In the blink of an eye, they had crossed countless mountains and rivers.
The moment the light faded, Scarface and his two lackeys opened their eyes and were stunned by the scene before them.
Just a second ago, they were more than a hundred kilometers away from their tribe. Even if they had horses, considering the terrain along the way, it would have taken at least half a day to return.
And if they were bringing back some game, the journey would have taken even longer.
However, under Origami Tobiichi power, not only did they appear near the tribe in the blink of an eye, but even the supplies—enough to require ten trips to transport—had been moved along with them.
"So this is what a higher race is like…"
They had previously only heard stories about higher races, passed down by word of mouth within the tribe.
Now that they had witnessed the power of a higher race with their own eyes, even the joy of surviving death couldn't dispel the bitterness of being born weak.
Still, in this chaotic world, a resilient and strong mindset was essential for survival.
Fully aware of humanity's weakness, Scarface momentary despair quickly passed, and he adjusted his mindset.
They were now already near the tribe.
With two more short-range teleports from Origami to fine-tune their position, they soon arrived at the foot of the mountain where the tribe was located.
"Milady, this is the base of our tribe," Scarface said, pointing at a barren hill ahead. "The rest of our people live inside the mountain. I'll call them out now."
Origami began observing the small mountain.
It looked utterly unremarkable—bare and lifeless—no different from any other desolate peak.
Origami didn't have any detection abilities. If she had to search blindly without a guide, it would have been genuinely hard to find.
"Wait."
Just as Scarface was about to call out, Origami stopped him.
At her will, the divine spirit armor she wore shifted again, transforming back into her previous dull and dusty scavenger disguise.
Scarface and the other two were stunned by this.
So the halo and wings of a Flügel… could be retracted?
They had learned something new.
"If I entered your base in my previous form, it would certainly cause panic," Origami explained. "You can introduce me as a wanderer from another human tribe that you encountered outside. Just take me to your leader."
Even though humans were among the lowest on the food chain in this world, they still lived stubbornly, like wild grass.
Across this vast continent of Lucia, there were naturally more than one human tribe.
Scarface hesitated for a moment and pointed at the surrounding supplies. "If you don't want to reveal your identity, how should we explain the origin of these goods?"
"Just say you encountered a beastman camp that had been attacked by demonic creatures during your hunt. These are the supplies you salvaged."
Scarface nodded slowly.
However, since the goods had been directly teleported from the beastman camp and were still in a fully set-up state—tents and all—the four of them took some time to repack and organize everything so it would look more realistic.
After finishing the preparations, Scarface cupped his hands around his mouth and imitated the sound of some kind of animal.
The sound had a rhythmic pattern, like a coded signal.
About ten minutes later, a rock on the mountainside shifted.
The rock was moved aside, revealing a tunnel.
Soon, a dozen people filed out in an orderly manner and rushed down the mountain in quick strides.
They all carried weapons and wore simple armor, looking like the tribe's guards.
Leading them was a young girl with bright red hair and a pair of goggles on her head.
"Victor, Marl, Kenny—you've finally returned!"
Seeing her scouts return, the red-haired girl was visibly excited.
The guards beside her also showed joyous expressions, crowding around them with warmth and concern.
"Haha, sorry about that. We ran into some trouble along the way, so we were delayed a bit."
Scarface rubbed his bald head, and the enthusiastic welcome eased his nervousness a great deal.
Then, under everyone's questioning, he gave a brief account of what had happened.
Of course, he followed Origami instructions and didn't mention their capture by Werebeast. Instead, he claimed that they encountered a beastman camp attacked by demons while out hunting, and salvaged the resources so they wouldn't go to waste. The delay was due to transporting the goods.
No one suspected a thing.
After all, with such a mountain of supplies in front of them, how could it possibly be fake?
"And who is this?"
After understanding what had happened, the red-haired girl turned her gaze toward Origami, who stood quietly nearby, her whole body wrapped up and face hidden under a hood.
She clearly remembered that Scarface's team had only consisted of three people when they left.
Why was there an extra person now?
"This is a wanderer we met while hunting. She's the sole survivor of another human tribe," Scarface said, his tone a bit unnatural when he spoke about Origami, but he forced himself to remain calm. "She looked pitiful and helpless all alone, so we brought her back with us."
"Can she be trusted?" the red-haired girl asked in a low voice.
Scarface nodded slightly.
Even among humans, kinship didn't always mean friendship in this world.
Especially when everyone sat at the bottom of the food chain, each person striving to gain more resources to survive.
Human tribes rarely contacted one another. Without communication equipment and constantly shifting locations to avoid danger, it was hard to even find other tribes, let alone establish relationships.
Running into a human from another tribe on this vast continent was rarer than meeting someone of another race.
And even then, peaceful interaction wasn't guaranteed.
For the safety of her tribe, the red-haired girl had to remain vigilant.
"Her tribe was hunted by a beastman scouting team. She was one of the few who escaped," Scarface added. "The supplies we recovered came from the Werebeast who had raided her tribe."
"I see."
Upon hearing that, the red-haired girl looked at Origami with much less suspicion and a bit more sympathy.
If she was a refugee, then not only was she not a threat—she could be integrated into the tribe to help boost their numbers.
"I've got a basic understanding of the situation now."
Having gathered the preliminary details, the red-haired girl waved her hand.
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's move the supplies back first. We'll talk more at the camp."