Above the desert hung a clear sweltering sky as the sun beat down on the earth with all of its heat. The horizon shimmered in all directions, and save for short cacti which had sprung up from the shifting sands, the land showed no signs of life.
Beneath the shadow of one of these cacti crawled a scorpion. It had dug its way out from the sand below and had just begun its day.
Unfortunately, its day was cut horribly short as a heavy boot crushed it into the earth. The scorpion squirmed under the deadly burden but soon came to a standstill. A sharp dagger reached down and sliced off its stinger and head. Two bony fingers grabbed its corpse.
“Just remove the head and tail, and it’s ready to eat.”
The voice was high but husky. Undeniably female.
The woman was tall for this era. About 5 foot 10. Her skin tone was a healthy wheaten color, and shone with an unbelievable gloss. On her torso was a breastplate that exposed her flat belly.
Her physique showed all the signs of rigorous exercise and training. And though she did not quite cut the bulky figure many male warriors did, she was clearly quite toned.
The most unbelievable thing was the beautiful wolf ears growing on top of reddish silver hair. As long as one had a bit of knowledge of San Soliel’s races, one would know that this woman was a beastman, or to be precise, a member of the beastmen’s wolfman race,
She was Lysfer Blood Blade, a member of the Blood Blade Clan and the daughter of its previous chief.
She flung the dead scorpion into her mouth and began to chew.
“It tastes really bad… Almost like rotten meat. Still, it’s enough to fill up my stomach.”
The wolf girl revealed an unsightly yet brash smile.
“Your Highness, you should drink some water!”
At this time, a beastman who was two meters tall and wide came over to meet her. His head was ursine, and he carried a soft leather pouch in his hand. It was dried up, and not much water remained in it.
“No, try to leave as much water for the clansmen. As for me…”
Lysfer rejected the soft pouch. She picked up a sharp dagger and cut off a part of the cactus-like plant. Then she used her dagger to dig out the ooze inside the barbed plant. She licked her dry lips and placed the ooze into her mouth.
It packed a very astringent punch, but she had to make do. She waited for the water content inside the ooze to flow down her throat before spitting out the rest of it.
The bearman looked at Lysfer’s dry lips and tightly squeezed the pouch in his hands. A trace of heartache flowed from his eyes.
‘Her Highness grew up to live such a hard life. When we lived in the clan city before, her highness was still able to eat meat with her strength and identity. She could even eat white bread made from refined wheat. There were also water resources everywhere unlike now where water has become a luxury.’
“Do not pity me. As one of the heirs of the previous chief of the Blood Blade Clan and as your chief, the last thing I need is sympathy and pity. That will make me look weak. My greatest wish is to lead you all to survival.”
Saying so, Lysfer looked behind herself. There were probably about a thousand beastmen sitting under the blazing desert, taking small sips of water from their leather pouches or carefully chewing on dried meat.
This was the reason why Lysfer refused to drink water. She wanted to leave the limited amount of water behind for these followers who had followed her out of the city but suffered so much.
These beastmen were all different. There were humanoids with wolf heads, bear heads, tiger heads, leopard heads, and even dog heads. There were also some who only had animal-like ears and tails.
They were an extremely diverse race. No one knew whether males or females had evolved more completely from animals, but they both had human characteristics. Their hands had completely evolved, and they walked on two legs instead of four. In some ways, males were largely different from females.
The males still maintained the appearance of animals above the neck. Humans would definitely be unable to distinguish whether they were ugly or not. On the other hand, females were no different above the neck, making it easy for humans to appreciate their looks. The only difference was that they grew animal ears or tails.
“Your Highness, you are still our leader and one of the heirs of the Blood Blade Clan!”
The bearman heard Lysfer’s words and quickly spoke in a low muffled voice.
“Hahahaha!! Stop trying to comfort me. I have already lost the duel for the clan chief and my inheritance. Now, I only have my own strength and you people. Other than that, I have nothing.”
Lysfer laughed out loud, full of vigor, like a wild older sister. Towards her current dire situation, she did not feel pained but instead felt acceptance at her own insignificance.
“My only responsibility right now is to protect you and find you a new place to live… before you all lose your lives.”
Lysfer looked at the people behind her. Other than the warriors who had retained their strength, the other civilians already looked weak, as if they could collapse at any moment.
Seeing this, the wolf girl who was completely unconcerned with herself, felt grief.
She was now just a stray dog. How could so many clansmen choose to follow her nonetheless…