Chapter 171. Soooo. What’s so bad about him?

Tilty whittled as she became the center of attention.

"Well?" Madu pushed. "You've been saying he's such a threat all day now, so please. Back it up."

Tilty tried again to make herself seem smaller as the girls waited for an explanation. We all knew it was going to have to be something quite extreme for a Gorgon, Dragon, Arachne and Dryad to actually take it seriously.

Kettu looked equally as interested as she repaired the plate she had broken with magic. The seams all disappeared as her fingers traced them.

"He's a-a m-monster." She finally got out through some stuttering.

"Tilty. My last Deed owner pulled parts of my body off with a saw while I was still awake. You will have to give us more than that." Voras dryly hummed making sure her fangs were visible.

"We are also not as defenseless as you," Dríade added. "Zeldi aside."

"Just because I am not a predator like you guys doesn't mean I can't hurt you." My little mare taunted back. "And I can always change the order in which Master will visit you at night."

She really did have a list. Good to know.

Abelha seemed to consider something as she looked between us all before speaking. "Oh. We are all predators, well except for Zeldi."

"You consider bees as predators?" Dríade asked with a raised eyebrow.

Abelha opened her mouth, revealing sharpened teeth and mandibles she could hide behind them as well as a tupe that she could slide out at will. We were all surprised by the development. "I definitely don't have the mouth of a herbivore, and while I prefer nectar and pollen, I can eat meat off a carcass if needed. I will avoid greenery, however, as that doesn't provide the substance for my body."

Learn something new every day.

Dríade was the most interested in this new development and I could already see her planning to implement this new discovery into her next body.

Tilty was not calmed by the creatures around her.  "You guys don't understand."

"Then make us!" Voras demanded, bringing herself up as high as she could on all eight of her legs. It made her rather imposing, especially because she spent most of her time trying to be submissive. "Give us a reason to fear him, Tilty, because right now all you keep saying is that he might buy us!"

Silence descended on our group, and I swear the room got darker as Voras dominated. "If you don't believe in Clovek, then take this piece of advice, Tilty. Deed owners may seem invincible, but they can be harmed on their land with certain conditions. If we are sold to him, it will be the last purchase he will ever make, and that is after I make sure Clovek understands what breaking my trust entails."

Tilty and I both swallowed at that. I may have forgotten about that information, or the fact that Voras knew how it worked.

"Dallas is a master at manipulation." Tilty finally said. "He masks himself as a trader while controlling an underworld that can bring anyone to their knees. Even my father fears what he can do, and that was why I was offered to him. I was the reward for not doing anything to jeopardize his nobility."

"Rats can be burnt out of any nest." Madu hissed. "And a secret civilization is hardly useful to him if we can find a way to keep him dead."

"He won't go silently." Tilty tried to argue.

"We won't go silently," Dríade growled back.

"I'm still waiting for how he will be a problem." I interrupted. "Because there's not much I can think of that he can do that we're not already dealing with or have a solution for. He can't lock us down and stop us from gaining resources, as I can just teleport..."

"And the Kobolds have been trying to do that for a while now with no success," Voras added.

"Exactly. He can't realistically threaten us as we are all immortal and some of us tower above him by several stories."

Tarakona let out a snort of amusement.

"And the only reason he's still alive is because he's the owner of a Deed with at least one Livestock." I finished.

"When you put it that way," Tilty murmured. "He will still come up with something, though. He will find something you want more than everything here Clovek."

"Everything I want is here." I returned.

"If I may?" Kettu joined the conversation with a raised hand. "What if we go to his farm in person? Just see what he's like. It would be a simple thing to gauge the best way to approach the situation, as it seems you guys are hesitant about something that I am unaware of. In my experience continuous death still has an affect."

We were all quiet for a space of time as we mulled over the suggestion. Surprisingly, it was Dríade who came up with the answer.

"They're afraid for Clovek. He's not got the best track record of not being an idiot, especially if it involves saving someone. As for the hesitation? That's because we don't... Can't kill him. The Deed and Livestock he possesses are something we want to acquire first. Voras can catch you up on the whole big Deed plan she has but the underlying problem is that his power while we can take it away by killing his Livestock we don't want to."

[It is also why we do not want my mother to get involved. She doesn't have the best skills when it comes to being subtle or calm. She is much more likely to kill the Deed than try to reason with it.]

"You are underestimating Tithalia there. She can do a lot of things if she puts her mind to it." Kettu responded with a smirk.

[When she puts her mind to it. I don't think a threat to her granddaughter will have a calm approach from her.]

"So steal the Deed and Livestock from him, then kill him properly." Abelha summed up.

She made it sound so simple, like popping to the grocery store for a snack.

"He won't let you get close to her." Tilty sighed, having accepted that we were just dismissing everything she said about Dallas. "If he has a Livestock that willingly brings him back, she will be secured behind whatever money can buy."

""That won't be a problem"", both Kettu and I said at the same time.

The girls all snickered at that.

"Well, that decides it then." Zeldi nodded. "Clovek and Kettu will go to Dallas's farm tomorrow to find out as much as they can and hopefully free this Livestock of his."

"And when she's gone, we can deal with him properly." Madu hissed, getting nods from Voras and Dríade.

"It will also give Kettu an opportunity to decide if she wants to stay here with us." Zeldi continued, giving the Kitsune a smile. "You have my vote for staying, but you haven't made up your own mind yet. Otherwise you'd have bonded with Master already."

Kettu gave a shy smile back before looking in my direction. Tarakona's explanation was still fresh in my mind, so I knew she was primarily here for the opportunity to get pregnant, but my Dragon had stressed that she wanted Kettu to be happy. The same happiness she has now.

"You have the rare opportunity to choose if you wish to live as a Livestock or not," I said with a shrug. "It will forever be your choice."

"My choice was decided the moment I knew what you could potentially do for me." She replied back softly before looking at the rest of the girls. "Though I fear Tarakona has stretched my wish just a little bit, I am in no rush due to your own aversion to time's touch. If there is a wait time or something else I must accomplish first, I will accomplish it without hesitation. If you simply need me to join a queue because I was not here first, I will wait. The last thing I want is to upset any of you."

"I don't know. Tarakona was very clear on what you wanted. Tu veux que ta chatte soit remplie à ras bord autant que possible." (You want your pussy filled to the brim as much as possible) Madu grinned as she tried to look innocent.

Nobody bought it.

"I am unfamiliar with that dialect. Where does it originate from?" Kettu asked curiously, with one of her ears flopped to the side.

"Don't bother trying to understand her, Kettu. Just assume everything she says in that language is sexual in some way." I interrupted before Madu could say what she wanted to.

"I see." Kettu hummed before smiling at Madu. "Oui. Je souhaite que mon utérus soit rempli autant que possible." (Yes. I wish to have my womb filled as much as possible.)

We all stared with open mouths at Kettu's use of French. None more surprised than the Gorgon herself.

"Tu as l'air un peu surpris." (You seem a little surprised) Kettu purred, revealing her pointed vulpine teeth when no one spoke.

Madu turned back to me with a little hesitation. "I liked it better when it was you only knowing a few words."

That got a snicker from Dríade and Voras.

"Maybe you'll translate for us?" Zeldi half-joked towards Kettu as the Kitsune took a sip from her cup, just enjoying the drama.

"Don't you dare!" Madu said with a snap.

"I will do whatever the head mare of this family wants me to do," Kettu replied, trying to hide her own smile behind her cup.

Madu let out a whine that was part groan at no longer having her own secret language.

[I've never known you to be able to speak the language, Kettu. When did you learn that?]

"Not so much learned but more translated with magic. If you travel as much as I have, it's almost necessary to avoid getting swindled by some merchants or those that wish to abuse your lack of knowledge."

"Handy."

"Can we please return to Dallas? I'd very much like to kill him permanently. I've not killed a Deed owner in a while, and this one is making my murder boner grow." Dríade almost seemed to spit it out.

Tilty tried again to hide herself away.

"Nothing to return to," Voras said to the Dryad. "Clovek and Kettu go to his farm tomorrow and try to free his Livestock. Once she's safe, we go do what we're good at."

Voras, Dríade and Madu all nodded at that.

"Interesting family you have here," Kettu said to me. "You have done well to temper their personalities."