Chapter 67: Two Visitors
[Scanning...]
[This system... may have miscalculated]
Tera glared at the screen. ’Miscalculated WHAT?!’
[Rescanning...]
[ᴼ̤̆ ᴗ ᴼ̤̆]
The system screen looked like it was having a breakdown in real time.
[Upon closer analysis...]
[This system has detected two conception signatures]
Tera stared at the screen. Her brain, which had been processing the news of one baby, slowed down to a stop.
Maybe she didn’t see that right.
’Two?!’
[Biological scan results:]
[Conception confirmed]
[Two separate eggs have been fertilised]
[Embryo 1: DNA match — Xavi]
[Embryo 2: DNA match — Ermin]
Tera yelled, "TWO?!"
[Host has been quite busy over the past few days]
[This system did not anticipate dual conception]
[Host has defied statistical probability!]
’SPEAK ENGLISH!’
[(ᗒᗩᗕ)]
Tera groaned, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes. The task. The settlement. The three-month deadline. She was supposed to be building shelters and establishing farms, not growing two tiny beast babies.
She flopped back onto the moss bedding, and her hands drifted to her stomach as if she could somehow feel the two tiny lives the system insisted were growing inside her.
’The pregnant females are already slowing things down. I can’t join them!’
"This is terrible timing."
[This system agrees!]
"That is NOT what I needed to hear right now!"
[∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?]
Tera took a deep breath and sat up.
She looked down at her stomach.
She was going to be a mother.
The thought landed strangely.
She had never thought about motherhood. Not in her old life, where her longest relationship had been with her drafting table. And not since arriving here, where survival had consumed every waking second.
And yet here she was...
Would it really be that bad?
But Tera didn’t know how to be a mother, and that sudden intrusion slightly worried her.
[This system has something that may help]
[Due to the... unexpected nature of Host’s situation, this system has submitted a formal request for a task extension]
’You can do that?’
[This system had to pull some strings]
[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]
[It was not easy]
[Management was not pleased]
Tera was surprised.
It was beyond a shock to see the system actually go out of its way for her.
’Is this a dream?’
[What is that look?]
[(¬_¬")]
Tera rolled her eyes. ’Just tell me what can help.’
[Host’s primary task deadline has been extended by a month]
[Additional time granted due to... current circumstances]
Tera was shocked.
[Host is welcome]
’You did that for me?’
[This system is merely ensuring Host has adequate resources to complete her objectives]
[It is purely professional]
[(◡‿◡✿)]
’Well damn...’
Despite still being shocked and knowing the system also had something to lose by Tera not performing well, a small, reluctant smile tugged at her mouth.
One extra month was nice, but her smile faded as she wondered if that would even solve the actual problem.
The females would still be pregnant throughout those months, including her. Tera considered having everyone finish the task long before the time ended. That way, the females would be able to do something before their pregnancies progressed.
But at the same time, she didn’t want to go so hard on herself and the others, the way it had happened earlier.
Doing that long-term would lead to burnout.
Still... the clan was becoming more capable. They had literally rebuilt two destroyed shelters overnight without her supervision, and it looked well-made enough. The farming was progressing nicely, and the foraging teams knew what to look for now.
She didn’t have to do everything herself anymore.
Maybe the timing of this pregnancy wasn’t ideal.
But the clan could handle more than she gave them credit for, and she needed to start trusting that.
’Okay,’ she thought.
She could work with four months. She would do what she could before the pregnancy slowed her down, including delegating supervising tasks and hoping nothing else went horribly wrong.
Tera adjusted her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to look like she hadn’t spent days being ravaged by two beast men, when she realised, they had dressed and washed her properly while she was unconscious.
Her heart fluttered at that realisation, and she stepped out of the shelter.
The evening air was cool and nice, and she could hear the faint sounds of the clan members moving around and talking.
The distance made Tera pause.
She looked at her shelter, then back at where the rest of the clan were.
Her shelter wasn’t that far from the main settlement, and the beast folk had very good hearing.
Tera’s face went red.
’They heard everything, didn’t they?’
[Host’s vocalisations were... audible]
[( ಠ ͜ʖ ಠ)]
’Oh my god.’
[The cubs were particularly curious about the loud bird with an impressive vocal range]
Tera covered her face with both hands, mortified.
She was going to die of embarrassment.
Tera seriously considered walking back to the shelter and never coming out of it again. She was already thinking of how she would raise the twins alone like a feral hermit when she heard footsteps and lowered her hands to see Xavi approaching her.
He visibly perked up upon seeing her, joy and tenderness in his eyes so raw it momentarily destabilised Tera.
Her body reacted before her brain could catch up, and she remembered his glorious body in the dark, and how his breath had been hot on her neck. The pleasant soreness between her legs pulsed faintly, a ghost of sensation that made her shudder on the spot.
But then, almost simultaneously, a different feeling bloomed in her chest. Soft and warm and utterly terrifying. It spread through her like honey.
She looked at Xavi’s face as he drew closer, and her stomach did a strange, fluttering thing.
Especially now with the realisation that his child was growing inside her.
’Well damn...’
Xavi reached her, immediately cupping her face with his hands.
"You are awake." His voice was warm with relief. "You slept for so long. Are you feeling better?"
"I—" Tera started, but his eyes were so intense she averted her gaze.
What was wrong with her? She had shamelessly ridden this man’s cock, and now she couldn’t even look at him without her cheeks burning?
"Are you hungry?" Xavi pressed, pulling her face back to him as he wore a concerned frown. "You must be. I will make sure you eat enough—"
Tera laughed. "You always say that."
"Because it is always true."
His thumb lingered on her cheekbone, and the warmth of it seeped into her skin. She felt that flutter in her stomach again.
’Wait. Maybe I am just hungry.’
That was why her stomach was acting up.
[(·•᷄ࡇ•᷅ )]
Without thinking, her hand drifted to her stomach, and Xavi’s eyes followed that movement.