Chapter 8: Why Not Get Livestock!?

"I feel something is wrong. Investigate." A mysterious figure with fat that rolls like mountains said in the goblin language, causing several goblins to leave and begin a search.

"Alright, Kenna and I are leaving to get livestock, if there are any individuals who ask what you're doing here, just say you are camping." Arnott said sternly.

"Yes, master." The dwarf, Helga said with a bow. Satisfied with the response, Arnott set off with Kenna to a ranch with various livestock.

"What all do we have for trading?" Kenna asked.

"We'll be stopping by the city first, I need to sell some things, then I'll be using the money from that to get some livestock." Arnott explained.

"I see, how much money do you think we'll need?" Kenna asked.

"Five gold, maybe less." He said.

"Why so much?" Kenna asked.

"Animals are an investment, they provide consistent money over time, chickens, for example, lay eggs and you can sell those eggs for money, with cows, you can sell their milk, then, when they're aged, you can slaughter them and sell their meat and bones. The farmers will keep this in mind when selling livestock, so they'll want at least a decent portion of their potential profit back." Arnott explained.

"I think I understand. So you'll provide an offer based on the estimate of potential profit?" Kenna asked. Arnott nodded.

"There are also other things I can do to get discounts, such as allowing the farmers to have sex with one of you girls and if they are lacking an heir, I can allow them to keep you for around a year and birth an heir and nurse them for as long as necessary." Arnott added.

"I understand master, I will prepare myself in case it does come to that." Kenna said. Arnott nodded in approval. After a day or so of walking, they reached the city, sold their goods, and gained a total of two gold pieces.

"Two..." Kenna said as she looked at the coins in Arnott's hand.

"It's nothing to worry about." Arnott said. "Lead the way to the farms." Arnott said. Kenna did as she was told. Within the hour, they reached a farmhouse and Arnott knocked on the door.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" The farmer asked as he opened the door.

"I was looking to purchase some livestock, would you happen to have anything you'd be willing to sell?" Arnott asked. The farmer thought for a moment.

"I have a few hens and a couple of cockerels, other than that, I can't give you anything, winter's gonna be a bit rough this year." The farmer said.

"How much?" Arnott asked. The farmer bobbed his head a bit as he thought.

"A gold, that'll get ya five hens and two cockerels." He said. Arnott nodded and handed the man a gold.

"Alright, then, give me a moment to get a cage." He said as he nodded and bit the coin, checking how real it is. He went inside for a moment, then came out with a fairly large wooden cage with handles on either side. The cage could easily house ten chickens."If one of you could grab the other side, that'd be handy." He said.

Arnott grabbed one of the handles and the farmer grabbed the other and they went to the chicken pen.

"You don't exactly look like the farmin' type, so I'll tell ya now, they'll eat insects, grain, seeds, and plenty of other things, so make sure you feed 'em right." The farmer said.

"Thank you for telling me." Arnott said. 'It's not that I didn't know it, but I imagine I look like a noble in my business attire.' Arnott thought to himself.

"Alright, I'll get them in, and once I'm done you can take 'em." He said. Arnott nodded and began his wait. Several minutes later, the farmer had finished. "Alright, they're all yours now." He said.

"Thank you for your business." Arnott said. The farmer nodded. "Kenna, take the other handle." Arnott said as he grabbed hold of one of the handles.

"Yes, my lord." She said as she took the handle.

"We'll drop these off at home and then continue our shopping." Arnott said. Kenna nodded. They made the trip back, explained how to care for the chickens, and instructed the home team to construct an enclosure for them and one for the cattle they planned to get, then went back to the city.

"We should see if any farmers are selling excess cattle in the market area, master." Kenna said. Arnott nodded and began walking in the direction of the market. After a bit of searching, they managed to find some semi-cheap cattle, though it was mostly bulls.

"At the very least, we can slaughter some of the bulls and preserve the meat for winter." Arnott said.

"Indeed, we can also save the other cattle and have them breed in the summer, then they should give birth in the following spring." Kenna said.

"You seem rather knowledgable about this topic." Arnott said.

"When I was young, my father worked closely with many of the nearby farms for eggs and flour." Kenna said.

"I see, I'll be relying on your information more in the future as well, then." Arnott stated. Kenna nodded.

"As you wish, master." She said.

"Alright, we should head back, we have enough for now, we'll see about getting more next year." Arnott said. 'We managed to get seven chickens and fourteen cows from the past few days of searching, eight of the cows are male, leaving six females. Hopefully that'll be enough." Arnott thought to himself.

Upon getting back, the chicken enclosure had been finished and they had been working on the cattle enclosure, while they waited for the fenced area to be finished, they tied the cows to trees.

"Make sure we always have at least two people keeping an eye on the cows." Arnott ordered Kenna.

"Yes, master." She said as she went to get someone to help her with the first shift. Arnott went to the cave. As he entered he saw Opal weaving rope.

"Hand me your knife." He said. Opal grabbed her knife from her boot and gave it to Arnott.

"You're certain about this?" She asked. Arnott nodded.

"He's more likely to get us caught if he were to continue living here, at this point, we've already gotten everything we needed from him." Arnott said. Opal nodded, then continued what she was doing.