John Ericsson's Point Of View
I feel myself regain consciousness at the end of a pleasant dream. I felt something on my face however, it was so soft. I tried to move away from it as it seemed to be hard to breathe.
/Gunya... Gunya.../
My hand sunk into it. Why does it feel so good to touch?
/Gunya... Gunya.../
" Not... so... rough..."
" What...?"
I heard a woman's voice that I never heard before. It's not Emily, I'm still sleeping on her lap... Who?
" What?"
I open my eyes and what looked like a 30-year-old naked woman with long luscious grey hair was sleeping next to me. My face was buried in her giant chest... It was bigger than even Emily's chest. Who is this woman? I've never seen her before... Her eyes open, she had black eyes.
" Ah, did you enjoy your nap, Young Lord? I hope Molly and Meera didn't cause you any discomfort."
Her voice is so calming. Like a mother's... Wait, grey and black... Motherly... She knows the calves' names.
" Mary?"
The woman smiled at me.
" Yes, Young Lord, it's me. I slept right next to you, didn't I?"
" Yes, you did... But Mary, I can understand you, don't you think that's strange?"
" Oh, but you always try to listen to us, Young Lord... Oh my!"
It seems that the realization is donning onto her.
" My! I didn't think I'd evolve during a nap! No wonder I was so tired!"
" Evolve? Wait, more importantly, you're naked. If you're a Human for whatever reason, you need to clothe yourself."
" Oh, but I have no Human clothes."
" Just hang on a moment."
I sit up from Emily's lap carefully. I didn't want to accidentally touch her chest with my head. Once I was fully up, I handed Mary the shirt I was wearing.
" Here, wear this."
" But how do I put it on?"
" Hang on, I'll help."
I gently placed Molly and Meera's heads down onto the blanket and then I scooted over to Mary and began to help her.
" Okay, your arms go through here, and then you put your head through this hole."
" Oh my... These clothes are such strange things."
I was able to get my shirt onto her, but her chest size made it seem more like a sports bra more than a shirt. At least now, she's not completely naked.
" Who is that, Matthew!?"
" Woah!"
Emily yelled from behind me. She even scared Molly, Meera and Rex awake. When the calves saw Mary, they began to sniff her and then they mooed loudly.
" Moo!"
" Oh, hush now, sweetie. I already told you that today was going to be special. I could feel myself becoming ready to evolve, now I have."
" Moo!"
" Abandon!? Come now young lady! I'm your mother! Also, I'm the leader of our herd, I'm never going to leave you!"
Mary began to quell the fears of Molly and then Meera. She's truly mother-like with them... though I guess since they are her actual children it makes sense. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I felt a strange pressure growing from behind me.
" Matthew... What is going on? Why are you shirtless? Why is that woman wearing your shirt? Why is she naked from the waist down?"
" Emily... Uh... Good morning?"
Emily seemed to be in no mood for joking around. Seriously, what is with her and Ruby recently? It feels like they want to have all of my attention recently.
" Well, it's Mary, she said she evolved, but that's all I know for now. I gave her my shirt because she was naked. Why are you so upset?"
Emily seemed to be satisfied by my answer and also seemed to realize something and restored her poker face after thinking for a few moments. She's been doing this all day today. Why does she feel the need to hide whatever it is she's thinking about from me? I mean, it's not like I'll punish her for anything.
" I see. I've heard about monsters being able to level up, but this " evolve" is something I've never heard of. Granted, I've never been an adventurer or anything also."
" Oh, Lady Emily. I'm glad you've had a good nap."
Mary spoke to Emily with a happy smile on her face.
" Wait, why can you speak the common tongue already, Mary?"
" Why? Well, I know the common tongue, I was taught it by my mother. She said it was a good idea to learn it since I could know what hunters would be thinking if I ever stumbled on them while grazing."
Mary and Emily started up a conversation. I, however, was still thinking about this evolution thing. It reminds me of a really popular game series from my world. I waited for a moment to break into the conversation. Once it arrived, I asked the obvious question.
" So, Mary, how exactly did you evolve?"
" Oh, Young Lord, you don't know?"
I nodded my head to Mary's question.
" Well, us monsters can grow from consuming other beings. This can range from Humans and Demons to other monsters. In my case, with all of the grazing and stumbling upon bugs and reptiles, I finally leveled up enough to evolve into 1 of a few different options. In this case, I chose a Human-like evolution so I could communicate with everyone without bothering little Rex over there. The evolution said that I'm now a Varus Cow now. I think in the way that Humans rank monsters, I'd be around a B- Class now."
" Wow, was that really the best choice for you, Mary? This Varus Cow path?"
To my question, Mary grasped my hands gently in hers.
" The fact that I can speak to you now and you can understand me, tells me that I've chosen the right path, Young Lord."
" Moo!"
" Mooo!"
" Ah God..."
" Huh, what was that Rex?"
" Nothing!"
To Rex's words, Molly and Meera gave a strong glare to him which caused him to panic.
" Now, now girls, you've been taking advantage of your species difference to steal his attention. Just because I have a Human form doesn't mean anything. If anything, this should show you that if I can do it, then my daughters who are of my blood can to. Now you need to put your nose to the grindstone and level up as much as possible. Remember just because you both were the first that he helped, that doesn't mean that the rest of the herd feel any less indebted."
" Moo!"
" Well, you need to work hard! Besides, Lady Sarah and Lady Anna' actions are easy to tell if you look at Lady Ruby and Lady Emily."
" Moo!"
" Don't take that tone with me young lady! As fellow women, it's only fair to use your charms to win his favor! I'll do as I see fit while following that basic ideal!"
" Moo!"
" What about that idiot! He abandoned his family to try and chase after one of those A-Class hussies! The Young Lord is much better and would never abandon us!"
" Moo!"
" Wait, wait! Calm down, Mary!"
Emily jumped into the fray of a mother scolding her daughters. I looked at Rex and he was still mum on the whole thing. Emily began to have a conversation with Mary and her calves in attendance. I decided to just let her speak to Mary. Once they were done, Emily came back to talk to me.
" Matthew, I think my reward may be over... For now. I'd like to head back to the ranch now, but first, I need you to have Rex run to back to the mansion. I need him to deliver a message to Sarah and Anna."
I turned to Rex, and he seemed to be fine with it. A part of me assumed that it was just to get away from everything currently happening.
" Okay, that's fine, I'll tell the staff to gather up the herd and we can begin heading back."
With that, Rex ran to Emily, and she began to tell him the message. I gathered the staff which were thankfully all women, and I was able to gain some clothes for Mary as well as send the herd back to the ranch. Emily and I spent the time trying to find a good set of clothes for Mary to wear. Once we found some decent clothes for her to move around in, that was when Sarah, Anna, Ruby, Charlotte, Delcan and Princess Alice all arrived. I almost wanted to laugh looking at the line up all more or less sprinting to get to a ranch of all places.
" This is Mary, Emily?"
" Yes, Sarah."
" I see."
" My Love, I think it's best for you to take Delcan and go enjoy a before dinner snack."
" Bu-"
" Darling, please, for us."
Sarah and Anna seemed to want the guys to scram. Well, I guess since me and Delcan were the only men it makes sense.
" Moo."
As I was about to leave, Molly and Meera stopped me in my tracks by biting on my recently returned shirt. Sarah looked at them and with a serious look in her eyes, began to speak to the calves.
" Let him go, you both are also going to be a part of this discussion."
" Moo?"
I feel like that last moo was a question. Sarah walked towards me and then bent down to whisper something to the calves.
" Moo."
With a small moo, I was let go and then Delcan insisted that we go get some cheesecake. I thought it sounded nice so that was where we went. When I returned home later, Sarah and Anna had quite the progress report for me.