"Talulah, Jeanne, hurry inside! Don't let them see you in those outfits!"
Hearing the urgency in the old man's voice, the two women quickened their pace and rushed indoors.
An elderly man with a face etched with worry watched them enter, then glanced around anxiously before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
"I told you not to wear those outfits! They're far too conspicuous! Wearing such outfits will attract the Black Bugs!"
The old woman turned back and reheated the meat broth on the stove, then began scolding the two girls again.
"Those huge black bugs are poisonous! One bite, and the land won't grow crops for years!"
The old woman shuddered with lingering fear, as if recalling some terrible memory.
"Jeanne, you're just getting corrupted by Talulah! That outfit is too conspicuous in the snow! If those bugs see you, we'll all be doomed..."
"Wait a minute," Talulah protested, clearly indignant. "I'm the one who arrived later, right? How did I corrupt Jeanne?" She had heard from Jeanne herself that she occasionally wore this outfit even before Talulah arrived.
"You have the nerve to say that? Every time you run off, you're gone for two or three days, and you never bring back even a crust of bread! And you always wear that strange outfit when you go out..."
"Grandmother, we wear ordinary clothes most of the time! Besides, we've never been spotted wearing these outfits before..." Talulah countered with a sheepish grin. She herself wondered how Jeanne managed to go out in her own clothes without ever being seen by others.
"Besides, I only wore this outfit because I had important business to attend to. It was a gift from my father. He was robbed by a man with a glowing halo and severely injured protecting it. I even cried as I escaped wearing it! With my father's blessing, nothing bad will happen."
Hearing this, the Old Grandmother promptly tapped Talulah on the head with the bowl she had just been about to use for soup.
"Bad child, you're lying! Last time you claimed it was a gift from a snake-tailed fellow, blessed by their chieftain. This time it's even more ridiculous! How could there be a man with a glowing halo? If such a person existed, we wouldn't need candles! We could just hire them to light up everything!"
"Ah~ did I really say that last time? I've forgotten. Grandmother, your memory is truly remarkable..." Talulah tilted her head, feigning deep thought.
The Old Grandmother, seeing her granddaughter's expression—clearly trying to remember what story she had told before—couldn't resist tapping her head again, this time more gently.
"Ow! I know I was wrong, Grandmother! Please stop hitting me! Jeanne, hurry and talk to her! Why are you just standing there watching?"
Talulah hurriedly turned to Jeanne, who was watching the spectacle with amusement. We were both supposed to be getting a lecture, she thought, so how did I end up being the only one getting whacked?
Jeanne sat on the sidelines, looking like she was thoroughly enjoying the chaos. She glanced at Talulah's head, which had been repeatedly rapped with the bowl, as if listening for an echo in the emptiness within.
"Alright, Grandmother, calm down. She can't possibly have a memory as sharp as yours. She's not exactly bright to begin with—another whack and she'll truly go brain-dead."
"If she did go brain-dead, that might be a blessing. At least I wouldn't have to worry about her running off every night and keeping me up. How can you keep lying to this old woman on her deathbed? Don't you have a shred of conscience?"
As the Old Grandmother spoke, she ladled two bowls of meat broth for them.
"Wow! What's the occasion? Meat broth? Did I forget some important holiday again?" Talulah exclaimed in surprise. Meat broth was an unimaginable luxury in their village; even getting vegetable soup every meal was a challenge. Meat was too precious—it was usually reserved for bartering for necessities.
"Hmph, what important day is it? This is the game Jeanne hunted yesterday! We made soup from the leftover meat after butchering it. How else would we be eating meat at this time? Eat up quickly—we need to send this portion to Alina soon."
"Eeeh, really? Jeanne hunted again! She's so amazing! Does that mean we'll get to have roasted meat soon?"
"Roasted meat? What a waste! Meat isn't for squandering like that. We kept some at home, and the old man took the rest to trade. Hopefully, we can get enough fabric for new clothes and blankets this year."
The Old Grandmother looked at Talulah as if she couldn't believe she would say such a thing. She tapped Talulah on the head and said, "If you really want some, there's plenty of meat hidden in the cellar. You, Jeanne, and Alina can sneak off to the back mountain to enjoy it. This year's harvest was poor; some families don't even have seed grain for next year's moss wheat. If they find out we're eating meat while they're starving, who knows what might happen?"
"Honestly, why can't we eat meat openly when Jeanne hunted it herself?" Talulah couldn't help but grumble, though she knew that given the year's circumstances, her family was already faring better than most.
Even knowing that Jeanne had earned her prey through her own skills, some people's jealousy knows no bounds.
They might accuse Jeanne of stealing what rightfully belonged to them, and might even secretly sabotage their family. Not for any particular reason, but simply because they couldn't stand that the family was better off than theirs.
But with their paltry skills, they couldn't even catch a rabbit, let alone hunt mountain beasts.
"Then why don't you go hunt your own prey!" I retorted. "You always brag about how skilled you are. So how come I've hardly ever seen you bring home any game?"
"It's not as easy as you think! I've tried before, you know."
She muttered resentfully at Grandmother's words.
She had attempted hunting before, but the animals in this region had grown cunning through their constant battles of wits with hunters. Moreover, their speed was unmatched; once they vanished into the deep forest, she couldn't possibly keep up.
After a month of grueling effort, she had only managed to kill one Beast and a few rabbits. The Beast had been burned to death by her flames, rendering much of its meat inedible.
As for Jeanne's hunting methods? She could never replicate them, even if she worked herself to death. That girl's physical prowess, even more terrifying than her own, allowed her to simply charge forward and knock her prey unconscious in a single blow.
She's a Draco, after all! Her race ranks among the strongest on land. So what race is Jeanne, exactly?
"You know how hard it is to hunt, but those folks don't care! Why else would your grandfather go to them to trade meat for cloth, cotton, and those trinkets? Why not just wait for the caravans? It's all to make them think we're struggling, so they won't get jealous and cause trouble."
The Old Grandmother watched Talulah with concern. She trusted Jeanne completely; her intelligence and quick wit would ensure her survival.
But Talulah was different. The girl's naiveté made her vulnerable to exploitation.
People like her always assume the best in others, which makes them prime targets for those with ulterior motives. If she ever marries, I worry she'll be sold off and even count the money for her captors.
Fortunately, Jeanne is watching over her. Surely she won't let it come to that.