“Third Miss Camilla?”
Little sister, do you have any idea that your backer is already completely done for?
Qimeng held back her laughter and followed Ninike to the White Feather Clan's village.
But the moment she stepped into the village, Qimeng's brow furrowed.
How did this look like a normal village?
Not only was it completely dilapidated, but the treehouses were also covered in dried weeds.
Many White Feather Clan girls lay scattered along the village paths, their bodies wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, their expressions exhausted.
“Strange...”
Qimeng looked around.
“The natural resources in the Flourishing Forest are so abundant. Just picking some wild fruit or doing a bit of hunting should be enough to keep you from starving, right? Why do you all look... like you were just ransacked?”
“We were not ransacked!”
Ninike retorted subconsciously, but noticing Qimeng's teasing gaze, her bravado deflated by half, and she puffed out her cheeks with a huff.
“We weren't ransacked! It's just... it's just that those savage guys from the 【Thunder Eagle Clan】 are too wicked! They waited until we finished paying our monthly tribute and had our high-level combatants drafted by the demons, and then they came over to 'spar' with us!
Losing was our own fault for being too weak... They took away the food we had worked so hard to store, injured many of our sisters, and even took two sisters from the patrol squad back with them! They claimed it was to help transport the grain, but they were actually kidnapped... But we will take them back!”
“Oh~”
Qimeng dragged out the sound.
“Then what about that Third Miss who supposedly backs you up? You hand over food and people on time every month, so why didn't she send troops to deal with it when you were being ransacked by the neighboring tribe?”
“W-Well, about that...”
Ninike's eyes darted around guiltily, and she stammered.
“Lady Camilla is very busy! She must be commanding the vast armies in her territory. How could she possibly have time to care about minor conflicts between tribes like this...?”
“Ninike, stop forcing it.”
A clear and gentle voice interrupted Ninike's bluffing.
A young girl walked out of the treehouse in the center of the village. She didn't look much older than Ninike, and she wore a feather outfit that symbolized the Chief.
The young Chief of the White Feather Clan, Feifeier.
“Chief!”
Ninike quickly shrank behind her and began her accusation.
“It's this bad woman! She broke into our tribe's sacred ground and even stole the rainbow flower!”
Feifeier looked at the extraordinary girl before her, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly.
As the only remaining High-tier Advanced powerhouse in the entire clan, she absolutely would not allow outsiders to trample over her tribe.
Feifeier secretly channeled the wind element, sending a sharp, powerful pressure riding on the wind straight toward Qimeng.
This was both a test and a warning.
However, that wind pressure had only just brushed against the hem of Qimeng's skirt.
Qimeng merely gave a casual pinch of her fingers.
Boom!
A vast surge of the power of nature surged back at her!
Feifeier's expression changed dramatically. She was blasted back several steps before barely managing to steady herself. Startled, her wings fully spread behind her, radiating a brilliant feathery glow.
This seemingly simple test made Feifeier realize that for the woman before her, crushing her to death would be as easy as squeezing an ant!
She decisively withdrew all her hostility.
After all, reading the situation was the survival instinct of the weak in this world.
“My Lady...”
Feifeier shielded Ninike behind her and bowed deeply to Qimeng.
“I heard what happened from the patrol squad. Although the rainbow flower is our tribe's sacred relic, under our current circumstances... as long as we can survive, that is enough. If you like it, you may keep it. I only beg you to show mercy and spare these injured children.”
“Chief! That was what we were going to use to trade for emergency food! Without the flower, what about the materials and clansmen stolen by the Thunder Eagle Clan? How will we settle that debt?!”
“Quiet, Ninike.”
Feifeier, who was not much older than Ninike, felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. She gently stroked Ninike's hair to comfort her.
“In this land ruled by demons, weak races like ours are nothing more than weeds to be harvested at any time. Paying our monthly tribute only ensures that the demon nobles won't destroy us themselves. When have they ever cared whether we live or die?”
Qimeng twirled a strand of hair over her chest, completely unmoved by the tragic plight of the White Feather Clan.
“I'll accept the rainbow flower then,” Qimeng said, directly stating her purpose. “I came to your village mainly to ask if you have any more of these rare herbs, since you've lived on these steep cliffs for so long?”
Feifeier was taken aback, then shook her head.
“No, that was the only one... Out of desperation, we were planning to take it to the neutral camp in the forest to trade for some life-saving food.”
“What a pity.”
Qimeng pouted, clearly disappointed that her herb-gathering had been cut short.
However...
She sized up the two pitiful White Feather girls before her.
They looked adorable, with the drooping snow-white feathers on their heads and their fluffy wings. They were actually quite cute.
Thinking of the group of cute vassals she had back home, she realized that spending so much time with them had made her quite fond of these adorable, petite races.
Since she had nothing better to do anyway, Qimeng casually made a suggestion.
“Since there are no more flowers to pick, why don't you all pack your bags and come with me? How about becoming my subordinates? I can't promise you much else, but keeping you safe won't be a problem.”
Qimeng had only asked on a whim and didn't take it seriously at all.
She didn't expect Feifeier's expression to change drastically.
She suddenly pulled Ninike tight against her, her eyes filled with hostility.
“Go with you? My Lady... what a clever scheme you have! Are you perhaps a demon slave trader, trying to trick our entire clan into leaving so you can sell us to an auction house to be toyed with?!”
Qimeng was left completely speechless by those words.
“Huh?! A slave trader?!”
Qimeng pointed at her own peerlessly beautiful, flawless face, a dark line appearing on her forehead.
“Little girl, open your eyes and take a good look! How could someone as beautiful as me be a despicable slave trader?!”
Feifeier was not charmed by her beauty in the slightest and let out a cold snort.
“Just because someone is beautiful doesn't mean they are a good person! Case in point, Lady Camilla, the Third Miss, is also stunningly gorgeous, but has she ever hesitated to bleed weak tribes like ours dry? These days, the prettier the woman, the blacker her heart!”
“Uh...”
Qimeng couldn't argue with that.
Thinking about it, the little girl's words were harsh but true!
Although she really wasn't a slave trader, in all honesty, she had recently drained the flesh and blood nutrients of a thousand demon soldiers to turn the Third Miss into a Corpse Princess, and she had just stolen this tribe's sacred relic...
Her behavior was probably even more villainous than that of the Third Miss!
But then again, back then, she had used every trick in the book, from coaxing to outright deception, just to keep the Wood Elves by her side!
Now, she had uncharacteristically taken the initiative to recruit them, yet instead of receiving tearful, deeply grateful devotion, she was actually treated like a despicable slave trader?
Although... their worries did make a tiny bit of sense.
But the slightly petty Lady Qimeng was not about to let this slide!
If she couldn't even handle a bunch of little bird girls, it would be too embarrassing for a Demon Tree like her!
Now, she absolutely had to recruit them!
Bite me if you don't like it!
“Alright, alright, you caught me. I'm indeed no champion of justice. So here's the question: how do you plan to deal with a powerful, wicked woman standing right in front of you?”
Rate on N.U.
