Evan jumped down from the leading horse; he intentionally transformed into human form. The beastmen who recognized him cried out in surprise: "Evan?"
Immediately after, Eric and Max, along with Thomas and the other Snow Wolf people, also jumped down.
They first greeted the tribe members, ignoring the warriors’ jaw-dropping expressions, and turned around to unload the large and small bags from the horses’ backs.
These were specialties they had spent gold coins buying from the Elf tribe. If they didn’t take them down quickly and the flying horses flew away later, it would be troublesome.
Galvin and the other warriors stood dazed on the spot for a while. After recovering, everyone was overjoyed. Those who were familiar rushed up to hug their tribe members.
"Kevin, Michael, you guys are finally back."
"Max, you really found Eric and brought him back."
Everyone happily formed a wall around them.
The commotion just now also alerted the tribe members within the settlement. This place wasn’t far from the tribe, and there were many Dwarves, Horned Goat people, and small-sized beastmen walking around working.
Seeing this scene, although they couldn’t see through the crowd to the inside, they could guess somewhat. Previously, the person who returned had told them that Eric had been found. Since many days had passed, it must be the warriors bringing Eric back.
The cubs in the fields, the Ox-Head tribe members, and the working beastmen saw it more clearly and ran toward this direction in swarms.
Leo was overjoyed, but his short legs weren’t strong enough to run faster than the adults. A passing Snow Wolf person conveniently picked him up.
"Little Leo, don’t rush. I’ll take you to find your brother," the adult Snow Wolf person said with a laugh.
Seeing Leo, the crowd of Snow Wolf people surrounding them made a path for him. Leo jumped down with teary eyes and rushed into his brother’s arms in a few steps.
After so many days, he finally waited for his brother’s return. Although that person had said later that his brother was fine and he wasn’t as worried as before, he still missed him very much.
Eric smiled, catching the little cannonball Leo, and teased: "Crybaby, I’m back, stop crying. Oh, Gray knows how to fly now?"
He looked with interest at Gray flying over. Because Gray was still a cub, he flew very low and looked very clumsy, making Eric chuckle a few times.
The crowd gathered more and more. After greeting everyone and relieving the tribe members of their long-held worries, Eric and the others could finally move and return to Eric’s house.
Eric counted on his fingers; he really hadn’t been home for a while. It took over ten days at Dragon Island, and over twenty days traveling to the Elf Forest and back. If not for the flying horses provided by the Elf tribe on the return trip, it might have taken a few more days.
He looked with emotion at the tidied house. The traces of Arthur’s destruction had all been repaired. Whether it was the main gate, the courtyard wall, or the decorations inside the house, everything had been restored to its original state.
Even the curtain he had whimsically woven using primary magic cores had been carefully repaired, looking beautiful as it sparkled in the sunlight.
Luci was both happy and emotional. Wiping away tears, she affectionately stroked Eric’s head: "Oh, you’ve really suffered. Look, you’ve gotten thinner."
Jessica held her daughter’s hand, looking gently at Eric and smiling: "We’ve remade the quilt for you. There are many chickens and ducks in the breeding farm, and the cafeteria slaughters a batch every few days. We’ve accumulated quite a few feathers, just enough to make a quilt for you, and we also made a few sets of new clothes for you and Leo."
Mentioning this, Luci also forgot some of her sadness; after all, he was back.
"The cotton cloth you traded for last time is really beautiful. We chose the best pieces to make clothes for you two brothers. Didn’t you say wearing cotton clothes in hot weather is more comfortable than animal skins? Our tribe doesn’t lack cotton cloth now."
Eric curiously opened the wardrobe, and sure enough, there were several new sets of clothes. Thinking of when he first arrived at this home with nothing, having only two precious linen outfits, he felt very satisfied. At least his efforts were not in vain.
"Jessica, Luci, and Iris too, don’t be frugal. Just distribute all that cotton cloth. Although our tribe has many people now, we traded for quite a lot of cloth last time. Everyone should make new clothes to wear. By autumn, the cotton we planted ourselves will be usable too."
Seeing that the tribe members at home were mostly still wearing old clothes, he persuaded them earnestly. Trying so hard to earn money was for the purpose of raising the tribe members’ living standards.
Jessica and Luci smiled from ear to ear. Iris was cooking in the cafeteria and heard the news later than them, so she would probably arrive later.
Luci said kindly: "Don’t worry. Actually, we are very satisfied with our life now. Before, we didn’t have cotton clothes to wear, only animal skins. This year, whether it’s cubs or adults, everyone has at least one set of cotton clothes. I also distributed cotton cloth to the newly arrived Snow Wolf people and small-sized beastmen, along with other things you traded for."
But since Eric said so, Luci had no reason to stop him. She felt Eric was right; there was so much cotton in the fields, so the tribe certainly wouldn’t lack cotton cloth in the future.
As for how cotton turned into cotton cloth, she wasn’t worried at all. Eric could even turn useless magic beast fur and chicken and duck feathers into clothes, so what was difficult about ready-made cotton? In her heart, Eric was the smartest cub of the entire Wolf tribe.
Since Eric decided to plant cotton, they didn’t think about whether cotton could be turned into cloth. Compared to other things Eric came up with, the difficulty of cotton cloth was nothing.
Max stood by the side smiling, his expression unbelievably gentle. Luci couldn’t even recall her son’s dark face from a few days ago when Eric disappeared.
Eric’s house was lively for a while. The warriors who had traveled far finally missed home and went back with their families one by one, recounting the details of their journey.
There were also specialties bought from the Elf tribe, which they specifically brought back for their families. As for Evan’s identity, Thomas wouldn’t let them speak of it, so they had to keep it secret in their hearts.
When everyone was gone, only Luci’s family remained. She looked outside cautiously, then lowered her voice to ask: "Eric, why did you bring that dragon back? And Evan, isn’t he the prince of the Elf tribe? Will the Elves let you bring him here?"
She couldn’t help but worry.
After Arthur attacked the tribe, her vigilance had increased. If the Elf tribe became dissatisfied with the Hadu tribe because of Evan, it would be troublesome. After all, the strength of the Hadu tribe certainly couldn’t withstand it.
Moreover, that guy Arthur followed Eric back. Luci really didn’t know what specifically happened and was so worried she paced around.
Thomas held her hand and told Luci the whole story.
He knew everything else, including Evan coming here to protect Eric. As for what exactly the soul contract was, he wasn’t very clear either.
Seeing the worried looks of the others, Eric scratched his head and said in distress: "Sigh, actually I don’t know exactly what the soul contract is either. Arthur signed it without permission while I was unconscious. I heard the old Dragon King say that since he actively signed the soul contract, it doesn’t have much restraint on me, but he needs to share his life with me and even bear injuries for me."
Eric didn’t want to accept this bargain, but thinking of the Dragon King’s dark face, he knew clearly there was no way out:
"Sigh, the Dragon King didn’t want the two of us to sign the soul contract either. No matter how you say it, Arthur is the one at a disadvantage. I didn’t want it either, but there is no way to dissolve this contract yet. Even in the Dragon tribe, very few people sign this contract. I don’t know what madness possessed him."