After she arrived at the tribe, the first thing that she did was to heal the old priest. As a priestess, she was given the healing abilities which she planned to make use of.
The abilities were all at LV 0 and to upgrade them, she needed to use them frequently. And it so happened that the old priest was sick and provided the best opportunity for her to upgrade.
After infusing her healing abilities in his body, the old priest fell asleep, leaving just her and the patriarch.
Looking at the man who was probably in his thirties or forties, Moon wanted to leave the cave and go outside to get some fresh air.
These people were the nemesis of bathing, and the stench was truly heavy. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do at the moment except get the overall idea of what was happening in the tribe before leaving.
"Priestess, I want to thank you for saving the tribesmen and the old priest," the patriarch sincerely thanked Moon after the old priest went to sleep.
Moon waved her hand nonchalantly and answered with a smile, "It's my duty. I can't let any tribesman die under my watch!"
When the patriarch heard that, he felt touched and relieved that he didn't stop the summoning ritual despite his doubt previously.
It wasn't easy for everyone to agree to that ritual. After all, it was a forbidden ritual and caused quite a lot of harm to those involved.
The old priest wasn't even sure if the ritual would work. After all, it was something that he heard of and hadn't done something like that previously. However, the threats and dangers foreshadowing them forced them to give that a try. If it failed then they would accept the outcome but if it worked, then their tribe would be saved.
Luckily, it worked and now the new priest, though in the wrong gender, was summoned and was more powerful than the old priest.
Honestly, he was very concerned when he heard from the scouts that the new priest summoned was female. Although there weren't a lot of tribes around them, all priests, witches and tribal leaders were all male. There wasn't a case of a female taking such positions.
To suddenly receive a female priest, he was doubtful and a bit concerned that it wouldn't go well. After all, women were known to be weak and couldn't do anything big but who would have foreseen that the female priest not only be powerful but she took on the cannibals by herself?
As if that wasn't enough, she also healed the old priest without using any herbs. Even if he wanted to pretend and ignore her, he couldn't. he had to accept and bow down willingly to the Great God that the priestess served.
Having such a powerful priestess was very beneficial to their tribe. From now on, he didn't need to worry about having his people hunted and eaten by those cannibals ever again. Who cares about if the priest is male or female this time?
After accepting the reality, the patriarch was more tolerant and accepted the priestess wholeheartedly without any prejudice.
Moon also noticed the patriarch's acceptance which put her at ease. It would be hard if she stayed in a tribe where the leader didn't like her. Being bound to the Guide and with a lot of restrictions, Moon would be doomed. She didn't want to live a life where she would be wary of everyone around her.
"Do you mind telling me about the situation of the tribe? That way, I will see what needs to be done or changed?" after accepting everything, Moon who didn't want to waste much time on useless things, asked directly, her tone a bit solemn.
When the patriarch heard that, he was quite surprised as he wasn't expecting the priestess to get down to business that fast. However, he was relieved that he didn't get a beautiful priestess who knew nothing. At least, for now, the priestess was on par with the old priest. That was recommendable.
Without failure, the patriarch began to inform her of the tribe's status as best as he could.
"We were once part of a larger tribe but because of internal conflicts, the tribe split into several tribes. We moved to this place many years ago when I was still a young adult. The tribe slowly grew, and we had a lot of people. But then the problem arose a few years ago. The wild animals started getting fewer. Perhaps we are overhunting them. As a result, a shortage of food arises. Without food for everyone to have, other tribes started cannibalism, and that's where the major problem started ….."
From the patriarch's mouth, it could be seen that the land wasn't giving enough animals for the tribesmen to have enough meat. With that, Moon understood that the people here mainly depended on meat and probably knew nothing about staples which was very good for her.
As long as they were like that, in the future when she introduces staple food and other kinds of food, these people would give her points. Wouldn't that be good?
Anyway, getting back to the story at hand, with the emergence of the cannibals, the other tribes were attacked now and then. As a result, the population decreased.
As for the tribe that she was in, it suffered several attacks from the cannibals and the last attack which was several full moons before, the old priest was attacked. Although his life was saved, he was still hanging by the thread. It was because of that, that the summoning ritual was brought to the surface and led to this current day.
"As long as the cannibals remain untouched then we still remain in danger of being attacked," the patriarch sighed dejectedly as he thought about those ruthless people.
Moon also sighed as she listened to that while making up her mind, 'We need to migrate and find a safer place!' getting determined to relocate at all costs.
"We are too weak to fight with the cannibals at the moment. I will find a way to deal with the matter but for now, let's deal with the matter of food security. I will need to rest and settle the matter but before doing so, is there anything else that I need to know?"
The patriarch nodded when he heard that and responded, "I will leave that matter to you. If there is something that you don't understand then don't hesitate to ask me. As for the other things, there is the matter of the ceremony."
"Ceremony?" Moon asked confusingly as she tilted her head while looking at him.
The patriarch realized that the priestess obviously knew nothing about that and hurriedly explained. "The ceremony is held to celebrate the appointment of the priest and in this case, priestess like you mentioned earlier. The whole tribe would gather, sing, dance, and eat meat.
There will be a bonfire and during that time, those who haven't found partners can seek permission from others and pursue those who they are interested in.
At the same time, the priestess will also choose the people she wants to serve her. whether they are female or male. During that ceremony, the priestess will have a chance to find her own people. A priestess or a priest can't live without people who serve her or him."
From his words, Moon understood the importance of the ceremony. It was more or so for her to find the people that she could use and consolidate her power. That was a good move and it will save her from a lot of trouble.
Having people find partners was a good idea, and she liked it. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be that lucky to find her own. She was restricted for three years after all.
After understanding the whole thing, Moon found it a pity since she could see that hosting such a celebration right now wouldn't benefit her or the tribe at all.
So, she looked at him and shook her head as she objected. "Patriarch, we might need to hold back on the ceremony for now until I have enough information and countermeasures on the cannibals. We can't be too relaxed. We need all the food we can get for now. In the future, when we are more stable, we will hold a grand ceremony and celebrate without worry."
The patriarch was at a loss when he heard the first part. It was the first time he had heard someone objecting to the ceremony but then when the other part was said, he felt embarrassed thinking to himself just how less thoughtful he was.
If the cannibals take the moment when they are celebrating to attack, then wouldn't they all be eradicated?
He couldn't help but shudder when he thought about that.