My Beastly Fertility System Chapter 117: I'm Hungry

"His name is Bertie Turner. He comes by every day to clean and bring me food. But he hasn't shown up for two days. I don't know what happened."

From what Marcus said, he hadn't eaten for two days.

But he didn't look worried at all. He kept smiling and chatting about his life, like everything was fine. Even though Claire was a stranger—and a beastfolk he had just met—he showed no guard at all.

Claire felt a wave of sympathy. Marcus was blind, and his only family member couldn't even speak. She couldn't help but wonder how a blind man and a mute person had survived in this harsh world.

Still, Marcus stayed cheerful, like nothing in this world had ever beaten him down.

The only injury on his body was a small cut. He got it while trying to cook on his own.

"Can I just call you Claire? Your voice sounds a lot like my sister's!"

Marcus blinked his round, slightly red eyes. They looked watery, like he might cry at any second.

He lowered his head and twisted his fingers together, waiting for her answer. It tugged at Claire's heart.

"Of course!"

Even though her current body looked only 16 or 17, she was actually 30 in her past life. Hearing him call her by name made her feel younger somehow.

Marcus lit up at once. "Claire! Are you hungry? Are you cold? Do you want me to cook something for you?"

Claire quickly shook her head. She didn't want him getting hurt again.

He looked like the kind of rich kid who grew up with everything handed to him, someone who had never done chores before. Cooking was probably way beyond him.

"Just take me to the kitchen. I'll cook."

After getting out of bed, Claire felt a little sore, but otherwise fine. The only real problem was her empty stomach.

Even though Marcus couldn't see, he knew the house by heart. He knew where the stone table was, where to turn, and how to walk without bumping into anything. Claire didn't need to guide him at all.

He walked ahead, leading the way, and Claire followed behind.

Marcus was a head taller than her, but he still looked young and thin. From both the front and back, he looked more like a kid than a grown man.

Claire blinked. He was way too skinny.

Is his family poor?

But this place didn't look poor at all. The stone house was big, and there was even a decent-sized yard. The furniture wasn't fancy, but it was much better than the caves most beastfolk lived in.

The kitchen was also spacious, with some basic food stored inside.

Claire hesitated for a moment and didn't touch any of it. Instead, she took out her own ingredients from her storage space and started a fire to cook.

Soon, the smell of food filled the air.

Marcus sat quietly on a stone stool at the kitchen door. His thin body made him look even more pitiful.

Claire didn't call him, so he just kept waiting. He tried his best to hold back. But in the end, he couldn't resist the smell anymore.

"Claire... I'm hungry too..." he said softly.

He hadn't eaten for two days.

Claire smiled. "Hang on a bit. I'll make you a portion too! Oh, and can you tell me about Grimstone?"

Claire had just arrived here. All she knew was that Grimstone looked like a stone-built city from the outside. It was pretty large, with over 10,000 beastfolk living here all year round.

That might sound like a small number in the modern world.

But here, it was huge.

In this world, a normal clan only had a few dozen members. A clan with over 100 was already medium-sized. Large clans, like Rufus's eagle clan, had close to 1,000 members.

Grimstone had over 10,000 permanent residents. And during the cold season, even more beastfolk came here to stay. They would leave again once the season ended.

So right now, the population had grown to about 15,000.

According to Marcus, Grimstone hadn't been around for long—only a few decades. It was ruled by a Level 3 beastfolk from a bear clan.

The rules here were simple. As long as you behaved and paid a certain amount of beast meat every month, you could live here.

The city had strong walls and powerful guards. Rogue beastfolk weren't allowed inside. For normal people, this made it a very safe place.

Because of that, more and more beastfolk kept coming here. Even the cold season couldn't stop them from traveling.

Marcus had lived here his whole life. He had never gone outside Grimstone. When he heard Claire say she came from a small clan, he became very curious.

"Claire, when my eyes get better, can you take me to visit your clan?"

Claire went quiet for a few seconds before answering.

"My clan was destroyed by rogue beastfolk a long time ago. But don't worry. There's a whole world out there waiting for you to explore."