"Oh my." Freya let out a soft smile as she walked into her room and said, "I didn't expect you to wait for me here, Bell." She laughed and said, "Tia will be jealous."

I added Freya's room in Babel to my fast travel list and then shook my head. "I have to hold up my end of the bargain, don't I?"

After finagling my way out of that mess with Eina... and remembering to get her a proper gift to apologize as well as explain everything going on at a later point, I had Ottar lead me to Freya's room to wait for her.

Not before I sent a quick note back home to explain that I'd be a bit longer, of course.

Freya closed the door behind her and walked over, her silver hair shifting over her form-fitting black dress. As she got closer, she gave me a once over and chuckled. "I see Ottar has been giving you quite a bit of training for you to come back looking like that."

I reflexively rubbed my arms and sighed. "More like Naaza's training potions are too effective."

That plus the fact that using raw killing intent against a monster shredded all your muscles equaled me being obscenely buff. Like complete strongman bodybuilder type.

I know I made a lot of cracks about zenkais before, but this is a bit much. Seriously. I hadn't even figured out Super Saiyan yet, you know? What's with this random fake Super Saiyan 2 build?

What am I, Broly?

...Wait. That would be-

No, no, no. Power isn't everything, Bell. And even if I could become a lightning bruiser, normal life becomes more awkward. Much better to just keep it as a temp power boost.

Which reminds me.

Note to self: See if Naaza can figure out a muscle compression pill or something.

Freya walked over to sit down by a table near her window and then gestured to the seat across from her. "Please, sit down, Bell. There's no need to be so uptight here." She let out a soft smile again and said, "My home is your home."

"You see. That's the creepy part." I frowned and hesitantly walked over to sit across from her. "You're seriously acting like a crazy woman, you know?"

Freya giggled and then placed her hands on her cheeks, staring into my eyes. "Well then, are you going to take responsibility? You're the one who caused this, you know?"

"Absolutely not. To both questions. But anyway..." I opened my inventory and said, "Bunny-kun. Can you come out for a bit?"

'Kyu!'

The bunny hopped out and then landed on the table. Looking around with its wide blue eyes, the bunny's ears twitched and it let out some happy squeaks-

Oh wait, that was Freya.

"By the heavens, you're adorable!"

Before I could react, Freya had swiped Bunny-kun from the table and hugged it against her chest.

I blinked and said, "U-Um, Freya-"

"Kyuuuu~" The bunny let out a happy and content sound before snuggling against Freya.

"So you're the one who will become our child? Oooh, I can't even imagine how precious you will be when you change." Freya let out an extremely out of character motherly smile and said, "Mommy will give you everything you want."

"Kyukyu!"

I glanced between Bunny-kun and Freya and said, "So... I guess both of you are fine with it? Bunny-kun?"

The bunny looked at me and nodded. "Kyukyu!"

"...Just for the record, you're going to change from what you are now into a different form and become the kid of me and that crazy lady there. Are you fine with that?"

"Kyukyu!" A quick and eager nod, along with a bright sparkle in the bunny's blue eyes.

A sparkle matched by Freya in her violet eyes.

...I wonder if the Bunny-kun got hit with Freya's charm. I knew that I was immune, but other people apparently weren't.

...And that made me think of a whole slew of other ethical and moral dilemmas that came with using a sentient being as a base to create essentially a chimaera biological child with a woman who I reluctantly respected, but definitely didn't love.

Still...

"Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess." I mumbled and said, "Did you manage to get-"

Before I could even finish, Freya placed a sparkling crystal vial on the table in front of me.

I didn't know what was inside of it, but I could definitely tell that it had Freya's mana.

...I also didn't particularly want to know what was inside the vial, so maybe that was probably for the best.

"Kyu?" Bunny-kun turned around to look at me again.

Freya smiled and said, "So..." She licked her lip and said, "You mentioned a 'pound'. Does that mean that-"

"No horny."

I plucked Bunny-kun away from Freya and then picked up the vial.

Freya laughed and then tilted her head to the side. "Did you hear that, Hornie? This is my child, not yours."

Aaand Freya was definitely crazy.

Still, having a kid would... probably mellow her out a bit more. At the least, it would definitely lock in her role as our ally, if only because she'd be my baby mama.

...Ugh.

'There could be worse things.'

I guess so, mysterious voice in my head who's also different from the one that tells me useful combat info.

I shook my head and focused.

There were all sorts of flags that had just been raised, but I could focus on them later.

Right now... new family addition.

Let's see.

Bunny-kun ate enough magic stones while chilling in my inventory, so there was enough mana to work with there to start off with. In that case... I guess I just needed to start the process.

"Apologies in advance, Bunny-kun. But your Papa's an unreasonable person and your Mama here is crazy, so..."

A surge of mana. Drawing out traces of Freya's divinity, the ambient mana, and my own mana to fuel the process. Focusing on the magic stone inside of Bunny-kun. Envisioning the necessary systems just like I did for Fina...

And...

xxx

"How do I look, Mama?"

A beautiful young girl with crimson eyes turned to the side, holding up the hems of a pristine white dress. Her hair, a pure white color tinged purple at the edges, shifted as she did, along with the black hair ribbon she wore.

Freya resisted the urge to scream in happiness. Barely. Instead, she let out a wide smile and said, "You look beautiful, Bella."

The young girl, Bellatrix, let out a shy smile and said, "Am I as pretty as Mama?"

That time, Freya couldn't resist. She let out a happy scream and then dashed over to pull her daughter into a hug. "Prettier! Absolutely prettier!"

"Heehee..."

'That's not fair, Freya! I want to be called Mama too!'

"Hmph." Freya picked up her daughter and then walked over to sit at her usual spot beside the window in her room. Placing Bellatrix on her lap, Freya casually patted her daughter's head before saying, "You can have a child with Bell the normal way, Hornie."

'But-'

Freya forcibly stopped the connection with Horn before shifting her attention back on Bellatrix. "Now, is there anything Mama can do for her cute little girl?"

Bellatrix tilted her head, idly tapping her index finger on her chin. After a bit, she looked up at Freya and said, "Can we go see Papa and my big sister?"

Freya paused.

Bellatrix's eyes started watering. "I-Is it no good...?"

"Of course we can! But I think Mama will need a disguise..."

Bellatrix blinked and said, "Is it because Mama is so pretty?"

"Kyaaaa!" Freya stood up and swung Bellatrix around. "You're such a cutie, Bella!"

Bellatrix giggled and said, "Mama's cute too! And this is fun! Whee!"

xxx

Staring at Freya and her new daughter from his spot on the shelf, the disembodied soul of Zald let out a mental sigh.

'It seems that karma comes back in strange ways, doesn't it, Alfia?'

The child that she had carried for her sister while swallowing her disgust and pride. The 'sin' she thought she could atone for by doing that.

That child had not only come back to Orario instead of living peacefully far from it, but he had even started having children of his own. And now there was even one born not out of love, but of obligation...

'What would you think if you could see him now, Alfia?'

Zald wondered. Would she be furious that the child was as popular with woman as that hateful bastard? Proud that the child had inherited her talents? Sad that he was nothing like Meteria and more like Alfia?

Either way...

Zald shifted his attention towards the window, focusing on the growing crowd as well as the monsters being brought in from outside Orario and from the Dungeon.

'...It looks like Orario will have its hero, sooner rather than later, Erebus.'

xxx

I drained a giant glass of beer and then slammed it on the table. "Dammit. Why is my life like this?"

Welf raised an eyebrow and said, "Because you're a ridiculous bastard who even the heavens probably envy?"

I held my mug over my head and said, "Another!"

A private booth in the back corner of the Hostess of Fertility.

After becoming a father yet again, I ran away from Freya to pick up some milk-

I mean, I headed back home, kissed Tia good morning, hugged Fina, said hello to Artemis and Pyrrha, and then dragged both Ryuu and Welf off with me to the Hostess of Fertility.

Because goddammit I needed a drink.

A soft sigh echoed and Ryuu walked over with another glass filled with beer. "It is far too early to be drinking this much, Bell."

I grabbed the offered mug from her and took a long swig. After that, I said, "Just let me relax for a bit, okay? I just-"

Before I could finish my sentence, someone slipped into the seat across from me, chugging their own glass of beer. A familiar someone.

Syr slammed her mug on the table and then glared at me.

That didn't make sense.

Freya should be spoiling our cute daughter Bella... And that was a strange thought.

But anyway, Freya should be spoiling Bella right now. So then who is-

"You're a terrible man, Bell. Making me feel like this but ignoring me and having a child with the one I admire with all my heart instead... I really, really, *really* want to kill you. You know?"

...Oh.

OH.

So I hadn't been imagining things when I thought that Freya seemed to be in two places at once. And that Syr had been a normal person.

It turns out that Syr was Freya's imaginary friend who shared a mana link with her.

I sipped on my mead before hesitantly saying, "Well. Try not being Hornie?"

Syr growled and then started chugging her mead.

Yep. Definitely the 'Hornie' person that Freya was talking about. Huh. Good to know.

...This merits another drink.

I pointedly ignored Syr and started draining my beer.

...Damned increased body mass. Why was it taking so much to get a buzz?

Welf facepalmed. "Well. I guess that's one way to try and get the ladies off you...?"