Leejin especially was fascinated by the cows belonging to Hayoon's household.
The adorable black and white panda cub rolled around at her feet while begging to come along as well.
Hayoon laughed helplessly. "Alright, you can all come. But be careful not to scare the cows, and do not get stepped on either."
"Got it!" the older and younger cubs answered together. "Thank you, Sister Hayoon!"
Truthfully, even the adults were curious.
Bubalo were so huge, yet they obediently allowed Hayoon to handle them however she wanted.
Unfortunately, everyone was busy preparing for the evening feast and could not spare the time to follow along themselves.
They could only remind their cubs to help more and cause less trouble.
The cubs were extremely enthusiastic.
Those who could already transform into human form each carried a bundle of grass in their arms.
As for the younger ones who could not transform yet, their fathers or mothers tied bundles of grass onto their backs instead.
Most of the Ur-Shet Tribe consisted of bear beastmen. Walking behind the group, Hayoon watched the big bears, little bears, and adorable cubs bouncing and waddling toward the cave together.
The sight was unbelievably cute.
Meanwhile, she herself felt like the director of a kindergarten.
The thought amused Hayoon so much that she nearly burst out laughing.
The fresh grass everyone carried over was more than enough to give the two Bubalo an extra meal.
The Bubalo mooed softly at Hayoon a few times before lowering their heads and happily eating.
Several cubs stared at them in amazement and repeatedly exclaimed, "Wow, their temperaments are so gentle!"
"You can get beast milk from those Bubalo?"
"I can smell the milky scent!"
"They look so delicious too... slurp."
Hayoon let the cubs continue watching while she exchanged a glance with Minho.
The two of them went to wash their hands before returning with their tools.
Hayoon bent down to check the Bubalo and said, "There is a lot of milk again. Help keep an eye on things while I milk it?"
Minho nodded. "Alright."
Not only had Hayoon become more skilled after doing it once already, even the Bubalo itself had grown used to her.
It only glanced at her briefly before lowering its head to continue eating grass.
Hayoon worked diligently.
Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
Pale yellow milk steadily filled the small pottery jar beneath her hands.
At first, the cubs simply watched eagerly, but eventually one of them could no longer hold back and asked, "Sister Hayoon, can I try too?"
Hayoon worried the Bubalo might kick someone by accident, so she looked up toward Minho.
Understanding immediately, Minho replied, "It's fine."
With Minho watching over them, Hayoon felt reassured. She smiled and stood up, stepping aside to make room. "Then come try."
"That's great! Thank you, Sister Hayoon!"
One of the young sub-beastmen cubs stepped forward and seriously copied Hayoon's actions.
Treating it like a brand-new game, the cub laughed excitedly. "Hahaha, this is so fun!"
The other cubs instantly grew restless as well. "Sister Hayoon, me too! Me too!"
Haeun was actually curious too and wanted to try, but since he was the oldest among the cubs, he felt too embarrassed to step forward.
Besides, the Bubalo belonged to his family now anyway.
There would be plenty of chances to milk them later.
Hayoon's eyes curved into crescents from smiling, nearly overwhelmed by the excited cubs.
"Alright, alright. One at a time."
With all the cubs helping enthusiastically, the milk was quickly emptied out.
Not only was there quite a lot of it, but the strong animal smell also seemed lighter than it had been that morning.
It seemed the milk could not simply be left sitting there.
The more often it was milked, the more milk there would be.
"Let's go," Minho said after learning Hayoon planned to use fresh milk. He proactively picked up the pottery jar.
Hayoon smiled. "Thanks for your hard work."
The group then headed toward the open field they had cleared about a kilometer away.
Along the way, Hayoon listened to the cubs chattering nonstop about how fun milking was.
One of them even asked Haeun, "Now that your family is raising Bubalo, does that mean you can milk them every day from now on?"
Haeun proudly straightened his back a little. "Probably, yeah."
"Wow, I am so jealous of you!"
"I want to milk Bubalo every day too!"
"Can you let me try a few times?"
The enthusiastic attention from everyone made Haeun feel extremely satisfied, and he could not stop grinning. "Sure! Everyone can try!"
The way the cubs fought over the task made Hayoon laugh nonstop.
Once the novelty wore off, they probably would not enjoy it this much anymore.
"Hayoon, you are back!" Sulwoo called out while tending the fire.
"Yep!"
Sulwoo looked toward the pottery jar Minho was carrying. "Is that... beast milk?"
"Yes," Hayoon replied. "I want to use it to make a dessert."
"What is dessert?" Not only Sulwoo, but all the other adults besides Minho looked confused as well.
"You can think of it as a kind of snack," Hayoon explained.
There were too many people, while the milk only filled a little over half a pottery jar, so there definitely would not be enough for everyone to eat freely.
She planned to mix other ingredients into the milk and make a sweet treat for after dinner.
As soon as Hayoon explained this, both the adults and the cubs became extremely excited.
The beastmen who had gone back to gather food also returned one after another.
The simple fire pits were soon finished and everyone busied themselves together.
Time passed quickly as they worked and chatted at the same time.
Since everyone had helped Hayoon clear land today, she provided many ingredients for the feast, most of which she had previously gathered herself or traded for within the tribe.
Although her supplies were nearly depleted now, she did not feel bad about it at all.
She could always collect more later.