Chapter 66

〈 Episode 66 〉 For the Family, What the Family Wants

Lucia was looking at the Larva piled up in her room. They were the first Larva to hatch from Asha’s belly, but there were nearly twenty of them.

“Ugh…”

‘I told Mom I’d take care of it, but I don’t really know what to do…’

In fact, Lucia had no plan. She was just annoyed that her mom was paying attention to them, so she brought them here. First, Lucia divided a corner of her room into a square section and put the Larva in one by one.

After finishing the arrangement, she approached one of the Larva and made milk come out of her chest. Her flat chest swelled slightly, and as white liquid began to form, Lucia dripped breast milk. Watching the Larva wriggle and eat the milk, Lucia realized that eating was no different.

“You eat well…”

Lucia, who had been giving breast milk to each one, became annoyed.

“Ugh… If I give it to them one by one like this every time, I won’t have time to play with Mom.”

She recalled the Milking machine that her dad had created through various attempts with her mom.

‘If I gather them in one place and distribute it…’

Lucia took a piece of her body and created a Milking machine on the wall, and also made a passage so that the collected breast milk would gather on the ceiling and fall into each room of the Larva. She created a Production Factory in a short time and approached the Milking machine to start milking her breasts.

Lucia, who felt ticklish milking her breasts with her small body, grew her body. Grown to the size of an adult, she smiled with satisfaction only after entrusting her breasts, which had become plump, to the Milking machine.

“As expected, milking is not good if you’re too small. Ugh…”

She blushed at the sensation of breast milk spurting out of her nipples. Lucia continued to milk her breasts, and when the Larva stopped eating, she removed the Milking machine.

“Heave-ho, this much is…”

Lucia left the room energetically, thinking she had solved one problem.

The next day, Justitia was shocked to see Lucia with her chest open, milking her breasts.

“Um… Lucia? What are you doing?”

“I’m feeding the Larva.”

She saw a suspicious structure that had not been there yesterday in Lucia’s room. Confused, she left Lucia and went to find Asha.

“Asha, Asha! Wake up.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

Asha, who had fully recovered physically but was mentally exhausted, was awakened by Justitia shaking her violently.

“Justitia? How can you move me without arms…”

Asha’s sleepiness disappeared as she saw her body floating in the air and moving around.

“Ugh! What is it, what is it! Did someone break in here?”

Justitia looked at Asha, who was still not fully awake, and closed her eyes with a tired look.

“This is the waiting room. No one but us can come here. More than that, Asha, did you see what Lucia was doing?”

“What about Lucy?”

Asha was still drowsy. However, she was startled by Justitia’s words.

“Lucia is giving breast milk to the Larva…”

“What?! Why is she giving breast milk! Ugh…”

Asha couldn’t lift her head at Justitia’s eyes, which seemed to be subtly blaming her.

‘Come to think of it, Lucy’s early education is as good as ruined…’

For a month after Lucia was born, Asha’s daily life was a repetition of mating and childbirth, except for taking care of her. Asha’s head spun when she thought about what Lucia might have seen and learned during that time.

‘It’s not my fault, but still…’

“I should tell her to stop. I’d rather give it myself…”

Asha felt a pang in her heart, feeling that her daughter was suffering because of her clumsy sympathy for the Larva.

“You can release the Larva when Asha you leave later. Until then, I think I can gather them in one place and stop time.”

“No, not necessarily Time barrier… First of all, is that even possible?”

Asha was flustered when the story suddenly flowed to an unimaginable place.

“If I use it in a small space for a short time… I’m not in perfect condition yet, so I’ll need Lucia’s help.”

“Then let’s go.”

Asha and Justitia returned to Lucia. Lucia noticed something was wrong and, having shrunk again, was watching the two of them.

“Did I… do something wrong?”

“No, Lucy didn’t do anything wrong… Lucy, you don’t have to milk your breasts to raise the Larva I gave birth to. Okay?”

“But isn’t it easier for me to milk my breasts?”

Lucia still didn’t seem to know why Asha was overreacting.

“Hoo… It’s not a matter of easy or not. Lucy, I told you before. Mom doesn’t want you to fight. Of course, just because I want it doesn’t mean you won’t have to fight, but Mom doesn’t want you to do this kind of thing if possible.”

“I don’t know… It’s something that’s easy for me to do and I want to do it, so why can’t I do it?”

Lucia started to sob because Asha and Justitia didn’t like it even though she was just trying to help her mom. Asha sighed and hugged Lucia. Feeling her daughter burrow into her arms, Asha felt a tightness in her chest.

‘It’s difficult… How should I explain it…’

Justitia, who had been watching the mother and daughter, approached.

“Lucia.”

“Yes…”

“Why did Lucia want to help Asha?”

“Because I don’t want Mom to have a hard time…”

‘Lucy…’

“Asha feels the same way. Asha cherishes and loves Lucia more than Lucia thinks of Asha. Mom wouldn’t like Lucia doing hard or annoying things, right? Do you understand?”

“Yes…”

“It’s a happy thing for your family to do something for you, but if it’s too much, it can cause unwanted wounds. I hope Lucia understands that too.”

“Hwaa, Mom…”

Asha hugged the sobbing Lucia tightly. Sometimes she was a more reliable daughter than herself, but at times like this, she was just a child.

‘I’m clumsy, but I’ll try harder…’

After the small commotion subsided, Justitia received Mana from Lucia, gathered the Larva in Asha’s room, and created a Time barrier in the corner. Asha carefully asked her, seeing her looking particularly tired.

“Justitia, aren’t you overdoing it?”

“It will delay my recovery a little, but it’s not too much because Lucia is helping me. More than that, Asha, I have something to tell you about the next quest.”

“Huh? Is there anything else?”

“The next quest is a quest without a goal.”

Asha was puzzled by the cryptic words.

“What, is it like a metaphor?”

“No. It literally means you just have to spend a certain amount of time without a purpose. You just have to spend at least two years there.”

“Then if I leave, can’t I come back here?”

“Yes… I guess you’re worried about Lucia?”

“No matter what, I can’t be away from Lucy for more than a year!”

Asha became agitated, and Justitia nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think Lucia would be okay if she spent that long without Asha… Asha, do you know that you haven’t been granted full access to the system?”

“Access?”

“What’s the most inconvenient thing for you while doing quests right now?”

At Justitia’s question, Asha pondered for a while and came up with one thing.

“Forced return after clearing. Come to think of it, I met you because of this.”

“That’s right. You can decide when to start the quest to some extent, but once the conditions are met, you will be returned without notice. If you use Tokens, you can extend your access and adjust the return time.”

Asha made a disgusted face at Justitia’s explanation.

“Does this also eat up Tokens? Ugh… It’s really all kinds of things.”

Justitia shook her head as if to say that it was nothing like that.

“Maintaining this kind of structure costs quite a bit more than you think…”

Asha brought up a question that she had had for a long time.

“But can’t you tell me why I’m doing this?”

Justitia looked like she had already expected that question.

“I’m sorry, Asha… That’s something I can’t tell you.”

“You also have other restrictions?”

At her question, Justitia nodded with a gloomy expression.

“I can’t help it… Then tell me what changes with the access extension.”

“I will.”

Justitia nodded and began to explain.

“It’s really a shitty game…”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, never mind…”

Asha was furious after hearing the explanation of the extension function. The access extension was as follows.

Level 1: Current state

Level 2: Quest return time can be extended up to 24 hours, explanation provided before starting the quest

Level 3: Shop can be opened even after starting the quest, communication function with the waiting room, emergency return of subordinate contractors

‘Is it pay-to-win…’

Level 2 or Level 3, these were things that game systems would normally provide as basic features, but Asha felt a pang in her heart at the thought of having to pay for them one by one with her precious Tokens.

“The reason you told me this is because of Level 3. Right?”

“Yes, that’s right. If you unlock access to Level 3, you can take Lucia with you. Also, I can give you advice on quests from here.”

“Does that mean there’s a Level 4 too?”

“It’s not available yet, but there are up to 5 levels. It costs 3000 Tokens to unlock up to Level 3.”

Asha was a little surprised at the reasonable price.

“It’s not as expensive as I thought… I thought it would cost 5000.”

“As you may have noticed, the prices in the shop are biased. The prices of consumables and skills are high, and basic conveniences or expanding the waiting room are cheaper than you think. So be sure to think carefully before buying items. It’s much less cost-effective than buying system functions.”

“That’s true… But if I save money and fail the quest, it’s counterproductive, so I have to spend it when I need to.”

Justitia nodded in agreement with Asha’s words and asked her.

“What are you planning to buy this time?”

“The quest is going to last a long time, so I’m going to go back to the Orcs village first. I have to see Georg, Walter, and Konrad too. What should I do next?”

“Two years may seem like a long time, but it can pass in the blink of an eye. Of course, you won’t get anything if you die, so please survive to the end and use your time wisely.”

“Okay, I got it. I’ll have to think about it.”

Asha listened to Justitia’s words and began to plan what to do in the next quest.

Asha immediately extended her access to Level 3 in the shop. Then she soon received guidance on the next quest.

[Free Quest]

Survive for 2 years

Immediate return upon death

“…Simple. I have to survive for the full 2 years this time.”

Asha ran straight to Lucia.

“Lucy!”

“Huh? Mom?”

Lucia was surprised when Asha suddenly ran up and hugged her, but she snuggled into her mom’s arms.

“Lucy, let’s go on a quest together this time!”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

Lucia’s face lit up at Asha’s words.

“I’m so happy! I wanted to go with you too…”

“Yeah, yeah! We’re going together this time!”

Asha was also excited like a child and spun around the room with Lucia in her arms.

Asha used the remaining time wisely for the long-term quest. She practiced with Lucia and looked at the map to plan where to go. But even with a lot of preparation, it was difficult to prepare for two years. Before she knew it, it was time to go on the quest again.

[Quest 10 starts in 0D 3H. ]

“Justitia, I can use the shop even after the quest starts now, so I don’t need to buy anything right now, right?”

“That’s right. As I said before, the items sold in the shop are not cheap. It’s better to buy directly from the local area… Of course, if you have enough currency to use there. But keep in mind that you can’t buy everything with money there.”

“That’s true… I have to have bought something there to know. Okay! I’ll buy it there if possible.”

Asha suddenly wondered what Justitia would do.

“But if Lucy and I leave, you’ll be alone?”

“I guess so.”

“…Aren’t you going to be lonely?”

She calmly accepted Asha’s concern.

“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t lonely… But I’m used to waiting. I’d be happy if you contacted me even if you don’t have any business.”

“I’ll contact you often.”

Asha held her newly created hands tightly again. Lucia also hugged Justitia’s waist.

“Auntie, you have to be well until I come back?”

“Don’t worry, Lucia. Nothing like last time will happen. Asha, please be careful because you don’t know what will happen.”

“Okay, I’ll be back!”

With that, Asha picked up the Larva and entered the portal with Lucia.