Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Enya also crumpled into a small place behind Ruhan.

In the place where the people made a circle, only her position was protruding out of nowhere. Some lifted her head and looked at her. But soon, they rolled their eyes without saying much and went into their chatter.

“These baskets were made last year, and some of them are already worn out. Ugh, I’m annoyed.”

The women’s mouths did not rest as much as their hands, which were constantly moving. Enya also started weaving the baskets in front of her. She trimmed the torn seams and filled the holes with new straw.

“Mom, mooomm….”

Then, a boy clung to Ruhan.

Enya hesitated and stopped her hand that was trimming the basket.

She felt her eyes naturally turn to the child attached to Ruhan’s side. He was Ruhan’s first child. The second child, who was nursing the last time she saw it, was nowhere to be seen, perhaps left with the old woman looking after the child.

“Hey, when did you come back? I’m worried because he’s attached to me like this. I don’t remember the child’s father being like this either…”

In trouble, Ruhan grabbed and hugged the crying child. Then, she pulled out her breast that shook behind her top and gave it to the child.

The child immediately put the dark red n*pple in his mouth and began to suck vigorously.

Enya almost stared at the figure in awe.

Ruhan, only a year or two older than her, was already a mother of three, including the child in her womb. They said that she took part in the Day of Repose the very next year after she bled as a woman. She slept with the man whom she met there for many days and saw her first child early.

The fathers of all three children were different.

It was because tribe men lined up to want to see a child from Ruhan, who was not rough, recovered well, and did her job well. They didn’t even spend the night with Ruhan yet they hunted and brought meat for her and the children to eat, and once Ruhan allowed them to bed her, they started making huts to live.

Another woman who had been watching Ruhan breastfeed her child, asked.

“Ruhan. Did you say that the child’s father built the house you are living in now?”

“House? Aahh, no. The house I live in now was built by the father of the second child. Even after having a third child, I still got a house, I regret it a little.”

Building a house was the most common courtship in Aquilea.

Ruhan giggled and added.

“Still, the third child’s father is the best at hunting. My stomach hasn’t come out yet, but he has already brought me a basket of meat. But, the first child ate up everything he brought, so it’s a big deal.”

“Hey, look at how she’s boasting about the fathers of her children while pretending to be cursing?”

At the joke, the surroundings quickly made a loud noise.

Ruhan, who was not harsh and dignified, was welcomed everywhere. Ruhan said she was quite fond of the father of the third child she was pregnant with this time, and she refused all kinds of courtiers as she said she would have her next child with the same men, too.

“I have two sons, so I hope it will be a daughter this time. Son, when you grow up, you’ll chase after women who will give birth to your baby. I must have a daughter so that she will feed me even when I am old and take care of me if I get sick.”

“That sounds right. It is so pitiful for a woman who has only sons. If she had a daughter, she’d be happy even with the thought of seeing her grandchildren later on…”

Although the men of Aquilea fulfilled their duties as fathers, they could neither expect nor claim custody of the child.

The children naturally followed their mother’s household.

“Suya, do you really not want to know who the father is?”

Like Ruhan, there were people who know everything about the father of the child. However, there were many cases where they did not know the father of the child. At that time, the whole village raised the child together.

A prime example was Suya, Rigata’s sister.

“Needless to say, you really don’t know?”

Suya grunted in response.

She was younger than Enya, but the youngest of her two children had already walked around. Suya, who has liked to hang around in various places since she was a girl, welcomed a child when she went out on the first Day of Repose.

“Think about it carefully.”

“I really don’t know. It was the first Day of Repose, so I was already out of my mind. How can I tell the difference between this d*ck and that d*ck!”

“Or, even now, take turns sleeping with the men one by one. So, you’ll know. Ah, it’s this d*ck. Right?”

At Ruhan’s words, the women fell over in laughter.

The room was buzzing as if it was a big issue.

“Even so, Brother Rigata felt very sorry for me. He wanted to know whose seed his nephew was from.”

Still, there was nothing regretful even if Suya did not know about the child’s father. Children who did not know their father could receive greater help from the village.

Suya said that even if she recognized the child’s father, she would not be bothered since she could live freely while choosing between various men. She especially liked older men because they seemed to have good skills when they slept together.

“That Rigata looks like a stone though he has a lot of affection for his family. He has already confirmed the boy, and there are seven women’s houses which he has to feed every month?”

“There must be more than that. Even so, his ability is good, so I think he can handle it. Have you seen a group of women running at him on the Day of Repose?”

“Of course. I was one of those girls. He was definitely big and satisfying. He lifted me up…”

“He lifted you?”

“I was thin back then! It was before I had a baby.”

The sound that seemed like the listener’s jaw seemed to fall out suddenly burst out. Thus, with the exception of a few, including Enya, all Aquilean women freely interacted with men and had children.

The men respected such women… Women capable of bearing children were the object of attention and affection of all men in the tribe.

“It’s the women who are coming this time. Where did they say they’re coming from? That…”

“Perugia. Perugian women.”

The women who had been weaving baskets for a while again found a new topic.

“Oh my God, wed… What was it? Ah, wedding ceremony. Anyway, I didn’t expect to see it with my own two eyes. The women there with only one man for the rest of their lives…”

When the woman was reluctant to speak, Ruhan, who was by her side, slapped her coldly.

“They’re going to suck on one d*ck for the rest of their life.”

Then, each of the women said a word in surprise.

“Oh dear, what is that?”

“No, is that okay?”

“So, there was that condition on it. It is said that women from Perugia do not participate in the Day of Repose.”

“No, aren’t those women afraid? If they live with one person for the rest of their life and that person dies, what will they do? What if men get sick or suddenly disappear? What if the man has an accident?”

The woman pauses for a moment, then she whispers to the girls around her. It was an even more gloomy voice.

“…What if that man has no seeds?”

The other women nodded their heads in quick sarcasm.

“That’s what I mean.”

“They are very courageous women.”

“So, that’s why they’re going to come across to live in another tribe.”

Enya twitched her ears unknowingly at the story about the arrival of Perugian women.

…Wedding ceremony.

She must have heard it somewhere, although she couldn’t remember. Anyway, she was amazed that Perugian women brought in such an unfamiliar culture, so she kept listening to it.

“They say that after having a wedding ceremony with a man, they live in that man’s house for the rest of their lives and only have children with that man.”

“What? Then, who will bring them something to eat and wear? If they’re sure it’s that guy, they won’t get help from the tribe. Then they should be responsible for themselves. Is that possible…?”

“I don’t know. They say so anyway.”

“Anyway, this time, each of these women will have an Aquilean man, and they say that they will marry and become their wives. Those men become the husbands of Perugian women.”

“Does that make sense? What kind of man would do marriage?”

“From what I heard, it has already been decided. For us, it looks like only the good guys on our side will be taken away.”

The women’s chatter was reignited again.

After working like that for half a day, they were getting hungry. A woman carried her food with one of her children attached to her side. The women, who had been drawing a circle, formed into separate circles and started to share food.

It was a simple wheat bread with grilled fish. It didn’t seem to contain anything other than fish and flour, but it tasted odd.

As soon as Enya took a bite of the shared food, which the woman had given her hesitatingly, she put it in her mouth and ate more.

“Ashika, why aren’t you eating?”

“Hmm. I feel like I have gained weight these days.”

“Don’t lie. You’re worried about the upcoming Day of Repose?”

Suya gave a pitch to Ashika’s side and giggled.

Ashika had just become a woman, and she was attending the Day of Repose for the first time this year.

“Or, do you already have the child? When I was first pregnant, I couldn’t even look at food like that. Be honest, it’s not the first time you’ve done it before the Day of Repose, right?”

As Suya and Ashika growled and giggled, Enya put down the wheat bread she was holding. All of a sudden, she lost her appetite as if something had been put on it.

Then, Ruhan spoke.

“Enya, what are you doing without eating?”

“Ah… I ate a lot. Thank you.”

“What are you thanking for?”

Enya was at a loss for words, and her mouth shut.

Such an embarrassing moment had come. There was no one to talk to except Tarhan. At the moment it suddenly came to her, she found nothing to say right away, so it wasn’t the first time she was in trouble.

Ruhan had only asked one word, but in an instant, she could feel the women’s eyes focused on her again. The laughter stopped, and her head went blank as she looked into their eyes.

She seemed to know what they were talking about without saying anything.

…A woman who lived in the deputy chieftain’s hut. Even though he cared for her so much, she was a sick woman who had never had a child.

“Enya, you won’t participate on this Day of Repose, right?”

At that moment, Ruhan’s words broke her thoughts.

“Oh, the Day of Repose. Yes… I don’t think I will.”

Enya answered hastily.

She could feel the women’s eyes still stuck in her mouth. Even though she wanted to put her eyes down, Ruhan kept talking to her.

“No matter how much Tarhan objected to it, would he be that decisive? Enya is also a full-fledged Aquilean woman. Can’t you just do it for one day?”

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