I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree-Chapter 19 - Arrived Early

In the end, Laina remained in the expedition team.

Indeed, time was of the essence now. To bring back the missing people as quickly as possible, Arati had sent out almost all the young and strong members of the tribe.

If they wasted time going back and forth because of this, it would truly be a disservice to the expectations of everyone in the tribe.

Moreover, as Laina said, in an action like searching for someone, having one more person indeed meant having one more source of strength.

Soon, everyone arrived at a location. There were landmarks left here from before.

“According to the previous search, the missing individuals should be in this vicinity. Next, we will split up to search. We must return here before dark. We all need to rush back to help with the tribe’s relocation.”

Molent said this and began preparing for the group divisions.

He came before Orson and Laina.

“Mr. Edward, could I ask you and Laina to be a group? Please take good care of her.”

“I don’t mind,” Orson heard this and nodded.

“Hey! Uncle Molent, who are you looking down on!” Laina said this, her tone a little dissatisfied.

Unexpectedly, Molent completely ignored her, just glanced at her, and went to other groups to give instructions.

“Alright, let’s go, Miss Laina,” Orson said this, chose a direction, and walked out with Laina.

Laina didn’t hear Orson’s words at first. She was still pouting at Molent, waiting to see when he would come back to coax her. When she turned around, Orson had already walked far away.

“Wait for me, big brother!” Saying this, she took quick steps and ran towards Orson.

...

“Hey, big brother, can you tell me some interesting things you encountered outside?”

In the desert, Orson and Laina walked side by side. The somewhat familiar Laina kept asking Orson questions along the way.

Orson was good-natured. He tried his best to answer her incessant questions.

“Interesting things? What do you want to hear about?”

“Anything is fine. I’ve never been out of the desert. Since I was little, I’ve looked up at the sky and down at the ground. Apart from some terms Grandpa Arati mentioned when he taught us to read and write, I don’t know anything else,” Laina said this.

Her gaze was not on Orson, but sweeping around.

Although she was chatting, she hadn’t forgotten that the purpose of coming out this time was to find people.

“Hmm, well, Laina, you know that people outside are different from you, right? They don’t have tails and ears like you do.”

“Yes, I know,” Laina heard this and nodded. “Grandpa Arati said that we demi-humans are the most meticulously crafted race by the gods, a race favored by the gods. We have the wisdom of the humans outside, and the physique and agility of the beastmen here.”

“But I don’t think so,” Laina said this, her tone a little low.

“Why? I think Chieftain Arati said it very well,” Orson looked at Laina in confusion.

If Arati truly said that, then he was really a person with great wisdom in education.

Telling children beautiful fairy tales, allowing them to always have hope, rather than directly telling them the reality, making them feel despair about the real world.

“If the gods truly favored us, why do we have to stay here all our lives? Why doesn’t Grandpa Arati let us go out, saying we will be harmed by people outside? Why, even the other beastmen in the desert, the ones they bully, are us.”

“...” Orson was silent, listening to Laina’s words.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to answer Laina’s question.

“The reason I’m curious about you, big brother, is also because you came from outside.”

“Some people in the tribe before also wanted to go outside. Some failed. They were caught by Grandpa Arati and confined for a period of time, after which they gave up the idea of going outside. Others went out and never returned.”

“I don’t know if the outside world is too good, or if the outside world is too cruel, but... I think, big brother, you should know the difference between outside and here, right?”

“Here, big brother, can you answer my question?” Saying this, Laina stopped. She looked at Orson.

“...” Orson was startled, then spoke, “The gods favor demi-humans, but at the same time, the gods treat every creature in the world equally.”

“The existence of the desert is to protect you, to prevent you from being harmed by people outside. The outside world, sometimes, is not really as beautiful as it is described and imagined.”

“Is that so~” Laina heard this and nodded. “Just like Grandpa Arati said.”

“Alright, my questions are over. Big brother, let’s continue looking for people.”

Saying this, she put her hands behind her back and continued searching along the way.

Looking at Laina’s back, for some reason, Orson felt a little guilty.

Yes, if it were truly equal, how could their current situation be explained?

As the two continued forward, Laina frowned.

“Big brother, I think I smell something strange.”

“Oh?” Orson looked at Laina in confusion.

“Eh? Big brother, don’t you smell it?” Laina heard this and showed a strange expression.

“Oh, oh, I smell it, I smell it,” Orson suddenly realized and quickly nodded.

Many demi-humans inherited the keen sense of smell of beastmen. They were indeed more sensitive to smells than humans.

Although humans could enhance their senses through strength, they were still inferior to demi-humans in terms of smell.

Orson walked a few steps forward. Coupled with using a magic that enhanced his senses, he could also smell the scent of blood in the air.

He looked in the direction the smell of blood was coming from and walked over.

Laina wanted to follow, but Orson waved his hand.

“Laina, you stay put and keep watch for me. I’ll go check the situation.”

Upon hearing Orson say this, Laina nodded.

Feeling the smell of blood getting closer, Orson saw a deep pit.

He looked down into it.

At this moment, in the deep pit, several demi-human corpses were impaled on the rock wall with bone spikes. Some of the corpses were still bleeding, but at this moment, besides the smell of blood, a stronger smell of decay permeated the air.

Orson frowned.

He had seen more gruesome scenes before, but that didn’t mean he could accept the scene before him.

Looking at the characteristics of the demi-humans, Orson committed them to memory, then turned and walked towards Laina.

“Laina, among the people who went missing from the tribe, was there one with short brown hair, wearing white linen clothes, and with dog ears?”

“Are you talking about Aralel?!” Laina heard this, thought for a moment, then said. “How is Aralel doing now?”

“...” It seemed the people in the deep pit were indeed from the tribe. Orson sighed, then said, “Let’s go find the others first. We’ll come back later.”

“Huh?” Laina was a little confused, but she still listened to Orson and went with Orson to look for the other groups.

An hour later, in front of the deep pit, Molent led everyone from the search and rescue team and stood here, bowing towards the pit.

Although they didn’t hold out much hope that the missing people were still alive, they still felt a wave of sadness upon seeing the corpses.

How did they die? Fell into a trap? Or were they captured, pushed into the pit, and tortured to death?

None of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was that they died on the way to explore a new habitat for the tribe.

That was enough.

“Mr. Edward, thank you for your hard work,” After the mourning ended, Molent returned to Orson and thanked him.

“You’re welcome,” Orson heard this and sighed. “They are also heroes of the tribe.”

“Yes,” Molent nodded. “It’s a pity we can’t bring them to the new home as well this time.”

Their bodies were already in a dilapidated state. Burying the pit and letting them be buried there was the best arrangement for them.

Afterward, everyone set off to return to the tribe.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the demi-human tribe, dozens of strong, fully armed beastmen were standing.

And here at the tribe, only Arati was standing at the entrance negotiating with them.

“Where are the people from your tribe?” The leading beastman chieftain looked at Arati and asked in an unfriendly tone.

“Apologies, esteemed warriors, we have lost a few people from our tribe recently. I sent the young and strong of the tribe out to look for them today.”

“Alright then, hand over all your provisions first.”

“This...” Arati was startled upon hearing this. “Didn’t we agree that the date to hand over the grain was tomorrow? Why today...”

“Is there a difference between taking it today and taking it tomorrow?” The beastman chieftain said this. “Or are you planning to run away today?”

“This... how could that be? If we had decided to run away today, why would we have sent people out to look for others, right?”

“Then stop talking nonsense and hand over the grain!”

Arati looked at the aggressive beastmen, feeling unable to voice his difficulties.

They had agreed on a time with the beastmen. If it weren’t for the missing people who hadn’t returned, their tribe would have fled days ago. But they had delayed until today just so everyone in the tribe could leave together.

He knew that the longer they delayed, the greater the risk, but no one expected the beastmen to actually come early to collect the grain.

“Um, if you’re not in a hurry, could you come back tomorrow? If we hand it over today, we won’t have food for the evening...”

“You still want to eat the grain meant for us?!” The beastman chieftain was immediately displeased upon hearing this. He directly pushed Arati to the ground.

Arati was old. Falling down like that, it would take him some effort to stand up again.

Seeing that the other party was determined to take the grain, Arati could only submit.

There was nothing he could do. Although the tribe’s residents might starve to death later due to lack of food, it was better than being killed by the beastmen now.

Helplessly, Arati lay on the ground, supporting himself with his hands, and slowly sat up against the wall.

“Cough, cough, apologies... I... I’ll have them open the granary and release the grain...”