Chorong was in an excellent mood and immediately agreed. "Of course! If there is anything you do not understand, I will explain it on the spot!"
The people of the Ur-Shet Tribe immediately felt even more anticipation.
"Let's go," Chorong said enthusiastically, especially toward Hayoon. "The sun has already set. Let's return to the tribe first. You can eat something tonight and rest well. Tomorrow we will fire the kiln together!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Chorong looked at Hayoon with a bright smile. "I hope the pit we dug today will be useful!"
His excitement only made Hayoon feel a bit of pressure.
"I only said it casually at the time. If it does not work, I hope Chief Chorong will not blame me," she said.
Chorong froze for a moment and quickly explained, "That is not what I meant. Do not worry. At worst, we can just fill the soil back in. Besides, the fact that you could come up with an idea is already a huge benefit to the Voz-Karr Tribe. How could I possibly blame you?"
Hearing this, Hayoon finally relaxed.
She did not notice that the people from the Ur-Shet Tribe exchanged glances, all showing complex expressions.
As the group walked back toward the Voz-Karr Tribe, Chorong, who had transformed into a large red fox, tried to talk to Hayoon again, but was quickly diverted by the others from the Ur-Shet Tribe.
Soon, they arrived, and many people from the tribe came out to welcome them.
"Chief, you are back!"
"We already prepared the food and cleaned out a few caves!"
"Beom, long time no see!"
"Haha, your little wolf cub has grown so much? It is so round and healthy."
Everyone chatted and laughed as they went all the way to the entrance of Chorong's cave.
From far away, the rich smell of meat could already be sensed.
Beom rubbed his stomach and laughed. "I am hungry."
Chorong waved them over. "Quick, come try our food."
There were not enough stone stools for everyone, so after washing their hands, they simply sat on the ground around the fire.
The Voz-Karr Tribe's food was hearty, including roasted meat, boiled root vegetables, and freshly washed green vegetables.
Hayoon picked up a piece of roasted meat and looked at it under the firelight. "Huh? Is this sprinkled with thornfruit powder?"
A sub-beastman from the Voz-Karr Tribe replied, "Yes! We actually learned this from your tribe. Before this, we had no idea Spelon Berry powder could make food taste this good."
Chorong took a big bite of meat and praised it. "Exactly! Before, no one even looked at it. Now all the Spelon Berry in this area of the mountain is almost being dug up."
Immo looked at Hayoon and laughed. "So it spread to your tribe too. We only learned it after watching Hayoon eat it."
"Wow!" The people of the Voz-Karr Tribe looked at Hayoon in shock as if realizing she was the one who discovered it.
This made Hayoon feel extremely embarrassed.
Fortunately, it was all friendly teasing and soon they moved on to other topics.
After eating, Chorong had people lead them to the prepared caves.
Along the way, a small misunderstanding occurred.
Although contact between tribes was not frequent, people like Chief Baek, Immo, and Minho were well known as the leadership of the Ur-Shet Tribe.
Only Hayoon was unfamiliar.
When they first arrived at the Voz-Karr Tribe, they had rushed straight to the kiln and Chorong had not properly introduced her.
The beastman in charge of preparing the caves saw Hayoon sitting on Minho's back and mistakenly assumed they were a pair.
He only prepared three caves, thinking: Chief Baek's group, Immo's group, and Minho and Hayoon together.
The problem was that Ha Yoon and Minho were not that kind of relationship at all.
Standing at the entrance of the cave, Hayoon's face turned completely red as she awkwardly said, "W we are not..."
The Voz-Karr Tribe beastman immediately understood and became very embarrassed as well, repeatedly apologizing. "I am sorry, I made a mistake. I will prepare another cave right away. So who should stay in this one of you two?"
Hayoon quickly glanced at Minho. Before she could speak, his deep and magnetic voice rang out. "She will stay here."
The Voz-Karr Tribe beastman said, "Alright. Minho, are you coming with me now?"
Minho replied, "Go ahead first."
"Alright. Follow my scent. If you cannot find your way, just let out a roar."
Soon, only Hayoon and Minho were left at the unfamiliar cave entrance.
Hayoon had not yet fully recovered from the earlier awkward misunderstanding. She lightly scratched her cheek.
Minho looked down at her and asked, "Earlier at the kiln, you looked surprised. What was wrong?"
Hayoon was drawn out of her thoughts, and her discomfort faded a little. "Oh, it was nothing important. I just realized how much firewood it takes to fire the kiln once."
In a place like this where the population was sparse and resources were abundant, the amount of pottery they needed was not large.
Otherwise, no matter how much wood they cut, it would never be enough for firing.
"Mm. When we build our own kiln, we can see if there is a way to improve it," Minho said.
Ha Yoon smiled. "I was thinking the same thing."
"I am leaving now."
"Alright," Hayoon said.
Watching Minho's figure walk away, Hayoon felt a little unaccustomed to it. After all, for a while now they had been sleeping in the same cave, even if on different levels.
After sleeping in an unfamiliar cave, Hayoon did not rest very well and woke up early the next morning.
After eating the breakfast someone delivered, she went to Chorong's cave to listen to the day's arrangements.
"…Last night, I already sent a group of people to gather firewood. During the day, aside from the hunting and gathering teams, everyone else will be cutting wood. By evening, we should have enough to start firing the kiln. Chief Baek, Minho, and the other beastmen can go hunting together, right?"
Immo asked, "What about the sub-beastman?"