Chapter 116: Plus one
Next day.
“Everyone gather!”
Dianne Special Duty Corps gathered in the corner of the playground. Dianne and Luna stood in front of us. Luna changed to the Celesta army’s summer army uniform (maybe a spare from Dianne), and her messy hair, which she did not care about was beautifully combed by Selenium. Scissors were used lightly and she had a small, beautiful appearance like any other person. Nonetheless, it seemed like she was not used to getting attention and it seemed a little uncomfortable for her.
“I will introduce you. This is Luna Basil, an associate soldier who will be working with our team from today. She is the youngest of us at 17 years old, so respectively get to know each other.”
“Pl, please take care of me.”
Awkwardly, she bowed while applying her right fist to her left chest, which had just been taught to her. We all responded with the same movement and when we looked at Dianne, she nodded lightly and released the tension. No matter how much she was going to go with us, she would have to go through military ceremonies at key points. It was Dianne’s permission to solve it.
“Welcome, Luna. To our special duty corps.”
“Ag, Again someone related to 10-man captain Smithson.”
“I’ve seen her before. Several times in the forest over there.”
“Nah, Basil, associate soldier, I don’t think badly of you, but do you seriously want to be Smithson´s property. What about me? ……Ah, sorry, don’t look at me like that.”
Dianne kept coughing and made a hand gesture towards the guys who gathered around Luna noisily.
“And……Selenium is going on a long vacation. Well, the reason is the same as Jeanne.”
“Ehe”
Selenium smiled happily. Or rather…
“Are you serious!”
“I’m serious.”
“……Andy you didn’t know before?”
“Well, we get to know about it in the girls’ barrack last night.”
Anzeros and Aurora turned towards me as I was surprised. ……That said, after I had sex with you guys, I took a bath and went to bed right away!
“S, So……without Selenium, what do you do? Now that Selenium is gone.”
“So I told you yesterday that it was an urgent matter. I heard it from Laila as she smelled the situation with her nose. I was going to ask someone from the intelligence brigade or borrow someone from around the Red or Orange clans.”
“……Th, That’s why you approached Luna as it was just right?
“Yes. ……We will leave for Polka today, as we decided to have Selenium stay there, and we would like to pack in Polka for a while as well as give Luna’s initial training. ……The time available would be three weeks. The Holy Beast Labyrinth, which is well suited for practical training, is also close.”
“I see……okay.”
Dianne was a person who was thinking about the future.
“Well then dissolve. We will take off with Maia two hours later! Get ready for departure!”
『Understood!』
We dissolved at once. I……for now…
“Nyaa.”
“I’m sorry. We thought about it, but after all, the army is……”
The twins, Lina and Yuna greeted me. Of course, Dianne also invited these two other than Luna, but when it came to joining the army indeed, there was a moderate resolution needed, so they decided to refuse. Well, they both said they were fifteen years old. Anzeros was an aspiring swordsman when she was younger, so she was not too young to be a soldier, but she was still a child in the end.
“Well, I’ll come and see you again if I have time.
“Really!?”
“Nyaa!!”
“……Ye, Yes. If I have time.”
Both of them would be put on Laila and would be returned to the cat beast colony in the desert (Laila will return by coming alone to Polka), but if I thought carefully, when I was going to see them, I would have to enter that man-less colony.
“Well, except on the day of the full moon?”
“Why?”
“Full moon is fine.”
“That really is a bit hard for me alone! ……I mean, that village, isn’t there any other man’s traveler or street?”
“Sometimes someone passes by.”
“They marry a young child in the village.”
The two looked together and sighed.
“……They’ll usually run away the day after the full moon.”
“Sometimes there are some hasty people jumping out into the desert instead of the labyrinth……there’s nothing around 30 kilometers, but I wonder if they could come back alive.”
I had no choice but to pray for their safety, though I didn’t know them.
“It’s not because we aren’t in estrus yet, but Luna-nee chan seems to have been super-minded about Andy. Therefore we didn’t mean it from that, but I say sorry because everyone’s repeating it.”
“The village children are quite frustrated, so they are really happy when someone comes.”
“…………”
Well, they were also victims of natural disasters. It was not that bad after all.
“I understand……I, I’ll go on the day of the full moon.”
“Nyaa!”
“Love you!”
Mentally, they were young country girls who were raised in a colony of women, but they were unprotected and innocent because they were young.
“Gentle laugh, but that’s about picking and choosing for a large group sex.”
“Well, it’s Andy-san……”
“No, they are needy.”
It was me who overreacted to the muttering of Anzeros and Apple which were looking at me from the side.
—————————
Two hours later, we looked back toward Isaac and the other’s waving hands from the playground as Maia took off. The young green grass was beautiful around Basson in summer and the appearances of young and old people who played innocently half-naked in the river could be seen. Normally, my platoon would have stretched out their legs for march training and played in the river, but from this year on, it was postponed.
“It’s beautiful……”
Holding her hat and stretching out the neck outside the window, Neia squinted her eyes. We left Celesta again, looking at a group of travelers who crossed the Viol pass.
——————————
And dusk came. We had returned to Polka, which had enjoyed a short summer.
“H, Hey, Andy!”
“It’s really Andy!”
Keel and Johnny, the usual guard duo greeted us happily……rushed towards as we appeared on the road in front of the city.
“What’s wrong, both of you?”
“What kind of luck is this! Go to the Baron’s mansion!”
“I don’t know if the timing is good or bad, but be fast!”
“??”
I frowned at the two of them who were eating bubbles and pushing me.
“So, what is it? A guest?”
“It’s extraordinary!”
“Never mind that and go quickly! It’ll be born!”
“……What did you say?”
“Janene-chan’s labor seems to have started!”
When everyone rushed to the baron’s mansion, there were a number of Polka aunts going back and forth. In the meantime, I could see a person with silver hair close to white.
“Irina!”
“Oh, Smithson-dono. ……Jeanne is… ”
“I heard. How long ago was the labor pains?”
“I heard it started before noon.”
As expected, Irina seemed to be worried. Certainly, northern elves should have a declining birth rate overall, so Irina might count hundreds of decades but might not get used to it. When I talked about it, the aunts who realized that I came surrounded me.
“Andy, go to encourage your girl. It’s your baby.”
“Jeanne-chan is always a bright and nice girl, but it’s really scary to have a baby with such a small body.”
“Midwife and Old woman Belladonna is constantly supervising her, but it seems that for her a half-dwarf is the first time, though she has delivered a lot of human children.”
“Hey Andy, isn’t it amazing that Boss Smithson´s grandchild is born from a dwarf!”
“I, I know, I know!”
I didn’t have time to reply and I couldn’t speak back or make any guarantees, because my words were in my mouth as they overlapped. Anyway, the aunts separated and proceeded to the mansion. At that time, I heard an amazing voice from the mansion 「AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」. It was a voice that made my spine freeze for a moment as to what kind of monster roared, but the aunts were not frightened and had just a uniformly worried face, while Hilda and Dianne passed over me and walked fast to enter the mansion. Anyway, Dianne was serious because she was always serious, and Hilda was completely in doctor mode.
“Dianne-chan, do you have any experience as a midwife?”
“There are few, but only dark elves and ogres.”
“I’m not a specialist because it’s not my specialty, so I can’t say that I’m better than the midwife here. I looked at the dwarf obstetrics medical book in Baron-san’s study room. It’s probably coming in the middle of the night.”
“Okay, I’ll give you two hours.”
“Maia-chan, tell Laila-chan to come here as soon as she comes. Selenium-chan, you will be my support to a reasonable level. Maybe it will be helpful. If possible, Apple-chan should come here too.”
“Wh, What about me?”
“Andy-kun of-course, you must be the encouragement. Aren’t you the husband? Ah, but the other boys should go to the inn early. If Anze-chan and Aurora-chan can help me, please work with me.”
“Roger that!”
“I understand!”
Hilda-san was reliable because of her decisiveness and seriousness as a doctor.
“Emm, I can also help with something……”
“……Neia-chan not good.”
“Hau”
Hilda-san simply rejected Neia’s offer. It was unusual only for people who did not discriminate too much. However, the reason was clear.
“I’m sorry Neia-chan, but at the moment you’re really just a guest. You haven’t heard of any of the Polka residents and you don’t have any acquaintance with Jeanne herself. It’s not the stage where everyone can trust you and help you.”
“……That’s right. I was too forward.”
Neia stepped back with her hat lowered. I could see that her ears were dripping and she was pretty dented. Maia patted her head lightly over the hat. I think she comforted Neia with that. Lantz and Goat were also men, a group that couldn’t help much here, so instead, they were asking Neia to 「You know, there’s a great hot spring here」. I understand that they had some secret intentions, but for now, let’s rely on their support.
Jeanne’s screaming sounded again, 「Gaaaaaaaaaaa!!!」.
“It’s pitiful……”
“You can’t endure the birth if you don’t even scream. Go quickly for encouragement.”
Hilda, Apple and Selenium accompanied me into a room in the inner part of the baron’s mansion.
There, Jeanne was accompanied by Aunt Lindsey and endured the pain in the bed as the story fell in addition to the old midwife and baroness.
“Jeanne!”
“Andy! At the right moment!”
Jeanne, who seemed to be exhausted and sweaty, raised her face to Aunt Lindsey´s voice.
“An……dy……?”
“It’s me, Andy! I just came home now, do your best!”
“……Hehe, alright……just a little painful……”
Hilda stopped in a hurry, trying to hold her hand. Holding a wooden pestle in her hand, Hilda gently laid her hand on Jeanne’s arm instead. I was wondering what it was for and Jeanne’s face distorted.
“U, guuaaa………!!”
The wooden pestle broke in Jeanne’s hand. It was terrifying.
“Because she does her best to escape the pain, even humans and dark elf pregnant women sometimes bend iron rods……ogres will crush everything no matter what they hold, so they get to hold an exclusive pole made in a workshop.”
“I, I see……”
……Informative.
————————-
In two hours, I read through a thick medical book like an idiot (I saw a little bit, but it seemed impossible to understand with one page) and Laila, who arrived late, entered the room and encouraged Jeanne together with me.
“I brought hot water!”
Anzeros and the others were also working hard. The miraculous spring water was perfect for producing hot water, but this building was a little too far away from the miraculous spring. Aurora was also working hard, but she wasn’t like Anzeros who could powerfully carry the water with a stick and was active like a lion. Laila gently held Jeanne’s hand and gently stroked her hair. As expected, the hands of a dragon seemed to be fine with the grip of a dwarf girl.
“Do your best……do your best, Jeanne……you’re a strong woman.”
“Lai, la, neesama……g, gu, aaaaaaaa……!!”
And the hand was clenched firmly. Laila was still gently wiping off the sweat on Jeanne’s forehead with her other hand. For her, Jeanne was like a daughter. Her eyes were undoubtedly those of a mother.
“I don’t think a child can come out of such a body. It’s better to cut it……”
“No, surely Jeanne is a little younger, but there are cases of childbirth that are much younger than this within the dwarf framework. Her physique is not bad for a dwarf standard. I just want you to wait a little longer.”
“Haa, if you say that……”
At Jeanne´s feet, the old midwife and Dianne were consulting in a quiet voice. Originally, they wanted to leave it to Hilda, but Hilda was waiting for something with Apple in the corner of the room.
The temple bell resonated two times. When the clock turned four o’clock in the morning, everyone noticed it.
“Soon.”
“It’s about time.”
When I nodded to Apple and thought that Hilda had stood up, Jeanne, who was exhausted and fainted, again violently distorted her face in severe pain.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
“Hi, Hilda, Apple!? What……”
“Water breaking!”
To answer my question, Dianne’s cry echoes and she suddenly began to move in a hurry with the old midwife.
“How……”
“It’s bad for Jeanne-chan, who is suffering, but with the help of Apple’s divination, I was able to determine when it would really come out! Do your best, Jeanne-chan! If you can’t get it out now, your baby will suffocate, so try your best just a little more!”
Hilda put her hand on Jeanne’s chest and sent light in. Medical light technique. Hilda’s vitality was used in large quantities to restore Jeanne’s physical strength a little and with that power, she wants to make Jeanne do her 「A little more」.
“Hilda, if you can, my vitality!”
“Oh, would you let me drink in that shade?”
“Isn’t it healing?”
“I´m just kidding. ……It’s too inefficient and too low to use the medical light technique with the life force of others. I’m completely prepared.”
As expected, Hilda-san was in serious mode immediately after reading the air.
“Ah, Andy……it’s okay if I let you drink for cheering up……”
“Don’t be ridiculous while you’re jealous!”
“Hehe. ……I’m just kidding too……”
Jeanne laughed saying that while suffering. And then…
“Gi, Give birth……give birth, I’ll show it……I´m, Andy’s……wife, thats whyyy……!!”
Jeanne sweated and put her strength into it. Her fingers bit into Laila’s hand again. Laila also frowned a little. And…
“Gaa……a……aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
Something came out of Jeanne’s body.
“It’s coming out……older sister, Belladonna-san!”
“I know!”
“Yes!”
And then.
——————————
My child’s cry rang out at dawn.
Keiron and Lantz rushed to us when we return to the inn.
“How was it! Was it born!?”
“Jeanne is safe!”
Anzeros, Selenium and I looked up and made a V-sign. Immediately afterward, everyone in town, including the guard duo and the baron who admitted us (It seems he has been driven out by his wife and prayed in the temple), jumped into the inn and the banquet started. Even though it was still morning.
“………………”
Neia and Luna, who were looking at the circle of joy from the bottom of their hearts with different nuances, were a little impressed.