Mother, Stepmom, Mom! I Brought My Wives! (2)
Anyway, Karmine was telling me how hard it was for her to get pregnant.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but she looked a bit guilty as she said it, stroking her lower belly while staring at me intently. Then she spoke up.
"But you needn't worry, my hero. From the start, you are the hero acknowledged by me, my dear friend and the beloved beast Ammut herself. With you doting on me like this, isn't it only a matter of time before a child comes?"
It was ambiguous whether she was talking to herself or to me.
But whatever, let's skip that.
First off, I wanted to point out the flaw in her words, but I held back.
There just wasn't time for it.
I had to head back today, after all.
Did she seriously forget...?
Sure, I'd come back to the Narmer Kingdom somehow—whether by teleportation magic or trekking over physically—but it was obvious I couldn't visit that often.
And I worried that without me around, Karmine and Karura might feel lonely.
Even I, oblivious as I am, couldn't ignore how heartbroken Karmine seemed, pretending it didn't bother her that she couldn't have kids. Leaving her like that gnawed at me.
And it wasn't just Karmine—Karura was pregnant with my child too, and I had to leave her behind.
But staying wasn't an option either. I'd left a generous stock of semen for Yustitia, who withers without it, but even that would run out in two or three days.
"Ah."
Then it hit me—something I'd completely forgotten until now.
Not Hoah this time, but something else.
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's just..."
All that talk of divinity and Ammut had jogged my memory.
It was...
Ammut herself.
Come to think of it, where had Ammut gone? She'd come back with me back then.
If it had all been a dream, fine—but that memory was way too vivid for a dream.
Of course, vivid memories didn't prove it wasn't a dream; that was a bit of a leap.
"Hold on, just a sec."
On a hunch, I rummaged through my energy, checking if any divinity might be hiding somewhere. Nope, nothing.
The divinity I'd borrowed from Ammut was gone—not a scrap left in me now.
But instead...
"Huh..."
There was that thread again, one I'd seen before.
Among the threads connected to me, I spotted one I couldn't trace—stretching out from me and looping right back.
I already knew these threads were the source of my Gift's power.
Karura and Karmine were connected to me by them, after all.
Not just them—my shikigami Hoah was linked too.
Anyway, it was definitely tied to someone who belonged to me.
But this one, looping back to me from me? Total mystery.
So I grabbed it.
And on a whim, I called out a name.
"Ammut."
"...My lord?"
Karmine gave me a weird look for suddenly calling Ammut's name, but then her eyes went wide.
"I answer your call, my master."
Weoooong.
A cat—no, a tiny cat-like Ammut—popped out from inside me with a cry like that.
"...Ammut? Wait, how... what...?"
Karmine stammered, staring at me.
Her eyes demanded an explanation, but I had none to give.
Ammut was the one who explained what neither of us knew.
Though even she seemed clueless on how it happened.
At any rate, Ammut—who once belonged to Karmine and was bound to her—was now bound to me.
Even if, like Karmine, she had no divinity left.
"Nyaaak...!"
"How adorable you are, Ammut! To think you've become this cute—truly lovelier than ever!"
Karmine was totally smitten with the fact that Ammut was alive and her new form, ignoring how she'd fallen from grace—not even a goddess anymore—and become something like my shikigami Hoah.
"So fluffy, so squishy! Ammut!"
"Nyaaak, nyaaaak...! S-save me, my master...!"
Ammut screamed as Karmine crushed her between her massive breasts, but there was nothing I could do.
If I could, I'd take her place—but that'd be too embarrassing, so I just watched.
"Ooooh, even your paw pads are so soft!"
"Nyaaaak...!!"
Watching Karmine rejoice like that, I figured leaving Ammut with her would make things less lonely while I was gone. At least that was a relief.
Sure, Ammut was suffering in my stead, but she probably wouldn't mind her former master being happy.
"I welcome—mmph...!"
"So cute, just so cute!"
Ammut tried to speak, only to get smothered in Karmine's huge tits and go silent.
Her tail, stiff and quivering, soon drooped limply.
She twitched now and then, so she was still alive.
Now that she was shikigami-like, like Hoah, she wouldn't die permanently unless I did.
Anyway, they said she'd weakened, and sure enough, she passed out from Karmine's tit pressure. She was seriously nerfed.
Her energy felt weaker than even pre-dragon-heart Hoah—nothing like the days she'd crunch bone dragons like snacks.
Still, alive was alive.
That was my take.
"Oh, I got so caught up in how cute Ammut is that I almost forgot. Come here, my hero."
With the fainted Ammut perched on her chest, Karmine stroked her head and beckoned me over. Curious, I approached, and she said,
"Take these. I meant to give them sooner, but my subjects couldn't manage more than this."
Apologizing, she handed me the Dragon Claw and Celestial Armor—shattered when Ammut's divinity ran out.
"They were treasures made by such an exceptional one, using precious materials. My subjects could only patch up the shape."
"No need to apologize or anything."
Yustitia had whipped them up in three sleepless days, after all.
"Three days" felt unfair to her, but artifacts she'd made that fast weren't worth Karmine groveling over for not fully restoring them.
Still, I equipped the patched Dragon Claw and Celestial Armor that Karmine had fixed out of thoughtfulness for me.
She said it was just cosmetic, but I didn't notice any difference.
Activation and deactivation worked fine.
Shrrrrk, click.
I tested equipping and unequipping the Dragon Claw and Celestial Armor a few times. If there were issues, I'd hand them back to Yustitia, so I thanked Karmine for the repairs.
"Mm, and this is from that wretched mongrel you slew. It's yours by right, so take it."
She handed me the staff the pedo skull kid had wielded and the chains that bound her.
A mysterious wooden staff wrapped in purple-glowing jewels like veins.
I hesitated to take it, remembering the grudges clinging to it—even if not as bad as on the owner—but Karmine assured me,
"I've personally soothed and sent off the poor souls bound to the staff, so it should be fine."
"Then I'll gladly take it."
Purified? No problem.
The staff from a mid-tier necromancer? I could sell it to any mage or give it to Yustitia.
But the chains? No idea. I glanced at Karmine, and she crossed her arms with a hum.
"Those chains bind divinity. Compared to them, the staff is worthless. Made from a fallen sacred tree branch and some beast's heart amassed with spirituality—precious, yes, but items that bind or affect divinity are rarer than rare. I can't believe that mongrel had them. No clue how he got it."
Uh...
They looked like plain chains—staff seemed fancier—but apparently the chains were the real prize.
Shrrrrrk. I toyed with them and asked Karmine,
"You sure it's okay to give me something like this? You'd probably be better off keeping it."
"Isn't it spoils of your victory? Besides, what's mine is yours. Don't worry over it."
If she said that...
I'd just leave it with Yustitia for now.
As I thought that, Karmine said,
"Well then, it's time to part."
"Ah..."
I thought she'd forgotten, but no.
Racking my brain for words as she spoke of farewell, I finally said,
"I'll visit often. Even if it's late, at least once a month—no worries."
That was the best promise I could make. Karmine tilted her head.
"Often? What do you mean? Not that it's my place, but there's not much here worth visiting repeatedly."
Huh...?
Not much to see? I'd come for her and Karura, obviously.
"If you like my kingdom, sure, visit once a month. It'd revive old memories—good idea, actually!"
Her words clicked and didn't at the same time.
Like we were talking past each other.
What the hell?
"Pharaoh, preparations are complete."
Karura arrived, hands full of luggage.
"Sorry, Karura. I left it all to you."
"It's fine."
Watching Karmine apologize to Karura, who shook her head, I eyed the bags and asked,
"What's with the luggage? Going somewhere?"
At my words, their gazes snapped to me in unison.
Uh...
They looked at me like What the hell is this guy saying? Had I said something wrong? Then Karmine spoke.
"Why, we're going with you, of course. What a strange question—if it was a joke, it wasn't funny."
With me?
"...Just Karura?"
"Naturally, I'm coming too! Why, my hero? Does my coming displease you?"
No.
Not displeased.
But she's the pharaoh.
Queen of Narmer Kingdom.
Abandoning her country to follow me...?
"You sure that's okay?"
"Okay in what way?"
I meant leaving her beloved Narmer people behind.
Thanks to Ammut's memories during the divinity absorption, I knew how much she cherished her kingdom and subjects.
Realizing we'd missed something, Karmine and Karura exchanged looks.
"You didn't tell him, Pharaoh?"
"Karura, didn't you say anything either?"
What the fuck?