Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands
Chapter 72 --72

Chapter 72: Chapter-72

Kaya looked at him, eyebrows slightly furrowed. "Wait... if there’s no tribe there, then does that mean there’s no resource either?"

Vayu shook his head, calm and sure. "Normally, that might be true. But not always."

He shifted slightly, his voice steady as he explained, "You see, every beastman wants a solid, stable home—especially when winter comes. When the snowfall begins... when hail rains down... surviving in the open becomes almost impossible."

Kaya listened, her eyes narrowing in thought.

"That’s why most tribes settle around caves," Vayu continued. "It’s not just about resources—it’s about survival. Caves offer shelter, safety. If someone lives in an open space, they’re exposed. Easy targets."

He glanced up at her. "Predators don’t just come from one direction. An open area is like a stage—you’re on it, and everyone’s watching."

He tapped the rough sketch he’d made earlier. "So most tribes choose places with cover—where they can vanish when danger comes. That’s why some resource-rich places are still left untouched. If there’s no place to hide... no one wants to risk it."

Kaya nodded slowly, trying to absorb Vayu’s logic. It made sense. It all made sense. But that wasn’t the real issue.

The real problem was... even if she mapped out the location, even if she found the perfect place to build, even if she managed to gather food and water—

How the hell was she supposed to build a house in 90 days?

She knew what a house looked like after it was built. She’d seen floor plans and blueprints—back when she was involved in field operations, scouting buildings before storming them for hidden terrorists. So yes, she knew the structure, the general idea. But that didn’t mean she knew how to build one.

Truthfully? She had never built a house in her life.

The closest she came was a pop-up tent. And that didn’t count.

Okay—there was a doghouse. She had built that. But let’s be real—she couldn’t squeeze into that, unless she shrank five sizes and became a mutt.

She sighed.

What she needed was a proper house. A solid one. And to do that, she’d need at least 12 to 13 helpers. People who could carry wood, lift beams, dig, hammer, bind. If they worked day and night, maybe—just maybe—they could pull it off in 30 days.

But now came the material problem.

Cement? Forget it. There wasn’t a cement factory anywhere nearby—and even if there was, how would she haul it?

A house made from soil? Like the ones villagers built here?

Too weak. Too cold. It wouldn’t survive the storm season, especially with what cutie told her—hail here wasn’t just "ice." It was like rocks falling from the sky. A soil hut would crumble in seconds.

She wanted to build a wooden house. That was her dream solution. But wood wouldn’t withstand a full-blown hailstorm either.

So no cement. No soil. No wood.

Great.

She had 90 days to survive—build a house, gather food, secure a water source—and what did she have for help?

A sparrow that was only good as bait. Useless.

A snake that liked to vanish into thin air. Unreliable.

Cutie? She looked at him. Even if he wanted to help, did he even know how to build a house?

Kaya pressed her hand against her forehead.

She needed builders. Real ones. People who knew what they were doing. But where the hell was she supposed to find them?

That was the real problem.

Suddenly, an idea struck Kaya like lightning. Her eyes widened as she slapped her palm against the ground and looked straight at the snake.

"Is there a slave market where I can buy people?" she blurted.

Silence.

A thick, awkward silence dropped over them like a blanket. Even the wind paused.

Kaya blinked and immediately winced. What the hell, Kaya? She buried her face in her hands. "What am I even saying? This place is so damn primitive—where would there even be a slave market?"

She let out a groan and shook her head, muttering under her breath, "I’ve really gone insane, sir. Great. Absolutely gone."

But then—

A quiet voice broke through her spiral.

"Of course there is," Vayu said.

Kaya’s head snapped up, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What?"

Vayu gave a small nod, completely unfazed. "Yeah. Why wouldn’t there be? Isn’t that obvious?"

She stared at him, then at Cutie, and then back at the recruits behind them. Her mouth dropped open slightly. "Wait—you’re telling me there’s an actual slave market? Like, beastmen are sold as slaves?"

Vayu’s expression didn’t even twitch. "Yes."

Kaya took a deep breath, trying to keep her brain from short-circuiting. "Okay, okay... But you guys don’t even have a currency system. So how the hell do you buy slaves?"

Vayu looked at her like she’d just asked if water was wet. "We trade. Gemstones. Rare materials. Animals. Here, a red calf horse is worth quite a bit."

Kaya blinked again. "Wait. What’s a gemstone?"

There was another pause.

Then Vayu stared at her. Hard.

Cutie turned to look at her too, his expression blank, but the judgment in his eyes was loud and clear.

Even the sparrow, who had been doing absolutely nothing of value, turned its head and looked at her with a pointed little glare.

Kaya felt her eyebrow twitch. She glared back, especially at the sparrow.

Her eyes were locked onto the sparrow, narrowed to slits.

They said everything her mouth didn’t: ’Don’t you dare. Don’t you even think about it, you damn bastard. If you keep looking at me like that—I swear—I’ll pluck your feathers and toss you in a stew.’

The sparrow, sensing death in her gaze, slowly turned his head away. But not before giving her a smug little grin, like he found the whole thing amusing.

Kaya’s fists clenched. Her jaw tightened as she fought the rising urge to launch something—preferably him. She forced herself to breathe slowly, pushing the rage down.

That’s when Vayu finally spoke again, calm as ever, like they weren’t seconds away from a murder scene.