She glanced gratefully toward Minho.
"And this time, after I was seriously injured and the cave we lived in collapsed, Minho was the one who took us in."
"So now, I also want to contribute something back to the tribe."
The Ur-Shet Tribe was not wealthy.
During the previous generation, there had even been years of food shortages where people starved to death.
Yet no matter how difficult things became, the tribe still squeezed out food to share with her and Haeun.
Hayoon had always remembered that kindness in her heart.
Besides that, she also understood the saying: a person without fault may still invite disaster by possessing something too valuable.
Even if the people within the tribe were kind and honest enough to sit down and trade fairly with her, what about other tribes?
What if she encountered unreasonable people who decided to attack her and Haeun instead?
She did not want greed to create mortal enemies for herself.
So by giving the tribe a favorable deal, she was not only repaying the kindness they had shown her in the past, but also protecting herself and her younger brother.
Besides, she had confidence in the knowledge inside her head.
Even after trading away the method for making and using a backstrap loom, she still knew about spinning wheels, weaving machines, and more...
And honestly, as an agriculture student, she had never planned to rely on weaving to survive in this world anyway.
Seeing how calm Minho had remained from the beginning, he had probably already guessed her intentions.
Baek and the others, however, clearly had not.
After hearing her explanation, all of them revealed shocked expressions.
After a long moment, Baek slowly stood up and walked over to Hayoon, he gently patting her shoulder with relief and pride.
"You young people and cubs are precious members of the tribe. Of course the tribe would never abandon you! You child... you've truly grown up. Your father and mother would definitely feel proud of you as they watch from the Beast God's embrace."
"I understand your wish to repay the tribe. The land and red clay you requested will all be granted. But this still isn't enough. Since you want to build a house, you'll also need things like stone, right? The tribe will provide those materials too."
Hayoon immediately waved her hands repeatedly, too embarrassed to accept. "I'll only need some stone for the foundation, and not much at that. I can slowly gather the materials myself..."
Baek refused to listen.
"No! You're not allowed to refuse! Otherwise, anyone else who wants to contribute to the tribe in the future will feel discouraged too. Be good and accept it!"
Once again, Hayoon could not help marveling at how simple and sincere the beastmen were.
Unable to deal with it anymore, she looked pleadingly toward Minho for help.
Understanding her expression immediately, Minho finally spoke. "Even without trading the weaving method, if she couldn't gather enough materials to build the house herself, the tribe would still help her anyway. Compared to materials, giving them food would make more sense. And if possible, the tribe should also give her some finished cloth."
Hayoon was left speechless.
I asked you to help me persuade the chief, so why are you helping me ask for even more things?!
Immo nodded in agreement. "That's true. Hayoon is still young, and she's also a sub-beastman. Raising a beastman younger brother alone is difficult. How about the tribe providing food for them until Haeun reaches adulthood?"
Beom added, "As for cloth, what percentage should we give her?"
Hayoon abruptly stood up, her face turning red as she refused once more.
"There's really no need. My injuries are almost completely healed already, and soon I'll be able to gather resources together with everyone else in the tribe. As for the cloth, everyone worked incredibly hard weaving it. Even giving me just ten percent would already be too much. I can't accept it."
The beastmen were so honest and straightforward that taking advantage of them would only make her conscience ache.
Inside the grass shelter, a strangely absurd scene immediately unfolded.
Everyone felt the other side was the one suffering a loss and kept trying to push more compensation onto them.
In the end, Hayoon could only say firmly, "If you agree to my conditions, then I can teach everyone the weaving method anytime. If you don't agree, then I won't teach it!"
Baek froze for a moment. "...You child."
Beom and Immo also looked at her with helpless yet moved expressions.
At the right moment, Minho spoke up. "Everyone take a step back. Besides the conditions Hayoon mentioned at the start, the tribe can also provide the siblings with beast meat for two years and two bundles of cloth."
Hayoon calculated it in her mind and felt it was acceptable.
In another two years, Haeun would be an adult, and their household would no longer lack beast meat.
As for two bundles of cloth, that was more than enough for making clothes.
So she nodded and said, "I agree."
Beom frowned slightly, clearly still dissatisfied with the arrangement, but before he could say anything, Minho added, "Hayoon is a member of the Ur-Shet Tribe. There will be many opportunities in the future."
The words immediately woke Beom up.
Right.
Once a favor was owed, they would naturally have a reason to continue taking care of Hayoon later on.
There was no need to calculate things so clearly now and make things difficult for her.
"Alright. Then we'll do as Minho suggested."
The other two naturally had no objections either.
After discussing it together, they decided to send a group of people over tomorrow to learn weaving from Hayoon.
Once those people learned it, they could then teach the rest of the tribe.
Hayoon agreed, silently grateful for how considerate they were toward her.
When they left that evening, she walked with them for a short distance.
Baek patted her shoulder once more and said solemnly yet warmly, "Hayoon, the Ur-Shet Tribe will remember the contribution you've made for the tribe today."