Chapter 66: Bathtub Mischief

Sora and Lukan carried the stack of animal hides out of Lukan place.

By this time, lunch had already ended, and the tribe had entered its most relaxed part of the day.

Unlike the busy morning, many beastmen were either resting beneath the shade of large trees, chatting with friends, or taking afternoon naps after a long day of hunting and gathering.

As the pair walked across the village carrying several neatly processed hides, they naturally attracted plenty of attention.

One elderly beastwoman looked over curiously.

"Kaelira, are you making that many new clothes?"

Sora smiled and nodded.

"Yes."

The older woman stood and walked over with a warm smile.

"Would you like some help?"

Ever since Sora had taught the tribe how to refine salt and make pottery, everyone’s opinion of her had improved considerably. Although everyone knew her sewing skills were terrible, many of the older females were skilled with bone needles and were willing to lend a hand.

Sora smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Auntie, but there’s no need."

"Lukan is helping me."

The moment those words left her mouth, whispers immediately spread through the surrounding crowd.

"Lukan is making clothes for Kaelira?"

"He’s really good to her."

"Normally females make clothes for their beastmen."

"But in their family, it’s the other way around."

"She’s incredibly fortunate."

Several beastwomen sighed enviously.

Among the beast tribes, males rarely made clothing unless it was for themselves. Yet Lukan had willingly agreed to sew several outfits for Kaelira.

That level of patience was difficult to find.

Not far away, Serena watched everything with narrowed eyes.

Her gaze lingered on the pile of expensive animal hides before a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Enjoy yourself while you still can...

Let’s see if you’re still smiling later.

She quietly looked away without saying another word.

Meanwhile, Sora and Lukan returned to the wild kitchen carrying the hides inside.

The moment they arrived, Lukan spread the leather across a large wooden table.

Sora had been wondering all along how people in this primitive world managed to cut leather so precisely.

There were no scissors.

No knives sharp enough for tailoring.

She was just thinking about it when Lukan calmly raised one hand.

His fingers suddenly transformed into sharp silver wolf claws.

With one clean motion—

Slash!

The thick animal hide separated perfectly into several pieces.

Each cut was unbelievably straight.

The edges were so smooth that they looked as though they had been trimmed with professional tools.

Sora’s eyes widened.

"...That’s cheating."

She couldn’t help muttering to herself.

Those claws were far more useful than any pair of scissors.

Lukan naturally didn’t hear her quiet complaint.

He continued following the sketches Sora had scratched onto the stone slab.

One by one, the pieces of leather were divided according to her design.

Then he threaded a polished bone needle and began stitching.

Sora watched from nearby with growing admiration.

Although he’d never seen clothing like hers before, his craftsmanship was astonishing.

Every stitch was almost identical.

Each piece fit together with remarkable precision.

The finished product was nearly identical to the drawing she’d made.

She couldn’t help praising him.

"You’re amazing."

"You copied it almost perfectly."

Lukan merely smiled faintly without replying.

Most of the garments followed Sora’s design exactly.

However...

There was one detail he couldn’t understand.

Some of the skirts had several carefully placed openings cut into them.

After examining them for a while, he finally asked,

"What are these openings for?"

Sora looked at him mysteriously before smiling.

"You’ll find out once I wear them."

Lukan saw that she had no intention of explaining and simply nodded.

"If that’s what you want."

He didn’t ask another question.

The two of them spent the entire afternoon working together.

By sunset, every piece was finally complete.

Sora happily folded the finished clothes one after another.

Looking at the neatly stacked garments, she felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

Finally...

She had proper clothes.

Even better, Lukan had washed every piece of animal hide with crushed soap pods before sewing them.

The leather carried a clean, refreshing fragrance instead of the usual smell of fur.

Sora couldn’t help lifting one outfit closer and taking a deep breath.

"It smells wonderful."

The pleasant scent immediately lifted her mood.

The past several days had been so busy that she hadn’t even had time to properly relax.

She hadn’t used the bathtub she’d made since finishing it.

Today...

She finally had the opportunity.

Originally, she’d planned to bathe in the hot spring she’d discovered earlier.

However, after Ryan had started using that area, she didn’t want to accidentally run into anyone.

To avoid unnecessary embarrassment, she decided to prepare a bath herself.

Fortunately, firewood was plentiful in the forest.

She gathered a large pile of dry wood before placing one of her oversized pottery tubs over the fire.

Soon steam rose into the evening air.

Once the water was nearly boiling, she carefully mixed in buckets of cool water until the temperature became pleasantly warm.

Finally, she scattered several handfuls of freshly picked flower petals across the surface.

Tiny blossoms floated gently on the steaming water.

Satisfied, Sora carried the large bathtub into the secluded corner behind the wild kitchen.

Earlier, she’d specifically asked Xavier to place it among the tall grass where thick reeds formed a natural screen around the bathing area.

From outside, almost nothing could be seen.

By then, most of the tribe had gone about their own business.

The area around the wild kitchen was unusually quiet.

Perfect.

After changing out of her clothes, Sora slowly lowered herself into the warm water.

The pleasant heat immediately relaxed her tired muscles.

She leaned back with a contented sigh.

"This feels amazing..."

She planned to soak for a while before applying the pearl powder she’d ground earlier as part of her homemade skincare routine.

Just as she reached toward the small pottery bowl—

A sudden rustle came from above.

Before she could even react—

Splash!

Something heavy crashed straight down from the tree overhead.

Water exploded in every direction.

Flower petals flew through the air.

The enormous splash completely drenched everything nearby.

Sora froze.

Her mind went completely blank.

When the waves finally settled, she realized someone had landed directly inside the bathtub.

The unexpected impact had knocked them both off balance.

Before she could even process what had happened, she felt a firm hand accidentally press against her shoulder as the newcomer tried to steady himself.

His head rested awkwardly against the edge of the tub near her shoulder, equally stunned by the unexpected landing.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them spoke.

Both were far too shocked to react.

At that exact moment—

Voices approached from outside the grass.

"I wonder if Sora has started making dinner yet."

Ace’s lazy voice sounded first.

Lucas answered casually,

"She usually starts around this time."

"We’ll just wait."

The words abruptly stopped.

The moment Ace, Lucas, Xavier, and the others stepped around the tall grass, every one of them froze.

The bathing area fell into complete silence.

The flower petals still floated across the surface of the water.

Steam drifted gently into the evening air.

Inside the large pottery bathtub, Sora sat frozen in stunned embarrassment while Damien, equally startled by the accident, struggled to regain his balance without making the situation even more awkward.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Even Ace, who was usually the first to crack a joke, simply stared with wide eyes before hurriedly covering his face.

"...I didn’t see anything."

Lucas rubbed his forehead helplessly.

"...We’re definitely not getting dinner tonight."

Ace immediately protested.

"Hey, don’t blame me!"

"How was I supposed to know she’d choose to bathe here today?"

Lucas shot him an exasperated look.

"That’s not the point."

"The point is that all of us walked into this at the worst possible moment."

The group immediately turned their backs in embarrassment, giving Sora and Damien whatever privacy they could while silently wondering how such an unbelievable misunderstanding had happened in the first place.