"This is a barn isn't it?" I asked.

We were all stationed in what could only be called a ginormous barn. Roosters to one side, pigs to the other, and an entire herd of cows segregated by herds. It smelled almost as bad as you would expect although a part of me was almost able to find a tinge of sweetness in the air.

This was apparently the location for our first job.

"Yep."

"This is also not on the school premises. Club activities from what I can tell all take place on school grounds."

"You're right about that too." Yuri nodded.

"Then why are we here?"

"To volunteer." Pepe answered.

"Our school isn't responsible for anything outside the premises!"

"Now now, Mao-kun. You can only grow if you expand your horizon." JiiJii smirked.

"Or at least that's what you say after swindling a bunch of kids! I bet you get some sort of compensation for this! How about you share that?"

"I do... The milk you drink every morning."

KUK!

"Also the eggs that you put in your omelette."

"Stop making me feel guilty!"

There was no one to stop us from coming in and under the influence of a rather old man we did come in. Or rather barge in. Was this even legal?

"Let's start the job then!" The old man sat next to a cow and put a bucket under her.

"Yessir!"

"No wait! What do you mean job?" I was yet again the only one to protest. Not because I was whiny, but because I was clearly out of the loop.

"Boy, are you dumb? We are obviously gonna milk the cows." JiiJii pulled the udder. A stream ran down.

"On someone else's farm? Without their permission?" This wasn't right.

"We do have their permission. The old man from the ranch threw his back so he can't milk these for a while now. That's where we volunteered."

JiiJii was rather convincing.

He continued as the others took their places. There was one vacant cow left.

"You're on that one kid." JiiJii pointed. The cow was large, fluffy an- Wow for a second I sounded like a read 7-year-old trying to describe a cow.

Nonetheless, and rather reluctantly I took a seat. And then yet another issue hit me.

"I don't know how to milk a cow." I admitted freely. There was no shame in not knowing how to work cow boobies.

"Pch… city boys are the same. Oi, Pepe teach the kid how to do it!"

"Yessir!"

Everyone clearly treated him like a commander. I could never understand why. This man had nothing going for him except his age. He was practically a walking fossil that required the assistance of kids like us to thrive.

There was nothing to respect here. Maybe pity, and empathise. But not respect.

But that was just my rambling, the volunteering club was under JiiJii's thumb.

Heeding the old man's words, Pepe sat down next to me and put a bucket under the cow.

"Here give me your hand." He said gently.

"Okay??" His thumb and index wrapped around my wrist and my hand was on the cow's fur. It felt soft.

"First you make the cow feel secure."

"Unnhnn."

"Then you massage the udders."

The next second my hand was under the sac of the udder. That went fast. Get the cow to know you're not an enemy and then aim directly at its milkers. I mean, if that's what gets it in the mood... sheesh.

"Then tickle the things right at the bottom."

His fingers reached the orifice at the bottom as they started to move in an unwholesome manner.

Pepe forced me to follow.

"Ewww."

"Shh. The cow is enduring this for your milk. Get over it."

Well, that was a strange way to phrase it.

This was kind of weird feely but I got over it thanks to my teacher.

"Finally you pull. But be careful… just pull it as hard as I do."

He demonstrated like JiiJii did right at the beginning and a nice stream of milk started filling the bucket.

"You have to do all this for the first time to build up trust and then when the cows get used to you, you can just go for it." Pepe stepped back after his demonstration.

"You're pretty good at this, huh? Considering you're a noble and all." I thought all if not most nobles were pretty well groomed in terms of their hobbies. Milking cows didn't seem like one of them. In my eyes, the thought of an understanding and grounded ruling class was brilliant. I was neither of those... but it was still brilliant.

I could only imagine how the other nobles would react to this idea.

"Hehe… I used to help out around the county whenever I got the chance." Pepe chuckled before heading back to his cow.

I looked around and the others seemed to be enjoying this activity.

That was when I realised-

I wasn't fine with being in this club. Not because I minded the activities, I just thought I could be doing better stuff. Like finishing my plan to watch list.

Nah, who am I kidding.

I wouldn't watch that even if I had the time.

Point is, I could have been rewatching that one show that I loved for the 30th time instead of milking some cows.

After all, this is not how I envisioned my second life of retirement.

Even though I say all of that, I had to agree that something about this was therapeutic. Especially after Pepe had left and I had the cow to look after myself. I felt relaxed while pulling on the udders.

Maybe this wasn't all that bad. Many would put this on their retirement plan list.

I could just buy an island and do all this stuff there. That would be an ideal life. Not saying that it would be the penultimate ideal life... But just one ideal enough to consider as my future.

"Can I have another bucket please?" I asked after almost filling the top one. I left some gap so it wouldn't overflow.

"Nah, one bucket a day is fine. Multiply with the five cows, this will last us a week." JiiJii said.

We really didn't drink a lot of milk did we?

"Then can we head back now?" I still had plenty of time to go ahead and relax watching stuff at home.

"Well, after you keep the bucket in the pasteurisation room." He was rather polite.

"Sure."

I had given up to the old man's whims. This was just a measly request.

I took the bucket and left. The bucket seemed heavy cuz of course it did. For some reason any utensil filled with a liquid felt way heavier than it should. But it was still lighter than that damn hoe {a/n : the implement not the Female Lead} so the carry was easily manageable.

I kept walking eagerly to get out of this place.

Until a strange viscous liquid hit my face from the side. I immediately stepped back and put the milk safely on the ground. To my side there was a fat cow on her knees.

"WOAH WHAT ARE THOSE?! WHY ARE LEGS COMING OUT OF ITS ASS?!"

"Ah Ruru is giving birth it seems!" The country girl came. Yuri, I believe her name was.

Why was I the only one panicking? Why were the others just going on with there job?

"We need to do something?"

"Should we?"

I looked at the cow in front of me.

"Of course we should!" It looked like it was in pain. No I could vaguely feel it's pain.

"Nah, let's just wait this will sort itself out when she comes."

"WHO?!" Ughh! These people were useless! Pathetic even.

I rushed to the cow and grabbed the legs coming out of its butt.

"PUSH!" I shouted, completely forgetting that cows didn't understand human language.

It struggled. But this should be fine right? Cows give birth in the wild.

It wasn't fine. Five minutes had passed and there was no progress.

'Should I go towards the back and pull it? What if I can't? What if it falls on me and I die? That'd be a terrible way to die!'

'What do I do???'

All of a sudden, the doors to the ranch opened.

"Don't fear! The greatest member of the squad is here." And out popped a silver haired girl.

Everything became clear.

So that was why Yuuno didn't tell me about the clubs. That schemin- Wait! SITUATION!

"Yuuno pull the legs! Pull the legs!"

"Oh… ah sure."

She pulled the legs as I ran ahead and held the cow.

Then we worked like dogs.

It took a while. And a lot of labour.

Of course, Yuuno couldn't go all out because there were chances of a still birth had she used power too strong for a calf to handle. So Yuuno conservatively pulled regularly until the calf was out.

It was rhythmic and took what felt like an entire hour.

But it was worth it. The calf made it out safely and went straight into Ruru the cow's warmth.

The two animals lay against each other.

It was the first chapter of a new family.