"You can let go now," Minho said.
The beastmen released the calf and stepped aside.
Hayoon walked over carrying a basket full of fresh grass.
Minho naturally took it from her, grabbed a handful, and fed it to the calf.
The calf mooed softly and immediately began eating.
Seeing how eagerly it ate, Hayoon laughed lightly. "It must have been starving. Minho, go wash your hands. I will feed it."
After confirming the calf would not attack anyone, Minho gave a quiet hum and stood up.
Seeing that the calf was alright, the mother Bubalo's cries gradually calmed as well.
Even so, Beom still did not feel entirely reassured.
After returning to human form, he continued watching the mother Bubalo closely and did not let her approach.
Haeun also carried over a huge bundle of grass and dropped it at the mother Bubalo's feet.
"Here, you should eat too."
The mother Bubalo gave the calf a long look before finally turning her head away.
She lay down on the ground and slowly began eating the grass, flicking her tail from time to time.
Hayoon was extremely fond of the calf.
She grabbed handfuls of grass and fed them to it personally, even taking the chance to rub its thick, warm ears.
"Eat more and recover quickly," she said with smiling eyes.
By the time the beastmen finished washing their hands and returned, the calf was still eating while the mother Bubalo had already lain down and fallen asleep with her eyes closed.
Leeho said honestly, "Minho, Hayoon, you two are really kind. You even brought the Bubalo back from so far away just to treat them."
As soon as Hayoon heard that, she knew they had already talked about it among themselves.
She dusted off her trousers, stood up, and smiled. "Actually, I have my own selfish reasons. I want to try raising them."
Aside from Minho, all the other beastmen froze in surprise.
"What is the point of raising them if you cannot even eat the meat?"
Hayoon replied, "To do work."
The beastmen laughed.
"What kind of work could they possibly do? They are strong, but it is just brute strength. Besides, they cannot even understand speech."
"Exactly. They eat a lot and make a mess everywhere. If you do not watch them carefully, they will destroy things too. Raising them sounds troublesome."
"Using them for work would be worse than just using our beast forms."
Hayoon laughed as well. "That is true. But our family situation is different. Haeun is still young, and I do not plan on finding a mates anytime soon, so there is no beastman around to help me."
Although the beastmen nodded along, they still did not really agree with her decision deep down.
To them, raising cows seemed like a losing deal.
"Huh," Haeun suddenly spoke up. "Sis, does this mother Bubalo have milk?"
Hayoon turned to look. "Yes. The calf probably has not been weaned yet."
Haeun licked his lips. "Bubalo milk tastes really good."
The longing in his expression was impossible to hide.
Hayoon laughed loudly. "In a couple of days, I will see if I can get familiar with her enough to milk some out."
Wanting milk was one of the reasons she had brought the mother Bubalo back.
Back before transmigrating, milk and dairy products had been everywhere, and she never thought much about them.
Now that she could not have them anymore, she found herself missing the taste of milk and cake terribly.
Beom said, "If you want milk, we can hold the mother Bubalo down for you right now while you milk her."
Hayoon waved her hand. "That will not work every time. She was already frightened once. If we scare her again, it will be much harder to gain her trust. Anyway, there is no rush."
Beom nodded. "Alright. If you need help, just tell us."
Minho who had stayed silent until now spoke calmly. "I am here."
Beom did not think much of it and laughed. "Right, right. There is still a warrior in your house."
Leeho glanced at the sky. "Nothing else to do now, right? Then I will head back."
Feeling a little apologetic, Hayoon asked if they wanted to stay and eat something before leaving.
The beastmen immediately refused. "No need, no need. Dinner is already being prepared at home. We are going!"
Everyone waved their hands and left before Hayoon could stop them, quickly disappearing into the distance in their beast forms.
Only one young beastman remained behind, standing awkwardly in place while glancing at Minho.
Hayoon had seen him during the tribe's group activities before and knew his name was Sulwoo.
His beast form was a white bear, though they had never really spoken much.
Sulwoo had fashionable silver-gray hair, and paired with his sharply handsome features, he was very pleasing to look at.
He was an unmarried beastman, yet he wore linen clothing, which showed he was fairly capable.
He clearly had enough extra resources to exchange for linen cloth and even have clothes made.
The fact that he had come together with strong beastmen like Beom and Leeho proved that as well.
Hayoon noticed that he seemed to have something to discuss with Minho, so she deliberately pulled Haeun away and said, "Let's go prepare dinner."
Minho nodded toward them.
Hayoon and Haeun got busy by the stove.
It was already late by the time they returned today, so she planned to simply steam some tubers and quickly stir-fry two dishes.
Minho led Sulwoo into the grass shed and asked, "Do you want to talk here or inside the cave?"
Sulwoo raised his hand and scratched his head hard.
"Here is fine," he said gloomily. "The other day, I went to bathe in the river, and I probably slept before my fur dried completely. Now I have lice all over my body. It itches so badly."
Minho had already noticed the scratch marks on his neck and asked calmly, "And then?"