After completing the case Drake did some boring quests as he did not find any more good quests before the event. He spent his days roaming the wilds and doing different quests during the day, while at night he would practice his masteries in the training room till the day of the event.
—------------
The day Drake left for the Ravencrest Territory-
"You thieving bitch!" Aria exclaimed in anger.
"Take it or leave it. It's your choice, no one is forcing you," Ayame countered, smirking.
"But the young master ordered you to help us," Aria said as if blaming her for not following Drake's orders.
Ayame only laughed at that. "Oh, you naive, naive, fool. Young master merely said we can help you if you need help. He didn't order anything," Ayame said, maintaining the smug grin.
"You," Aria stopped herself from greeting Ayame's past ten generations.
Of course, she knew what Drake meant, but she merely wanted to guilt-trip Ayame into helping her, unfortunately, such low-level tricks did not affect her.
"But twice the amount of Eldritch Points is too much. How about it, we will pay you twenty percent extra instead?" Aria proposed.
"No can do, no bargaining is allowed. That's my only offer. Take it or leave it, your choice," Ayame retorted, shutting down Aria's attempt at bargaining.
Ayame was having fun watching Aria's face red from anger. Yumi merely shook her head watching her sister's antics and then ignored both of them.
The fight was because Maria requested the twins some Eldritch Points as starting capital.
Moreover, they also asked for their help to free fox women from other tribes.
The twins agreed but Ayame took that opportunity to earn some extra money. So she told them that they needed to pay back twice the amount of Eldritch Points they lent them or the Eldritch Points they might spend to buy anything to free other fox women.
She knew that like her and her sister, the mother-daughter pair were die-hard loyal to Drake, so Maria would try her best to set up the territory to not let Drake down. So, she will agree to the offer.
Ayame wanted to ask for three times but didn't push as that would hinder Drake's plans so she stopped at two times. As that would be the limit of the Wildfang tribe, any more and they might do everything on their own. Even Yumi who was silently sitting on the sidelines would interfere and stop her sister.
"We agree," Maria agreed to Ayame's demands.
"But mother-" Aria was interrupted by her mother.
"Aria, we need their help to establish a territory worthy of the name of the lord's first territory. Their price may be a bit high but still manageable for us as we have many members that will only increase in the future," Maria explained patiently to her daughter.
"I understand, mother," Aria relented, accepting the decision.
"An astute choice, Maria. It's clear why the young master chose you as the territory leader," Ayame remarked, her laughter ringing with haughtiness.
Aria glared at Ayame but remained silent. Maria, as the tribe leader and Drake's appointed representative for the territory, had made her decision.
But that didn't mean she was happy. When she saw Ayame's smug grin she wanted to punch and shatter her teeth but held back, they were now a team and had to work together.
She missed the old Ayame. Even if she had a cold face and barely talked to her, she never behaved like the way she was behaving in front of her. Even if in front of Drake she never behaved that way. It was as if she was showing her true face for the first time in front of her.
Aria's assessment rang true. Ayame's true nature revolved around her love for wealth, second only to her affection for Drake and her sister. She prioritized profit, even if it meant resorting to thievery, even from the chosen ones, for a handful of copper.
The only reason for her taciturn behavior in front of Drake was because it was not long since she met Drake. And during their first meeting, she disrespected him. Because of that guilt, she talked as little as possible and did her best to not give Drake any reason to be disappointed in her.
Her lively side was only known to her sister, who was her opposite. She was a silent, caring, big sister type, who would who would unleash a tempest if anyone dared threaten Drake or her family.
That's why Aria thought that the twins were too cold and indifferent. Instead, it was because one was merely the silent type and the other was too guilty to properly express herself.
Drake, using his abilities, was keenly aware of Ayame's true nature and the reasons behind her behavior, yet he chose not to address it. He believed that time would allow Ayame to reconcile her guilt on her own.
Ayame understood that Drake harbored no blame for her past actions, and her guilt stemmed solely from her unwavering loyalty, feeling as though she had betrayed her lord. But with Yumi's help, she was slowly getting over her guilt and before long would be able to show her true self to Drake.
But just because she had trouble showing her true self in front of Drake didn't mean she couldn't do it in front of others.
Previously for the twins, Aria was merely someone whom Drake had taken a liking to, but that was it. The twins didn't bother talking much with some random stranger even if she got their lord's favor for a while.
When she was accepted by Drake and became his follower together with her tribe, the twins knew that she was finally one of them. Hence, Ayame showed her true face in front of her. So that was her slightly twisted way of showing Aria that she recognized her as her own.
"If you are done, can we start?" Yumi asked with a bored voice, seeing that they finally reached an agreement.
"Yes, we can. We will follow the plan," Maria nodded and answered.
The twins disappeared from their position and went to complete their part of the plan.
Maria made three groups of three fox women each and sent them towards the three other tribes of fox women like them.
Maria and Darla stayed back to prepare for their eventual departure and the subsequent establishment of the territory.
Drake gave Maria free rein in any matter regarding the territory. So it was up to Maria to take care of all the details that came with the new responsibilities. Since she was short on time she took Darla's help whom she considered her equal.
Drake did so because he was confident in her abilities. Not because he was lazy and thought that establishing a territory was a hassle. No, he didn't think like that. Absolutely not. Not in a million years.
—------------
Aria, together with Emma and Sara, reached another fox-human tribe. It was under the control of the boar human tribe.
Among the various tribes and families in the Beast Kingdom, only four had fox women slaves. Only because they lived on the outskirts of the kingdom and the fox women were prohibited from entering the kingdom.
The four tribes were the bull human, pig human, hyena human, and boar human tribes. Among them the boar human tribe was the strongest as they had a Rank 2 Extraordinary in their tribe, the rest only had Rank 1.
"Hey Aria, how are you? It's been a while since I have seen you. You have grown into a beautiful young woman," an older-looking fox woman, around Maria's age, greeted Aria as she stepped into the tribe.
"Thanks, Rachel, I am good. How are you? You also look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you," Aria greeted back with a playful smile.
Rachel Wildfang was the tribe leader of the Wildfang tribe who were the slaves of the boar human tribe.
"I am good too, dear Aria. Looks like you have developed a glib tongue since the last time I saw you," Rachel replied with a smile.
Even if Rachel was smiling, internally she was frowning. She thought that Aria looked too different. She looked too cheerful, not that it was bad. And she was cheerful too when she was a kid. But as the fox women were cursed, they would lose their cheerfulness and innocence growing up. So even if they might look happy, it was mostly a facade to cover the pain, just like Rachel was doing.
She knew something happened to Aria that made her change for some reason and the changes were good. Something happened so that she no longer needed to put up a mask. Moreover, even her friends who came with her looked natural without any mask.
She pushed such thoughts to the back of her mind and decided to ask her later subtly.
The more fox women age, the higher their wisdom. Discreetly getting information from Aria was no big deal for her.
She invited her guests inside the tribe and took them to her hut.
Aria and her friends watched the state of the tribe. The various fox women in the tribe all looked indifferent minding their own business. Most of them ignored her group and only a few barely nodded in their direction and then went back to whatever they were doing.
Rachel did some small talk with her guests over some refreshing fruits.
After some time, Rachel suddenly asked with a smile, "So, is there a special reason you visited here or you were just missing your old aunt?" She chuckled as she asked that.
Aria looked her companions in the eye who nodded back. She turned to Rachel and said, "I am here to make a proposition.'
Hearing that, Rachel chuckled and asked amusedly, "Dear, is it a proposal or an ultimatum?"
Aria and her companions were startled when they heard that.
Rachel looked at their reactions with an amused smile.
'So green,' She chuckled inside.
She was reading their facial expressions and body language since they set foot in her tribe. It was easy for her to see that there was no proposal but an ultimatum.
Aria shifted nervously. Rachel made her feel as if she was talking to her mother, who could read her like a book.
But she had a mission to complete so she steeled herself and said, "I want you to take your entire tribe along with all your belongings and come with us."
"I agree."
"There is a reason we are asking y-," Aria stopped abruptly in between. "Wait, what?"
Rachel just looked at her as if looking at a little child. She shook her head with a chuckle and said, "I said, I agree."
Aria had come up with many reasons to convince Rachel to agree with her. As it was different from her tribe. She couldn't just kill the dissidents as Rachel's tribe had no idea what happened in their tribe, so they didn't know who Drake was and what it meant to follow him. Moreover, since they were looking for loyal residents for their territory, starting a killing spree would only have a negative effect.
"Good… then, please prepare for the departure," Aria said hesitatingly as she didn't know how to respond to her.
Rachel nodded and left her hu to inform her fellow tribe members of their upcoming relocation.
She didn't know why they were leaving or where they would be going. But after watching her guests, her instincts told her that that was the only way to break their vicious circle, and she was willing to take the risk.