Waking at five a.m. on day 424, Kenshin felt happiness and satisfaction for a few seconds until his mind grasped the events that had occurred. The surge of joy instantly faded, and he felt sadness again.
Stroking Meyumi's smooth belly, he smiled at the realization that in two weeks, his home would welcome another addition. Recalling the previous night's events, he returned to the multitude of system notifications, one of which was about leveling up.
Reaching level twenty-one, he decided to allocate his free skill point to "Talented Offspring," raising it to level twelve. Realizing that his children would now be 60% more talented, Kenshin decided to carefully review the status of his new wife.
Name: Nakayama Mayumi
Age: 21
Talent Level: 23
Chakra Quality: 3
Chakra Amount: 4100
Chakra Control: 52%
He was well aware that sons from Meyumi would be far less talented than those from Hitomi or Kasumi. However, he also understood that not everyone was destined to be great warriors and was ready to love his children even as Genin or Chunin.
The Nakayama Family desperately needed a massive influx of fresh blood to not only repel any threats but also gain access to the ocean of information beyond the fortress walls. Moreover, Kenshin knew he needed to find as many talented women as possible in the shortest time, which required numerous trusted people.
Carefully extricating himself from the beautiful girl's affectionate embrace, Kenshin headed to the bathroom, where he took an ice-cold shower. The stream of cold water seemed able to wash away negative thoughts, and Kenshin felt a bit better.
Without warning anyone, he left the house and headed southwest. After flying about eight kilometers, Kenshin smoothly descended to the ground right near a rich marble deposit.
For the next hour, he repeatedly tried to chisel out an acceptable marble block, succeeding only after ten failures by cutting a block of the right size without splitting it. Another twenty minutes went to the second block, and Kenshin could finally rest.
Even with his body saturated with abundant psionics, such grueling physical labor was extremely hard for Kenshin, but he was determined to do it all himself to honor those who could no longer be returned.
After resting about ten minutes, Kenshin returned to work and seriously pondered transporting the two huge multi-ton marble pieces. The idea of pushing the massive blocks was immediately dismissed, as he knew even psionic-saturated muscles had limits.
Air transport was out, as his telekinesis could handle at best 500 kilograms, and shifting several-ton blocks required immense effort.
In the end, he came up with nothing better than the classic log-rolling method. He spent about half an hour felling and trimming two trees when he heard his son's approaching words.
"Father, don't exhaust yourself—we brothers will do everything needed," Ichiro said respectfully, unable to watch Kenshin work alone.
"No need. Train or visit your mother—she needs support, not me," Kenshin replied without pausing. Ichiro pretended to leave, but Kenshin knew he had hidden a few hundred meters away and wouldn't leave him alone.
After about two hours of experiments, Kenshin empirically found the optimal transport method for such heavy structures. Another hour was spent on the transport itself, and by nine a.m., the two huge marble blocks stood on the fenced Nakayama Family grounds.
Kenshin barely made it to breakfast and took his seat at the head of the table. The girls approached him one by one for a greeting kiss; exceptions were only Noriko and Keiko, and he lamented again the heavy workload preventing him from giving them attention to fully accept both into his family.
Karin had grown so attached to Makoto that she trailed her like a tail, imitating her older friend. That's why, when Makoto received her well-deserved kiss, Kenshin was surprised to find little Karin behind her, stepping forward as her friend moved aside.
A deathly silence hung for a few seconds, and Keiko was about to sharply scold her disobedient daughter when Kenshin leaned slightly toward the little red-haired girl and softly pecked her cheek, making her beam with a pleased smile.
For the next few seconds, few could hold back laughter at the sight of the little one gracefully retreating from Kenshin. Karin tried to mimic everyone, but in her version, all the eroticism looked very cute and hilariously amusing.
"Forgive me, my lord—I should have raised her better..." Keiko said politely.
"No need. Karin and Makoto are two pearls of our family, and their antics bring me nothing but smiles," Kenshin replied softly, immediately serving a multitude of light dishes.
"Karin, you have to try the yogurt!" Makoto whispered, leaning to her ear and handing her a small plastic cup.
Karin looked curiously at the unusual container, seeing a milky pink color inside. Her eyes narrowed instantly, focusing on the prey, and the little red-haired predator attacked immediately.
As soon as the yogurt-laden spoon entered her mouth, Karin widened her eyes and looked straight at her mother. She jumped from her seat, grabbing the delicious treat, and in a few steps was beside her mom.
"Mom! You have to try this!" Karin declared with shining eyes, carefully offering the unprecedented delicacy to her beloved mother.
"Karin! Behave properly!" Keiko shushed her, but looking into her daughter's burning eyes, she couldn't resist trying what she offered.
"Mmm... It's really delicious..." she purred dreamily. Though Keiko was very reserved, she wasn't indifferent to sweets and couldn't hold back a satisfied purr from the most delicious delicacy of her life.
Kenshin couldn't ignore what was happening and concluded that mother and daughter adored sweets. He felt the immense pleasure radiating from Karin and Keiko and couldn't help smiling.
Meanwhile, Noriko behaved as usual. She paid no attention to the surroundings and silently ate, tearing into the fried meat. Kenshin couldn't get her to eat light food for breakfast; they compromised that for 80% meat eaten, she'd eat 20% vegetables.
Finishing her meal, Noriko silently stood and walked unhurriedly to the exit, her prosthesis clacking on the parquet floor, unobtrusively reminding Kenshin of his promise to restore her health.