A New Life In The Beast World-Chapter 160: Slow Day

After a quick breakfast the next morning, Serena and Theo headed to the village center with Kiro. It was less chaotic today, so the cubs could run around and play. They left him with the others before heading to Healer Kai’s hut.

Both were on edge as they got to the hut, not knowing what lay behind the door. Liz was also being awfully quiet which wasn’t helping matters.

Taking a deep breath, Serena calmed her nerves before knocking on the door. A moment later, Jason opened the door. The bird beastman was looking rough, bags under his eyes and messy hair with flicks of green in it. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Oh... Serena and Theo." Jason murmured, taking a moment to process who was at the door. He then quickly moved to the side and said, "Come in."

Serena silently nodded her head and stepped into the hut, her eyes scanning the place. It was in complete disarray, not that the place was ever the tidiest. There were always herbs laying everywhere.

The rabbit beastmen were sitting and sleeping all over the place which wasn’t helping matters. They all looked as exhausted as Jason making Serena a little guilty for heading back home.

Perhaps she could’ve helped a bit more...

Finally her eyes landed on the bed in the back where Merinda was sitting up.

Awake.

Serena couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief at the sight of the rabbit beastwoman awake. She was still looking a little sick, but at least Merinda was not at death’s door.

Elder Samuel was by her side, helping her drink something from a bowl. Her guess was that it was some kind of medicine. Jason moved to an empty chair and went straight back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Serena quietly moved over to the bed with Theo trailing her, both being careful not to disturb the others. Not that it really mattered. All of them woke up, only going back to sleep upon seeing who it was.

"It’s good to see that you’re doing better." Serena stated as she came to a stop by the bed.

Merinda glanced over at her and gave her a weak smile. "It’s all thanks to everyone’s hard work... Though I didn’t mean to worry everyone."

"Don’t think too much of it." Serena shrugged. "You’re important to this village and I wouldn’t want to see something happen to you. There’s still time left..."

"Hmmm..." Merinda averted her gaze, gazing down at her hands.

The older beastwoman had immediately caught on to what Serena meant by those words. Merinda still had time left in this world, even if it was short. And Serena was going to make sure she stuck around as long as possible.

For the village’s sake.

"Serena... I know this will be a strange request... But could you keep this quiet." Elder Samuel suddenly asked. "We don’t want to cause any panic."

Serena was not surprised by the request. And even if Elder Samuel hadn’t asked her, she wouldn’t have said a word. Not unless she knew it was common knowledge.

Although she wasn’t sure what she could add to the conversation at that point. Still it was better if knowledge about what happened was limited. Because it would just create unnecessary worry.

"Of course." Serena nodded her head in understanding. "My lips are sealed."

"As are mine." Theo added.

Elder Samuel smiled at those words and they chatted for a bit more. However, Merinda was still weak from dealing with the fever and so Serena and Theo left, promising to come by later.

Serena and Theo then parted ways at the village center. Serena was going to hang out with the rabbit beastwomen and perhaps find a way to complete that stupid popularity mission while Theo headed back to the hut.

The tiger beastman was keen on finishing up his blankets. He managed to get one completed and wanted to get the rest finished. Then he could focus on making proper furniture for the hut.

Perhaps even get that rabbit beastman, Finn’s help.

Shaking his head at the thought, Theo headed inside the hut and got to work on his blankets. He sat in the center of the room, leaving the door open to let in the sunlight and air out the space.

***

Once mid-morning came by, Serena headed back to the hut to help Theo with lunch. When she got to the hut, she was surprised to find that there was no fire going.

By now, Theo would’ve started. Curious as to what was going on, Serena searched for the tiger beastman and found him sitting inside the hut making some blankets.

Seems he lost track of time. Serena mused to herself as she stepped into the hut.

"Is it mid-morning already?" Theo asked, glancing over at her as she entered the hut.

"Yeah..." Serena nodded her head. "I can make lunch if you want. No need to get up."

He seemed pretty focused on making those blankets and Serena didn’t want to disturb him by having him come out to make lunch. Not when she was more than capable of doing it.

Theo pursed his lips for a moment before he agreed to it. "I guess it works. What are you making?"

"Probably stew." Serena mused. "Maybe make enough for tonight too."

"Sounds good." Theo murmured.

And with that, Serena began working on preparing lunch. She was making it like usual except for one part - adding some of the herbs to it.

Which according to Liz’s set of recipes from her world was a good idea.

Midway to adding the vegetables to the pot, Theo came out with the blankets and sat by the fire. He then got back to work. Serena finished adding everything to the pot and let it boil.

She then glanced over at him and said, "Watch the fire for me. I need to check on the coop quickly."

"Sure." Theo responded.

Serena then grabbed the bowl of vegetable scraps and headed to the garden. The wild birds were nesting inside the coop today, it being too cold for them to go out.

They squawked at her removing the roof, but soon enough settled down upon seeing that she brought food. Serena also added more straw to the nesting area, wanting to keep the wild birds warm.

Once she was done feeding the birds and cleaning the nest, she walked back to the hut. Theo was still working on the blankets, occasionally glancing up to check on the fire.

After washing up, Serena took a seat next to Theo and kept an eye on the stew. They sat in silence, neither one really finding the need to talk.

Eventually, noon came by and Kiro appeared, hungry from running around. Serena sent him to get bowls while Theo took his crafts inside.

After handing the bowls to his sister, Kiro eagerly took a seat next to her and waited to get his bowl of stew.

"Careful. It’s hot." Serena warned the cub as she handed him the bowl.

She let it sit for a few minutes before handing it to him, but it was still hot. And she didn’t want him burning himself while trying to eat it all at once.

Something Kiro always seemed to do.

The cub nodded his head in understanding as he took the bowl from her. She watched him slowly eat his stew as Theo returned.

She then served food for them and the two ate. Adding the herbs had been a good idea making the broth taste much better.

Kiro finished his stew first and immediately asked for seconds. Serena was about to dish him more food, but Theo took over before she could move.

"Finish eating." Theo murmured as he served more stew.

He grabbed seconds for himself too, so Serena didn’t argue with him. Instead, she focused on finishing her food. By the time they were done with lunch, there was still about half a pot left of food. Enough for dinner.

Of course, they could always roast a few vegetables and meat skewers if it wasn’t enough. Though Serena thought it was enough. They didn’t need to eat much normally after a heavy lunch like today.

Kiro headed back to the village center once they cleaned up, promising to come back by mid-afternoon. Serena didn’t want him staying out too late with the recent weather.

Merinda’s sudden cold didn’t help matters... But she knew that was an outlier.

Theo got back to making the last blanket and moments after he set to work, Finn arrived. Serena went to chat with him for a bit, finding that the rabbit beastman had gotten quite far with the project.

He was carving the last stone and would begin working on the wooden pieces. Which would take him a day to do. Then they could assemble it all and begin testing to see if it worked.

Serena was a little giddy about the progress, excited to see how the testing phase would go. But for now she had to bury that feeling until everything was completed.