dirt with her foot to cover the pit. The white grass that had terrorized the muscular men receded into the earth.

“Well, I’m going to head back. I think Josie’s waiting for me. Call me if you see anything else.”

“Go, I’ll bring you some good meat!”

Hans shouted. Tenere laughed silently and hopped on top of James.

As she rode off into the distance, Hans chuckled softly, wondering when he’d been so scared. Anzu looked at him disapprovingly.

“Hey, stop fidgeting and move this; is she that good?”

“She’s pretty,”

Hans replied as he finished tying the feet of the belatedly dead boar.

The boar was quite large, and it would take several men to get it onto the cart.

The boar was quite large, and it would take several men to get it onto the cart.

“Wake up, man. Did you see Josie’s face? If he’s got a face like that, you know his father’s good looks weren’t a joke, so how would your face be noticed?”

Anzu tilted the cart, taunting Hans. Hans raised an eyebrow.

“My mother said I was handsome.”

“My mother and grandma also said I was cute and sweet.”

Anzu flexed his muscular biceps, showing off. Hans turned his head, unimpressed.

“Don’t look at a tree you can’t climb, man. You can tell they live in a different world than we do. The way they talk, the things they do.”

“I brought them some leftover potatoes and sweet potatoes last year because they didn’t seem to have anything to eat, but they didn’t know how to store them or how to eat them, so they just let them rot and throw them away. They probably didn’t even know what they were; they thought I brought them some tree roots or rocks.”

It wasn’t hard to guess that they weren’t used to life in the countryside and that they were used to being served rather than doing things on their own.

“Learn from them if you must. It’s not a problem, but don’t get too involved in their important matters. Just do well enough to not get criticized later. Don’t make unnecessary trouble.”

Anzu advised, and the other men echoed his sentiment. Hans pouted, but he nodded slowly.