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The day went by in the blink of an eye, so Kou and the rest ended their exploration of the premises and returned to the vacation house after the sun set.
The vacation house, and other buildings in the area, were all designed for sightseeing, so the children had been able to walk quite a distance, and their bodies were starting to feel the cold too.
Staying like that would make it difficult to enjoy dinner…so they all agreed that they would visit the included bathhouse to warm themselves first.

“Woahh, look Kou, there’s an open roof bath too!”
“O-Okay, we can go, just don’t run here, it can be dangerous…Ah.”
“…Ah.”

Hijiri and Kou went on, hand in hand, crossing through a corridor in the large bathhouse…and then let out startled voices, seeing the woman already there.

“I-I’m so sorry…Mrs. Uber!”
“Heheh, it’s okay. You’re free to join me.”

She chuckled peacefully, inviting them to get closer. As that woman, who had introduced herself as Iris Uber, reclined against the rocky open roof bath, Kou and Hijiri meekly went in as well.

“Hahhh, it’s so warm… It feels so good after being out in the cold for so long…”
“I know, I feel like I was about to freeze out there.”
“I think I saw the temperature go two degrees below freezing point, children are always so full of energy.”

The weather forecast indicated that these days would be especially cold, and they had felt it after being outside for so long.
Meanwhile the younger children were over in the sauna, doing an endurance test under the supervision of Kasumi so nothing bad would happen.

“You said you were Mitsuki and Furuya, right?”
“Yes, but just call me Kou, it could get confusing since my parents are here too.”
“Same here, just call me Hijiri.”
“Well, in that case…you can also just call me Iris. Thank you so much for keeping my daughter company.”

She thanked them with a mesmerizing smile, which absorbed Hijiri and Kou’s attention for a moment, and then they turned to whisper at each other.

“…Psst, Kou, she had to be lying about her age, right? There’s no way she’s in her thirties.”
“…I know, I’d swear she’s around our age.”

They watched how droplets of water traced Iris’ neck, and her smooth and clear skin. That type of sheen and softness was only seen in teens.
And…there was another thing that attracted their eyes, something that seemed almost twisted in contrast to that.

“Umm…Iris? I didn’t realize you were pregnant.”

Kou timidly brought it up.
While her body looked like that of a thin young girl, her stomach that should also appear toned and flat…had a clear round bump.

“Yes, for five months now… Soon I’ll have a second child.”

She replied with a smile, gently caressing her belly.

“Would you like to touch it?”
“”Can we?!””

When she made the offer, Kou and Hijiri moved closer, full of excitement.
With the extremely low birthrates of the modern world, neither of the two had a chance to touch a pregnant woman’s belly before, and without realizing had been staring at Iris with desire.
Iris chuckled a little seeing their reaction, then spreading her arms invitingly as she said “Yes, go ahead.”

“Umm, if you’ll excuse me then…ohhh.”
“…Woahh, this is…this is incredible…”

They could feel her thin skin and something firm just under it.
Sometimes they could feel soft bumps and movements, leaving them without words as they kept their hands there.

“There’s a baby…just under here…slowly growing…”
“This is so incredible…”

The two kept repeating themselves, and…

“…Heheheh.”

She let out a quiet laugh all of a sudden.

“Ah, I’m so sorry. Did it tickle?”
“No, not at all. I was just remembering the time when my cousin got pregnant and we were in a bath just like this, and I had the chance to touch her belly.”

She reminisced with a smile…and Kou slowly gathered the courage to ask another question.

“Iris… How did it feel when Julia was born?”

It was an almost impulsive question.

For the largest part of her life, Kou never had to think or worry about that…as only women had the ability to get pregnant and give birth.

Now she could not stop thinking about it, and there was no one better to ask than someone who had gone through it before, and was getting ready to do it again in a matter of months.

“Let me think…if I had to describe my experience I’d say…”

She went silent, thinking about it for a moment…and then finished, her voice quivering with emotion.

“…It was hell.”
“…Was it that awful?”

Her eyes stared into the distance, losing their luster as Kou gulped loudly.

“Yes…I can still remember how hard that was… I was already under a lot of pressure too, with people around me constantly saying that I wouldn’t be able to carry out the pregnancy, or that it would be better to give up on it, out of concern for the mother’s safety…”
“That sounds awful…”
“I don’t blame them. At the time there was no one who could take my place, and everyone who said that wanted the best for me, so I’m not upset at them.”

Her body slowly sank deeper into the water, a nostalgic smile appearing on her lips as she recalled those times.

“On top of that, back then my body was smaller than now too…and there was a high risk of a premature birth… I managed to hold out for long enough, but that didn’t make the birth any easier.”
“…Did it hurt?”
“It did, it hurt a lot. I was in so much pain, and I wouldn’t stop bleeding. It got to the point I blacked out halfway through and can’t remember what happened, but apparently I kept shouting for someone to end my suffering or asking why I had to go through so much pain.”
“Eek…”
“I can’t imagine you saying such things…”

In the eyes of Kou and Hijiri, Iris was a calm and gentle lady…almost the personification of a goddess or someone divine.
Trying to imagine the kind of pain and suffering that would make someone like that shout things like that made their stomachs drop.

“Sometimes…when I think back to that time, I’m surprised that I actually survived it. Even after the birth I had to spend a whole month in heali- *Ahem*, I had a doctor following me around all the time, and I couldn’t even pull myself up from bed.”

*…I never imagined that Julius and Ange would end up watching over me, after getting ahead of me first.*

Her voice became a whisper, like she was thinking of a distant memory.
But she brought up names they did not recognize, so Kou and Hijiri did not ask more about it.

“And after all that…you’re doing it again?”

While Iris’ voice was still quite mild and soft, the way she described her experience made Kou pale.
She patted Kou’s head, trying to reassure her before continuing.

“…Maybe it was especially rough for me, but I made it out alive, while there’s still so many others who pass away during childbirth.”
“I guess so… Yeah, the numbers used to be even higher in the past, but it still happens sometimes.”

Kou and Hijiri usually did not associate having children with being in danger, but hearing Iris’ story made them aware of it.

“Even if it’s so painful and overwhelming, if those before us also endured it to bring us to this world…then I want to be able to pass on the baton to a new generation as well… I hope that doesn’t sound too pretentious?”

She quickly brought her hands to cover her face, smiling awkwardly.

“Actually, now that I think about it more, maybe it was a simpler reason.”
“”A simpler reason?””

Kou and Hijiri tilted their heads at the same time…and Iris placed her hand on her belly and nodded.

“Yes. When I regained consciousness, a few days after giving birth, I saw Reiji broken down in tears, and everyone else around us, crying of happiness…and I got to hold my daughter for the first time after giving birth to her, I held her to my breast…and I was happier than I’ve ever been. So knowing that, I know I can do it again.”

She seemed a bit embarrassed of what she said, looking down while caressing her belly.

“…I’ll make sure you can be born safe and sound too, and live happily in this world.”

Her eyes were full of love, all directed to the new life growing within her.

*…She’s really strong.*

Kou did not think that in a physical sense.
And also not because of some set phrase about mothers being strong.
It was something much simpler…just as a person, Kou felt like Iris had the upper hand.

At first sight, she looked so delicate and fragile that she would crumble when confronted with violence.
Kou had gotten much better at controlling her Noble Red powers she inherited from her mother, so she was confident that she could get out of any physical altercation.
As far as physical ability went, Kou stood far above Iris.

But when it came to mental fortitude, Kou felt like this delicate and weak woman was much more resilient… and that made Kou gradually envious of her…

Afterword:
In a way, this is the place I wanted to write about the most in this volume.
Also, Iris is using an exoskeleton controlled through her NLD here, allowing her to walk. I’ll write more about this later.