Chapter 71: We need wooden frames. Logs, tied together with vines or animal hide

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: We need wooden frames. Logs, tied together with vines or animal hide Isabella stood before the pathetically unfinished well, arms crossed, smile dangerously sweet. The ten massive beastmen in front of her shuffled uncomfortably, their muscles useless against the force of her disappointment. "So," she began, her voice honeyed but menacing, "why did you not finish the well?" Silence. The men exchanged looks. One brave soul cleared his throat. "We... uh, we thought you left the village." Isabella’s head snapped to him so fast, the poor man flinched. "Oh? You thought I left?" she repeated, voice dripping with mock surprise. "So what you’re saying is—you thought I was dead?" The beastman paled. "W-what? No, we didn’t—" "Ahh, so you were hoping I perished in the wilds?" Isabella gasped, pressing a dramatic hand to her very much alive chest. "You all gathered here and celebrated my tragic demise?" The men looked horrified. "NO! WE DIDN’T MEAN—" "Oh, I see now," she nodded solemnly. "You were already splitting my things, fighting over my hut, picking out who’d take my spot—" "THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" Isabella scoffed, flipping her perfectly smooth hair over her shoulder. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." By now, a crowd had formed. The villagers whispered amongst themselves: "She is getting prettier every day..." "Look at her skin—it’s glowing." "What is that fluffy thing in her hands? A spirit beast?" "Forget the beast—WHAT IS SHE WEARING ON HER FEET?" Isabella’s slippers, something she had refused to take off as she got to the village, were the true mystery of the Stone Age. "Why is it not leafy?" a man whispered. "Why is it so thin?" another muttered. "It looks soft—should we ask if we can touch it?" While the village gossiped, Isabella continued grilling the men. Another beastman, sweating profusely, tried to defend them. "W-We also stopped because we thought the king would want to—" "Oh, so now Kian is your excuse?" Isabella cut him off, gasping in mock betrayal. "Kian is your leader, and yet, when he asked you all to search for me, you still failed?" The men flinched. "I swear, I’m surrounded by useless lumps of muscle." Isabella sighed dramatically, shifting Glimora in her arms. The tiny white beast stared wide-eyed, completely enthralled by the chaos. One last beastman tried his luck. "W-Well, if you were here, you could have told us what to do..." A heavy silence fell. Isabella slowly turned. "Oh?" she said sweetly. "You mean to tell me you, ten grown beastmen, with more muscles than brains, could not—and I repeat, COULD NOT—figure out how to complete the well without me?" The men lowered their heads like guilty children. "You mean to tell me," Isabella stepped forward, voice slow, "that the moment I vanished, you all stood around, scratching your heads like lost puppies?" The crowd snorted. Someone actually cackled. One beastman opened his mouth to protest— "SHUT IT," Isabella cut him off. "You embarrass me." A beat of silence. Isabella let out a long, suffering sigh and finally said: "Ok, here is what you ten annoying beings will do, because I won’t be around to give you orders for the next few days." Isabella pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly. "Alright, listen up, you ten walking disappointments. Since your brains conveniently shut down in my absence, let me educate you." The men stood straighter, trying not to look as nervous as they felt. "You can’t just dig a hole and call it a well," Isabella said, tapping her foot against the ground. "A raw dirt well will collapse, and I refuse to be responsible for cleaning up ten beastmen trapped under a mountain of mud." The men nodded furiously. "So, we’re going to line the well properly. And because I know you all have the problem-solving skills of a stunned rabbit, I’ll spell it out for you." A few villagers in the growing crowd covered their mouths, trying not to laugh. "First, we need a proper stone lining so the walls don’t cave in. Lucky for you, we already have the flat stones we made earlier." One of the men, too bold for his own good, cleared his throat. "Uh... about those stones—" Isabella whipped her head towards him. "Don’t. Even. Tell. Me. You. Lost. Them." "...We misplaced them?" "YOU WHAT?!" The entire village winced. Even Glimora, the tiny creature in Isabella’s arms, let out a tiny squeak of judgment. "You mean to tell me," Isabella’s voice dropped dangerously low, "that after days of carving and stacking those stones, you somehow managed to LOSE THEM?" The men looked anywhere but at her. "Fine," Isabella snapped. "Find them. Now. Because those stones will be stacked tightly inside the well to form the walls. If you fail, you’ll be sleeping inside the damn hole." The men scrambled to nod, looking eager to escape. SOME TIME LATER "Next!" Isabella continued, regaining her composure. "We need wooden frames. Logs, tied together with vines or animal hide." "Uh, we have logs," one of them offered hesitantly. "And do we have enough?" Isabella arched a brow. The men fidgeted. "...Maybe?" A vein twitched on Isabella’s forehead. "Then make more. Chop them, tie them, and DO NOT STOP until you have enough frames to properly reinforce the walls." The men nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact. "And because we are not savages, we will coat the well’s walls with clay to harden it," Isabella continued. "Clay?" one of the beastmen repeated blankly. "YES, CLAY!" Isabella clapped her hands together. "And because I don’t trust any of you to do this right, I will teach you the correct way to get it." The men paid close attention now, not daring to anger her further. "Take hollowed-out gourds and collect the clay from the riverbank. Don’t just scoop mud like idiots—dig deeper." She pointed at the ground for emphasis. "Then, pour it into a dug-out hole lined with banana leaves. This stops it from getting contaminated." The beastmen blinked. This was... a lot more work than they thought. "You will then let it settle. At least one or two days before using it." A few of them muttered under their breath, but Isabella’s sharp ears caught them. "Did one of you just say, ’Why wait that long’?" Isabella whipped around. "Do you WANT a weak foundation? Do you WANT it to crack apart and flood the village? Or are you just determined to test my patience?" "...No," the guilty man mumbled. "Good. Because I have no patience left." Isabella dusted off her hands, looking satisfied. "That’s all you need to know for now." A collective sigh of relief went through the group. "BUT," Isabella raised a finger, "don’t get comfortable. I will return later today to tell you the next steps. If I come back and see zero progress, I will personally make sure you all regret it." The beastmen nodded vigorously, their lives flashing before their eyes. With that, Isabella turned on her heel and walked off, her slippers making mysterious noises against the ground as the villagers stared in awe.