Is It Possible for Men Too?

“Twins…?”

“You know that when twins are born, both are conceived in one womb, right?”

“Ah, yes. It’s not very common, but there are various religious opinions about it.”

The birth of life is sacred, so carrying two means being that much more loved by God, or conversely, twins are an ominous omen so one of them must be killed…

Although the meanings attributed vary, the important thing is that twins are not such a common phenomenon that such meanings are attributed.

Given the times when information was not widespread, knowledge about it is inevitably limited. Naturally, when an ‘unusual case’ like this occurs, it’s bound to cause confusion.

“The fact that you mentioned that now… Does it mean there are two fetuses in Arian-san’s belly?”

“No, it’s not that there were two fetuses in Arian-san’s belly, but that when Arian-san’s mother conceived Arian-san, she was carrying twins.”

At my words, Arian flinched in surprise and clutched her swollen belly.

It was a reaction as if she couldn’t understand what I was saying.

“But, I’m an only child…?”

“You were born alone at birth. Because the twin that was with you in the womb was absorbed into your body.”

Yes, this can fully explain it.

Although the probability is really slim, before becoming a ‘fetus’ corresponding to 8 weeks after pregnancy…

In other words, the ’embryo’ state, which means the state where the sperm and egg have just been fertilized, is biologically classified as a cell itself, or a ‘quasi-multicellular’ where cell division has just begun.

“Ah!”

The Saint exclaimed as I explained that far.

The knowledge she had learned before helped her understand what I was saying.

“Come to think of it, you said this when you gave sex education, teacher. That sperm and eggs are basically defined as ‘cells’.”

“Yes, as you said, in the cellular state, their movement is fluid, so separation or absorption phenomena can occur.”

Originally, twins themselves are created by the division phenomenon of the fertilized body.

Given that ‘Siamese twins’ that are born when this happens ambiguously actually exist, it’s not impossible for them to absorb each other in the state before becoming a fetus.

“Then the absorbed one…”

“Once it leaves the placenta, it can’t receive nutrients so growth stops, and as a result, the remaining one is born carrying a fetus small enough to occupy the empty space in the body.”

Cle said that in most cases, the absorbed one often leaves no trace, but conversely, if the size and form become fixed to some extent, it can also stick to and become fixed to a part of the body.

This was why I thought it was a ‘living tumor’ when I first examined it with sound waves.

Not only had it settled in between the organs, but some body parts were half-fused with the organs.

It’s quite horrific that it grew by sucking nutrients from the mother’s body in such a state, but…

“Arian-san, you said you can use divine power? When did you awaken divine power?”

No, now is not the time to consider such personal impressions.

What’s important is why the growth of the absorbed fetus has progressed now.

“Two, two months ago, it manifested while I was on a pilgrimage.”

Yes, two months would be about right.

She said her belly started swelling and her health deteriorated a month ago, but in pregnancy, the belly size becomes notably prominent from the 4th month.

If it grew to full term in just 2 months, wouldn’t the timing be roughly similar?

“In other words, to summarize, it’s like this.”

Having realized everything, I closed the notebook in my hand and drew a conclusion about the current situation.

“Arian-san’s mother originally conceived twins, but at the cellular movement stage, one was absorbed into Arian-san’s body, and the fetus that had settled in the womb and remained dormant began to grow exponentially in response to that power after awakening divine power… It’s reached the current state after 2 months.”

Of course, divine power doesn’t stimulate biological growth itself like sunlight.

The principle of that power is closer to ‘restoring’ to the original state rather than regeneration or cell movement.

In other words, what’s in Arian’s womb now is likely to have grown in the direction of ‘this is how it would have grown if it had been in the placenta originally’.

“Such things, can happen too.”

“Yes, I was honestly surprised too. To think there are cases of conceiving a child in this way.”

Although I could understand given the background knowledge, it’s still hard to believe even seeing it with my own eyes.

I hadn’t seen such a phenomenon even in the world of my previous life.

Well, even if it’s theoretically possible, no one would believe that virgin conception could occur in this way…

Oh? Wait a minute. Come to think of it, in the case of identical twins, the gender is the same, but in the case of fraternal twins, there can be cases where the genders are different, right?

“Cle, I’m asking just in case. That vanishing twin thing… Is it theoretically possible for men too?”

-Click!

Seeing Cle immediately give a thumbs up, I felt the back of my head go numb.

Wow, not just virgins, but male pregnancy is possible with this too.

Does this mean even I in my previous life could have gotten pregnant?

“Um, excuse me… Teacher.”

Just as I was shuddering at the chilling thought.

Soon, Arian began to call me carefully.

“I don’t understand well, but… In short, this phenomenon I’m experiencing now… It’s not some kind of curse, is it?”

A face contorted as if about to cry at any moment.

It looked like she was worried that it might not be true, rather than not understanding what I said.

In the past, Lagrid, the order she belonged to, had a history of oppressing those with congenital disabilities by calling them ‘cursed ones’.

“It’s not a curse.”

I told Arian, who was anxious about this, directly.

“It’s just a rare probability, but from the perspective of doctors like me, it’s considered a perfectly possible phenomenon.”

To exaggerate a bit, it wouldn’t be strange to add the adjective ‘miraculous’ to it.

Even being absorbed by one of the twins is an extremely rare probability, but for the subject to awaken true faith and lead to the conception of life…

If this isn’t a miracle, then what on earth is?

“So please be at ease. The god you serve still loves you.”

Yes, the light seeping from her clasped hands at this moment is proof of that.

“Ah, ahhh!”

As if grasping hope from that warmth, Arian eventually clutched her tear-stained face with her light-emitting hands and burst into sobs.

“Th-thank you. Thank you so much, teacher, for not rejecting me, I’m truly, grateful…”

Gratitude swallowed by sobs, as if too difficult to continue.

It means she must have suffered a lot mentally.

As I looked at her pitifully, the Saint approached me and smiled.

“Although we belong to different orders, as someone who serves Haide, we cannot turn away an innocent person. I sincerely thank you, teacher, for working so hard to make up for my inadequacy.”

“No, well, I wouldn’t have been able to give a proper answer without Cle either. If we were to attribute credit, I think it should be given to everyone in Cleas.”

Cle is a being created by inheriting knowledge and power from all members of Cleas.

So the credit for this incident should rightfully go not just to me alone, but to Cle and the entire Cleas order.

Only as long as ‘everything is resolved’, that is.

“However, it seems too early to feel relieved yet.”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

“It’s about what to do with the child in her womb.”

I whispered in the Saint’s ear, lest Arian might hear.

For now, I could logically understand how a virgin became pregnant.

But that was just a result derived from delving into it academically.

In a society where medicine is not widespread, it’s no different from ‘a phenomenon incomprehensible by common sense’, and an even bigger problem is that she is not an ordinary person but ‘a believer of Lagrid’.

“Sepin-san probably knows too? That most religions, including Lagrid, value chastity.”

Although extreme cases like living as a virgin for life no longer exist now, the trend of staying with one partner for life once committed still exists.

That’s why Lagrid keeps records of all those who have made marriage pledges.

In such a situation, even if it’s medically understandable, can they accept a virgin becoming pregnant?

In an era where medicine is not yet widespread, a religious group that is even more closed and conservative than most noble families?

“Certainly, Lagrid had some extreme aspects in the past. But now they’ve split from such people. Now they respect the doctrines and cultures of other orders like we do in Haide. If we explain about medicine…”

“Even if a child born through a miracle bestowed by God has deformities?”

The Saint flinched.

“Deformities… What do you mean by that?”

“Because it’s not a normal pregnancy to begin with.”

It wasn’t nourished through an umbilical cord, and Arian, who corresponds to the mother, is also weakened as much as possible.

Not only the space, but the growth would have been considerably affected.

No matter how much divine power is premised on restoration, the ‘original form’ needed for that restoration is usually made through genetic factors and growth stages.

“Cle. What’s the probability of a child being born intact from the phenomenon you just mentioned?”

In response to the question arising from such anxiety, Cle made a gesture.

Crossing her hands vertically.

It means there are no cases of children carried through vanishing twin syndrome being born normally.

It’s natural. Growing in a place that’s not even a placenta is just a larger tumor from a human body perspective.

A being that’s just a grotesque mass of flesh focused only on life activities, without even the brain properly formed and lacking self-awareness…

If a life sustained through divine power looks like that, wouldn’t it cause irreparable damage to the religious image?

“…They might come soon.”

Such realization was eventually approaching as a prediction.

“Come? Who do you mean?”

“I’m talking about Lagrid’s inquisitors.”

Heretic inquisitors…

No, now that they refrain from rejecting external forces, I should just call them inquisitors.

They were figures that even I, who try to respect religious people, couldn’t help but be wary of.

In fact, when they came to the front lines to track down apostates, they even cut off the limbs of the sinners they captured, tied them to crosses, and wandered around the enemy territory.

The more cruel, the more certain the example becomes for those who have committed adultery.

The target is no longer external forces, but inquisitors become even more barbaric and cruel to those causing internal chaos.

“Bu-but what’s happening now can be explained medically, right? Then…”

“Inquisitors are a group that executes even with such knowledge.”

The public doesn’t need to understand everything, and knowledge that isn’t widespread is bound to be considered false by the public who have no obligation to access that knowledge.

In fact, don’t politicians often cover up troublesome parts and treat them as if they never happened?

So rather than trying to make sense of something unorthodox, they might define it as ‘one who conceived a demon’ and cruelly punish them in front of the confused public.

At least the inquisitors I know were more than capable of such actions.

“So the most ideal thing would be to remove the fetus from the womb before they catch wind of it and start tracking.”

Yes, that was the best result I could come up with.

Naturally, a child born in an abnormal state…

“Then… after removing it, what?”

“……”

I couldn’t immediately answer the careful question.

Certainly, from an ethical point of view, this could be seen as ‘abortion’.

But from a biological rather than ethical perspective, should we call what’s in that womb life?

A being that grew wedged between organs rather than in the placenta is essentially no different from a giant cancer cell.

Can we really define that as the ‘baby’ we commonly know? If we had the luxury, we could try to investigate more carefully, but…

“Urgh.”

At that moment, a pain-filled groan was heard.

It was Arian, who had been focusing on prayer feeling relieved after hearing my words, now expressing pain.

“Arian-san?”

“My belly, my belly… Aagh!!”

Arian collapsed onto the bed, screaming while clutching her belly.

Liquid was trickling down from under her skirt.

Her water broke…

No, it’s not amniotic fluid.

That was blood. And it was blood coming out as the large intestine was gradually being crushed.

“…Shit.”

I had forgotten while keeping the existence of the inquisitors in mind.

The current location of the child is not in the uterus but between organs. Naturally, the normal birth canal from the uterus to the vagina cannot be used.

In such a situation, the child that can’t come out of the belly keeps growing due to divine power and pressing on the organs…

If left alone, won’t she die from intestinal rupture?