BXBX NOVEL Chapter 86 - 86 – The Talk
The chaos earlier didn\'t destroy the shelters belonging to my colonists. It\'s just that a lot of stump scorpions carcasses are scattered around it. All of that is odorless, but it certainly creates an ugly sight.
Lara threw the last bit of dirt on a mound using my colony\'s makeshift shovel. Even though she looked so exhausted, the blonde woman insisted on burying Gai\'s corpse right now. In fact, if Seb hadn\'t stopped her earlier, Lara would have been looking for Yogi\'s missing body. It looks like the corpse was carried away by the current of the river.
"That seems to be enough." Seb, who I asked to help the girl dig, wiped her sweaty forehead. Then, he put the piece of the escape pod he used to dig in and stuck a large, flat stone as a tombstone. "We\'d better get back."
"A moment." Lara watched her fellow tribesmen grave for a few seconds, sighed, and turned around. "Okay, let\'s go."
Seb picked up the torch that was stuck in the ground and lit the way for Lara.
"Can I ask you something, Seb?" Lara asked in a muffled voice.
"What is it?" Seb asked back.
It took a while before Lara finally managed to answer, "Well, these stump scorpions basically don\'t eat humans.... I don\'t know what they eat.... And from what I\'ve heard, they leave their victims behind."
"Ah." Seb gulped. "You\'re talking about your comrades near the salt cave."
The blonde girl nodded stiffly. "I can\'t take care of them alone.... There are quite a lot of them.... I need help.... Ah, if you want to help me, you guys don\'t need to go through that crack."
"That\'s...." Seb was speechless.
Sorry, Lara. My colonists just survived death. I don\'t want them to take too much risk. The stump scorpions have indeed retreated, but that doesn\'t mean the cursed place is one hundred percent safe.
"Who is the craftsman in your tribe? That man named Manu, right?" Lara continued. "You\'re all preparing for winter, but he\'s still a long way home. I can help you guys make warm clothes and whatever else you need. Apart from being a hunter, I\'m also a craftsman in my tribe. Well, I can\'t say I\'m an expert though."
"But, we don\'t have the materials.... Ah...."
Just like Seb, I can already guess the direction of the conversation from Lara.
"You already have two warm clothes and two sleeping bags from us." Lara stopped walking when she and Seb arrived at the bonfire near the shelter. "I can use materials belonging to my tribe\'s entourage. There are tons of leather sacks, tents, and sleeping bags, which can be made into warm clothes. You can also use their other resources. You can even take the salt we mined. I don\'t care anymore. As long as you don\'t take the clothes they wear. I want to take care of them properly."
Instead of answering right away, Seb looked at his three fellow colonists who were already asleep. Pif separated from the girls. Meanwhile, Leva was lying in the middle of the shelter with her body covered in bandages. Next to her, Kat was also asleep. The amber-eyed girl put her palm on Leva\'s chest.
I have to admit, Lara\'s offer was tempting.
"I\'m sure they\'ll agree." Lara crossed her arms over her chest. She must have just guessed that Seb wanted to discuss with the others first. "They won\'t refuse because it\'s for their own good. When Manu comes home, he can immediately focus on making bricks, and building what\'s needed."
"But, are you okay with all that?" Seb grimaced.
Lara shook her head. "This is also my return to you guys. I\'m still alive because of all of you. Also, it\'s a shame if the existing materials aren\'t used."
She has a point. And, of course, everything she said benefits my colonists. Well, at least I\'ll check if the place is still safe or not first.
"Okay, just accept the offer, Seb." I whispered in my colonist\'s ear.
Seb nodded, then smiled faintly. "Okay then. I agree, but tomorrow I still have to discuss it with the others.
Well, I\'ll get them to agree.
"Deal." Lara held out her hand.
Seb shook that hand, smiling again. "Deal."
[Temporary colonist acquired]
I opened the colonists\' profile menu and found Lara\'s card.
[Lara, 29 years old (Temporary Colonist)]
STATS:
Ranged attack: 66/100 *
Melee attack: 6/100
Construction: 17/100
Crafting: 60/100*
Cook: 8/100
Plant: -
Mining: 2/100
Animal: 6/100
Medic: 30/100
TRAITS:
-
INCAPABLE OF:
Plant
HEALTH ISSUES:
Stab scar on the left big toe. (walking speed -1%)
Ah, she\'s pretty good. Unfortunately, she doesn\'t seem to want to join. Even if she wanted to, there would definitely be complications with the Redtooth tribe.
I don\'t want any new problems.
***
As usual, I use the fast forward feature while my colonists sleep. However, seeing Lara, who kept moving restlessly in her sleep and then got up, I turned it off.
The woman wiped her face, then moved over to the fire and sat there.
After a moment of silence, the girl spoke. "Hey, guardian spirit of this nameless tribe. Can you hear me?" She muttered while looking at the fire. "Come to think of it, we\'re the same, huh?"
I chose silence. There\'s no point in talking to this woman. She can\'t hear me.
Lara wiped away the tears that were starting to form at the corners of her eyes. "I wonder, do you feel guilty for telling my tribe the location of the salt cave? After that, are you trying to at least make amends for your mistake?"
The woman fell silent again, creating silence. All that could be heard was the crackling of the fire-burning branches.
"I know you heard me, why didn\'t you answer me? You\'re the one who asked your children to come back here to take care of Leva, even though they don\'t know if there\'s still a stump scorpion hanging around or not, right? You\'re..."
She shook her head, probably starting to think she herself was going crazy from talking alone.
Yes, she and I are the same. We made a fatal mistake and tried to fix it. Lara couldn\'t stop Anne from getting tainted by Reha while I was responsible for all this mess.
It\'s just, I\'m still lucky that my people are still alive.