Chapter 92. Back to the grind

I broke the surface of the water from the stream running through my property after trying unsuccessfully to get all of Tarakona off me. As much fun as all that had been it was slightly weird just leaving it against my skin and after we had stopped it was drying in a very uncomfortable way.

So I'd excused myself as the girls started to think up baby names. It was a convenient excuse as names I was familiar with like Sally or Hannah weren't fancy enough for this world.

Again I dunked my head and gave my hair a good shake in the hopes I could get everything out. My answer was a big no when I resurfaced as I could still see small globs sticking to my hair as the water just ran off. I would probably need a brush of some sort to get it all out but for now the majority of it was off my body. If either of the girls complained I smelt funny they could help.

I briefly thought about getting some shampoo and conditioner and remembered the bar of soap is bought for Zeldi all that time ago. It was ment for fur but there's not too much of a difference between hair and fur right?

Either way it was cheap and I could just buy something else if it didn't work.

Not having to worry about points for small things was a great change. I was still saving up for more automatic butchers but between Zeldi and Voras I could splurge a little, especially for things like this.

"Are you busy Master Clovek?" A voice came from behind.

I spun around to find Tilty fidgeting at the edge of the water with one of her antlers in her hand.

Without the bone appendages she was remarkably meek in her appearance, helped by the fact she was looking towards the ground.

"Not at all. How can I help?" I answered. Now that I knew she was there I continued to clean myself but kept my head above the water so I could listen.

"I have come to offer my antlers or only one this time as my other one broke." Tilty replied but made no motion to come into the water to give them to me.

The problem however was that I was naked and still hyped up on Centaur milk so the view of a almost naked Fawn was doing things I'd rather not show.

Tilty herself had gotten ahold of a cloak probably from her ex-guards but it only came down to her hips. And by dam did she have some good hips. The phrase child bearing hips came to mind now that I was actually looking at her which almost made me laugh when I realized instead of an hourglass, Tilty was definitely more pear shaped.

"You don't need to worry about that." I let out remembering Tarakona's advice that those I get their resource off control my resurrections.

"But I do. Zeldi has made it clear that if I am to stay here I must act like a proper Livestock... Or I will be sold back to Dallas. So please, allow me to be a Livestock. Allow me to be one of your Livestock." There was a waiver in her voice that betrayed her desperation.

"I thought you were drugged up so you weren't producing anything?" I asked as I stopped washing and just looked at the Fawn. It was part of the reason we hadn't made this an option in the first place.

"Dríade is an alchemist. Because Jarraw couldn't gain the timber needed for your barn Zeldi made the suggestion that he procure the ingredients needed to reverse the suppressant in my body. And after I got them and Dríade's help I have rid it's effects." Tilty pulled herself up a little straighter and let the cloak drop. "I am ready to offer the full services that come with being your Livestock Master Clovek. Whatever they may be."

I waited a few seconds as I tried to process what she was saying. It made sense and I almost kicked myself for not putting two and two together when Dríade said she was an alchemist. Or was it Voras who said it? Either way Tilty was an easy option for another producer on the farm so long as Zeldi was okay with it.

"And you're sure it was Zeldi who gave you this idea?" I clarified.

"Yes. Mistress Zeldi gave me the option to become a Livestock or be sold off." The Fawn replied and held up the antler as an offering.

I let out a sigh. It was easy enough for me to ask Zeldi herself when she was done with Tarakona and if she was lying selling her off so she wasn't in control of my resurrections was an easy solution.

So I made my way out of the lake towards Tilty slightly enjoying the blush and wide eyed response I got when she noticed I was naked and within touching distance.

"Then thank you. I hope this will become a pleasant partnership." I cryptically said taking the antler and putting on some pants from my inventory.

I of course looked at what was before me while I did so. Tilty had a small chest but those hips and ass. No wonder Zeldi was so obsessed with a specific punishment. Although that could have just been her go to in all honesty.

God, Zeldi was rubbing off on me too much.

"Y-yes." Tilty stammered just as I turned away.

While I did think she was cute I didn't want to disrespect Zeldi by doing anything. Even if I had her permission.

The antler disappeared into my inventory as it was added to my ever increasing methods of point acquisition.

Fawn horn (F-)

Sell for 50 Farm Points?

I had to hide my surprise at the amount of points it was worth at just F- rarity. Tilty would also form two at the same time so it was effectively one hundred points every time they fell out.

There must be some calculation that goes into all this because it's not making a lot of sense. Zeldi and Voras both have low point per item of theirs but they both yield large quantities. Tarakona has a slower output but it's not that valuable for points while Tilty has an extremely high price on her items for no real reason with her rarity being so low.

Of course I knew that even with the way Livestock work there was no way Tilty was going to be efficient with horn growing so it's not like I could rely on it over Zeldi.

That did offer a interesting question as to if high reward but low quantity was better than low reward but high quantity?

Not something I could test now as I'd need two different Livestock that were both (F-) in their rarity to properly test and even then, would knowing the answer change anything?

No. They'd both get everything I could realistically get them to make their lives easier and safer regardless of who made me more Farm Points.

I also didn't take into account that my personal store was not as fluid as the world itself because according to it Zeldi's milk was really valuable while Tarakona's eggs weren't. The Drow certainly didn't agree with that statement.

Discarding that thought I returned my thoughts to practical things I could do now.

Tilty followed behind as I made my way towards the automatic butcher with soft footsteps. I had to turn around to make sure she had feet and found the two toed hooves deer and cattle had. That made sense.

"How quickly can you grow your antlers?" I asked to start up a conversation with her and to figure out exactly what I could get from her.

"Once a week depending on my diet. It requires a lot of different foods to make my antlers." Tilty replied. She'd wrapped herself back up in the cloak as we'd started to walk.

"Different foods like what?" I knew calcium would be required but what else is needed for antlers?

"Anything really. I just need a lot of variation in the foods I eat or my antlers don't grow correctly. And before you ask they grow the same shape every time but if something is wrong they fail and fall out early. I believe they are of less value to you if they do that." Tilty clarified.

Okay that's... Pretty hard to do at the moment. My current foods are oats courtesy of Zeldi's family, meat from the automatic butcher... That's it. Not a lot of variation there unless she wanted to join Voras and her kobold diet.

I grunted a response as I tried to think about how to fix that. My mind kept going back to the homunculus things. If I could start a proper farm then that would give me some variety in vegetables to grow.

Then if Dríade decides to play nice we could have her run an orchid for fruit. If she were interested, otherwise I'm sure there were some homunculi that could do that as well.

That would cover all of our bases. Fruit, vegetables and meat.

I came up to the automatic butcher and winced.

That was a plan for far into the future as making sure I could feed Tarakona and Voras without relying on outside help was my first priority even if it ment taking a hit to Tilty's production. Who knows when she might run out of Kobolds?

"And what are your antlers good for?" I asked with more of a sigh than I ment to.

"Mana amplification. I originally sold them to a Smith who made weapons with them before I poisoned myself." Tilty winced. "It was popular with mages and spellswords as in gave them more power for less Mana."

Interesting. I wonder if I could use that around the farm for anything? There had to be some tool or something, right?