"Does Anbi have to stay behind?"
On the Sky Turtle, the little girl watched Tang Qi put the eye-shaped necklace around his neck and asked rather reluctantly.
"Yes. The place we're going next might be dangerous.
Scarlet blood mist drifts through it from time to time. Anyone caught in it might have all their blood drained.
The fewer people who go, the less likely we are to get caught."
Tang Qi tried linking his vision to the [Hag's Eye]. Only after confirming that he could use the eye to check on Anbi's safety did he patiently stroke her ears.
"Stay on the turtle's back. Those beastfolk know you. They won't give you trouble."
"Then Anbi will be good and wait here for you, big brother."
"No, you still have to learn how to be 'angry' from Shivana."
Tang Qi pressed his fingers a little harder, lest the little girl get distracted playing, slack off, and forget the most important thing.
Then he slung the Lute onto his back and walked outside the hut.
"Your task is simple. As long as you make sure nothing goes wrong with the beastfolk tribe, teach her as much as you can about the power of 'anger.'"
"Got it."
Shivana snorted and turned her head away.
Her rare lack of argument actually left Tang Qi a little unsettled.
"No talking back today?"
"It's wrong if I don't listen, and wrong if I do. What the hell do you want?" Shivana demanded angrily, pounding her head.
"So you've finally accepted that you're a slave?"
"Fuck your—forget it. There's nothing to say."
Rather than acceptance, it was more a matter of getting used to it.
Shivana seemed to have realized that she had no way to resist the Pact.
And under Tang Qi's guidance, the tribe really