A Baby Explains How to Make a Baby

“……What?”

In that instant, I doubted my ears.

What had I just heard?

What on earth had the demon just said?

At the very least, what she’d just brought up wasn’t something anyone could hear with a clear head.

A nauseating piece of filth disguised in the refined wrapping of a mother’s last words. Words like that were enough to drive someone’s life to the brink of death.

So I missed even the chance to react as I should have.

Even anger required some measure of reason. Right now, I could only cling desperately to the last thread of my sanity, my jaw trembling.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Yubel must have felt hearing those words.

Knowing I wasn’t even qualified to offer her some pathetic comfort.

All I could do was leave those eyes, trembling as though an earthquake had struck, alone.

“Th-That’s a lie, isn’t it……?”

The first to speak was none other than Prea.

Prea asked in a trembling voice.

Even knowing that what she’d just heard wasn’t a lie, Prea had to ask again. She had to say something like that just to force herself to breathe again through her constricted throat.

“……Hehe.”

The demon answered neither yes nor no, simply giving Prea a faint smile.

She must have decided there was no need to speak, since the answer was already clear from the thought that had crossed Prea’s mind.

Prea, pale as a sheet, gasped for breath.

The demon’s answer-that-wasn’t-an-answer had made her hyperventilate.

Riella wrapped her arms around Prea.

Her heart might have remained cold, but at least her body would have warmed a little.

“Why……? Why tell us that……?”

That was never a story that should have come out this way.

It was a story we should have waited for Yubel to reveal herself—or one we should have left buried forever without ever knowing.

At the very least, we should have heard what the person concerned wanted.

This was nothing less than a kind of harassment, utterly lacking in consideration.

It could never be right to forcibly dig up the past of someone who wasn’t ready to face it.

“Who knows……. To be honest, I brought it up solely because I wanted to enjoy your reactions.”

Just as I thought.

This demon was garbage, unfit for any decent company.

Disgusting garbage that used the filth inside her to hurt others.

Wearing Yubel’s face, the demon slowly walked toward the witch’s head.

What kind of fucked-up shit was she planning this time?

If it weren’t Yubel’s body, I’d have punched that always-smirking face.

“This is no fun.”

“What?”

The demon stopped before the witch’s head and muttered something in a voice no one could hear.

“I stand corrected. Did you ask me earlier why I brought it up?”

The demon lifted the witch’s head and slowly turned toward us.

At last, I could see her expression.

But it wasn’t the demon’s expression that I knew.

It wasn’t that creepy, incessantly grinning smile.

Her lips were still curved upward, but her eyes drooped, unable to smile.

It was……

“Even I…… don’t know.”

It was a sad smile.

***

After that, we carried Yubel, who had suddenly collapsed, down from the snowy mountain and arrived at Broad’s residence in Baelogia. Of course, we didn’t forget to bring the sleeping Holy Sword with us.

On the way down, we saw that the heavy snowfall in Baelogia had already let up.

From what Broad told us, all the remaining dwarves had left now that the statues had all melted.

Broad said he’d stay here to protect his homeland. In reality, though, he seemed full of plans to make all sorts of questionable merchandise.

Anyway, we laid the unconscious Yubel down at his residence, then each took some time alone.

This adventure had been more shocking than I’d expected, so I decided I needed to sort out my thoughts on my own.

About a week passed like that.

Only then did I go to the somewhat calmer Prea and ask her what had happened.

A little time had passed, but if we wanted to keep the same mistake from happening again, we needed to talk and untangle the knots between us.

“……Actually, I.”

The first thing Prea said was that she had feelings for me. Honestly, I was a little surprised. I’d had no idea Prea liked me. But given that she was saying it now, it seemed she’d already given up on those feelings.

After that, Prea calmly told me about her past and explained how she’d come to feel that way. Then I learned that, after finding out Yubel and I were lovers, jealousy had taken hold of her and driven her to do what she did.

“Ah, Prea…… That was actually……”

“Yes?”

I told Prea that pretending to be lovers had all been an act to deceive Broad.

“W-What does that mean?! Ahh, gurgle……”

Prea couldn’t accept what I’d said for a long time, then suddenly went pale and had a fit…… so I couldn’t talk to her again until the next day.

“Haa, I’m sorry for making such a scene…… B-But Lady Yubel said she nearly got pregnant…… What on earth did that mean……?”

“Ah, I only found that out recently, too……”

I met Prea’s eyes as she blushed and explained carefully.

It was a rather dizzying story: since Yubel hadn’t received proper sex education, she thought babies were made…… with kisses.

Prea’s expression when she heard that was something to behold.

“N-No. Huh? What does that…… So all this time, I was jealous of Lady Yubel because……”

“Well…… I guess you could say you were jealous of an innocent five-year-old baby?”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! P-Please keep your voice down!!!”

Prea started having another fit.

It was probably a mix of guilt over the fact that her jealousy had been a misunderstanding from beginning to end, and the simmering anger and regret she felt after learning about Yubel’s past and family situation. Well, there was probably some embarrassment mixed in, too.

I was glad we cleared up the misunderstanding.

***

“Th-That has to be a lie!”

After hearing Se-on’s words, Prea immediately headed for Broad’s residence, where Yubel was lying.

She was going to visit Yubel, who still hadn’t regained consciousness. During the week they’d spent in Baelogia, Prea hadn’t missed a single visit. She’d gone dozens of times a day.

Once she arrived, she would start by taking Yubel’s cold hand and sharing her warmth. She’d expected to do the same this time, but……

Creak—

“Excuse me……”

“Oh, hi, Prea! I woke up and no one was here, so I was confused, but you came at just the right time. I’m sure I was with everyone just before…… Huh, why are you crying?”

Pitter-patter! Grab!

Prea ran over without a word and hugged Yubel. She squeezed her so tightly she could barely breathe. Yubel, who had only raised her upper body, toppled back onto the bed with a thump.

Prea sobbed and shouted something at Yubel in a language no one could understand. “Sowwy.” It was probably an apology.

Yubel didn’t understand what was going on with Prea, but decided not to worry about it. She’d always thought the girl was strange, so it wasn’t that surprising.

“Sniff! L-Lady Yubel is a precious person! You’re never unneeded at aww! Waaah!”

What was she supposed to do with that?

I asked her to explain the situation, but for some reason she just kept repeating that I was precious. Had she picked up some weird idea somewhere? Since I was the only sane person in this Hero’s party, I suppose I was indispensable. Still, it felt kind of strange.

My heart felt warm.

The reason…… I didn’t know either.

“……”

Pat, pat.

I patted Prea, who had buried her face against my chest. She must have been startled, because she lifted her head slightly to look at me, then started crying again.

I’d hoped that would calm her down, but she seemed to get even worse. Still, she looked happy, so I kept doing it.

“J-Just a little more like this……. Sniff, th-thank you……”

“……”

What was going on, seriously?

~

“I’m sorry…… I got carried away and made a fool of myself in front of you, Lady Yubel……”

“N-No…… It happens.”

When Yubel answered with an awkward smile, Prea clasped her hands and prayed, looking deeply moved.

Lady Yubel really must be an angel. Even though she must resent and despise me, she quietly hugged and comforted someone like me……

Prea felt deeply ashamed of herself for suspecting, fearing, and even envying Yubel all this time. How dare she look at someone so kind and pure that way?

Still, there was one thing she absolutely had to confirm.

“Lady Yubel…… Do you happen to know h-how babies are made?”

“B-Babies!?”

Yubel jumped in surprise on the bed.

Prea watched Yubel’s face turn red as a tomato in no time.

That made Prea feel a little relieved.

Of course. Who doesn’t know how babies are made? No matter what, there’s no way an adult wouldn’t know that much. Judging by that reaction, she definitely knew.

“H-Huh…… Prea doesn’t know either? Ahem. Then I’ll explain quickly, so listen c-carefully!”

“Ah, yes.”

She already knew, but Prea wasn’t brave enough to refuse, saying she didn’t need to hear it. In the first place, she wanted to listen closely to anything her benefactor Yubel said.

Having made up her mind, Prea heard Yubel lean close to her ear and cautiously begin.

Whisper, whisper.

“B-Babies are made when grown-ups kiss…… I mean, w-with a kiss……”

“……?”

Huh?

As if she’d finished explaining, Yubel pulled away from Prea. Then she covered her flushed face with her hands, looking embarrassed. Her thighs fidgeted.

Prea stared at her like that for a long time.

Her eyes were so wide they looked as if they might pop out.

R-Really? She really doesn’t know anything?

It was impossible to believe. Even a vagrant who’d never received a proper education would surely know something as basic as that. Well, a tiny child—say, a toddler who’d only just stopped babbling and begun to understand speech—might not know, but Yubel was very much an adult woman. She was far too old not to know that.

But what was that reaction, then……?

It was a reaction she couldn’t deny, no matter how much she wanted to.

An innocent reaction, untouched by even a speck of grime.

Like a child who knew nothing of love, reacting to it for the very first time.

It left Prea dumbfounded, but for some reason, she felt her heart growing warm. A ticklish feeling. Its cause was probably Yubel.

Yubel’s incredibly innocent reaction. And that appearance.

From Prea’s perspective, it was the sort of thing that sent her protective instincts into overdrive.

W-What should I do!? She’s a living national treasure! Eee! I want to hug her so much! I have to protect Lady Yubel from all the filth in the world!

Prea decided she would protect that innocence.

Grab!

“Eep! P-Prea? Why are you hugging me all of a sudden again……?”

“This time, I’ll make sure to protect you.”

“Uh, um…… Th-Thank you?”

Without knowing what was going on, Yubel thanked her anyway.

There was no reason to refuse being protected.

Prea pulled Yubel’s delicate body even closer to her, wearing a deeply concerned smile. Somehow, she looked as if she were bewitched.

Yubel is a baby…… Must protect her…….