Chapter 171: Elders vs Livestock

Calis’ voice had dropped to that register that made the younger wolves’ ears flatten. His crimson eyes swept across the elders, and the growl that underlined his words wasn’t a warning.

It was a command.

The danger in the air was so sharp that Tera could feel goosebumps crawl up her skin.

She nearly touched Calis when she remembered his request.

"Calis?"

She picked a nearby stick and used it to tap his back like she was a child trying to tap the head of a sleeping dog from a safe distance.

The wolf was not even paying her any attention.

Faelynn spoke up, "There is no harm in cleaning the animals. It costs nothing."

The elders’ mouths snapped shut as Calis’ sister walked up to him to lay a hand on his shoulder, shifting his attention.

Faelynn glanced at Tera with a small apologetic smile.

Tera returned it and nodded firmly. "And the animals will actually try to escape less if they are properly cared for. Cleanliness is a start. Animals that are comfortable in their space do not run away."

The other wolves perked up instantly at Tera’s words.

One of them turned to the elders. "She is right! You elders are not the ones running after escaped animals three times a day."

The old wolves gasped.

Another young wolf fired. "I chased the same brown one four times yesterday! FOUR TIMES! It knows my face now, and it runs the moment it sees me!"

Several younger wolves were now pressing forward, emboldened by the shift in momentum. Their frustration at months of chasing livestock had found an outlet, and they were seizing it with both hands.

"Just wash them! What is the worst that could happen?"

"They might actually stay put for once!"

"My legs are tired! Do you know what it is like to chase one of those creatures?!"

Calis watched the exchange with mild surprise. His wolves were turning on the elders, not with disrespect, but with the exhausted practicality of young males who had been doing the physical work while the elders made decisions from the sidelines.

The elders looked around and realised, with visible discomfort, that the tide had shifted.

Even Tera was stunned by the quick turnaround.

[These old grumps are unnecessarily stubborn]

[(·•᷄_•᷅ )]

Greymaw’s jaw was tight, his whole body trembling with suppressed fury. But the numbers were against him. The younger wolves were united, the alpha had given the order, and the shiftless female was standing there with that insufferable calm smile on her face.

"Alright," Greymaw gritted out.

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

The washing operation began with the confidence of wolves who had faced corrupted beasts, migrated across hostile territory, and survived years of starvation.

It ended with Greymaw standing soaking wet, and an animal on his head.

But that came later.

The first problem had been getting the animals to the stream.

Tera had instructed the elders to carry the animals one by one to the bank, wash off the worst of the gunk on dry land using the pans she had purchased from the system shop to carry water, and only then rinse them in the shallows.

Simple. Logical. Impossible to mess up.

Greymaw approached the first animal, a stocky brown creature that had been chewing the same patch of ground for the last hour, and grabbed it by the scruff.

The animal did not appreciate this.

It thrashed, kicked, and made a sound between a scream and a belch, and the noise was so offensive that three wolves on the other side of the clearing flattened their ears.

Greymaw tightened his grip. "Hold still, you disgusting—"

The animal twisted its body with the desperate flexibility of a creature that had been escaping pens its entire life, slipped free, and headbutted Greymaw directly in the stomach.

The old wolf doubled over.

The animal trotted away with the satisfied air of a creature that had won a fight it hadn’t asked for.

Someone else caught the animal.

Despite the elders mostly carrying the animals here, some young wolves had helped and accompanied them.

Two other elders fared no better than Greymaw.

One managed to pick up a smaller animal, a lean thing with spotted fur and too many legs, only for it to emit a jet of liquid from its backside that hit the elder square in the chest.

Tera’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. ’What the fuck?!’

Was she seeing things, or did it just act like a crossbreed between a sea and land animal?

And what was that?!

Even though the system had confirmed that it wasn’t a toxic substance, it didn’t ease Tera’s disgust or stop the wolf from panicking.

The elder stood there, arms outstretched, dripping, wearing the expression of a wolf who was reconsidering every life choice that had led to this moment.

"What just came out of it?!" he bellowed.

"I believe that is fear excretion," Tera called from her safe distance. "Some animals release waste when they are stressed."

"STRESSED?! I am the one who is stressed!"

Tera felt pity for the poor wolf. He looked so violated.

Tera watched the carnage with her hand pressed firmly over her mouth.

If anything, the younger wolves seemed to be picking up where the elders were failing.

Did these beasts only know how to kill animals?!

’I should help them.’

Tera was no expert on farming, but she wanted to do something.

[Why?]

[But this is so entertaining]

[ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ]

’System!’

As much as Tera wanted to intervene, her body refused to involve itself in this mess. It was the wolves’ fault the animals were this chaotic around them, so it was their problem to deal with.

But as the scene wore on, Tera started to smile and almost burst out laughing at times.

The sight before was so funny.

By the end of it, three elders were bruised, two were covered in various animal secretions, and Greymaw had a bite mark on his forearm.

The animals, for their part, looked completely unbothered.

Then the actual washing began.

Tera had demonstrated the process with the calmest animal she could find, and of course, it had been the same breed as her Puff Dumpling.

To the wolves’ shock, the creature was very gentle in her arms.

Even the second one joined her, and she washed them in the pan before pouring the filthy water onto the rough grass.

"See? Gentle. Firm. Work with the animal, not against it."

The elders nodded.

But they did not do anything gentle.