I am back – Chapter 191

“Can you tell me a bit more about that story?”

“Sis?”

I found myself asking my older sister like that, but by then, her attention was completely on the princess.

“Oh, yes, um…”

As my sister leaned in almost too eagerly for the answer, the princess looked a little flustered, but she didn’t forget what she was about to say.

“In the royal family, there are often… um, people who can’t have children. It can be men or women. So magically, there are various ways… to make the partner have a child. Even without any sexual intercourse.”

“Without sexual intercourse?”

But hearing this explanation, I tilted my head in confusion.

What came to my mind first from the princess’s explanation was in vitro fertilization. When someone is too old or has too few sperm to get a woman pregnant, the sperm and egg can be fertilized separately and then re-implanted into the woman’s uterus.

But for that, male sperm is absolutely necessary. It’s not scientifically possible for a female egg to divide by itself and become a baby.

Actually, just listening up to this point, I started to suspect that people in this world might have some misunderstandings about that magic, or perhaps the princess was lacking in sexual knowledge to be saying such things.

“Is that story applicable in the case of two women?”

But my sister didn’t flinch and asked.

…Hmm.

In truth, I didn’t find it hard to understand my sister’s position. If someone thought they didn’t want to have children or weren’t inclined to have them, then it wouldn’t be strange to think about having children when they married someone they loved.

Especially since I used to have a male body and my sister liked me as that man, she might have considered those things towards me. From what she told me, it seems she has liked me for quite a long time.

In that sense, I just feel sorry for my sister. If I had only let slip a trivial story to the goddess, perhaps there might have been a child between my sister and me.

“Ah, um…”

The princess was thinking quite seriously for a moment. It was a far different look than just a while ago when she seemed flustered.

“By any chance, haven’t you heard anything from Dana?”

At the princess’s words, we exchanged glances for a moment before shaking our heads towards her.

We had never heard anything at all. If Dana knew about that story, she surely wouldn’t have said such things to us.

Even if it was a story passed down only as a legend, she would have brought it up just to see our flustered faces.

…And I firmly believe that Dana really would have tried to find that magic for us.

“Hmm…”

The princess looked even more troubled, deep in thought.

“…”

We could only quietly watch her, waiting for a response. Is it possibly a story that might be difficult for her to share with us?

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped. It was my mistake to bring this up carelessly with you all… um, I thought it was naturally the case that stories of such things would spread, given the tales involving the former king and the same-sex relationships, but it seems that’s not the case.”

And she probably never anticipated that Dana wouldn’t know of such magic either. Already well-known as a great mage, Dana was bound to be aware.

But no matter how great Dana is, she can’t know ‘every’ magic. Especially since Dana’s specialty is offensive magic, large-scale offensive magic. Dana knew almost nothing about healing magic, and in fact, there was no need for her to know it. As long as Pia’s divine power didn’t decrease, there was no reason for Dana to use such magic, and even if she learned hastily, its performance would still fall short of Pia’s divine magic.

It would be more beneficial for the party to launch one more fireball than to use such a falling healing magic.

However, that was no reason to deliberately bring it up. As a hero traveling together, there was no need for me to intentionally damage Dana’s pride.

“Instead, I’m only sharing this story with you because you are a hero. I would appreciate it if you could refrain from telling anyone else… well, if necessary, sharing it among party members might be okay. I will inform His Majesty in advance as well.”

My sister nodded vigorously, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I nodded along too.

“Ahem.”

Clearing her throat, the princess gradually began to reveal another side of the kingdom, one that we didn’t know. No matter how much one dislikes their partner, sometimes one must marry. And there were times when bearing children for the royal family is necessary, as well as times when one must bear the children of an unwanted noble. If the child born in that process bore no resemblance to their husband or wife, they would surely raise someone’s suspicion.

Among the magics, there are those strikingly similar to genetic testing. While mainly used to track down criminal activities, they can also be used to verify parenthood. Of course, among conservative nobles, such methods are used to seize the opponent’s faults.

And in such situations, when both sides find themselves unable to retreat, that magic is to prepare for a stalemate where no further consensus is possible.

“To form a human body, parts of each individual’s body are enough. So, in this case, um, it would be, the, uh, sperm or the eggs from the lady’s body, perhaps.”

Basic anatomical knowledge exists in this world too. While it might be almost impossible to conduct research like chemistry and molecular studies on Earth, cellular observation has already begun. There have been efforts to explore how to manipulate that ‘cell’ unit in relation to this magic.

“This magic changes a possibility of 0 into 1, or 10. Initially, as you mentioned, it was magic focused on creating children between men and women. And it was successful. It did take a long time, involved numerous failures, and consumed an enormous amount of magical stones.”

The princess furrowed her brow slightly and seemed to be striving hard to remember something from the depths of her memory.

“However, fundamentally, it was later revealed that it wasn’t a case of an egg and sperm being fertilized together. This is somewhat of a religious story, but are you okay with that?”

Both of us nodded again.

“It is said that a person’s soul is composed of two forms. First, a completely pure soul, free of sin, returning to be reborn after losing all memories. In fact, most souls fit this description. The goddess chooses pure souls that wish to be reborn, and that soul is reborn from the loving embrace of a couple.”

The princess said this with a somewhat serious expression.

“But then, what kind of soul would be born from two people who don’t love each other? Would the goddess intentionally select the souls of those who should be punished and send them into unfortunate homes? Such discussions have been quite a topic in religious circles for some time.”

The princess took a short pause before continuing.

“And this is a ‘theory,’ but… it is said that there are also cases where souls arise spontaneously. That two people’s souls meet, causing a spiritual natural phenomenon, giving rise to a new soul—not one that originally existed but a ‘completely new’ soul appears in the body of one of the women.”

“Is there any evidence for that conclusion?”

I asked, frowning.

That ‘spiritual phenomenon’ wouldn’t be love. If that were the case, there ought not to have been any functioning magic studied to have children in a loveless household. Moreover, no one could be born simply because of ‘biological reasons’ alone. So, it speaks against the possibility of pregnancies resulting from sexual assault.

And there’s no reason for the goddess to intentionally instill a soul into a life that seems inevitably sad… So, in some ways, it looks like a forced argument to make the goddess’s regard sound ‘plausible.’

“This magic has indeed been utilized several times. It’s not merely circumstantial evidence, like the tales about same-sex families. Detailed records were kept to be utilized at any time… Ah, now that I think about it, since it’s documented only in papers that can’t be accessed outside the royal family, you might not have known about it.”

The princess displayed a slightly perplexed expression before shaking her head and finishing her words.

“So, according to those few outcomes, it was concluded that those born into loveless families could be somewhat unstable and lacking. So, it’s not that they’d have mental or physical disabilities, but rather one might say they are somewhat… ‘lacking as a person.’”

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s always the case. In reality, even from unhappy families, ideal individuals can be born, and there are those who have overcome disabilities to become heroes.

However, especially in cases where ‘that magic’ was used, the statistics made the princess’s explanation resonate significantly.

“Conversely, the more love two individuals had but were unable to have a child, the higher the likelihood for ideal persons to be born. So, one could say they resemble each other’s ‘beneficial characteristics’ more closely.”

“…”

As we stared blankly, the princess added, almost as an afterthought.

“And records also remain of that magic being used between women.”