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Chapter 297 – The Mystery of the Harpy
“Papa.”
“Daddy.”
“Pyoo.”
“Oh, wait a minute, those little claws are a little tough on my head.”
About a week after the shocking revelation. I was playing with the harpies’ children on the first floor of the housing complex after finishing the construction of the housing complex for the harpies. The harpies’ children, or rather, the harpies and my children.
“It hurts, they’re not even a year old yet, but they can talk!”
“Compared to other races, harpies mature early.”
The white-feathered harpy of the large bird species, Ygrette, who is taking care of the children together with me, said so and flapped down the young harpy that tried to perch on her head with her wing arm. Isn’t she treating them too carelessly? The young harpy that was swatted away is laughing happily, so is that a good thing?
“If you can’t fly, you die, right?”
“That’s right. Pregnant women can move as well as at normal times, and morning sickness is very mild. The gestation period is also short.”
“That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? The harpies are.”
The ecology seems to be so different from other common races. Maybe the creator is different from other subhuman species. I think they are more like monsters than subhumans.
“Daddy, I’m hungry!”
“Hungry!”
“Yes, yes.”
The young harpies gathered around me and begged for food. It seems that they eat frequently during this season. Although the amount of food they eat at one time is not that much. They eat about seven meals a day.
“Nom, nom!”
“Yummy.”
“Eat with me.”
The children are not yet old enough to eat with eating utensils―Chicken wings? Wings?　So, they prefer to eat with their hands as much as possible. This time, I prepared a waffle sandwich with fruit and cream sandwiched between the thickly baked dough. It seemed to be very much to their liking, and the children were gaping at it with shining eyes. Oh, their mouths were covered with cream.
“It’s delicious.”
Ygrette was eating the same thing as the children. Yes, she looked very hungry, so I gave her the same thing. I’m glad it seems to be well received.
“However, when I look at them like this, there are so many of them…”
“There are seventeen in total.”
It’s like a little nursery school. The reality is more chaotic, though, because they move around and jump about more actively than human children.
“I now understand why this room was made to be so spacious.”
“It’s very spacious, and the ceiling is very high; this room is very nice.”
The ceiling of this nursery room is twice as high as that of a normal room, and it is very spacious because it is made by cutting through several rooms. The young harpy children are running and flying around in all directions in the room, which is quite vast.
It is said that harpy children originally learned how to use their bodies by running and flying freely in the field like this. Until now, the house has been too small to allow them to run and fly as much as they like, so every once in a while, a few of them would take the harpy children outside the walls of Merinesburg to exercise them, but the children have such vitality. The children were so energetic that the caretaker harpy, was exhausted.
However, now that they have this playground, or rather a childcare room, they can take care of the children with only a few people as long as they keep the entrance and exit doors tightly closed. This alone has been a tremendous help.
“…But it’s hard to remember names when there are so many of them.”
I was astonished to hear that I suddenly had seventeen daughters, but the biggest problem is that it is hard to remember the names of so many children. I mean, so far, I have not been able to match the names of the children with their faces at all.
“I don’t think you need to worry too much about it. Once the feathers grow out, it will be easier to tell them apart.”
“Ygrette’s child is easy to recognize, though.”
“My child is a big bird, you know.”
Harpy is divided into two types of breeds: small and large. There are only two big bird species, Ygrette and Eyja, and only two big bird species children, the child of Ygrette and me, Snowy, and the child of Eyja and me, Risha. Snowy and Risha are by far the largest of the children and are easy to distinguish from each other because of their different faces and personalities. Children of small bird species have similar builds and active personalities, so it is difficult to tell them apart at a glance. I am sure I will be able to tell them apart if I communicate with them a little more.
“But still, Danna-sama, we appreciate you coming to take care of our children, but you mustn’t neglect the other wives, mustn’t you?”
“Of course, I don’t intend to do that…”
“As for taking care of the children, we can take care of them on our own.”
“Um, when you put it that way…”
As for me, I have children without knowing it, and also, they were born without me knowing it, and I feel guilty that I gave them a hard time in child-rearing. It’s not like I’m trying to atone for my sins, but I’d like to be of service to these women.
“Originally, men were not involved in raising our children, so just showing up once or twice a week would have been enough. Besides…”
“Besides?”
What is it? I looked at Ygrette, and her gaze was directed in the direction of the doorway. There were several harpy children gathered there, and I could see someone’s face peeking through a gap in the slightly opened door.
“Who?”
“Who’s these Onee-sans?”
“Will you play with us?”
The two people peeking through the door were Sylphy and Melty. That scares me, you two.
☆★☆
After playing with the harpy children for a while with Sylphy and Melty, we returned to the royal castle in a carriage.
When they looked into the nursery, there was a subtle aura of jealousy in the air, but as they interacted with the harpy children, the flames of jealousy seemed to subside, and by the time we returned home, they were in a good mood.
“I demand that you treat us well, too.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“I don’t mean to belittle you!”
In the carriage, I was spoiled by Sylphy and Melty, and when I returned to the castle, I was spoiled by Isla and Grande. Grande is grinning, so I guess she is simply amused and taking advantage of Isla’s behavior.
“Danna, we’re next!”
“After all, you have to be equal in this kind of thing, don’t you?”
“I’m… It’s not like I really care about it.”
“If you keep talking like that, you’ll be left behind.”
At a distance, Bertha-san, who for some reason is mixed in there with the oni girls, is looking at me and saying something. I mean, I am afraid that there is a subtle black aura coming from Bertha-san, who is slapping Tozume’s ass.