Cub Raising Association

Chapter 17: Into his arms

More than half a month later, the northern part of Gaia Star was still in the grip of winter and the temperature had only gotten lower. In some areas snow had even fallen and colored the ground white.

The Yunbao branch was slightly better off and had managed to escape the snow so far, however to Xie Tao, who was not used to cold, the low temperature was enough to make him shudder.

(T/N: (╥﹏╥) ...I feel so betrayed by this part. I'm from northern Sweden, snow is already covering the ground, so when he described the horrible cold in the past chapters, I thought that it must at least be  -20 to -30 C and that the snow at the roadside was at minimum knee deep... )

Compared to the other staff members in the club who were only wearing thin clothes, Xie Tao really stood out with his layered and thick clothing. After the temperature dropped further in the last few days, the layers had even increased, but no matter how much clothes Xie Tao put on, he was somehow still not able to retain heat.

When he went to sleep at night, he would even unconsciously hold the fluffy Knox close to his body in order to feel his heat and warm himself.

"Ah Tao, do you really feel that cold?" Everyone else in the branch were not bothered by this temperature and certainly would not describe it was cold. So after observing the human youth's behavior these past days as he wrapped himself up even more and occasionally shivered, Xia Qi could not help but curiously ask this.

Hearing her question, the few people who were busily working nearby paused their actions and looked over at Xie Tao, they had all been wondering the same thing.

Gaia Star was very far from the Earth Federation and although this was a trading planet, not many humans would visit it. The inhabitants therefore knew very little about the human race and most of their knowledge was very vague.

They only knew that after being separated from their weapons and equipment, human beings were generally very weak. However they were not sure as to which extent this  vulnerability reached. But after seeing Xie Tao's behavior...

Was it really true that he would freeze to death if he did not cocoon himself in clothes?

With their own and most others' physiques being far better than humans', they had a hard time comprehending this. The only time their races felt cold and needed protection from it was when they were still newborns or inside an egg.

Faced with everyone's questioning eyes, Xie Tao could only helplessly nod.

All the thick clothes he was now wearing had been brought from his original world by using the rule. Since the other races seemed to not be affected by the cold, there was no demand for winter clothes. Because of this there was no market for it and not even a single shop on Gaia Star sold thick clothes.

Xie Tao had accepted that adults of other races were not afraid of the cold, but when it came to the cubs, he was still worried. He was especially concerned about the mermaid cub who, during the winter months, continued living outside in the pool.

"Won't the water temperature be too cold?" Xie Tao squatted down and reached out to test the water's temperature. As soon as he came in contact with it, he couldn't help but frown.

Even though the buildings were poorly insulated, it was much colder outside, and by just touching the surface with his fingers, Xie Tao could feel that the water was ice cold.

When Xie Tao had walked closer, a small head with golden hair had emerged and swum closer. Although the small delicate face did not show any emotion, one could read his mood just by looking at the ice blue tail that was excitingly swaying in the water.