Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Royal Possession (2)
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Sudden pollutant discharge?!
What the hell?!
[Time until pollutants in the body are discharged: 05:00]
Only five minutes?!
I had no clue what this synchronization or perk business was about, or what those translucent notification windows and voices even were.
But my gut was screaming at me.
I couldn't just sit here doing nothing.
What if this pollutant discharge was like the marrow cleansing in those wuxia novels, where black gunk just pours out of your body?
My room would be filled with a stench that wouldn't fade easily.
It might be different, but that was the only thing coming to mind right now.
I hurriedly opened the door and stepped out.
"Master Aren?"
I ran into Ridel, who was carrying a tray with fruit and a small knife on a plate.
"What's the matter? Why are you coming out...?"
"Ridel, I want to take a bath."
"Pardon? Ah, you must have gotten dusty from falling out of the tree, but you don't need to worry about that..."
"No, I want to bathe right now. Help me, Ridel."
I'd told her pollutants were coming out of my body.
I had no idea how much there would be, so I needed someone to change the water quickly.
Ridel could use water magic too, so she'd be faster at swapping out the water than any magical shower device.
"Y-Yes?! Me, attending to Master Aren's bath? B-But you never even ask for that sort of thing normally... Don't tell me falling from the tree awakened some kind of breeding instinct? Books do say that life-threatening situations can trigger..."
Ridel was muttering something, but with time running short, it barely registered.
We needed to get to the bathroom fast.
"If you don't want to, I'll ask the other servants!"
There were a few others in the mansion who could use magic.
They might not be as skilled as Ridel, but if several pitched in, they could still handle the water.
"Master Aren!? No! I can do it! I will do it!"
As expected of Ridel.
My exclusive maid.
She was always the first to step up when I was in a bind.
"Then come with me, Ridel!"
"S-So suddenly? I need to prepare myself too..."
"It's urgent!"
"That urgent?!"
I rushed to the bathroom with Ridel in tow.
The moment we got inside, I started stripping off my clothes.
"Master Aren?! Aren't you rushing a bit too much?"
"No time!"
"Time for what?"
By the time I'd chatted with Ridel and made it to the bathroom, less than a minute was left.
Sure enough, my body was starting to heat up, and a faint itchiness was spreading all over.
I finished undressing, activated the magical device to fill the tub, and hopped right in.
"Master Aren? Why get in the tub already? If you wait just a moment, I can warm the water..."
"Ridel, something really filthy is probably about to come out of my body soon."
"Pardon?"
"So when it gets all gross, the magical device alone won't cut it. Use your magic to swap out the tub water."
"What do you...?"
When the tub was about a third full...
[Discharging pollutants.]
The notification chimed, and black liquid began oozing from my body like sweat.
It was such a deep black that I was almost impressed a human body could produce something like that.
And the stench was brutal.
'This is exactly that stuff from marrow cleansing!'
"Master Aren!? What in the world?!"
Even Ridel jumped in shock, calling out to me.
But I didn't have time to explain.
I doubted she'd even understand if I tried.
"Ridel, water magic!"
"Pardon?"
"Keep pouring water into the tub with your magic! The device alone can't keep up!"
The black stuff was coming out faster than I'd imagined, and the smell was even worse.
If we didn't flush it out quick, the bathroom would reek for ages.
"R-Right!"
Ridel extended her hand and cast her spell.
A magic circle bloomed above the tub, and water cascaded down from it.
Whoosh!
Even more water than the device could manage poured in, turning the polluted water black before it overflowed, drained to the tub bottom, and swirled down the drain.
"Is this okay?"
"No, we'll probably need to do it again soon."
Thanks to Ridel, the blackened water got replaced once, but the pollutants were still pouring out.
"What on earth happened? Why is this coming out of your body...?"
Of course Ridel was panicking, pinching her nose.
She couldn't cover it while casting with both hands.
"I don't know either. But I had a feeling something was coming, so I rushed here."
"So it wasn't breeding instinct from a near-death experience after all."
What the hell was that about?
For the next hour, the pollutants kept draining from my body.
Ridel couldn't keep up the water magic alone for that long, so we called in the other magic-using servants to take turns pouring water and washing away the gunk.
"Hold up. I think it's stopping now."
"Hah! Hah! R-Really, Your Highness?"
One of the servants, drenched in sweat from the effort, asked me.
"Yeah."
I climbed out of the tub, grabbed the magical device, and rinsed off the remaining filth.
No more black stuff came out.
"Looks like it's done."
"Thank goodness."
"H-Hey! Drain the tub water now!"
"Don't dump it all at once! It won't go down the drain properly, and the smell will linger!"
"This tub... we're gonna have to toss it."
The servants who'd gathered to help with the magic started cleaning up.
"Master Aren, here are some fresh clothes."
"Thanks, Albert."
I changed into the clothes the head butler brought and headed out.
"...I don't smell right now, do I?"
My nose had gone numb from the constant stench in the tub, so I couldn't tell.
"Please use the servants' bathroom to wash up first."
I stink that bad, huh.
I scrubbed down thoroughly with soap in the servants' bathroom.
"Albert, by the way, where's Ridel?"
I hadn't seen her since she switched out with the others.
"Ah, Ridel went to give the priest a piece of her mind."
"The priest? Why?"
"Something odd coming from your body after the treatment..."
"Let's go to the priest's room."
I followed Albert to the room where the priest was waiting.
And there...
"Does it make sense that you don't know why?! This happened right after your treatment!"
"B-But black sweat from the body? I've never even heard of such a thing...!"
"I'll file a complaint with the temple! How dare you treat the imperial family so lightly!"
"A-Ah! Sister! Please calm down!"
Ridel had the priest by the collar, laying into him fiercely.
I'd rarely seen her this angry.
First things first, calm her down.
"Ridel, easy now."
"Master Aren! Are you okay now? Any issues with your body?"
"Yeah. It's stopped. Far from hurting, I feel incredibly refreshed."
No joke—I really felt amazing.
With all those pollutants gone, my body felt light, brimming with energy. I could go run a marathon right now.
"So no need to chew out the priest. Let him go and slice some fruit for me."
"...Understood."
Ridel released the priest's collar and came over to me.
She'd pinched her nose because of my stench earlier, but now she was right by my side. It touched me a little.
We sent the priest off and returned to my room with Ridel.
As she peeled an apple and placed it on a plate, Ridel asked,
"You really feel no abnormalities? Like something's about to come out, or breeding instincts kicking in?"
"Nope, nothing like that."
My body just felt refreshed, and as for breeding instincts... Honestly, with all these unexpected events and my uncertain situation, nothing like that was stirring.
Why did she keep bringing up breeding instincts?
"I see. Here you go."
Ridel brought the peeled apple to my mouth.
"Ridel, I can feed myself."
"You say there's nothing wrong, but you did fall from a tree. Be good and stay put today."
"Got it."
As I munched on the apple, a sudden thought hit me.
"By the way, what happened to the cat?"
"The maids are looking after it now. No injuries since you held it close when you fell."
"Good to hear."
It would've been pathetic if I'd failed to save the cat and only hurt myself.
"What's good about it? You fell."
"Sorry."
I listened to Ridel's pleasant nagging while checking the notification window.
'View perks.'
Ridel showed no reaction, so it must only be visible to me.
The translucent window still had two unopened perks shrouded in special characters, but the visible one was Supreme Physique.
Focusing on Supreme Physique brought up a new window with its details.
Vague description, but it felt extraordinary.
Capable of accepting any talent or power, impervious to any harm.
Maybe I should start working out tomorrow?
Two days later, with that thought in mind...
"Whoa."
A perfect six-pack had formed.