I groaned, gripping my side as I staggered down the crowded street of Wysia Town. The wound wasn’t deep, but the damn gash from that scorpion’s jagged cw burned like hell. Normally, I’d just stop by Ol’ Man Marcus’ potion shop, grab a quick healing vial, and be on my way, but the old bastard had apparently up and left town without warning. Now I was stuck wandering the streets, looking for a new supplier before this damn cut got infected.

  "Damn it," I muttered under my breath. "Why’d he have to leave now?"

  “Still looking for potions, Garett?”

  I turned to see Joren leaning against the wooden post of the smithy, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He was another hunter like me, but today he seemed oddly rexed despite the recent monster surge outside town.

  “You find a new supplier?” I asked, hopeful.

  “Yeah,” Joren nodded. “There’s a new shop that opened up near the market square. ‘Aiko’s Potion Shop.’ Weird pce, though. They don’t sell the usual bottled stuff.”

  I frowned. “What the hell do you mean?”

  “You’ll see,” Joren chuckled. “It’s… different.”

  He didn’t eborate, just gave me a pat on the shoulder and walked off, still ughing under his breath. I had a bad feeling about this, but I didn’t have much choice.

  Navigating through the busy market, I spotted the shop easily. A wooden sign hung above the entrance with a crudely painted bottle of milk on it, with the words ‘Aiko’s Potion Shop’ written in flowing script. My brow furrowed. Milk? What kind of joke was this?

  I stepped inside, and the sight before me nearly made me turn right back around. The shop was clean, well-lit, and smelled faintly sweet… but the real shock was the shopkeeper.

  A woman stood behind the wooden counter, dressed in what I could only describe as the most humiliating maid outfit I’d ever seen. The bck-and-white frills were standard, but her chest was fully exposed—save for the rge, transparent suction cups attached to her breasts. Tubes ran from them into the back room, steadily pumping a thick, creamy liquid into gss containers.

  Her breath was heavy, her face red, and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Yet, despite the obvious embarrassment in her eyes, she forced a professional smile as I approached.

  “W-Welcome to Aiko’s Potion Shop,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “H-How can I help you?”

  I opened my mouth, then closed it again. What the hell was I even looking at?

  “I… uh…” I shook my head, trying to reset my thoughts. “I need a potion. Healing, preferably.”

  Aiko nodded quickly, trying to keep her composure. “O-Of course! We have Recovery Milk avaible. It works just like a healing potion, restoring stamina and mending minor wounds. One bottle costs five silver.”

  I hesitated. I had heard of alchemical milk before—rare stuff, usually harvested from magical creatures. But a whole shop dedicated to selling it? And what the hell was with this outfit?

  “Is this… really legit?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  Aiko flinched, but nodded. “Y-Yes! All Livestock milk is processed and enchanted to provide temporary buffs. Healing, strength enhancement, even mana restoration.”

  I wasn’t sure what to make of this. But I needed that potion. With a sigh, I reached into my coin pouch and pced five silver on the counter.

  Aiko quickly turned and grabbed a chilled gss bottle from a wooden crate, her hands shaking slightly as she pced it in front of me. The milk inside was thick and white, swirling slightly with a faint magical glow.

  “There you go. Just drink it all in one go for the best effect.”

  I stared at the bottle, still feeling weird about this. But my wound burned, and I had no other options. With a deep breath, I uncorked it and downed the milk.

  The effect was immediate. A cool sensation spread through my body, the pain in my side vanishing as if it had never existed. My muscles felt rejuvenated, and I even felt a little stronger.

  “Holy shit…” I muttered, flexing my fingers. “This actually works?”

  Aiko gave a small, relieved smile. “Of course. Livestock milk is far superior to normal potions.”

  I frowned, gncing at the tubes connected to her. “…Are you one of these ‘livestock’?”

  Aiko stiffened slightly, then looked away. “I-I’m just the shop owner,” she said quickly, her voice tight. “If I don’t do well here, I… I’ll be sent back to the ranch.”

  I wasn’t sure what that meant, but the way she said it made my stomach turn.

  “…Right,” I muttered, taking another gnce around the shop. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know more, but one thing was clear—the potions worked. And for a hunter like me, that was all that really mattered.

  Shaking my head, I pced the empty bottle on the counter. “I’ll be back.”

  Aiko blinked. “Huh?”

  I sighed. “The milk works. That’s all that matters to me.”

  Her face turned an even deeper shade of red, but she nodded quickly. “T-Thank you for your patronage.”

  As I left the shop, I couldn’t help but feel like I had just walked into something far stranger than I had signed up for. But hell, if the milk worked, who was I to compin?

  Aiko's POV

  I stood behind the wooden counter, my cheeks burning as another customer entered the shop. My hands instinctively moved to adjust my outfit, but there was nothing to fix. No amount of tugging could change the humiliating uniform Hiroshi had forced me into.

  The air in Wysia Town’s marketpce was thick with the scent of spices, sweat, and the occasional whiff of livestock from the nearby stalls. Yet, here I was, standing in a potion shop dressed like… like some kind of perverted milkmaid. The outfit barely covered my body—a modified maid uniform with the top completely cut away, leaving my breasts exposed save for the milking suction cups attached to my nipples. The soft, rhythmic pull of the device made my breath uneven, my body heating up in a way I absolutely hated. I forced myself to remain composed, greeting each customer with a professional tone, even as my face burned with humiliation.

  If I let my disgust show, if I refused to do my job properly, Hiroshi would send me back to the ranch. And I knew exactly what that meant.

  I had seen what happened to the ‘livestock' they may sell themselves as being saved by that pervert, but I don't need that kind of saving, no one does besides them.

  Steeling my resolve, I took the empty wooden pail from beneath the counter and walked toward the back of the shop. Each step felt heavier than the st as I approached the dimensional door—a swirling, shimmering rift carved into the very fabric of reality. It was a direct portal to the farm, the pce where the livestock were kept.

  The air shifted as I stepped through, the scent of fresh hay and something faintly sweet filling my nose. The dimly lit barn stretched before me, filled with rows of… them.

  Women. Or rather, what used to be women.

  They were strapped into machines, their bodies bound in leather harnesses that held them in pce as the milking apparatus did its work. Their moans echoed softly through the barn, some giggling deliriously, others merely sighing in pleasure as the machines continued their endless rhythm. Their bodies twitched with each pull, each suction drawing milk from their swollen breasts into the tubes that connected to rge gss containers while their crotch being fucked by the same machine.

  Their faces were sck with pleasure, eyes half-lidded, their minds melted by the curse that had turned them into this. Livestock.

  They had once been some sort of warrior or maybe nobles. But now, they were nothing more than dairy producers, trapped in a perpetual state of mindless bliss.

  I swallowed hard, clutching the wooden pail tighter in my hands. The sight never failed to disturb me, no matter how many times I was forced to visit. I couldn’t help but pity them—most of these girls had been raped by the monsters that cursed them, twisted into insatiable, lust-addled creatures. If Hiroshi hadn’t taken them in, they would have likely ended up as pythings in some brothel or worse.

  But this… this wasn’t much better, was it?

  I sighed and walked toward the nearest container, checking the bel to make sure it was the right batch. A girl with short blonde hair twitched beside me, her tongue hanging from her mouth as the machine continued its work. Her half-lidded eyes rolled slightly in my direction, her voice weak and dreamy.

  "Mmm… more… It feels so good…" she slurred, pressing herself further into the suction cups as if begging the machine for more. "T-Thank you… master… f-for saving me…"

  No 1. I shivered.

  No. I wasn’t going to end up like them. No matter how humiliating my job was, no matter how much Hiroshi made me dress like this, I would endure it. Because the alternative…

  The alternative was to become livestock myself.

  Clutching the pail of fresh milk, I turned on my heel and left the barn, ignoring the chorus of pleasured moans that followed me. As I stepped back through the dimensional door, the scent of the shop’s herbs and potions filled my lungs, grounding me.

  I exhaled slowly, forcing my expression into something neutral as I returned to my pce behind the counter. The customer waiting for me—an impatient monster hunter nursing a wound—gnced at my outfit but said nothing. His eyes flickered toward the pail in my hands, and I quickly set it down before grabbing one of the prepared bottles of potion-grade milk.

  "Here’s your order," I said, forcing a smile. "That’ll be ten silver."

  As I watched him hesitate before taking the bottle, I bit the inside of my cheek, reminding myself once again—

  No matter how humiliating this was, it was still better than the alternative.