“Maaaster, what kind of monsters do you want?”

“Ones with plenty of meat, if possible. If you get some of those sheep-looking monsters, then I can make sausages.”

“Okaaay! I’ll see if I can find some!”

I pointed to Filo’s carriage and ordered the slaves inside. They hesitantly climbed aboard, and Filo set off to take them hunting.

“Watch your speed!”

“Okaaay!”

Filo’s carriage rattled off into the distance. Of course, she couldn’t actually go all that fast while still suffering from the effects of the curse.

“Now then . . . I’ll leave the construction up to you guys.”

“Huh? Of course!”

I left the construction to the soldiers, set my shield to take care of some compounding, and got started on the preparations for our next meal. It would still be a while before the monster eggs were ready to hatch. I’d have to come up with a way to secure more food before we ran out of Spirit Tortoise meat.

The slaves that had gone out hunting with Raphtalia and the others were back by nightfall. They were all completely worn out. The cart that I had attached to the carriage was loaded up with slain monsters. It looked like they had found some sheep-type monsters, too, just like I’d requested.

“Ugh . . .”

Grooowwwwl. Grumble, grumble. Rummmmble, rumble, rumble . . .

“So hungry . . .”

The growling of their stomachs sounded like thunder. Their bodies were growing rapidly and needed nutrition, and that made them ravenous.

“Glad to see you all made it back. Did they put up a good fight?”

“Yes, they all did their best.”

“Fehhh . . . I’m exhausted.”

“Well, if they did their best, then that’s good enough. Let’s eat.”

I brought out the stew and steaks that I had prepared in advance using the Spirit Tortoise meat and placed them on the table. I figured it would turn out like this, so I’d made a ridiculous amount of food. It was a ton of food, but it would still probably disappear in a heartbeat.

“Woooow!”

Filled with excitement, the slaves gathered around the table and started eating.

“Maaaster, what about meeee?”

“Yours is right here.”

I gave Filo her portion. She got about fifty percent more than the growing slaves.

“Is that all? I want more!”

“If you want more, then go hunt something yourself and eat that.”

“Boo . . .”

Filo was sulking. That’s too bad. I had already made a ton of food. I couldn’t manage any more than this on my own.

“Thank you for the meal!”

What?! They had already finished while Filo and I were talking?! I knew that children were supposed to have fierce appetites, but come on! I hope they were satisfied, at least.

“Alright, brats, tomorrow will be here in no time. Get to bed!”

“Okay!”

We herded the slaves into one of the houses that had been repaired by the soldiers from the castle. The rest of us would stay in the other house that was still being patched up. The windows were broken, so the wind blew right through, but the roof would shield us from rain.