Chapter 9 I Will Pray For Her

Priest Jerome lifted his gaze and looked at Kira sympathetically.

No wonder she had not said a word the whole time.

It was a pity that this beautiful female could not speak.

Seeing that Jerome had been staring at Kira for a quite a while without saying anything, Jayda explained, "Priest Jerome, Kiki is my brother's female. Isn't it a shame that she couldn't talk? You can help her, right?"

The priest looked at Keith and smiled at him meaningfully.

"Ha-ha! I have to admit, you have good taste for females, Keith."

He waved at Kira and added, "Come here, Kiki, isn't it? Let me take a look at you."

Jayda knew that saying that would make Priest Jerome take pity on Kira and then help her.

"Kiki, hurry up. Priest Jerome has agreed to help," Jayda said excitedly.

Upon hearing that, Kira immediately walked over to the priest.

Jerome beckoned her to sit on the steps and then instructed her, "Come. Open your mouth and let me have a look at it."

He then rang a bell in front of Kira and started murmuring incantations.

Kira could not understand what he was saying. But to her, it felt like a lullaby. Just as she was about to fall asleep. Jerome abruptly stopped.

"Priest Jerome, what do you think?" Jayda asked immediately.

"It's nothing serious. God told me that she was being cursed. She was supposed to die, but God blessed her and kept her alive. However, it came with a price. In order to live, she had to lose her voice."

"Then what should we do?" Jayda asked, anxiety written all over her face.

The others were looking at them with anticipation, wondering if Kira would be able to have her voice back.

Jerome's words rang in Keith's ears. The former said that someone jinxed Kira.

Did she go through something before she arrived here?

At that moment, Jerome looked at Kira and announced solemnly, "She was blessed; otherwise, she wouldn't be standing here in front of you. As long as I pray to God and ask for his blessing, I can assure you that she'll be able to speak soon."

Upon saying that, Jerome looked at Keith next.

"Cherish her. She can help you protect your tribe and family in the future."

Jayda jumped at this opportunity to advise her brother.

"Keith, did you hear that? Priest Jerome believes that Kiki is a good person, so stop being mean to her."

Keith glared at her and retorted, "You know nothing. Mind your own business."

While the two were arguing, something occurred to Kira. Fragments of memories emerged in her mind that had happened before she fell into a coma.

If her memory served her right, when she left her tribe to look for something in the forest, a group of people saw her and held her captive in hopes of exchanging her for food.

They tied her up. Fortunately, she found a chance to escape.

Although she was free, she was hungry and tired that she passed out as she fled to a safe place. She regained her consciousness after quite some time, and that was the time she saw Keith.

They stayed at Priest Jerome's place for a while before they left.

Truth be told, Kira had no hope for what the priest had said.

She did not believe in gods. She doubted that her inability to talk would be solved by praying to one.

However, the people here revered Priest Jerome very much, so she pretended to believe in him.

Besides, she did not have the heart to refuse Mama Kasha and Jayda's kindness.

When they had finally returned to their territory, Kasha rushed to them.

"You're finally back! What did Priest Jerome say?"

Jayda immediately relayed what the priest had said to them.

Upon hearing everything, Kasha nodded in agreement and then patted Keith on the head. "Son, did you hear that? Even Priest Jerome advises that you should be good to K. From now on, you must treat her well, okay?"

"Okay, okay! Mama, there are so many people here. Save me some face, will you?"

Keith could not help but complain as his companions were looking at him with a smirk.

The rest of the group could not help but burst into laughter upon hearing that. At that moment, Kasha looked at them and said with a smile, "Alright. Come inside to eat. I've prepared some meat and fruits for everyone."

Meanwhile, Kira stroked her stomach in hunger.

She was ecstatic to hear that there would be meat.

Ever since she arrived here, all she had been eating were fruits and vegetables. She craved so much for some meat.

However, she was stunned upon seeing Kasha take the meat out.

'Oh no! Why is it raw?

How am I supposed to eat it? Haven't they learned how to make a fire?' she wondered.

There was no way Kira would eat raw meat, so she only ate the fruits on the table.

Jayda noticed that Kira was not eating meat, much less touched it, so she figured that Kira must be shy. "Kiki, why don't you eat the meat? It's fresh and delicious. Keith caught it from hunting a few days ago."

Kira shook her head with a smile, expressing her polite refusal.

Meanwhile, Keith eyed Kira and surmised that she was just afraid he had poisoned the meat. To reassure her, he took a piece of it and handed it to her.

"It won't kill you. Don't worry. But if you're still afraid, don't eat anything then. Suit yourself."

Kira rolled her eyes at him.

That was not what she was concerned about.

Even so, she stayed true to her word and refused him.

'Dude, it's raw! It's gross!' she thought to herself. As a person in the wrong civilization, she could not eat that as it was. It had to be cooked.

To her surprise, Kasha and Jayda were looking at her expectantly.

Kira touched her belly in response, indicating that she could not eat meat because her stomach hurt.

Although suspicious, Keith took the meat back and did not say anything anymore.

Food was scarce for them. They could not waste it, even a single piece. If Kira did not want to eat it, Keith would not force her.

At that moment, Kasha turned to look at Kira and asked, "By the way, I forgot to ask you something this morning. How do you know that persimmon tastes good after burying it in the sand?"

That question piqued Jayda's interest, so she chimed in, "That's right, Kiki. I'm curious as well. How do you know that?"

"I found a persimmon buried in the sand one time, and it was sweet. That's how I discovered it," Kira answered through gestures.

'That is easier to say than the truth. After all, I can not tell these people that there's something called ethylene, a type of gas which accelerates the ripening of persimmon, making it sweeter in a short period of time.

And sand happens to trap the ethylene gas that fruits release.'

If she told them that, these people would definitely not stop asking what ethylene was or what ripening meant.

That would be troublesome, and she did not want that.

"I see. You're so smart! We don't notice that whenever we go pick persimmons before."

The more Kasha got to know about Kira, the more impressed she felt.

"I was with you at that time. Why didn't I see any persimmons in the sand? Stop lying. Tell us the truth! Are you from another tribe? Why did you come to our place? What's your purpose?" Keith asked warily.

There was a scrutinizing look in his eyes when he questioned her.

'She must be lying!' he thought.

Kira stood up at once and waved her hands to explain herself. She did not have any ulterior motives, and everything she had told them was nothing but the truth. While doing so, her face turned red in eagerness.

Regardless of how Kira explained herself, Keith was still wary of her. He opened his mouth to say something out of spite, but Kasha interrupted him. "Keith, you've gone too far! How can you say that about K? Stop making up excuses for losing the bet."

"Mama, I'm just making sure. It's for the safety of our people," Keith reasoned out.

"Don't you think you're worrying too much? I can attest that Kiki isn't a traitor," Jayda interjected.

She could not help but be anxious at how her brother was behaving.

At that moment, Kasha heaved an exasperated sigh and said, "Let's not talk about it anymore. By the way, didn't K say she's hungry? Did she not eat? I brought her food yesterday, didn't I?"

Before Keith could respond, Jayda answered, "Mama, there's no food in Kiki's cave. It's all in Keith's place, along with the fruits I gave her."

Kasha was furious to hear this.

"Keith, why were the foods in your cave? Haven't I told you enough to treat K well? How could you treat her like this?! You've let me down," she said, an utter look of disappointment on her face.

Keith quickly explained, "Mama, I didn't take them. She didn't want the food, so she gave them to me. Believe me. I did nothing wrong!"

Seeing that Kasha was angry, he hurriedly tried to prove his innocence.

Kira jumped to his aid. She stood up and explained that it was indeed her who had put the food in Keith's cave.

She also admitted that she was too embarrassed to receive gifts from them and that she wanted to rely on herself. She did not want Kasha to blame her son and make things difficult for the mother and son.

Kasha calmed down upon knowing Kira's explanation.

What Kira had said left a good impression on Kasha. After all, there were only few who were like Kira-selfless and thoughtful.

Kira felt relieved to see that Kasha's expression finally softened.

At that moment, she hurried to her cave to dig out the remaining persimmons from the sand and then shared them with everyone. The atmosphere became livelier and harmonious between them.

While Keith and Kira were walking back home, the former suddenly said, "Don't think that I trust you, even if Mama and the others already do. I'm keeping an eye on you. Since Mama said that you could eat with us from now on, you'd better wake up and go to her place early. If you're late, there will be no food left for you."

With that, Keith walked into his cave.

Kira was left confused.

Her high spirits shattered in an instant. 'What was that for? Did he have a delusion of some sort?' she mused.

As Kira entered her cave, something caught her eye. There were several red fruits on her stone bed.

'These aren't here a while ago. How did these get here?

Could it be that Keith put these fruits here? Is he worried that I won't be able to get up early in the morning and that there might be no food left for me?'

Kira could not help but smile at the thought of this. It seemed that his bark was worse than his bite. Keith was actually not that bad.