Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me
Chapter 40: Farming 101

Chapter 40: Farming 101

’Wow. So much wow.’

Tera could not believe farming was such a new concept to them.

At this point, had they even been civilised before the Collapse?

They must have just let nature run wild and must have had no issues with food all that time to even consider growing their own.

Tera took a deep breath. These ones had a lot to learn.

"What if I told you that we could put seeds in the ground and grow food from it. Planting on this whole plain should be enough to feed the entire clan when we can’t get meat."

They stared at her.

"You want us to eat food from dirt?"

’These people are going to be the death of me.’

"The fruit you harvested from plants grew from the dirt! Just do what I say." She turned to Xavi. "We will have plenty of food if we do this, and we won’t have to be relying on meat—"

Hr frowned. "Meat is strong."

"I am not saying you should stop hunting meat. You went out for meat now, did you find more? You won’t always find meat all the time, and we cannot be going days before we have another meal."

Tera planted her hands on her lips, everyone staring in awe as her eyes filled with fierce determination. "We will be eating every single day if we do this."

She turned around to face the clan. "Or do you want to starve like before?"

"No!"

"Good!" Tera huffed.

She then launched into an explanation about farming and her plan to turn the plateau into a place where they could grow herbs and vegetables instead of constantly searching the forest.

When she thought about what they would need to tow the ground, Tera realised she hadn’t even checked the system shop.

It had been unlocked after the flood defence task, and she had been so preoccupied with moving to another place, and taking Xavi’s meat that she hadn’t completely forgotten to even OPEN it.

’System. Why couldn’t you have REMINDED me about the shop?!’

[This system reminded Host of the settlement task deadline earlier today]

’Is that what I am asking you for?!’

[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]

Tera wanted to scream, but instead pivoted to the immediate problem. She needed tools, and seeds, and that was if the shop had anything that could help them dig, plant and build.

Tera asked the system to open the shop for her while she addressed the clan.

"Here is what we are going to do. I need a group to go into the forest and forage for edible fruits, nuts, and plants. Anything you recognise as food. I will check it, and we will bring it back. They should have seeds we can use."

The beast folk shared stares, and they seemed to be considering the idea, though some were not too keen on it.

Tera had wanted to open the system that moment, but even if there were construction tools. She needed something to go around for everyone, and she wasn’t sure she would have enough nipples for that.

Eyeing protruding branches of the surrounding trees gave her an idea.

The thick and sturdy branches could be pulled off to till the ground.

Within seconds, Tera organised a group of the sturdiest beast men, including Xavi, to pull off the thick branches they needed to dig into the ground, and they eagerly went to carry out the task.

Tera turned to the rest of the clan, whom she had automatically organised as the foraging party she would enter the forest with.

She kept the task detailed. They would stick closely together and identify edible plants and fruits. The system was going to help her, but she still intended to use that avenue to also teach them which ones to pick, too.

When the beast men had returned with various sticks, Tera moved on to the next topic.

"We are going to use these sticks to drag long, thick lines into the ground, but that will come when we have gone out to pick fruits and plants."

Tera figured that the spaces between the ridges would vary depending on how large and wide the plants would grow.

"We also need to talk about shelter," she continued. "We cannot keep sleeping out in the open like this. That is not how it is done. And we can’t keep digging holes just because one wants to stay in one place."

They looked confused. "Is that necessary?"

"We have the sky," another added as if the sky was a perfectly adequate roofing solution.

It made no sense when these beasts had literally come across tribes that had proper accommodation.

"The sky leaks," Tera replied flatly. "As we all learned during the flood."

That shut down the argument quickly.

"There is nothing we can use to make shelter," Xavi spoke up. "We do not have enough hide to build shelter for everyone, and some were lost in the flood."

Tera paused, thinking back to the Jackdaw tribe. Now that she remembered, most of the structures were made of neatly arranged sticks and thick layers of hides, but surely there had to be some other tribes, too, that also used leaves and wood.

’Is animal skin the only thing they have used to build houses?’

[Yes!]

[Many beast tribes have used natural caves and structures for shelter]

[Hides became a more common alternative shortly before the Collapse started]

[And it has been used after due to the unstable environment!]

"Hmm... Well, I am going to change that."

"What?" Xavi looked confused.

I have been looking at the forest," Tera continued. "The trees here are massive. Their roots create natural platforms. And there are plants and parts of the trees we can use. If we build between the trunks and use some trees as cover, we can have protected shelters. I have an idea."

She could see a few of them trying to picture it and failing entirely.

"I will show you soon. But I need everyone ready to work. Let us first focus on building this farm!"

The clan didn’t argue this time, and Tera asked Xavi to guide them to where he had gotten the fruits he had found earlier.

She had two projects to launch simultaneously. A farm and a settlement, and roughly thirsty able-bodied beast folk to carry out those projects.

She was going to make very thorough use of them.

[Would Host like to browse the System Shop now?]

[(◕‿◕✿)]

[First purchase: 50% discount!]

’Yes, please.’

Tera did a double-take when she stared at the store.

There was a list of tiers. Up to twenty tiers, and only one of them was unlocked.

’What the actual fuck is this?’