Chapter 56: Wavering heart
After Pixel left, the group which remained behind as they stood in place.
The leader frowned as he ordered. "Claim the prey, we should hurry up and follow up with our plan."
The aid by his side hesitated as they asked. "Now that someone else is involved, should we just give up? This could become much bigger than before and there could be consequences if we mess up."
The leader shook his head with a happy grin. "No, I actually think that this will be better for us. It seems that the little mouse is not yet aware of her own place in this world, I must be the one to teach her where she should remain. The little mouse is more impulsive and less restrained than her sister so it will be easy to get her to make a mistake."
The aid showed a look of surprise in their eyes. "You mean.."
The leader let out a laugh as he explained. "It was tough trying to get the eldest daughter to slip up enough for it to benefit us but the second daughter will be a better target."
The aid asked. "But what about the Wani? How could she possibly be accompanied by one? Plus it is so big!"
The leader shrugged. "I do not know but she must have cheated in some way, perhaps she had someone assist her. Only adults should be able to subdue one and one cannot be brought into the forest with her during the trial.. If we can draw them out then we can all tell the elders about her breaking the rules. Heh heh heh."
He did not believe that a mouse Mink was capable of subduing something that the adults found difficult to capture alive and domesticate.
Mainly those capable warriors of the Mink tribe which were a part of the Musketeers or the Night Guards were capable of subduing a Wani in such a short period of time.
It was also known that the Wani were grouped together in the swamp area which had less security around it so the leader believed that someone must have assisted Pixel and had probably entered the forest area from the swamp.
If his guess was true and it was confirmed then Pixel would be the one to suffer for breaking the trials rules and bringing shame upon her family.
As he thought about the face of despair Pixel would show, the leader showed an excited grin. "Lets go!"
His group followed behind and kept track of where Pixel and the others had went off to.
Meanwhile where Pixel was, her Wani had many on its back but still had the energy to spare as it bit down on a smaller animal then was about to swallow it.
Suddenly it felt pain on its head as Pixel punched downward and warned. "I said to hunt, not eat. So stupid."
The Wani dropped the prey with a look of sadness in its eyes.
Pixel could sense its helplessness and distress so she let out a sigh. "You can have some later once we have enough. I do not want to have mine so I will pass it onto you when we have the noble feast."
The noble feast came after the children had caught their prey, each of the prey which was returned from the forest were cooked by their family and put together for a large feast.
Usually the hunt was only held every couple of years so that the animals did not go extinct but their population was better controlled to stop them from overpopulating and becoming a potential danger.
Felice looked towards her younger sister with complicated eyes. 'Can she really be trusted?'
Her mother had told her more about the dangers within noble families which could come at anytime.
Even full blood related brothers and sisters could turn on each other for the sake of greater status, honour or wealth.
Her mother had supported her younger brother to the position as family head and gave her all to avoid all kinds of plots and defend him from those plots until he was old enough to take charge of the family.
One kind gesture of having a friendly and leisurely drink with a family member could be life threatening as the drink could be poisoned by the person who invited her or by those wishing to pin the blame on whoever she was sitting with.
All her efforts made her younger brother as the head of the family but instead of keeping her by his side and letting her rest or live a life of luxury, he coldly sold her off to be married once she was no longer any use to him.
Her kind brother which she raised and doted on which said he would grow up to protect and give the world to had been nothing but an illusion.
His facade dropped and he revealed his true self which revealed disdain towards her, his cold words cut deep into her heart as he called her a puppet.
To her brother, she was nothing but a useful doll or puppet which had been helpful until he reached the appropriate age to inherit the family.
While her beauty and youth still remained, she would still be of use to him so he sold her off as soon as he could before those things faded and her value dropped.
Felice's mother opened up to her daughter and told her the cold and harsh reality which had been learned from experience.
Sweet words, promises, bloodline and bonds were nothing but illusions and she should never believe in them as doing so would only cause her harm.
Felice turned her head away from Pixel and put on a proud look. 'Hmph. I will not believe.'
Even if Pixel did not qualify for the position as the family head, she still posed a threat since she possessed the blood of the main line of the family.
If all the competition were eliminated and she was able to subdue those around her then those rules could be rewritten.
They continued onward as more prey were hunted until the last one was almost chased down but just as it was killed, an arrow landed in it at exactly the same time.
A smug voice came from afar. "Heh heh heh that was my kill."
Pixel shook her head. "No. Not this time. Even if the arrow did do it harm, the animal was already unmoving. If you did get the killing blow in that moment then it does not really matter. All it needed was less than a second before it died, you only helped it on its way. I guess that this is everything, thank you for helping."
As Pixel talked to him there was a hint of innocence and gratefulness in her voice as if she was not annoyed by him in the least.
The hyena Mink stepped out with a look of anger on his face and pointed his spear towards her. "Do not even think about it! How much did we have to go through just to get this kill! It is mine!"
Pixel rolled her eyes. 'It seems that they had difficulty keeping up and probably ran into another group or some animals. He does not look as patient and as smug as he was before.'
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone