Chapter 168: The Pen From Hell
Tera had asked to see the animals, wanting to start the task as soon as possible, while the wolves were most receptive to her. But apparently that had been interpreted as a public event.
Calis, the females, and a number of wolves had trailed after her, whispering amongst themselves about what the shiftless female wanted with their animals.
By the time they arrived, Tera had an audience of roughly fifteen wolves, all watching her with the expectation of someone about to perform something impressive.
Like picking the animals needed for the meat that night.
But Tera was not feeling impressive.
She was feeling nauseous.
The smell reached her before the pen did.
It rolled over the group in a thick, warm wave that invaded her nostrils and made her eyes water. Two of the females behind her wrinkled their noses. Faelynn’s expression didn’t change, but Luth buried her tiny face into her mother’s neck and whined.
’Oh, my GOD.’
[β(,⁹⋂⁹,)〣]
[What is that rancid smell?!]
Tera did a double take, momentarily distracted from the mess before her.
’I know you can’t smell a thing. What are you talking about?!’
Returning her attention to the pen, Tera could feel her soul leave her body while the rest of the wolves didn’t understand why Tera and her other beast males looked the way they did.
Olaf and Bessier stared pointedly at the animals.
The word "pen" was doing a tremendous amount of heavy lifting. What stood before her was a collection of sticks jammed into the ground at angles that defied both logic and gravity, loosely tied together with strips of dried vine that had given up on life long before Tera had arrived.
Some sections were upright. Others were leaning so dramatically that they looked like they were trying to lie down and die. An entire corner had collapsed inward, and the animals had simply stepped over the fallen sticks and were now grazing on both sides of the barrier as if it didn’t exist.
Because functionally, it didn’t.
’What... am I looking at?’
[(ᵕ⚈₋₍⚈")∘ ∘ ∘]
[Why is Host asking this system?]
[What does it look like?]
Tera turned to Calis. "This is how you keep your animals?"
Calis blinked, clearly not understanding her tone. "Yes."
Tera turned back to the pen, afraid for her mouth to even fall open so a fly wouldn’t pop in.
"Why are the animals so dirty?"
Calis frowned. He looked at the animals, then back at Tera, genuinely confused.
Even Faelynn and the rest looked baffled. "They are animals."
"I can see that. But why are they caked in filth?"
The confusion on the wolves’ faces deepened. Tera noticed a few shallow, covered pits that likely contained animal waste.
The wolves at least had the sense to manage the waste, but the animals themselves were absolutely disgusting. Mud-crusted, matted, and reeking with a stench so thick Tera could practically taste it.
What surprised her was that the wolves standing around her were not dirty.
How were the WOLVES cleaner than their LIVESTOCK?!
’How have I not even noticed this smell before?’
[Host, your senses are measly compared to the beasts around you]
[(ㅎᴗㅎ)...]
[The wolves have been enduring this smell the entire time]
[Congratulations on finally catching up]
Tera’s cheek twitched.
She turned back to Calis. "You have water now. The stream is flowing. Why haven’t you washed them?"
Calis stared at her as if she had just suggested he teach the animals to speak.
"Washed them?"
"Yes. Washed. The animals. With water."
"Why would we wash them?"
Several of the wolves behind Tera were exchanging equally confused glances. Faelynn tilted her head. One of the younger females whispered to another, "Is washing animals a thing?"
Calis crossed his arms. "Animals do not wash themselves, so why would we wash them?"
Tera’s jaw lost the battle, and her mouth fell open.
"We wash the meat after the animal has been killed and prepared for eating," Calis continued, as if this was the most logical sequence in the world. "That is when it matters."
Tera was speechless.
Before she could come up with a rebuttal, one of the stocky brown animals had lowered itself to the ground and was rolling around in a fresh pile of its own droppings.
It rolled to the left. Then to the right. Then it stood up, shook itself off, and resumed chewing with the blank satisfaction of a creature who had just completed an important grooming ritual.
Tera’s face went through multiple stages of horror in three seconds.
"What the actual fuck?!"
Several wolves flinched at the unfamiliar word, but the raw horror in her voice translated perfectly.
Calis looked at Tera’s expression. Then back at the animal, now proudly wearing a fresh coat of its own excrement.
He suddenly remembered how clean the few animals in Tera’s clan were. The difference between hers and what was in front of him suddenly made Calis feel embarrassed.
And underneath the embarrassment was a quiet sting of disappointment at himself.
He was ashamed of Tera having to see the animals in his pack in this state. Especially since it was something under his responsibility.
Why did her opinion matter this much?
He was about to tell her he would swiftly have them washed when one of the stocky brown animals near the broken corner suddenly bolted.
The animal burst into a full sprint and barrelled out of the pen.
"Oh—" Tera started.
Its stubby legs pumped furiously as it tore across the open ground.
Three wolves who had been stationed near the pen reacted instantly and caught up to the animal, dragging it back to the pen.
Tera turned to Calis. "Does that happen often?"
[Why is Host asking such an obvious question?]
"No."
Calis stiffened, and the wolves turned to look at him.
Their alpha had just lied.
[(⊙_⊙)]
[Bold]
Calis glared at his wolves, and they all turned their attention away from him, busy inspecting everything else but Calis.
Tera nearly burst out laughing.
"No?" Tera whispered, her lips spreading in a small smile.
Calis held her gaze with the rigid composure of a man standing on a crumbling cliff and refusing to look down.
"It is... not frequent."
A wolf behind her coughed.
Calis’ eye twitched.
[This system is documenting this moment for future reference]
[(ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ)]
[The wolf alpha’s pride is taking structural damage]
[Much like his pen]
Tera almost choked.
She turned away from Calis to spare him further humiliation, only to stop dead in her tracks.
In the far corner, huddled together in a fluffy pile were two small round creatures with absurdly large eyes and ridiculous moustache-like puffs of fur framing their faces.
They looked exactly like Puff Dumpling.