The Old Priest looked at his apprentice's icy expression and inwardly cried—this was bad.
He had feared the girl wouldn't accept it, so he'd deliberately left out the part about live cubs as offerings.
He'd even specifically told the beastmen to cover the cages.
Once the ritual ended, he planned for someone to quietly sink the cage into the river.
Now, with his apprentice's piercing gaze on him, he could only bite the bullet and answer, "Girl, they're offerings. The rules are the same every year: we select a pair of healthy cubs to sacrifice to The Beast God, beseeching the tribe for prosperity and a safe hunt…"
He hadn't finished speaking when Luna Sutton's cold voice cut him off: "Who made these rules? Using live cubs as offerings—if The Beast God knew, he'd never allow it. Master, you may be the Priest, but how can you bring yourself to commit such cruelty?"
She glanced into the cage at the trembling cubs—their terrified, helpless eyes stabbed into her heart like needles.
