Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me
Chapter 39: Eat More, You’re Frail

Chapter 39: Eat More, You’re Frail

Xavi returned with the hunters looking like a group of males who had gone out expecting to conquer the wilderness and had instead been quietly humiliated by it.

Their shoulders were heavy, their pace slower than usual, and not a single one of them was carrying anything impressive. A few bundles of nuts. Some roots that looked like they had been pulled from the ground with resentment. One sad-looking fruit that might have already been past its prime.

No meat.

Tera watched them approach and could read the situation before anyone said a word. They had expected to find more after the night’s conquest and had come back with the forest equivalent of pocket change.

Tera felt a pang of sympathy, but it was quickly replaced by something else entirely when Xavi’s golden eyes swept the clearing and landed on her.

The way he looked at her sent a warm tingle down her spine that had absolutely nothing to do with the morning sun.

She remembered, very suddenly and in vivid detail, exactly what those eyes had looked like in the dark, hovering above her, half-wild with desire while he—

’Oh no. Not now.’

But her body was not listening to her brain. Her body was remembering the weight of him, the heat of him, the way his hands had gripped her hips.

Heat bloomed low in her belly, settling between her legs like an ember that hadn’t fully gone out from last night.

She wouldn’t mind another round. Right now. This morning.

The thought arrived fully formed and entirely shameless.

’I would not mind another beautiful round of exercise this morning...’

[Host’s arousal levels are rising]

[( ˘•ω•˘ )]

[Your legs could not function four hours ago]

[And now Host wants to repeat the activity that caused the malfunction?]

[This system questions Host’s learning capabilities]

’OMG! It was a passing thought!’

Tera forcibly dragged her eyes away from Xavi’s chest to find he was already moving towards her.

Without any warning or social awareness, he leaned down to inspect her face.

Then he poked her cheek.

"Did you finish all the food I left you?"

Tera opened her mouth and closed it, surprised by the question. "Ah—yes?"

"Did you enjoy it?"

Tera nodded.

"You need to eat more," he announced. "There is no meat on your bones. A strong wind can carry you off."

Tera’s mouth opened. "I— what?"

He had just in front of everyone poked her face and told her she was too skinny.

"Excuse me?"

He poked the other cheek, pressing his thumb into the flesh and frowning at the result like a craftsman dissatisfied with his materials. "Here. Nothing. Your body is too small. You should have more."

"More WHAT?"

"More flesh." He gestured vaguely at all of her, as if the answer was so obvious that specifying would be insulting.

Tera opened her mouth to argue, but Xavi’s eyes softened, and it looked like he was actually very worried.

"You need to have strength for when you have a cub, especially since you’re a shiftless female."

The look of genuine concern on his face suggested it was something serious to worry about.

’Oh, wow, so he isn’t just insulting me?’

[Xavi has noticed Host’s frail condition]

[He has been concerned about this for a while now]

Tera wondered if she was actually that thin and then realised she hadn’t properly looked at her body yet, or even checked what her face looked like.

’OMG. Tell me right now, how do I look? Am I ugly?’

[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]

[Beauty is subjective]

’What’s the fuck?!’

[Why is this even Host’s concern now, out of all times???]

["( – ⌓ – )]

Tera returned her attention to Xavi again before anyone could tell she was spacing out. "I am not going to break. I will be fine."

Xavi grunted, casting a sad look at what they had brought and then patted her head.

"You will eat more. I will make sure of it."

’Why is he acting like a mother hen?’

He looked quite satisfied that he had delivered this decree, and Tera suddenly became aware of the silence around them.

The entire clan was staring.

Conversations had died. Chewing had stopped. Even the fires seemed quieter.

Two cubs had stopped mid-play to stare with the unblinking focus of children who had just sensed that the adults were doing something weird.

"The leader is telling her to eat more," someone whispered.

"He told me I ate too much once and was shortening everyone’s rations."

Tera took a large, deliberate step backwards. Her embarrassment was so acute it had become a physical force pushing her away from him.

"Speaking of food!" Tera announced, her voice a full octave higher than normal. "I think I have a solution for this."

Xavi blinked at the sudden topic change, his hand still hovering in the air where her arm had been.

Tera looked at the plateau stretching behind them. Flat, open, sunlit, and... Wait she hadn’t even checked if this place was fertile.

’System! Is this plain fertile?’

[Scanning...]

[You are in luck, dear Host]

[Fertility Rating: Medium]

[Host can plant certain tubers, vegetables, and fruits here that do not require constant watering]

’Hold on, why?’

[(≖⩊≖)]

[Host wants to build farmland on such an elevated surface]

[Has Host planned on how to get water up here aside from infrequent rains?]

’Oh, shit. That’s true.’

Tera soured inside. But even so, she wasn’t going to let this place go to waste.

Two farm lands would not be bad. One here and one deep in the forest near the stream and lake.

But the issue now would be sourcing and searching for plants that would not require too much water.

Tera faced the clan.

"Since meat is not constant, and we can’t just keep taking fruits from trees constantly, we will need to grow our own food."

The blank stares intensified.

"Grow?" one of the beast men repeated, his nose scrunching. "Grow how? One does not grow food."

Tera could not believe what she was hearing. She looked at Xavi, and he was just as confused.

"It literally does. That is where food comes from!"

"No. Food comes from hunting."

Tera felt a vein pulse in her forehead.

"The fruits you eat. Where do you think they come from?"

A pause. "The trees."

"And where do the trees come from?"

A longer pause. "They are just... there."