Chapter 198: So Much Milk

After Nick Wilde was dragged away by Mark, Sora clapped her hands together and turned back toward the stove.

The little disturbance from earlier was quickly forgotten.

She had more important things to do.

Breakfast.

Sora had made a large amount of wild fruit jam the previous day, and now that she had plenty of it, she suddenly wanted to make bread.

Her bread oven had been sitting unused ever since she had used it to make cake.

It was about time she put it to good use again.

The first problem she needed to solve was yeast.

Yeast was crucial for making bread, but unfortunately, Sora didn’t have any ready-made yeast.

She would have to make her own.

Fortunately, she had already prepared something that could work.

The extra kiwis she had collected earlier had been used to brew wine. After fermenting for so many days, the liquid had finally begun producing tiny bubbles.

Sora carefully poured a small amount of the fermented liquid into a container.

She mixed it with flour and stirred it thoroughly.

Once the mixture fermented naturally and doubled in size, it could serve as a natural liquid yeast.

Sora had accidentally come across this method in a book during the Apocalypse.

At the time, she had been amazed that ordinary fruit could be used to cultivate natural yeast.

She had never imagined that she would actually have to make use of that knowledge in the Beast World.

Life was truly unpredictable.

After preparing the yeast, Sora picked up a ceramic basin.

She added some flour and then cracked several eggs into it.

Just as she was about to continue, she suddenly remembered something.

There was no milk.

Sora glanced toward the Beast Husbands standing nearby.

"There isn’t any milk. Go get me some milk."

The moment her words fell, several figures disappeared.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind brushed past Sora’s face.

She blinked.

Then she looked around.

The men who had been standing nearby only moments ago were already gone.

Sora was momentarily stunned.

They had all gone?

She shook her head helplessly.

Well, if all of them wanted to go, then let them go.

At least they wouldn’t start fighting over who should fetch the milk.

It was probably better this way.

Since there was no milk yet, Sora had no choice but to put the bread preparation on hold.

Then she remembered the yogurt she had made the previous day.

Her eyes immediately brightened.

She quickly knelt beside the ceramic jars and checked on them.

When she had made the ceramic jar, she had deliberately made its walls thicker than usual.

She wanted it to retain heat and provide better insulation during fermentation.

Now, when Sora placed her hand against the outside of the jar, she could still feel a faint warmth.

It should be ready.

She carefully opened the lid.

A faint sour, milky fragrance immediately drifted into the air.

Sora’s eyes lit up.

Yes!

That was the smell she wanted.

She dipped her index finger into the yogurt and tasted it.

The moment the yogurt touched her tongue, a thick and delicate sourness spread through her mouth.

Sora’s eyes brightened even more.

This was it!

She had actually succeeded!

She had really managed to make yogurt.

After surviving in the Beast World for so long, she finally had another familiar taste from the Apocalypse.

Sora’s mouth began watering.

She couldn’t wait for the others to return.

She grabbed a ceramic spoon, scooped out a bowl of yogurt for herself, and drizzled some of the wild fruit jam she had made the day before over the top.

The bright red jam spread across the creamy white yogurt.

Sora immediately took a bite.

The thick yogurt combined with the sweet and sour wild fruit jam.

The moment the flavors blended together, Sora was transported back to the Apocalypse.

It had been such an ordinary snack back then.

Yogurt.

Something she had once been able to eat whenever she wanted.

Something so common that she had never thought twice about it.

But now, after arriving in the Beast World, recreating that familiar flavor felt almost miraculous.

Sora’s eyes became slightly moist.

She hadn’t expected a simple bowl of yogurt to make her feel so emotional.

She had thought she would never taste it again.

Yet here it was.

She had made it herself.

Sora quickly finished the bowl.

Then she stared at the empty ceramic bowl.

She hadn’t had enough.

Without hesitation, she scooped another bowl.

Then another.

Before she realized it, she had already eaten three bowls.

At that moment, Lucas and the others finally returned.

They had barely stepped back into the area when they saw Sora sitting there with white yogurt smeared around her mouth.

Her eyes were shining brightly as she continued eating with her spoon.

She looked strangely like a little kitten happily eating fish.

The scene was so cute that several Beastmen couldn’t help staring.

But after a few moments, their expressions became confused.

Was she eating a little too much?

Three bowls!

She had eaten three bowls in such a short amount of time.

Sora’s appetite normally wasn’t this large.

Even carrying a little cub didn’t seem like enough of an explanation for this sudden appetite.

Pregnancy could certainly increase a Female’s appetite, but this...

This was still a little excessive.

The Beastmen exchanged glances.

No one knew what to say.

Finally, Lukan coughed lightly.

His expression carried a faint smile as he spoke.

"Kaelira, the milk is back. Where should we put it?"

Sora paused.

She finally noticed that everyone had returned.

She looked around in surprise.

How had they come back so quickly?

She had only eaten a few bowls of yogurt.

Yet somehow, they had already finished their task and returned.

Sora awkwardly wiped the yogurt from the corner of her mouth.

Then she pointed toward an empty patch of ground.

"Put it over there."

The Beast Husbands immediately followed her instructions.

One after another, they placed their containers of milk on the ground.

Soon, the previously empty space was covered with large ceramic containers.

When it was Ace’s turn to put down his milk, he looked at the crowded space.

There was nowhere left.

Ace turned toward Sora.

"There’s no room here. Where should I put it?"

Sora had already finished eating her yogurt and was now busy scooping some into bowls for the others.

Hearing Ace’s words, she paused.

There wasn’t enough room?

That space had been quite large.

How could there suddenly be no room?

Sora looked up, intending to scold Ace for exaggerating.

Then she saw the milk.

Her eyes widened.

"How did you get so much?"

No one answered.

The Beastmen quietly avoided her gaze.

They were embarrassed to explain.

When they had all gone out together to collect milk, each Beastman had naturally wanted to prove that he was the most capable.

One person brought back milk.

Another brought back even more.

Then someone else tried to surpass him.

Before long, their little competition had escalated.

They had ended up milking practically every cow they could find on the wild hillside.

That was why they had returned carrying such an enormous amount of milk.

Sora stared at the large ceramic jars.

Her eyelid twitched.

So much milk.

What were they supposed to do with it?

"With this much milk, who’s going to finish it?"

Milk wasn’t easy to preserve.

Even though Sora knew several methods of processing it, there was no way they could consume all of this before it spoiled.

The Beastmen fell silent.

They had clearly not thought that far ahead.

They had simply wanted to prove who could collect the most.

Seeing Sora frown, Xavier raised an eyebrow.

"If we can’t finish it, we can distribute it to the people in the Tribe. With so many people, someone will eventually drink it."

Lukan shook his head.

"Apart from the little cubs, no one in the Tribe likes drinking this."

Xavier didn’t argue.

For once, he agreed with Lukan.

The milk really wasn’t very pleasant by Beast World standards.

It carried a strong, gamey smell that most Beastmen disliked.

In the entire Tribe, the only things that consistently made milk taste good were the foods Sora prepared.

Ace looked at the milky-white liquid thoughtfully.

Then he said calmly,

"If it can’t be drunk, it can be used for bathing."

The moment those words came out, the previously awkward men suddenly became interested.

Their eyes lit up.

Lucas looked at Ace from head to toe.

Then he smiled meaningfully.

"Ace, I didn’t expect that from you. You’re really a dark horse."

Ace frowned.

That wasn’t what he meant.

He had only remembered that some people in the past had used milk for skin care and whitening.

Who knew the others would interpret his words like that?

He opened his mouth to explain.

But before he could say anything, Sora nodded.

"Then let’s do that."

Using milk for bathing was admittedly extravagant.

But throwing away such a huge amount would be an even greater waste.

So this was probably the best solution.

Once the matter of the milk had been settled, Sora brought the fruit-jam yogurt she had prepared over to the round table.

"The yogurt is ready. Give it a try."

The Beastmen, whose minds had been wandering elsewhere, immediately returned to the table.

They each took a bowl.

Sora had covered the yogurt with the bright red wild fruit jam.

The Beastmen took their first bites.

Sweet.

Sour.

Refreshing.

The flavor immediately awakened their appetites.

No wonder Sora had eaten three bowls.

However, compared with milk tea, the yogurt was considerably more sour.

The Beastmen couldn’t completely understand why Sora liked it so much.

But they continued eating anyway.

Meanwhile, the natural yeast was almost ready.

Sora brought over the ceramic basin she had prepared earlier.

She poured in some of the fermented liquid yeast.

Then she added the ingredients one by one.

Sugar.

Salt.

Milk.

And finally, a small amount of lard.

She didn’t have butter, so she had no choice but to use lard as a substitute.

Lard was commonly used in pastry-making anyway.

The flavor wouldn’t be exactly the same as butter, but it was better than having nothing.

Once everything had been added, Sora began kneading.

Her hands moved steadily through the mixture.

She kneaded until the dough became smooth and soft.

Then she placed it aside to ferment.

Normally, natural fermentation would take quite a long time.

Sora didn’t have the patience to wait that long.

Fortunately, she had another advantage.

Her Fire Elemental Ability.

She carefully controlled the temperature with her ability, creating a warm environment suitable for fermentation.

This greatly shortened the amount of time required.

While the dough fermented, Sora had already begun preheating the bread oven.

Soon, the dough was ready.

Sora carefully placed it inside.

Everyone waited.

After some time, the familiar fragrance of freshly baked bread slowly filled the air.

Finally, the bread was finished.

It was fluffy and soft.

Sora took it out and divided it among the Beastmen.

She gave each of them several pieces.

"Just spread some jam on it before eating."

The Beastmen followed her instructions.

They spread the wild fruit jam across the warm bread.

Then they took a bite.

Their expressions changed almost immediately.

Delicious.

The fluffy bread had a texture they had never experienced before.

The sweet and sour fruit jam added another layer of flavor.

It was completely different from anything they had eaten before.

One bite led to another.

Before long, everyone had finished their portions.

After breakfast, they headed toward the Tribe.

Martin had been asking for their help for the past several days, and it wouldn’t be right to keep ignoring him.

They spent the entire day away.

By the time they finally returned, they were all exhausted.

Yet the moment they arrived, each Beastman instinctively headed toward his respective Wooden Hut.

There was one thing none of them had forgotten.

During the day, Sora had mentioned using milk for a bath.

And now that they had brought back so much milk...

The Beastmen’s eyes quietly began to shine with anticipation.