Chapter 12 – Deal

"Now that I think about it, the agreement doesn't seem to be fair to me. Why should I continuously provide you with my strawberries when I no longer needed your service?"

"Perhaps I wasn't clear with my initial statement. The exchange was for a business relationship. Or, would you rather have a different relationship with me?"

"Uh, can't you be my servant?"

Oh crap, I reflectively said it.

"Oh? Are you requesting a soul contract?"

"Is this where I'm supposed to offer up my soul?"

There, I said it. This certainly wasn't my brightest moments but there was no take backs.

"If that is your wish, I am more than willing to receive."

"No, no. Not at all. Ignore that question completely. Anyway, what are the repercussions for terminating our current agreement?"

"You will become my food. That much is obvious."

It's not! It's not! I'm paying him strawberries so he won't eat me? This is worse than a dog-eat-dog world. Basically, how is this different from dealing with mafia's protection racket? I'm being extorted and there's nothing I can do about it.

"You're not a vegetarian?"

"I eat anything, including souls," he beamed showing all of his pearly teeth.

That makes him a soul eater! This is some serious stuff. I yield! I yield!

I had to be cautious what I said to him so I kept everything in my mind. If there was any more misunderstandings, I feared for my life. There really was nothing I could do fight against him, not when it had such overpowering stats and abilities. Bidding for more time was the only way out for me, at least until I could equal him in combat which wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"By the way, are there any plant fey beings on this list?"

"No. Allow me to disclose this to you. You are the first plant fey to make contact with me."

That was some interesting information. I wasn't sure what this meant, but my gut feeling told me this was important. Otherwise he wouldn't point it out specifically. The only thing was that I didn't know what to do with this information so I putted in the back burner of my mind.

"Never mind then, let's look at the next candidate on the list," I said.

"Indeed."

[Level 32 Winged Beast;

Species: Fa-Noda;

Physical: 171/171;

Spiritual: 97/97;

Traits: Keen, Enhanced Senses;

Abilities: Forest Song, Tracker, Enchantment, Rapid Transport;

Description: A type of winged beast that loves to sing.]

"Good greeting, me Haelley."

"I'm a strawberry fey."

Haelley looked like a birdlike humanoid with green and blue feathers. In some worlds, she would be considered a harpy. When she stretched her arms, her wingspan was at least twice her height. Honestly, when I first saw her, I had expected her to be part of a mortal race since her facial features were no different from a human with the exception of her diamond shaped eyes.

How did I know it was a "she"? I didn't. I just guessed it based on her voice, name, and her facial features. There was no way I was competent enough to tell the difference between a male winged beast and a female winged beast. Same difference, right? I could always ask later to confirm if no one cared to clarify.

"You well speak for green."

She kind of spoke funny so I looked to De Planck for explanation.

"My apologies. She is currently learning the common language to be able to converse with the mortal races."

That wasn't an issue, not an issue at all. Finally, one that I could offer something in exchange for service. However, I needed to make sure the harpy was willing. In additional, I would need to examine her work ethics to make sure she wasn't a slacker! But, even if she was, I knew exactly how to fix it.

A strawberry a day could change any person, no doubt! It would be best if I didn't need to though. I'll make this one count.

"Haelley, I can help you learn the common language if you're willing to serve me," I proposed to the harpy whose height was no different than a regular human. Her stats were acceptable to me and her abilities were very useful, especially [rapid transport] even if I didn't know what it did. I knew for a fact that the faster I could spread my clones, the faster I would level up and evolve.

"Haelley serve green?"

"Cooperation. I help you and you help me."

"Haelley agree!"

This was easier than I thought.

"Well then, do you wish to see other candidates on the list?"

"I can choose more than one?"

"Indeed."

I thought about it for a minute then decided against it. I had lost enough brain cells for the day. There was no way I could feed another mouth, even feeding this harpy might be tough.

"No, it's alright. How do I call you again if I need your service?"

"Say my name and I will hear you."

What are you, an evil god? I'm definitely not going to pray to your name. No. Way. Not when you're extorting so much from the poor me. One of these days, you just watch, I'll make you pay back ten folds!

"One last thing, what would happen if my plant bodies couldn't produce enough strawberries? Let's say, a forest fire or snow storm."

"No worries."

"I do worry! My soul is on the line!"

"My gardeners will ensure that your plant bodies will always produce five ripe strawberries a day."

That just sounds wrong, seriously wrong on many levels. Have I stooped so low to become someone else's food crop? Also, these so called "gardeners" sound super suspicious.

"Fine, fine. Just so you know, we only agreed on five strawberries. No one else is permitted to harvest them without my explicit permission, unless they are doing so on your behalf which would also count towards your total. Five, only five, are we clear?"

I felt like I had to emphasize because if I didn't he might try using some loopholes to harvest all my strawberries from every clone he could locate.

"You have my word."

I'm done thinking today.

Once that rabbit disappeared, it was just the bird lady and me.

"Green... What strawberry?"

Stop. I'm done thinking today.

"Green, strawberry?"

"Call me Berry," I pointed at myself. It was a name I made up on the spot, or rather, it was just latter half of the berry name. I couldn't have her keep calling me "green".

"Berry, show strawberry."

Oh boy, this'll be a long long day. Patience! I can do this. Plants are patient. Mm.

Despite the minor communication barrier, I explained to her everything I felt she needed to know. In terms of food, she had to hunt her own for now. In fact, within minutes after leaving my side, she had already returned with a fresh kill.

After her meal, I was able to learn more about Haelley's abilities. Of the four abilities, only one of them seemed super useful. It was like a cheat ability if I had to say so myself. [Rapid transportation] would allow her to instantly travel to any place within her visual range. It was equivalent to teleportation.

The other three abilities were quite good but not that amazing. [Tracker] was an ability similar to [hunter] except it only gave the general direction without the time limitation. Basically, it was as the ability's name stated. [Forest song] and [enchantment] worked best together. To use these two abilities, she would sing aloud which would "awake forest" and boost all allies' stats. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant by "awake forest" and she didn't have the vocabulary to explain it better.

One other thing I learned from her was that there was such a thing called "mana". It seemed to be hidden within the "spiritual" stat. Each time an ability was used, that figure was supposed to decrease. This was especially important to take note for those they were considered fey beings, like me. Once I ran out of mana, I would lose consciousness and possibly die. Well, I knew the death part but that sounded scary. However, my "spiritual" stat had rarely decreased if at all. I wasn't sure if it was due to how many bodies I had or if that my abilities were just super efficient.

As a side note, Haelley really was a female. I confirmed it.

"Do you lay eggs?"

"No eggs, Haelley young," she blushed.

That also meant no free omelets. I miss omelets.  

The next day, my crusade began! Strawberries shall be known and grown across all nations. None shall be the wiser the rise of the Strawberry Empire!

The world begins a new chapter! The world shall belong to me, and only me. Ehehe...