Everything began when I discovered Julia rummaging through the refrigerator in the middle of the night.

"......"

"......"

We faced each other under the dark, unlit lamp.

It was like Pokémon trainers whose eyes had accidentally met while passing by.

Beyond the dim light of the open refrigerator, Julia's flustered face was visible.

I understood Julia's reaction.

No matter how much we were married and shared everything as family, everyone has something they want to keep hidden.

For reference, I was embarrassed for a similar reason.

I had sneaked out of bed to enjoy some gaming alone, but I never imagined I'd run into Julia here.

Like many husbands, playing games while your pregnant wife sleeps is sinful.

(Especially when you have seven wives.)

Of course, until now, I'd had plenty of time to legally enjoy games with Julia during the day, but lately, even she had cut back on her gaming time.

That meant it was becoming harder to suppress my desire for "gaming."

It wasn't easy to slip out of bed undetected with multiple wives sleeping there, but as a skilled mercenary (former), I was capable of it.

So I planned to play for a bit and then return.

Running into Julia here was unexpected.

But,

This is exactly when I shouldn't panic.

I calmly looked at Julia.

She had a popsicle in her mouth while holding chocolate snacks and cheese in both hands.

"...Hungry?"

I asked without thinking.

Come to think of it, it was a bit strange.

Julia usually doesn't have much of an appetite. The fact that she was rummaging through the refrigerator at this hour didn't quite make sense.

At my question, Julia smiled slightly.

She put the chocolate snacks and cheese back in the refrigerator and took the popsicle from her mouth.

"...I was craving something sour."

Her face turned red with embarrassment.

"But when I got here, there wasn't anything sour... and then I started wanting other things too... heh."

I let out a soft sigh after hearing Julia's words.

"Ah."

That's right.

Because of her relatively small build, it wasn't immediately obvious, but Julia was also "pregnant."

I realized my mistake right there.

I immediately opened my styler and put on a neatly arranged coat over my shoulders.

Looking at Julia, I said:

"You said something sour?"

Julia shook her head slightly at my words.

"...Ah, but I'm fine now. Suddenly I'm craving something sweet...."

"Then we'll stop by a bakery too."

"...Pardon?"

I told Julia I'd be back in 10 minutes and opened the front door.

I quickly mapped out my route in my head.

For something sour, I could get items grown in the smart farms on the 20th and 21st floors. I saw the chairman... Taylor eating lemons the other day.

And for a bakery that's open now....

The 10-minute time limit was a bit tight, but not impossible.

First, I needed to head to the roof.

Using magic to move around would help save some time.

Anyway,

Solving a wife's "morning sickness" was just as important.

Side EP. Things That Must Be Done

I let out a long yawn.

I had cleanly completed the night mission, but there was no helping the sleepiness.

Still, thanks to that, Julia was happily sleeping in late, skipping breakfast, so my efforts weren't completely in vain.

Andrea narrowed her eyes as she munched on sweetly toasted bread.

"Where did you go last night?"

"Hmm."

There was no need to lie about it anyway.

I answered her question calmly.

"Julia happened to be up at night, so I asked her if there was anything she wanted to eat. You know, because she might have morning sickness."

I hid a few truths when telling the story, as mentioning that Julia was rummaging through the refrigerator at that hour might slightly damage her pride.

For reference, among the truths I needed to hide was also "the game I was planning to play secretly at night."

Anyway,

A curious smile formed on Andrea's lips after hearing my words.

"...Hmm, is that so?"

The red-haired Elf Queen stroked her swollen belly with her slender hand and muttered as if talking to herself.

"Come to think of it... I'm craving about 'three' of those 'limited edition triple cream mushroom berry mix yogurt muffins' from LAH...."

The intention behind her words was obvious.

I put down my utensils and looked at Andrea.

"...And where do they sell those?"

"Originally they were just for pre-order delivery, but apparently the delivery vehicles get attacked a lot. They're selling them separately at East Monica in the Citizen Zone."

I gulped at Andrea's words.

"...Only there?"

"Yes."

"...I assume I'll have to wait in line to buy them?"

"Of course."

I couldn't answer right away.

The weather these days was extremely hot now that winter had ended.

Just turning on the weather program would show phrases like 'The Earth is really hurting' constantly scrolling by.

Moreover, the Citizen Zone meant the lower levels. The temperature control systems would obviously not be working well.

I quietly activated my visual interface.

I was about to check the "weather forecast service" I had subscribed to before.

Location: Neon City, area: East Monica...

For reference, East Monica was right next to East Dale where I had proposed before. The security wasn't that good either.

After checking the weather, I couldn't believe my eyes.

...Hmm.

Feels like 37 degrees Celsius.

Definitely not weather where people should be standing in line to buy food.

I smiled as brightly as possible.

I was going to tell Andrea it wasn't possible, but her swollen belly kept catching my eye.

Andrea asked further:

"Is that okay?"

"Of course."

I guess I'll just consider today a write-off.

...I support all husbands in the world.

However,

The requests didn't end with just one person.

"I want fresh pineapple. I checked, and the smart farm in our building doesn't have any."

A question mark naturally appeared above my head as I heard Catherine's words.

If they don't have it there, it really doesn't exist....

I'd have to go to the upper levels to find fresh and decent fruit in this city. There are plenty of pineapple liquid drinks, but that's different.

As I was tilting my head in thought, the voices of my other wives joined in one by one.

"I want raw fish! Not the kind printed from a 3D food printer, but real live ones!"

Maya's request was even more difficult.

Our building didn't have a fish farm yet. I was starting to feel dizzy.

"Hmm, I'd like pizza for dinner."

At least Natasha's request seemed normal—

"Pizza baked directly in Naples... just kidding."

Natasha chuckled as she saw my despairing expression.

"This AI's hormones are perfectly regulated. Therefore, there is nothing special I want to eat."

"I see."

"But since it would be odd to receive nothing, I'll cancel the 'warrior class' buff that was scheduled for next time."

"?"

What does that have to do with this....

Finally,

Everyone's gaze shifted to Taylor, who hadn't said anything yet.

Taylor was elegantly cutting steak from the morning, replenishing her lacking fat and protein.

It was a diet that gave some insight into how her cyborg chest might be constructed.

Noticing everyone's gaze, Taylor swallowed her meat like a squirrel, chewing with her mouth full.

"...Um, I'm fine."

As expected of the chairwoman of Monolith.

But Taylor's words didn't end there.

"I eat plenty of what I want at night anyway. The frequency has decreased a lot lately, but I expect you'll make up for it after the birth."

What does she eat at night... oh.

......

I stopped thinking about it.

It was a very hot summer.

* * *

After going through such processes for a few months, time flew by and we were approaching the delivery date.

The most famous and skilled hospital in Neon City is naturally the "Neon City Central Hospital," named after the city.

This was guaranteed by a certain mega-corp's chief secretary whose head often gets holes in it.

The medical costs were incredibly expensive, but that wasn't a big concern for us.

"Congratulations. It's a healthy baby girl."

I realized once again how deeply moved a person could be.

The hair that Catherine had pulled out didn't hurt at all now.

In Catherine's arms, a small, precious child had let out a loud cry before falling asleep peacefully.

Perhaps because she took after her mother.

She was like the sun. I saw briefly earlier that her hair and eye color were exactly the same as Catherine's. At this point, she was Catherine MK2.

Catherine looked down at the child with tired but loving eyes, just like me.

"...Nice to meet you."

At Catherine's murmured voice, the child squirmed slightly. A ticklish response.

My gaze was probably identical to Catherine's.

An inexplicable warmth welled up from within my heart. I simply found both the child and Catherine adorable.

I wanted to stay in this moment forever, but unfortunately, I had another appointment.

I carefully took a step back.

The female specialist beside me looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"There's still time left, so you could stay with your wife a bit longer... ah."

That "ah" clearly wasn't referring to an iced Americano.

The specialist looked at me like I was trash.

As someone skilled at reading people's expressions, I felt it meant something like "So you're that guy, huh?"

That's right.

I had one more place to be today.

But even knowing that, it was hard to leave.

Noticing my hesitation, Catherine turned her gaze from the child to me and smirked.

"...Don't worry and go. We'll be sharing a hospital room anyway."

"...Yeah."

Only after hearing Catherine's words could I move my feet.

Next,

"...You came?"

I looked at the exhausted Taylor.

"...How's it going?"

"Both are safe."

"...Hehe, that's good."

Despite being extremely anxious herself, she was worrying about Catherine, which concerned me even more.

Being smaller than others, Taylor could be at greater risk during childbirth.

Noticing my worried gaze, Taylor smiled painfully and spoke.

"...I'm fine. It's a bit earlier than expected, but there won't be any problems."

Without answering, I firmly grasped Taylor's hand.

Through her small, delicate hand, I felt the pulsing birth of a new life.

As I gripped her hand tightly, Taylor closed her eyes with a relieved expression.

The female specialists around us began to move urgently.

For reference, the reason I held Taylor's hand was not only to reassure her but also to protect my hair.

......

"...Breathe in slowly!"

"...!"

Of course,

My small wish did not come true.

I could only watch as Taylor's hand naturally moved toward my hair.

I couldn't move.

Even at this moment, Taylor was doing her best.

If sacrificing my hair would help her find stability, that was obviously worth it.

...Still,

After all my wives finish giving birth, I might need to buy some cyberpunk hair growth formula.

I thought to myself as I squeezed my eyes shut.