Chapter 6: The Taste of Strawberry Milk in the Mountains Is Special
Milk woke up, stretched his whole body, and heard Ru's voice in his head.
[Good morning, Milk.]
'Yeah, good morning, Ru.'
[I'll do your morning vital check. Status: healthy, no abnormalities detected. Check complete. Have a healthy day.]
'Thanks, Ru.'
[About last night: Millie briefly visited your room. It seems she witnessed your masturbation and was worried.]
'Gasp!'
Even though he thought he'd locked the door well and didn't notice it open, she had peeked through a slightly open crack and seen him.
It wasn't a real lock, just a rope tied to the doorknob, so it was no surprise it didn't hold. And since he was focused on his penis while masturbating, he didn't notice her approach.
'What do I do... It's going to be hard to face Mom...'
[I recommend acting as usual. Millie doesn't know I told you she saw you. If you just act normal, there won't be any problems. However, you can expect some indirect advice or educational talk from her because of this.]
'Ugh...'
Milk felt so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole.
Even if it was his own mother, being caught masturbating was a shock. At least his erogenous zones weren't developed, so he hadn't gotten too into it or ejaculated, but it was still masturbation...
[If you don't go out and say good morning soon, it'll seem even stranger.]
'Alright, alright...'
Milk tidied up, got dressed, and went outside. Thankfully, Millie greeted him with her usual smile.
He had a warm breakfast of milk and then went outside, where he played with the now-calm girls, acting as their "battery" to recharge their energy before he could escape their group.
[Today's plan is to help collect wild strawberries at lunchtime. You need to head to the hill behind the village to meet Yuke and her mother Yuri.]
'Oh, right.'
In truth, Milk was still too young to need to work. In fact, male Holstaurus rarely did any work at all.
That's why the title "clan chief" exists his role is to stay healthy and ensure the prosperity and reproduction of the tribe.
But his memories of working on construction sites in his past life made it hard for him to stay still he felt restless.
Ru also encouraged him to be active and interact with others to build favorability, so sometimes she recommended he help out or talk with people.
Millie knew he wanted to experience more and readily agreed. Through Yuke, he expressed his desire to help with strawberry gathering, and Yuke's mother also gave permission.
"Hey, Milk! Over here!"
When he reached the hill, the tall, well-developed 10-year-old Yuke waved at him.
Behind her, a beautiful woman with a bob haircut, who looked like an older version of Yuke, watched her fondly this was Yuke's mother, Yuri.
Several Holstaurus women stood nearby. They were the foraging team, tasked with gathering food from the mountain for the tribe.
Yuri was the leader, and Yuke, preparing to inherit her mother's role, already followed her around diligently.
When Milk approached, Yuke immediately ran to his side, hugged his arm, and clung to him.
There were many people around, so Milk felt a bit embarrassed, but the other women didn't seem to care since they were just children.
Yuri, a little jealous, asked Yuke,
"Yuke, do you like Milk that much?"
"Yeah! I like Milk! I love him!"
The women around Yuri teased her with playful remarks.
"That's why there's no point raising daughters, you know."
"Even little ones already know they like boys, haha!"
"Giggle giggle."
The older Holstaurus women laughed good-naturedly as they climbed the mountain.
With Yuke's help, Milk climbed energetically. The steep path wasn't hard, probably thanks to the body enhancement points he'd received as rewards.
After a while, the women ahead began to head into the forest.
[This is a wild strawberry patch. I've registered the location. If you need to visit again, it will be tracked automatically.]
Ru added the patch to his minimap. Pushing through the forest, they found a small tree full of red wild strawberries.
"Here it is!"
"Milk, it's your first time here, right? Look how many strawberries there are."
"Yeah! There are so many. We're going to gather these?"
"Not all of them we have to leave some for the wild animals that come to eat them."
Yuke explained proudly, as if sharing a secret only she knew, and Milk asked curiously,
"Wild animals?"
"Yeah, wild animals. After we gather these, the hunting party comes up tomorrow to hunt the animals that come for the strawberries. Sometimes we set traps here, too."
"Oh, I see. So that's why we leave some strawberries."
Milk nodded, and Yuke, excited, kept teaching him more as they helped the others gather strawberries.
After a while, most of the visible strawberries had been picked, leaving only some as bait for animals. The women piled the full baskets together and took off their tops to cool off and rest.
"Whew, it's hot..."
"It really is hotter today. Good job, everyone. Let's rest a bit before heading down."
"Okay, sis."
Milk, tired from picking strawberries, sat down to catch his breath. Yuke stuck close by his side.
Unlike the adults, Yuke kept her top on, and Yuri asked,
"Yuke, why aren't you taking your top off today? Are you embarrassed because Milk's here?"
The other women burst out laughing, and Yuke blushed, not knowing what to do.
[Yuke's favorability has reached 55.]
'It went up by 5?'
[The more time you spend together or the harder the work, the faster favorability rises. But as the number goes up, it takes longer and more effort to increase it further. It's easy now because the number is low, but it'll get harder later.]
'Ah, that's probably why my mom only just reached 100 yesterday.'
[A new favorability record has been registered for Yuri. Her favorability is currently 5.]
Just then, Yuri and the women brought over a basket and uncovered it, revealing steaming hot potatoes.
Holstaurus are omnivores and eat almost anything, but unlike the wild Minotaur, their diet has evolved to be much more like humans they don't eat raw food.
They cook meat, boil or roast potatoes and sweet potatoes, and their eating habits are similar to humans.
Milk was relieved to hear this from Ru. For now, he got his nutrients from milk, but eventually he'd eat regular food, and the thought of eating raw meat was unappealing.
The other women started eating potatoes, but Yuri, Yuke's mother, grabbed a handful of freshly picked strawberries and began to eat them instead.
Interestingly, the other women didn't comment on this and just ate their potatoes as if it were normal.
Ru explained the reason to Milk:
[Holstaurus women's milk temporarily changes composition depending on the fruit they eat. This is an evolved trait to provide more nutrients to young Holstaurus. Right now, she's eating strawberries to enrich her milk for Yuke and Milk.]
'Wait! Does that mean I have to drink milk from Yuri now?!'
[Of course. It's mealtime. If you don't eat now, you'll be hungry until dinner, which will harm your health. Even though Yuri isn't related by blood, she's your 16th senior mother by rank. There's no problem, so I recommend you drink her milk.]
'Ah, man...'
It was awkward enough to sometimes drink from his "little mom" Buren, but now he had to drink from someone he barely knew...
At least all Holstaurus women had large breasts and thick nipples, so it was easy to nurse, but as someone with an adult's mind, it was still embarrassing.
It's one thing to suck a woman's breast during sex, but to nurse like a baby in front of everyone was another matter.
Sure enough, after finishing her strawberries, Yuri called Yuke and Milk over, assigned them each a breast, and told them to eat.
"You're hungry, right? All set, so eat up. We have to go down the mountain after you finish."
"Wow! I get to eat with Milk. I'm excited!"
Yuke immediately latched onto Yuri's left breast, kneading it with both hands and nursing eagerly.
Even though Yuke was tall and well-developed for her age, she was still only ten, so she still had two more years of nursing left.
At this point, it would have been stranger for Milk not to eat, so he reluctantly approached, glanced at Yuke enjoying herself, and then latched onto Yuri's right nipple.
He pressed her breast, drawing the milk to the nipple, and sucked hard. Milk squirted into his mouth.
'Ah! Strawberry!'
Just as Ru had said, since Yuri had just eaten strawberries, her milk carried a fragrant strawberry scent and a sweet taste, making the meal surprisingly enjoyable.
Milk, who had initially felt awkward, was soon as absorbed as Yuke, clinging to Yuri's breast and kneading it as he nursed.
"Mmm!!!"
Perhaps because both breasts were being stimulated, Yuri threw her head back and let out a strange moan. The other women pretended not to notice and filled up on potatoes.
[Feeding complete. Yuri's favorability has risen to 15. Yuke's favorability also increased to 60 from the same action. Strawberry nutrient absorbed, 1 body enhancement point earned. This point will be invested in stamina.]
Milk nursed until he was full, then let go of Yuri's nipple, which stood firm and trembled slightly.
"Thank you for the meal."
"Thanks, Mom "
Yuri only smiled faintly at Milk and Yuke's thanks, her cheeks flushed.
While Milk and Yuke were getting ready to leave the mountain, Yuri was surrounded by other Holstaurus women, bombarded with questions.
['Sis, sis! Was it good? Was it good?!']
['Ugh, tell us! Say something, sis!']
Apparently, they were very curious since none of them had ever breastfed a boy before. Yuri was so overwhelmed she couldn't answer, and this blissful daze lasted until they reached home.
After finishing the day's work and descending the mountain, the sun was already setting. Milk parted ways with Yuri and Yuke and headed home.