Wanderlust Beastkin, Beauty and the Beastkin-Chapter 96: Checking Out Properties

I looked back at my men who were following us at a distance to give us a semblance of privacy and thought to myself that I’d really lucked out.

Also that it looked like a sexy precession, and since I’m already pregnant, I should practice my pouncing skills. I also have a few projects that I want to initiate. I need to get a home in order, get ready for the babies, get my Fluffy to make some supplies for me, and a few other things.

We walked down a dirt path that was busy, but the males around looked at the two of us females and then backed away after meeting the gazes of my males.

"I hope you like one of them," Sugar said between bites of her bamboo. "It would be so nice to have another friendly female nearby. Lily lives on the other side of the path. As we walked further and further from the center of town, which was the spa, the number of people on the path thinned out considerably. It was pretty here, the houses were round bamboo huts, surrounded by stripped bamboo fences. The houses looked sturdy, though simple. In front of the doors, there were a couple of simple bamboo chairs. It was pleasant.

Sugar walked up to a house that looked like the others, though a bit smaller. "This is my place. The village won’t let me claim a larger home since I’m still unmated, but I fulfill my single beastkin family village contribution quota by working at the spa, so they don’t give to too much grief. Though I am required to go to singles meetings." Sugar rolled her eyes. "At least it’s better than snatching rituals, so it’s whatever. ’It’s your duty as a female to mate with suitable males and reproduce healthy hatchlings.’ Mildred is the most annoying old female ever! Seriously, just because I’m not mated doesn’t mean I want to be. Who needs the drama? No offence," Sugar said while gesturing to my males. I like watching sexy males from a distance, occasionally having some fun, and sending them back to their homes afterwards. I don’t bring the drama home, and if two males want to fight over me, they’re free to do so, but that doesn’t mean they get to have me just cause they said so. Speaking of enjoying a show, are you going to come to the annual flamingo dance? It shouldn’t be missed."

She walked over to the house next to hers, a house that was in the same style as hers, but the main room was five times the size and there were three rounded extensions on the back. "This is the newest addition to the village, an absolute monstrosity that rivals the village elders homes. They were hoping to use it to lure in a beautiful female with a lot of strong males to help protect the village and add more contribution points."

"How do contribution points work?"

"Oh...you must have lived in a snatching village," she cringed. "Those are the worst! Well, you’re out of there now. Contribution points are the amount of contribution a family is required to give to live in the village. Housing, healthcare, guards, schooling, and basic rations are provided for as long as you meet your contribution quota. So there are no homeless or starving beastkin in this village. There are different jobs that are posted that are worth contribution points, or if you have a skill, you can open up a business, practice, or be an active member of a guild. It doesn’t matter who in your family does what or even if some of the members do nothing, as long as your family’s quota is met. For females, laying healthy hatchlings is also worth contribution points, and once the family’s quota is met, they’re paid in gems for the jobs they accomplish. A family’s quota is based on how many adult members are part of their family unit, so often females won’t mate with a male if he doesn’t have a valuable skill or isn’t really strong. When you purchase a home, you make a contribution loan, and once the loan is paid off, the house is yours free and clear.

You can even move out of the village if you want and use the house as a vacation home without the need for more contribution points if you don’t live in the village. However, if you move away before you fulfil the contribution loan, the ownership of the home goes back to the village. If you don’t give contribution points, you don’t get the other benefits, which are really nice once the cold season hits, and the classes you can sign up for are sometimes really interesting. I took really informative foraging, fishing, sewing, and more recently, I’ve been taking aura control classes. I figured since I don’t have any mates and don’t intend to get any anytime soon, I should know how to take care of myself better. I just have an orange Earth elemental power with the ability to control Earth Golems, though I can only create and control two small ones at a time, since my aura is only orange. But a lot of females have red aura’s so I shouldn’t complain. It would really suck to not have access to your own magic and have to use tools all the time that are powered by expensive elemental mana gems."

The idea of being able to take informative classes sounded wonderful. Not to mention the culture, the spa, and education for my soon-to-be-born children. I would never have to worry that if I had a daughter, they would try to put her in the snatching ritual or force her to take a mate that she didn’t want. That was huge, and Elara was meeting me here; we wouldn’t have to worry about the village ordering her to participate in another snatching ritual. It was perfect! It might not always be perfect, but it was perfect for now.

I looked over to my males and caught them talking quietly amongst themselves. "What do you guys think?"

Titus stepped forward and gave me a sexy smile. "I think that it sounds like a great place to settle down and raise our family. Also, the village has an active adventurers’ guild, so I’ll be able to get back to work."

Oliver piped up with flushed cheeks and wide, excited eyes. "I will be able to open a healer’s practice again and contribute to our family. These contribution points sound like something I’m capable of providing." He was so excited at the prospect of providing for the family that he was practically vibrating with happiness.

Milo was equally excited. "We walked past a lively market on our way here, and after we settle in, I’ll look at getting a stall so that I can sell goods. This being a tourism location is ideal for me."

Ira spoke next, "All of the water around here will be excellent for both of us, and I’m sure that I can find ways to contribute. It’ll also be nice to have a roomy place for us to settle down. Maybe we can even convince your friend Elara to move into this village?"

I smiled at Ira. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Whatever you want is fine with me, as long as it doesn’t put you in any danger," said Sam.

I blinked in surprise, while I could have sworn that a light flush appeared on Sam’s face. Though after just an instant, it was gone again.

He cleared his throat. "Besides, this seems like it might be a nice place to settle down and have our babies."

I smiled at Sam, pulled him down, and kissed him on his cheek. He turned his face away after standing straight again. Then he cleared his throat again.

He’s actually a sweetie, though he has a difficult time expressing himself. I’ll eventually break down all of his barriers.

"Alright, it’s settled then. We’ll move here for the time being and see how it goes," I said.

"Great! Why don’t we go into the house and have a look around? It’s the biggest empty house in Mistwood. Which could be great for you, considering your lineup," Sugar said, and then winked at me.

I could feel my face heat up and then smiled. "Yeah, that’s just how it worked out, but I don’t regret any of them. They’re my precious family."

Sugar had sparkling eyes. "Aww! I hope I find some males to make part of my own family soon. It sounds so nice! Alright, here we go," Sugar said while opening up the front door of the large house next to hers. She stepped back to allow me to walk in first. Then gestured for my mates to walk in after me.

"If it’s going to be your place, you should get to enter first," said Sugar with a cheerful look on her face.

I walked in and saw a large, open, round room with walls made from bamboo. The floor was made from even planks. There was light from windows, which were open spaces with a cross of bamboo over the openings. No glass, but I’m not surprised. I wonder if I can get glass from Milo after explaining it. There was nothing in the room, and it was a little dark.

"There aren’t any lamps or candles?" I said.

"What are candles and lamps?" Sugar said.

"Oh, they don’t exist here," I said and then grinned. "I have so much to show you. This is going to be exciting!"

"Great! I love learning about new things!" Said Sugar.

At the end of the room, there were three open doorways, and inside were open rooms with nothing else in them. There was nothing to say what the rooms were supposed to be used for. I suppose I shoudn’t be surprised, but that’s fine too. I can make the rooms what I want and I cave Milo, so I can have him make what I need. How do women here, manage to get by without a crafter mate. Guess they have to look for whatever they want and hopefully find it instead of having things made specifically to their wishes. Really, the other women are missing out so much!

"It’s nice and roomy, so It’ll be great, though it doesn’t come furnished, so you’ll have to stop by the marketplace," said Sugar.

"Milo is a green aura crafter beastkin," I said while pointing at him. "He’s so talented that he can make whatever I want and he’s smart with wonderful creativity."

He flushed at being singled out and praised, I could tell that he was beaming with joy.

"You know, I never thought about getting a crafter mate, but he is adorable, and that seems really convenient. You know, crafters aren’t considered good mates because they aren’t capable of defending their mates, but if one is talented, maybe they could create some weapons or traps."

"Milo could, but he’s also clever enough to protect me. I was kidnapped, and Milo found me and took me back."

By now, Milo was so red that he looked ready to combust. It made me happy to praise him; he deserves it after what he did for me.

"Also, I’m pregnant with his and Oliver’s babies," I said while touching my tummy affectionately. I pointed at my other cutie pie, Oliver, who also flushed happily and puffed out his cute little chest proudly. How adorable!

"Oh! You’re giving them eggs! How refreshing, it’s about time that a female purposely had eggs with a smaller beastkin species! I bet your little hatchlings are going to be adorable! I can’t wait to meet them!"

"Did you know that panda hatchlings are really small? About the size of a palm, even if they’re given a lot of mana before they hatch. Eventually, I’ll have some, maybe eventually our younglings can play together!" Said Sugar.

I smiled warmly at her. "I would like that."

"Now into the yard!" She led us back to the front and we walked around the back of the house. In the backyard, there was a large pool and a marge empry tirepit surrounded by large rocks and some sand.

"Oh it comes with a personal pool, that’ll be great for us!" I said.

"Wonderful! Ira said. "Is the empty land behind this house for sale too? I noticed that there’s quite a bit of land behind it that’s open."

"Yeah, actually it is. They haven’t developed that yet, but they’d be willing to sell it," said Sugar.

"What’re you thinking," I said to Ira.

"I think we should buy it and expand the pool," said Ira.

"Oh! Yeah, that’d be great for us!"

"Oh! Are some of you water beastkin?" Said Sugar.

"That’s right," I said.

"Nice! Lily and her mates are water beastkin too. She expanded her land to include the property behind her lot, but you might not want to swim in her pool, she kind of turned it into a swamp and she gives off a residue when she swims. Though no offense, if you’re a type of beastkin that does too."

We all walked around the property, which didn’t have much to it, but that was fine. It was a great starting point and we could make it our own easily enough.

"So, what do you think, Sweetheart?" Said Titus.

"I love it! We can make this our own. I think it’ll be a great place to raise our babies," I said, practically bursting with joy.

"Do the other properties look like this?" I said to Sugar.

"They do, though they’re smaller. The available one on the other side of this one also has a pool in the back and a large chunk of land behind it, too. It has two rooms attached to it instead of three."

"Is it possible to put a short-term reserve on that one?" I said.

"Why? Do you have someone in mind?"

"My friend Elara is on her way here and it was our plan to live next to each other. She’s also a young female with a yellow aura, so I’m sure that the village would approve of her."

"Wonderful! I’m sure that the village elders will agree to that! It’s not common to put a hold on a property, but it isn’t unheard of. We should go over there now to fill out the paperwork before anyone else has a chance to take these properties!"

Titus stepped forward. "I can set up the paperwork for our family if you want to rest here and have Milo make some things for you. He’s been collecting materials for a while in anticipation of this."

I looked at the guys who were all shaking their heads in agreement while Milo smiled. "I have a lot of different materials in my inventory, so we can get started right away and if I don’t have what we need, I can go foraging. Afterwards, we can take you to the market to do some shopping."

"Oh, shopping! That sounds fun! I’ll leave you be to get settled in, but if you need a tour guide or just want to hang out, come on over any time!" Said Sugar.

"That sounds fun! I’ll also bring over Elara after she shows up. I bet the two of you will get along wonderfully," I said.

Just as we were saying our goodbyes and Titus agreed to walk with Sugar to see the village elders, a large green frog started to bounce towards us. It was about the size of a volleyball, so it was the largest frog I’d ever seen, but it was cute!

Coming Next Time: Lily and House into a Home