Theanore had been busy writing letters to everyone with a horse and a wagon in the Mirstone province all morning. Some have replied they would be happy to help, but not everyone had written back.

That was to be expected, the little nymph reasoned with herself, after all not everyone had the mana to make a mana crystal to send their letters. She had tons of mana that she had no use for.

It was not like she felt it would be better not to expand the grotto, but growing vegetation with mana was bad for the soil, as they took too many minerals and left it starving. Furthermore, she had been reading about compost.

While clover was good compost, animal waste was even better. The thought of sprinkling poop in the fields was weird to Theanore, but she just had to hire people to do it for her.

Some of the farmers that she had rented the land from wanted to still work it and get a cut of the produce. The nymph had been happy to agree. The grotto had a steady supply of food thanks to the ogre tribe, and so she didn’t need the fields, not really.

But what if something happened to the teleport? Food spoils easily, and so there was no way to cart it all the way from No Man’s Land quickly enough. The first delivery that Norgog had to send was from fruit and vegetables that took slightly longer to spoil. But meat was a big no if they ended up waiting on the tunnel for food.

Which made Theanore consider building animal farms. Closer to the forest of fireflies for easier access. She took out a map and began scanning her property for land that was bad for crops, but could still become a pasture.

It took her some time, but she found a rocky field that had a single hut near it. The family that lived there fished from the sea and didn’t use their land. They had been relieved when Theanore had asked them to rent it. Had practically gifted it to her without trying to haggle, in fact.

But she couldn’t just wall the place off and let the animals live there unchecked. She needed to hire someone to take care of them and, and she paled at that, butcher them when there was a need.

Only when there was no other choice. Theanore nodded to herself and called Darion over.

“Dari, how long can a pasture be made from this land?” Asked Theanore the gremlin.

“Well, we will need to plan the details for a year beforehand. Back on Alerion, I was in charge of the pastures for the deer, among other things. The land will have to be tilted; the stones removed. Then, we must make sure there is enough moisture in the soil and that there is enough compost in the soil. And, of course, we can’t just plant when we want. There are different planting periods,” said the gremlin. He looked at the property’s plan again.

“This seems like a bit too much work. But with the ants, I am certain that we can get it done. But why do you need a pasture for?”

“I need to start producing food. We can’t go through another food rationing, Dari. Mari’s aquafarm can’t feed us all. Not for long, anyway. And if something happens to the teleport, we face grim days until it is fixed,” said Theanore. She hugged Princess Strawberry, who never left her side, and turned back towards the map.

“I suggest chickens then. They can stay in a coop, and they don’t need a pasture. I am confident that you can find better land for a pasture too. All you need for a chicken farm is a collection of barns,” said Darion.

Theanore had chickens, but they were more pets than food. The gremlin knew that the little nymph talked to them and gave them hugs as often as she could. If push came to shovel, the chickens would still end up plucked thou.

“Can we have free ranging boars in the forest?” Asked Theanore.

Darion thought about it, but found the flaw in the idea quickly.

“They will imbalance the natural balance of the forest of fireflies. They will eat like locusts and many species will die because of them. Besides, we will need to hunt them and that is too much trouble,” said Darion.

“But pigs in pens around the forest,” said the gremlin, pointing to certain meadows on the map. “That is a better idea. But we will still must feed them. And fodder, with most of our fields still having only seedlings, will be a problem.”

“Can we use the lake to look after ducks?” Asked Theanore. The lake was getting crowded, but there were still some patches of land by it that she had not marked for housing or the greenhouses.

“We can add coops to the greenhouses, I suppose. But we will need to clip the wings of the ducks. So, they can’t fly away,” said Darion. Theanore began to shake her head.

“We can’t do something that cruel,” said Theanore. She imagined the bloody feathers, the look of betrayal in the cute duckling’s eyes, and shuddered.

“Animal husbandry is humane only to those who eat the animals, Theanore!” Said Darion sternly. Sometimes Theanore acted so grown up that he forgot that he was speaking to someone who was not even one year old. Then there were times like these, when she would sink her feet in the sand for childish reasons.

“If you would like, we can purchase ducks from dungeon core Alina. She, unlike grandpa Thinker, clips the wings before the sale,” said Darion.

Theanore put a hand over her mouth. Alina did that? And she thought that Alina was good.

“I know what you are thinking,” said Darion slowly. “Alina is evil for hurting ducklings. But the ducklings she sells end up fat and nourishing. Is it evil to feed the hungry?”

Well, put that way, Theanore felt like she judged Alina too harshly. But still, she was not going to have anything to do with harming small fluff balls. Directly or indirectly.