Beauty and the Beasts

Winston was momentarily lost for words. He cast a suggestive look at the second floor and said, “It’s fine by me. Don’t know about Curtis, though.”

Muir also said, “Fine by me, too.”

Parker sighed. “He’s indeed a troublesome one. I’ll go check with him first.”

Just then, Curtis walked to the railings on the second floor and said, “Let’s bring it back.”

“Eh?” Parker was greatly surprised. Curtis wasn’t a beastman who showed pity on others. Also, his attitude was kind of indifferent.

Curtis said, “Check for empty plots of land nearby when you have the time.”

Parker asked, “What do you want to do?”

Muir and Winston also looked at him.

Curtis originally couldn’t be bothered to explain, but at the thought of it requiring quite a lot of money, he said patiently, “Raise animals for food. Charge humans an admission fee for sightseeing while we’re at it.”

Parker: ⊙ω⊙

Winston immediately stood up and stared at him. “You serious?”

Curtis nodded. “What do you guys think?”

“I agree.” Winston voiced his support right away. As a person who had been in power for a long time, his brain wasn’t quite as honest as his appearance might suggest. One who didn’t have decision-making abilities wouldn’t be able to rule.

Parker merely felt that such an arrangement would give them the freedom to eat as they pleased, or even, lead the sort of life they were used to. He also nodded and said, “I also agree.”

Since they were all standing on Curtis’s side, Muir said without hesitation, “I’ll go along with your decisions.”

The matter was decided just like that.

Curtis had gotten this inspiration while looking at the animals in the zoo. Those animals weren’t even living as well as the short-winged birds they used to rear at home. The food they ate didn’t even look appetizing. That was why a change was necessary.

He wanted a large plot of mountain land, separated into two regions—one for herbivorous animals, and the other for carnivorous animals. All of the animals would be let to roam freely.

The herbivorous animals would be their food, and also the carnivorous animals’ food.

He could let the herbivorous animals breed inside, and should the numbers dwindle, he could buy a batch and place them inside. The strong ones would naturally be able to survive year after year.

As for the carnivorous animals…

Curtis saw jest in the gazes of the males downstairs. “Mainly choose snakes, tigers, eagles, and leopards as carnivorous animals display. With us around, nothing will go wrong.”

By “nothing will go wrong”, he wasn’t exactly referring to the humans’ safety. Rather, he was talking about the animals’ happiness levels. Since this territory had already been forcibly occupied by humans, there wasn’t any space for the other species to survive. He figured these animals would be eager to come to their territory.

Parker instantly said excitedly, “Okay, I’ll go steal the leopard first. After I’m done with that we can start looking for a suitable plot of land.”

“Mm,” Curtis responded in satisfaction.

Winston said, “I’ll go look for it, too.”

Having gotten a satisfactory answer, Curtis was preparing to head back to his room to go into seclusion, when Parker suddenly leaned against the railing of the stairs and expressed his displeasure loudly, “What are you doing? Why are you staying at home and all of us are getting down to work?”

Curtis waved the children’s books and said, “Are you going to learn to read yourself?”

Parker instantly recalled that in this world, squarish-looking characters could be seen everywhere, and Qingqing could obtain a lot of information right away by reading those characters. He felt envious.

He said, as though it was no big deal, “Fine, I’ll learn it. But first, I’ve got to steal that leopard.”

Winston shook his head and walked out the door first. Curtis glanced at Parker with blatant contempt, before turning around and walking into his bedroom.

Parker snorted resentfully and followed Winston out.

“Hmph, I’ll let him have his way for now. Let’s see who learns to read first,” said Parker.

Winston said, “You won’t be able to defeat a snake beastman.”