CHAPTER 368: CHAPTER-368.

Veer’s eyes drifted off to the side, suddenly very interested in a nearby stall selling dried fish. His jaw worked like he was chewing on words he didn’t want to say.

Kaya’s eyes narrowed. "Veer."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "My father cut my allowance."

Kaya stared at him. Then she laughed—short, sharp, disbelieving. "You’re kidding."

"I’m not."

"Your ’father’ cut your ’allowance’?" She repeated it slowly, like she was trying to make sense of a foreign language. "What are you, twelve?"

Veer shot her a look. "He controls the tribe’s finances. I don’t exactly have access to the treasury."

Kaya sighed, long and tired. "Fine. Then let’s go earn some money."

She stretched her neck, rolled her shoulders, and started walking. "After that, we’ll buy weapons. Good ones. Sharp ones. The kind that won’t break the first time I stab something."

Veer followed, his expression unreadable. But Kaya could feel the weight of unspoken words hanging between them.

She didn’t ask. Not yet.

There’d be time for questions later. Right now, she had work to do.

.

.

.

Well, saying it was easy was one thing. Doing it was a whole different nightmare.

Kaya moved through the market with her hands in her pockets, eyes scanning stalls, corners, notice boards—anything that even ’whispered’ work. Smoke from food stalls mixed with dust in the air, beastmen shouted prices, kids ran between legs, but nothing looked like fast money.

There ’was’ work. Of course there was.

Back-breaking, sweat-dripping, bone-aching work.

And the pay? Laughable.

She watched a wolf beastman haul three sacks of grain onto a cart like it was nothing. A seller yelled for help unloading crates from a wagon. A tannery stall reeked so badly her eyes watered just walking past. These jobs would eat her time, her energy, and still not give her enough coin to buy even one decent blade in weeks. Months, if she was honest.

Veer had already told her to let it go. That he would talk to his father about the money.

But Kaya didn’t want that.

She ’knew’ she’d already burned through too much of Veer’s money. Food, supplies, little things here and there that added up. If there was really no other way, she’d ask him. Swallow her pride and let him handle it.

But not yet.

Right now, she needed to at least try. To see if there was really no way to earn enough herself. And besides—she knew Veer. For all the time they’d been staying together, she’d figured him out. If he had money to spare, he would’ve already shoved it at her and told her to shut up and take it.

So if he hadn’t... that meant he couldn’t.

Kaya walked the length of the market twice. Three times. She found a few quick jobs that could pay on the spot—cleaning, unloading goods, running messages—but the pay was so low she wanted to bite someone. If she started doing that kind of work, she’d be stuck here for months just to afford one proper weapon.

She didn’t ’have’ months.

On her fourth loop, she stopped.

Her gaze drifted to the side, drawn by shouting and the heavy ’thud-thud’ of something hitting the ground. Her eyes followed the sound, and then she saw it.

A small open ground, fenced off with a rough bamboo boundary. The kind of thing poor farmers used to pen sheep—not serious, not sturdy, more symbolic than anything useful. But it was enough to mark the space.

Inside the boundary, two figures were fighting.

One of them was a bull beastman—huge body, thick neck, muscles bulging under his skin. The other...

Kaya’s mouth went a little dry.

The other looked like a rhinoceros. Not just big—’massive’. Thick hide, heavy steps, and an actual horn sticking straight out from his forehead like a weapon nature itself had crafted.

The crowd around them roared with every hit. Coins changed hands in quick, secretive movements. Bets. Of course.

Kaya’s eyes lit up.

’That’s it.’

Her heart thumped faster, a sharp rush of reckless excitement flooding her chest. This was it. Fast money. Risky, yes. Maybe suicidal. But still—money.

She stared, and she could already see it. Step into the ring, dodge a few attacks, land a few good hits, maybe force a draw. She didn’t need to be the champion. Just good enough to win a round or two and walk away.

Beside her, Veer followed her line of sight.

His reaction was instant.

His whole body stiffened; a visible shiver ran down his spine. Then he shook his head so fast his hair moved.

"Definitely not," he said.

Kaya pointed straight at the arena. "It’s so easy. Just do it."

She took a step toward the bamboo fence, but before her foot fully landed, Veer’s arm tightened around her waist. He pulled her back firmly.

"Definitely not," he repeated, voice harder. "I said no."

Kaya glanced back at the fighters. The crowd cheered as the rhinoceros beastman slammed his opponent back a few steps, hooves digging into the dirt. The ground actually shook.

Okay... maybe not ’that’ easy.

Her brain did a quick calculation. Horn. Weight. Impact. Probability of ending up in a hospital bed—or in a grave.

It wasn’t looking great.

Still... she was tempted. She was ’so’ tempted. She was fast, small, flexible. And she was a woman. Surely they wouldn’t kill her in front of everyone.

Right?

She pressed her lips together.

Veer’s grip on her waist didn’t loosen. When she looked up at him, his eyes were dead serious, jaw clenched, shoulders tense. There was a faint tremble in his hold—not from fear of the fighters, but from ’her’.

This woman would do anything. He knew it. She knew it.

"I’ll go," he said suddenly.

Kaya turned her head fully to look at him. Her face went blank. No shock, no gratitude, nothing.

"No," she said flatly.

Veer blinked. "What?"

Kaya stared straight at the arena, eyes narrowed, brain turning.

"I’m not letting ’you’ go in there and get turned into skewered meat," she said calmly.