The next few days passed by peacefully.
For everyone else at least.
There was a single, or rather a single series of events that broke my own personal peace, though at the same time, saying that broke any peace might have been stretching things.
Whether I wanted to or not, I had no choice but to confront the follow-up of the abortions I had executed.
To be exact, they were reported to me as good news by the recipients of the operations I had performed, and as an obligation, I had to do a follow-up examination as well.
Rather than being a terrible experience, it was mostly an embarrassing one. Talking to these women about feminine hygiene and bodily functions, it was far from something I was used to, and the thought of explaining it to Alicia was in itself a nightmare.
I was fortunate, at least in the short term, that she didn't actually ask about it though.
She must have been curious, but had most likely clued in that I was uncomfortable talking about it.
It was pretty sad, really. Ask me about the process of reproduction on a cellular level or fecal transplants and I wouldn't have any problems, but the second the question was about the macro scale bodily functions, especially the feminine ones, and I had to put in an inordinate amount of effort to avoid stuttering.
Or at least it felt like that to me.
(Please don't ask about periods in the future. Please.)
I didn't even know what it was like to experience one, and there was no indication that I would ever know either. I really wasn't the one to be asked such a thing.
Although I couldn't help but feel fortunate considering what I had heard about the matter.
But aside from all that, there wasn't a whole lot to note that had happened over the next few days.
Three meals a day, laps around the room twice a day, and some time spent for each expanded group to enjoy the sunny room while I was forced into constant misery sitting in a corner while making sure that the unresponsives we brought with us could at least feel as comfortable as possible while getting a bit of indirect light for some much needed vitamin D formation.
I didn't know if vitamin D could properly form from indirect sunlight but I was hoping it would be enough. I wasn't going to go as far as risking direct exposure for myself.
When it came to clothes, it didn't take long for everyone to have a set that fit well enough. As crude as the tools I had provided were, they were more than enough for the task of making the small adjustments needed. Reducing the length of sleeves or pant legs, or opening up the sides so that they wouldn't put undue pressure on some of the women's bellies was mostly the extent of adjustments needed.
Some of the women found wearing pants a bit awkward it seemed and even requested skirts to be made. The thought that they'd find such a thing so awkward as to ask for the changes despite the extra work involved in a situation like this was a bit baffling, but if I was being forced to wear a skirt in the same situation, I might have asked for a similar change as well.
I just couldn't see myself wearing one despite the fact that people would probably want me to.
But honestly speaking, as I wasn't the one doing the adjustments it didn't effect me in the slightest. It might not have been possible for everyone, but we did have the raw materials for at least a few to work with after all.
The days were pretty peaceful, and honestly I was starting to really enjoy them.
The conditions might not have been great and we were pretty limited in resources, but everyone's moods were pretty good considering things. More and more random chatter started up all over the place and the oppressive feeling of desperation had mostly faded.
But as much as I wanted, it couldn't last forever. Not only did I need to move on soon, but even if food wasn't a problem, there was no way that everyone would be able to handle staying here for too much longer.
Fortunately the others who had retreated back before I fought that bastard should have gone back and tried to get reinforcements.
The investigation leader had a tool to communicate over long distances, so presuming that the lord of the previous city were to send soldiers immediately, they should arrive here in a bit over a week. Maybe ten days or so considering the time it took to gather everything needed along with the slower movement caused by the larger group.
At least, I really hoped that it wouldn't take much longer than that. While things were pretty good at the current time, things could turn to the worse at any moment. The longer they took to arrive, the more likely that someone would snap, causing a rippling effect over the entire group.
That was something I really wanted to avoid, so in the end, I silently hoped that the reinforcements would hurry up and arrive.
It was the night of the seventh day, while I was trapped in between Epione and that former unresponsive that it had happened.
The woman had gone more active than before, and she assertively demanded to be able to stay close to me on a regular basis.
Even on wobbly feet, she would approach me while I was cooking or get depressed while I was carrying one of the other unresponsives to help move them around.
If I was wearing any sleeves, I could've sworn that she would've hung off of it like a child.
Though I didn't know exactly what she was thinking most of the time, she did seem to enjoy the feeling of pressing herself against me. She still couldn't talk, but her actions were louder than any words that she would've formed if she could.
As I was lightly brushing her hair as she slept, the woman resting her head on my chest suddenly stirred.
It was still deep in the night, far from when she usually woke up, yet something had caused her to open her eyes.
"Aa...aaaa....!"
She usually didn't vocalize anything, let alone moan. The sudden change in behaviour was concerning, but what was more important was why she had woken up.
"It's okay. You're safe. Did you have a nightmare?"
I did my best to coo her while pulling her body even closer to my own. She seemed to get reassured by physical contact, though I didn't really have any complaints about it.
But while the woman pushed her face into my bosom, her strange actions didn't relent.
"Aaaa...!"
A minute later, she moaned again and looked up at me.
It was faint, but there was an expression on her face. She, like the unresponsives, never made any facial expressions, as if they had forgotten that such things even existed.
I sat there for a moment, baffled at what was happening.
(Is that...concern? And pain?)
Even I could read such expressions if it came from someone who normally had none.
As for why she had such expressions though was beyond me.
"It's okay. I'm here for you."
I lifted the woman's face up and pressed my forehead against hers.
"It's okay. It's okay."
But despite my best efforts, her mouth opened and shut, like a fish trying to suck in water to fill its gills. But it wasn't water she wanted, far from it. But words.
At least, that was what it felt like to me.
"Aaa...!"
Whatever it was that was disturbing her, my words weren't doing much to reassure her at all.
I rubbed her back in the hopes that it would calm her down, but it only helped for a short while. For some reason, she kept being reminded of whatever it was that was bringing her pain.
I put both hands onto her shoulders and pushed her off of me and held her at arm's length.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Aaa...!"
The concern and pain that was on her face had strengthened.
Something was wrong. Really wrong.
She looked me in the eyes. For a moment, I was distracted in how clear they looked. So much better than when we first met.
But after only a few seconds of locking eyes, her head dropped.
My eyes followed her gaze, only for her engorged belly to come fill my view, both hands resting on it.
"...huh?"
(Huh? ...HUH?!)
I put a hand on her belly.
(It's not what I think it is, is it?)
I sat there for a minute, hoping to feel a kick or something from the baby inside. Hoping desperately that all I would feel was a kick.
But as expected, reality wasn't so nice.
"Aaa...!"
Along with her moan, the muscles under the skin of her belly tightened up and I could feel something shift.
"...Fuck."
It was impossible to deny what was happening. What was going to happen.
I wanted to run away.
But that wouldn't stop this from happening. I had to be here, so I could help.
But now that I knew what was going on, there wasn't any time to waste. Though this was still the very beginning and there should be quite a lot of time before the main parts start, I needed to prepare everything the best I could.
I adjusted the woman's position and put my arms under her body.
First of all, we needed some space. Enough for her to comfortably lie down.
Rising up to my feet, I almost effortlessly lifted her body in my arms, careful not to put any pressure onto her belly.
"Wah!"
At my feet lay Epione, laying with her limbs splayed out.
"What's going on?"
"She's...umm..."
As I stuttered, I shifted over to the closest open space and lay the pregnant woman down. I pulled out my robes from my bag and folded it before laying her head on it.
"I think she's..."
"Aaa...!"
"Wait, is she going into labour?!"
I nodded.
The woman held her belly as I stroked her head, unsure what exactly I needed to do.
I had seen scenes of childbirth in all sorts of shows and movies, though it was obviously a bit abstracted and a lot of the processes was skipped over. I also know the biological process from some of the random stuff I had read and videos I've seen, but it was always just things that generalized the process, not even things that were specific to human anatomy.
(And now I was going to help give birth?!)
No, rather than that, this couldn't have been the first time someone here gave birth. There were a few babies already being taken care of. They were still on their first few months as well!
(That's right! Everyone here must have already witnessed the process in person! Maybe they don't even need my help!)
"Epione! You know how to help her, right?"
"Huh?! Umm...well..."
I looked at her with expectant eyes, but the way she hesitated made me falter slightly.
"At least one person gave birth after all of you had been brought here, right?"
Desperation leaked into my voice, but I didn't care about that at all. Between my image and pride compared to a safe and healthy birth, what was more important was obvious. I didn't even have to consider weighing them.
"Well...yea..."
"Then...!"
"I...umm...huddled in a corner when it happened..."
My jaw dropped.
Literally.
"Then...what about the others? Couldn't someone had helped..."
"All the newcomers did the same. I don't think anyone helped the last few who gave birth."
For a moment, I thought my jaw self-dislocated.
I was unable to make any sounds at all as I just sat there, staring at the woman before me hang her head.
"I...I think so."
If that was true, then the only people who had more knowledge about the process were the ones who went through it themselves. Many of those were the unresponsives. Aside from them, there probably was only a handful that could actually be of any help.
"Could...could you go and bring over anyone who can help?"
No, there must have been more than just those who gave birth here. Some of them might have been mothers before all this. If we could find those people as well, they might be able to help.
"Al...alright! I'll do my best!"
(At what?!)
I was only asking for her to ask around, not help give birth!
But Epione quickly made way and started waking up the huddled groups of sleeping women and asked around.
[Oh yea, Claret?]
"Yes Master?"
[You must have seen some childbirths before, right?]
"I have."
[Do you know what I need to do to help?]
"Help? With what?"
[Giving birth!]
"Watch?"
[Watch what?]
"If they need anything? Maybe they'll be hungry afterwards?"
I really wanted to slap that damn spirit hanging off of my shoulder giving me such irresponsible advice.
[Is that it?]
"Is there anything more that they need?"
*sigh*
It was probably my fault for expecting anything. There really wasn't any reason why she would know much about the birthing process. Spirits probably weren't capable of it, and it wasn't a surprise that she went for the feral answer immediately.
"Aaa...!"
Suddenly the sound of splashing reached my ears.
"Whawhawha?!"
Bellow, a pool of water spread out between the woman's legs.
(Shit, her water broke!)
This was real. Definitely real!
I was starting to reach the point where I was internally begging for Epione to come back quickly with someone who could help.
All I could do was hold the woman's hand while stroking her head in my best attempt to reassure her.
But frankly, my own ability to stay calm was quite outmatched here.
People all around us were looking on as they woke up from all the commotion, yet not a single person approached to help. I couldn't tell if it was because they had no idea what to do or if they just were indifferent about it all.
(No, they can't be indifferent. Or else they wouldn't be watching.)
But that didn't help me or this woman in the slightest.
"Aaa...!"
"It's okay. It's okay. You'll be fine."
My words weren't convincing even to my own ears, yet I said them anyways, half in an attempt to convince myself of that fact.
"I found someone!"
It took what felt like forever, but Epione had finally returned.
She half dragged an older woman with her.
"You! You can help?"
The surprise in the woman's face told me just how much my desperation shocked her, yet her expression calmed down immediately.
"I have a little bit of experience as a midwife, but I've only delivered a baby once."
"That's better than me! What do we do?!"
My theory was only half-assed in this respect, and my experience nonexistent. I've never even taken care of a baby, let alone be near someone delivering one.
"Miss, stay by her side and continue holding her hand. I'll prepare her."
The midwife moved over to the labouring woman's lower body and raised her wet skirt, revealing her lower body.
But as she shifted herself between the exposed legs, the woman's legs suddenly closed up.
"Aaa...!"
The midwife had no trouble opening her legs, the prone woman having very little strength to speak of due to the extended atrophy she had suffered, yet after a moment of observation, it was obvious that she had closed her legs on purpose, and was continuing to attempt so.
"...Miss, I need you to come this way."
"Huh?"
Her words ran counter to what she had said earlier.
"What is most important is that the one performing the most crucial tasks is someone the mother can have faith in."
"...Alright...?"
Her words and their meaning didn't connect in my brain.
"It looks like I can't be that person, but you are."
"...Then..."
I could practically feel the gears rotating in my head as it processed her words.
"...wait, me?!"
She nodded with a firm expression, removing any doubt that I had understood her words properly.
"But, but...!"
"I will guide you through the process. Don't worry."
I had a ton of things to worry about. Childbirth was a dangerous act and lots of mothers died during the act, let alone the babies. This wasn't some modern hospital with full amenities, but a cold, dark room with virtually nothing to support the act.
But she was the expert, or at least the closest thing to one as it didn't seem like she had much experience. Even in my disturbed state I could see that she was agitated.
I replaced the midwife in between the woman's legs, and instantly she opened up as if welcoming me. Not like I needed such a thing.
Really.
I didn't want it at all.
But things were way too far gone for me to refuse, and there wasn't really any other options.
The midwife slowly explained the process while Epione took my place at the woman's side. It seemed like she managed to earn enough trust that she was able to do a decent job on that side in my place.
We spent the next few hours preparing everything, from washing the woman's lower body to cleaning up the surroundings, laying some monster furs and even preparing several stone containers of water which I kept at a comfortably warm temperature using magic.
When it was finally time, my hands shook. Or perhaps my whole body shook from the tension, but I couldn't tell anymore.
Following the midwife's slow, deliberate, and repeated instructions, I helped guide the baby out from its mother's body.
After what felt like a minor eternity, there was a newborn baby boy in my arms as amniotic fluids soaked into my upper body.
He was a wrinkled little thing, shrivelled in places but some fat bulging out in others, and all-round loud as he cried.
But somehow, I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
He was so weak, so vulnerable, but so precious.
(So this is what a brand new life looks like.)
I tried rocking him back and forth, but his crying didn't relent.
His crying was so desperate, like he was demanding everyone's attention.
He had mine at least.
It was so strange. His body was so small and light, yet so big to have just come out of a person's body.
His skin was all flush like a ripe tomato and there were a few strands of wet black hair on the top of his head. His eyes were squeezed shut so I couldn't see what colour they were, but I could imagine that they were like rubies, still hidden from all the world.
I rocked his body a bit more as I gently pressed him against my chest.
Slowly his crying subsided and eventually he fell to slumber.
My eyes refused to part from his figure even for a moment.
"...! ...ss! Miss!"
"Huh?"
I looked up. Everyone was staring at me.
"I understand how you feel, but it's best to clean the baby up and return it to its mother's arms."
"I...uh..."
Realization of what I was doing came to me slowly, but when it did my eyes met with the mother's, and I could only feel remorse over what I had done.
She was the one who deserved to hold him more than anyone, yet I was the one denying her that right.
As quickly as I could, I wiped the baby down with some damp cloths before tying off his umbilical cord and cutting off the placenta. Apparently the cord would shrivel up and come off on its own after a while, so this was enough for the meantime.
Once that was done, I transferred the baby to his mother's arms.
When I brought him close to her, my arms refused to unfurl for a moment, and only his mother turning her gaze back at me from her baby made me let go.
(I'm such a terrible person.)
I had no idea what came over me, but somehow I just didn't want to let the baby go. He wasn't mine at all and I understood that, yet somehow that knowledge just brought on frustration.
Just looking at the mother and her little baby in her arms made something dark bubble up in my chest.
It as frustrating and I squeezed at me knees as I bore with it until I realized what that feeling was. Then I was filled with nothing but shame. Such a feeling wasn't appropriate at all.
I should have been happy for the two for a successful delivery, yet I couldn't help but feel such selfish feelings.
Taking a deep breath, I forced those feelings down as far as they could go.
I got up and went over to the cooking area and started making breakfast for everyone.
Midway through, the crying restarted, but was quickly silenced. When I looked over, the sight of the baby having an early head-start at breakfast threatened to make those dark feeling bubble up again, but I forced them down while I concentrated on finishing the meal in front of me.
You know, this has really differed from my original expectation of the story, and I'm afraid its not for the better. To be blunt, I think this arc is dragged out at best.
A major plot hole in my opinion is where is the rest of the expedition party? Especially since this chapter mentions a long distance communication device, I don't see a reason for them not to contact the city for reinforcements, with they themselves simply waiting nearby the stone mansion to check if Scarlet is ok. To leave one's teammate out in the wilderness for a week is baffling to me. (If I'm making a glaring mistake because I misread a section somewhere, please tell me and I apologize beforehand.)
Additionally, while I get that meeting another vampire is plot-significant, I can't really say I think the same of taking care of the survivors. Based on how this is going, just taking care of the victims is going to take up ten percent of this novel. To begin with, the entire setting is deeply disturbing. You have one vampire and initially dozens of literally naked women in a damp, rank, and dark basement. Lovely. To be fair, the nudity and unpleasantness of the living conditions has somewhat lessened, but that still doesn't remedy the remainder. Now, I get the author would like to drive home that these women have had awful experiences, that some vampires are evil and what not, but I ask you, to what higher narrative purpose does this all serve? Physically, nothing. Scarlet doesn't gain some op sword or something. Perhaps she'll take along with her the unresponsive woman, but that's undecided as of yet. Emotionally, nothing. Scarlet isn't seeking vengeance against her the remainder of her race, and it is clearly stated that she is taking a somewhat detached attitude because she cannot care for all of these people long term. Now, what's left? The only narratively significant piece we get out of all of this is that vampires can procreate sexually. And if we put two and two together, the suffering of a literal company (in military terms) of women, is so that Scarlet discovers that she may or may not want to f-ck. That's seriously messed up (in my perhaps seriously flawed opinion and or logic).
On the other hand, you can argue that this is part of the "slice of life" aspect of this story, to use the anime term if you will. But even then, it fails at this (this is coming from someone who's seen stuff like girls driving tanks as "slice of life"). When I picked up this story, the slice of life I expected is the sort of unique relationship between Scarlet and Alicia. However, what it's sort of devolved into now is cooking (still fun), descriptions of people sitting around (ok), people touring around (ok...), and people sunbathing (ok...?)—rinse and repeat (...). To me, that's the equivalent of describing someone watching television in excruciating detail, but even then I would not complain, and simply wait for the story to get to another arc. However, what I did not sign up for, is for a graphic description of both childbirth and abortions on a level that I hope to never know personally. I don't think I'm alone in this regard when I say that I find this extremely out of place considering the previous arcs of this story. That was really the final straw for me that led me to write this comment.
At this point, perhaps some of the other readers are ready to pick up pitchforks, turn me into a vampire, crucify me, then throw me out in some desert during the midday, all the while chanting "drop the story!" and then do it all again for the admittedly scathing comment that I've thus written, and perhaps I should. However, ultimately, I'm taking the time to write this in the (perhaps selfish) hope that the author will read this and get the story off this arc. So, Ninetailed Furball, if you're reading this, please, please, please get the story back on track again. This was the novel that got me into web novels as a whole, and I really liked everything up till this point. Thus, it really pains me to see just what has come out of it.
P.S. - I'm writing all of this in good faith. Should my opinion prove to be the extreme minority, I'd like to kindly ask for the other readers to inform me of such (via likes/dislikes? idk) and I'll back off, but hopefully, I'm not as dense as your average isekai anime protagonist.
You made a lot of fair points and I agree with some of them. To some extent. Especially that the largest part of the actual story happened now between the two paragraphs of the synopsis. It is indeed starting to drag out.
I can see how helping the vampire's victims is relevant. And everything from leaving her dungeon until holding that baby in her arms served Scarlet's growing as a person. Also, I started reading a vampire story, so I did expect a certain amount of goryness. Abortions and childbirth aren't that much more disturbing than burning under lightmagic or getting one's limbs ripped off.
But describing the day-to-day life of the recovering victims in such detail is indeed a bit much. And I am kind of sitting on bees about seeing what has happened around the dungeon in Scarlet's absence. :D
Although I do rather enjoy reading this story, there are parts I don't agree with. However, seeing how Nine chooses to write it is part of the fun for me.
What I am concerned with is more the pacing and logistics. With a story with goals as big as this one, it's really important to abridge and omit what you can when you can, otherwise it can swiftly grow to become unfeasable to complete. Right now, it's hard to see this story being finished within the next ten years in a satisfying manner.
I agree with the general gist of what you're saying, but there have been a couple of scenes of extreme importance in this arc, especially in this chapter; namely all having to do with Scarlet's desire to be a mother. Much of this arc could easily be shortened down to only a few chapters, but I think the scenes that show Scarlet realizing her desire to have a kid are very important and deserve their own space. I think leaving this chapter as it is would be fine, but I do agree that some of the other chapters definitely drag out and also contain several flaws, especially dealing with the portrayal of the victims and where the rescue squad went.
You'd think some of the other adventurers would regret abandoning Scarlet, and would probably keep watch on the manor until reinforcements arrived. And if the manor was being watched, then they would have seen the result of Scarlet's fight since it destroyed half the building.
I frickin love this story, but I also agree that this latest arc needs some work; its good in over all concept but needs some fixing in execution.
Furball mentioned a few chapters ago that this section was way longer than they wanted so it's not just you
I do understand everyone's concern, and take it to heart. Yes, this went way longer than I had originally planed and some parts have been stretched far too long.
If it makes people feel better, this was the last chapter before the reinforcements appear, and my plan is that it will only be one or two chapters before Scarlet returns to the forest she was born in.
I will finally cover all the things that I had promised in the description during the next arc as well.
I hope that this some of the less savoury aspects of arc hasn't deterred people from continuing to read my story, though if it has, I understand. As per my original warning, I had pushes some things pretty far, especially considering how light and fluffy this story had been for most of its run.
@Ninetailed_Furball I certainly won't stop reading; I'm fully invested regardless of whatever issues that might come up.
Well, i disagree with you but to each of his own i guess. Everything the Authour written? I love it all. The good, the bad and the worst? I love it all
Dont mind the harsh criticism. You do just like you already done before; Do what YOU think whats best, not others.
Thanks for the chapter
Just knowing we are back on track is enough for me to keep reading (probably wouldn't have stopped anyways, but i was starting to get sick of it)
@Ninetailed_Furball I just wanted to point out, that although this Arc was a little too drawn out, I think it is important, that you don't rush to end it. In particular, your comment about "it will only be one or two chapters before Scarlet returns to the forest she was born in" worries me slightly.
I personally feel, that there are a lot of loose ends in this Arc (vampire children, the adventurers, the reinforcements, the "vampire expert" she was recommended by the guild, the fates of all the women after this incident and more). I've always felt, that this whole Arc was basically spent world building and developing characters and plotlines, which might have been unsatisfying to people, since not much "action" was happening, but I personally don't have a problem with that.
I feel that we are reaching the part of the Arc, where we get to resolve all these interesting aspects, that we were building up to. So, if we rush through this part, all the buildup may feel like an even bigger waste.
You definitely shouldn't rush through the most satisfying part, just because people are complaining about the pacing. I think, the complaints about the pacing were already addressed by the "this was the last chapter before the reinforcements appear" part of your reply and you should take as much time as you need to properly wrap up this Arc.
P.S. Still totally agree about the "I did not sign up for a graphic description of both childbirth and abortions on a level that I hope to never know personally." part of the complaints. In this chapter, I was ticked off by things like how you describe the process in small details. (About how she cut and tied the placenta and how it will shrivel up, about the precise location of every person and how the woman was shutting her legs etc, about how the water broke and formed a puddle between her legs). I still think, that you can basically describe all the same events, but in such a way, that the readers with good graphical imagination won't feel the need to puke.
She cut the placenta, that's it, you don't need (I think?) to describe the details. The woman didn't feel secure with the other midwife, you don't need to describe, how exactly was the midwife opening her legs and how the woman was resisting. Her water broke. That's it. Of course it formed a puddle, but please don't make me think about it.
P.P.S. And once again gonna mention, that that's just my (slightly exaggerated) opinion, so no hard feelings.
@psyal i have the same opinion i do not think this story will ever get to be finished as it is already around 1 million words
and the past 50 +chapters were only about 1 more town bit of hero fight and this i think in my opinion the author has to stop describing everything in so much detail day by day by day cause it will go nowhere like this
major plot has been abandoned for RLY long the administrative privelages and skill making especally, no experiments has been made nothing beacuse yet again writing in so much detail about them and theorising and being scared of it that she did nothing
she already said she doesn't want to make so many detours cause of the dragon but she already made a 7-10 day one
and in my opinion this entire thing with the womans is infuriatingly takes too long it should have been max 2 chapters with time skip U HAVE TO LEARN AND USE TIME SKIPS or u will kjust write day by day and it will go nowhere cause if u need at least a week to write a day then my god it will take a year just so a month is going by.
i personally do not mind the cooking and downtime stuff that's fine but the problem here is that 90-95% os the story has been only bathing and eating, u can do that but u have to change the ratio up
well that was my "rant" for now i will still read a bit more but if nothing is going to rly change i will have to drop this one cause my expectations were quite different at the beginning and how it actaly came to be
one last mention: why did u make him a guy if it doesn't add ANYTHING to the story ? cause he is literally doing everytithing like a girl would probably lot of readers already forgot he was a guy and i assure u in no way in hell a guy would do things like he is doing
@Calceus She's been a girl for so long it doesn't matter if she originally was a guy. Also its pretty obvious that she was the original Scarlet who was reincarnated as a guy, then reborn back as Scarlet so don't try and apply gendered logic here.
@skilodracus even if you think it's pretty obvious u should never just assume that's how it is if it has not been confirmed, i do not like theorizing on it let the author do it.
and even if she was scarlet she still lived like 30+ years (if i am correct) as a male and that's quite a long time and she has no memories of being a woman so yet again there is no real reason why he did things as it is
I apologize, but I was not able to read this comment as it was quite long but I still wanted to address a few parts that I had read in the comment.
1. where the expedition party is. ~ you mentioned this being a plot hole but considering the time it took to travel to the site in the first place it would need at least that long before any backup would arrive. I can not remember how long from a previous chapter but it was something like 2 weeks wasn't it? even if they used long-range communication.
The other side is their own party it's self - they had witnessed 1 vampire much stronger then they confront another hidden in their group. Even with how nice the person was the people who are for returning will have their voices drowned out from helping and seeing as they did not have the strength to help in the first place they would be kept from helping by the others with a more logical if wrong view on the situation.
2. While not important to the narrative of having Scarlet take care of the victims it holds important character development for Scarlet. This scene shows who she is as a person. Maybe this story would have been more enjoyable without it, but without covering this we would all develop a false sense of who scarlet is and who she was. I feel like I can identify scarlet more with this scene than any else in the story. Her kindness and desire for a better life and her love of children. I honestly would of hated to have a scene that simply said she took care of the victims for a few weeks while waiting for the rescue team to return spelled out in just 1 or 2 sentences.
this comment shows your enthusiasm for the story and I'm glad a lot of other people enjoy this story.
This comment has reminded me of a lot of issues I myself have when writing and reminds me to keep the reading entertaining for the audiences while avoiding some plot pitfalls that may take away for that and I at least feel I learned a bit from it as there is often a disconnect from author to audience. Mostly those issues are the ones I struggle with the most when writing I often forgot a piece of information to me that seems obvious but not to a reader's perspective.
@RuRo Actually, I'm keeping track of as many of the loose plot threads as I can. I have reasons why they haven't been resolved. There are quite a few though, so I'll do my best to tie them all up.
@Calceus Honestly, this story's been running longer than I expected. My original predictions of the pacing were quite off, but even still, I don't expect this story to run for more than another two years. Maybe less depending on how much I can compress the future arcs without compromising on their quality.
I do have specific goals in mind for the end, and am making steady progress towards it.
On the other hand, I've been trying to keep in mind the fact that she had still spent more time as a man than a woman. There are still many things she isn't comfortable with that a normal woman her age would be. She's psychologically stunted in specific areas and will continue to be until she manages to overcome them.
Though, to everyone, I can feel the passion through your comments, and it makes me happy to read them. I consider myself relatively thick skinned, so rather than be hurt, the criticism I am receiving feels more like motivation to work harder and improve than being put down by them.
I am thankful for having an audience that will go the extra mile to point out how they feel about every part of my story rather than nothing but empty encouragement.
I never understood how people could write such long comments
@Ninetailed_Furball Hi furball. I thank you for your writing, but I think I will stop here.
The way the MC is presented to now crave both male intimacy (kinda sorta with the male vampire) and personal pregnancy is not presented in an organic manner (in my opinion), and comes off as some sort of external mental influence modifying Scarlet’s personality (this make it as bad as the MC being raped or mind raped at least) into being something they have otherwise been adamantly against (to the point of foolishness). The way the MC has been presented to this point makes any small changes non-feasible to prevent the mind-rape presentation. If Scarlet was presented to be considering the implications of being female and at least partially accepting of them prior to this it may have been OK (maybe even going so far to make them female in the previous life (as up to this point there has been very little directly masculine presentation) and it might just be better to present her as female from the beginning (with loss of s*x drive as a vampire)). The outcome of her accepting wanting to become pregnant and give birth is not the problem, it is the abrupt craving and how hard you pushed this and her attraction to the vampire after previously being absolutely against either at every possible instance of the topic.
Secondly, with the direction it seems you are leading the story, the outcome looks to be Scarlet getting pregnant and giving birth to Alicia (and likely later (with evidence from both Scarlet’s and Alicia’s inner monologues) them getting into a romantic relationship). While this may have been a great outcome previously in my opinion if Alicia was allowed to mature to near Scarlet’s level of mental maturity (yuri is more enjoyable to read in my opinion than most other romance (and especially harem relationships) due to the fact that it tends to give both partners more equal positions in the presented relationship). I do not agree with the way it looks to be progressing (as it is going, Scarlet will be choosing (and yes it is her choosing) to give birth to Alicia without her informed consent (as she has ridiculously refused to discuss the implications and consequences of her getting pregnant and birthing Alicia). Even worse this informed consent is not possible for the age that Alicia is presented as.). As it is, the only way the outcome would be acceptable (in my opinion) with Scarlet becoming Alicia’s mother (and them being in a relationship after) would be if they were already in a relationship long down the line with both knowing Alicia was growing old and they discussed and agreed with this (Scarlet becoming Alicia’s mother) option for allowing them to live on together after Alicia’s human lifespan was ending (or even just as she was going into middle age and beginning to feel unattractive to Scarlet). This would however be a completely different story, but it would hit more on the equality of each in the relationship, how much physical attraction matters, and would allow for more adjustment for Scarlet to a female perspective (giving the wanting to get pregnant craving a more organic development), and may even tie into their combined want to have children (even if one of them was the child). This would not completely remedy the situation, but would make them much more equal in the relationship and make it an agreed upon major decision (which is much more enjoyable to read in my opinion).
Finally, and the abortion scene needs to have the explicit mention of the fetus having a soul removed. This is inexcusable as with a soul there is no ifs, ands, or buts other than to say this is infanticide. This is in no way acceptable. You might as well have her ask if the ones with babies in hand if they want her to smother them and ash the remains. It is the same thing. There is not a difference between a fetus with a soul and an infant in hand. I know all the augments of how choice is a right (and agree), but it is a right to choose for before the baby has a soul. Otherwise, it is unquestionably infanticide and if this is acceptable to do it might as well be a choice up until children can talk and become more humanized to their parents (yes it is an extreme example but it would basically be the same option as both have a soul and are already lives with the right to their own existence). If you remove the mention of the fetus having a soul it would make the scene acceptable (if a bit graphic, as others have mentioned).
TLDR: The new male attraction and pregnancy craving comes off as external influence mind-rape. The direction of Scarlet birthing Alicia with later romance is not appropriate for how it is presented. And aborting a fetus with a soul is infanticide, so I think the mention of the fetus having a soul should be removed (maybe imply it is to early for a soul to be present to lead to your Alicia birth conclusion (even if I don't agree with how that is presented either)).
I really enjoyed the story, but likely won’t read further (at least for a long time until I can adequately skew the story details to an appropriate head-cannon to allow for enjoyment in further reading). Thank you for your story even with the flaws. You do many things well but I can't enjoy reading further at the moment.