The Invitation

Muxing guessed that the Copper Leyens left by the sasquatch had been scavenged from the belongings of its victims, she did remember that the small cave she had been kept in had been filled with all sorts of things… Though she had never gotten the occasion to check any of it out, since when her captor was not around, her body was properly restrained, and when he was there… Well, he was either breeding or feeding her, which did not leave much time to look around.

In any case, the number of coins was not small, so she was able to get herself a room in a midwifery without much problem, a big and wealthy city like Oie naturally had those sorts of dedicated buildings run by competent people, so Muxing could thank her fortune for not having been dropped off next to some random village or town, as she definitely needed help from professionals, there was no telling how things would go considering who had fathered the baby…

Not to mention that she had never given birth before, this would be her very first time, and like any would-be mother, she was incredibly stressed out by the prospect, it wasn't exactly a risk-free activity, her own mother had passed away for that exact reason.

But the child within her did not care for that, and precisely one week after the sasquatch released her, she felt something stir inside, and thus ensued several hours of labour, during which Muxing experienced a type of pain more intense than anything she had ever endured.

The entire experience did not last nearly as long as she had feared, however, in fact, the doctor who was taking charge of her was quite surprised as well.

"I can see the head!"

And soon enough after that, the actual baby was fully expelled, and everything was taken care of.

"I think that's record time" muttered one of the nurses, as another picked the child up.

"It's a healthy, big boy" putting emphasis on the second-to-last word, as it was easily the largest baby she had ever seen coming from a human woman.

"Oh… Can I hold him?" Muxing hadn't been quite certain how she would feel once the baby came out, after all, as much as she had enjoyed being a beast's lover, actually bearing a mixed-blood baby from a wood-dwelling creature was another matter entirely, but upon seeing it, she immediately wanted to hold the child.

"Of course!"

The actual infant turned out to be large, but not that much larger compared to the average human baby, and in appearance, it did not look that strange, its features were surprisingly smooth, and its body was pale, there were no signs of the tougher skin on the bottom of the feet or upon the palms just yet.

Muxing wasn't certain if that was just how mountain sasquatches looked at birth, or if it was due to the fact that this child had parents of different species, as she had never actually gotten to see or examine a genuine sasquatch newborn.

Naturally, the nurses and doctor all knew just by looking that the father was clearly not a human, but they felt that it would be impolite to ask now, especially since Muxing hadn't made any mention of that fact during her stay, so they all just assumed that the father was some sort of beastfolk or demon, naturally assuming that it was a sapient species whomst the man belonged to.

The girl remained at the midwifery for a little while, but since the child was about in the best of health as was possible, and so was she, Muxing eventually left and instead took a room in a nearby inn, trying to think about what to do now.

The baby- Her son, was a hybrid, so her researcher's side was incredibly excited about it, as this probably was the first ever case of hybridisation between human and sasquatch.

Hybrids were somewhat seen in a poor light due to the fact that children born of such unions rarely ever ended free of any problems due to the mixing of different bloods, even sapient species that seemed very similar could not escape the problem, so it seemed even more likely that the child between a sapient and a beast would face even worse problems.

So far however, her son seemed perfectly fine, and more importantly, he was already ravenous and sucking milk out of his mother at every occasion, which worried Muxing, as it was doubtful that her body would be aware that the baby ate at thrice the rate of a normal child, so she might run out at this pace.

'Well… Surely… If I go back and present a genuine hybrid like this, I should receive a good reward, maybe even a promotion?' she thought without a hint of joy, Muxing worked as a junior in a research institute, such places were rarely of great renown, as such work was mostly overlooked and oftentimes fruitless.

She was only there because investigating and researching the natural beings of nature was her passion since she was little, but considering that the hybrid was also her very own flesh and blood, Muxing did not want to have anyone running tests on him, if anything, only she should be allowed to do so!

But she was sorely lacking in funds right now, and also, the institute probably thought that she was dead by this point, having gone to investigate where a murderous sasquatch was located, only to immediately disappear after entering and not giving signs of life for months…

Muxing was torn, but an opportunity presented itself nearly immediately as she ventured out into the city to try and purchase some food with some of the coins she had left, for a moment, she almost thought that the sasquatch had shown back up as a tall, wide shadow was suddenly cast over her.

This short instant filled her with anticipation, and she instantly formed a smile in response, but it was not the sasquatch that appeared before the girl.

"Hello there, you wouldn't happen to be looking for a job, would you?" the stranger felt somewhat familiar, though, and his domineering presence was strangely reassuring.

He introduced himself, and said that his residence needed an additional maid to be taken care of- Offering for Muxing to be lodged, fed and clothed alongside the needs of her child being covered as well, all that just to be a maid.

It sounded a bit unrealistic and suspicious, and normally, Muxing wouldn't have agreed at all, but the familiarity and comforting presence of this man somehow led her to agree without much discussion.

Thus, she followed that mysterious man, who called himself Edrick Lucien Anoteros.