Monarch of Solitude: Daily Quest System

Chapter 191 - Luxury Ranch

By the time Rino returned, Sheila and Bink were almost on the brink of tears. Initially, Rino thought that something horrible happened in his absence and nobody told him right away. However, he soon found out it was completely opposite.

"My liege! You've returned at last." Sheila bowed humbly as Rino dismounted Mutt.

"Why the fuss? Who died?"

The joke wasn't funny, and Rino almost thought someone died until the drow revealed it was quite the opposite.

"We're moving up the schedule for the animal pen migration. The barn is finally done. There's only a little problem…"

Oh? The barn project was finished at long last, and Rino couldn't wait to see the results. However, the mention of a problem concerned him. Did the animals really die? Perhaps they suffered some illness in his time away, unable to adapt to the new home.

"I think it's easier if my lord sees it for himself. The situation is a little absurd."

Hardly a person lacking words, Rino found it strange that Sheila found herself tongue-tied about the subject. This only made Rino more curious about what was going on. He had a new daily quest coming tonight, and Rino hoped there were no other problems while he was gone. The dike he asked to be dug, and water wheels by the river stone hut he wanted should be making good progress. The only project Rino foresaw that might have some issues would be the grindstone one.

Even from afar, the barn was very impressive now that it was completed. The shiny black stone roof and reddish jungle wood walls were very eye-catching. The windmill that stood in the distance behind the barn only added to the countryside vibes. This was the farm life that Rino always envisioned himself living after his retirement. However, it never happened in his previous world.

The borders around the barn and milking station were fenced up and sectioned properly. Rino recognised that sprinkler system tapping into the town's magic web array. He was slightly surprised that the automated grass watering system used mana-imbued water instead of water from the river.

"Whose idea was it to use mana-imbued water?" Rino asked as he inspected the fence. Even the border was reinforced with magic that could only be done by Rina.

"It was Miss Rina, my king."

Ah, as expected of his disciple sister. Rina had a great mind, and Rino was thankful that someone else managed the projects in town while he was absent. He had to thank that little fairy when he dropped by Cypress County again.

Thanks to the magic water, the grass was growing very quickly. They looked plump and lush enough for any animal to go crazy over it. He wasn't mad that they did this without consulting him. However, he still could not understand why Sheila was concerned. Everything was working out great.

As they walked into what Rino now dubbed a ranch due to the sheer size of the grazing field surrounding the barn and milking house, he could hear it now. The cacophony of noises coming from the barn made him pause. There weren't this many animals when he left. What happened in two weeks?

Turning to give Sheila a questioning look, the drow merely lowered her head and offered no advice. Rino took it upon himself to find out why she was so distressed.

The barn had two levels, all according to Rino's grand design. The upper level was meant for the rabbits and quails because they were smaller and easier to manage. There was also a small place for storing animal feed in the barn to make things easier for the caretakers. Things like feeding troughs and bathing holes were properly built as Rino walked into the barn. 

However, the mountain goats and pygmy hogs on the lower floor looked slightly strange to him.

"Sheila," Rino called out. "Is it my imagination, or are there twenty goats and hogs in here? Last I checked, there were only two of each."

Swallowing hard, the leader of the drows tried to explain it in the simplest manner. When this happened, Rina was smart enough to run back to Cypress County, leaving her to explain the mess, and Bink was too afraid to come out, claiming that all he did was build the darn barn.

"M-magic water and grass in their diet made them reproduce crazily, and the babies grew up within a few days, producing more heirs, and now we're worried that interbreeding might cause some deformities in the next batch of children. For now, we've stopped letting them graze in the fields."

In-breeding was a thing that caused genetic failure and deformities. Rino glanced at the twenty animals and praised Sheila for the damage control. At first, he didn't think too much about the in-breeding problem because he wasn't expecting a magical growth spurt. However, the problem they were facing could be considered a happy one.

"Gather the drows and Kamiya's clan. You're all going on an animal hunting spree. Sort the goats out to give some to Noir Province. After several generations of different diet and breeding groups, it might be possible to exchange some of the new generations for future farming success."

Heeding his instructions, Sheila summoned her clan members and gave orders to find new mountain goats and bring them back to the ranch. The goat and pygmy hogs were given foraged food and none grown from the farms in Town Zera. Less magic influence would be better for these magically induced animals.

The milking house was full, and Rino could hear Zes, his newly appointed milk master, struggling to coax the new nanny goat. He could see traces of shadow tendrils snapping, but Zes was very capable, so Rino left him to his task. After all, there were already two full barrels of milk sitting outside of the milking house. He couldn't wait to turn them into butter and cheese and share it with Kragami.

Heading upstairs, Rino was greeted by sleeping quails and bunnies. At least this side of the barn was still relatively sane. It was oddly quiet, and Rino guessed Rina must have included some sound barriers so that the false environment could convince the quails to lay more eggs by cheating their sense of time using magic. 

The troll that Rino appointed as the barn manager hobbled out to greet Rino. He just finished his round of cleaning the quail's pen when Rino arrived. Quasimodo appeared a little buffer than Rino remembered him to be two weeks ago, but the troll's gentle nature still shone through those biceps.

"How is everything?" he asked.

The hunchback troll grinned toothily. "They like the new barn a lot. It took no coaxing to have everyone move over. The quails and rabbits love the new playpen they share during exercise time, and the chicks are almost ready for their first mating season."

So soon? Rino stopped questioning these things now that he knew what kind of effect his animal feed grown with the help of magic had on regular animals. At this rate, they might evolve into low-levelled monsters. The pygmy hogs were already showing minor signs of evolution, not that Rino told his barn workers.

It didn't really matter if this was going to be a barn full of fat animals or magically cultivated monsters. Rino could only think of them as food and future resources. It was both a good and bad thing that they were growing so quickly. Rino had more food than he knew what to do with them. Meat wasn't something that the gods accepted as an offering for some reason. There were only a few ghouls who needed to eat raw meat from time to time.

Rino inspected the new barn and checked the magic perimeters for the next hour. Rina did a great job of putting everything together, and the lich found no issues. The barn project turned out to be such a resounding success that it could no longer be called a barn. Instead, Rino decided that this was a luxurious ranch. 

As Rino strolled in the fields, Rino spotted different colours between grass patches and wondered if it was part of his imagination or a trick of the lighting. However, as he spent the next fifteen minutes walking around in the grazing pasture, Rino finally understood why many of his animals were pregnant.

That junior disciple sister of his mixed in some breeding grass into the magically grown regular grass. How sneaky! She must have done so secretly because not even Schäfer knew about it. The killer rabbit was in charge of letting the animals out for grazing, but even he did not notice the difference.

Maybe he needed to have a little tea session with Rina after all. Rino took one last sweep across the vast grazing field and wondered if he should tell his farmers to remove the breeding grass. Then, he decided against it. More animals were better than fewer animals. They could always kill the adults if the population spilt over and feed the children magic grass if they needed new adults for breeding urgently.