Leontis, who had heard everything, asked the question that actually mattered:

"How do you know that you can bake with thorn-grass?"

Mirabelle froze.

Silas noticed immediately how the female stilled.

At once, he sensed something hidden — yet, to his surprise, Mirabelle answered her father.

Her thoughts raced. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

What was she supposed to say? That she had read it in a book? Unlikely. The former Mirabelle had barely read, and even if she had, knowledge like that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.

She couldn’t exactly say she came from another world either.

So only one option remained.

"When I was on my hunger strike and fainted... the beast goddess appeared to me."

She kept her voice unmoved.

"She told me that this grass — and other things — could solve the food problems of the beastfolk. I just didn’t know where to find them... and I didn’t think you would believe something that sounded so... strange."

The men fell silent.

Leontis: ’The beast goddess appeared to our little lynx cub?’

Kaelith: ’Goddess... I knew you didn’t send me to Berghain without reason. I see it now — Mirabelle is the solution to our famine.’

Silas: ’She’s still hiding something from us.’

Commander: "..."

The beast goddess was no small matter.

Everyone believed in her.

And there were, again and again, events where she supposedly appeared.

Often enough that no one truly doubted it anymore.

’That’s what you get. As long as you don’t answer me, I’ll use your name however I want.

I’m acting in your name now. If you don’t like it... you know how to reach me.’

Mirabelle sent a sly grin toward the sky.

’If I don’t have a system, no ability, and no connection to the beast goddess... then at least I can use my knowledge.’

"We should keep this to ourselves for now."

Leontis’ voice was serious.

Silas nodded in agreement.

There was already too much attention on the defiant lynx woman.

If it became known that the goddess had spoken to her, others would take notice.

And he was not willing to share her with even more men.

Only Kaelith remained silent.

To him, all of this felt like fate.

His people lived under harsh conditions. A food source that could end every famine, according to the goddess, had to be brought back home.

Any doubt that Mirabelle was the right female for him disappeared.

Then a thought struck him:

"How can it be that thorn-grass is so special?"

Mirabelle, pulled out of her one-sided argument with the goddess, gave him a long look.

"The grains can be stored for ten to twenty years."

Silas stumbled for a split second, then caught himself without noticeably slowing down.

"Ten to twenty... years?"

Kaelith thought he had misheard.

But the female only hummed in confirmation.

"Maybe even thirty."

Silence fell again.

Each of them was lost in their own thoughts.

~

Meanwhile, a powerful being cast a benevolent glance at the lynx female.

And the great wheels of history began to turn — slowly and heavily.

~

During their journey, they passed smaller clusters of houses again and again — all surrounded by massive wooden walls.

Even after all these millennia, the beastfolk still had to be wary of ferals.

Though they no longer feared them as much as before.

Thanks to the division of land into territories, the regions were controlled and cleared much more thoroughly.

Truly powerful ferals lived in uninhabited, barren areas, often near the borders of the realms.

Which meant: the deeper you traveled inland, the safer it became.

The former Mirabelle had never seen a so-called feral. She only knew them from stories.

So the new Mirabelle couldn’t truly picture what those creatures looked like.

It was said that, over time, the beastkin — the ancestors of the beastfolk — had split into three groups during their evolution.

There were, of course, the beastfolk.

Then there were the divine beasts.

They were like animals in their perfect form, but with abilities — far more powerful than beastfolk, and highly intelligent.

It was said they were immortal.

Because of that, their population was extremely small.

Almost no one had ever seen one — and lived to tell the tale.

The last group were the ferals.

Mutations that should not have been able to survive.

Grotesque monsters, their minds consumed by madness.

They craved beastfolk.

Because the beast cores of beastfolk could cleanse that madness.

The stronger they became, the clearer their minds grew.

In theory, that meant they would eventually become more like beastfolk again.

Mirabelle felt sick as she absorbed all of this from the memories.

It was more than unsettling...

Did that mean she could meet someone who had once been a feral?

Someone who had killed countless beastfolk

...and she wouldn’t even know what they used to be?

A/N: Just a short Chapter this time. I wasn’t feeling well yesterday and almost had to go back to the hospital.