Chapter 173: Dripping Elders and Dirty Looks

As Tera kept watching the elders, the system chimed in.

[Err.... To lighten the mood]

[This system has compiled a highlight reel of the elders’ failures]

[(◕‿◕✿)]

[Would Host like to review it later?]

’Uh?!’ Tera glared at the system, and it cowered out of sight.

[(꒪ᗜ꒪;)]

[Nothing...]

After the elders had peacefully rinsed the animals off at the stream, they all stood on the bank in wet, confused clusters. The animals’ coats were lighter and their expressions suggested they had been personally violated.

But they were clean. For the first time in what was clearly their entire lives, they were clean.

The elders were in far worse condition than the animals.

They looked clean, but were haggard and tired.

Tera nodded. "Good. Now, stay there and watch those animals while I go check on the pen."

Hearing that, the younger wolves fled before Tera set her eyes on them, but she was too focused on the elders to notice.

"Make sure no one leaves—well, it’s your food, so obviously you wouldn’t let anyone escape."

The elders meekly nodded, but Greymaw sputtered weakly, "Guard them?! After all that, now we have to WATCH them?!"

The eyes of the other elders widened in alarm and shot to Greymaw as if willing him to shut up.

"Would you rather they roll in filth again? That is fine. You can wash them all over again when that happens"

Greymaw’s mouth opened, closed, and stayed closed.

Tera left them there, still dripping, and turned around to make her way back to the pen.

She stiffened when she saw both Calis and Faelynn staring at her with similar expressions of wonder.

Tera blinked.

She hadn’t noticed they were behind her.

She had also not expected looks of wonder, especially from both siblings.

Tera chuckled nervously under their gazes, rubbing the back of her neck. She looked slightly embarrassed by her own outburst, as if the roaring fury of a moment ago had belonged to someone else and she was only now catching up with what she had done.

Calis couldn’t look away.

She was tired. He could see it in the slight droop of her shoulders and the way her fingers trembled when she lowered her hand. Her skin was still lightly flushed from the heat of her own anger.

But she had looked very impressive earlier, and he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her.

She was pretty.

Her face was softer when she wasn’t shouting. Her hair fell across her forehead in messy strands before she adjusted it, her lips curving slightly as she tried to compose herself again.

Calis felt a twist of guilt beneath the thought. His wolves had been stressing her since the moment she arrived. The filthy animals, the broken pen, the elders fighting every instruction. She had come here to help them, and they had repaid her with resistance and chaos.

She deserved better.

Tera’s gaze met his, and he quickly looked away, frowning. He was going to see to it that no other wolf gave her any problems henceforth.

Calis absentmindedly pointed behind him.

"It is done..."

Tera visibly brightened, and Calis was flooded with panic as he felt his heart nearly melt.

[Calis’ Favourability: 47% → 52%]

Tera sighed and followed him. Just like Ermin, and at times Xavi back then, she would never understand the exact things that caused their favourability to rise.

Much to her surprise, the spot where the pen had been was thoroughly cleaned.

The rickety sticks had been pulled out, stacked in a neat pile, and the entire area had been cleared down to the bare earth. A layer of sand had been spread across the ground, fresh and even, creating a clean foundation that covered the mess that had been there earlier.

The smell was still terrible, but it had been reduced immensely, at least.

Bessier was standing in the middle of it with his hands on his hips, beaming like a proud father.

Olaf was beside him, quietly eyeing the sticks as it was obvious on his face just how much he wanted to get rid of them.

The younger wolves looked very impressed by what they had done, and Tera had been surprised too. Well, with Bessier and Olaf here, they wouldn’t have had much trouble following her instructions.

Tera felt a rush of pride and started pacing, studying the landscape and how the pen would have to be larger than what had been in place because the animals would be divided into separate sections.

But Tera’s smile faded as another problem resurfaced.

’Shit...’

The pen had been so filthy she had wanted it cleaned immediately.

What raw materials was she going to build the new pen with?

The sticks from the old pen were brittle, cracked, and warped from months of moisture.

They were useless.

Tera looked at the trees nearby. The wood here was different from what she had used at the Dow clan. The constant dampness of the wolf territory meant the timber was softer, more porous, and less structurally reliable.

She could cut from the nearby trees as a temporary solution, but she worried about brittleness. Damp wood that hadn’t been properly dried would warp and crack within weeks.

’Damn it.’

’System, scan the surrounding area. I need viable construction materials for a permanent pen structure.’

[Scanning...]

[Analysis complete]

[(◞‸◟)]

[I thought Host did not want to cut down trees]

’I don’t either. Why say this?’ Tera frowned. ’And I never intend to—’

[Cutting a few down is fine as long as Host replants or cuts down trees that can regrow on its own]

’Hold on. Why are you saying this? Are trees my only option here?’

[Yes...]

[Immediate vicinity: Timber available but moisture-saturated. Adequate for temporary construction. Estimated durability: 3-6 weeks before warping]

[Suitable long-term materials: Not found within current scan range]

[Host will need to expand the search radius]

Tera sighed. ’How far?’

[Unknown without further scanning]

[Though, from rough calculation, there are likely caverns and rocky outcroppings in the distant territory]

[There will likely be suitable plants to use for construction]

[Host will need to venture deeper into the territory]

Tera’s frown deepened.

Deeper into the territory meant further from the wolf pack, and further into this part of the woods was an even higher chance of encountering corrupted beasts.

’You freaking thing. It seems you want me to die!’