The Villainess Will Live a Good Life

45. Hypothesis

Nana woke up the next day feeling refreshed. She had slept in, but that was standard. She really needed to get to work on the den, but it felt so nice to just not move. Unfortunately, she had to. Their home needed to be up to their high standards before the season of frost came.

They had almost two months left which was plenty of time... Maybe she could put some of it off for later? If she focuses on finding mates, there will be more hands to help work. She could even send some of her mates to go back and get what was left at her den in the City of Gold.

Okay. Her focus for the next few days was decided. Nana was going to go on dates. Well, that was her plan, but Elizabeth was already here based on what Nana's ears were picking up. Unless they could pull off a double date, it wasn't happening. Oh well.

Nana walked out to find an empty house, save for Zen. Nana popped her head out a window. Her eyes still had sleep crust and her guests were all talking so excitedly. And there were guests. Her yard was full of them. And they all got to see her glorious not-a-morning-person form. She should've brushed her hair first. Too late now.

"Nana!" Elizabeth came up to the window excitedly. She had way too much energy for someone sporting panda eyes. "We might have figured out the plant disease!"

Suddenly Nana was more alert, but still disheveled. "Really?" They already got it? That was great. Now Nana didn't have to do any more work. Not that she really did much before...

"Yes. You see, Paulo— he mentioned how odd it was to have all the birds around like they were. And..." Elizabeth rapid fired some more details in quick succession, but the only important part was the conclusion. "We think it's the birds. More specifically, their droppings."

Nana thought and thought some more. The conclusion she came to was that it was still too early for this. "We can test it out. Maybe get some cubs together and have them practice hunting on them or something," Nana muttered.

"Most beastmen don't hunt them and they stay around for protection from other predators," Elizabeth repeated something she already said, but this time, Nana was listening.

"Their numbers started increasing, but we might see improvements if we can reduce the amount of them," Paulo said with positivity. He eyed Nana's newly woken form and dropped his gaze to be polite.

Kibwe was literally jumping for joy with unshed tears in his eyes. "This could work. It could work!"

Aspen had a big smile while the old male muttered completely lost in thought, "The birds? The birds?! Could it be? The predators have one purpose; one, and they fail like this... I shouldn't be surprised"

Wow. Nana's yard was so lively. Guess it was a bigger deal then she thought. They hadn't even fixed the problem yet and everyone was acting like they had a victory. 'Oh, to heck with it.' Nana was going to be happy too.

"Cubs won't have to die so much," Aspen said sounding so relieved.

'What? Cubs were dying?' Why didn't Nana hear of that before? "What do you mean, cubs are dying?"

Aspen went rigid as if startled. He was not expecting to be called on. "Since no plants grow well in the village, young cubs have to go out of the territory to eat," he answered after collecting himself.

"What about the fathers?" Elizabeth asked in Nana's stead.

Aspen peered into the female's gentle eyes. "They do what they can, but sometimes it isn't enough." Whether it was because the family was too small or not made up of enough strong beastmen... There were multiple reasons as to why the young ones would seek out more food for themselves.