I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!

He fell silent for a few moments, organizing the information in his head before speaking again. ”Based on the eagle-version Sky Tribe’s behavior, I doubt they took over that settlement peacefully.”

”That’s exactly what I was thinking!” Roxanna quickly agreed. ”They didn’t even feel guilty when they tortured Cyrus, so I don’t think they would suddenly become kind toward another tribe.” She hesitated for a moment before asking, ”Luan... should we go check on them?”

Luan lowered his head slightly to look at her. ”You do remember that Carla and the other females from the Sky Tribe came here to confront you before, right?”

Roxanna nodded honestly. ”I remember.”

She paused briefly before continuing, ”But that only happened because the evil Roxanna tried to steal Harlan from his wife, so it’s understandable why they were angry at me. If another woman tried stealing you away from me, I would also...”

Her voice slowly trailed off. [I don’t think I’m talented enough to confront people the way Carla and her friends did.]

[Maybe I should learn from them someday.]

Luan couldn’t help but chuckle softly. ”You don’t need to worry,” he said casually. ”If another female tries to steal me, I’ll confront her myself.”

Roxanna blinked several times before her cheeks slowly turned pink. ”T-That... actually sounds nice.”

She quickly shook her head a few times because this definitely wasn’t the right time to think about something like that.

”So?” Roxanna asked again while trying to regain her focus. ”What do you think? Should we go check on them?”

Instead of answering immediately, Luan asked, ”Do you want to?”

Roxanna pressed her lips together as she thought carefully.

[But going there is dangerous too...]

[Still... shouldn’t neighbors at least check on each other sometimes?]

Meanwhile, both Luan and Zeir clearly didn’t share the same mindset because after all, beastkins were more used to fighting neighboring tribes than peacefully visiting them.

”I’m worried about them,” Roxanna admitted softly. ”Carla and her friends can be rough sometimes, but I know they’re actually kind people.”

[They even stopped holding a grudge against me after I apologized.]

[In the end, Carla only acted that way because she wanted to protect her husband.]

Luan looked at her quietly for a moment, but before he could say anything, Zeir had already spoken.

”Sooner or later, we’ll have to deal with the Sky Tribe anyway if we want to poison them, so I guess there’s no harm in checking on them first.”

Luan then added to Zeir’s words, ”There you go. You have your answer.”

Roxanna’s eyes immediately lit up. ”So we’re really going?”

Luan nodded once. ”We’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

”Tomorrow?” Jarva repeated loudly. ”You’re seriously planning to walk right into another Sky Tribe settlement just like that?!”

”Of course not,” Zeir replied in a flat voice. ”That would be a stupid decision. We’ll observe them from a distance first.”

He then turned toward Roxanna. ”That’s why Luan and I will go there,” he explained calmly. ”You’ll stay here with the others.”

Roxanna blinked in surprise. ”Ah? Why? I thought we were all going together.”

This time, Luan answered instead of Zeir. ”Because spying on people requires certain skills,” he said. ”And since you’ve never done something like this before, you could end up in danger.”

Roxanna actually still wanted to go with them, but after thinking about it more carefully, she realized that she really wouldn’t be very helpful during a spying mission.

In fact, she might only become a burden instead.

”Alright, then,” Roxanna finally said softly. ”I’ll stay here with the others. But please... be careful.”

Luan gently patted her head several times. ”Of course we will.”

===

Right before sunrise, Luan and Zeir were already fully prepared to leave for the Sky Tribe’s settlement.

Meanwhile, Jarva—who had originally only been tasked with tracking down the the Sky Tribe location—somehow ended up getting dragged into their spying mission as well.

”Why do I have to come with you?!” Jarva complained loudly after Luan tossed an animal-skin bag toward him. ”This job wasn’t part of your conditions!”

Luan didn’t even look guilty. ”You’re already here anyway,” he said casually. ”So why not just come with us too?” He paused for a moment before adding, ”Besides, I’m sure you’ve dealt with those eagles before.”

Cyrus, who was standing not far from them, suddenly spoke up. ”I remember seeing him visit the Sky Tribe’s settlement back then.”

The moment those words came out, Jarva almost choked on his own saliva. ”T-That wasn’t because we were allies!” he immediately defended himself. ”We’re both predators, so of course there were times when we traded things with each other!”

Luan scoffed softly. ”Trade? Don’t lie to me. You probably owe them something instead.” His eyes narrowed slightly. ”I saw an eagle symbol on your brother’s arm.”

That symbol wasn’t just an ordinary mark.

The Sky Tribe used it to brand their slaves, and because the mark was created using magic, it couldn’t simply disappear over time. The only way to remove it was by cutting off the skin itself.

Worse, the mark also worked like a tracking device, so if someone tried removing it, the Sky Tribe would immediately know.

At least, that was what Roxanna had learned from Cyrus.

Before Loba became his master, Cyrus’ previous owner had cut off the piece of skin with the Sky Tribe’s mark, which was why he no longer carried their symbol anymore.

It had saved him from being tracked, but the process itself had been horrifyingly painful.

”Tch, don’t talk about him anymore,” Jarva said. ”That bastard brought so many problems to me and my tribe.”

Ah, no wonder he didn’t seem too sad after learning that his brother had died. His brother had probably caused him a lot of trouble, but since they were still brothers, Jarva couldn’t help continuing to help him.

”But that’s exactly why I should stay far away from this mission!” he argued. ”If those eagle beastkins catch me helping you, I’ll definitely die first!”

Zeir adjusted the axe hanging on his back before replying coldly, ”Then don’t get caught.”