Chapter 14:
Home Again
THE MAGIC CITY OF SHARIA hadn't changed a bit in the two months
we'd been gone.
Well, I guess a few buildings had been finished, and some
repairs of the city walls were now complete. But that was really
about it.
I mean, I hadn't expected much to change. Orsted had
guaranteed the safety of my family, after all. If I'd come back home
to find the city a smoking pile of ashes, I probably would have started
up a labor union on the spot. I smiled to myself, picturing me and
Ariel donning headbands and barging into the boss' office to demand
a collective bargaining agreement.
Of course, the idea might have seemed less funny if something
had happened in my absence. I guess I was feeling a little relieved to
see everything the same as always.
We made our way through the city's streets and plazas to our
home. The house looked just as we'd left it. It wasn't a smoldering
ruin, encased in ice, or surrounded by magical thorns. Byt was
wriggling around in the front yard as he photosynthesized, and Dillo
was snoozing in his armadillo house. Everything seemed peaceful.
"We're hooome."
"Welcome back!"
As we opened the front door, I heard the pattering of footsteps
from the back of the house. Within seconds, Aisha appeared and
threw herself into my arms. That girl never got any less energetic.
"Where's my present?! You guys didn't forget, did you?!"
"Nope," said Eris, pulling a box out of her baggage. "Here you
go."
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Aisha popped out of my hug and accepted it eagerly. "Yay!
Thanks, Eris!"
She opened the box right away; it contained an oval ceramic
trinket with a long handle covered in delicate engravings.
Aisha's eyes lit up with excitement as she examined it. "Oh! This
is a hand mirror, right? I remember seeing these in Shirone!"
"That's right!"
There was a lot of fancy glassware available in Asura, probably
because they traded extensively with the Begaritt Continent. Since
our journey home was nice and short, we'd picked up a bunch of
mirrors and baubles to bring back with us.
"Oh, it's beautiful… I bet it cost a bundle! Hee hee hee!"
"Heheh. Glad you like it!"
Eris looked very proud at Aisha's overjoyed reaction, but it was
Sylphie who'd actually picked that mirror out. Eris had decent taste
herself, but she always went for overly simple stuff like sturdy
kitchen knives.
"Hmm… Wow, I really am adorable, aren't I?!"
Aisha spun around examining herself from various angles, giving
herself plenty of compliments in the process. She kept right on going
until Lilia showed up and clapped her upside the head.
It was kind of soothing, seeing my little sister so excited and full
of life. I guess we'd made a good choice on that present.
"…Hi, Lilia. Anything happen while we were gone? Is everyone
doing all right?"
Expressionless as ever, Lilia nodded slightly. "Yes. We're all safe
and sound."
"That's good to hear."
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I was fairly sure things were fine from the moment I walked in
the door, but it was still a relief to know for certain.
"Oh, wait," said Aisha, her expression suddenly darkening.
"There is one thing, Rudeus. It's Roxy…"
What? What's wrong with Roxy?! Don't tell me she lost the
baby!
Okay, no, calm down. Lilia definitely would have mentioned
that. Maybe she's just a little sick? Or in the hospital?
"Uhm, she got a little tu—"
Aisha stopped herself in midsentence. Her eyes had turned to
the doorway to our living room. Roxy was peeking out from behind
the door with only half her body visible.
"Hey there, Roxy," I called. "We just got back."
At a glance, she didn't look sick or injured. More like the picture
of health.
"Welcome home, Rudy," she replied… without emerging from
behind the door. "I was honestly expecting you to be gone a little
longer. Since you're back right on time, I'm guessing things went
well?"
"Yep. Princess Ariel managed to come out on top."
She hadn't technically taken the throne yet, and there was still a
chance we'd get word of her assassination in a few months… but it
felt so unlikely I couldn't see much point dwelling on it.
"I see. That's certainly good to hear."
For some reason, Roxy still wasn't revealing herself. All I could
really see was her face. But on closer examination, her cheeks looked
puffier than usual.
Wait, did she get a little tubby? Is that it? Come on, Roxy!
You're pregnant, it's totally natural! You need to put on weight for
the baby! I mean, it's not like I'd mind you putting on some pounds in
the first place. Eris probably weighs twice as much as you…
"U-Uhm, Rudeus?" said Aisha tentatively. "Roxy's feeling a little
bit…delicate lately. Make sure to be really nice to her, okay?"
Well, I could understand that. She had to be anxious about her
pregnancy, and now she had this sudden weight gain on her mind as
well. And when my wife felt uneasy, it was my job to reassure her.
"I wouldn't say I'm feeling delicate."
"Why are you hiding behind the door, then?" asked Sylphie.
Slowly, reluctantly, Roxy shuffled out from her hiding place.
Her belly had gotten noticeably larger in the two months we'd
been away from home. The baby was probably contributing a few
pounds all on its own at this point.
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Hmm. Maybe I was just seeing things, but I thought her breasts
were bigger as well. Normally you wouldn't even notice them when
she was wearing clothes. Today their presence was fairly obvious.
Was she producing milk yet? Would she let me take a taste?
Intriguing questions, which I'd have to look into at a later date. In any
case, it seemed like the Migurd went through pregnancy more or less
the same way humans did, even though they were technically
"demons."
"My body…doesn't feel like it belongs to me anymore," said
Roxy. "My belly's all swollen, and I can feel the baby squirming
around inside me… Everyone says there's nothing to worry about,
but I can't help worrying…"
"Oh, I know what you mean," said Sylphie sympathetically. "I
felt the exactly same way when I was pregnant. And of course, Rudy
always has to run off somewhere when you're feeling anxious…"
I felt a stab of guilt. I'm sorry… I didn't have any other choice, I
swear…
"Sniffle… S-Sorry, Sylphie… Sorry, Roxy…"
"What? Oh. I'm not really blaming you or anything, Rudy."
Smiling awkwardly, Sylphie avoided my teary gaze. "Uhm, I know.
Why don't you two spend the rest of the day together? I bet that will
make Roxy feel better. Is that okay with you, Eris?"
"Hm? Uh, s-sure…"
Eris kept glancing from her stomach to Roxy's. Probably thinking
about what it might feel like when her turn came.
"Well, that's settled, then," said Sylphie briskly. "Rudy, you go
spend some time with Roxy. I'll deal with our bags and everything…
Uhm, where's Lucie at the moment?"
"She's playing with Miss Zenith up on the second floor."
"Thanks, Lilia… Come on, Eris, you help too."
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"Sure."
Without waiting for me to reply, Sylphie and Eris grabbed our
bags and headed up to the second floor to start unpacking.
Following my marching orders, I headed into the living room
with Roxy, where I found our pet Sacred Beast curled up by the
fireplace. He let out a deep woof at the sight of me and trotted over,
wagging his tail happily. When I petted his head, he started licking
my hand. What a good boy.
Roxy and I settled down next to each other on the sofa. She was
wearing loose clothing, and seemed to be curling up to hide the
shape of her body. Maybe she was feeling self-conscious about her
figure? I thought she looked pretty cute this way, though…
"Uhm, Roxy?"
"H-How were things in Asura, anyway? Since you're back right
on schedule, I'm guessing it went smoothly."
"Didn't you just ask me that five minutes ago?"
Roxy seemed…flustered. You didn't see that every day. I wasn't
sure what had her so agitated, but it was kind of adorable, so I didn't
mind. Hopefully she wasn't going to be this cute all day. Eris and
Sylphie had kept me busy in the capital, but with that big work trip
behind me I was in the mood to let off some steam.
It was probably better not to push things in a sexual direction if
Roxy was feeling this self-conscious, though. I was trying to be a
considerate husband here.
Okay then, let's start off with something nice and gentle…
"Uhm… your belly's gotten pretty big, huh? Can I stroke it?"
"N-No! Absolutely not!"
Wow, she shot that down instantly. I-I guess she's a little
sensitive about her belly in particular? Okay, what about—
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"D-Don't touch my breasts, either."
Didn't even get to ask. Does she think I'm obsessed with
breasts or something? I mean, I guess she isn't wrong, but still!
"They've been leaking this weird yellow liquid lately…"
"I see."
The same thing had happened with Sylphie. Probably meant her
body was getting ready to produce milk. I would have been delighted
to give her some helpful massages, but it seemed like that wasn't
going to happen.
"Can I stroke your head, at least?"
Roxy responded to this by leaning slightly toward me. I ran my
hand gently over her head, enjoying the silky texture of her hair.
Her belly and breasts were off-limits, and her head was okay to
touch. Now I needed to find exactly where she drew the line. This
might require a bit of trial and error. "How about your butt?"
"…W-Well, I guess that's all right."
Roxy blushed, but gave me her consent. I ran my hand along her
bottom. It was nice and round today.
Gah. No. You're supposed to be doing the considerate thing,
remember? Forget the butt! Think about the baby!
"Uhm… When I'm around the house, I think I'll try to spend as
much time as I can with you."
"R-Really? You don't have to force yourself. Aisha's here to help
me, and I know you have a lot of things on your plate."
"Yeah, but I know it's tough being pregnant. Maybe I can take
you up and down the stairs or help you in the bath? Anything you
want."
"The… The bath?!"
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Roxy seemed seriously alarmed by those words. This was
starting to get confusing. Her belly and breasts were off-limits, her
head and butt were fine, and the bath was a danger zone? But why?
"That's right…" Roxy murmured. "You do like washing off my
body, don't you…?"
Oh, I love it. Especially when you let me use my hands instead
of a washcloth. I'll admit I sometimes lose all self-control halfway
through, but that's just part of the fun, right?
"Rudy… You're going to find out eventually, so I think I should
just get this over with."
"Okay…"
I could hear the defeat in Roxy's voice as she turned to face me,
and her expression was deadly serious.
Hm? Wait, is there something actually wrong?
Maybe she'd found out the baby was sick. Maybe she'd heard it
yelling "Call me the Great Emperor of the Demon World!" from
inside her belly.
No, that didn't make any sense. Lilia would have told me if there
was a problem that obvious.
What else could it be, then? Sorry, Rudy, it's not your baby? Was
the kid going to pop out with cat ears and a tail or something? No,
no, no… she wouldn't do that to me…
With a solemn expression on her face, Roxy began to unbutton
her dress. Then she lifted it up to reveal her pale stomach. Her baby
bump was now a full-fledged bulge, and her belly button was
protruding slightly from its surface.
My first thought was cute. My second thought was adorable.
Nothing else came to mind, honestly. I wasn't seeing any weird
patterns on her skin or anything…
"Uhm… What's the problem here?"
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"I-Isn't it obvious?"
Well, no. Or I wouldn't have asked the question.
"My… My belly button's sticking out now, right?"
Yes. Yes, it was. What did that have to do with anything,
though? Having all that baby inside her must have pushed it inside
out. It was supposedly a common thing for pregnant women.
"Yeah."
"It's… sniffle… It's ridiculous, isn't it?"
It seemed Roxy had some strong feelings on the matter. I was
beginning to understand what Aisha had meant by "delicate." This
belly button might seem like a trivial issue to anyone else, but for
Roxy it was currently a major problem.
"…No. It's adorable."
"I heard that pause! You can't fool me that easily!"
"I'm not trying to fool you, Roxy. I like it just fine this way."
"Liar! I remember the first time you licked it. You said Bwheheh,
your belly button is the best! Don't try to deny it!"
Surely I never said anything that creepy? Well, sometimes I did
get a little carried away in bed. Maybe I did say it. I probably did,
huh? Yeah, I definitely did. What a creep.
"Ever since that, I made sure to keep my belly button nice and
clean. You must be disappointed to see it ruined like this, right?"
"It's not ruined, Roxy."
This time, I got my response off immediately. It wasn't like I had
a fetish for innie belly buttons or anything. As long as it was part of
Roxy, I'd lavish it with love no matter what. Even if she could fire
missiles from it.
Oh, wait. Now I remembered. I'd licked her belly button on a
whim during one of our baby-making sessions, and she got all
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embarrassed. It was fun seeing her squirm, so I started barraging her
with belly button compliments…
"I'm not falling for this. You're all talk, Rudy."
Wow. She really doesn't want to believe me, huh?
"You want to convince me? Then prove you're being honest!"
"How am I supposed to prove that?"
The only thing that came to mind was formally establishing the
Church of Roxy and delivering a passionate sermon on the matter to
several hundred thousand true believers. That would probably take
me at least a few days to arrange, so it wasn't an immediate solution
to our dilemma.
Roxy pushed out her belly slightly in my direction. "Lick it."
"You don't mind?"
Quite the daring suggestion, madam. Was this really the only
thing she wanted from me, though? It felt more like a reward than a
test. Surely this was all a bit backward…
Bah. No need to overthink things! The Lord's will was plain.
All right, everyone. Hands together. Let's say grace!
Thank you, oh Lord, for this our food…
I licked that belly button.
Leo had wandered over to see what we were up to, so I had to
push his head out of the way first. But I licked Roxy's belly button.
In that moment, something moved inside her belly. It was a
small movement, almost like a muscle twitching; but I could clearly
feel it through my tongue.
Roxy must have noticed as well. She froze up, and met my gaze
as I raised my head.
"The baby just moved."
"…I guess someone's saying welcome home to daddy."
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I rose to my feet and ran a hand gently over Roxy's stomach.
She'd objected earlier, but this time she didn't seem to mind.
Her belly was nice and warm. Wouldn't want it getting chilled,
of course.
Roxy's embarrassment seemed to have melted away all of a
sudden. With a tender smile, she reached up and placed a hand on
top of mine.
"Thank you, Rudy. I guess Sylphie was right. I do feel a little
better now."
Hearing that made me feel a bit relieved myself.
"Sorry to repeat myself, but… Welcome home, Rudy."
"Glad to be back."
I was home again, and all was well.
***
The next day, I went around town letting my friends know we
were back. At this point, that meant Zanoba, Cliff, and Elinalise. I'd
already seen Nanahoshi at the floating fortress a few days earlier.
I didn't have that many acquaintances left in the city of Sharia,
did I? Everyone was going their separate ways. Even Zanoba and Cliff
would probably leave sooner or later.
With that thought, I headed to my final stop of the day. It was
evening, and the world had taken on an orange tint by the time I
reached the graveyard.
It was a quiet place lined with rows of rounded headstones.
Most people wouldn't choose to come here in the twilight, but things
had just worked out that way… I'd spent longer than expected on my
other visits.
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With a brief hello to the groundskeeper on duty, I entered the
grounds and headed to the grave I was here to see. The name Paul
Greyrat was carved on its surface, and it still looked brand new.
I brought my hands together for a moment.
"Hey, Dad. Nobody died this time, either."
Placing on the grave a bottle of booze I'd bought in Ars and
some flowers I'd picked up in the neighborhood, I started in on a
quick summary of the most recent developments in our lives. I told
Paul about Orsted, the Man-God, and the battles we'd fought in
Asura.
"I got to meet your little brother for the first time. My uncle, I
guess. He seemed like a pretty faint-hearted guy, but he did remind
me of you."
I pictured Pilemon's face as I spoke those words. There was
definitely a resemblance. They were totally different in terms of
build and personality, but you could tell the man was Paul's brother.
There was something similar about the set of their eyes, I think.
"He survived too. Your nephew risked his life to protect him. It
made me feel a little envious."
Luke had acted to save his father, who would otherwise have
been executed. Or that was what it looked like to me, at least… I
wasn't there for the entire conversation.
Pilemon wasn't an admirable person, and we'd originally been
intending to kill him. But seeing Luke's sheer desperation made me
want to help him out. I'd ended up stepping in to offer some
support.
"I had to murder someone this time. I didn't deal the fatal blow
personally, but I tracked him down and attacked with every intention
of killing him, and he died. I don't regret that, but it did leave a bad
taste in my mouth."
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It wasn't like this was the first time I'd killed someone. Similar
things had happened before. But this one had really stuck with me.
Probably because I'd heard Reida's story a few minutes earlier.
I took a few moments to reflect on everything that had taken
place in Asura.
On the whole, the mission went well. We hadn't lost anyone we
didn't want to lose, and we'd achieved our objective. Still, it had
been a very close call. One small mistake along the way, and we
might have lost someone. We probably would have won the battle
anyway, but only at a terrible cost.
Yet We'd succeeded this time. Completely. There was no
denying that. But I felt like there were plenty of lessons to be
learned.
What if we'd managed to defeat Auber at the Red Wyrm's
Whiskers?
What if Wi Taa had successfully escaped from our battle in the
streets of Ars?
What if Orsted hadn't come running when Reida caught us in
her Deprivation Field?
What if Auber hadn't carried the antidote for his poison?
You could drive yourself crazy asking questions like that, of
course. Maybe it wasn't productive to dwell on all the details.
There was one thing I knew for sure, though: the enemy was still
alive and well. We'd beaten the Man-God once, but the battle for
Asura was only the first of many to come. This conflict was going to
last for years. Decades. How long could I keep squeaking by like this
before something went horribly wrong?
I'd gotten lucky this time. But I hadn't always been so fortunate,
had I? I felt like my mistakes had cost me dearly in the past… even if I
didn't think of it that way at the time.
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Paul's death was a good example. Back then, I convinced myself
that things had just worked out badly. And to be sure, I gave that
fight everything I had. I made some mistakes and questionable
decisions, maybe. But I still did my very best. That allowed me to
believe Paul's death was unavoidable. I told myself it was just bad
luck. A quirk of fate.
Was that actually true, though?
Could a bit of good luck have saved my father's life? Sure. He'd
died at the very last moment, to that Hydra's final attack. The
smallest of fortunate coincidences could have prevented that. Or
even an unfortunate coincidence—like someone getting injured
earlier, and forcing us to back out. Maybe if we'd found just one
more person for our party…
Well, no point speculating about it. The point was: "luck" could
always turn on almost anything. Did I have to keep tossing the dice
like this? Flipping a coin and hoping for the best, with the lives of
everyone I loved on the line? Many of us had come close to death in
Asura. Eris in particular had been badly wounded and then poisoned
by Auber. We'd come right to the very edge of disaster and barely
survived. Next time, maybe we'd come right up to the edge of victory
and die.
Was I willing to leave that in the hands of fate?
Sure, there was always an element of luck in life. Human beings
had their limits and their weaknesses. It's impossible to control
events completely. But when I looked back at my time in Asura, I saw
room for improvement. What if I'd had a few more skills? A bit more
combat prowess? A few local connections? Maybe I wouldn't have
come so close to losing someone. Maybe there were ways I could
have made things easier for us.
I had to try to figure out what I was lacking.
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I needed to be stronger than this. I needed to hone my skills. I
needed more allies I could turn to…
"…Then again, I feel like I was already working on all of that."
Regrets were just a part of life. There wasn't enough time in the
day to do everything perfectly, and nothing was ever guaranteed, no
matter what. My future self had been monstrously powerful, and his
life was miserable; sometimes knowing lots of fancy spells wasn't
good enough.
Still…I couldn't let myself get complacent just because things
went well this time.
In my next battles against the Man-God, I wanted to win cleanly
instead of barely squeaking by. I wanted to be powerful enough to
keep my family alive. I wanted to keep them as safe as I possibly
could.
I won't get careless.
That was a promise I'd made before, but it was one I meant to
keep. If I ever started to forget about it, I could always come out here
for a reminder.
"I'm going to do the best I can, Dad. Keep an eye on me, okay?"
With those words, I turned and left the cemetery.