Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me
Chapter 12: Drowned Rat

Chapter 12: Drowned Rat

"What? No. Leader said to watch her."

"The leader is not here, and this is a storm."

"If she cannot keep up, that is her own problem. Serves her right for being shiftless."

"But—"

"Will you carry her?"

"It will be difficult navigating the weather, I cannot—"

"Exactly! And she will slow us down, too."

Their considering abandoning her was one thing, but them discussing this so brazenly in front of her as if she wasn’t even there was infuriating.

These beast-folk were already looking for an excuse to get rid of her, and this storm was the perfect cover.

’These pieces of shit!’

Survival of the fittest or not, she had literally just helped them with temporary shelter, and this was how they repaid her?!

Before Tera could lash out at them, the beast folk started moving. One by one, they shifted into their beast forms and dashed out into the storm. Their larger bodies, thicker fur, claws that could grip the wet ground, and senses would help them navigate through the rain.

Their beast forms cut through the wind and rain with ease, and she waited for someone to turn back, to offer her a ride, or at least acknowledge she existed.

But not one of them looked back at Tera.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Rage started building in her chest before she noticed she had not seen Ermin in the shack. But she didn’t have the time to think about Ermin or Xavi, wherever they were, she was the one in trouble.

But still, it pissed her so much that those idiots had actually left her behind to die!

[Host is alone]

[Population of immediate area: 1]

[Situation: Not ideal]

[(·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )]

"Not helpful!"

Tera looked down to see the mud and water leeching into the base of the shack. The structure was soon going to collapse on her.

"Fine," she spat. "Fine. I don’t need them. I can do this shit on my own."

[Host’s survival instincts have been noted]

[This system recommends Host not die]

[It would be very inconvenient for this system’s performance review]

[(◞‸◟)]

Without a second thought, Tera dashed outside, and the wind nearly knocked her sideways.

She was already soaked through, and the cold hit her like a wall. Her new hide clothing clung to her body, and the makeshift shoes Xavi had made were already squelching with water.

It was one of the most uncomfortable she had been, but it was either this or die, and she wasn’t going to die a second time around.

’I should have just left them behind in the first place...’

Tera started running in the direction the system had pointed her to.

Running was generous. It was more like a determined stagger through increasingly muddy terrain. Her feet slipped with every other step, branches whipped at her arms, and the rain was so heavy she could barely see ten feet ahead.

[New Stat Unlocked: Agility 1/100!]

[A staple stat for fox-type beasts!]

[Host’s agility is currently equivalent to that of a moderately motivated turtle]

[But it is something!]

’You talk too much!’

Tera did not feel agile. She felt like a drowned rat trying to run through soup.

But she kept moving.

The wind was even worse than the rain. It slapped her from one side and then the other like the storm couldn’t decide which way it wanted her to fall.

Tera’s body was starting to feel numb against the cold, but the only thing that wasn’t numb was the burning frustration in her chest.

She stopped briefly under a tree, but the branches offered almost no protection. The rain punched straight through the leaves, and the trunk was too narrow to block the wind. She stayed just long enough to catch her breath and then pushed on.

The ground began to slope upward, and it was also becoming softer. Her feet sank deeper with each step, and twice she had to yank her leg free from mud that tried to swallow her to the ankle.

’When I get to those caves, I am going to slap some sense into every single one of them.’

The rocky hillside suddenly appeared in view, and the sight of it gave her a burst of energy she didn’t know she had left.

She pushed through the last stretch of forest and stumbled into the clearing at the base of the hills.

Then she stopped.

The slope was steep, wet, and covered in mud. The rain had turned the surface into a slick, glistening wall of dirt and loose rock. Even from where she stood, Tera could see that climbing it would require claws.

Claws she did not have.

’Well, fuck me!’

Rain battered down on her as she lamented the body she was in. Why couldn’t she have just woken up in a functioning body?

Had the old Tera really been so useless?!

Since she had been weak, couldn’t she have at least done a single push-up in her life?! Just one! And would it have killed her to build any muscle at all?!

Tera looked left and right, searching for another way up. There had to be a gentler slope, a path, or a fallen tree she could use.

But as she was looking for another way to climb without slipping, she heard a monstrous sound.

It was different from the thunder and sounded like the earth itself was groaning.

Tera turned toward the sound, and her blood went cold.

A wall of brown water was surging through the forest ahead. It wasn’t massive like a tidal wave, but it was fast and heavy to the extent that it was even carrying some trees while heading directly towards her.

"Why the FUCK am I seeing a freaking deluge?!" Tera shrieked. "Where is all this water even coming from?!"