No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 16

Although she was basically illiterate, she at least knew numbers and basic arithmetic, and could understand what Payne was calculating.

Then, her eyes darted around, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. She patted Payne on the shoulder and said with ill intent, "Oh~ whose divergence are you calculating? So impatient, huh?"

Payne stopped his calculations, looked up and rolled his eyes at her. He was about to say that it was nothing to brag about taking so long to recognize all the numbers and learn the four arithmetic operations, but after a moment's thought, he came up with a more powerful way to retaliate:

"Don't be so arrogant. It'll be July in a few days, and the squirrels' second split will happen in July or August. Just wait and see how I deal with you then! You dare to bite me?!"

With her face flushed red, the squirrel girl angrily grabbed Payne's head and started cracking at his head with her front teeth, just like she was cracking open a giant nut.

To be honest, those teeth are perfect for cracking nuts; they really hurt when they bite.

"What are you doing! Don't bite your master!"

As a loyal friend of humans, Lacey immediately tried to turn Ruby aside, but failed. The three of them twisted and turned, making the wooden bed creak and groan, and it looked like it was about to collapse...

Faced with such a lively scene, the young horse and sheep, who had only recently joined the team, wanted to step forward to break up the fight but didn't know where to start. They could only awkwardly hide to the side, showing an embarrassed but polite smile.

Just thinking about Ruby's words about Pain calculating the splitter made Xiao Ma's already restless body even hotter, and he couldn't help but slightly squeeze his legs together.

What...does Payne want me to do?

Chapter 23 XXIII. Preparations

After a while, Ruby finally let go of Payne in a huff and went to dig a hole in the wall to hide her pine cones. Now it was Lacey's turn to hold Payne's head and tenderly lick the spot where he had been bitten by his front teeth.

This squirrel was fairly gentle with its bite, only slightly breaking the skin without causing a wound—in the days before penicillin, wounds on the front lines almost always resulted in infection.

Payne doesn't want to have his head amputated yet.

However, although the current points are not enough to redeem penicillin, they are more than enough to exchange for a can of dog food.

But it still hurts to spend the money...

Payne stared at the shop interface for a long time before finally steeling himself and redeeming a can of dog food.

No one had noticed what Payne was doing, but when a crisp sound of a can being opened echoed throughout the trench, all four beast girls immediately turned to look at him.

Payne grabbed a few kibbles of dog food and popped them into his mouth, marveling at the advancements in technology. He couldn't believe that dog food on Earth could be made so delicious.

If this can of dog food can be considered a delicacy, then the food provided to the soldiers by the German logistics department can only be barely considered human food.

When such a jar of delicacies appeared in front of the beast girls, the impact on them was self-evident.

More importantly, dog food on Earth is designed to cater to animal preferences, and kemonomimi (animal girls) would like it even more than humans.

Payne could even feel Lacey drooling on his head...

"This...is this for me?!..."

Hearing the trembling voice above him, Payne smiled and said:

"The work of digging trenches these past few days has come to an end, everyone has worked hard. But starting tomorrow, a series of new tasks await us, including but not limited to moving shells, pulling cannons, setting up barbed wire... It would be a shame not to treat us to something nice."

"Waaaaah, Master is the best! Waaaaah!..."

Before Payne could react, Lacey pounced on him like a dog, pinning him to the bed and licking his face with her wet tongue, almost suffocating him.

Fortunately, Ruby was very perceptive. The moment Payne was tackled, she took the can of food, preventing the tragedy of spilling it all over the floor before he could even eat it.

"How much should we feed her?" the squirrel asked.

"Give Ururu only half a pound at most. Ururu can't eat too much. Ururu, oh dear, okay, Lacey, stop licking!!"

But upon hearing that her owner wanted to limit her food intake, Lacey licked even more enthusiastically, "Waaah, no! I want to eat my fill all at once~~"

"You won't be satisfied until you've eaten until you're sick of it, huh?!"

Payne managed to prop up her head to stop the licking attack, then turned to Ruby and said, "You really have to keep an eye on her, don't let her eat too much."

That's the downside of dogs; because they don't have a sense of fullness, they'll keep eating until their stomachs are full if no one stops them.

Payne really didn't want to experience that situation again, where Lacey suddenly vomited all over his face while they were in the middle of it...

Watching Lacey start circling Ruby, pleading, "Give me more to eat~~" Payne smiled helplessly and turned to Xiao En, saying, "You should try some of this dog food too."

“…Huh?” Xiao En was taken aback. “But…but I eat grass…”

"You're a sheep-type beastman, not a real sheep, so you can digest a little meat. Besides, you've used up so much energy these past two days, so you really need to replenish your nutrition."

"Well... okay then?" Xiao En watched Ruby and the bouncy Lacey walk out of the trench. "But, but why do we have to eat outside..."

"Okay, just come over here already," Ruby said, sounding a little impatient.

Seeing Xiao En wag her snow-white little tail and quickly follow, Payne couldn't help but smile.

Before this, Lacey had been quiet and ladylike for several days. But upon seeing the canned food, she immediately became excited, acting nothing like someone who had done a full day of hard work.

This behavior is exactly like that of a normal dog. It goes crazy when it's happy, and then rests properly after it's done. There's nothing abnormal about it.

“So, all that’s left is Little Pony…” Payne muttered to himself as he began rummaging through his backpack.

Upon hearing his name called, Xiao Ma's body trembled slightly, and he subconsciously pulled the blanket up over himself.

Since entering the shelter, Little Pony had been trying her best to make herself inconspicuous. She knew something was wrong with her current state, and if any of the other beasts tried to show concern for her, she wouldn't know how to respond…

"Oh right, here we go."

Suddenly, Payne tossed a small cloth bag over her shoulder. Before Xiao Ma could react, the bag hit her squarely in the chest, bounced, and fell onto her lap.

Xiao Ma then realized what had happened. She rubbed the spot where she had been hit, and her face became even rosier.

"This, what is this?"

"I specially grabbed a handful of dog food for you. Try some, it's delicious."

Although he couldn't understand why he made all the beasts eat dog food, and even he himself ate a few, Little Horse now felt dizzy and almost unable to think.

Her hands moved on their own, untied the small cloth bag, picked up a few pieces of dog food and stuffed them into her mouth.

It was neither too salty nor too bland, and had a crisp texture. Although it wasn't as tasty as grass or fodder, it was still quite good.

"Little Horse."

"……yes?!"

When her name was suddenly called, Xiao Ma panicked a little, but Payne just kept his back to her and continued searching while saying, "It's okay, you don't need to be so nervous. Everyone knows what happened to you."

"I don't know how long you've been out of the incubation chamber, or if you've ever experienced anything like this. But... a branching organ is a normal physiological response in animals, nothing to be ashamed of."

He had already guessed what was going on with me! ...

Although Troy and Lacey had already told him he was a good person and wouldn't be punished under any circumstances, but... but judging from his demeanor, could it be that he intends to...?

While Little Horse felt relieved that he could do that, it was still... incredibly unbelievable that he would even be interested in orcs...

But in any case, it was still much better than the training officers who would whip them at the drop of a hat.

However, on the other hand, although Xiao Ma felt like he was almost out of breath and couldn't wait to start, but... but the thought of giving his first time to Payne...

"pony."

"Yes!!"

"I told you not to be so nervous..."

But the little pony, whose mind was already a mess, tightly closed his eyes and hugged himself, "Please...please be gentle with me..."

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm very skilled at it."

"Well……"

The little horse's ears were taut with tension, and it let out an uneasy low growl, just waiting for Payne's body to come closer.

But what she expected didn't happen; she only felt a smooth, comfortable sensation in her hair.

Is he... combing my hair?

However, before she could react, she felt a few strands of hair suddenly tug at her scalp.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

"Sorry, your hair hasn't been styled in a while, it's gotten a bit tangled..."

Chapter 24 XXIV. Almost Perfect

Seeing that Little Horse had turned around and was looking at him with resentful eyes, Payne grinned, turned her head back, and continued to comb her hair.

"Logically speaking, you haven't been that tired these past two days, so I thought you would have taken care of your hair a little..."

"Isn't this tiring? Working from day to night..."

"Hey, this isn't exactly the front line, so you should be grateful. Once, we were on the battlefield for three days and three nights, a full three days and three nights! We were just hiding in a trench and getting bombed! Those Frenchmen's cannons never stopped! We couldn't even hear each other talking, let alone sleep!"

"There... such a thing is true?"

"That's how war is."

"Where did the French get so many shells...?"

"This is what industrial warfare is like."

As Payne chatted casually, he brushed aside the pony's somewhat frizzy long hair and examined it carefully in the dim light. "Damn, you really are infested with lice... Didn't I tell you guys to pay attention to animal hygiene?"

"I told you, I've been too tired these past few days..."

Feeling the brush gently brushing from the back of his head down his spine, a tingling sensation of blood flowing through him surged up, and Xiao Ma couldn't help but squint his eyes comfortably. "Since you still have the energy, how about you comb my hair every day?"

"Okay, if you want."

"hey-hey……"

Although it was just a simple combing of his hair, Payne knew very well that this action was the same as brushing a horse's mane.

Brushing not only removes loose hair, dust, and residue from a horse, keeping its skin clean and reducing the occurrence of skin diseases, but also promotes blood circulation, enhances the skin's resistance, and contributes to the horse's health.

More importantly, brushing is equivalent to horses scratching each other with their lips, a social behavior that enhances their bond.

After hearing Little Horse's silly chuckle, Payne stared at the brush in front of him, momentarily lost in thought, and stopped what he was doing.

After waiting a while and not feeling Payne continue combing her hair, Little Horse turned her head, her face flushed in the light of the kerosene lamp. "Why did you stop combing?"

“It’s nothing…” Payne sighed softly as he spoke, “This brush… is Troy’s favorite…”

Xiao Ma looked at him with hazy eyes for a few moments, then slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. The blanket slipped down completely, and she leaned close to him, wearing only a thin shirt, as if trying to comfort him.