Chapter 124: Mass Production I
Ayra put in all she could, trying to make him laugh through tickling.
But after a minute-long attempt of trying to tickle him, Ayra realized that she was the only one laughing.
Commander Lynn stood there with a cold expression, staring down at her as if she wasn’t even doing anything.
"..."
At that moment, Ayra paused and stopped. She withdrew as she stared at him. And at that moment, she had realized that this beastman was an impossible nut to crack!
"I give up..." She muttered, shaking her head as she turned to face the cub.
The teens had paused and had their eyes on them. They had watched Ayra try tickling the wolf while failing terribly.
And as soon as she turned to them, they all turned back to the cub, pretending as if they weren’t watching at all.
Ally on the other hand was staring at them while she said out loud with a smile, "Silly wolf!"
---
They were still in there when some beastmen gathered outside Ayra’s house.
The guard had to go in and inform Ayra about the beastmen waiting for her outside. And so Ayra and everyone in there came out to see what was happening.
Rai was carrying the cub firmly in his arms as they came out to meet the surprising sight.
Ayra blinked as she saw the beastmen from the other day. The teens and warrior beastmen who had previously asked for what she was taking her bath with.
They were back and Ayra was surprised to see all the ingredients they had gathered. She smiled as she stared through them.
"Woah.. you all actually did get them...?" Ayra asked.
The beastmen all nodded.
"Yes. It took a while since we had to go outside the tribe and get most of them. We wanted to get the best," one of them explained.
Ayra nodded as she stared through the ingredients they had gathered. She confirmed it with what she had in the system and was surprised to find out that they had gotten everything right without missing a thing.
Ayra was impressed. She guessed these beastmen were smarter than the credit they were given for it. She knew she wouldn’t recall all those things on the list if she was the one.
"What’s happening?" Rai leaned close to ask.
"Soap! Soap!" Ally happily announced.
"Soap?" Rai asked as Ayra explained everything to them with a smile.
"Oh! That sounds great! I want to help too!" Rai volunteered as his peers agreed too.
"Mama, I want to help too!" Ally happily said in her wobbly broken accent as Ayra smiled at her, patting her by the ears.
"Sure. You all can help."
---
Ayra spent the whole day with the other beastmen working on the production of the soap.
Ayra didn’t do much work. The beastmen didn’t let her work since she was already pregnant. They had her sit down with her cub while she gave the instructions on what to do.
Commander Lynn stood behind Ayra like a personal bodyguard while he watched the activities happening.
She gave instructions as everyone proceeded with work.
They kicked off by collecting a lot of hardwood ash. And then burnt wood completely until only white-grey ash was remaining.
"Yay! Yay!" Ally said with a broad smile as she watched the fire burn. She was intrigued by the burning sight that she even stretched out her hand to it.
But Ayra gently pulled her hand down, saying, "Fire.. fire is hot and bad... Fire, hot, bad..." She emphasized as Ally kept staring at the flames.
Following Ayra’s instructions, they went onto the next stage of making lye water.
They placed ash inside a woven basket lined with cloth and slowly poured hot water over it. After that, they collected the brown liquid dripping underneath.
"What’s that?" Rai, who was observing the warriors work, asked, curious.
"That liquid is weak lye," Ayra explained with a smile.
Rai and his peers leaned in and stared closely with a smile.
For the next stage, Ayra instructed them into rendering the animal fat they’d gathered. They cut fat into pieces and then boiled it.
They removed meat and impurities from it and then allowed clean fat to cool.
"Meat! Meat!" Ally had instantly sniffed the scent of meat. And she happily called out, stretching to run off Ayra’s lap and get meat.
But Ayra pulled her closer. "No, you can’t have it. You can’t."
The cub frowned as she only stared. "Meat..."
Rai on the other hand licked his lower lips at the sight as he said, "Are you sure we can’t have a bite?"
"..." They stared at him.
Next, they heated both together. And then slowly poured the lye into the melted fat while stirring with a wooden paddle.
"Like this...?" One of the warrior beastmen asked while he stirred. He hadn’t done this before so he was nervous.
All he knew was to fight and take down wild monsters. These warriors never knew they’d eventually be working so domestically with the female. And they enjoyed the interesting process of it!
Ayra observed them closely with a smile as she said, "Don’t worry! You’re doing a good job."
"Good job!" Ally imitated while staring. Everyone around smiled.
The warrior beastman stirred continuously for a long time before eventually it thickened into a creamy paste.
"Oh.. this is...?" The warrior beastman was surprised at the development. All the beastmen gathered to take a look at the impressive development.
"What is that?"
"Is it edible?"
"It looks edible..."
"And it also smells sort of nice too."
They all commented, impressed. But Ayra smiled as she said, "Next step."
She guided them to add fragrance. They had different containers for different flavors and added different fragrance for it. Crushed lavender, mint, jasmine petals, lemon peel, rosemary, all different.
The fragrance filled their nostrils as the beastmen found themselves pulling closer to it.
"Smells so nice...." A warrior explained.
"I think I want to eat it..." Rai blinked.
"No you can’t eat it," Ayra said.
The cub leaned closer, stretching both hands as she said, "Yum yum yum.. mama, hungry!!"