Even Ace and Lucas occasionally glanced toward her now.
And Xavier—
The snake beastman sat several meters away beneath a tree, purple eyes fixed lazily on Kaelira through the firelight.
His gaze darkened slightly.
The current Kaelira felt completely different from before.
The old Kaelira would never patiently teach others how to cook.
Nor would she willingly share food.
Could someone truly change this much?
As if sensing his gaze, Sora suddenly looked over.
Their eyes met briefly across the flames.
Xavier immediately looked away with a cold snort.
Sora: "..."
This snake man truly had a terrible personality.
At that exact moment, the system’s mechanical voice rang inside her head.
[Ding.]
[Target Xavier’s affection value has increased by 1.]
[Current affection value: 2.]
Sora nearly choked on air.
What?
Just from eye contact?
Was this snake secretly easy to satisfy?
Before she could process it, another notification appeared.
[Ding.]
[Target Ace’s affection value has increased by 1.]
[Current affection value: 2.]
Sora blinked in confusion and instinctively looked toward Ace.
The white tiger beastman was currently sitting beside the tree with a dark expression while silently eating his third roasted sweet potato.
Noticing her gaze, Ace frowned immediately.
"What are you staring at?"
Sora silently turned away.
Never mind.
These beastmen were impossible to understand.
The night gradually deepened.
After eating wild fruits and roasted sweet potatoes, the tribe had regained much of its strength. The moment the beastmen heard that their females wanted to learn how to make beggar’s chicken, they immediately sprang into action.
The hunters scattered into the forest.
Before long, dozens of wild chickens had been caught and brought back.
Under Sora’s guidance, nearly every female in the tribe joined in the lesson—including Serena.
Serena was no fool.
Since Lyra refused to learn, she would simply learn it herself.
Otherwise, when everyone else was enjoying delicious beggar’s chicken, she and her mother would be left out. That would be far too embarrassing.
More importantly, Serena secretly believed that Sora was foolish.
This cooking method was obviously valuable, yet Sora was teaching it to everyone without hesitation.
If Serena possessed such a skill, she would keep it hidden and use it to attract more beastmen. Once everyone learned it, what would make Sora special anymore?
As the afternoon passed, the entire tribe became busy.
The females cleaned chickens, gathered leaves, and prepared seasonings while the beastmen fetched wood and built fires.
Laughter and conversation echoed throughout the camp.
By sunset, the first batches of beggar’s chicken were finally ready.
The tribe gathered around the fires to eat, sing, and celebrate.
For a moment, the migration felt less like a difficult journey and more like a festival.
Watching the lively scene, Sora couldn’t help smiling.
Life in primitive society wasn’t so bad.
Back in the apocalypse, people fought endlessly over every scrap of food and every drop of clean water. Trust was rare, and betrayal was common.
Here, however, people were much simpler.
They laughed together.
Shared food together.
Celebrated together.
The tribe gathered around several fires while the smell of roasted chicken drifted through the forest.
Laughter slowly replaced the exhaustion from traveling all day.
For the first time since arriving in this strange beastman world, Sora felt something she had not experienced in a very long time.
Warmth.
Not physical warmth from the fire.
But the feeling of belonging somewhere.
Even if only a little.
After everyone finished eating, Martin finally stood up.
"We’ll rest here tonight," he announced. "The males will guard the outer perimeter in shifts."
Night gradually settled across the forest.
The tribe began preparing sleeping areas while several beastmen organized patrol rotations around the perimeter.
Large animal skins were spread beside the fire.
Children yawned sleepily in their mothers’ arms.
Soon, the moon rose above the mountains and darkness settled over the forest.
The camp gradually quieted.
Well... not entirely.
Several females quietly slipped away with their beast husbands into the surrounding woods, causing knowing smiles to spread through the camp.
For those couples, the night was only just beginning.
For Sora, however, things suddenly became awkward.
At first, she intended to find a quiet corner and sleep alone.
After all, she had survived countless nights by herself during the apocalypse.
But after walking only a short distance from the camp, she suddenly spotted a snake slithering through the grass ahead.
The sight made her freeze.
A chill ran down her spine.
The snake quickly disappeared into the darkness, but Sora’s heart continued pounding.
In the apocalypse, dangerous creatures existed too, but she had possessed powerful abilities back then.
Now?
Now she was little more than an ordinary person.
If a wild beast attacked during the night, she might not survive long enough to scream for help.
The primitive wilderness was simply too dangerous.
And if she were bitten by something venomous...
Sora shuddered.
She had only recently escaped death once already.
She had no desire to experience it again.
And as the camp slowly quieted, Martin suddenly spoke.
"Kaelira."
She looked up immediately.
"As an married female traveling during migration," Martin said calmly, "you must choose a beast husband to stay beside tonight."
The surroundings fell silent.
Several nearby beastmen subtly perked up their ears.
Sora froze.
Only then did she fully remember the tribe’s customs.
During migration, females usually slept beside their contracted beast husbands for protection.
Unfortunately...
She had currently four.
And none of them seemed particularly willing.
An awkward silence spread through the camp.
Lucas quietly lowered his eyes.
Ace pretended not to hear anything at all.
Xavier gave a cold laugh and looked away lazily.
Sora suddenly felt publicly rejected.
Martin frowned slightly.
"You still haven’t decided?"
Sora forced an awkward smile.
"I’m thinking."
Truthfully, she wanted to sleep alone.
But in this dangerous beastman world, that was impossible.
Especially during migration season.
After several long seconds of hesitation, her gaze slowly moved across the four men again.
The wolf was too serious.
The bird was too distant.
The Leopard was too dangerous.
And the snake—
Absolutely impossible.
The surroundings instantly became quiet.
Several females secretly glanced over curiously.
After all, everyone in the tribe knew Sora’s beast husbands disliked her.
Back then, Martin had forcefully arranged the bond despite their unwillingness.
And Sora herself had caused endless trouble afterward.
Now the question was—
Which male would actually tolerate her tonight?
Sora slowly looked toward the four beastmen.
Lukan sat quietly near the fire, his silver wolf ears twitching slightly.
Lucas avoided her gaze entirely.
Ace lazily leaned back with his arms behind his head, pretending not to care.
As for Xavier...
The snake beastman looked directly at her with narrowed purple eyes, clearly waiting to see what ridiculous thing she would say next.
Sora suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Why did this feel like choosing her own execution method?
Before she could speak, Ace suddenly let out a low laugh.
"You cooked today," he drawled lazily. "So I guess I can reluctantly allow you to stay near my fire."
The surrounding beastmen widened their eyes.
Ace actually volunteered first?
Even Sora froze in surprise.
Ace noticed her expression and immediately frowned.
"Don’t misunderstand," he said coldly. "I just don’t want you disturbing my sleep by crying somewhere after being rejected."
Sora: "..."
This tiger really could not speak properly.
But before she could answer, another voice interrupted.
"She can stay with me."
Everyone turned toward the speaker in shock.
Lukan slowly lifted his head.
The silver-haired wolf beastman looked calm as always, but his deep gray eyes remained fixed on Sora.
"She warned us about the flood," he said evenly. "If she stays alone, it won’t be safe."
The atmosphere instantly became strange.
Even Ace’s lazy expression stiffened slightly.
Sora blinked in confusion.
Why did this suddenly feel competitive?
Only Xavier sneered softly from the side.
"Hah. Pretending to be noble."
But strangely enough...
He did not leave either.