Chapter 83: Breast Milk
The pet had no name.
This was a problem because Tera had already been caught talking to it three times, and calling it "the fat one" was starting to feel disrespectful.
[Host has spent 47 minutes today watching this creature waddle]
[(·•᷄_•᷅ )]
’It’s therapeutic.’
[Host said the same thing yesterday]
[And the day before]
[This system is beginning to suspect Host has formed an emotional attachment]
’That’s ridiculous. I am just monitoring it.’
[Monitoring includes naming the animal?]
’It doesn’t have a name.’
[Host called it "Puff" under her breath this morning]
Tera’s eye twitched. ’That was a descriptive term. Not a name.’
[Descriptive terms do not usually include the phrase "my sweet little Puff-Puff"]
Tera ignored the system, and after hours of careful deliberation, she finally scooped the creature into her arms. It was so soft and squishy, like a dumpling, that Tera decided to give it two names.
It made a soft, contented sound—something between a snuffle and a chirp—and immediately burrowed against her chest, its ridiculous moustache-puffs tickling her chin.
’Omg, it is so cuteeeee.’
"Fine," she muttered. "Your name is Puff Dumpling."
Puff Dumpling let out another contented chirp.
["( – ⌓ – )]
Tera ignored the system and carried Puff Dumpling toward the settlement, the creature’s stubby legs dangling uselessly as it accepted being transported like royalty.
The clan’s reaction to Tera’s new companion ranged from baffled to deeply concerned. They did not understand why she was parading their meat around like that.
The cubs were dangerous. Tera had never had to worry about them till now. No matter how much they were told Puff Dumpling wasn’t food, they constantly pulled and poked at it, calculating how much meat they would get from the small creature.
[Host has formed an emotional bond with a creature that has no survival utility, no reproductive value, and no discernible skills]
[( ˘•ω•˘ )]
[This is the most human thing Host has done since arriving]
’OMG. Get off my dick already!’
[(,,•᷄ࡇ•᷅ ,,)?]
[Host does not have—]
’Sush!’
- ※ - ※ - ※ -
The weeks that followed the task completion were the most peaceful Tera had experienced since arriving in this world.
Her body was changing. The daily exercises, combined with Ermin and Xavi’s relentless campaign to stuff her with food, had finally started showing results. Her arms, which had once resembled twigs with ambitions, now had visible definition. And she was feeling a lot sturdier.
She hadn’t exactly gained weight, but the slight visibility of her ribs had finally disappeared under a layer of healthy flesh.
Xavi had stopped poking her face every morning to check. He now poked it purely for recreation.
Her belly had also begun to swell. It was barely visible, but it was there, a constant reminder of two tiny lives taking shape inside her.
Ermin, for his part, had developed an annoying habit of appearing exactly when Tera needed something.
Tera had also discovered, during one of her herb-sorting sessions, that a particular dried leaf produced a pleasant, slightly sweet aroma when steeped in water.
Sadly, another waterskin made from the skin of the recently killed animals had to be sacrificed to serve as a tea shaker.
After having tasted the water, she introduced cold herbal tea to the clan that evening, and the reaction was mixed. Some of the beast folk sipped cautiously and nodded with surprised approval. Others took one sip and looked at Tera as if she had just served them hot leaf juice and called it a gift, which was technically accurate.
And for some strange reason, they enjoyed the bitter ones more, which Tera would have preferred to take with milk.
She stared at the beasts sharing the skin between one another.
She missed milk.
She missed the way it softened the bitterness of most drinks, its creamy richness and—
A thought surfaced in her brain.
She was pregnant. Her body would eventually produce milk. Breast milk.
She could use her own breast milk in her tea.
The idea was so absurd that it circled all the way back around to being rational. Breast milk was nutritious, readily available, and technically the most organic dairy product in existence.
’I am such a genius!’
[( ╹ -╹)?]
Tera explained her concept to the system only to be met with a long, horrified pause.
[(⊙_⊙)]
[This system is questioning every decision that led to being assigned to this particular Host]
Tera looked across the settlement at the pregnant females, several of whom were further along than her.
They were technically beasts. Beast animals produced milk. Milk came from beasts and animals all the time in her old world. Cows, goats, sheep...
’System. What if I collected some milk from the other females? It should be completely normal to—’
[ดᗝด]
[ABSOLUTELY NOT!]
Tera sipped her plain, milk-less tea.
’Fine! I’ll just use my own milk when it comes in!’
[Host!]
[(੭ ;´ ⌂ `;)੭]
Even if Tera wanted to get milk, she needed somewhere to gather or store it at least.
Tera soon came back to a previous concern.
The lack of proper containers.
The woven baskets worked for dry storage, and the silk leaves served as passable bowls, but she needed something else. Especially a pot for cooking.
The problem was that there was no clay anywhere in their immediate area. She had scanned, she had searched, and she had dug in several promising-looking patches of earth, only to find ordinary dirt that fell apart in her hands.
But Tera was not someone who accepted defeat.
She settled for mud, mixing it with dried leaves and creating a paste that she moulded around the outside and inside of one of the woven baskets. The idea was that the basket would serve as a frame, and the mud mixture would harden into a solid shell when dried and heated.
The first attempt cracked before it even finished drying.
The second attempt made it through the drying phase but shattered the moment she placed it near the fire.
The third attempt survived both drying and heating for approximately forty seconds before the bottom fell out entirely, dumping its test water directly onto the fire and sending a plume of steam and ash into Tera’s face.
Sha abandoned the project.
And it didn’t help that the system didn’t find any clay deposits in the surrounding area.
’One day,’ she promised herself. ’I will have a proper pot, a pan, an oven, a bathtub, and a toilet.’
[Host’s wishlist has exceeded realistic expectations for the foreseeable future]
[ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ]
Tera paused, deep in thought.
The life now was nice and peaceful. She didn’t have to worry about rent or groceries or cost of living, but the basic things from her modern life were seeming like luxuries she might never have again.
She did not want that.
Now, it made sense for the system to have her develop the whole world. There might be things in other locations she could not access here.
And she could work with those things.
Tera looked back at the settlement.
She was no inventor, but she was innovative and sure knew how shit worked, even if it wasn’t right down to the basics.
’Don’t underestimate me, system.’
[( ╹ -╹)?]
’This is just the beginning.’