Love After Death in a New World

I woke up with a splitting headache, but even after waking up, with my soul torn from my body, it didn't feel this bad. I looked around the room. It was a good size and matched the Lonestar barn I was at when I fainted. I thought this had to be the living area that the barn master told me about when I got here. From the window, it looked like it was now late afternoon. I wonder how long I had been out.

Looking around the room, I saw a chair over in the corner. It took me a minute to figure out who it was. 34 was dressed now in clothes and sleeping. It told me that May had been busy since I had been out. While it was nothing major, she looked good in a light pink button-up shirt and blue pants. I was sure she picked it out just a button-up shirt so it would be easier for 34 to milk when time.

About them, 34 woke and noticed me. She came rushing over and said, with a trimmer voice, "I'm sorry, master. May told me to keep watching over you and fell asleep. I promise I will never do it again."

I could tell that she was scared. I was sure that her behavior was a result of how she had been treated by the stall master whom I had bought her from.

"It's ok, 34. I promise you. The only issue I have is the fact that I keep calling you 34. You're going to need a name, a real name. How about Sarah?" I said.

I could see a smile forming on her face as well as a tear in her eye. It was almost like the fact that some people have on Christmas morning when they find a tree overflowing with gifts.

"It's a very nice name, master. I just don't want you to waste it on me. If need be, I would rather you save such a nice name for the others." Sarah said.

"They will all get their name, and please call me Ivan. The master title makes me feel very odd and shameful. Now, have you all eaten, and where is May? I also take it you all have clothes now from the way you are dressed?" I asked Sarah.

"Yes, we all ate, it was very delicious. She is out getting us some more clothes. After you fainted and we got you to a bed, she went out and got us all food and clothes. Sorry to say not all the clothes fit us right, so she went out to get more. She has been very kind to us." Sarah said. "May said that when you woke up, I was to get with Artsa, who she left in charge, so she could send one other centaur lady out to get her from the shopping area."

At that time, I heard the door open just to see Artsa walk into my shock, still in her full human form in a sleeveless long blue dress.

In just a raised and concerned tone, Artsa went, "Master, you're awake. We were worried about you. 34, I thought you were going to come get me with me when he woke up. I have to send someone out to get May at once. How are you feeling, master?"

Looking at Artsa, I said, "I am fine. I just woke up, but I feel a little weak, so please don't be mad at her. What happened? Are you ok? I see you're still in your human form. You are not hurt, are you? By the way, I have renamed 34 to Sarah. I will be renaming all milkmaids, no one should be just a number. Everyone deserves a name. Please, like I told Sarah, stop calling me master. My name is Ivan."

Artsa seemed shocked, like what I had just said was a foreign idea or so.

"I'm fine, just weak as well, but much better off than you were from the transfer of power. That is why I am still in this form, I didn't have the power to transfer back at that time since I used my skill and not sexual arousal. If you like me better in this form, I will stay this way as much as I can. I didn't know your body would act that way. You seem much stronger, but after what May told me, I understand now why your body gave out. I am sorry for hurting you. She asked me to pass along for you to rest here and not to leave. You will still feel weak for a few more hours. Being in my human form, she left me in charge just in case someone came by, but over she left me responsible for my sister while putting 34- I mean Sarah, in charge of Milkmaids for now. She also said you would be hungry, so we have some food here for you as well. Let me go and send Cora after May. She is the fastest one of us and a fine tracker as well," Artsa committed.

With that, Artsa left the room with Sarah, bringing me a plate of food. It was a cold pizza. I took it from the place that May wanted to go to. Think about it, I wonder if I could heat it using fire magic. Even though it looked appetizing, I was sure it would be better warm. I looked at my status to see if fire skill could heat the plate.

Skill Fire Magic lv 1

The user can throw a small fireball up to 1m or heat up a small object. lv 1

Pulling up Fire Magic stats told me two things: yes, I could heat plate up as well most like as my level of skill went up the area effect would as well. I had not even thought about it when I read my Water Magic this morning. I want to check on Valentino to see if it has gone up since I used it a few times earlier, but I knew now that my body was tired and needed food. The thought of using Fire Magic on top of eating the pizza, as hungry as I was, came first.

As I heated the plate, the smell of pizza started filling the room. It didn't take long before I heard footsteps coming my way.

Both 3 and 21 came through the door yelling, "Master, you're awake."

They both look different from earlier, with 3 wearing a purple button-up shirt and blue jean shorts and her hair up, while 21 had blue jean shorts as well. It looked like they modified the rag dress I saw her wear earlier as a shirt for now. I took it she was one of the ones that those clothes didn't fix right. I was sure May was just guessing on their size for now. They looked great in what she had picked for them, better than I could have.

"Ladies, I hope you're both ok. As I told Sarah, please stop calling me master. Call me by name, Ivan," I said while pointing at Sarah.

"How did she get a cool name? I want one!" said 21 in a sassy voice.

"Me too. It wouldn't be fair if my sister got one and I didn't," said 3 in a sad, pouty voice.

Just then, Sarah walked over and said to them, "You two girls know better than to act like that. Ever since you two were born, you have been a handful. Now, Ivan needs his rest. If both of you are well behaved, maybe he will give you names as well after he is better."

With that, the two girls were off.

"Forgive those two, please. It did help that they were separated from their mother at such a young age, but then again, she was young when she had them. She was not even old enough to go to the market stall and ended up having twin girls. The rest of us tried our best to raise them. To be honest, they are both good girls but a little mischievous at times."

I had to ask after hearing her last comment, "Sarah, what age do Milkmaid end up at the market stall? How did you know she was not coming back? What do mean rest of you what about their father?"

Sarah looked at me with sadness in her eyes and stated, "May told Artsa and me that you were new to this world, so you wouldn't understand something and to help you when we could. We go to market at 18, but their mother was just 17 when she had them. On top of being very beautiful, she also produces large amounts of milk, more than I have seen anyone else produce. As soon she left that day, everyone knew she catch a high price. As for father, I'm not sure who their is but I was too guess it was one of stall master that had their way with their mother. It is a very common thing that happens to us, they called their breeding program. Except for a few of us that might come from a farm, all our fathers are one of the stall masters."

Taking a moment to relax, Sarah continued, "To tell you a little about all of us. It was 56 first day at the stall when you bought us, she is very shy. She is not sure of herself yet. It will take some time before she feels safe here and opens up. As far as 3 and 21, beyond what I've told you, any time someone would try buying one without the other, they would go crazy, and the buyer would back out of the deal. They both receive a lot of lashes due to that. 69 was still there, even with a high milk production due to her skin color. Most farmers want a Milkmaid with fair light skin color. She keeps to herself a lot but is a good girl overall. For myself, there's not much to say between my low milk production, blonde hair, which is seen as a birth defect to the stall masters, and lastly, my age since most are sold young, around early mid-20s, and I just turned 37. Because I have been there so long and have taken care of just about everyone, I am seen as a mother figure to girls, even if I don't have any of my own. Just so you don't have to worry that none of the other girls have had offspring yet, either. Unless you need something else, I will leave you to rest and check on the other."

"No, I am fine for now. Thank you, Sarah." I told her.

Her last sentence about her and other Milkmaids put me at ease to a degree, at least I was not taking them from a young one of their own. Think of what today has been and what might be coming. Then it hit me that now I had other people's lives in my hands. The thought alone felt like a ton of bricks hitting me all at once. I knew that just meant that I couldn't panic. I thought this would be a good time to look at my skills. Looking them over, I saw some had leveled up, as well as a few new ones to look over.

Valentino lv. 3

User can learn to turn on or off the ability to produce offspring at their choice.

Boost sexual skills through the aid of God(s) and Goddess (s) of love lv.2 (10%)

Gives advice to user to assist with opposite sex. lv 2

Let the User talk to and influence interested sexual partners more easily. lv 2 (4%)

Spoken Language lv 2

Can hear and speak the language of any species. lv. 2 (25% mastery)

I could see that two of my skills had gone up. Valentino between influence Astra and blowjob she gave me. I took it. Spoken language was do talking to her, she did say no one else under what they said so me speaking in their language must of done it. Then I looked at the new ones.

Barter lv 1

User can influence how much they buy an item, produce, meat, livestock, or slaves for lv 1 (1%)

User can influence how much they sell an item and produce for lv 1 (1%)

Master lv 1

Can command up to XX slaves lv 1 (10)

Can assign X to control slaves in user stead, given a simple task lv 1 (1)

Can assign X slave to control over Y amount of slaves lv 1 (X:1)(Y:5)

Leader lv 1

User can see that the best option for his people is increased by X lv 1 (10%)

User ability to recruit people to their community is increased by X lv 1 (5%)

User to encourage his community to build building faster is increased by X lv 1 (2%)

I could definitely tell that new skills were most likely brought on by today's action. Border was an easy one to figure out, I did find odd differences between what I could buy and what I could sell. Master, on the other hand, sounds like between how it read and the way May acted early, there had to be something to it. Leader sound useful in the long run, but I was not sure how it could be now.

I lay there in bed for what seemed a while. For the first time while here, I thought about who had attacked me and why. What could be the reason? Was it something I did or would do, or was it something else altogether? Just then, I could hear voices coming towards my room.

Just then, May came in with Astra and Sarah, but I could tell there were others out in the hall waiting.

"Well, someone is an overachiever. I said take it easy on your first day. I was thinking you get one or two livestock today and not any wild ones either. Well, you end up with a small herd and 5 slaves. I guess, if anything, you are the lucky one to get a perfect match without knowing it. Most species can't understand most wild languages. It's a good thing Milkmaids know most languages. It is part of their engineering to be able to service everyone. This is something you need to keep in mind going forward: there is a chance that some of the people under you will not understand each other unless you can do something about it. So I think we should have a small wrap meeting of the day going forward, it will help give an overview of everything," May said.

She continued, "I have the housing situation taken care of, but it will take two days before preparations are completed. I have gone ahead and rented this place till then. It is much larger than I suspected it to be, with 8 large stalls, a kitchen, living area, and 4 bedrooms. Tonight, why don't you take time to get to know the girls. I have Hanah coming with some clothes for some girls to try on, as well as Molly. She can speak some wild centaur, so I thought that maybe she could help them feel a little more comfortable. Maybe you can properly think or hear later."

Sarah was next. "We like to thank you for taking us in. I think goes without saying that the five of us know we could be in a worse situation than we seem to be in. The twins are excited to get names, but I also told them not to bother you about it. 69 seems to be in high spirits and would like to thank you in person. Not sure how you feel about it, but because she most likely wants to physically show her appreciation to you. 56 is still a little torn up today, please forgive her. I think the shock of even going to the market, let alone being bought her first day, is getting to her."

Next, Astra was up. "I have to thank you as their queen for saving us. All of them are fine. If still not how to feel with everything going on."

It was a lot to take in. The fact that they kept thanking me for buying them made it feel worse. May's words also came to mind that Astra had surrendered herself and her tribe to me? Also, I didn't want people to think that I had to sleep with me. Now, 69 was ready for me to take her. I just want her and other milkmaids and centaurs to feel safe, as well as anyone else I would come to own, not to feel like they owe me sex.

"Ok, well, the first thing I don't like is to keep calling Milkmaid numbers. Number 3 is now Rose, and 21 is Lilly. Now, the names for the last two girls are Maria for 56 and Alice for 69. Now, Astra, I have not fully met your sister, but I know I hear the names Zoe and Cora. What are the other two names, please?" I said to them.

They seemed happy with the name choice for the other Milkmaid. I just hope the girl likes them as much as they like them.

Astra said, "As for my sister, Zoe is my second and the oldest of us. Even if she is just a few days older than me. She hates me calling her an old lady. She gets upset and reminds me that we are just 32. Cora is the redheaded girl, she is the fastest one among us and strong, and she will make a great general one day. Eliana is the brown-haired girl and the brains of our group here. Even at a young age, she shows promise of ending up as an adviser when her time comes. Last is Sophia, the blonde-headed girl and the youngest of us. This was only her second full hunt with us, being she turned of age 18 just six months ago. Overall, she seems okay, but it is still too early to tell how she going to turn out in our tribe."

Looking at Astra, I said, "Thank you, Astra. I do have a question for you. May said early that your 'bend' yourself was surrendered yourself and tribe to me. What does that mean?"

"Being from an all female tribe, males are severely looked down on except for breeding. The queen is the only one who can make the tribe surrender to a male by way of 'bend.' Cause all in tribe bend to the will of their queen, the bend has been queen's way of given power over to a male and it is not taken or given lightly either. If any male that has not had a queen 'bend' to them tried to command any one in tribe, all in our tribe know punishment is death. If we hadn't been ambushed, we would have killed all the slavers who caught us, even if we did make them pay a heavy price for taking us. I know I took down four of them myself before they captured me. After what I heard that stall master say about us being beasts and the collar, I knew I had to make a decision. It was either most likely split us up and who know what would happen to us or stay together and take a chance with you. At least with you, if you end up not being who you said, I was sure we could have taken you out. Yes, this technically means you are in charge of our whole tribe, even if only we five here know it. Now, my sister will not cause you problems, and I had a feeling that if you can, at some point, you can that you will free us and let us go." Astra stated while looking at the floor.

As crazy as what I just heard would sound not too long ago, I understand her reason for what she did. I just had to make sure I lived up to that level of responsibility. At same time I had alot of that to do now. The question was, could I live up to that level?

Just then, May spoke up, "I am sure this is a little overwhelming for you. Why not go for a walk to clear your head? There are still a few stalls open here in the barn area if you want to look there, and most shops in the market area stay open till late. Don't think of what we need but what you might want."

I liked that idea, just to breathe and think. I wanted to return to the market area to look around more.

"Ok, I think I will. It should do me some good. Hopefully, that one shop I looked at this morning is open. They had a nice pair of boots in the window as well a few other things you were looking at this morning," I said with excitement in my voice.

Astra said," That's fine, but I don't have any knowledge of the city and what it holds. I would feel safer with someone at your side. I just handed my tribe to you, so your safety is key to us now. I recommend Zoe go with you, she a great body gaurd as well it give time to get know her."

Even if I did not like the idea of not being able to go alone, she was right. The thought of getting to know Zoe was not a bad idea, either. Just from her reaction to me last time, I don't think we got off on the right foot.

On the way out, May let me know I could still charge things to the barn from most areas in the city but gave me some pocket money for any food stall selling cooked food. She also warned me not to get carried away any purchase either.

Astra met me at the door with Zoe. Astra said, "Zoe, just remember you are not only a bodyguard, but you need to gather information on the city as well about our new master." Giving her a wink.

Zoe looked very elegant in a forest green top with dark wooden buttons that ran down it. The top shaped to her body very well, showing off a breast shape which I say were about a C cup. Her auburn hair had been put in a French braid with small chestnut brown bows ran down her hair, which end about halfway down her back. She also had her tail done in the same way. As I noticed earlier, she had a scar that ran the left side of her face that, with her hair up, seemed to show more of it. It still did little to detract from how beautiful she was. Her eyes were of a color I had never seen, they looked like rubies that shined bright.

Zoe spoke up, "I will remember you put me up to this. As your second, I should be here guarding you. Cora or Eliana could have done this just as flawlessly as I can."

With a scolding look, Astra said, "Maybe they could, but I trust you more with this most important task. Remember, we need him to stay safe just much you would with me. Try to relax. Who knows what you're will find out there, enjoy yourself."

Walking through the livestock area, it had gone quiet for the most part, with most of the stalls empty at this point except for a few workers cleaning up. It was nowhere as well-lit as the shopping area, which explained why May wanted to get here early this morning. Getting to the shopping area, Zoe remained quiet as well and seemed just a little nervous. I couldn't tell if it was due to being away for Astra or being around me. Either way, I had to do something to break the tension between us. I had to think she looked breath taken as we walked and with moon light behind her.