Cheonsol's Pregnancy (1)
Regret. Ruin. Obsession. Keywords that once rode a wave of explosive popularity. In the twenty-second century, where the difficulty of romance had skyrocketed several times over, dating sims built around those very keywords flooded the market.
I never played them myself — they banned beating the heroines to death — but the genre had a devoted fanbase. And now, right here in the dwarf workshop of Head Village, a full-blown regret-ruin-obsession arc was taking shape.
"Lease our workshop to a mere human? Even if the goddess herself asks, this is Head Village's finest forge. We cannot rent the tools of proud dwarves to some human!"
"Hahaha! That human does make a favorable impression, but business and personal feelings must be kept strictly separate. What? A dwarf made a bet with a human?"
"Breck? Never heard of him. Tsk. He's a disgrace to all dwarves. I can understand why the human looks down on him. Still, we can win, right?"
At first, they ignored me.
"His hammer grip is pretty solid."
"Good fire control, too. Hmm. Several times better than that Breck fellow."
"What is that hammering…"
While I was smithing, I earned their recognition. Once I finished an ordinary-grade fine sword, they fully acknowledged me. Meanwhile Breck, who spent the whole time doing nothing but basic forging while I completed a sword, drew zero interest from the dwarves.
"Human! Won't you work at our forge? We normally only hire dwarves, but for you, we'll make a special exception!"
"Five-day work week! Night-shift pay! Weekly holiday allowance! Breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided! Flexible hours! Twenty days of annual leave! A three-night, four-day vacation every quarter! Bonus on item sales!"
"Come try! Come try!"
On Earth, those conditions would have drawn hundreds of applications for a single new-hire opening — but Sophia cut them off cold.
"Hmph! After insulting our Yohan, now they come crawling with a scout offer? As if we'd listen!"
"Tsk… Why did we ignore such an outstanding human…"
"I want to turn back time…"
The dwarves regretted it.
"Why… How am I worse than a human… I don't deserve to be a dwarf. Just a bug. Not Kim Dwarf — Kim Bug."
Kim Dwarf was ruined.
"No! We can't let him leave like this! I'll take him as my apprentice! So work at our forge!"
"I don't work in men's bathhouses."
"I'm a woman!"
"Bearded women are a hard pass."
The obsession of one of the workshop's master craftsmen.
I overcame every obstacle and escaped the forge. When I tried to pay the rental fee, they refused the money and clung to my pant legs begging me to just work — I barely shook them off.
While I was at it, I tried to ditch Kim Dwarf too, but Cheonsol insisted she had to look after her follower and dragged him along by force.
The sudden commotion had drawn the attention of gods and minions alike, so we returned to that familiar alley. Kim Dwarf, who had been muttering to himself like a mad dwarf the whole way, finally admitted his own uselessness.
"Kh-hh… I am… a bug beneath even a dwarf…"
"Hey. You crying? Are you crying?"
"Kh-heung!"
"Kim Dwarf. If you smear snot on this lady's clothes one more time, I will drain every drop of your blood."
"Huuuwaaaah."
I beat Kim Dwarf quiet when he wouldn't stop bawling. If you're going to have a breakdown, do it alone. Don't throw a fit right next to me.
"Mad Demon. You truly are multi-talented. To think you possessed metallurgy skillful enough to earn a dwarf's recognition. On top of the swordsmanship that defeated me…"
Suddenly Cheonsol covered her chest and stepped back. Must have recalled getting her tits smacked. Even if it was the flat of a sword rather than a hand, those were some truly springy breasts.
I still couldn't forget the feel of striking her nipples. No matter how carefully I tried to hit with the flat of the blade, her nipples were so small the edge grazed them slightly — those nipples, stained with blood, a little redder than their natural pink.
No matter how I looked at it, I really wanted our Lady Sophia to buy Cheonsol. Time to attempt a recruitment.
"Cheonsol. You heard Lady Sophia earlier. If you ask a god you want to serve to take you as a minion, you won't have to scrape by on Ambrosia bread."
"Ugh!"
Oddly, Sophia took damage. The way she reacted, you'd think she'd lived her whole life on nothing but hundred-won bread.
"What god would accept this lady?"
"Lady Sophia."
"Huh? Me?"
After a brief pause, Sophia nodded.
"Hmm. Cheonsol would be welcome. If she were just a regular vampire, we'd be incompatible — but she's a Vampir, so she doesn't take holy damage. Her Level 1 skill came from that lunatic god's power, so that's fine, but as she levels up she'll receive my power instead."
"Then is that one of Lady Sophia's skills too?"
I couldn't mention Impregnating while I was trying to win Cheonsol over. Sophia hopped in place.
"No! That's because Yohan is weird!"
"Heheheh."
I heard a strange sound. I whipped my head around so fast it nearly snapped to look at Cheonsol — but she was playing completely innocent.
Kim Dwarf can't smile prettily.
"The culprit is Cheonsol."
"There you go spouting nonsense again. Still, this lady envies you. Master and minion treating each other without reserve — it's a fine sight."
"You come too."
"What about me?"
"Read the room."
I knocked Kim Dwarf out. Meanwhile Sophia and Cheonsol talked.
"Cheonsol. Won't you become my second minion? I don't have money on hand right now, but I can borrow from the Market."
"Your words are more than I deserve, and I am grateful — but I must decline. Though our bond lasted less than a day, I cannot abandon my follower."
"Hmm… Then Kim Dwarf too…"
"No way."
Where does she get off trying to pad the party with dead weight. If it were a pretty woman who'd pump out kids left and right, maybe — but Kim Dwarf is an ugly little dwarf covered in beard.
Cheonsol looked at me as if to say see? and was about to refuse when I struck first.
"Instead, we just open a path for Kim Dwarf to survive. Everyone knows the skill he has, right? Toughness — pure toughness. Why bother keeping a minion who has no combat skills and just gets beaten up every battle?"
"This lady can teach him martial arts."
"There's a better way. Lady Sophia. If you permit it, I'll work at the dwarf forge from time to time. There's a dwarf obsessed with me, so if the condition is hiring Kim Dwarf as a handyman, it should be possible."
Given the delicate situation, I used extreme honorifics with Sophia. Touched by formal speech she hadn't heard since our initial contract, Sophia wiped her eyes.
"Yohan finally said something normal…"
"That suddenly kills the mood. I've always been normal."
"By nature, the insane never admit they are mad. Yohan. In this lady's world, there was no martial artist as deranged as you."
"I really want to rap you on the skull."
According to the plan, I'd get to hit her soon enough — so I held back for now.
"But even that proposal…"
"Why is the cult leader so long-winded? Let's settle this like real men — with a duel."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. As you… saw, this lady is a proper woman."
"Then settle it like a martial artist — by fighting. If you win, I'll hand over this fine sword."
I waved the ordinary-grade item I'd made at the forge. Forged to fit Cheonsol's build perfectly — she couldn't help but want it.
"Interesting. And if this lady loses, the condition is that I enter Lady Sophia's service as a minion, yes?"
"Of course."
"Let us add one more condition. Kim Dwarf's employment."
"That's a given. So what's it going to be?"
Light kindled in Cheonsol's eyes, which had been as lifeless as a dying beast's.
"A single duel sits better with this lady than endless chatter. By nature, a martial artist speaks with the sword, and a minion speaks through battle. Very well."
"Lady Sophia. I can battle her, right?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah. There's a battle zone in the village. But, you know."
Sophia brought her hand to her mouth and spoke soft enough that only I could hear.
"Why are you trying so hard to recruit her?"
"She's pretty. And strong. Kim Dwarf has no combat sense — he doesn't fit Lady Sophia's ambition of advancing to the Central League. But Cheonsol has potential."
I'm a veteran of every fighting game under the sun. When I look at a newbie, I get a feel for whether they'll become a ranker or drop out after a few matches.
Cheonsol was clearly the former. Her presence alone was enough for a passing grade, and her swordsmanship was top-tier. She used her skills like a master who'd only ever played blood-cult characters.
"I thought it was because of that. All right. I'll trust Yohan's eye."
The moment the conversation ended, Sophia declared firmly.
"Cheonsol. Let's go battle."
"Understood. However, I wish to add one more condition I had not considered earlier."
"What is it?"
"I would have Mad Demon seal his Self-Healing. In exchange, I will not use Bloodflame Dominion, the skill I obtained upon becoming Absolu's minion."
Sealing a skill usable only in blood-rich environments against Self-Healing, which can be used anytime — the terms weren't balanced.
"Yohan…"
"Fine!"
But I accepted. I had a trump card skill, after all.
"Lady Sophia! Hurry, to the battle arena!"
"It's not a battle arena, it's a battle zone…"
The battle zone had various themes. Forest, desert, mountain, beach, and more — but we rented the Colosseum, the one most familiar to us.
The moment the battle began, I shouted.
Impregnating