CH 43

After all that was done, there was no more time for Andy to take a bath. Even if he did, there wasn’t enough time to dry himself off. In this cold wilderness, hunting when wet was a behaviour of seeking death, hence he decided to go out smelling like a cub’s urine.

The culprit of this incident, Louis, was happily playing outside with his daddies and brother.

Black and White’s task for today was to follow Sita and the other beastmen to pick wild fruits and edible plants. The five female cubs were also left to their group to care for, as their mothers were also in the group.

“This area is very safe.” As usual, Sita served as their guide. She patiently introduced the distribution of the tribe’s territory to the three new members. Where the delicious fruits grew, how to tell if a mark was left by a tribesman and what different markings represented…

This explanation was not only for Black, White and Eim, but also for the cubs. 

Sita was the oldest sister of the tribe. As a long-lived mammoth, she had inherited more knowledge from their predecessors than the others. 

Since more than half of the Vash tribe population was rather young, they needed the guidance of the older people to learn, so that they could live better and serve the tribe better in the future.

It had to be said that it was a blessing for the young Vash tribe to have such a knowledgeable lady.

However, the tribesmen who grew up under the guidance of this knowledgeable big sister ended up having habits of mammoths.

“Look at this. These paw prints were left by the chief. The third pawprint is deeper, showing that it is very safe. However, these pawprints have been here for around ten days, making it less credible.”

Sita used this example and started explaining what the pawprints of other tribesmen represented.

“This place is too cold, hence there aren’t many trees or rocks. We can only leave our marks on the ice or the ground, so we have to be more diligent when inspecting the place.”

“Ai? Tree? What is a tree?” A young beastman asked.

“A tree… A tree is a very tall and big grass! They’re even larger than us mammoths! Also, a tree is different from grass in that they have a trunk and branches.” As Sita explained, she inscribed an image onto the ground.

“Oh—” To the people of the Vash tribe, mammoths were the largest beastmen they have seen, but a tree was actually bigger than them.

“Then how tall would a person transformed from a tree be!” The young beastman from before asked with a look of yearning.

“Trees can’t transform~” Sita pierced his bubble with a single finger.

Trees– could actually transform, if given enough time…Meng Jiuzhao secretly thought. It was said that he had some treeperson blood flowing through his veins, as seen from how only male mosquitoes would attack him during the summer. [1]

However, the fact that Sita knew about trees was surprising to him. 

The beastmen here had the habit of settling down in a fixed place. He was born recently, and his fathers have not brought him to many places. Whether it be the place they previously lived in, or their current home, both were abnormally cold. These extremely cruel lands were barren, with only the most tenacious plants being able to survive. The strong blizzards also made it impossible for trees to grow here.

It could be said that the people born and raised here would be completely unaware of the existence of trees.

He once suspected that the planet had just undergone a major change, and was currently in the ice age. However, if trees existed, that meant that he guessed wrong. Perhaps this place was simply the colder region of the planet, and there could even be tropical regions elsewhere. 

Of course, another possibility was that Sita was old, old enough for her to experience a warmer climate as a child, and to witness the growth of trees,

This had to be explored when he grew older. When he could finally speak, perhaps he could learn more about the outside world from Sita.

“Ah~ I miss the scent of tree bark! Well, forget it! There are more important things to do currently!” Looking at the tree she drew on the snow, Sita salivated.

She slurped back her drool, “This mark is more than ten days old. In our tribe, any marking that is older than five days is considered invalid. When you notice an expired marking, it is our duty as tribesmen to redo the marking!”

“Oh…” The group of beastmen acted as if they understood.

“Next, I’ll show you how to mark the territory.” As Sita spoke, she got up and stretched. Immediately after which, she transformed back into a mammoth!

That was a huge beast taller than 5 meters! Even taller than Holstein[2], who they previously met! 

Sita’s original form had a thick layer of fur on her body, and two very long and curved tusks next to her mouth. She gave a low hum, raising her left front paw in demonstration, before showing what should be her third toe in emphasis.

Well, it was probably her third toe, but it was covered by her long fur, so it was hard to tell.

Sita heavily pressed her feet down.

With a loud thud, a paw print was clearly imprinted on the ice sheet.

“Roar!” The mammoth turned around, waving her nose at the others, signalling them to turn back.

“???” Meng Jiuzhao, who had a face full of question marks, was carried by Black, with a similar expression, who turned around. Immediately after, with a blushing face, he heard the sound of water flowing… The sound of pee.

囧

“After imprinting your pawprint, use your urine to mark the area. When in the wild, everyone should try to conserve their urine and only use it in places that need to be marked, as well as the border of our territory.” When everyone else turned back, Sita had already worn her skirt properly.

“Okay! Now it’s your turn!” She beckoned to the other beastmen who were eager to try. Under her supervision, they transformed into their original forms, leaving their own pawprints next to Sita’s, before…

xx-ing.

“Let’s do that too!” One of the female cub’s mothers waved to Black. She then carried her own child over, placing the little female cub to crawl on the snow. Following her mother’s demonstration, she left a tiny paw print next to Sita’s. After that, she even followed Sita and lifted her left leg to pee a little.

Meng Jiuzhao’s face turned green.

However, Black and White looked as if they had learned something.

“It turns out that Dad filed his claws on the ice regularly, not because they had grown too long, but because was marking his territory!” White spoke with emotion.

Black nodded in agreement, “I used to think that Dad’s habit of peeing and pooping everywhere was unhygienic, but I seemed to have misunderstood.”

Meng Jiuzhao: …

He once again thought: It really wasn’t easy for these two cubs to live safely for so long.

In the end, Louis and Meng Jiuzhao were carried by their fathers and made to leave their paw prints next to Sita’s.

More than a dozen pawprints of various sizes were lined up not so neatly, looking like a work of art.

This piece of ice was lucky enough to be preserved as part of an iceberg, and these pawprints shocked the people who discovered it. 

Scientists were stumped for a long time, as to why so many different animals left such neat pawprints.

Actually, this was just Teacher Sita teaching everyone how to mark their own territory. Ｏ（∩＿∩）Ｏ

References