Chapter 92 - Co-parenting

Millibelles POV

Although we are nicely protected against the raging blizzard outside, I hadn't considered one thing: Both the Gyger and the female Goblins that are sheltering alongside my Servants are close to laying their eggs.

Keeping the eggs from being laid is as impossible as trying to stop your own heart through willpower alone. If they try, they'd risk the eggs fusing to their oviduct, becoming infected and rendering them sterile if not killing them outright.

So, on the seventh day of the High Cold Event, I constructed a small side-room in the cave. Lining the wall with the same combination of Cold and Heat infused silk, this room is slightly warmer than the cave, creating the ideal environment for incubating goblinoid eggs.

I had originally made the room large enough to contain two nests made out of my silk, one for the Gyger and one for the Goblins, but at the insistence of both parties, the two nests were substituted with one large nest.

It seems that over the course of the stay in the cave, the Goblins have decided to join up with the Jotun and Gyger. Of course, neither the Servants or I am against this. I'm very fond of Goblins because of my time spent as one, and there's a kinship between goblinoids that make the stronger species favor taking in weaker ones.

With the strong goblinoids protection, the weaker species are able to thrive and become stronger, eventually evolving into the same species as their protectors, supplying the tribe as a whole with completely fresh blood. Everyone benefits.

As part of this arrangement, co-parenting becomes a thing. Most species of Goblinoid raise their young communaly, and where there's an alliance between a strong and a weak species, their eggs are reared together. This ensures that the offspring of both species are socialized towards cohabitation from birth.

On the tenth day of waiting out the blizzard, the eggs are laid. Oddly, contrary to my own experience, both types of egg are hard, with a calcified outer shell instead of the pliable, leathery kind I broke out of when I was reborn into this World.

*Unlike in your World, where the developing young rely entirely on the yolk of the egg, many monsters in this World also take in the calcium in the eggshell itself. As the egg gets closer to hatching, it softens, becoming much akin to the snake-eggs of your World. However, species of monster that don't care for the nest once the eggs are laid do not do this, for obvious reasons.*

Hm, yes. If the egg gets easier to get open, and no-one is around to protect it, it's practically asking for it to be eaten. Although they're the same shape and color, the eggs are easily discernible from each other, since the ones the Gyger laid are nearly twice the size of the Goblin eggs.

Once they're laid, there's a brief period of about an hour where you can move the egg to position it in the pile, but after that, moving the egg can severely hurt the baby monster inside. This means all eggs are laid within this time period of the first egg. Once the eggs are all arranged, I sneak a peek at their description:

*Goblin Egg - Common - Contains the miracle of life. If kept still and warm, a baby Goblin will hatch from it in 64 days.*

*Fjone Egg - Uncommon - Contains the miracle of life. If kept still and warm, a baby Fjone will hatch from it in 64 days.*

... Fjone?

*Fjone*

*The adolescent form of either a Jotun or Gyger. Once it reaches sexual maturity, it will Evolve into its chosen gendered form. Small, fluffy and cute.*

*Rank: 1 Star*

Ah, I see. I suppose this is how the system handles it. Jotun are male Gyger, and Gyger are female Jotun, but their biology and Stats are quite different from each other despite being essentially the same species. I guess the eggs aren't equipped to handle that choice, so instead we get this in-between form that can Evolve into either kind.

*Correct. With the exception of mutations and normal variation within a species, forms and Stat/Skill/Spell differences as big as with the Jotun and Gyger call for this precursor stage. Moreover, a Fjone is only born from a Jotun/Gyger mating. A mating between a Jotun and its closest evolutionary relative, a female Ogre would produce an Ogre child with a predilection for Evolving into either a Jotun or Gyger, depending on their gender. The same goes for a Gyger mating with a male Ogre.*

*Similar situations are also found among the Armoroid and some Insectoid monsters.*

That's good to know. I exit the nesting room. By now, boredom has overtaken most of us, and most of the time is spent sleeping or lazing about. It's still around six days left of the High Cold Event, so other than sleeping and eating, there's not much to do.

Six days later

*Alert: High Cold Event has ended. Temperatures are still dangerously low, but should return to the seasonal normal within a few hours.*

Along with this alert from World Knowledge, the wind outside starts to abate. Yggdrasil materializes her Avatar before sighing as she leans against me, clearly exhausted. "Praise be, it's over. If I had to endure my canopy shaking like that for much more I'd go crazy." She complains.

"The winds reached that high? Makes me worry about the floating island..." I somewhat awkwardly pat her on the back, trying to reassure her.

"Oh, it actually floated away from me once the wind and cold set in. It's currently hovering over the rainforest biome, out of reach for the Cold." Yggdrasil is contentedly rubbing her face in my mane, seeming to try to soak up as much warmth from me as possible.

"I have to thank you for heating this place, if my roots froze completely, I'd be in trouble. To think a mere bug is able to summon such ferocious Cold that even I am left focusing all my might on enduring it." She removes her face from being buried in my mane to look at me with appreciative eyes. It's weirding me out to see someone that looks exactly like my mother behaving like this.

I can understand her gratitude though, trees store their sap, their lifeblood, in their roots when it gets cold since the temperature below ground is higher. But with this extreme cold, even the earth deep down is frozen rock solid. And water, the main component of sap, creates small, sharp crystals when it freezes. Her roots might even have been completely shredded from the cold.

Seems even a Demigod is susceptible to extreme temperatures.

"Though..." Yggdrasil casts a hateful look towards the five Quartz Deer. They're currently lapping up sap oozing from a small hole in one of the larger roots that line the walls of the cave. "Those five, they're the worst." She grimaces.

"According to my Skill, they should benefit from it, and also they should be able to Evolve into something useful to you." I reassure her. It's only because of World Knowledges' reassurance I haven't kept the five Deer from feeding on Yggdrasils sap.

Already, you can see their newfound diet affecting them. Their normally translucent white antlers have taken on a distinct green tinge, and their eyes are oddly aglow with a soft green light.

"Hmph, if they're going to be good for me, let them, but I'll not forgive them for eating my sap without permission!" Yggdrasil pouts while glaring at the five monsters. I shake my head and move towards the exit.

The combination of Heat and Cold infused silk has yielded one problem. The snow has piled up high, several meters high in fact. In addition, it has frozen into a rock solid wall where small amounts of Heat has escaped the power of the silk and caused the snow to melt then refreeze.

I hesitantly open the small flap that acts as a door. Seeing a sheer wall of ice before me, I sigh. This amount of snow won't melt quickly on its own, so I gather up some Heat Element in my hand then use it to thaw the ice in front of me.

I'm reluctant to use any other method, as the sudden change in temperature will probably cause an explosion as the ambient magic goes out of control. This slow, gradual change in temperature is much safer, though it's still not completely without risk.

Also, this is faster than trying to shovel the snow elsewhere. It's still cold enough that the melted snow refreezes, eventually forming a tunnel.

A few hours later, I've managed to make a tunnel that moves between all the hillies and the cave itself. Now that the cold is abating a bit, the snow should melt over time, but for now, this icy tunnel will have to do. The Jotun and Gyger excitedly run towards their houses. After inspecting them and making sure they're still structurally sound, they converge in front of the cave again.

I can sense the restlessness in the group. I am also restless after having been cooped up for two weeks. That settles it! I once again gather Heat Element in my hand before proceeding to make a hole to the top of the snow. Being innately attuned to Cold, Jotun and Gyger are able to effortlessly walk on the snow, even without leaving footprints.

The forest looks much different now that the ground has been moved more than five meters (~16,4 feet~) up. The trees look much smaller. Also, some of them are clearly dead, having been shattered as pressure built up when their sap froze. No doubt, the area beneath the snow is also covered in those monsters that couldn't withstand the cold.

I decide to leave the Servants to look after their Goblin friends. I need to check on the village. Spreading my wings, I inform those present of my intentions before leaving.

Too fast! That's all I can think of as Sky King kicks in. A flight that would take at least five minutes now took only one. I'm even having trouble keeping track of where I am, and almost overshot the village.

"Imagine if we went full throttle! Around the World in eighty days? More around the World in eighty minutes!"

Shadow cheers. She's been keeping quiet these two weeks, mostly just 'sleeping' inside my head. It seems she's not completely recovered yet, so she'll tire herself out by making our body move and such, before going dormant for a while.

As much as it startled me when it first happened, I've gotten used to it now. She'll be out of commission for a few hours at most before waking up again, so I'm not too distressed when she does fall asleep.

I hover over where the village is supposed to be. Other than the exposed roof of the Guild Hall, there's just the faint outline of the protective wall surrounding the village as well as several hills where the snow has been elevated by piling on top of roofs. Some of these hills are indented, signalling that the roof has caved in under the weight of the snow.

Since smoke is rising from the five chimneys of the Hall, I assume that's where they've holed up for the duration of the Event. I gently set down onto the roof, pooling Heat into my hands in order to work on opening the way inside.

Much like with the cave, the heat emanating from the Hall has caused the snow to turn into ice where it comes into contact with the walls. This layer is even thicker than the one outside my cave, so it takes a bit to get rid of it. To keep the resulting water from pooling atop the frozen ground, I take it into my Hidden Space as I melt the ice.

Since it's frozen, the ground won't absorb water, leaving it to pool and refreeze. This of course creates a huge hazard, so it's best to avoid it if possible.

After a while, I've freed up enough space around the large double doors to let them swing open. I gently tap on the door, and the quiet murmur that's been emanating from within all this time abruptly cuts off.

I step back, letting those inside open the door for me. After a moment, the door opens just enough for someone to peek their head outside. This person goes wide-eyed as they see me standing in front of them before retreating back inside.

After another moment, both doors are opened wide, and I'm able to see the situation inside. What seems to be the entire population of the village is gathered on the first floor, many peeking out from behind simple paper screens.

A stunned silence follows as we stare each other down. I feel my body tense under the scrutiny of all the people, it's unbearable. "H-Hi, the High Cold Event ended, and I wanted to see how you were doing. I took the liberty of thawing the ice around the door so you can get out at least. I don't know when the rest of the snow's gonna melt, though." I awkwardly wave my hand in greeting.

The faces of the people inside light up. They can go outside! Being cooped up inside for sixteen days straight would drive anyone mad, not to speak of having to cohabitate with the entire population of your village. The peculiar smell wafting from inside hints at a lack of water for bathing as well...

"If you give me some time, I can make some tunnels beneath the snow so you can access your houses at least." I offer. A cheer rises from the crowd. Myra finally makes an appearance as she squeezes past the throng of people.

"Ah, Millibelle." She smiles before inviting me inside. I oblige, changing into my Beastfolk appearance as I enter. It's cramped enough in here without my large frame taking up even more space. I'm quickly whisked away to the second floor.

"Millibelle!" I'm assaulted by an overly eager Sakaya as she throws herself onto me. Only thanks to my inhuman strength am I not knocked over by her.

"Seems her Delusion hasn't faded with our separation..."

Shadow comments dryly. Unable to move since Sakaya is tightly hugging me, I scoop her up into a bridal hold so she can keep hugging me whilst I can keep moving. "I apologize for this..." I mutter to Myra as I enter what I assume to be her makeshift office.

"I-It's fine. We both know she can't help it..." Myra gives a conflicted smile, half amused, half appalled at Sakayas behaviour.

"I wanted to talk about this in private, I don't want panic to spread among the villagers." Myra says once she's securely closed the door and sat down behind her desk. Although I'd normally join her on the opposite side, Sakaya is refusing to let go, so I'm stuck holding her. No matter, it's no different to carrying around a pillow with how strong I am.

"If it's something I can help with, I will. Of course, I fully understand that we'll have to postpone the Temple construction." I say as I steal a look at the notes left out on the table. They seem to detail things like firewood and food stockpiles. The most recent numbers are close to zero.

"I hope you can. We weren't prepared. I take full responsibility for it, but we simply didn't stockpile enough firewood nor food to last us in this situation. Sure, we'd be able to survive the Event itself, but we're effectively out of all necessities by now." Myra has a grim look on her face as she details the situation.

It would still take days, even weeks of the temperature staying above freezing for the immense amount of snow that blankets the area to melt, that's time they don't have. They were already rationing food and firewood, some hunters even dismantled their gear if it contained Heat Crystals in order to use those for heat.

They've been relying on Water Mages for water, and even then it's been just enough water to go around. They're about to run out of all necessities.

"I can supply water right now, but firewood and food would need some time. Not all areas of my Domain has been affected by the Event, so there are areas free of snow where I could forage food for you. Additionally, I can create tunnels between the houses so that people can see if there was anything useful they left behind in the evacuation." I inform. Then I hesitate.

"If it's this bad here, I wonder how the nearby villages have fared..." I mutter. Sakaya pauses as well.

"If you can check on them, I'd be forever grateful. We can still hold on for a day or so if we get a supply of water, giving you enough time to check on them." Myra informs, her grim expression growing darker as she realizes that if her village was caught with its pants down, the other nearby villages must have been as well.

"The snow will probably not be as deep over there, since the Frost Crown Butterflies spawn in forests, and all the other villages are further away from any woodland than we are, but they're sure to have had a rough go of it regardless." She sighs.

"It's settled then. I'll begin thawing those tunnels immediately, then give you the water before I head out to check on the other villages." I nod decisively before setting down Sakaya in order to get to work.

Here's hoping the other villages fared better than this one...