Chapter 161: Replenishing Magic Power
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161: Replenishing Magic Power
“Going back to the past, huh.”
Makina scoffed at Yohan’s words. It wasn’t even worth considering. If she went back to the past, everything she had built over decades would be undone. What was in it for her?
Of course, Yohan had proposed a solution for that.
“You can go back with your memories intact.”
“So? What if I go back with my memories? Will my empire just pop into existence?”
“The machines you built. If you come back with me, I’ll ask Linne to help you make as many as you want.”
“—What a pointless thing to do.”
With a click of her tongue, Makina waved a dismissive hand at Yohan, making it clear she wanted him to get lost. He wanted her to use a cheat code and just remake everything from scratch?
Why would she do something so boring? She hadn’t even finished building her empire or creating her machines.
Seeing Makina’s firm resolve, Yohan bit his lip hard.
“……What will it take? What will it take for you to help me?”
“I won’t help you. As much as I value my past connections, my present ties are more precious to me.”
“Even if I threaten to smash everything you’ve created to pieces?”
Yohan never dreamed he would utter such words. But when people get desperate, they tend to say whatever comes to mind first.
Seeing Makina’s eyes narrow slightly at his words, Yohan quickly waved his hands in denial.
“No, I take that back… It was a slip of the tongue.”
“A slip of the tongue… It sounded quite genuine to me.”
“…It just shows how desperate I am.”
After apologizing, Yohan bowed his head and left the emperor’s laboratory. Makina let him go without a fuss, knowing that if she kept him there, things might really turn out as he’d said.
As he was dejectedly leaving the imperial palace, his goal unachieved, someone suddenly leaped onto his back with a whoosh.
Somehow regaining his balance after stumbling from the unexpectedly heavy weight, he turned to look behind him. Standing there was Makina, the very person who had just coldly kicked him out.
“Yo.”
“……Makina?”
“Ding-ding-ding! Correct!”
Her tone was unnaturally cheerful. Between her speech and the weight from before, he immediately realized this wasn't the real Makina.
“You are… what number?”
“What number? That’s so harsh. Don’t you know anything about a woman’s heart?”
“Because you can’t be the original.”
“Ahaha, you’re right. I’m Type 76. Makina Type 76.”
Her number was more than double that of the Type 33 he had seen before, but there were no noticeable changes. As he tilted his head and looked at her, Type 76 tilted her head back at him.
“……What’s with the ‘Type’ thing?”
“It’s the number we were made in.”
“Isn’t it usually No. 1, No. 2? Why ‘Type’?”
“Well, our original is a genius. After she made Type 1, Type 2 was an upgraded version. From her perspective, they’re all different entities, so she said ‘Type’ was better than ‘Number,’ or something?”
Yohan took a slight step back as he watched her tilt her head, looking uncertain despite it being her own memory.
Just like Type 33, the ones that weren’t the original were all unnaturally cheerful, almost as if they were deliberately made that way.
“So, Yohan, why did you come here?”
“To get help from your original.”
“Heeey, want me to help you instead?”
“That’s impossible.”
“You’re hurting my pride, saying it’s impossible without even telling me what it is. What’s going on?”
“I need magic power.”
“Ah— Then that’s definitely impossible.”
He had held out a sliver of hope that the self-proclaimed genius Makina might have created a machine that could artificially produce magic power, but sadly, that wasn't the case.
Makina’s clones, the Makina XX-Types, ran on a different energy source, not magic power.
Of course, from Yohan’s perspective, the fact that she had created such androids using pure science, without relying on a limitless resource like magic power, was even more shocking.
“You need magic power… But don’t you already have a lot of witches around you? And you still need our original’s magic power?”
“I need quite a lot.”
“How much?”
“The equivalent of ten witches.”
“Ooh, that’s quite a lot.”
Makina Type 76 gave a bitter smile as she said this. Just as I thought. Yohan figured it couldn’t be helped and was about to walk past her to return to the cabin when Type 76 casually grabbed his hand, stopping him.
“Where are you going?”
“……You said you couldn’t help, right?”
“Right, definitely. I don’t have any magic power. The magic power of ten witches? Giving you something like that is impossible, but…”
Type 76 glanced around to see if anyone was listening. After confirming they were alone, she carefully opened her mouth.
“I know where you can find magic power.”
“……What?”
“Heeheehee. Want to know?”
Seeing Type 76’s smile, Yohan vaguely sensed that this was a devil’s temptation leading him on, but right now, he was in a state to accept even a deal with the devil.
When he quietly nodded, Type 76 began to lead him somewhere.
“Decades have passed, you know!”
The Emperor’s secret warehouse.
It was a storeroom containing special machine parts made by Makina herself, as well as rare items that were difficult to obtain.
In other words, things like byproducts from the ancient monsters that had now mostly disappeared also existed here. Items brimming with magic power, like the heart of the Malyong Yohan had defeated decades ago, the shadow of an Eoduksini, and the feather of a Vermilion Bird.
“During that time, our empire has collected every single item imbued with magic power.”
“……These are.”
“Byproducts from the monsters you defeated before you disappeared, and, well, other stuff?”
Type 76 said this as she began to pull out the magic-infused items one by one and hand them to Yohan. Soon, his hands were so full that he needed a bundle to carry them all.
“Take this, and this too— Ah, this one’s a bit much.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a dead witch’s uterus. Need it?”
“…I’m good.”
The byproducts from the other monsters seemed more than enough to replenish the magic power. There was no need to take another witch’s uterus.
Tossing aside the uterus of who-knows-who, Type 76 smiled brightly and helped Yohan move the magic-infused items.
Yohan couldn’t understand why she was being so kind to him. He couldn’t understand, but… sometimes things happen that defy reason and logic.
I’m not a god or anything.
He couldn’t read everyone’s minds, so he had no way of knowing Type 76’s reasons for acting this way. In any case, she must be doing it because it benefited her somehow.
“Thank you.”
“Hm? Oh, don’t mention it.”
“Alright, now I’ll take this back and—”
Turn back time. Save Margaret. Restore the original worldline.
His resolve hardened, Yohan boarded the helicopter back to the cabin.
Thwump-thwump-thwump-thwump—.
Watching the helicopter disappear into the distance, Type 76 belatedly realized she had forgotten to ask what he needed all that magic power for.
Well, it’ll be fine.
But Type 76 shook her head as if it didn’t matter. After all, those items came from monsters that Yohan and his witches had worked hard to defeat, so they naturally had a right to the byproducts.
If she were human, she might have shrieked that they couldn’t possibly ask for them back after decades, but Makina, being a witch, was different. Maintaining long-term trust is more valuable than satisfying a moment of greed.
“Hee-hee-hee~”
Feeling good about doing a good deed for once, Type 76 headed to her own lab to carry on with her duties. While engrossed in her research, she received a call from her original for the first time in a long while.
Since the regular memory exchange wasn’t due for a while, she tilted her head, wondering why she was calling, and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
[—Type 76, a few items are missing from the warehouse.]
“Oh, that? I gave them to Yohan.”
[……Why?]
“He said he needed magic power or something.”
After hearing Type 76’s story, the original remained silent for a moment before hanging up with a click. Wondering what that was all about, Type 76 thought for a moment, then decided it wasn’t her problem and went back to what she was doing.
Upon hearing that Yohan had taken the magic-infused byproducts, Makina let out a deep sigh and stared blankly into the air.
So he’s determined to turn back time after all.
The empire she had built.
The world she had created.
This meant he intended to erase it all.
I can’t let that happen.
And the moment she realized that, she knew she had to stop him. She had to fulfill her duty as Emperor.
“This is a message for all ‘Makina.’ From this moment on, Yohan and his witches are our enemies.”
Eliminate them by any means necessary.
Arriving at the cabin, Yohan succeeded in brewing a magic potion by decocting the ingredients. This would be enough to replenish the magic power of two witches.
“—Alright, then… shall we?”
“Yes.”
There was only one way Yohan knew to replenish a witch’s magic power. Penetrative sex.
Before they began, Yohan made a request to the witches waiting outside the room.
“When I call for you, please come in one by one. Got it? We absolutely cannot be disturbed…”
“We get it already.”
Only after confirming with them several times could Yohan feel at ease. He went back into the room and began to take off his clothes.
“Phew, having sex while using magic. It makes me kind of nervous.”
“Even though you’ve done it so many times?”
“True, you have a point.”
Yohan let out a chuckle and approached Regina, getting ready for penetration. It was the moment he could enter her with just a slight movement of his hips.
BOOOOM—!
And in that instant, the cabin exploded.