EXTRA: Mama Vera

The room he entered was warm, dimly lit, and smelled strongly of clean linen and mother.

Dressed in her Ravenloft Holdings™ pajamas, Vera was coiled on the floor cushions, her emerald scales reflecting the light on her forearms and along the curve of her tail, while Yssrath was nestled against her and laughing.

The little dragon-wyvern-I don't know-child was awake and in a cheerful mood, beating his small clawed hands against his mother's fingers as she cooed at him with a kind of intensity that was quite astronomical.

"Oh my goodness... you're so adorable, you know?" Vera murmured, touching the top of his small head. "Mommy loves you so much... my dear baby boy..." She stroked him gently, her voice going impossibly soft. "Mommy will never leave you, do you know that? Hehe... you're so beautiful..." She continued playing with the baby, until... yeah, she felt something.

Her scales suddenly prickled, and Vera lifted her head almost immediately, her nostrils dilating and all the lines down her spine stiffening. She even started to thump her tail against the cushions in a quick, involuntary manner.

She had detected it: the smell. His smell. The smell of her soulmate. The smell of a real human being. Not an AI-Generated NPC.

The beautiful mama wyvern turned, and the exact moment her eyes saw him standing there, her whole face lit up just as if it were the launch sequence.

Her eyes widened.

And then, after staring at the love of her life for a few instants, she announced to Yssrath, "My precious baby... Papa is here!" and was practically vibrating with joy.

Then, the little dragon-wyvern turned his small head in Mordecai's direction and extended both of his little hands, opening and closing his claws as infants do when they want to be picked up.

Mordecai chuckled even though he didn't want to and went across the room, picking up the small child in his arms. At once, the little one grabbed a handful of his robe and made a happy chittering sound.

For some reason, that little baby had a great force. He'll probably become an OP main character for a future story; who knows?

Notably, Vera was the only person ever to be allowed to hold the child. Her instincts as regards her offspring were deep and territorial, amplified by the System's contorted narrative.

A week ago, there was a Revenant servant who had offered to "help carry the little one". Literally. He only asked if she needed some assistance, but her maternal instincts made her go into berserk.

She screamed, "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO STEAL MY TREASURE?" Before almost incinerating him.

In the end, that poor monster had to change his pants, and days later he received a formal apology from Brenda.

But Mordecai, of course, was different. Our beloved fake necromancer was like a nest.

"So, Vera, I asked you about that reconnaissance flight... did you carry it out?" Mordecai asked, while playing with the baby.

"Yes, husband," Vera straightened and, for a moment, the affectionate mother transformed into the keen-eyed aerial scout. "I can confirm that six new dungeons have suddenly appeared. And I detected a strong smell of death coming from them." She stopped her tail. "They're very dangerous. But, at least, I made Yssrath breathe some fresh air. He needed it." She added, tenderly looking at her 'soulmate' playing with the fruit of their AI-System-Generated love.

"I see," Mordecai kept his tone light mainly to suit Yssrath, but he stored the information away in some cold, calculated corner of his mind.

So, that was real. There were six new dungeons, a strong death signature, and they had appeared out of nowhere.

That was going to be one of those problems soon—likely Larry's. Because Mordecai had to prepare a countermeasure to Lumos, the new 'villain', who was more stupid than a goblin submitting a 300,000-word first draft to a publisher and his magic OP system to an editor.

"Thank you, Vera. I know that I've asked you a lot and that you must be exhausted, having had to look after Yssrath all this time as well... You need some rest."

Vera gently wrapped her tail around his leg. "There's no need to worry about it," she said, "since all this is being done to protect our family. And besides..." She kept looking at the baby in his arms with open affection, and then she added, "I love our son, and I never get tired of looking after him."

At that moment she became cheerful again, and the scout completely returned to her mother mode. "Oh! You see, the day before yesterday he took his very first breath of flame! It was small, but it was adorable! He's growing up amazingly quickly! Perhaps in a few months he'll even call your name!"

There was a moment when Mordecai's soul tried to get out of his body through the usual feeling of nausea.

The 'Wholesome Family Milestone' trope, used at point-blank range, posed a threat of Rank SSS. So, all he could do was act with indifference.

"I-it would be nice," he said, and to his mild surprise he mostly did mean it, "if I were here when he does."

He kept holding onto Yssrath for a moment longer before handing the little wyvern back to Vera's outstretched arms.

"I need to leave now since I have the inspection tour of Oakhaven to carry out," Mordecai said, his voice soft. "So, if anything happens, don't forget to call Pyroas, Ugo, or Brenda, okay?"

After his words, Vera looked disappointed, and her tail sagged.

"Y-you're leaving already?" she asked, feeling a blush spread over her scales. "I'd... I'd prepared the bed so that we could sleep together later..." She said, her tail wagging.

Mordecai took a deep breath. He was tired.

"I can't today; I have a schedule to keep, as you know. But I promise that I'll drop by whenever I have the chance." He then extended his hand and ran his hand along the top of her head—and in doing so, he accidentally touched one of her horns.

The effect was catastrophic.

It turned out that the horns were extremely sensitive.

Vera became stiff and then went completely loose, a shudder running right through her body as her tail started thrashing against the floor cushions with such force that it moved the furniture. A plume of steam actually came out of her nostrils. For some reason, the grip on her baby was still soft.

"V-Very well, husband..." she managed, her voice gone almost two octaves higher. "All I ask is that you come here... the baby needs to feel your presence. So... sleep here next time, please."

Ignoring the new wave of narrative nausea that was hitting him, Mordecai gave her a thumbs up.

"Alright. I'll try." He said.

Vera nodded, but her tail kept wagging furiously.

"S-s-see you... husband," Her breath was getting heavier.

"See you, Vera!" Mordecai smiled before another portal appeared behind him.

'I need to run away. Now.'

So, he moved back and entered a portal before the scene could apply any more tropes to him.

As soon as the portal closed behind him, Mordecai found himself in an empty corridor of Fort Blackstone.

He leaned against the wall for a moment, catching his breath.

"Okay," he muttered. "Family: checked. Baby: safe and sound. Vera:... still in shock from the horn thing."

He straightened up, adjusting his collar.

"Now. Date with Cassandra."

He sighed.

"Because my life can never be simple."

But, of course, the empty corridor was not empty for long.

When he had advanced perhaps a dozen steps in the direction of the eastern wing, a familiar figure appeared in front of him: Egel.

She was wearing her casual clothes, the usual style.

Loose martial arts pants that hung low on her hips and a single tight band of cloth wrapped around her chest, exposing her perfectly defined, well-shaped midsection and showing off every single line of her abs.

She walked with a relaxed, athletic posture, both hands casually inserted into her pockets, exuding the easy physical confidence of someone who had, earlier that week, suplexed a warrior through an oak table and seen it as a form of exercise.

"*yawn* Ahh, damn... I wonder when he's gonna accept my bed training proposal..." She muttered, thinking that she was alone.

But the muscle mommy came to a sudden halt as soon as her sharp blue eyes fell on him.

"K-Kaitoyama!" she exclaimed, a deep blush appearing on her cheeks in a moment.

'Of course.' Mordecai thought.

Egel then took one hand out of her pocket and lifted it halfway, suddenly unsure of what to do with it. "I-I was looking for you!"

Mordecai felt that familiar fear start to wriggle in his stomach, the exact kind the System gave him every time a woman looked at him that way.

But, for some reason, this time felt different.

When he looked at her, with her red hair, her previous confident posture now undermined by that flushed complexion, and the obvious, simple strength she possessed, a single thought arose from somewhere deep under his corporate exterior.

'May the Higher Realms forgive me for what I'm about to think,' Mordecai admitted internally, keeping his face a perfect, unreadable mask of executive calm. 'But she is absolutely my type.'

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: CEO 'MORDECAI' HAS HAD AN UNPLANNED MOMENT OF HONESTY.]

[WARNING: THIS IS NOT AN EXAMPLE OF VILLAIN-CODED BEHAVIOR. PLEASE KEEP THE BRAND CONSISTENCY.]

He ignored the notification by giving a quick flick of his eyes and, at the same time, managed to keep his voice flat and professional.

“Egel. Did you want to see me?” He asked.

She nodded her head multiple times and then stepped closer, invading his personal space.

"Yes, K-Kaitoyama..."