Baby Lynx of the Tiger Family - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Tiger Clan’s Baby Wildcat
Episode 5
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“Sirka brought her back after she nearly got killed by a Hyena.”
“Well, to be precise, Aga was the one threatening the Hyena. Isn’t that strange?”
They moved to the living room, and I gave a brief account of what had happened.
Baiden and Sabrina turned to look at Bariya at the same time.
“Ung-nyang, um-nyang-nyang.”
Bariya had her face buried in her bowl, devouring the meat.
Only moments ago, after being dragged back, she had glared at them as if they were her sworn enemies, but now she seemed to have softened considerably, thanks to the meat.
Had she been starving on her own before this? The moment she saw meat, the child’s eyes went wild.
“Mother, Father.”
Just then, Sirka appeared in a hurry.
He paid no mind to anyone and, at the sight of Bariya wolfing down meat at the table, a dry laugh slipped out on its own.
“I was wondering where you’d gone. So Mother actually caught Aga as she was running away?”
“She was just about to step out the front gate. If I hadn’t grabbed her, she’d have been long gone by now.”
“I never expected her to be this quick to act.”
Sirka pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head slowly.
“Aaang-ah-eu-eak.”
At that, Bariya, her mouth stuffed full of meat, let out an indignant wail.
It seemed she was terribly aggrieved at having been caught just before she could make a successful escape.
“If it bothered you that much, you should have kept a proper watch on her.”
At Sabrina’s rebuke, Sirka merely shrugged.
“Tairin was the one guarding her. But when she came to her senses, she found herself asleep in the corridor outside the bedroom, and Aga had already disappeared.”
“What?”
The three of them looked at Bariya.
Whether she was pretending not to hear or genuinely didn’t care, she gave no reaction at all.
“Tairin isn’t the type to ignore orders and just go to sleep.”
“No, she isn’t.”
Sabrina tapped the armrest, then casually let the words slip out.
“Hwaiteu submitted to that little one.”
Baiden and Sirka were genuinely astonished.
Hwaiteu was the White Tiger that Sabrina had raised since her younger days.
She had trained him so thoroughly that he obeyed no one but Sabrina, and his temper was so fierce that he looked down on even Baiden and Sirka, who were far stronger than him.
And yet that very Hwaiteu had submitted to a tiny baby cat who was still so young?
“He even has the sense to show discomfort toward me without actually baring his teeth.”
Sabrina had been born with a particularly formidable strength even among tiger beastkin.
The very reason she had become the Chieftain’s wife was that formidable power.
“…Those Hyena bastards have been prowling around our Territory. Could that have something to do with the little one?”
The three of them did not miss the slight flinch of Bariya, who had her face buried in her bowl.
“The Hyenas? I dealt with everything that crossed the border yesterday, though.”
When Sirka asked in surprise, Sabrina gave a small shrug.
“They weren’t animals, they were beastkin. I spotted a few last night and took care of them. That’s also why I came back earlier than planned. You won’t be able to recover the bodies.”
Since it was Sabrina who had handled it, of course they wouldn’t be found.
“No matter how I look at it, she’s not just any ordinary cub.”
“Krrung.”
Sensing that the atmosphere had grown ominous, Bariya bristled with heightened wariness.
Sabrina thought she understood why the little wildcat was even more on guard than Hwaiteu.
“Aga. Do you want to go to the Hyena Territory?”
“Kyaak!”
Bariya let out a fierce, piercing shriek.
It was a sound sharp enough to startle anyone.
“So you like the Hyenas?”
“Kyaaak!”
I didn’t know what she was saying, but I could tell it was a vicious string of curses.
Sabrina smiled with satisfaction.
“I see. As it happens, we don’t care for the Hyenas much either. So we have a common enemy.”
A common enemy?
Bariya, whose fur had been standing on end, quietly lowered her guard.
She looked intrigued.
“Tiger Beastkin and Hyena Beastkin have been at each other’s throats for hundreds of years. Now they’re practically sworn enemies, all thanks to those damned Hyenas pulling their filthy tricks.”
Across Sabrina’s beautiful face, a fierce anger flashed.
Bariya flinched, sensing the aggressive pheromones laced with emotion.
“Whatever it is, there must be a reason those bastards are desperate to find you. So, little one, don’t go anywhere. Stay here.”
“….”
“We loathe the Hyenas enough to die for it, and it seems you feel no differently. We’ll protect you from them. Kalif is the safest place for you.”
Bariya understood, too.
After all, Kalif was stronger than Marina, the Hyena Chieftain Family.
“And we’ll use that to tease those Hyenas and really rough them up…”
“Mother, the child is right here.”
What does ‘rough up’ mean?
Faced with Bariya’s innocent gaze, Sabrina changed her words.
“…Let’s just get under their skin. How about it? Doesn’t that make for a decent alliance?”
It was not a bad offer, even by Bariya’s reckoning.
After three years of running, both her mind and body were badly worn down.
To grow strong enough to really strike back at the Hyenas, she needed a safe fence to shelter behind.
Besides, if relations between Kalif and Marina were already strained, she might be able to join hands with them and carry out her goal of revenge.
Still.
‘Even knowing my secret, would the tigers truly protect me?’
What if they learned why the Mariner Family was going to such lengths to hunt her down?
Was there any guarantee they wouldn’t abuse her the way the Hyenas had?
After being treated so cruelly by the Hyenas, I can’t trust tigers either.
So let’s create a means I can actually rely on.
Bariya’s form began to change.
The body that had been pressed against the floor straightened, its limbs lengthened, and fingers and toes appeared.
Thick, honey-blonde hair spilled down over her back.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, revealing clear brown irises that gleamed brightly.
It had been a long time since she’d humanized.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Clearly none of them had expected Bariya to humanize so suddenly, for all three froze solid.
Perched on the table, Bariya seized the atmosphere in an instant.
Watching the three of them gaping at her as if bewitched, Bariya spoke with deliberate clarity.
“Gaeyasseoryul ssuraeyo.”
“….”
“….”
“…?”
Startled by the clumsy slur that tumbled out of her mouth, she clapped both hands over her lips.
Shame came crashing over her as the Tiger Beastkin stared at her strangely.
‘It’s been so long since I’ve spoken human words or taken human form!’
Come to think of it, it had been a full year since she last humanized!
Running was far easier in her cat form, and unlike ordinary Beastkin, Bariya had no time limit on her Animal Form.
Bariya rubbed her cheeks and lips furiously.
“Ge! Gye! Gyeyaseo! Gyeok! Gye! Yak! Seo!”
At least when she broke it into single syllables, the pronunciation came out properly.
“Ssuraeyo! Ssu! Ssuu!”
Ssu what, exactly!
Infuriated that her words would not obey her, Bariya let out a lion’s roar.
“Gye! Yak! Seo! Seo!”
It was a commanding order, full of tremendous force.
“…Got it. You want a contract that guarantees your safety, don’t you?”
Thankfully, Sirka caught on right away.
She didn’t have to struggle to explain with a tongue that refused to cooperate.
“Good, we’d prefer that too. First of all, little one, what’s your name?”
“Bariya Bell.”
The precious name her mother had given her came out clearly, even with her clumsy tongue.
“And your age?”
Bariya spread both hands wide open.
Ten.
The three of them stiffened at the same moment.
Neither her beast form nor her human form looked anywhere near ten, so I’d assumed she was even younger.
“…Let me ask one more thing. Where did you get that dress?”
“Dress?”
At Sirka’s question, Bariya glanced down at herself, puzzled.
The yellowed dress, its sleeve half torn away, was stained all over with marks that would never come out.
Worse, the rips had been patched so many times with different scraps of cloth that it was little better than rags.
“Wore it when I was at Hyena family place, ‘kay.”
Her tongue refused to cooperate, which annoyed her, but she managed to explain anyway.
She had no money for a new one, and since she’d spent most of her time in wildcat form rather than human form, she just kept wearing this one.
Of course she washed it in the stream now and then, and when it got too worn, she’d ask a kind village woman to mend it.
Still, nothing could make something that was already filthy truly clean.
‘Could it be that the reason Sirka said I smelled was because of this dress?’
Impossible, surely, but maybe a chieftain’s heir could sense something like that?
“If it stinks too much, I’ll go change, ‘kay…”
She absolutely did not want to hear that she smelled because of her clothes.
“It’s not because of the smell, but you’ll need to change for your own health. We’ll draw up the contract properly after that.”
Bariya nodded and slid down from the table.
Then she noticed Sirka getting up too and spoke.
“I’m not running away. You don’t have to follow me, ‘kay.”
Now that she’d realized how wonderful it was to live here, she had no intention of leaving unless something went seriously wrong.
“That’s not why I’m coming along.”
Then what is it?
Bariya was puzzled, but she didn’t press for a reason and followed Sirka out of the living room.
“Crazy, lunatic bastards…”
Just before the door shut, Sabrina’s furious curses seemed to reach her, but Sirka smiled and closed the door tight, and they faded out completely.
Bariya tilted her head and scurried after Sirka, who was walking ahead.
* * *
“You lost contact?”
The Hyena Chieftain Family, Marina.
Darius Mariner, the chieftain’s eldest son, could barely hold back his rage at the news his underling had brought.
“We’ve confirmed the beasts were taken down by Sirka Kalif, the heir, but the Beastkin we sent afterward can’t be traced at all.”
“How on earth—!”
“However, uh, it’s reported that Sabrina Kalif passed by an area where our informants had been stationed while she was traveling.”
Sabrina Kalif.
Daughter of the noble White Tiger family, Frost, and wife of Baiden Kalif, the Tiger Clan Chieftain.
And of all the tiger Beastkin, the most foul-tempered, violent, and strong bitch!
“Damn it, those goddamn tiger bastards!”
Darius hurled an ashtray.
The glass ashtray slammed into the wall with a crack and shattered to pieces.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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