Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 313
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“It seems my investigation was lacking.”
“Huh?”
How delightful. I had taken Cha Cha’s chastity—preserved for ten thousand years—in one fell swoop.
I explained to Cha Cha that this was a natural phenomenon and proceeded to round two. Cha Cha suggested moving the Egg to another room this time, but naturally, that opinion was dismissed.
◇ ◆ ◇
“Hahahaha! Wahahahaha!”
Ah, the dawn air of the Underworld is truly crisp and refreshing! I had completed the grand affair I’d been eagerly anticipating and returned from my jog in high spirits. Now I wouldn’t need to stand under waterfalls every night during my month-long stay in the Underworld to suppress my desires.
I rinsed away the sweat from my exercise under hot water and entered the bedroom in a refreshed state. For some reason, Cha Cha came rushing in, hastily throwing on a robe.
“E-Evan! The Egg!”
Coming at me covered in bite marks—did he want to go again already? I thought, but Cha Cha spoke words that defied my expectations. The Egg? Had something happened to the Egg?
“The Egg! It’s cracking!”
But we didn’t even break the bed—we were perfectly well-behaved. Why would the Egg crack? Just in case, I told Cha Cha to prepare to confess to the Mother Goddess, when suddenly there was a cracking sound and the eggshell split open.
Wait, could this actually be… a normal hatching?
“Evan, look! A baby—our child!”
“Ooh!”
So eggs just crack open normally! Obero emerged dripping with golden liquid, and I never imagined the birth would happen so smoothly.
“Wow, so warm.”
The child born from the mingling of Cha Cha’s and my genetics was truly an ordinary newborn. The only peculiar thing was that the hair flickered like flames. It felt like normal hair to the touch, but to the eye, it looked like burning fire. The color was pink, inherited from Cha Cha. Quite beautiful, actually.
“Evan, would you like to hold the baby too?”
Yes! Since Cha Cha said he made the child sturdy, even if I applied some strength, it wouldn’t get hurt, right?
As I carefully cradled the baby, the newborn in my arms subtly frowned.
“Sigh…”
And let out a sigh as if the world were ending.
“…”
Isn’t this child a bit strange? Don’t newborns usually cry and wail? Not crying is odd enough, but why does it look at me with such obvious disdain and sigh?
“Listen, I’m your mother. You shouldn’t sigh at your mother.”
“Bub, sigh…”
Sighing again? Is something wrong? As I looked at Cha Cha with confusion, the little one shook his head, saying he didn’t know either.
“Strange? I made it exactly the same way as when I made Obero. Mother even added intelligence as a bonus.”
Intelligence again. If that’s the case, then our child must already possess a sense of self and thoughts—he simply cannot speak yet?
“Should we ask Gerth? Unlike us, he has childcare experience.”
“Yes! I’ll get ready right away!”
Cha Cha, dressed only in clothes, cast a protective barrier spell on the child and himself, then took my hand. When I called for our return, the demi-humans who had come to work early in the morning greeted us.
“Oh, Your Majesty, the Ten Thousand Demon King.”
“Mother!”
“My goodness, could that child be the Underworld King and Evan Laef’s baby?”
“Indeed. Where is Gerth?”
I entrusted the newborn who had hatched from the egg to Magania and Lakne, then set off to find Gerth. Gerth was helping Obero, who was still half-asleep, brush her teeth.
“Evan Laef. What’s the matter so early in the morning?”
“The baby hatched from the egg!”
“Congratulations.”
“Yes!”
That said, something seems off about the child. Come take a look quickly.
I dragged Gerth along to where the newborn lay, still frowning deeply and heaving sighs as if the ground itself would collapse.
“The blue eyes resemble you, Evan Laef. Absolutely beautiful.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“And the mouth shape is the same as yours too. Very adorable.”
“I appreciate it, but could you please examine the baby’s condition!”
Urged by my insistence, Gerth handed Obero to me and cradled the newborn. He gauged the baby’s weight, patted the back to encourage burping, opened the mouth to inspect inside, and tilted his head in confusion.
“I don’t see anything particularly wrong.”
“The baby keeps sighing whenever looking at me, though?”
“Hmm?”
As Gerth said he would examine once more, the newborn with flaming red hair glanced at Obero. Then the baby exhaled a sigh with an even more desperate tone than before.
“Siiiiiiigh.”
“The child truly does seem peculiar.”
“Right?”
This didn’t seem like something we could resolve ourselves. Shouldn’t we contact Ursula? When even Gerth said he didn’t know, that seemed like the only option. I was about to have Cha Cha prepare a communication when, surprisingly, Obero spoke up.
“Um, well, so your younger sibling is…?”
After exchanging glances with the baby, Obero spoke on the child’s behalf with a bewildered expression.
“Asking you to please stop paying attention?”
“….”
“….”
“….”
What? The newborn’s perpetually disgruntled expression this whole time was because they wanted to be left alone? More importantly, Obero, how did you understand what a baby was saying? When I asked how you suddenly developed such a prophetic skill, Obero answered with a reluctant expression.
“When I have a conversation with the Emperor of Crowell, it feels like talking to a wall, so I thought it was suffocating….”
Wait, the skill manifested because of Cecilia?
“A communication skill has awakened.”
“….”
Maybe I should issue a ban on Obero entering the Imperial Palace right now. No, but then Cecilia would be upset? She’s been adjusting her work schedule just to meet Obero, so if I interfere, she’ll probably arrest both Obero and me and lock us away.
“No, wait, hold on a moment.”
My mind was tangled with various concerns, but explaining this situation to my child who had just hatched from the egg seemed like the top priority.
“Baby, babies normally cannot grow up alone.”
Even Obero, who grew up almost entirely on her own, still needs us to prepare meals and provide education. As I spoke common sense, the newborn who hatched from the egg sighed deeply once more. Obero exchanged glances with this half-sibling again, then calmly translated.
“Which is precisely why it’s more hopeless.”
“How did a solitary, despairing artist like this come to be born between Cha Cha and me?”
“And he said he didn’t want to hatch from the Egg if he could help it, but after seeing yesterday’s mess, he figured things couldn’t go on like this, so he came out.”
“Hmm….”
I felt guilty about that. I suppose I did use the Egg somewhat for atmosphere. Was that why he sighed so heavily when he saw me?
“More importantly, Evan Laef, we can’t keep calling him Egg or baby indefinitely.”
Gerth was right about that too. I’d been inconvenienced by not having a proper name to call the child.
“Cha Cha, do you have any names in mind? As the child’s father, you have naming rights too.”
“Huh? Well, I usually just call him Egg or baby, so I don’t really have anything.”
This would be my responsibility then. I absolutely couldn’t entrust naming to Gerth, and if I named him myself, Leri would probably object.
I glanced around at the Serpent King’s Tower Officials, spotted Hubert, and broke into a grin.
“Hubert! Want to try naming your younger sibling!”
“Huh? Me?”
Hubert was flustered by the sudden call, but he seemed genuinely interested in naming the child. The man with nine tails wagging happily said he’d once imagined what he would have renamed himself if his name had been “Hosik.”
“What about Reinhardt! I think it’s such a cool name.”
How about it, do you like it? I checked the child who’d hatched from the Egg, and even without Obero translating, I could tell roughly what his opinion was. The baby made a pessimistic face and sighed again.
“He says it sounds like such a grand name that he’d eventually have to become an Emperor, and it feels burdensome?”
Solitary by nature, a pessimist artist, and picky to boot. Could Cha Cha and I raise him well? I was already worried about that, but Hubert, undeterred, offered the next name.
“What about Kirchhoff! I think it has a cool vibe that suits your younger sibling really well!”
“Haaaaaa….”
“He says it’s such a refreshing and cool name like a wind passing through highlands that it doesn’t suit him.”
This kid is really picky! Though the Starving Child was a precious child born between Cha Cha and me, Hubert was my son too, so I worried he might feel discouraged.
“If you keep that up, I’m calling you Tom or Hans!”
“!”
When I raised my voice partly to back up Hubert, the Starving Child’s eyes widened in surprise, and he seemed delighted.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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