Certified Rancher (2)

The weight of her gaze, paired with the pink furred Catkin behind her lifting her hand and letting her claws switch into talons, made me shiver as I fearfully nodded, unaccustomed to this sort of heavy, almost violent sort of situation.

"Good. Question four. What is the job of a Rancher?"

Moving back to the familiar and calmer subjects made me let out a sigh of relief, and I happily answered "A Rancher is meant to manage and maintain a Ranch, which is both a normal farm as well as a Demi Human operated area. Ranchers help harvest any and all ingredients from the Demi Humans, maintain the land, maintain the Demi Humans, and provide goods to the cities for the betterment of the Empire. We are also certified to be both Breeders and Hunters, so we are able to partake in breeding Demi Humans and also hunting down Monsters, if we so choose."

"That leads to question five. How do Humans and Demi Humans breed?"

My cheeks darkened at that, and I bit my cheek for a moment as I felt my loins grow hot for a moment, primarily my cock straining against the tough denim of my pants as I looked away from Lady Von Goldiue for a moment, before finally answering her question.

"The... The same way Humans 'breed'. Through vaginal sex and the ejaculation of sperm into the womb, where it then fertilizes the eggs of either the Human or the Demi Human."

"And what is the result?"

"If a Human ejaculates inside of a Demi Human, there is a chance for the Demi Human to become pregnant, upon which their eggs will grow and feed off of their mana to create a thicker outer shell, much like the shell of a bird egg. Inside, the Demi Human baby will grow before being birthed a week later, after which the egg requires another week of incubation before it hatches. The resulting Demi Human is in its adolescence right away and is to be kept with the Mother until it can function entirely on its own, which takes another three to four weeks. After which... it is just a Demi Human.

As for the opposite situation - a Demi Human ejaculating inside of a Human - there is a small chance that the Human becomes pregnant, and the mana rich sperm of the Demi Human will force the same process as before; an egg will form and after a week, the Human gives birth to an egg. However, there is also a very, very rare chance that the Demi Human's sperm will result in a Human baby, upon which the Human needs to wait roughly nine months before giving birth to a healthy baby. I believe it is every 1 in 100,000 cases that a Human is impregnated and gives birth to a Human baby from Demi Human sperm?"

"That is correct. Now, tell me what is on the Ranch, which is provided to you by the Government."

"There is the Incubator, which maintains and takes care of Demi Human eggs. Then there is the airship pad, which will be visited twice a month by a Government issued airship. That is where the Rancher sells any goods they have produced straight to the Government without needing to leave the Ranch. Finally, there is the Communication Crystal that allows for communications between the Rancher and the Government, the Guild, the Town, and all nearby Ranchers. Everything else on a Ranch is purchased and produced by the Rancher."

Lady Von Goldiue nodded her head, her smile widening as she said "You've been doing excellent Miss Serani. Like I said, this is just a quick brush up of all you've learned over the last few months, and it is merely a formality. I am required to look over your notes, your answers, and your attitude to determine if you are worthy of being a Rancher, and if you get this last question..."

She winked at me and placed a silver medallion on the table, one that was embossed with the same Ankh as her own but not as ornate; however, where hers was solid gold and had nothing else besides those runes, this Ankh had a large colorless gemstone embedded in the top of the Ankh, which symbolized the importance of this position.

"Well, this will be yours~! Now, final question."

I leaned forwards in my seat, fighting away my nervousness and embarrassment as Lady Von Goldiue smiled at me some more, her beautiful, noble expression and elegant suit making her insanely beautiful at the moment, to the point that I was almost mesmerized...

"Why do you want to be a Rancher?"

The second those words left her succulent, glossy lips, I felt my cheeks darken for a moment as I didn't know how to answer that one; there was no way to memorize what I felt and my motivations, no matter how obvious they might be.

It was a shift that I wasn't expecting, and for a few seconds I was silent, trying to formulate my thoughts into words, only to fail; but even then, Lady Von Goldiue just smiled at me, giving me all the time to flounder around in the armchair in front of her and try to give her an answer.

Eventually I did, and I felt my cheeks redden even more as I meekly said "I... I really, really like Demi Humans, and I wanna help them as much as I can... I want to get my hands dirty as I toil away besides people I consider friends, to make a living with a large family that I never had growing up..."

My voice trailed off, and I only got the courage to continue when I noticed that Lady Von Goldiue's eyes were shining with gentleness, whilst her smile was as warm as before.

"Obviously I want the money, but... only so I can provide for those friends. I want a big Ranch just because it means I can help more and more Demi Humans. I want to show my peers how to treat these wonderful people with the respect they deserve; I know its law now, but some Human's still harbor that superiority in their hearts, and I hate that. I want... I want to do what my Mom did; have a Ranch that was run with her close friends, filled with joy and camaraderie and love.

I... I also want to use some of the money to figure out where she went, and being a Rancher is a way to earn a lot of money quickly. The hard work calls to me, the dirty fields and long days don't seem that bad, the solitude of the Frontier... it doesn't sound that bad to me at all, and that's... that's why I want to be a Rancher."

Nodding, Lady Von Goldiue stared at me closely before sliding the medallion over to me, saying "Congratulations, Miss Serani. You are now a Rancher... and a promising one at that. I pray that you are able to keep those virtues and desires close to heart, and I look forwards to hearing about your progress for years to come~!"