"Is there any objection to Goku's recommendation?" Moku threw the question to the audience.
"OBJECTION!!" Nevare raised her hand and shouted in Moku's ear.
With his enhanced hearing, Moku felt his ears ringing, but he ignored Nevare, who was seeking revenge in an adorable way. He intended to once again enter her room tonight and truly try to drown their baby with his semen.
"Most of the pregnant females are those who are carrying their first child and have not fully transformed into Valkyries. It is with the assistance of their unborn children that these females are able to compete with the other monsters. Therefore, it is unfair to prohibit them from participating in Palaka because of that," Nevare continued, glancing at Moku's wild, lustful eyes. It seemed she would have to lock her room tonight, even though it would be futile.
(A/N: From now on, pregnant females carrying Asura babies, whether they are of a monster race or human captives, will be referred to as Valkyries.)
"Nevare, shouldn't that be a reason why Valkyries carrying their first child should not be included in Palaka? They have not fully transformed into Valkyries, so Palaka would be extremely dangerous for them. We cannot ask the monsters to restrain their power in an honorable battle like Palaka," Ez, who rarely spoke during meetings, opened his mouth.
Nevare only glanced at Ez and fell silent for a moment to ponder. Then she nodded and settled back into Moku's embrace. Moku smiled at Ez, who responded by bowing his head.
"Very well, my decision is that pregnant Valkyries should not be included in Palaka. Does anyone object?"
No monster objected, and the Asuras seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then Moku's voice rang out again, "With that, this issue has been resolved. Let's proceed to the next agenda."
Iathra, as the Head of the Kingdom Market, stood up and read the next agenda, "The available meat in the market is decreasing, and our food reserves are diminishing. I suggest reducing the amount of meat in the market or increasing its price. The concept of money and the bank that KuMoku previously suggested did not work well. From our research, we found that almost no monster has the desire to store their wealth in the bank and exchange it for silver or gold coins."
Moku had introduced the concept of currency to Wilwatikta Kingdom, but unfortunately, gold, silver, or copper were not considered valuable to the monster inhabitants. They preferred iron or bones, which were harder and could be used as weapons, over gold and silver, which were merely aesthetically pleasing.
However, Moku was not disappointed by this. With the further development of the Wilwatikta Kingdom, monetary issues would soon arise. But for now, they were still in the early stages of building the kingdom, and their numbers were too few to be considered a fully-fledged nation.
"We will discuss the monetary issue another time. Let's focus first on our meat reserves. What are your opinions?" said Moku.
"KuMoku, reducing meat consumption is the worst thing we can do right now. The number of monsters in the training phase for their evolution is increasing, and they heavily rely on meat as their main food. We previously tried replacing it with fruits and vegetables, but the results were terrible. The monsters couldn't sustain their intense training, and the number of injuries due to training skyrocketed," Boku, as the Head of the Provision Division, expressed his opinion.
"But if we continue like this, our meat reserves will be depleted in just a few months. Let me tell you, Kingdom Husbandry is not ready to become one of the food suppliers for Wilwatikta Kingdom!" Lesnen, the head of Kingdom Husbandry under the supervision of the Kingdom Market, interjected.
"Reducing meat consumption is a big no-no! Our children who are attending school need meat to grow quickly and healthily!" Shizz, as the Head of Kingdom School, argued.
"What about hunting animals and mutated animals?" Reha, the Head of the Kingdom Press, asked while her hands busily took notes to broadcast the meeting's contents to all the monsters in Wilwatikta Kingdom later.
Everyone turned to Mige, the Head of the Military Strategy Division. He was responsible for coordinating the movements of the Wilwatikta Kingdom's forces, including hunting mutated animals that could disrupt the kingdom's development.
Sensing everyone's gaze on him, Mige could only sigh heavily. He didn't want to deliver bad news, but it was his duty to report the truth.
"At present, we have hunted down or caused the migration of all the animals in Bitter Maja. As for mutated animals, most of them have been hunted, and the rest are under surveillance due to their dangerous tier or being in the process of becoming mounts at Kingdom Husbandry."
As if a bomb had dropped in their midst, all the monsters were stunned by Mige's words. If the situation in Bitter Maja was as Mige described, then their kingdom's territory had become barren, just like Glittering Meadow had been before. The difference was that when Glittering Meadow became barren, they could still migrate to Bitter Maja. However, now they had established a kingdom and couldn't simply move elsewhere.
"What about the Quadruple Arachnid meat we have?" Boku asked Iathra.
After winning the war against the Quadruple Arachnid colony, they had a significant reserve of meat and exoskeletons that could be used as weapons.
"For now, we still have more than half of the Quadruple Arachnid carcasses, although some of them are mutated animals that can only be consumed by the Asuras. However, with the mana organ sealing system that KuMoku discovered, other monster races can still consume the meat. But considering the current population growth rate of Wilwatikta Kingdom, if there are no changes, our Quadruple Arachnid meat reserve will only last for one year," Iathra replied.
"Just one year? And that's if there are no changes? With the increasing number of female prisoners we obtained from ambushes on human alliance caravans and the rising number of Valkyries, that one-year estimate isn't set in stone, is it?" Swa asked.
"If the current number of Valkyries doubles, it's highly likely that our Quadruple Arachnid meat reserves will only last for two months," Iathra said with a furrowed brow.
"Just two months?" Swa exclaimed in disbelief, with the same expression mirrored on the faces of the other monsters. They hadn't anticipated that the growth of the Wilwatikta Kingdom would be so rapid that their food supply, which should have been abundant, couldn't keep up.
Moku could only smile wryly upon hearing this. He had anticipated this would happen, but he didn't expect it to happen this quickly. Based on his estimates, in a few decades, the Bog forest would no longer be able to sustain their food needs, even if they hunted every mutated animal regardless of their danger tier. As a result, whether they liked it or not, Wilwatikta Kingdom would have to direct their fangs toward the mana species around them.
"What if we limit the number of pregnancies that one Valkyrie can carry? That way, we can prepare food supplies for each season," Ez offered a solution.
However, before anyone could voice their opinion, Nezena jumped off Moku's lap and pointed a menacing finger at Ez, her eyes flashing dangerously. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Bearing an Asura child is a pride and blessing for the Valkyries! You cannot limit something given by The One so casually! It is blasphemy, and I will not live to let it happen!"
Ez's face immediately paled, and in a trembling voice, he said, "Forgive me, Holy Queen."
Nezena snorted and looked at each monster one by one, searching for those who had the heart to agree with Ez's solution. But no monster dared to speak up against her. Nezena merely snorted and sat back down on Moku's lap.
Moku chuckled softly, seeing his wife, who always appeared graceful, turn into a fierce lioness when her beliefs were challenged. To calm down the still-fiery Nezena, Moku caressed her head and gently kissed her cheek. Nezena melted and leaned comfortably on Moku's shoulder.
Nevare spoke when she saw all the monsters remain silent, "I agree with Sister Nezena. Insufficient food supply is not a reason to limit the number of births! It's like cutting off one leg to fill a hungry stomach! We are monsters who have lived in the harshness of the Bog forest without miracles! Have we become soft just because of the protection of the Asuras?"
The monsters glanced at each other, realizing that they had become timid due to their safe living conditions. They had forgotten that they used to fight against unbeatable creatures with empty stomachs.
"Our Progenitor Queen speaks the truth. We should not cut off our legs to fill a hungry stomach," Reha stood up with confidence.
"In that case, what if we increase the number of ambushes we conduct on human alliance caravans? They always carry plenty of food and weapons. Human flesh is also quite delicious to feast upon," Ez offered another idea.