Descent from the Mountain

Refreshing.

Even the relief of hauling a body swimming in broth into a sauna and wringing out liters of sweat couldn't hold a candle to a birth climax.

What do other people say about it? Have any of you ever actually given birth?

If they say they have, I'd want to ask whether their senses got remodeled the way mine did.

And the real ones among them would drool and ask if it was actually that good. Yeah — you, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one who'll watch this footage someday and see my face. I'm talking to you.

Feeling called out? Doesn't matter. I myself ended up orgasming from the sacred act of childbirth, so I'm in no position to scold anyone.

Comrade. No — there's a clear difference between actually going through it and just working off a fetish, so I lose that round.

"Refreshing."

But so what? I'm the one staring at the sky right now, riding out the afterglow of climax.

I'd given birth to five of them and was completely wiped, but even this hollowed-out feeling wasn't half bad.

"Here's a towel… no, I'll just use Clean Magic."

"Ah, thank you."

We spoke to each other in formal speech. That was what professionals did.

Ei murmured a short incantation, and soft bubbles frothed up beneath my body, washed over me in an instant, and vanished — leaving my whole body fluffy and clean.

"Oh, magic is the best!"

"Hehe. But what shall we do with these children? Will you raise them? Or there's also the option of releasing them into the wild."

In Ei's hands were the goblin quintuplets I had just birthed. I was aware I'd given birth to them, but honestly, maternal instinct simply refused to kick in.

"…Can't we sell these things?"

"A ruthlessness that puts even a freshly minted demon like me to shame…! I respect you."

Couldn't be helped. I was a racist down to the bone.

"Though there probably won't be any demand. Ah — if there is any, it'd be the Demon King's Army. They mainly use them as studs to bolster their forces."

"One of my goals is taking down the Demon King, so I should probably hold off. Oh, by the way — is Ei-ssi with the Demon King's Army?"

"No, I'm a free demon. The Goddess may have fallen, but it doesn't look like the Demon King has become the new god either."

In other words, the coup had succeeded, but they hadn't managed to seize power.

"If you don't have anything else going on, would you like to come down the mountain with me? We can talk business on the way."

"Aha, not a bad idea. The village is that way."

And so I took Ei's hand and started down the mountain with her.

No — I almost started down the mountain.

"…Ahaha, almost forgot. Azazel's coming too!"

"……"

"Ugh, sulking again? She really is such a child."

"…"

No response. Just the five piglets still connected by their umbilical cords, flinching every time Morus drove into her, left lying there neglected.

Wait. Piglets?

"Piglets… those might actually sell."

"Ah, right? Though we'll have to raise them to a certain size first. At least until they're weaned. Those goblins will only start growing properly once they've had milk, too."

Feed them milk. Azazel was in no condition for that, so I picked up Azazel's children myself.

Ei snipped the umbilical cords for me.

While I was at it, I offered my breasts to the goblins as well.

Goblin mouths latched onto the right side, piglet mouths onto the left, all of them suckling breast milk. Ten newborns in total were drinking from me, but the baby-milk stored in my milk tanks wasn't about to run dry just because a mere ten of them were nursing.

"Ei. How's Azazel?"

"Hmm… her mind's pretty much fried. She'll probably stay like this for a while."

"And her sacred power?"

"Her sacred power is intact, but… wait, you're not thinking—"

That was exactly what I was thinking. She was a servant of the Goddess who'd dumped me into this goddamn world. On top of that, we'd been on bad terms until just a moment ago, so this arrangement worked out in my favor.

"Can you transfer Azazel's sacred power to me?"

"It's possible, but… no. You couldn't handle it. You're still adapting to the Goddess's sacred power, so you can't receive any more."

"Then what's with the demonic energy?"

I pressed her for an answer.

I'd been digging through my status window looking for options and had found this:

"Care to explain?"

Ei looked at the golden text I held out to her.

Then she smiled, looking a little awkward.

"I wondered whether even you could become a friend — and I also wanted to test something I was personally curious about. But twenty percent was the limit, and even that couldn't touch your mind at all. You're already recovering."

The first part I could accept, but no effect on my mind?

I'd done all that shit while completely lucid?

A little — no, a lot — embarrassing, but a real man didn't dwell on the past. Even if I'd fallen into female climax and birth orgasm, as long as I didn't obsess over what was already done, I could still remain a real man. So that was how it had to be.

"This is a poor substitute, but I've unlocked the Heavenly Treasury that was locked for you."

"Status window — what exactly is that thing?"

"Make it more accessible."

"Shop opeeeeeeen!!!"

I howled the word with every ounce of strength I had.

Please. Please answer my call!

Thud.

I was so overwhelmed with emotion that my legs gave out and I sank to the ground.

In this perverted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world — in what felt like a horror game with no answers — it was the feeling of finally looting a gun.

Just in case, check the price list.

I hurriedly tapped open the shop window and scanned the product listings.

I checked Daily Necessities. And there it was. The single most necessary thing in this exact moment.

"Khuh—!"

"W-what's wrong!?"

In the end, I broke down crying. And I looked at the one who'd worried about me, the one who'd opened the shop for me — my real, genuine friend, Eileithyia.

"My friend."

"Eh? But I'm a demon…?"

"Sacred power, demonic energy — none of that matters. You and I… are true friends bound by pure soul to pure soul."

Had my sincerity gotten through?

Ei covered her mouth with both hands, eyes welling with tears.

We confirmed we were friends. And since a gathering of friends couldn't be allowed to look shabby, I immediately bought a table, two chairs, three whole chickens, and cola from the shop.

"Ooooh, food pulled from the Heavenly Treasure Chest!"

"I want to share this glorious first meal with you!"

"B-but I was trying to use you!"

"Ahh, I can forgive that. Because we're friends."

And so Ei and I raised the drumsticks of steaming fried chicken and seasoned chicken high and swore a Chicken Garden Oath. Of course, chicken was food for people of culture, so the piglets and baby goblins got breast milk poured into dog bowls — and Morus and Azazel were too busy pounding away to receive any.

"Sweet. So sweet!"

The taste of chicken after going a whole day without it was extraordinarily sweet.

"Buuurp — that hit the spot."

Having gone nearly a full day without food, I ordered one more whole chicken on top of what we'd already eaten.

And Ei, tasting chicken for the first time, had fallen for it hard and was shoveling it down in a frenzy.

"So what are we doing about those two?"

Now that we were the closest of friends, I'd dropped the formal speech.

I pointed at Azazel and Morus as I spoke.

Honestly, a fallen angel — blessing aside — would at least be useful in a fight, but in that state, even combat power was a lost cause.

"Just process her into a breeding womb as needed."

"She's your friend, though?"

"Even if she becomes a breeding womb, we're still friends. Azazel will like it too. Originally, the reason she fell was that after getting raped by a hero, she went around touching a bunch of pretty boys."

"Then she should be punished. Ah, but I've got sacred power too, don't I?"

"Ah, you won't have a problem. She's already fallen once — she can't fall again, right?"

"Hmm… I can't argue with that."

Non-virgin.

History of birthing goblins.

Contract with a demon.

Eating a meal as friends with a demon.

That was my track record on day one in another world.

No matter how much of a real man I claimed to be, there was no covering this up.

No — if I was a real man, the right move was to own it instead of covering it up.

"Gotta look on the bright side. Well then, I'm heading down the mountain. And don't forget the tip I gave you."

"Yes — prepare high-quality footage separately, never leak it, and provide it only to VIP clients who pay extra?"

If my personal details only leaked to VIP clients, then even if I debuted as a Holy Maiden, my public reputation would stay ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠safe.

"That's right. And for Azazel's conversion into breeding stock, an edited version is fine, but a real-time live stream might have demand too. And preferably, we'll need a way to communicate in real time — audience participation style."

I based my advice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the kind of illegal broadcasts you'd find among streamers and films from my original world.

Fortunately, Ei's broadcasting setup was so bare-bones that even this simple advice was pure gold. Then Ei stowed Morus and Azazel into a shadow that worked like an inventory, spread her demon wings, and took to the sky.

"Well then, Serena — good luck with the Holy Maiden life! Go defeat the Demon King, okay?"

"Yeah, remodel Azazel properly, and let's meet again later! When I give birth, I'll send you the footage through a scrying orb!"

I waved goodbye to Ei as she receded into the distance.

"Well then. Shall we go?"

I armed myself with the gear I'd bought from the shop. Then, carrying the baby pigs Azazel had birthed — the ones that had grown from drinking my breast milk — I started down the mountain in the direction of the village.