Chapter 90: Undergarments Fiasco

For a moment, Sora simply stared at him.

"You... collected my clothes?"

"Mm."

His smile grew even wider.

"You once said you wanted to watch me perform."

His usually confident expression unexpectedly turned bashful.

"So I asked everyone in the tribe what females liked."

"They all told me that washing a female’s beast-hide skirts would make her happy."

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"They also said Lukan earned your favor because he helped you before."

"So..."

"I thought I’d try it too."

The corners of Sora’s lips twitched.

She had absolutely no memory of saying anything remotely close to that.

Still...

Regardless of his misunderstanding...

He had accidentally saved every piece of clothing she owned.

Meanwhile...

Other tribe beastmen after hearing the rumours had only begun chasing after Sora after she disappeared from their sight.

Unable to find her anywhere nearby, the three of them naturally assumed she had gone looking for Lukan.

Without another thought, they headed straight toward Chief Martin’s residence.

But when they arrived...

There was no sign of Sora.

One beastman paused, adjusting his glasses.

"...She’s not here."

Another frowned.

"Then where did she go?"

Someone silently closed his eyes.

A moment later, he opened them again, his keen senses catching a familiar scent drifting through the air.

"There."

He pointed toward the back of the village.

"Behind her house."

Without hesitation, the tribe folks rushed off again.

The detour had delayed them just enough.

By the time they arrived at the burned ruins, Damien was proudly boasting about how he had washed Sora’s beast-hide skirts.

Meanwhile the three beastmen stopped simultaneously.

Silence fell.

Then...

Three icy gazes landed squarely on Damien.

"So..."

Lucas muttered through gritted teeth.

"He’s the only capable one now?"

Ace’s expression darkened slightly.

"...Clever."

Even Xavier’s golden eyes narrowed.

The Bear had quietly gained points without anyone noticing.

Behind them, another crowd approached.

The gossip-loving beastmen had also followed Martin to his home before learning Kaelira wasn’t there either. Now they had all changed direction and arrived together at the ruins.

Martin looked at the growing crowd with confusion.

"What are all of you doing here?"

One particularly quick-thinking beastman immediately answered.

"Chief, we’re worried."

"We heard Kaelira’s husbands are about to fight over her."

"We came to stop them."

Naturally...

No one dared admit they had actually come to watch the entertainment.

Martin frowned deeply.

"They’re fighting again?"

He sighed heavily.

"That troublesome daughter of mine..."

He immediately ended his discussion with Lukan.

"Come."

"We should have a look."

Lukan rose quietly and followed behind him.

By the time they reached the ruins...

Sora had already recovered from her surprise.

Looking at Damien expectantly, she asked,

"So..."

"Where are my clothes?"

No matter what else had happened today...

Knowing her spare clothing had survived was enough to brighten her mood considerably.

She no longer had to worry about having only one outfit left.

Seeing her smile at him, Damien nearly glowed with happiness.

The tribe elders had been right.

Helping wash a female’s clothes really did make her happy.

Kaelira had never spoken to him so gently before.

He immediately pointed toward a large tree nearby.

"Over there."

"I hung them there to dry."

Sora turned her head.

Sure enough...

Several freshly washed beast-hide skirts fluttered gently from one of the branches.

Before she could inspect them carefully, Damien continued speaking.

"There are just..."

He hesitated.

"...a few pieces I didn’t really understand."

Sora’s heart skipped a beat.

A terrible feeling suddenly crept into her chest.

Sure enough...

Damien pointed toward one particularly small garment.

"Kaelira..."

"What’s that little fork-shaped thing?"

"It only has a tiny bit of hide in the front and back with a strip connecting the middle."

He tilted his head in genuine confusion.

"It looks like it’s meant to be worn underneath."

"But..."

"If you wear it outside..."

"...wouldn’t your butt be showing?"

He spoke with complete seriousness.

"Although..."

"I think it looks pretty."

His ears turned slightly red.

"I’d rather you only wear it in front of me."

"If other beastmen saw you wearing it..."

"...that wouldn’t be appropriate."

He looked extremely conflicted, as though he’d been struggling with this question all morning.

Before Sora could recover...

Damien pointed toward another item.

"And what about that hollow strap?"

"Is it for covering the chest?"

"It looks nice..."

His gaze unconsciously drifted toward Sora’s figure.

"...but I don’t think it’ll fit."

He coughed awkwardly.

"Your chest is... rather large."

"It probably won’t cover everything."

Sora froze.

Color rushed into her face so quickly that even the tips of her ears turned crimson.

She slowly looked toward the tree.

There...

Swaying gently in the breeze...

Hung her handmade leopard-print underwear.

Beside it was the matching chest wrap.

Because the underwear was so light, Damien had threaded it together with her cloth belt before tying it securely to the branch.

It fluttered proudly in the wind like some kind of tribal flag.

To make matters worse...

Several curious sparrows were circling above it.

One had already landed on the branch.

Another was carrying dry grass in its beak.

They seemed to have mistaken her underwear for the perfect place to build a nest.

Sora’s eye twitched.

"..."

"...Are you serious?"

She glared at the birds.

"Do you idiots even know what you’re standing on?"

She was just about to wave them away when movement at the edge of her vision caught her attention.

Her smile instantly vanished.

Xavier.

Lucas.

Ace.

Ryan and Lucan

And all five...

Were staring directly at the underwear hanging from the tree.

Xavier’s original intention had been to see exactly how many skirts Damien had washed.

Instead...

His gaze landed on that tiny piece of leopard-print hide.

From its shape...

It was obviously meant to be worn underneath clothing.

His brows slowly furrowed.

When did she make something like that?

That little bit of hide wouldn’t even cover half her legs...

Was she planning to wear it on purpose?

Without warning, the memory of that day by the river surfaced.

The image of Sora removing her clothing while facing him.

His expression darkened.

Did she deliberately make it like this...?

Beside him, Ace studied the strange garment thoughtfully.

He’d been confused at first.

But after hearing Damien explain its purpose...

His eyes slowly deepened.

Kaelira...

It would probably suit her.

Lucas, meanwhile, looked utterly bewildered.

"What kind of clothing is that?"

"There’s barely any hide."

"In summer it’ll attract mosquitoes."

"In winter she’ll freeze."

"What exactly is the point?"

Listening to their comments, Sora wished the ground would simply swallow her whole.

Fortunately...

None of them had ever actually seen her wearing underwear.

As long as they didn’t understand what it really was...

Maybe...

Just maybe...

She could survive this embarrassment.

Just then—

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The Sparrows became even bolder.

One hopped directly onto the waistband.

Another began stuffing grass between the folds of the underwear.

Sora’s face changed instantly.

"No!"

She clapped her hands loudly.

The birds fluttered into the air with startled cries.

Before they could return, she hurriedly shouted,

"Quick!"

"Somebody help me take those clothes down!"

"If those birds keep at it..."

"...they’re going to poop all over my underwear!"

That...

Was absolutely unacceptable.

She spoke so quickly that she forgot to specify who she wanted to help.

The moment the words left her mouth...

Four figures moved at exactly the same time.

Each convinced...

She had been asking him.