Chapter 112

Chapter 112: Will It Be a Son, or a Daughter?

Even after Rin fell asleep, I watched her sleeping face for a long time.

"She's adorable."

"Yes. So lovely."

We rose and headed to the living room together.

Sitting side by side on the sofa, with our hands overlapping, I asked Ria,

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel good. Ever since the morning sickness ended, I haven't had any symptoms. If I couldn't feel the life inside me, I wouldn't even know I was pregnant."

"I see. May I touch your stomach?"

"Yes."

I placed my hand on Ria's belly.

I couldn't feel anything yet.

"It's amazing. To think our baby is growing inside."

"Right?"

I spoke to Ria's belly.

"Little one, please take after your mother rather than your father."

"Pfft! You're really something."

"I want to see our baby soon."

"Me too."

My eyes met Ria's.

I kissed her softly, once.

"Let's build a harmonious, happy family."

"Let's."

***

It was only at fifteen weeks of pregnancy that Ria's belly began to show, little by little.

We went to the obstetrician at the university hospital for an ultrasound.

After the examination,

Professor Lee Yeong-seon said,

"Both the baby and the mother look very healthy."

"That's good to hear."

I had known the baby would be healthy, but hearing it from the professor was reassuring.

"And, the baby's sex..."

Hmm?

Come to think of it, a few years back, the law making it illegal to reveal a baby's sex before thirty-two weeks had been ruled unconstitutional.

Which meant the sex could be shared at fifteen weeks as well.

Would it be a son, or a daughter?

Either was fine with me.

They were Ria's and my precious child.

The professor looked at our curious expressions and smiled, saying,

"The baby's head shape resembles the mother's."

She conveyed it the old-fashioned way.

Meaning, a daughter.

Ria tilted her head in confusion.

I took her hand and said,

"She's saying the baby inside you is a daughter who resembles you, Ria."

"Oh, is that what she meant?"

The professor nodded with a smile.

"Yes, that's right."

"Thank you for telling us."

"Thank you."

As I expressed my thanks, I imagined it.

A daughter who took after Ria—how cute and pretty would she be?

I also pictured our second daughter standing shoulder to shoulder with our first, Rin.

A little lady with emerald hair, and a baby with silver hair.

"They'll be so adorable."

Just imagining it made me happy.

***

The outpost construction was in full swing.

Right now, the guild branch office, the Rift Management Bureau's outpost office, and the underground residence where the dwarves would live were all under construction simultaneously.

The guild branch was being built as a three-story structure on a 75-pyeong lot at 100% floor area ratio.

We were building it with the Erdotte Stone left over from the walls.

Currently, progress exceeded 80%.

I looked at the building's exterior in admiration.

"Even before completion, it already looks splendid."

"Yes. Splendid indeed. This is my first time building a structure of this type of design, and the more we build, the more I like it. The Liege Lord has an exceptional eye for aesthetics as well."

"I just referenced various modern buildings. And the one who actually drew the master plan was you, Maxim."

"Thanks to the Liege Lord showing me various reference materials."

I had printed out recently popular modern architectural styles to show Maxim.

Based on those, Maxim had drawn the master plan.

Maxim continued,

"The exterior looks fine as it is, but with Lady Rin's touch, it'll be twice as striking."

"That's true."

This building's exterior design wouldn't be finished until Rin helped.

Check-patterned grooves had been cut into the building, and Rin would grow morning glory vines in those grooves.

The morning glory vines would serve as part of the building's design.

Rin was currently standing beside me.

"Can you do it, Rin?"

"Rin can!"

"Hehe, all right. Would you like to practice once?"

"Yes!"

When I planted morning glory seeds at the base of the building,

Rin began to make them grow,

and the vines climbed into the grooves cut into the building.

"Oh! Making them grow so quickly—Lady Rin's power is considerable, even at such a young age."

"Rin trains her ability every day."

"How diligent. As befits the daughter of the Liege Lord and my lady."

Praise for my daughter made me happy.

Rin finished growing the vines.

"Well done, Rin. You've gotten so fast at growing plants."

"Rin pwacticed lots!"

"Such a good girl."

I stroked Rin's hair.

Rin smiled happily.

Now that I looked, Rin had grown quite tall too.

She was now at the level of a four- or five-year-old.

'Children really do grow quickly.'

It felt like only yesterday she'd fit in my palm.

Maxim rested his chin on his hand, watching Rin, and fell deep in thought.

Then he spoke,

"Liege Lord, you had mentioned making the lodgings in various designs, hadn't you?"

"Yes, I had."

"Then how about lodgings atop trees?"

"Lodgings atop trees? You mean tree houses?"

"Yes. In my world, Gillieta, elves build tree houses to live in."

"I see. Tree houses... But the trees—"

Ah, so that was why Maxim had been lost in thought while watching Rin.

"Lady Rin's plant growth ability seems not to fall short of the spirit magic of elves who have undergone the coming-of-age rite. Given time, she could grow trees large enough for tree-house lodgings."

Rin did possess that capability.

Tree-house lodgings—that might not be a bad idea.

The lodging concept would suit the Wind Forest Guild well too.

In keeping with the Wind Forest Guild's name, we were planning to decorate the guild headquarters with morning glory vines as well.

So that the guild mark and logo would blend harmoniously.

'A good idea, I think.'

It would be more distinctive and appealing than ordinary lodgings.

Then Rin tugged at my pants.

"What is it, Rin?"

"Rin, can Rin hewp Papa?"

"You could help, but I'm worried it'd be too much for you."

"Rin's not tiwed! Rin wants to hewp Papa!"

A rush of emotion filled me.

"It could be boring and tiring. Are you sure, Rin?"

"Yes! Rin's okay!"

"Such a good girl. A perfect model daughter."

"Hehe!"

And so we decided to build the tree houses.

Bell, wagging her tail as if to say she wanted to help too, circled around me.

"Arf!"

"Bell, for you, eating well is helping."

So she could produce her 'golden eggs' (droppings).

Rin's plant growth ability had tremendous synergy with Bell's golden eggs.

They almost doubled the plant growth rate.

"It'll be a joint project by Bell and Rin. I'm counting on both of you."

"Yes! Heh!"

"Arf!"

We decided to build the tree-house lodgings in the five-o'clock direction, between south and east.

For the saplings, Rin, Bell, Maxim, and I traveled near the Honeybee Queen's nest, where we found small saplings of trees resembling giant sequoias.

As we dug up saplings near the nest—

BZZZZ!

Great Honeybee Soldiers and the Honeybee Queen circled around us as escorts.

Meanwhile, Rin gazed at the massive sequoia-like trees, her eyes sparkling.

"Rin, you've never seen trees this big before, have you?"

"Yes, fiwst time! Big twees are so cool!"

"Rin, you don't need to grow them this big—just grow them to a reasonable size."

"Yes!"

After gathering the saplings,

I thanked the Honeybee Queen for escorting us.

"Honeybee Queen, thank you!"

BZZZZ!

The Honeybee Queen responded by fluttering her wings.

Watching the exchange, Maxim clicked his tongue in astonishment.

"The Liege Lord seems to have a Druid's gift."

"Is that so?"

Well, I counted the Honeybee Queen, a dragon, and Fenrir among my friends, so it made sense.

On top of that, my companion dog was Fenrir's cub.

And my first daughter was a Dryad.

Come to think of it, I was loved by many species.

Anyway, we gathered the saplings and returned.

Rin began planting and growing them right away that same day.

Bell applied her golden egg fertilizer to the trees.

The strongest farmer combo of Rin and Bell made the trees shoot up, inch by inch.

***

Director Jang's wine shop moved into the first floor of my building.

In the small commercial space next to it, I planned to open a small Hunter Shop.

Opening a Hunter Shop required triple approval from the Rift Management Bureau, the Hunter Association, and, for shops intending to sell potions or food, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as well.

'That's why opening one is famously like trying to pluck a star from the sky.'

There were only two Hunter Shops in the entire greater Seoul area right now.

I was attempting that feat of plucking a star from the sky.

Today, staff from the Rift Management Bureau, the Hunter Association, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety visited the commercial space together.

All of them were Awakened.

A woman from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety addressed me.

"Hello, I'm Oh Yu-rim, Vice Commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

"A pleasure to meet you, Vice Commissioner. I'm Hunter An Seon-u."

The second-highest official from the MFDS had come in person.

Not just the MFDS—fairly high-ranking representatives had come from the Rift Management Bureau and the Hunter Association as well.

Of these, the Vice Commissioner of MFDS held the key to this approval.

"I'll examine the ingredients of the products you plan to sell."

"Yes, I'll get them out."

I set out the Applecherry Sandwich,

Dungeon Wild Grape Pie,

an A-Rank salad,

Glace Mushroom concentrate with effects equivalent to a Highest-Grade Potion,

and a health juice made by blending A-Rank vegetables together with Applecherries.

The items I planned to sell at the Hunter Shop.

All of them food products.

Hence the need for safety verification by the MFDS.

'Director Jang, too, had mentioned he had to undergo ingredient-safety testing by the MFDS before selling Applecherry fruit wine and wild grape wine.'

Actually, back when Director Jang had first started selling fruit wine at his wine shop, there had been a complaint.

Why was he selling buff-granting fruit wine when he didn't run a Hunter Shop?

But since his wine shop held a license to sell liquor, it had passed without much trouble.

'Strictly, it would be correct to sell such items through a Hunter Shop on consignment.'

But some categories of items could be sold in many places even outside Hunter Shops.

Artisan Oh Cheon-seok also sold his option-bearing equipment directly from his workshop.

Vice Commissioner Oh Yu-rim began the safety inspection.

She used her skill to examine the ingredients.

Her method of inspection was to eat the food.

A skill that analyzed the ingredients of food she consumed.

'She became Vice Commissioner on the strength of that skill, I'm told.'

It was an awkward skill for a Hunter.

But as a Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official, it was the perfect skill.

Vice Commissioner Oh tasted the food, her eyes widening as she nodded.

"Mmm!"

The kind of sound that slips out when you taste something delicious.

'You are, in fact, inspecting the ingredients, right...?'

She seemed to be enjoying the food.

Well, enjoying your work wasn't a bad thing.

She swallowed the wild grape pie and looked at me.

"This..."

Was something wrong?

"Why is it this delicious?"

Of course nothing was wrong.

Vice Commissioner Oh continued,

"Beyond the taste, the buffs are extraordinary."

"Haha, they are."

"I understand you've been selling these foods in the Rift for some time. Is that correct?"

The inside of a Rift was a lawless zone.

Anything could be bought or sold freely.

So I hadn't needed MFDS approval.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Has anyone shown an allergic reaction to these, or complained of abdominal pain?"

"No, not a single person."

"I see. On the face of it, there's no issue with the ingredients."

"I'm relieved to hear that."

"However, even if you receive a business license and begin selling these foods, you must never sell them to ordinary civilians. One can never know what side effects might occur."

"Of course."

Then she hesitated, looking at me.

"Um... could I pack up the items I've already tasted and take them with me? To examine them a bit more, among other things."

She was smacking her lips, so it seemed a shame to leave them behind.

"Of course. You seemed to enjoy the Dungeon Wild Grape Pie the most, so I'll pack two more pieces for you."

"Really? Wow, thank you!"

Judging by her reaction, the MFDS approval was as good as secured.

The Rift Management Bureau was a given, of course.

And the Hunter Association had been quite favorable toward me lately, so they'd likely approve too.