Chapter 104. Home again

Madu moved her head as she noticed the difference in surroundings. "Am I correct in assuming we are on your land now? Because if that's the case is there any way I can go back to get my stuff?"

I will arrange it for her. Please give her my message.

"Your Deed will find a way to get you your stuff Madu but yes we are back on my farm. It seems my own Deed was a little impatient." I grumbled.

If you knew what it cost to even send you there without a quest completion you would understand why I was so impatient. It would have been simpler if you had just slept with the spider.

That sounds like a you problem Deed. You know my stance on more girls in my harem and how they must join. Forcing me to sleep with them is not a valid reason and will not yield results. If you had wanted something quicker then you should have given me a different quest.

I could almost feel my original Deed sigh before it's presence shifted to something that wasn't me. Like it couldn't be bothered fighting me on this.

"Well I'd say your place looks nice to be polite but I feel that would fall on deaf ears." Madu snickered at her own joke as I finished my internal conversation. "Instead I'll be realistic and say it smells like the frozen mountains in winter while also having a very powerful burning smell. Like lava is running through a frozen river."

"You ain't far off with that." I sighed. "I mentioned that Tarakona was a frost Dragon but just before we were sent to your land we were visited by her mother. Due to family breeding and some dominant genes her mother is a fire Dragon."

"Oh... Yeah that would explain the burning smell." Madu said as she moved her head around like she was inspecting different parts of the land. Her tongue would dart out at different intervals to add to her senses.

That was actually a pretty good idea. I didn't get a chance to look at what Tithalia had done and there were still dregs of Tarakona's frost everywhere. It would be good if I could check exactly what was still standing.

And it would give Voras a chance to talk with Zeldi alone. The Arachne was stepping from side to side as she kept shooting glances at Zeldi like she had something to say.

"Well I need to go check the damage the farm has sustained, does anyone want to join me?" I asked managing to catch Zeldi's eye and indicating towards Voras.

"No thank you. I've got to go get started on dinner. Want to help me Voras?" Zeldi expertly caught onto my meaning.

"Ummm yes. That would be great." Voras stumbled over her words but got there in the end.

"Je vais bien sûr suivre Clovek, au cas où il aurait envie de s'amuser." (I will of course, follow Clovek, just in case he wants to have some fun.) Madu sang as she started to spin and sway on her tail.

It reminded me of the way snakes would bob along with a snake whisperer as they played their flutes. And yes her hood and snakes matched her rhythm.

"Do you think I should just deny anything she says in French unless she translates it?" I asked the girls.

[There are certain patterns she uses that I could possibly use to translate into something we actually understand. My mother used a similar method of magic when I was still living with her.]

"Don't you dare maîtresse (Mistress) I need him to be blissfully unaware of my flirting or he will realize how incredibly needy I have been!.. Oh... I was ment to say that... You know... Gods. What I meant to say was Je veux que Clovek ignore à quel point j'ai eu besoin de lui. (I want Clovek unaware of how needy I have been towards him)" Madu stopped dancing and pouted.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say we all know." Zeldi laughed. "We women have a sixth sense when it comes to other women flirting with our man regardless of language."

Tarakona let out a low growl.

[Needy snake.]

Madu blushed such a bright red her entire body seemed to turn brown.

"On that note." I said to try and stop myself from laughing. "Tarakona, would you like to join us?"

[I will watch from afar my love. I need to let my frost melt a bit and with all the excitement that has happened I might be due for a nap. Do call out of you need me however and I don't think I need to warn anyone, they should already know what will happen.]

Tilty let out a squeak that we all took to realize that Tarakona's point was aimed at her.

"N-no I'm going to... Do something else that I can't quite think of right now." The Fawn stuttered.

No one else pushed.

I gave a shrug. "Then I'll meet you back at the house afterwards Zeldi?"

"Sounds good Master. Voras and I should have dinner ready in around an hour but if you need more time we can just warm it back up." My little mare nodded before turning to Voras. "Come on. Let's extend your list of recipes by more than just liquified Kobolds."

Voras nodded and followed without complaints.

Tarakona gave a quick glare in Madu's direction as if she were talking to the Lamia before she to moved away and got herself comfortable around the house. She still kept an eye on us but at least she tried to pretend she was sleeping.

Tilty scampered off as quickly as she could leaving just Madu and myself.

"So." I started. "I can give you a semi tour of my land while I check on the more important stuff to see how much of it was damaged and because of your Deed has now joined I have more room to explore. Is there anything I should avoid? Like any terrain you would rather not walk or slide over?"

Madu smiled and brought herself in close. "My scales are tough Clovek. Nothing will be that uncomfortable even without our immortality but if you do feel that way I could always ask to be carried."

"I'll keep that in mind." I joked, well slightly joked.

She was definitely cute and if she kept being as forward as she was it was only a matter of time before Zeldi let her join us. I thought back to the reward the Deed had changed and brought up the list of quests I currently had for the girls.

Zeldi (Centaur milk D-)

Tarakona (Dragon eggs F-)

Voras (Arachnid silk C+)

Dríade (Dryad fruit B-)

Tilty (Fawn antlers F-)

Madu (Venom F+)

That's not a hard quest. Like Dríade we could just sell it for cheap just to complete her quest, though that might require some of us going into town. It might be a good thing for me to do soon so that I can complete Zeldi, Tarakona and Madu's quests all at the same time.

Zeldi would easily give enough milk for the quest in a couple of days and Tarakona already has a few eggs stored in her room... Though they might be frozen at this point. That just leaves Madu.

I picked the hole Tarakona dug as my first area to check mainly because I wanted to see if it was still salvageable. It wasn't a lot of work we put into it but it was still annoying if we had to start over.

"Hey Madu what exactly is your quest reward?" I asked to strike up a conversation with her. She had dropped back and was just following behind.

That was probably for the best as her tail was oddly hypnotic as she slithered around.

"Something to do with my gaze not working on your farm. Pretty pointless really as we're all immune, couldn't even petrify the Fawn if I wanted to." She replied coming up in front and slithering backwards so she was giving the illusion of looking at me.

"It's to protect our children really." I offered as a response then thought about Madu's own children. They would have the power of her gaze and wouldn't be Livestock that could be controlled. Probably a bad way to look at it but something that needs to be considered.

Do not worry. I will make it so her children are only Lamias and not the Gorgon subspecies. With time of course, your Deed is very hesitant right not to allocate additional resources.

"That makes sense with Zeldi being pregnant. You want to make sure they don't do something everyone regrets." Madu nodded. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"What makes you different?" Madu's tail came up around my legs to stop us moving and I felt the hidden strength underneath the scales. Her snakes and gaze took up most of her presence but even within them her tail was a weapon in itself. "Why is everyone so... Happy here?"

"I think it comes down to a different perspective." I answered as Madu slowly pushed me back until I was sitting in her tail like it was a chair.

Madu kept herself at a slight distance and with the way her snakes were staring at me I knew this wasn't some type of foreplay. She was probably trying to make sure she could restrict me if something went wrong.

I caught Tarakona looking our way but she didn't seem to concerned.

"What do you mean different perspective?" Madu asked, her tongue coming out briefly.

"I think, and I could be completely wrong but I think the majority of Deed owners see the benefits of the Deeds as just that. Benefits. They don't want to empower them or whatever completing quest does because it's not worth it to them."

"Elaborate please." Madu made herself comfortable in another section of her tail.

It wasn't just Madu that was interested. I could feel all three of the Deeds paying extra attention as well as Tarakona herself.

"Immortality, resurrections and a master servant relationship with a female that has next to no choice because of whatever pushes them to become a Livestock in the first place. That sounds like any man's dream, so when they get that I think most don't care about getting more. Those that do see everything outside of the Deeds as being a better use of their time." I offered.

"My last Deed owner was female." Madu countered.

"But she didn't further the Deed right? She only abused what she already had." I parried.

Abuse is to weak of a word. If we were made with any choice in the matter I would have revoked her ownership.

"And I think that's the problem." I continued. "Whoever or whatever made the Deeds either wanted to abuse Livestock or they were made to protect Livestock but we're given to the wrong people."

"But that still doesn't answer why you are different." Madu redirected. "You have all this power that you mentioned. So what drives you to do anything differently? Why did you pick helping Zeldi instead of just taking what you could?"

"Because I can." I answered with a smile I knew she couldn't see. "I have sampled the strength that comes with being a Dragon, I have tasted death and been pulled from her embrace on multiple occasions. And I have felt the love of a creature that had trudged through years of abuse and put all her hope in my hands. You can't recreate that even with all the money in the world. So I want to protect it. There is also the fact that Zeldi produces far more milk when she's happy so it's in my best interest to actively provide her something to call home."

Madu's tail constricted ever so slightly.

"Because you can." She repeated before laughing. "That is the silliest reason I could even think of."

Her laughing continued for a minute before she regained control. "Clovek. Deed owner of not one but three Deeds. And he wants to grow his farm, because he can. Not to take over the world or anything like that. But just because he saw a single Livestock living alone and thought, yeah. I can make her life better."

Madu's sightless eyes stared deep into my own.

"Now I can see why Voras likes you."