Beast Beauty System: The Exiled Fox is Pampered in the Beast World

The guards led Anaria through the wooden residence, and she followed with the knife still firmly in hand. She couldn’t help feeling a little proud. Her ridiculous plan had actually worked, though the guards looked far less pleased, glancing nervously at the knife every few seconds.

”Relax,” Anaria muttered. ”I’m not planning to die anymore.”

One guard swallowed. ”Just keep the knife away from your neck.”

”That’s what I’m doing.”

They eventually reached a large room where two guards stepped aside. The older guard cleared his throat. ”Leader, we brought the female who demanded an audience.”

Anaria stepped inside and immediately recognized the bear beastman from the previous night. He was sitting against a large bedding area, looking much better, while several beastmen attended to him and discussed something nearby.

The moment she entered, the room fell silent.

”That’s her?” a younger beastman whispered.

”The female who treated the warrior?”

”I heard he should have died.”

”They said she stopped the bleeding with strange medicine.”

Anaria looked around at the curious and cautious faces. At least she was famous for something in both lives.

The bear’s gaze settled on her before shifting to the knife in her hand. His brow furrowed. ”What happened?”

The guards immediately began explaining. ”She demanded to see you.”

”We refused.”

”Then she took my knife and threatened to harm herself if we didn’t bring her here.”

Anaria’s mouth fell open. ”Hey! You’re making me sound much worse than I actually am.”

”You did threaten yourself,” one guard pointed out.

”I was desperate.”

The bear stared at her for several seconds before shaking his head. ”What kind of female are you?”

Anaria crossed her arms. ”Apparently, the kind who has to threaten everyone before anyone listens.”

A few beastmen struggled to hide their laughter.

The bear sighed and turned to the guards. ”Leave us.”

”Leader...”

”She won’t hurt me.”

The guards reluctantly left, closing the door behind them.

Anaria lowered the knife slightly as the bear studied her. ”Why were you so determined to see me?”

Her expression turned serious. ”I want to leave here.”

He remained silent.

”I came here hoping to find a place where I could settle down,” Anaria continued. ”Instead, I was accused of causing trouble and locked up. As the village leader, you’re the only person who can decide whether I’m allowed to leave.”

The bear lowered his gaze. ”I understand.”

Anaria frowned. ”Then why did you keep me imprisoned?”

”You helped the wounded warrior yesterday. You also helped me when I was in a condition where I could have harmed you.”

”Exactly.”

”I have no reason to believe you deliberately intended to harm either of us.” His expression remained thoughtful. ”But you’re still a stranger. The villagers don’t know where you came from, and your arrival in Ravenfall happened under unusual circumstances. Many of them are already suspicious of you.”

Anaria sighed. ”So you locked me up because everyone else was suspicious.”

”I needed time to determine what should be done,” he explained calmly. ”If I released you immediately, the villagers might have believed I was ignoring their concerns.”

Anaria crossed her arms. ”I still think locking me up was excessive.”

The bear nodded. ”You have a point.”

She blinked. He actually admitted it?

”I’m not trying to punish you or repay your kindness with cruelty,” he continued. ”I simply need to make certain that releasing you won’t create another problem for the village.”

Anaria studied him. At least he wasn’t an unreasonable idiot.

She sighed. ”Fine. I understand.”

Then she pointed at herself. ”But helping people has somehow become a crime in this place.”

The bear’s lips twitched slightly. ”No. It has not.”

Before Anaria could respond, a familiar fox-like figure appeared beside her.

[Main Objective Activated.]

Anaria’s expression immediately fell ”Oh, come on, what now?”

[Host must assist the Village Leader in solving a major problem affecting Ravenfall.]

Anaria blinked ”I know already, so talk”

The System responded immediately.

[Ravenfall’s food supply is becoming unreliable.]

Anaria looked around the room again. The beastmen who had been talking among themselves moments ago were unusually tense, and even the bear leader seemed more serious than before.

She already knew why they looked so worried.

Anaria tilted her head ”Why do you all look so worried? Did something happen?”

One of the beastmen frowned at her ”That’s none of your concern.”

Anaria blinked before giving him a flat look ”Then why are you all standing around looking like someone just stole your dinner?”

The beastman looked offended.

Another one stepped forward. ”You are an outsider. You don’t need to involve yourself in the affairs of Ravenfall.”

Anaria folded her arms ”Relax. I wasn’t planning on joining your village council.”

The beastman opened his mouth to respond, but the bear leader raised a hand, stopping him.

His eyes remained on Anaria, for several seconds, he studied her quietly before finally speaking ”The problem is our food supply.”

Anaria’s expression changed slightly with a smirk ”Oh.”

The bear continued ”For the past few months, our hunters have been returning with less prey. The animals around Ravenfall have become harder to find, and the food we have stored is slowly running out.”

Anaria frowned ”Months?”

The bear nodded ”We have tried moving our hunting grounds, but it hasn’t helped enough. We have also tried gathering more plants from the forest, but many of them are either poisonous or difficult to identify.”

Anaria became quiet ”So that was the real problem”

She glanced around the room before asking, ”And you haven’t found another way?”

”We have tried everything we know,” one of the beastmen answered.

Anaria sighed ”That’s quite unfortunate.”

The beastman scoffed ”And what exactly can a strange female who just arrived in Ravenfall do about it?”

Anaria slowly turned toward him ”Probably more than you.”

The room fell silent as the beastman stared at her in disbelief.

Anaria shrugged. ”You asked.”

Before he could argue, the familiar fox-like figure appeared in her mind.

[Host has gained the Village Leader’s attention.]

Anaria’s eyes shifted slightly.

[Host does not possess sufficient knowledge to solve the problem independently.]

She mentally sighed ”Then help me.”

[Guidance available.]

Anaria listened calmly as the System explained the weaknesses in Ravenfall’s food-gathering methods, pointing out possibilities the villagers had overlooked. As she pieced the information together, she looked at the bear leader.

”I think I might have a solution.”

Every beastman in the room turned toward her, and the bear’s eyes narrowed with interest. ”What solution?”

Anaria smiled. ”First, you’ll need to show me what you’ve been gathering from the forest.”

The beastmen exchanged uncertain looks.

”If I’m going to help you, I need to see what you’re working with.”

After a moment, the bear nodded. ”Very well.”

Anaria smiled, at least she was finally getting somewhere.

Hopefully, this time she could solve Ravenfall’s food problem, earn the leader’s trust, get released, and find Rylan and Kai without getting arrested again.

She had no idea that while she was planning her return, the two males were already waking to an empty morning. The place they had chosen for their future home was quiet, and Anaria was nowhere in sight.

Kai sat up. ”She still hasn’t returned?”

Rylan, already awake, shook his head. ”No.”

”Maybe she stayed somewhere in the village.”

”She should have come back by now.”

Worry settled in Kai’s chest as he looked toward the settlement. Anaria was unfamiliar with Ravenfall, and neither of them knew what had happened to her.

Kai stood and gathered his things. ”We should look for her again.”

Rylan immediately followed. ”Yes.”

Neither said it aloud, but they were thinking the same thing. Anaria wasn’t simply someone they were waiting for anymore. She was their mate, and they weren’t going to leave her behind.