Chapter 43: Why Is Everyone Expecting?!
Tera’s mind went blank.
They had a new baby on their hands?
"You’re joking. That can’t be right."
[Fetal health: Normal]
[Maternal health: Mild malnutrition and fatigue]
"She is with cub," Tera whispered, stunned.
The surrounding beasts stared in shock and looked at Yara, who was looking at Tera, wide-eyed. Her hands slowly went to her belly, and she started crying tears of joy.
"There is life in my belly..."
’Eh?’
Tera did not understand why she was so happy.
Before she could form a thought, the clan erupted in celebration. Beast-folk whooped and howled, and some males puffed out their chests as if they had each personally contributed to the miracle. One beast man was so overcome that he shifted into his beast form and ran three laps around the plateau for no discernible reason.
’What the fuck is happening?’
Suddenly, three males surrounded Yara, their tails wagging so hard that Tera was surprised they didn’t immediately take flight.
"My cub!"
"Our cub!"
"I knew it was my cub!"
"It could be any of our cubs, you idiot—"
"I SAID I KNEW IT FIRST!"
Tera’s mouth hung open.
As docile as Yara looked, she had never once expected this beast woman to actually go dick hopping? So the males who had been puffing their chests had actually contributed to this?
’Hold the fuck up, there were more than three males doing that!’
Someone had brought water for Yara to drink, and she was taken aside to go and rest while Tera stood in the midst of the celebration, while Xavi gently urged the others to return to their work.
Pregnancy was not a bad thing, but Tera felt the timing was terrible.
Three weeks ago was not bad, and there was nothing she could do about it, as that was when she had just met them.
But Yara had been one of her most enthusiastic workers, and that was one less pair of hands for the heavy labour going on.
And Tera needed all the hands she could get within these three months for her task.
What if the shelters that had been put up were thrashed by the weather or something before the duration was over, and they needed to put things up again?
Tera could not give Yara any vigorous tasks anymore, especially when pregnancies for beasts were roughly between three to six months, depending on the species.
[Recommendation for pregnant female: Increased fluid intake, small, frequent meals, reduced strenuous labour]
Tera wanted to cry.
’Wonderful,’ she thought. ’Truly wonderful. One of my strongest workers is now out of commission for months. This is exactly what I needed.’
But the pregnant female was only the beginning.
Two more days brought up two more females who showed the same symptoms. Fatigue, nausea, an aversion to raw meat, and that unmistakable shift in scent that every beast in the clan could apparently detect from fifty paces.
One of them had been sitting against a tree with a dazed expression. She had been sitting against a tree with a dazed expression, her hand resting on her stomach.
The other one had admitted she’d been feeling strange for days but hadn’t wanted to bother anyone.
Three. Three pregnant females now out of eleven females total.
Three of Tera’s workers were now off heavy labour, needed extra food the clan barely had, and required better shelter than what currently existed.
Remembering how some females had snuck off during breaks, Tera felt a foreboding feeling as she then used the system to scan their bodies.
Seven out of the other eight were DAYS pregnant.
Tera felt her soul leave her body.
Ten out of eleven females were pregnant. Her workforce had been nearly halved.
’Fuck, fuck, fuck. No... Why is this happening?!’
The system was delighted.
[Clan Fertility Event!]
[10 pregnancies detected!]
[Population growth is essential for tribal advancement!]
[(◕‿◕✿)]
’Is it also essential for my mental breakdown? Because that is what is growing right now!’
[(≖⩊≖)]
[Do I sense sarcasm?]
’Be serious right now!’
Tera was in trouble.
None of this made any sense. Her task aside, food was a massive problem, and they were having cubs when more food was required?!
This was insanity!
’This is going to affect the task too! OMG!’
[ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ]
[Please, relax Host]
[You have more than enough time!]
[You have successfully created two shelters within less than two weeks]
[Imagine—]
’That is not the issue!’
[( ˘•ω•˘ )]
[Creating individual shelter for each clan member is not necessary]
[Groups gather—]
’I know that! But tell me why the rest decided that now was a good time to raise cubs.’
[...]
[Host’s agricultural and dietary improvements have stabilized the clan’s nutrition for the first time in years]
[Female bodies that were previously in survival mode have shifted to reproductive mode]
[Improved safety + improved food = babies]
[This is a direct consequence of Host’s success!]
[Congratulations!]
[(◕‿◕✿)]
Tera wanted to cry out. What sort of success would make her job harder? Did they think the farm land here would be enough to feed both them and the extra mouths they were about to bring?
The pregnant females needed food. The clan needed food. Tera needed food. Nobody had enough food. And the farm she was building to solve the food problem had just lost three of its workers to the very pregnancies her food improvements had caused.
The beast men, naturally, were useless about the situation. Their reaction to the pregnancies had been to strut around looking proud, hunt slightly more aggressively (with mixed results), and occasionally pat the still flat bellies of the pregnant females as if checking whether the cubs were done yet.
One of the expecting fathers brought his mate a raw rabbit leg and presented it to her like he was handing over a diamond engagement ring. She promptly threw up on his feet.
Xavi, whom she had expected to have mixed feelings about the situation, had been very happy. More numbers for the clan, and he had said food would not be a problem, and some of his beast men would just work harder at hunting.
This made Tera slightly panic more as that would also mean fewer hands for her project, and no one was aware of the deadline on her neck.
And the silly system, for all its talk, did not understand how construction projects worked. The accommodations for adjustments in a new environment and the health of the members.
Tera had reassigned the pregnant females to lighter tasks, and in the middle of the second week, she had been met with a disaster.
She had woken up one morning to find a few rows of freshly planted tubers ripped out of the ground, along with other plants.