Chapter 8. Housing issues.

"Thank you Master." Zeldi finally broke the silence.

I waved her off giving one last look down the path to make sure they were gone. "I told you I wouldn't sell you."

"But that was a lot of money you turned down. And the threat of not reaching town wasn't an empty one. She may not be able to kill us but she can starve us out."

I looked back at Zeldi to find she'd eaten the whole apple, core and all. I thought about her stats to see if anything had changed.

Zeldi

Comfort too low. Production decreased as a result.

Production quality: D-

Livestock possess permanent upgrades that stop her milk going being below a D- quality rank.

Nope. Well apart from a few percents. I was definitely happy to see her comfort had improved. Her food and water had decreased but that was expected.

"She won't starve us out don't worry." I said pulling out another apple and throwing it at her. "If you keep making me milk I will be able to feed us even without leaving the farm."

"You can?" Zeldi said catching the apple. "How?"

I couldn't help smiling as she took a huge bite and made her eyes role back into her head.

"Sooooo good."

I quickly brought my shop back up and purchased three pears. It was totally for the diversity of her foods and not because I wanted to see her make that face again. Though I admit they weren't the best apples I've ever had.

"When you're done I've got something else for you to try." I said holding up one of the pears.

Zeldi's ears wiggled adorably as she spotted her next treat.

"How?" She repeated.

"Completed a quest. I can sell and buy stuff from anywhere, though the method doesn't progress your personal quest unfortunately." I replied astounded due to how quickly she inhaled the apple and stood waiting with her mouth almost drooling.

I didn't let her wait long and closed the distance between us to put it in her hands. I also used the opportunity to place a kiss on her forehead and squeeze her boobs. "Got to fill these back up after all."

Zeldi buried her face in my own chest to hide as she nibbled on the pear. "I will do my best." She whispered.

Her ears tickled me as they danced against my chin and I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled to the surface.

"Come on then let's see if there isn't a few more of your comfort stats we can't increase before we milk you tomorrow." I suggested looking towards the sun as it was playing peak a boo with the horizon.

The easiest one I could think of was her bed. Her sleep had been the next lowest thing and if possible it would help the sexual frustration as well. Maybe that one was more for my benefit but I wasn't going to complain if there was a bonus.

"Right. Umm. Is it possible for us to to eat then bathe?" Zeldi seemed he hesitate at the last part.

"Sure. I could use a shower." I replied.

Zeldi's ears flopped down and I knew the next part was going to suck. "I don't have a shower Master, or even hot water. To survive this far I've been selling whatever items Tilty would take to purchase gruel for myself. It is all she would take."

"So wait a minute. She bought your shower and only gave you gruel to eat for it?"

Zeldi shook her head then untangled herself from my embrace. "She bought anything that could be considered a comfort. She bought my bed, my kitchen utensils anything that would have made my life easier or comfortable. In return I was allowed to buy a soupy gruel and anything a horse would need." She almost spat out the last part so I made a note to not compare her to one in the future.

"Why?"

"So that I would sell myself. I was the caretaker before you accepted the deed so I had control over all the livestock. Tilty couldn't do anything about that and it vexed her to no end."

"So instead she tried to make your life miserable so that you would eventually sell yourself to her?" I mean she was doing something similar to us now I guess. "What about your milk? Couldn't you sell that?"

Zeldi sighed and started making her way towards the front door. I followed.

"No traders remember? Can't sell my milk if no one will buy it. Then there was my old milking machine. Somehow it broke mysteriously that forced me to sell it and the one you saw before was all Tilty apparently had. It left me with no opinion but to deal with her or starve. An option that is infinity better than actually selling myself. I know what she will do to me if she gets her way."

We entered the house and I made sure to lock the door.

Zeldi grabbed the glass off the couch where I'd left it and went to the sink to fill it up. The Centaur mare then gulped it down before going for another, then another again. She didn't stop until she'd downed seven glasses before finally coming up for air. I might have been worried but I did have almost three liters of her milk in my inventory so she needed to replace the liquid somehow.

I took the opportunity while she was sucking in air to look around the lounge properly and after what Zeldi had said I could pick out the barron areas that had once held items. It left the whole space feeling a bit depressed.

I started to wonder deeper into the house when I heard Zeldi turn the tap back on, evidently not done drinking yet and found her bedroom in the first door I came across.

Well bedroom was probably an embarrassing term for the room as it only had a pile of straw covered by a thin blanket in the middle. That was it. No shelving, no clothes drawers no nothing. The only reason I knew it was her bed was because of the Centaur sized divot in the middle that can't have been comfortable to sleep on.

So bed. Add that too the list of things I want need to buy.

The next room along looked to be for storage at one point but lay empty now. Faint dust lines told stories of what use to be but lay ever silent now.

The last room was the one at the very end and the smell told me what this room was before I even reached it. Or what it use to be.

The door was stuck and I should have just left it like that but my curiosity wouldn't let me. That and I would need to get rid of the smell sooner rather than later.

Giving a heave I shouldered the door and accidentally broke the lock. Oops. At least the door opened now. Though the smell was definitely worse because of that.

It was suppose to be a bathroom but both the bath and the toilet were nowhere to be seen. Probably sold as they would be considered 'comforts' I guess. The sink was also missing and in place of them all was a big hole.

Zeldi had attempted to make a long drop of sorts though it wasn't deep enough and to try and fix it, she looked to have tried to fill it in. This had partially worked but not quite.

Add toilet to the list I guess. Though this was going to be a nightmare to fix. I couldn't just add the toilet and sink. The whole attempt at a long drop would have to be removed before anything else and even then...

The room was just really small. If I stretched my arms out I could touch both walls with ease and that included the hole that took up almost three quarters of it. There was no way Zeldi would be able to turn around in here so how did she use it?

She would have to open the door then go back out to the lounge to turn because there was no way this hallway was big enough either then walk backwards into the bathroom. That had to be awkward.

As I was tracing the path she would have to take with my eyes I found the Centaur in question nervously shuffling on her hooves behind me.

"I..." She started but then stopped. The disgust in her own voice apparent. "I'm sorry Master. I should have kept everything in order for you. I should have known I didn't have the skills to modify your home."

I reached out to Pat her head and my hands found the base of her ears to scratch.

"You did what you needed to just to survive. I won't fault you for that. Though this looks like something you did a while ago?" I left the question in the air in case she didn't wish to answer.

"I've been using the old compost pile for a while now. After I tried to..." She indicated to the hole.

Ah. That explains it. Useful if we had crops though.

I nodded before lightly tapping her to step back. Zeldi complied really quickly and I got another view of her hips swaying as she turned her human half around as much as she could to watch where she was going.

Once she was out of the way and I could close the door to the bathroom I immediately felt the smell dissipate by a large quantity.

It might just be easier to burn this whole house and build another. I thought to myself. If I had the necessary skills to do so that is. I could cobble together a shed no problem but one to live in that's big enough for a centaur to move around could be out of my reach.

The shop popped into my head and I went to the buying option to see if houses were a thing. My surprise must have been noticable when I discovered it was as Zeldi turned back around before she was back in the lounge.

"What is it Master?"

I couldn't reply as I browsed the options that had come up. Sure they weren't cheap with some costing millions of FP but they were there. I could buy a house.

I mentally changed the search to 'Centaur house' and the list was shortened by a large margin though the size and price increased.

I couldn't help the smile as I dismissed the menu to find Zeldi with her head cocked to the side as she watched me.

"Yeah we can make this work."