Nick was worried. Sosora hadn't returned after a few days. They were a few days past a few days. Something could have happened to her. He was also worried about he fact that none of his other new friends had stopped by. It wasn't that weird that Malak or Lora and Kavam hadn't been by.
But Kai?
If it had been before he combed the bear cub, Nick could have understood it. Maybe his parents had finally managed to convince him to be a good kid and not run away from home at the first opportunity, now that they had the leverage of sausage.
However, Kai had been extremely reluctant to leave after Nick combed him since it was so comfortable and relaxing.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much Nick could do other than sit still and wait with boredom piling up.
He tried watching a couple of movies with the tentacle, but he just couldn't find it within himself to sit still and concentrate on them. He was too worried and restless. He was also full of energy after having been active for a couple of days in a row.
Since he was left without a choice, he could only walk toward the forest. He stopped when he reached the edge of the tentacle's reach.
"Is there anyone out there?" He half-shouted, hoping Mijko was on watch duty so she could answer his questions.
It was silent for a long time. He considered giving up. He raised a foot to turn around and walk away, but an arrow was suddenly lodged in the ground right in front of him as soon as his toes were in the air.
"Stay right there, Outsider."
Nick looked up to see a dark-haired archer with cat ears point another arrow at him.
"I can't even go back?" He pointed at his house with his thumb, dumbfounded by the threat. The arrow got his heart beating faster, but he could at least act calm.
"...You may. But we will not allow you to leave this clearing until we determine whether you're a threat to Tiabe or not."
"Alright. I didn't have any plans on it anyway, so that works for me."
"Good." The archer, who Nick assumed was from the Lowat tribe, nodded and started walking back into the shadows of the forest.
"Wait a moment. Is that what's going on, then? Sosora hasn't stopped by because the tribes are busy assessing my threat level?" Nick asked, piecing together the situation from the archer's words.
The archer didn't say anything, but he gave a slight nod before disappearing from Nick's sight again.
He shook his hands in frustration.
'Why does everyone do that?!' He complained in his mind. It annoyed him how everyone could just take a step into the shadows and disappear.
'It doesn't make any sense!'
Unfortunately, there was once again nothing he could do about it other than complain.
At least now he knew why he wasn't getting any visitors and only more watchers. He was being evaluated by the residents of the forest to see how dangerous he was.
He couldn't help but be curious about how they were doing that evaluation. They weren't talking to him about it. They were watching him, but it wasn't like he was doing any combat drills or setting off any explosives that would raise their wariness of him.
The only things he could imagine they were discussing were what the others knew about him and what they could see from him.
He was living peacefully in the most dangerous area of the forest. That probably earned him a few danger points. Other than that…
Nick had the feeling that the Ursa tribe were powerful, considering Kai, a child, could effortlessly, safely, and repeatedly enter the center of the forest without getting in danger. He was friends with them, which had surprised Malak.
But he doubted that was much of an issue. They were just people, part of a tribe the same as the others.
No, if anything, it would be the tentacle living in his basement and how it snatched up a monster king with apparent ease.
Sosora had sworn not to tell anyone.
But Mijko, Tilo, or their coworkers could have seen it, and they hadn't sworn secrecy. They could have let it slip that Nick had a way to deal with the reasons why the center of the forest was unoccupied by any of the tribes.
That would certainly warrant a prohibition on visiting him.
The monster kings ruled the center of the forest, monopolizing its resources. They had been at the top of the food chain.
But if someone suddenly appeared with the power to suppress those monster kings, what would happen?
The forest's balance would be ruined. Order would be lost.
Nick remembered how Sosora had warned him about how not everyone had a friendly inclination toward humans, Outsiders in general, and him.
Assuming there were sixteen tribes or something around there, and they all had something to say about his addition to the forest, Nick might have to wait for a while before he heard anything about the verdict.
That verdict was also a point of worry.
What happened if a majority of the tribes didn't want him in the forest since he destabilized the hierarchy?
Were they going to drive him away? Would they finish what Nuir started?
Nick suddenly felt a wave of anxiety wash over him as a thousand questions were born between his restlessness and the conclusion he drew from the Lowat tribe member's words.
He had been looking forward to a peaceful, community-supported homesteading life in the forest with his new neighbors and friends and the tentacle monster in his basement.
Who decided to involve politics? Was that really necessary? Wasn't this supposed to be a fantasy world with magic and stuff? The last thing it needed was politics.
Nick sighed and returned to his house, slumping down on the sofa.
"You can choose the movies tonight," He said to the tentacle.