Chapter 53: 53: Pending discussions

The old leader of the tribe did not wait around and ushered the company back to the village in a hurry. There, they were given one of the best-looking houses without delay but Sakura's uneasiness grew in leaps and bounds."You all are most welcome here. Lady Suzuki, please take a seat. Lady Amane, you as well. The rest of you are free to grab a seat as well."

Even though the leader said that there were only 2-3 seats that even looked safe enough to sit in. Aqua had already taken a seat on the ground followed by Eclipse. Sakura did not want to follow their lead but there seemed to be no other way around.

Sakura's face showed her hesitation and discomfort and the one who happened to catch it was none other than Charlie Suzuki.

"Sakura, are you alright? Ah, there is no chair left for you to sit in, huh? Well, you can have mine." seaʀᴄh thё nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as soon as she heard Charlie's concerned voice. That girl was only generous when it suited her. So why was such a selfish person willing to give up her seat?

"Lady Amane, I sacrificed my seat for your cousin. Won't you allow me to sit on your lap as compensation? I promise to be nice and not move around much."

'T-This little bitch. So this was what she was aiming for all along?'

Sakura knew she should stop being this surprised at Charlie Suzuki's sliness. That woman was not a good omen for anyone.

Even this time, she had utilized an unlikely situation to her advantage.

"There is no need to give up your seat for me Lady Suzuki. You are the eldest among us all and we should respect that hierarchy, You should sit on your seat while I can share with my cousin."

'Well, two can play this game. If you think I will give up Amane's lap this easily then you have another thing coming your way Charlie. Give it up, you old hag.'

Sakura decided to finally be stubborn for once and put her feet down. She was not going to let Charlie have won and even Charlie had realized this.

"There is no need to follow such a strict sense of hierarchy. I want to get close to you all youngsters so help me out a little."

'And stop interfering with my relationships with your cousin.'

Lady Suzuki might have not voiced the second part but it was evident in the way she spoke. Sakura had to bite her lip in order not to speak anything offensive right now. She needed to show restraint.

'I cannot give in to my temper. This is what Amane wants and she will take advantage of my mistakes.'

"I don't mind being close to you Lady Suzuki. But I am afraid that you might feel a little alienated among all of us youngsters. Old people are often, how do you say it, inflexible in their views."

"Hoh? Then it's a good thing that I am quite an open-minded individual after all. I can just slide into your group without worries."

Both Sakura and Sazuki were out to outdo each other. Their interactions were getting heated as well.

"Ugh. I don't know if they were fighting or flirting right now. And I am too afraid to ask at this point."

Aqua sounded rather nervous as she watched the fight occur in front of her. At least she seemed to be enjoying herself right now.

"Alright, enough fighting. I heard both of your concerns and I have finally decided- both of you can sit with each other while I'll occupy my seat with Moony. And if you have any complaints, address them to moony."

The baby dragon in Amane's arms let out a smoky breath with a toothy smile. It seemed happy to have prey to intimidate.

Both Sakura and Charlie calmed down as soon as they were faced with the threat of becoming dragon good. They did not want to get injured for unnecessary reasons.

"No, that's alright. We can share."

"Yeah, we can share. It would be an honor to do so."

The tribe people who had been watching from the side-line looked surprised. They had never seen Lady Suzuki act this submissive before.

The old leader looked especially bewildered at the sudden turn of events. Her surprised eyes looked at Amane as if she was a goddess who had reincarnated and come down to this earth. Her admiration was leaking out of her eyes.

"Madam, maybe we should interfere and bring out more chairs? There are more people here than we first expected after all."

The old leader suddenly escaped her daze and realized that it was rather rude of her not to have a proper seating arrangement prepared beforehand.

But in her defense, they had never needed more than 2 chairs when Lady Suzuki was here before. Her visits were short and to the point as well.

This was everyone's first time seeing Lady Suzuki act like this.

"You are right. We are being rather rude," the old leader realized this and snapped her cane on the floor. Then, in a much stronger voice, she continued, "Hurry up and bring out more chairs for our guests."

Footsteps headed out and then the doors parted. People rushed in with chairs, sofas, and pillows for their guests to sit upon.

"I am sorry for our lack of foresight. Let us rectify our past mistakes by providing you with the proper accommodation you deserve."

The old leader spoke up and the room suddenly transformed from an almost space to a formal seating.

Both Suzuki and Sakura had a released expression as they watched it happen. This new arrangement would no longer force them to sit together.

"Thank god their bickering stopped. I was starting to get a headache because of them."

Aqua's voice was comparatively quiet but echoed quite loudly in the quiet environment. Luckily for her, no one paid attention to her words.

"If your children are finished playing, then hurry up and sit down. We need to discuss what our next course of action should be. We can't undermine our current situation.

Amane's quiet voice filled the room and everyone looked at her in silence.

The tribe members who watched their famous 'Lady Suzuki fall into place were terrified and intrigued by the presence of this new force.

'Did they call her Amane, right? I don't think I've heard that name before. But she has our lady by the leash. Not to mention, the dragon in her lap.'

The said dragon gave the elder a terrifying glare and she instantly fell in line. She did not want to make an enemy of that moon dragon.

"My lady, we shall start our discussion now. You people, don't just stand around like this. Bring tea and snacks for our guests as soon as possible."

The elder quickly ordered, looking behind and waving her hand. Her tribe members quickly got to work, realizing what their elders wanted from them.

Amane watched them all work. She had no intention of stopping these people from serving her and her companions. She was hungry after such a long day as well.

"So, let me start by narrating what happened, and then we can go one by one to explain what we found."

Amane started and she listened to others' stories. It seemed like she was not the only one to have a run-in with the poachers.

"Poachers have always been abundant on this island but this is too much even for the norms. It's almost as if they are getting more and more desperate every year."

The village leader sounded frustrated but her eyes could not help but look at Lady Suzuki and her wandering fingers.

Lady Suzuki reached out for Amane and then retreated just as she was about to touch her. It was frustrating to watch and it distracted the village leader.

"I see. Maybe they are getting desperate because the dragon egg was about to hatch. Someone must have informed them about this possibility since the sun dragon had not been seen for so many years."

Amane theorized, her hand reaching out and twisting Charlie's fingers rather painfully.

The old village leader had to try very hard to ignore the soft and muffled moans Lady Suzuki was making as she got abused. This was not a safe and sane image for her mind.

"It is possible. But it would also mean that the informer was one of us."

"Either that or they could be from 'The Hive'. God knows they have all kinds of random information available to them. I won't put it past them to know of this 'dragon' business as well."

Aqual interfered, mostly to distract herself from what was going on with Charlie Suzuki.

Her words caused everyone to tense and get thinking about this. But in the end, there was no evidence to support her theory.

"Anyway, I will be taking Mooney with me so that should solve one problem for us."