"Ugh…" Morning came, and Elizabeth groaned on her bed. Through sense sharing, Hiro knew she was nauseous.
"Elizabeth, are you okay?" Rebecca asked.
"No. I don't think I am fine. I think I pushed myself a bit too far," Elizabeth said.
When batkins conceived, they were usually restrained inside a coffin. But Elizabeth didn't need to be restrained. Since she herself felt fine and was, she thought she could just endure for today. How wrong she turned out to be. Her pregnancy had accelerated, and she now looked like she was 6 or 7 months pregnant instead of 3 months pregnant like the day before.
She felt nauseous and weak. Her body felt heavy. Her stomach felt painful and cramped. She felt herself bloated with expectation and fear. Despite her experience handling other batkins pregnancy, this was her first time experiencing pregnancy herself.
"What should we do?"
"I suggest we stay here until childbirth. Traveling while pregnant is perilous. We shouldn't risk it. This ruined village is far from ideal, but we can manage. I can create water, and we have spare cloth. There shouldn't be a problem with hygiene with Hiro around. Since we could put her inside his flesh bed."
"What about Quantora Village? We are supposed to depart in a week or two."
"From her condition and how fast her belly is growing, I assume she will give birth in a day or two at the latest. What do you think, Sara?"
"Hm… Dunno. Batkins shouldn't give birth this fast, though," Sara pondered. "But yeah, from her belly, it is safe to assume Elizabeth will give birth in a day or two. I think we can spare some time here to watch over her until she gives birth."
"Sorry. I shouldn't have pushed myself," Elizabeth said.
Hiro stayed silent. It wasn't just Sara who was inconvenienced. Hiro was too. Ever since the baby had occupied her womb, Hiro had to stay outside the cervix, and sometimes the baby would kick, sending a jolt of pain through his core. At this rate, Hiro would have to stay outside or inside her anal.
"Let's secure the surroundings. Getting attacked while she gives birth is the last thing we want," Rebecca said.
Cecile and Nana nodded, and they went outside. Rebecca went around the mansion while Cecile and Nana scoured the surrounding buildings.
Together, they didn't do much. But with Hiro, they could arrange several crude traps around the mansion: wooden stakes, pitfalls, and so on.
"Food shouldn't be an issue. We packed lots of food. Water is also okay," Cecile checked their supplies. Rebecca nodded.
"All we need to be careful of is the birth. Let's strip Elizabeth and lay her on Hiro's flesh bed," Rebecca said.
"Hngh!!" Elizabeth groaned as her stomach visibly grew before their eyes.
Hiro took out his core and latched it onto Elizabeth's back while inside his flesh bed. The baby had occupied most of the space there, so Hiro couldn't. Everything seemed so hectic. Elizabeth was petite, so Hiro wondered whether she could safely give birth to the baby.
As the sun set, the first contractions began.
"Hnngh!" Elizabeth groaned. Her cheeks flushed. Pain and pleasure mixed into one as the baby slowly slid from the depths of her womb.
"Come on, Elizabeth. Push!" Cecile said.
"Hngg!" Elizabeth groaned. The baby wanted to come out, but the birth canal was narrow. Too narrow. No matter how Elizabeth pushed, the baby refused to pass through it.
Then, a monster yelled from outside the mansion as one of their traps was sprung.
"Talk about rotten luck. They choose now, of all times, to come here." Rebecca cursed.
"What do we do?" Sara turned to her.
"We must deal with the monsters first. Let Cecile and Nana handle everything there." Rebecca grabbed her staff. She was needed here to give water. The water must be as pure as possible. So she hadn't conjured one yet. She would only conjure water when needed.
Cecile and Nana rushed for their weapons. Hiro wondered whether they wold be okay, but he decided to trust their skills. Besides, if something happened, his clone would be there.
"I will stay here. Elizabeth needs clean water for her birth. You guys deal with the assault. You can do that, right?"
"Yes."
Cecile and Nana strode outside.
The moment they came out, several arrows flew toward them.
While they dealt with the nighttime assault from the goblins, Elizabeth struggled with childbirth.
Hiro was at the ready with his tentacles. His tentacles waited for Rebecca's order. In case they had to cut open Elizabeth's belly, Hiro would use his Flesh Mending skill to heal the injuries.
"Hnngh!!" Elizabeth groaned. The baby's head finally cleared her cervix. But its shoulders got stuck.
Hiro thinned his tentacles, sliding them into her cervix. Then, after thinning it further, he slipped deeper inside, trying to wrench the womb open.
The cervix widened, giving the baby more way to pass. Since his tentacle was already there, Hiro thought he might as well help with the birth and nudge the baby out from her womb.
"I can see the head," Sara said.
"Keep pushing!" Rebecca said as she poured more water into a basin to wash the baby later. With her fire magic, she boiled the water.
Then a cry rang through the room.
The baby was born.
Cecile and Nana came just at the right time to hear the baby's first cry. Their clothes were drenched with blood from the monsters, so they opted to stay away. But they looked at the crinkled baby lovingly.
"Look! She is a girl!" Rebecca said as she raised the child for all to see.
"Hah… hah…" Elizabeth gasped for air, her breaths shallow and ragged. Her hands had unconsciously clenched around Hiro's tentacle, sharing this moment.
"My baby…" Elizabeth muttered as Rebecca placed the baby beside her on Hiro's flesh bed. She then held her arm.
"Aw. So cute." Cecile blushed.
All the girls then turned to Hiro with some kind of yearning.
Hiro wanted to slap them all. He was a parasitic tentacle. He couldn't impregnate them! All of this was supposed to be a play! They were supposed to be his plaything! Hiro never expected to become a father! He didn't want to bear the responsibility! He was just a parasite!
But now he was.
"Alright. Baby aside, we should get moving. Elizabeth, do you think you can get on a horse tomorrow?" Rebecca asked while Sara was busy washing the baby.
"Urgh… I don't know. My crotch is sore…" Elizabeth groaned.
"We shouldn't force her. Childbirth is harsh on any girl, regardless of race," Sara said.
"But we can't stay in this place, can we?" Rebecca said.
"We haven't even named the child," Cecile muttered as she took off her clothes, ready to wipe her blood-soaked body. "We should name her first."
"Yeah. There are just goblins and orcs here. It's safe. We don't need to hurry about leaving." Nana nodded.
"This is a ruined mansion. We tried to clean it in the afternoon, but it is still dirty," Rebecca argued. She didn't want to rush, but a ruined village was no place to raise a baby.
"I think it will be fine. We have Hiro, right?"
"What about food? The birth was so fast. Did you lactate yet, Elizabeth?"
"No. Batkins didn't lactate. Newborns were usually fed human blood until they were five," Elizabeth said.
It was at that moment that the baby bit into Sara's hand, which was caressing her.
"Ouch!" Sara yelped. She yanked her hand away reflexively. Blood poured from her finger.
"Sorry."
"This girl has the same appetite as her mother. She is surely your child, Elizabeth." Sara pouted.
Elizabeth could only turn her head away in shame.
The baby stopped crying. She then giggled at Sara and flapped her wings.
"So, what should we name her?"
"Hiro is the father. So how about Hina?" Elizabeth said, wanting to name the girl after her father, even though batkin offspring usually took after their mother.
"Hiro is not a girl's name!" Sara cut off Elizabeth's attempt to name her child anything related to Hiro. "Um… Sally?"
"That's not much better than Hina. Do you want to put your name into Elizabeth's girl? Have some shame! She is my child, not yours!" Elizabeth pouted after rebuking Sara.
"Sorry. I couldn't think of anything else."
"What about Elise? It looks like Elizabeth, right?" Cecile suggested.
"Elise sounds like Elysia. I don't want her name to be associated with a lich. Hm… What about Marina? She was born in Marissa's village after all." Rebecca offered another suggestion.
"The name is too simple," Sara groaned. "This is supposed to be a momentous occasion. A new batkin was born after all they had gone through. They almost went extinct. This is a new hope!"
She couldn't accept the fact that they had put next to no thought into the child's name. Granted, this child was very sudden and unplanned, but that was just too pitiful.
"Let's have a vote," Rebecca said.
After a lengthy discussion and brainstorming session that lasted until dawn, they decided to name the girl Liberta, meaning freedom. The girl was the first to be born free from the curse of the batkins.
"We need to use an appraisal ball on her later to ascertain whether she has the risk of becoming a vampire," Rebecca said as she nudged the small wing on the baby's back. "This baby is unique after all."
For two days, Elizabeth spent her time recuperating in bed while Cecile and the team hunted nearby monsters that continued to harass them through the night.
The girls, who had never seen how a baby grew before, didn't realize just how fast Liberta was growing. But from Hiro's perspective, the girl grew quickly. The wrinkles on her skin had disappeared, and in just two days, the baby weighed almost seven kilograms after drinking others' blood, including Hiro's.
This was because they didn't place any restrictions on the blood provided, letting Liberta drink as much as she liked.
Then, once Elizabeth had recovered enough to walk, she and Cecile returned to Quantora. They arrived just before Marissa was about to send scouts out of worry. The journey was supposed to take a day at most, but they had spent almost three days there.
Marissa twitched an eyebrow when she saw the baby girl in Elizabeth's arms.
"Is this… Hiro's child?" Marissa asked.
"Yes!" Elizabeth smiled.
Snap.
Marissa inadvertently broke the quill pen on her desk.
Hiro shuddered. For the first time, he could feel anger and jealousy radiating from Marissa's heart. Such a dark and ominous aura. She didn't show it, but Hiro could feel it through Sense Sharing.
"Um… Marissa?" Rebecca twitched.
Marissa was smiling, but Rebecca felt dread. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"My apologies. I am getting clumsy. This can't do. i am supposed to be happy that Hiro had found a new compatible host. So, how's the village? Was everything to your liking, Elizabeth?"
"Yes. It is a bit run-down, but we can work with it. Thank you, Marissa, for giving me that village." Elizabeth bowed, still carrying Liberta in her arms.
"Understood. If nothing is wrong, you will depart there in a week. Please rest well, alright?" Marissa nodded.