The matron grabbed Red's wrist, pulling him over. Red almost threw the old Matron, but his quick reaction stopped him when it was the Matron who pulled him.
"You killed four marget and exchanged two of them with loot?"
Red was about to nod, but he changed his mind, trying to make everything as real as possible, and hid the fact that he killed more than ten marget.
He shook his head and pointed at the bloody leather, "I killed five. I ate one because I haven't eaten since yesterday, and yes, I exchanged the sickly-looking marget and the bad condition marget with loot because of my curiosity."
The Matron stared at him with her unwavering gaze. He looked calm outside, but he was nervous inside. He was thinking about what he should do if the Matron decided to punish him or something.
Why did he think so? Because the look on Matron's face was the look of someone who wanted to punish him. At least that was what it looked like from his perspective.
The Matron's gaze moved toward the broken spear in his hand. The blade was covered in dried blood. She nodded and released her grip on Red.
"I will not punish you for eating your prey without the tribe's approval since this is your first time, but do it again and you will find out how you will be punished for stealing the tribe's food."
Red was relieved inside, but still didn't show it outside. He nodded in response, "I understand, Matron."
"Good if you understand. Our effort to keep you alive seems to pay off. You managed to hunt five marget in your first day, a commendable result for your first time."
The Matron waved her hand at Red, "Go get your dinner from the kitchen. Whoever brings back food will get to eat from now on! Or you can eat the leftovers if there's any."
She threw the bloody leather at him after taking the copper coin and the Magic Core, "Bring that with you. That will be the proof that you bring back food for the tribe, and it's the main kitchen, not the old kitchen."
Red was surprised for a moment, not knowing how to react. He didn't expect that someone from the tribe would tell him to get food from the kitchen.
It was never that way until now. He always went to the kitchen on his own and was always the last in line. He would only get to eat if there was a leftover.
Red headed to the kitchen, the main kitchen. He passed the smaller kitchen, where it was used to feed the kids. He saw a big group of kids gathering in front of that kitchen, but the kitchen was empty and dark.
They looked troubled while they kept looking toward the main kitchen. He quickly figured out that these kids didn't bring back prey. That was why they were outside the dark kitchen.
As the Matron said, they could only eat when they brought back food. That was their new reality, not just him but the other kids as well.
As he noticed them, they also saw him. They were surprised when they saw him heading toward the main kitchen. Not willing to attract attention to him, even from the kids of his generation, he looked away.
Red had the urge to taunt them, but not yet. He could not be hasty with that kind of thing. He might make a good impression on one of the Matrons and the warrior on guard duty, but his status had not changed.
He entered the main kitchen, where it was filled with the warriors. To his surprise, he didn't like the atmosphere inside. It was too loud to his liking, totally different than what he imagined.
Maybe he had gotten used to the quietness, or maybe he was used to being alone. Whatever the reason, he didn't want to stay here longer.
His excitement and anticipation popped out like a bubble. But his attention immediately shifted to the counter at the end of the kitchen. He walked there, ignoring the noise and the gazes.
His size and skin color certainly attracted attention, but he ignored them. He placed the bloody leather. "The Matron said I can get my meal here!"
The old goblin behind the counter yawned, looking up at him. His eyes widened, surprised to see him, but then the old goblin looked at the bloody leather and gestured to the female human with tanned skin with his hand to bring the food.
Red looked at the female human, who immediately grabbed a wooden bowl and scooped out the food into it. He stared at the female human, not realizing he was staring at her intensely.
She was quivering, her eyes filled with fear, and there were bruises over her face. The bruises were not limited to her face; her arms and legs were also filled with bruises. She quivered as she brought the bowl to the counter,
Not that Red had an ulterior motive for the female human. He made that kind of expression because a thought suddenly came into his mind, an idea.
The moment the female human reached the counter and was about to place the bowl, Red made his move first. He took the bowl from her hand, which startled her. That was never his intention to startle her. He just wanted to quickly have his food and leave.
He didn't hesitate to chug the piping hot, salty gruel. He didn't eat his food; he drank it. There were three pieces of meat in the bowl. He chewed them quickly and swallowed everything.
Red slammed the wooden bowl on the counter and asked for a second, "Can I have more?"
He still asked for a second even though he could imagine what would happen. Of course, they would deny his request, but it was worth giving it a try.
The female human glanced at the old goblin. She clearly didn't have the power to make the decision.
"How many do you bring back?" The old goblin didn't deny the request and asked him.
Red didn't understand the question, what the old goblin meant, but he quickly caught on, "I brought back 2 marget, 4 Magic Cores, and 2 coins."
The old goblin was surprised, but then the surprise turned into suspicion and doubt.
"You better not lie to me because I can easily confirm your life with the Matron. And if you lie to get more food, you will be punished. It will not end with just a lash, you will be locked up and starved for a week!"
Red didn't need to lie, "You can confirm it right now while I am having my second if you don't believe. I think the Matron is still in front of the storage building!"
"I will trust you," The old goblin gestured to the female human to get Red the second serving. "You can have up to five servings with your harvest. That's the maximum serving."
"Then I will have five servings!" Red didn't hesitate to ask five.
He liked this gruel more than the raw meat of marget. It was because of the taste. The salty gruel was his favorite since he first tasted it. There was a taste to it, and it didn't have the pungent smell that raw meat had.
Red truly drank his meal and had a big jug of water after. He finished it quickly and left the main kitchen. There was a mission he needed to achieve tonight.
The others just stared at him, but no one said anything. No mockery, no pointing fingers, just silently staring at him.
He let out a sigh of relief when he was out of the kitchen. As he was about to head back to his isolated area, the kids who sat in front of the old kitchen immediately surrounded him.
Red quickly pulled his broken spear from his back, ready to fight at any moment, and he would not hesitate to go for the kill because they all had weapons.
"Quit it, you brat!" A warrior yelled from the window, "Rather than ganging up on your people, you should bring food back instead! If you can't do it alone, you work together, fool!"
That yell startled the kids, and they immediately ran away, afraid that they would be punished.
Red glanced at the kitchen, but the warrior was no longer at the window. He shrugged and left.
After today's hunt, it boosted his confidence. If a fight broke out, he already had his own plan on how to kill them one by one. He was not going to face them all at once, and he just needed to kill the first two kids to turn the situation around. The moment they saw that he killed their friends, they would cower and run.
Red was glad that didn't happen. He was afraid of the punishment for killing those kids, even though he was not in the wrong.
He headed back in the direction of his house, but he didn't go to his house; he went further. It was a few minutes from his house, where a creek was. He didn't hesitate to pull his loincloth off and jump into the creek.
Red let out a satisfied groan as he fully submerged his body in the water. He rubbed off the dirt and dried blood on his face and body. Then he washed his face and hair. He purposely stayed longer there even after he finished cleaning his body.
He stayed in the area for two hours before making his way back to the tribe. He passed his hut, returning to the tribe area, but he went to the darker area of the tribe, the back of the tribe.
His destination was the cave where his tribe kept the female human, whom the Chief and his warrior brought back. If he could not learn about the Awakening from his people, then he would ask the human. They might know something he didn't know.
That was what crossed his mind when he met with the female human in the kitchen back then. It was just this place that was quite crowded at night despite having minimal light.
A lot of warriors and the adults visited the cave where they kept the female human. He needed to be careful not to be spotted.