Ch. 9 - The Stolen Starberries

Unlike the beast-eared girls in some literary works, Beastfolk were not products born from the mingling of humans and beasts.

Beastification itself was actually a curse.

The curse would intensify one's bestial nature, causing a person to lose their reason. In severe cases, they would even gradually devolve into wild animals.

Most importantly, it was contagious.

Even for their own safety, few ordinary people were willing to approach or accept Beastfolk.

These unfortunate souls afflicted by the curse either embraced their bestial nature and eventually died hunting or being hunted, or, to avoid harming others, they would live as hermits deep in the mountains and forests.

This was quite troublesome.

After all, from the scattered words he'd heard, Tang Qi could roughly guess that Anbi was probably embroiled in a theft case.

He couldn’t yet determine whether she was being wrongly accused.

But with the preexisting impression of "beastification," it was hard to guarantee that someone wouldn't seize the opportunity to make things worse.

Considering that Catherine had mentioned notifying her immediately if anything happened, she had likely encountered similar situations before.

Tang Qi decided to retrace his steps and call Catherine over first...

But just as he was about to turn around, Jackal's roar reached his ears again:

"Won't admit it? Then we'll first chop off those filthy claws of yours and teach you a lesson!"

Tang Qi turned back in shock and saw that Jackal had already raised his longsword high above his head.

"I didn't steal anything! Why won't you believe me!?"

Tang Qi wasn't far away—he could clearly see that the girl was trembling all over in fear.

Her fair hands, restrained by the cangue, suddenly revealed bulging veins that instantly spread across her snow-white fur.

Her slender five fingers then elongated, sprouting sharp claws, clearly transforming into a beast's talons.

Seeing this, a young man among the onlookers made no attempt to hide his disgust, pointing at those beastified claws and cursing:

"Monster! It's you! You're the one who ruined our family's starberries!"

Meanwhile, the executioner Jackal glanced somewhat hesitantly toward Black Snake in the distance—

The village official naturally stood beside him as well, but in Starberry Town, he had far less authority than these mercenaries.

Seeing that the boss had no intention of stopping him, Jackal gave a vicious smile and struck at the girl's hands without hesitation.

This didn't really require him to do it personally.

But Jackal would never pass up any opportunity to make people fear him.

An execution was the perfect excuse.

"No, no!" Anbi squeezed her eyes shut.

But the girl's pleas couldn't earn any mercy.

The blade gleamed brightly, reflecting a silvery white cold light—

"Catherine!"

A single shout instantly stunned everyone present, causing the executioner's sword edge to stop in mid-air, merely inches above the girl's hands.

Everyone looked toward the source of the voice. After a brief moment of hesitation, they all began speculating about the identity of this unfamiliar face.

Tang Qi had shaved his beard—even Jackal didn't recognize him.

But that didn't matter. Seeing that the girl's hands were unharmed, he immediately let out a long sigh of relief—

From the way this group of mercenaries had treated Catherine last night, he could tell that the only thing that could make them waver was this most dazzling Dawnbloom.

Although going against this group of mercenaries wasn't exactly wise, she was his only fan.

He still wanted to taste that cup of starberry wine she'd promised last night.

He didn't want to have just written down "new friend" in his journal yesterday, only to wake up and stand by watching her die...

And Jackal did indeed hesitate because of "Catherine," but looking around and not seeing that crimson figure, he suddenly realized he'd been tricked.

So he glared viciously at Tang Qi, then pointed his longsword at him as well:

"Are you her accomplice?"

"How could that be, sir? I have no connection whatsoever with this child."

Tang Qi responded as politely as possible while constantly calculating in his mind what else he could do.

Jackal snorted coldly:

"Then don't interrupt this trial!"

"In fact, respected executioner sir, I still don't know what crime this child committed that requires her hands as the price of atonement."

"She stole Lord Merle's starberries! When the caravan from Longgold City arrives for tomorrow's Harvest Festival, no one can bear the consequences of an insufficient quota!"

"Insufficient quota? May I ask how much she stole?"

"At least one ton!"

"How much?"

Tang Qi blinked and carefully sized up Anbi's thin, slight frame, then thought about the weight of one ton of starberries—

A standard-sized wooden barrel could hold about 50 kilograms of berries.

One ton of berries would require 20 barrels to carry.

"If I may be so bold, what you're saying is—a little girl about 1.4 meters tall, without anyone noticing, stole away twenty crates of starberries in a single night and hid them in a place unknown to all, is that correct?"

Jackal's face flushed red.

Never mind a little girl—even for him, a professional mercenary, such a task would be extremely difficult.

He said through gritted teeth:

"She's a beast—it's perfectly normal for her to have more strength. Besides, all the evidence points to her. No matter how impossible it seems, it's the truth!"

"What evidence?"

"She ruined my family's starberries!"

The young man from earlier shouted, unable to stop himself from stamping his foot, ignoring the mud splashing on his new boots.

Jackal immediately chimed in:

"That's right! This morning, Father Lynn saw her hanging around the David family's place. Not long after, they discovered that the starberries planted in their yard had rotted on the ground!"

"I was just passing by!"

Anbi defended herself.

"I swear by Gragas!"

As if harboring long-accumulated resentment, the young man loudly retorted: "Come on, who would believe a monster's oath?"

Jackal immediately followed up:

"And last night, when a fruit farmer from the estate got up in the middle of the night, he spotted a childlike figure wandering around the orchard. This morning, when we took the culprit there for a confrontation, we found that the footprints left in the orchard matched her shoes exactly—these are all ironclad pieces of evidence!"

"What evidence? You're clearly drawing the target after shooting the arrow—"

Anbi cried out in her defense.

"You decided from the start that I did it, so no matter what clues there are, you'll pin them on me—even when the cobbler lost his boots, you had to slander me as the thief! It's not like I chose to grow a tail... Why are you all targeting me like this!?"

Jackal didn't want to waste any more time arguing with the "criminal." He glared fiercely at Tang Qi and shouted:

"In any case, stop wasting my time, or I'll treat you as an accomplice to this thief!"

Saying this, he still glanced uneasily at Black Snake.

The latter had remained detached from the situation from beginning to end.

The dwarf Stonecrusher beside him took a sip from his waterskin of starberry wine and couldn't help but elbow Black Snake's thigh:

"Hey, Catherine treats that kid like a little sister. Is this really okay?"

"Don't make it sound like I'm being aggressive—all the current evidence points to her. We're just enforcing the law fairly."

"But having a little girl carry away a ton of berries is a bit..."

"Listen, Stonecrusher, we all share responsibility for not properly guarding the orchard and running off to drink. So what we need now isn't the truth, but a passable excuse. So that when the caravan arrives tomorrow, we can give our employer an explanation. Understand?"

Stonecrusher snorted: "Ha, do you really care that much about the employer? I think you're just afraid the beastification curse will infect Catherine."

"We're mercenaries. Is there something wrong with caring about our pay?"

Black Snake snatched Stonecrusher's waterskin and took a swig of the fruit wine himself.

"Besides, I'm not the one doing it. What reason would Catherine have to blame me?"

Stonecrusher shrugged, snatched back his waterskin, and said nothing more.

He was long past the age of misplaced compassion.

Black Snake was his leader. Since the boss had made up his mind, he had no reason to stick his nose in.

Looking at the girl locked in the cangue again, he only felt she was like a fish flopping helplessly on a chopping block.

That sharp cleaver might be about to slice off her soft "fins."

But more than the fish about to be slaughtered, what worried Stonecrusher more was whether the Golden Oak would close its doors to them from now on.

"I'd go crazy if that happened..."

Just as he was worrying about this, another commotion arose from the crowd.

The culprit was still that man who had interrupted the trial.

Perhaps it was youthful recklessness.

But in Stonecrusher's memory, this might be the first time since arriving in Starberry Town that anyone besides Black Snake had crossed Jackal twice—

If you counted last night, it seemed to be three times.

After all, Jackal had been laughing and cursing about "selling hooks" one moment, only to be stunned into silence by the entire tavern's singing the next...

He enjoyed seeing this jackal eat humble pie.

And this time, the source was a cheerful song with a bouncing, lively rhythm:

"Please, everyone, don't be too hasty,

The stolen starberries may be a mystery; we must confirm the clues' hidden secrecy, before the evidence gains true legitimacy!"

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