Chapter 149. Getting everything in order

After thoroughly making sure I had made up for lost time, I left Tarakona's room as the Dragon lay splayed out on her frosty bed. Tarakona hadn't wanted to be watched or had any of the other girls join in, so her room had been the best option.

She had mumbled about getting around to digging when she got up, but then also mentioned that she hadn't slept much last night in her excitement. So I didn't say anything when she dosed off. It may have stroked my ego just a little bit as she lay there satisfied and full of my seed.

It was also stroked a lot more when Zeldi greeted me with a smile and little else to demand her milky time now that I was done with Tarakona. This, of course, had resulted in her having her own time with me.

This all meant that I had to start my actual jobs at around midday because of the distractions. Well, I could say that I was looking after my Livestock so I was technically already working...I could make that argument, right? Regardless, I did have non-sex-related jobs to do now that I was free.

Leaving the house allowed me to see the Dryad's hard at work tilling the field close to where the stream left my land, with Dríade herself joining in. They had roped Tilty into joining them as well. It had been the best place for them as it had access to water, but more importantly it wasn't too damaged by a certain Dragon and her fiery personality.

Dríade had mentioned something about fixing the rest of the land in the future, and I'd chosen to trust her.It wasn't like I knew where to start without bringing soil from elsewhere to mix in and break up the scorch marks.

Abelha was buzzing around in the sky with fascination as she was pointing out things and talking to herself as if she already had her hive with her, while Voras's silk nest stood out against the green foliage.It gave the farm some life that it had been sorely missing the entire time I'd been here. It was nice and told me I was doing the right thing. The smiles each of them had were just the icing on the cake. Even the Dryads were smiling as they worked.

"Clovek. May I speak to you?" Voras asked, sneaking up behind me as I admired everything.

I whipped around quickly in surprise. "Sure. Anything I should be afraid of?"

Voras shook her head before stopping herself. "Well, not afraid per say. I just want to plan for the future with you."

"Oh. Well sure. There are a few things that we need to prioritize, but if you have anything you want, I'm sure we could fit it in somewhere." I started as Voras gave me a soft smile of her own.

"That is precisely what I would like to confirm with you. I'm sure you remember that I told you where Madu lived, right?" Voras asked, turning around slightly so that she was facing the automatic butcher. She waited until I joined her before starting to walk in its direction.

"Yes. You left her on that plateau for when you found someone for the big Deed." I relayed, remembering that quite clearly. Her entrance into our lives had been... Exciting to say the least.

"Well, there are others." She drew out as we reached the silver box. "Others I would like to bring here but..."She stopped talking as if the words were hard to say.

"But?" I pushed.

Voras held her hand up to one side of the silver box. "But we lack the ability to properly care for them right now. The rooms you give are incredibly valuable, but Abelha just clarified a problem we have had for a long time. Food. Specifically for carnivorous."

I bit the inside of my lip. I knew she was right, and when I looked at my farm points, I found I was sitting around the two thousand and eighty six mark. It would be easy enough to get a few more of the butchers to fix this issue.

Watching me, Voras interrupted before I could do anything. "Getting more of these would not fix the problem. At least not fully."

"How so?" I questioned. My entire plan had been to get more of them until our group consumption was less than what we produced.

"Because only you can access it. The thought is good, Clovek, but we are too reliant on you for food right now. It is partly why we have not requested that Madu get the ability to leave. She could easily deal with the Kobold problem, but right now, that problem is our main solution to another problem. We don't want to solve it." Voras answered with a sigh. "I'm sorry. It sounds like I'm blaming you, and that isn't my intention. You have a lot to deal with."

I stopped. She was right.Interacting with the automatic butcher, I emptied its contents into my inventory before offering a few slabs to Voras. If she was living off only Kobolds, I'm sure she wanted something else. Just as expected, her eyes lit up at the offered meat, and she immediately began wrapping it all up into a single cocoon.

"You are right, though. It was meant to be my solution, but it's turned into more of a way of delaying the problem." I mused as I watched Voras bite through the silk with her fangs.

*Deeds? Please tell me you have a solution?*

Potentially... We could modify the automatic butchers to be accessible to each livestock as well as you, but it will require a rather large donation of your stored points per one. These were originally designed to interact with your inventory, so changing them would be costly.

*But still possible? Like, could I make one for Voras? As in she could control the meat that comes out and everything?*

There was a bit of silence from the Deeds before an answer came.

Yes. It will not be cheap, but yes.

That was almost too easy. Until I saw what 'not cheap' actually looked like.Five hundred points per livestock that can interact with the automatic butcher, and that was only for one. More access would require more points. My remaining two thousand suddenly didn't look like a lot.

Before you ask. These cannot be placed in the Livestock rooms. Complications with its design, let's say, will restrict its ability, so we're just not going to allow it.

Still better than nothing.With a test, I touched the current one and selected the new option. It took five hundred points before giving me a selection of each Livestock currently bound to my land.I picked Voras. Mainly because she was there right now so I could test the limits, but also because she was one of them that needed it.

"Okay, try interacting with this one. Hopefully I've changed it enough that it's now your personal Automatic butcher." I said, looking up at Voras.

"It still surprises me every time you just whip up a solution like it's nothing." She sighed with amusement.

"I'd like to say it's a complete solution, but we still need more of them, and I don't have enough points to get the supply we need just yet." I returned, watching with interest as Voras closed her eyes and placed a hand on the automatic butcher.

Zeldi had described the look I had when I spoke privately to the Deeds, but I could never see it myself. I could only guess I looked like Voras right now as I watched her eyes move under her eyelids as if reading in the darkness.After finding something she liked or that was just interesting, she let out a silent exclamation as her mouth formed the perfect O.

"This is... Well, this is perfect. Can any of us do this?" Voras asked, opening her eyes.She had changed the meat to the flanks of something called a Cave-salamelas. I had no idea what it was, but it had reset the timer in the process, which was interesting to know.

"No. Well, not yet, at least. This one can only be interacted with by you and me for now. It was rather costly to do that, unfortunately. To give you a comparison, I could buy another automatic butcher or give two of you access to one that's already built." I explained.Voras was quick on the uptake as she winced at the explanation.

"I see. Quantity is our problem, but this solution bites into that." She almost growled.

I lay my hand on her own as a comforting gesture. "It's okay, though. I mean, this would solve your food problems, would it not?"

"It would." She relented. "In part."

"Well, I have enough points left to make another and give Madu the same control as you do," I said, pulling the nervous Arachnid in for a hug. "That should be enough for now, right?"

"What about Tarakona? You wouldn't have enough for her." Voras mumbled from inside my chest.

"Whatever you guys don't eat, we give to her, same as I was doing already. We're going to have to rely on her hunting for a bit longer still." I gave as an answer.

It wasn't a good one, I knew, but at least this way two out of three of them were guaranteed not to go hungry while I regained enough points. Tarakona was unfortunately the biggest and therefore more resource-hungry.

"You might want to extend her time off the farm if you can. She will run out of prey within range if we delay for too long." Voras breathed into my shirt like she was trying to remember my scent.

That was a good idea but would require four hundred points. A significant amount, as I needed to save another fifteen hundred for each of her own automatic butchers.Again, I was left with the problem of not having enough points even though I have increased the amount of Livestock on the farm. Might have to put a lot more effort than expected into Abelha's training so that I can get her producing as quickly as possible.