As soon as I arrived at the Fairy and Silver Coin, I rushed over and plopped down at the counter.
With one hand resting on my chin, I lazily opened my mouth and said,
“Bartender. The usual, please.”
“Oh, Jonah! Where did you learn to be so casual…?”
Ellie chuckled as she poured a cup full of milk. I gulped it down, and the rich aroma filled my mouth.
“Ah! This refreshing drink after work! You could say I’ve lived for it!”
“That’s a bit of an overstatement. Once you get older and try alcohol instead of milk, you might think differently.”
“I’ll take a 30-year-old Platypus, please, Ellie-senpai.”
“That drink costs 10 gold per cup! Do you think this place sells that?!”
“If you don’t have that, just give me beer.”
“I told you to drink beer from the start…”
With a deep sigh, Ellie poured beer into a chilled glass and handed it to Lydia. Watching her, I suddenly had a question pop up.
“By the way, Ellie. I have tried milk at other places, but here it tasted so distinctively good. Is there some special way to enjoy it?”
“What special way is there? It’s just good milk. It’s not just any cow’s milk; it’s A+ grade dairy cow hybrid human milk.”
I thought I misheard her, but her answer didn’t change.
“…? What? Whose milk?”
“A+ grade dairy cow hybrid human. Surprised? You’re the only one drinking milk in this place, so I prepared the expensive stuff on purpose.”
Ellie exclaimed confidently. But I couldn’t fully admire her for that.
“That’s… breast milk, right?!”
“Oh my goodness… Well, if it’s breast milk, then it is. So what?”
“Cow’s milk is milk. It’s not any different from the breast milk of a dairy cow hybrid human.”
What is with this nonchalant reaction? Am I the odd one here? Even in a world where gender roles are reversed, isn’t selling breast milk as premium milk a bit off?
In human terms, it would be like selling semen as premium protein… maybe that’s a bit different. Men don’t produce breast milk, so it’s a tricky comparison.
It has been two years since surviving in the Pan Continent. But this was a piece of common knowledge I had no clue about, so I decided to ask.
“Is it normal to drink someone else’s breast milk? I mean, doesn’t it feel a bit embarrassing or lewd?”
“Uh, um… where do I even start to explain this…”
Ellie started to look as troubled as an adult answering a child’s question about where babies come from.
She rolled her yellow eyes around, scratched the back of her head roughly, and finally spoke in a careful tone.
“First of all, hybrid humans have a heat cycle periodically. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. That’s why there are suddenly so many hybrid guys in brothels during that time.”
As I nodded, Lydia, who was drinking beer next to me, began to pat my head with a concerned expression.
“…You lack common sense but know the weirdest things.”
“Um, I’m not sure, but I get that you’re treating me like a fool, Lydia. I know what I need to know!”
“Yeah, yeah. For now, just focus on what Ellie-senpai is saying.”
Even though her tone felt a bit condescending, it was true that I didn’t understand this world’s common sense about milk.
So, I kept my mouth shut and stared at Ellie, and after gathering her thoughts, she filled up my milk again and said,
“If you already have a rough idea, I’ll skip the basic explanation. Anyway, the important part is that hybrid humans’ heat cycles come with physical changes.”
“Oh… What changes?”
“Hybrid women grow larger breasts during their heat cycle, and in severe cases, they even produce breast milk.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I wondered if this was a gender-reversed common sense issue or a trait of the hybrid races.
“In general, it’s just a little that comes out, but for the dairy cow hybrids, they say it overflows excessively, so they have to express it regularly until the heat ends.”
“So, the milk they express is much tastier than regular cow’s milk and is sold for a high price… Is that correct?”
“Exactly. Just to add, while things aren’t too bad at the moment, back in the day, if the labyrinth hadn’t existed, people would have starved to death.”
“That’s because they forced a world that should have collapsed back to life.”
“Right. During such times, even a hybrid who produces milk well wouldn’t want to waste it. They’d drink it themselves, feed their family, and if there was any left, they’d sell it to others, and that’s how it continued to this day.”
“I see. I completely understand now.”
It wasn’t a lewd meaning but a more desperate reason.
Plus, unlike humans, where milk is only produced for a few months after giving birth, the hybrids produce a little all the time, and when they go into heat, it overflows.
For dairy cow hybrids, milk isn’t that special, and the same goes for those drinking it.
Today, I learned something new!
While I was fascinated by this, I suddenly recalled that all hybrid races supposedly produce breast milk, at least a little bit, during their heat.
“…Wait, does Ellie also produce milk during her heat?”
“…Is that considered impertinent to ask?”
“Why?! You’ve explained everything else so well, why suddenly change the topic!”
“Um, asking a human if they’re on their period today or if they had a wet dream as a man is somewhat similar.”
“That’s a question everyone knows, but it’s awkward to ask directly, right? Now that you mention it, that is kind of impolite.”
But regardless, I was still curious.
“Then I’ll brashly ask. Does Ellie also produce milk during her heat?”
“Jonah…”
“Just so you know, since I met Ellie, I haven’t had any wet dreams or anything about her.”
“……”
Ellie was left speechless, her face suddenly turning bright red as she replied.
“Of course I produce milk too.”
“So can I request Ellie’s milk next time?”
“Is that even possible? I’m a wolf hybrid, not a dairy cow hybrid! There wouldn’t be much, and it wouldn’t taste that great! Besides, I don’t have any expressing equipment!”
“Well, I’d still like to give it a try, even if it’s little and doesn’t taste good. And as for the lack of equipment… can’t I just drink it directly?”
“That’s borderline lewd!”
“Exactly! I just want to have lewd fun with Ellie! So I even prepared this gift!”
Right on cue, I handed Ellie the sexy underwear set I planned on giving her, which made her absolutely freak out.
“Where did you even get this?! Do you want to see me wearing it?!”
“Of course. Your mismatched underwear lacks any charm at all.”
“A woman’s charm is…”
Even in disbelief, Ellie cautiously tucked the gift away. The way she alternated between glancing at me and the underwear made me think that perhaps, before long, I might see Ellie in just that set.
With a cheeky grin, I interlocked my fingers behind my head and leaned back in my chair. Just as I was starting to sway in my seat, Lydia, who had been quietly watching me and Ellie, finally spoke up.
“By the way, Jonah.”
“Yeah?”
“What was the reason you were so flustered when you first realized the milk you drank was from a dairy cow hybrid? Was it something lewd?”
“Well, I mean, I’m a guy too, so it feels embarrassing, you know?”
“That may be true, but you’re not just a little embarrassed, are you?”
“That’s because… I kinda imagined how they produce milk.”
“?”
Lydia didn’t understand. To help her, I shared the rather disturbing image that had popped into my head.
“I was picturing a bunch of dairy cow hybrid women tied up in fixed positions, endlessly getting pregnant and giving birth to pump out milk until they could no longer conceive, and then just disposed of…”
“……”
“……”
Hearing my story, Ellie and Lydia started shivering with wide-eyed expressions.
“Is this what it takes for Jonah to feel embarrassed…?”
“I’m surprised. There’s a saying that your sexuality is determined by what you see as a child. Indeed, Jonah….”
That’s just too much! If they reacted this way, I’d genuinely feel hurt.
To show I was annoyed, I pouted and stood up from my seat.
“Hmph! I’m leaving now. You two can discuss what happened today instead, Lydia!”
With a dramatic flair, I headed for the stairs that led to the second floor. Just before I climbed, I turned my head slightly after stepping onto the first step.
Seeing Ellie awkwardly fumbling for words and Lydia feeling restless from her mistake, I glared at them one last time and pulled down on my lower eyelid with my finger, sticking out my tongue.
“Bleh! I’m locking my door today, so you know what to do, Ellie!”
“J-Jonah?!”
Ellie was momentarily startled, but without turning back, I headed up to the second floor. That’s how you create some tension.
…But I figure one exception should be fine.
I rushed back down the stairs, hid behind a wall, and peeked my face out.
“However, I’ll only open the door if you come wearing the underwear I bought!”
Is it alright to hope for a little excitement today?
