The night everyone returned from the Krater Labyrinth, we were all gathered for dinner in the first-floor dining hall of the main hall.
Dinner is usually a family affair, but Lady Hilde, Sir Yuri, and Lady Rika have their duties as lord and deputies, and we crafters often have to put it off when our work is in full swing.
Hunters can even go on expeditions, so it’s not uncommon for them to be away from Alka for days at a time, and there are often days when someone is missing.
But tonight, it’s rare for everyone in Wing Crest to be here, and Duke Vald Beast and Lady Neige are also present, so it feels like it’s been a really long time.
“It feels like it’s been a while since we were all together,” Prim said with deep emotion.
“Yeah. Looking at us all now, Wing Crest has gotten pretty big, hasn’t it?” Yamato added.
Prim and Yamato, who started Wing Crest as a raid unit back in the day.
At that time, the hunters in Feel were all spies for Retisencia, so we couldn’t trust anyone except Yamato and Prim.
Lumina was also there, but the situation was such that she couldn’t go hunting alone, and since Yuri was also present, it was tough just doing butler work. I think she was dispatched to the Butler’s Guild for work as a butcher and cook.
Especially since she often had to butcher the monsters Yamato and Prim hunted, Lumina said she was able to make a decent living and it was a great help.
Wing Crest, which started with just those two, now has close to thirty members and has become a large union, not only with hunters but also with crafters, healers, priests, and orders.
Moreover, nearly half of them have evolved beyond High Class to Ancient Class, and our leader, Yamato, is an Element Class.
We sometimes hear that we’re the strongest union in the Helios Orb, but more often we hear that we’re a “special exception union,” which is a bit more than just a little concerning.
“Speaking of which, did anyone level up during this expedition?”
“No. We were prioritizing efficiency this time, and our opponents were formidable, so there was no need to go all out. We didn’t use that much magic power.”
“Only Alice and File, I think. Alice was prioritizing the Summon Contract, but File is going to be Seras’s maid, so she needs to have some strength.”
Indeed, when Alice returned, she had formed a Summon Contract with ten Silkest Crawlers.
She said they had just come from the Fuso Pond, their habitat, and she looked truly happy.
I’m a seamstress, so I felt a bit envious, but the silk from the Silkest Crawlers isn’t usable by Yamato and the others, so for now, I’ll have to process it into silk cloth and sell it to Feel’s Crafter’s Guild or Trader’s Guild.
Alice isn’t registered as a crafter, so the Craft Magic weaving will likely be handled by me, Fiana, Flam, Ludia, Mako, or Clara.
What about Yamato and Ed?
They have no sense for that kind of work, so we can’t entrust them with anything like that.
Fiana is aiming to be a blacksmith, so she’s excluded, and Reina is still C-rank, so it might be a bit too much for her.
“Alice and File were able to level up, weren’t they?”
“Yes. Alice is level 33, and File is level 34. However, Alice aside, File is still only 14 years old, so I intend to refrain from further leveling for a while.”
Prim answers Flam’s question, and I agree.
If you level up too much and evolve into High Class, intense pain will shoot through your body because your magical power hinders your growth.
Even now, Sir Yuri, Raus, and Rebecca are suffering.
Raus and Rebecca, in particular, have evolved into Ancient Class, so when the pain hits, they become completely incapacitated.
Aria and Carol also experienced this, but their symptoms disappear once they turn 16 because their bodies mature, so they live normally.
Besides that, rapidly leveling up can cause a condition called acute magical fluctuation syndrome, so it’s not advisable to level up all at once.
Oh, and it’s not just Alice and File leveling up; Lumina and Laurel are doing so too.
Lumina, in particular, recently evolved into a High Undine and has been promoted to G-rank in the Hunter’s Rank.
She sometimes goes hunting, but she mostly goes with Raus and Eos and the others, so she says she doesn’t really feel it.
“The new students are all Normal Class, and their average level is 22. With that, they should be able to handle a bit of rough stuff.”
“Ah, you already know the average level.”
“It’s higher than I expected, but some of them are already registered with the guild, and a few are even hunters, so in a way, it’s natural.”
“Yes. The average level will decrease year by year. Or rather, it would be a problem if it didn’t.”
I was surprised that the average level of new students was over 20, but Lady Rika explained that some students are adults when they enroll, and there are even a few who have registered as hunters and are actively hunting. These students are raising the average level.
Excluding Wing Crest, the highest level is that of a hunter named Tigari, a 16-year-old, who is level 32.
The next highest is also a hunter, a 15-year-old Harpy named Level 31.
There seem to be four people who are level 30 or higher, so it’s natural for hunters to have high levels since they face monsters.
“It’s not just their levels, but their ages are also higher. After all, in a few years, the adults will be grouped into adult classes, and the average for the regular classes will likely settle around level 10 or so.”
That’s true.
The General Academy’s original purpose is to broaden the options for minors.
Therefore, the enrollment age is for children turning 11.
This time, we are prioritizing those children, but since it is also the first General Academy on the Philia Continent, we have also accepted a little over 10 children who have reached adulthood, and there are quite a few in between.
So, the average level, as well as the skill levels, are likely to vary greatly, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s natural that there’s a big difference in skill between those who are already working in guilds and those who are still deciding which guild to join.
“Eventually, our children will probably attend here too, but by then, things will have settled down, won’t they?”
“Likely. …Wait a moment, Fiana. Could it be that you…?”
It’s still a long way off for us to have children, and we don’t even know if we’ll be able to.
It’s known through Gaia’s prophetic dream that Lady Mana and Lady Rika are pregnant, and Prim and Flam will be soon, but beyond that, it’s uncertain.
I also want to have Ed’s child, but that’s something you can only receive from above, after all.
Even though we’re trying hard every night, I wonder what will happen.
That’s how it is for me, and it’s similar for Camellia, who just got married, and Fiana, who is still a minor. But Fina is a different story.
Mako, and the pregnant Lady Mana and Lady Rika seem to have noticed, but I don’t think everyone else knows yet.
“Yes. Ed.”
“Ah, yeah. Well, I found out this morning that Fina is pregnant.”
And that’s the story.
“Oh! Congratulations, Ed! Fina!”
“Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks.”
Their words of congratulation are welcome.
We are co-wives, and I was as happy as if it were my own business.
Honestly, I wanted to be the one to get pregnant first, but just because you’re the first wife doesn’t mean you’ll get pregnant first, and it’s not uncommon to not be able to get pregnant at all.
I try not to think about that, but the child Fina will bear will be precious to me as well, so I am already looking forward to it.
“Fina, how many months are you?”
“Three months. Sir Yuri, Carol, and Lady Apricot have also confirmed it.”
“Even with regular check-ups, it still takes that long to notice, huh?”
Fina has also evolved into a High Harpy, so there was concern that her pregnancy might be difficult to detect.
In fact, until Fina’s regular check-up with Lady Apricot this morning, she had absolutely no typical pregnancy symptoms like feeling unwell or craving sour foods.
Lady Mana, an Ancient Elf, had severe morning sickness, but Lady Rika, a High Elf, was not much different from Fina except for the cravings for sour foods, so I think there’s a lot of individual variation.
For this reason, the healers of Wing Crest are required to check for pregnancy once a week.
Even though we are crafters, we often hear that it affects our work, so for hunters and orders, which are directly tied to life and death, it’s a truly serious issue.
When Lady Mana’s pregnancy was discovered, she was in the Gagun Great Forest investigating a Labyrinth Flood at the time, so I was truly surprised when I heard the news.
“The earliest is two months pregnant, right?”
“According to the Healer’s Guild statistics, it doesn’t show up on the examining spell until two months. However, there are individual differences, so it’s not absolute. There are records of people who didn’t react until nearly four months, depending on the person.”
Indeed, Lady Rika’s examining spell didn’t react until she was four months along.
Even with examination spells, the fact that it’s not reliably detectable must be difficult for healers.
“Perhaps it’s because of their evolution, or maybe it’s the quality of their magic. The Healer’s Guild has been struggling with this problem for many years.”
“There are those who are researching it, but the differences between individuals are truly vast, and what’s more, it is said that if a woman becomes pregnant again, it can be detected immediately.”
Ugh, that sounds incredibly troublesome.
According to Carol and Sir Yuri, even for the same woman, the symptoms for the first and second pregnancies are different, and the timing for the examining spell to react often shifts too.
Therefore, the healers who are researching this seem unable to find a clear standard.
“Some people think it’s because of the baby in the womb, but they can’t make pregnant women participate in research, so they are said to be truly in a difficult situation.”
Lady Apricot also has a troubled expression, and of course, she would.
“This is a genuinely headache-inducing problem.”
“Yeah. If the individual differences aren’t just with the pregnant woman, but also with the baby in the womb, then it’s really impossible to pinpoint it.”
Yamato and Ed are absolutely right.
Still, the healers continue their research, and I hope it will one day pay off.
“Still, Fina is pregnant too. If she’s three months along, then her baby will be the same age as Lady Rika’s child.”
“If Lady Rika’s due date is in April, then yes. Well, since Fina is a Harpy, the baby will likely be a Harpy too.”
“No, it’s easier for girls to be born, so it might be a girl not only for Lady Rika but also for Mana’s child.”
Yamato and Ed are getting excited about children who haven’t even been born yet.
But indeed, Fina is a Harpy, meaning she’s a Yokai Race, so unless the child is a half-breed, it’s certain to be a Harpy girl.
Lady Mana and Lady Rika are Elves, so there’s a possibility of having boys, but there are even stories where 9 out of 10 children born were girls, so it’s likely to be a girl.
Since they will be the successors to the Lapislazurite Tenshaku family and the Marquis Amatista family, it’s undeniable that a boy would be preferable, but there’s nothing we can do about that.
Lady Mana will give birth after the new year, and Lady Rika and Fina will give birth in the spring. Wing Crest’s operational policy will likely change from what it has been.
But childbirth is something we’ve been waiting for, and we knew it would happen someday, so that’s not a problem at all.
In fact, Yamato, Lady Mana, and Sir Yuri have already been appointed as Tenshaku, so our operational policy has already changed.
Some of them are Normal Class, but they will likely evolve into High Class eventually. After raising children, they will have a longer life ahead of them, so it might be good to spend the next few years at a leisurely pace.
