Chereads / Beautician and the Beasts / Chapter 20 - Into the Wilderness

Chapter 20 - Into the Wilderness

At first, the beastmen were shocked about what the Ape king showed them, and then he showed them the destruction of the City of Beasts and blamed Shelly. They were sent into a frenzy. They decided all together that they needed to chase her out of the city. The Ape king said, "Only with her death will we be spared." They started to chase after her and her mates. They figured if all of them fought together they could defeat Winston and her other mates. Winston fought off as many beastmen as he could while David was a tank and protected Shelly. Harvey was faster than Shuu so he took Shelly off of Shuu's back and flung her onto his back. Shelly flew through the air, but he caught her and sped away. She felt like the ball in a game of keep away.

If only there wasn't an angry mob of beasts chasing after them this would be fun. For now it was thrilling to say the least. Shelly kept thinking to herself this is all a dream. We will survive and make it to the village by the sea. They were able to escape the city, but were attacked by some ferals who tried to kidnap Shelly. Harvey was wounded and Shuu took over carrying her. Winston was able to kill the ferals while David protected Shelly. Once they were far enough away from the city and the angry mob they found a cave to settle in till Harvey was better.

In the city, Rosa was upset that Shelly escaped. She was going to complain to her father but she found out her father had been killed. Her mother was distraught and blamed Winston. Rosa went to talk to the Ape king. He confirmed that Winston had killed her father. Rosa was inconsolable. Her mates had to carry her back to her den. The Ape king was happy his plan had worked. He got rid of the Tiger king and Winston in one move. Shelly had been chased out of the city and Rosa did not know anything. He was in a good mood and approached his mate to brag about his success. She threw a bowl at his head and he dodged it. She said, "Where is my emerald? You finally gained your third stripe and got rid of Winston but still haven't given me an emerald like you promised." He said, "My queen, I am needed in the city right now. With the death of the Tiger king and Winston leaving the city will need my guidance. I will be able to hunt behemoths after the city is stable." She yelled at him, "I want one now! I don't care about this city. I will just go back to the sea."

The Ape king kneeled down and pleaded with his mate. "Just give me till the end of this year. If I don't bring you an emerald, I will take you to the sea myself." She seemed to consider his words and nodded. He felt relieved. If he left now he would lose everything he worked so hard for. He couldn't let Winston come back and take over the Tiger king throne. He had to stay in the city and persuade the beastmen that Winston was under the mind control of that demoness. The Ape king left to go bury the body of the Tiger king. He could not leave any evidence behind of the poison. He didn't want anyone to link him to the death of the former Tiger king.

The Ape king planned to bury the Wolf king, but the former Wolf queen wanted to see his body and say her last goodbyes. The Ape king had the body prepared above a pyre and allowed the former queen to approach the body. The Ape king kept the fur coving the bloody neck that had blackened due to the poison. The other mates helped console the former queen. They were all 3 stripes or below. One of them was going to fight to be the new Tiger king after the burial.

Rosa was being comforted by her mates when she approached her father's body. She went to hug him for the last time and the fur covering him slid down to reveal the poisoned throat. The Ape king quickly covered him back and motioned for Rosa's mates to take her away. He wanted to light the body as soon as possible. Rosa was too distraught to notice the poison marks but Bart noticed them. He kept quiet for now to comfort Rosa but was wary of the Ape king. If he was a tiger, he would compete for the title of Tiger king. None of Rosa's tiger mates were above 2 stripes.

The Ape king started the funeral ceremony and lit the pyre to burn the former Tiger king's body. He said, "May his spirit rest. Long live the king." After he said that the tigers roared and gathered to fight over the new Tiger king title. Some of the tigers left to follow Winston. They knew that Winston won fairly and only stayed to respect the former Tiger king. They didn't have faith in any other tiger as Tiger king. The Ape king watched the fighting and noticed a few 3 stripe tigers who were fighting among themselves. Finally it was down to the last tiger standing. He barely made it and was wounded. The Ape king went to him to help him heal and congratulate him on becoming the new Tiger king of the City of Beasts. He wanted to be on the good side of the new king. He also felt good that the new king was weaker than him. He was one step closer to ruling the entire city.

In a cave outside of the city Shelly went with Shuu and David to the nearby river. She had Winston stay and guard Harvey while he slept. They had set up a temporary shelter in the cave after confirming there were no inhabitants inside. Shelly took a quick bath in the cold water and had the guys bring back water to cook with. She was going to make soup to help heal Harvey. She saw the irony in healing the doctor, but he needed help. She finished bathing and quickly dried off with a fur towel when she felt like she was being watched. She searched the area and noticed a pair of glowing green eyes.

Shelly tensed and David noticed her discomfort. He looked at where she was looking and noticed a fox beastman. The fox saw Shelly and looked angry. He tried to attack her, but David killed him. Shelly said, "why did he try to attack me?" David said, "He was a rootless beast. They attack females or worse." Shelly knew about rootless beasts from the novel and shivered at the thought that she might be attacked or worse from a rootless beast. When she went back to the cave Shuu had started to boil a pot of water. She added the meat and seasoning and talked to Winston about what just happened.

Winston was concerned about the rootless beasts. He knew there were more outside of the city. They usually roamed around the outskirts to try and abduct or kill females. He told Shelly, "Make sure to never go out alone while we are outside the city." Shelly nodded and said, "Thankfully David was there and killed him." She felt a little bad for the rootless beasts. Some of them did nothing wrong but were abandoned by their mates for shallow reasons. She said, "Can we do anything to help them?" Winston thought about her question and said, "Once a male has been abandoned, his soul is ripped from his body. He is little more than a rabid animal at that point. It is better to kill them."

Shelly thought about it and said, "If females did not abandon their mates, there would not be any rootless beasts. There should be a law that if a female wants to abandon her mate she should just have him killed instead." Winston thought about it and agreed. That would solve the root of the problem and stop rootless beasts from causing more harm. He said, "When I become king of the new village, I will enact this new law." Shelly said, "In my world we have a system that allows both sides to plead the case and they are judged by a group of people. There is a judge who decides the punishment. Sometimes it is life in prison." Shuu said, "I would rather be killed instead of spending my life in prison."

David said, "What if the beastman is innocent and is killed anyway?" Winston said, "It is better to be killed than spend your life as a rootless beast. It is safer for all the females." They all agreed in silence. Shelly shifted her attention back to the soup. Once it was done she helped Harvey drink some soup and Shuu fed her soup while she fed Harvey. She had just combined the last of their dry meat with some seasonings and dehydrated vegetables, but it was pretty good. It reminded her of camping. She couldn't wait until she was closer to the sea and had more variety in foods. She asked, "How long will it take us to get to the Tiger village?" Winston said, "We will stay here for the night and it will take us about a week and a half to get there. Harvey should be well enough to travel tomorrow." They ate and spent the night. The three well males took turns guarding the cave.