Chapter 677 Coming of Age Ceremony
After taking some photos of the top of the Red King's Mausoleum, the traveler team returned to the Tanit tribe with the bottle.
Paimon: "Jade is still out on the field, clearing sand from the dune pipes and clearing roads... She's working so hard."
Su: "How about we go back to Aru Village first and come back in a few days?"
Just as Sora was about to nod, Marcela came over with a bandage on her eye.
"Respected Master of the Town Spirit, friend of the little falcon." Marcela was still kind, "Does the tribe make you feel bored?"
As if wanting to entertain the guests well, Marcela invited the traveler team to attend his daughter Tadella's coming-of-age ceremony and to witness her growth on behalf of his blind and disabled old father.
"I can feel that she trusts you very much." Marcela turned to Su, "With your testimony, she will definitely become a qualified falcon."
Marcela explained the rite of passage for the Tanit tribe, which is to hunt powerful prey alone or with a partner, to become a qualified "falcon" and be used by the tribe to hunt animals and enemies.
Su was surprised and said, "So 'Falcon' is a job title? I thought it was your nickname for Tadella." Just like Jade's nickname, Little Caracal.
Marcela called Tadla with a smile and told her to take the distinguished guests to experience the traditions of the Tanit tribe.
The traveler team followed Tadla out of the tribe. Su asked her curiously, "Tadla, Tadla, what are we going to hunt?"
Tadella: "There are three targets for this hunt, namely the red eagle, the poisonous scorpion, and the flying snake. I will be the one to do it, and you and your companions can just be the witnesses."
A question mark popped up in Su's head, "Why has Tadella become more polite than before?"
Paimon: "Because we brought Lilupal back, then we changed from being Jade's friend and invited guest to being the distinguished master of the town spirit and the guest of honor of the tribe."
Sue made a sound of disgust, "Hey, that hypocritical and snobbish woman Babel must have asked for this name!"
Su held Tadla's hand and swayed, "Tadla, don't worry about their twists and turns. We are still the same as before."
Tadella hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Okay."
In preparation for this hunt, Tadella had done reconnaissance and preparation, and had already discovered the approximate location of the target red vulture's nest.
The route chosen by Tadella was very easy to travel, and she led the group of travelers calmly, explaining to them any traces they encountered along the way.
"This should be the carrion that fell when competing with the same species for food. It seems that she is a female. The red vulture should return to the nest after a full meal."
"…This is feces. There is a bit of weasel fur and some moisture. It is not dried up. This means her nest is not far from us."
Paimon: "Uwaa ...
"Why, you want it?" Tadella handed the red eagle feces with a white film to Paimon. "If you apply it on your body, it can cover up your own smell. It's very useful. Do you need me to apply it for you?"
Paimon almost fainted just thinking about it, "No, no, I don't want it!"
Su laughed loudly, "Tadella, stop teasing Paimon!"
I didn't expect that Tadella, who has no expression on her face, has such a subtle sense of humor.
Tadella withdrew her hand, "Because Paimon is so cute."
Paimon put his hands on his hips in dissatisfaction, "Why do you bully me if you think I'm cute?!"
Tadella said seriously: "I'm not bullying you, I just want to take a bite."
Paimon hugged Su tightly with a "whoosh", then remembered something and quickly moved behind Kong.
Paimon accused, "You and Su are both like this! You two are in the same group!" She remembered that Su wanted to bite her! He had wanted to bite little Klee for a long time!
Sora: "I read a reference book in the Disciplinary Office, which explained that this is a psychological phenomenon called "cute aggression."
Cuteness aggression refers to the urge to pinch or bite something when seeing it. It is a normal psychological phenomenon and a binary expression of emotion.
"Cute aggression" is only a short-term conditioned reflex. Reason can control its behavior and it will not evolve into a long-term violent tendency.
"So Paimon can rest assured now?" Su grabbed Paimon and rubbed her cheeks against his. "Tadella and I didn't really bite you."
Paimon, who was being held and rubbed on the face, looked at Tadella looking at this side. Although the red silk blindfold covered her expression, a faint sense of envy could still be felt.
Oh, it's all because she's too cute! Her charm is too radiant!
Paimon hesitated for a moment. "Then Tadella can hold hands with me... But of course, you have to wash your hands! You just touched bird shit!"
Tadella took off the glove on her right hand, slowly took Paimon's little hand and squeezed it gently.
She sensed something completely different from what she had seen, something soft, fragile, and gentle.
After the episode, Tadella led the team of travelers to continue tracking the prey.
"The claw marks on the ground were torn. She landed here. Apparently she realized someone was following her..."
Tadla judged with experience: "She flew away, but the cold desert night will force her back."
Tadella simply led the team of travelers to the red vulture's nest, intending to ambush the returning prey there.
Paimon pointed at the golden objects scattered around the Red Eagle's nest and asked, "What are those shiny things?"
Tadella: "Fool's Gold. Red Eagle likes to collect shiny things."
Paimon became excited. "Is this the money dropped by the Fatui? I didn't expect to pick up such a good thing for free! How lucky!"
The bottle that had been quietly flying around the traveler team suddenly woke up. "Fool's gold is something that only fools would think is gold. It is often scattered in temples and tombs as decoration."
Not wanting to be thought of as a fool, Paimon looked around and said stubbornly, "I, I didn't say it was gold!"
"Well, Paimon just thought it was the money dropped by the Fatui," Tadella helped to make up for it, "Maybe the Fatui's money is made of alloys such as brass and pyrite."
Paimon, whose face was saved by Tadella, showed a touched expression, "Tadella... so gentle."
Gentle...?
Tadla lowered her head, and then solemnly emphasized to the Traveler Team, "The next hunt is my coming-of-age ceremony, please don't give me any help."
"Why?" Su was puzzled. "Didn't Marcela say that there are both solo hunting and teamwork at the coming-of-age ceremony? Can't we team up and fight together?"
"Because we are not from the Tanit tribe, helping us would be considered cheating?" Sora thought for a moment, "Marcela also told us to be a witness."
Tadella nodded, indicating that it was true.
Paimon: "It seems that the tribes in the desert are still very xenophobic. Then we won't interfere. Tadella, you must be careful not to get hurt."