Footsteps crunched on the gravel. Enzo walked briskly away from Gato’s hut. He told himself he wasn’t running away, but his erratic heartbeat told a different story.
"Damn," he muttered. "Handsome men are a curse."
He strengthened his resolve to never get into a relationship. But he had yet to understand just how persistent beastmen could be.
So, for the next two days, Enzo did his best to ignore Riven. It worked for the most part, because Riven didn’t spend much time in Gato’s hut anymore.
He was completely healed. His next step was talking to the tribal chief about staying and going hunting to contribute to the tribe, and that’s what he did.
Enzo caught glimpses of him, but over the two days it was as if he didn’t know Enzo. He would walk past with his head straight, heading to and fro.
Enzo let out a breath, though his heart stuttered. He cursed Riven for only knowing how to speak, but not taking action. Then he mentally slapped himself for thinking that way.
He was the one who told him no; there shouldn’t be any hard feelings.
It had been one week since Enzo arrived in this world, and today he woke up feeling cold. The kind of cold that made it impossible to sleep comfortably. He shivered and stared at the hole in the hut where a door should be.
He remembered what Zeli had said. After these seven suns, the surroundings would become cold. Enzo had anticipated the cold; he expected a gradual decline, not this. This was a steep drop off a cliff.
He decided he would go to the chief. He had never spoken to him before, but he expected the chief to have good furs.
He didn’t want to bother Zeli and his family. They had helped him for the past week, and he didn’t want to cause any additional trouble.
Enduring another hour or two in the cold, he finally wrapped some coarse fur around his waist and another section of coarse fur around his shoulders.
As he walked, he cursed Rin, the protagonist. If he knew the cold season was coming, why didn’t he have these people make clothes? Even a straw shirt would be better than nothing.
The chill swept over his body once more as he approached the chief’s house.
It was smaller than the large house at the center of the tribe. That large house was for the elderly or orphaned small cubs during the winter.
The village chief’s house was a newly built house, obviously modelled after the style of the central hut. The window frames were carved from wood, as were the shutters. He couldn’t see inside, but he could imagine the partitions.
The chief’s sub-beast had only the chief as his partner. Enzo clicked his tongue when he heard it. He told himself that being in power anywhere is always a good thing. Others have to share; the chief gets a female to himself.
Enzo arrived close to the time the hunting party would go out. He waited until he saw the door open, a real, wooden door.
Rider was the first to step outside. Enzo had to admit he was handsome. He wasn’t as handsome as Riven, but his body was muscular, and he bore the bearing of a superior.
His aura was grand, whereas Riven’s aura was wild and had a gravity to it. It was much stronger than Rider’s, but he wouldn’t say that out loud.
"You..."
Enzo stepped forward and introduced himself. He wasn’t sure Rider remembered him. He nodded in acknowledgement.
"I wanted to know if there is any way I could get some thicker fur. Winter is coming, and I don’t have any furs at home."
He didn’t beat around the bush. Since Rider came out, he didn’t want to spend too much time near him. He would keep away from all the protagonist’s men.
"I can trade sweet potatoes for it," he said when Rider didn’t respond.
"Okay." Rider went back inside.
Enzo could hear voices in the house. He glanced at Rider’s back as he walked inside. Clicking his tongue, he thought that Rider was a block of wood. Apparently, only the protagonist could warm him.
Rider walked back out with fur large enough to wrap Enzo. It didn’t look particularly precious. The fur seemed to be from a very large wolf. It wasn’t the thick fur he was hoping for, but it was better than nothing.
"Thank you," Enzo replied. "Will you come for the sweet potatoes now?"
"Afterward, I still need to go hunting."
"Okay, thanks again." And with that, he walked away. He was in such a hurry that he completely missed the pair of golden eyes watching him walk away.
Riven had walked up to Rider’s house. He had been granted a hut. He had been living in it for the past two days. It was larger than Enzo’s, and in the two days since he had arrived, he had amassed several furs, jars, bowls, and so on. What he had accumulated surpassed Enzo’s own collection.
He watched the small sub-beast walk away and felt he had to accelerate his plans.
And what was his plan? Capture a partner.
The oblivious Enzo walked back to his hut. He wanted to wash the fur. He planned to lay it out in the sun for a while. No one would steal it, which he was glad for.
As for the reason he washed it, he could smell Rider’s scent on it. Yet another peculiarity he noticed, and wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
He did it quickly, grabbing some soap leaves and rubbing until he could only smell the scent of the soap. Then he hurried to his hut to take up his newly made basket. Today he would traverse the forest a bit more.
He wanted to find other things to put in the space. The sweet potatoes were growing well, and the mushrooms had begun sprouting. It was much faster than doing it outside. The only inconvenience was the water.
He contemplated more than once digging a hole and putting water in, just so he didn’t need to go to the river.
Still, his day was off to a good start. He went to the gathering area and waited for the others to arrive.