First Feeding

"The Nutrient Milk is all gone?"

"Hehe, to be exact… I mean I've fed her almost all of the Nutrient Milk that was left in my body over the past three days."

"…Oh."

"Gyeoul eats so much that it seems the milk drains faster than it can replenish…!"

Noxshia smiled, looking a little sheepish about it.

"It's not that I can't make any more, of course… but right this moment, there isn't enough left to give her."

"Aha…."

Come to think of it, it made perfect sense. Noxshia wasn't some dairy cow… Tsk. Well, judging by her chest size alone, maybe she was a little closer to one than I'd like to admit.

Regardless — she'd been feeding Gyeoul at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and on top of that at every fuss like it was snack time, so of course even she had to hit a limit eventually.

I gently stroked the head of the baby dragon nestled in my arms.

"So you can't give her any more today?"

"Hehe… I'm afraid not. It should come back to some extent after she sleeps through the night, though…."

"…Hmm."

The problem was that Gyeoul hadn't even managed half of her lunch yet.

'Then what about the rest of her nummies… No, food. How am I supposed to get the rest of her food into her?'

Just then, Noxshia stole a careful glance at my face and spoke up gingerly.

"Darling… how would you feel about feeding Gyeoul directly, yourself?"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh! Not from a bottle, I mean!"

She hurriedly added, waving her hand.

"That's because the bottle was so hard on you, darling…."

I recoiled in outright alarm, scrambling backward until my back hit the wall at the head of the bed.

"Th-that's a bit… I'm not exactly… mentally prepared for that…."

"Ahaha… if you say so, darling, I would never force you~"

Noxshia nodded easily enough — then, all of a sudden, swept her gaze over my body from head to toe.

"Hmm… by the way, your chest isn't sore or anything, is it?"

"…My chest?"

"Yes. From what I've seen, you haven't expressed any Nutrient Milk separately these past three days…"

"I'm… supposed to express it separately?"

"…Uh, yes? That's how it usually works?"

Noxshia tilted her head as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world.

"When Nutrient Milk keeps being produced but just sits there building up, it gradually gets stiff and heavy until it's genuinely uncomfortable."

"Ah."

"It can even start to hurt, in bad cases."

The instant those words registered, I remembered the strange, nagging tightness that had been lingering in my chest for the past few days.

Noxshia slipped up onto the bed and began crawling toward me on all fours, slow and deliberate, hands and knees pressing into the sheets.

"U-uh… why are you climbing over here…?"

I stared up at her from where I was pinned against the wall as she slunk closer, inch by inch.

"Darling."

"…Yes?"

"May I touch your chest for just a moment?"

"Th-that's a little sudden?!"

"If the pain from before was because you were too full of Nutrient Milk, I think it's worth checking."

Noxshia rolled her eyes for a moment, thinking it over.

"…You did say you felt pretty tight back when I fitted you for a bra, remember~"

"Ah… um, well then I'll just check it myself by touching—"

At that exact moment.

Gyeoul, still nestled in my arms, stared intently at my chest — and suddenly planted both soft little front paws squarely on my left breast.

Press.

"Hah, nngh…?"

Apparently she intended to run the check in my stead…

…It caught me so off guard that a strange sound escaped me before I could stop it.

"Pweet!"

Press, press.

"Yay~ Good job, my Gyeoul!! That's the spot, right there~!"

Only after sliding my hands under her armpits and hoisting her up into the air did I finally manage to stop her.

"S-stop that!"

"Pweee~!"

Oblivious to the fact she was being scolded, Gyeoul just tilted her head, apparently under the impression that we were playing, and flailed her front paws happily.

In the end, before she could cause any more chaos, I hugged her snug against my belly and pinned her between my thighs to hold her still.

There. Surely she'd behave now….

Honestly, the spot Gyeoul had just been kneading ached — taut from the inside, like a water balloon filled well past its limit.

"I… I do think it actually hurts a little…."

"Hmm… really?"

At some point Noxshia had settled fully onto the bed, sitting herself down right beside me with unbearable naturalness.

"Then that settles it — you need to feed Gyeoul too, honey!"

"Mmm… does it really have to be that way? Is there no, you know, expressing it by hand and putting it in a bottle…?"

"Hmm~ I doubt that would work? Dragonkin Nutrient Milk usually only lets down properly when the baby drinks it directly."

"Ah."

"Hmm… and also, if you keep not draining it and it builds up too much…"

"…Builds up too much, and then what?"

Noxshia smiled brightly, gathered both hands in front of her chest — then playfully flung them wide apart to either side.

"Boing!"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"Your chest might just burst~"

"Well, our bodies regenerate quickly enough, so it's fine really."

"That fact is the scarier part here?!"

"Anyway! That's why it's better to feed Gyeoul and drain the Nutrient Milk before anything bursts — and your body gets to feel lighter too. Two birds with one stone, right~?"

Just then, Noxshia leaned her body slightly toward mine.

"That reminds me, darling."

"…Yes?"

"Yesterday, you said you'd do anything our Gyeoul needed, didn't you?"

"Uh…."

Just as I was thinking how skillfully she was setting the mood, she glanced down at Gyeoul in my arms.

"To our Gyeoul here, who's so very adorable…"

"Pweet?"

Then she looked back up at me, her eyes curving into a narrow, sweet smile.

"You… don't want to feed her?"

"…If you ask it like that, I'm going to sound like a demon!"

"…But darling, you're an angel?"

Noxshia wore a genuinely bewildered expression.

"…."

So that's how she received it, huh….

…Still, I could tell she'd been deliberately keeping the mood light this whole time.

She knew I was uncomfortable with it, so she'd raised the subject like it was a joke, while leaving me a way to say no at any moment. I was the one who'd gone and promised to do anything yesterday, after all….

'…Hmm.'

With her being this considerate, just dodging forever felt a little pathetic.

"Pweet?"

Gyeoul tilted her head as if to ask what we were talking about, peering up at me from inside my arms.

I quietly stroked the little one in my arms, gazing at her face for a long while.

"I-I'll try. So…."

Clearly I couldn't leave it all to Noxshia forever anyway.

…Time for me to start doing my part, too.

"Oh… my, really?! Yay~ I'll sit right beside you and help—"

"N-no! Not that!"

"Hm?"

"I-I'll feed her by myself…! So… please just step out for a moment while I give Gyeoul her food…."

Noxshia's face fell, visibly and openly.

"But I could help it flow better from right there beside you…?! Hehe."

"I-I have never in my life heard of that kind of 'help'!"

Noxshia made a show of her disappointment, glancing back and forth between me and Gyeoul several times over.

In the end, though, she rose from her seat without protest.

"Hmm… understood, darling!"

…Her words and her expression were operating on completely different wavelengths.

Click. Thunk.

The moment Noxshia closed the door behind her,

"Pweet…?"

Gyeoul stared at the door for a beat, then scratched at my belly with her front paws, looking up at me.

—Mommy, hurry up and follow Papa!

…That was roughly what the little chirping seemed to be urging.

"Hmm… sorry, sweetheart, but that won't be happening for a while."

"Pwe…?"

Gyeoul cocked her head, utterly baffled.

I pursed my lips for no good reason and drew in a slow, deep breath.

"Whew…."

'It's just feeding a baby. Nothing strange about it.'

I'd been raised on my mother's milk too, once. It was exactly the same thing for Gyeoul.

…Just feed her. All I have to do is sit still and hold her.

In theory, it was simple enough that I could have scrolled through my phone while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doing it.

'…Yeah. It's no big deal.'

Framed that way, it really was nothing at all — and yet the moment I tried to actually do it, my heart insistently picked up its pace.

I carefully lowered Gyeoul onto my thigh, one hand hovering to steady her in case she toppled.

"You have to stay still, okay, Gyeoul?"

"Pwe?"

I steadied my breath one more time, then crossed my hands at the hem of my shirt.

Slide—

As I slowly lifted my arms, the fabric brushed up along my waist and the line of my chest before slipping off over my head in one motion.

Cool air met suddenly bared skin, and my shoulders flinched in spite of myself.

"…Nn."

…It felt oddly embarrassing, even though no one was watching.

This was probably the first time Gyeoul had seen my bare skin properly, too.

Modest by a looong stretch compared to Noxshia — but she seemed to recognize the familiar shape of her 'nummies' all the same.

"Pweet!"

Swish swish swish—

Gyeoul's tail began wagging straight up in the air, full tilt with excitement.

Press.

She didn't even pretend to wait — she pushed herself up onto her hind legs, bracing her soft front paws against my chest to prop herself upright.

"Teacher will give it to you soon. Just wait a moment, okay?"

"Pweet!"

Her tail was whipping back and forth faster than ever, as if to say her patience had run out entirely. It didn't look like waiting was on the menu.

It was too awkward to set her down, so for now I lightly caught her front paws in one hand, pinning them shut so she couldn't knead me.

"Hold on just a second, Gyeoul…."

Then I reached my free hand behind my back, feeling around for the clasp of my bra.

Click. Click. Click……

'Ugh….'

I'd never even properly retrieved the groceries from that day — I didn't know where they were — so I'd ended up rush-ordering everything all over again, from ingredients down to underwear.

'I should have done more research before buying….'

The clasped kind was really, truly not my taste. Why on earth was it this hard to unhook one-handed?

After a long stretch of grunting and fumbling.

Click—

"…Got it!"

Sliiide—

At last, the strap loosened and slackened its grip.

Through the parting fabric, bare skin still unaccustomed to the cool air emerged cautiously into view.

"Nngh……."

My shoulders jumped at the sudden chill, and heat rose to my face for absolutely no reason.

"Pweet!"

"U, huh?!"

Truthfully, until now she'd been quietly accommodating my pace — because she slipped out of the hand holding her paws far more easily than I expected.

Tiny, chubby paws touching bare skin directly felt strangely, disorientingly unfamiliar.

"W-wait a second, Gyeoul—"

But before I had a chance to panic, she braced herself firmly against me with both front paws and…

"Pwe… schlop."

"Hnnngh…?"

It was a sensation I'd never felt before, and my shoulders jolted on contact.

It was so much warmer than I'd imagined. Every time her soft tongue touched down wetly and swept gently past, a ticklish ripple spread outward, and strength drained from my body as my mind went briefly, blankly white.

Swish….

After a little while, even that strange new sensation had become more or less familiar.

Swish swish….

…Every time she latched on and wiggled her tiny face back and forth, squirming in my arms, one side of my chest went warm and fluttery for no reason at all.

At first I had no idea what I was doing; it all felt impossibly awkward, and my pointless pride held the line like it was the last thing I had. But once I actually went through with it — it was really nothing much.

…Just hold her close, and quietly give her as much as she wants.

And what came back in return was—

Every so often, Gyeoul would let go, nuzzle her cheek against my chest, and lift her head.

"Pweet!"

Like she was greeting me with a cheerful "Eating well, Mommy!" she'd stare straight up at me — then gently latch back on, face buried, and quietly return to her own important business.

…Watching her like that, I honestly felt like I was doing something wonderful for someone, and before I knew it I was wrapping my arms around her all the more tenderly.

Pat… pat….

Each time her small mouth tightened, the bitten skin was drawn gently inward — then, the instant her suction eased, it bounced back soft into place. As that rhythm continued in a steady, even beat, whatever had been sitting heavy and packed inside my chest slowly drained away, and that stuffy, stretched feeling began at last to lighten.

'…So this is what Noxshia meant.'

The taut, pulled-tight heaviness from before was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easing, gradually, with every swallow Gyeoul took.

…Like poking a small hole in a sandbag, letting the packed sand trickle out grain by grain until it grew lighter.

With the weight draining from within and a fresh lightness flowing in to take its place, the ache settled down considerably.

"Nyam…… pwe…."

Pwing—

A familiar notification window popped up without warning before my eyes.

"…Huh?"

…In all the chaos, I'd somehow managed to forget.

The root of all evil that had made my life turn out like this…!!

Pwing—

"…Eh? What?"

Ecclesia really did have a gift for sealing everything away tight, only to toss it out at you out of nowhere the second you stopped expecting it.

My waist was starting to ache from sitting upright, and I wanted to lean back a little anyway, so I tipped myself into a comfortable angle — one that made it easy for Gyeoul to drink.

With the posture more comfortable than bracing on her little legs had been, Gyeoul began drinking with even more vigor.

"Hahn… nngh… w-well, first things first… I should look at the skill."

Looking it over, this was much the same as it had been with Noxshia.

People deeply entwined with me apparently got registered into my skills this way….

The difference was that with Noxshia we were practically mutual, sharing status windows and everything else, while Gyeoul had been registered outright as a child — meaning I could view her status window directly.

'…This really is a parenting system, isn't it.'

Tap.

'…Why are there so many?!'

And the UI — why on earth was the UI shaped like this?

"Pwe…."

Press. Press.

"N, nngh…?"

I flinched and looked down at Gyeoul.

"H-hold on, Gyeoul…! Kneading away like that while you drink isn't going to make any more milk come out—"

Press. Press.

"H, hahn…?!"

…Apparently she had no intention whatsoever of hearing any explanations.

"Ahhnn……."

At that same moment.

Harang Guild — one of the three great guilds of South Korea. And within it, Division 5, the unit responsible for gate breaks and anomalous mana reactions.

Two male employees returning from lunch came into the office, mid-conversation.

"You rushed straight over the second you got the call too, right?"

"How could I not? They said an S-rank response popped up in the middle of Seoul."

"There were even posts going around online that a Black Wyvern showed up."

"Bullshit, surely? I saw the photos too… if something that size had actually appeared, District 7 would've been flattened ages ago."

"Right? I was the sixth responder on scene and didn't see a damn thing."

Their chatter drifted, and then both men's gazes swung toward the woman seated at the back of the office.

"Oh? Vice Team Leader Seorin, you're back starting today?"

Kim Seorin answered without lifting her eyes from her monitor.

"Mm. Yes. From today."

"Then you probably haven't heard. It was absolute mayhem while you were on leave. An S-rank response showed up in central Seoul — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the government called demanding personnel on standby, and every other major guild went to full alert, I'm telling you."

Kim Seorin finally raised her head slightly.

"Ahem… where was this, exactly?"

"District 7, Seoul."

"……District 7?"

She shot to her feet.

"How bad was the damage?!"

"Eh… huh?"

The two men flinched in perfect unison.

"Th-there was basically none. Traffic jammed up for a bit from witness reports of a huge wyvern, and people panicked for a while, but…"

"Apparently it vanished without a trace the instant it was observed. Some say it was an illusion-type monster; others say a genuine giant wyvern really did appear and then concealed itself for some reason."

One of the men shrugged.

"Still, the government's asked us to keep response personnel stationed in District 7 starting today, just in case."

"Oh, right — so today our division's picking one person for that duty too."

"Wonder who gets stuck with it…."

The two men eyed each other for a moment — then, almost simultaneously, looked away.

A posting stuck in District 7, where nothing ever happened, on standby all day long.

…No one, anywhere, wanted that job.

"Whew…."

Only then did Kim Seorin let out a soft breath and settle back into her chair.

…And yet her fingertips stayed frozen on the desk for a long while after, as if her worry hadn't entirely left her.

"Oppa…."