20 Heading Out For A Hunt

Crouching down at the edge of the field, I nodded to myself as I saw the long, thin green shoots already poking out of the ground, roughly a foot tall and holding so much promise already, the small heads of wheat at the top of the shoot beginning to form.

The conversion rate of wheat grains to flour was roughly 1.25:1, sometimes more, sometimes less, but typically you needed 1 and a quarter pound of wheat to produce a single pound of flour, which is around 3.5 cups total...

Which in turn tends to make a single loaf of bread, and that can last me - just me, not including anyone else - around a single day total for just bread.

These conversions were things I had memorized entirely inside my mind at this point, and I even had the ideal amount of wheat per person memorized as well, down to what type of Demi Human I was trying to feed and all other sorts of things, like their general job on the Ranch and how much they produced.

On top of that, I also knew that each shoot of wheat had 4-5 heads on it with around 30-60 kernels per head, so on the lowest yield I would obtain 120 kernels of wheat - which can be used to replant or to be made into flour - and on the highest possible yield - the ideal and perfect amount - I could get upwards of 300 kernels of wheat.

That was more than enough to replant my fields and still have a lot leftover for flour, which was going to be one of the foundations of our diet going forwards, alongside potatoes and corn of course, which haven't been planted just yet since I emptied the pouch of wheat seeds I received.

The yields of those crops were also memorized by me, but like many things I wanted to set my own baselines here to understand what type of soil I was growing crops in, since I could find out that this soil was perfect for - let's say wheat - and would increase yields to even more than normal; around an extra two or three heads per plant, which was massive.

On that same vein, it could be less ideal for something like corn, producing smaller ears of corn that had much less yield, so I needed to experiment and figure out what grew best here in this mana filled soil, which could be anything from wheat, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, or it could be berries and vegetables instead, which would be both acceptable and unacceptable honestly...

Vegetables were great, as were berries, but I needed - desperately needed - one of those staples to be great to grow here, and personally I was praying for wheat over the others since I loved bread quite a bit.

Potatoes were a close second, and corn a close third to that, but otherwise... I wanted something substantial; even tomatoes were better thanks to the many things I could make with them, but they weren't what I really wanted.

And currently, the seeds I had planted two days ago were already showing signs of growing ideally, with the seeds from yesterday showing their own signs of growth as they peeked out of the soil.

"Master, are you ready?"

A shadow fell over me, and I peeked over my shoulder to see Crima standing right behind me, the Wolfkin strapping on her leather armor and making sure it was snug on her toned body before adjusting her belt, going through a few separate checks before we were meant to head out.

After the events of this morning - and us clearing out some of the second field, sowing some of the corn seeds, and then getting a plan together for the hunt - Crima was visibly excited to head out for a hunt, her fluffy red tail gently swishing side to side while her eyes sparkled with anticipation, which was different from the 'dangerous' gleam that filled her eyes when she was looking to 'hunt' me...

I thought it was kinda cute to see, the desire to be out on the prowl hunting for something to eat calling to her base instincts so much that she was a tad twitchy and almost childish in how she constantly asked if we were going to head out soon.

"Yes, I am. I was just taking a second look at the crops."

She nodded, looking me up and down for a moment as she took in the leather armor that protected my body before nodding again, her eyes not holding much lust as she looked towards the route we were going to take a second later, saying "Well, it's this way Master. Just one or two animals or monsters, right?"

Now waiting for an answer, Crima began to walk away from the manor and into the 'wilderness' of Mount Fornagi, which should be teeming with wildlife of all kinds, monsters included.

"Preferably just animals. I don't think we are too well equipped to handle monsters, and it is an unnecessary risk at this point in time. Though... the yield from a monster would certainly be something I would welcome with open arms. Monster meat is delicious, after all."

The Wolfkin nodded again, glancing back at me for a moment and catching me testing the string of the bow I had purchased, causing her to say "Master, I don't mean to be rude, but-"

Chuckling, I smiled at Crima and said "Crima, I know how to use a bow, yes. I've hunted before; had to, if I wanted to get my Rancher License. I'm not weak, just... a 'pacifist' of sorts, I guess. I'd rather grow my own food instead of hunt it. But I am not against it."

"I didn't want to be rude, Master... It's just..."

"I know, I know~! Most of the time, the hunting is done by the Demi Humans; you have better senses and reflexes, so it makes sense. But, like I said, I know how to, and I passed that exam well enough. And we are prioritizing animals over monsters, so this will be fine~! I promise you that~!"