Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: It's Not Just My Virginity That Was Taken? - 1
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Wonderland's logistics manager, Dnia's most cherished pet, the terrifying cat lady skilled in stealth magic, elusive and ghostly...
"Sob... Sob sob..."
...Cheshire Cat was crouched at the construction site, tears streaming down her face. How on earth had things ended up like this?
"Hey, you slacker! Can't you carry those bricks right now?!"
"H-Huh?! Y-Yes, nyang!"
Cheshire Cat slapped her own cheeks to snap out of it, brushed the dirt off her butt, and grabbed a sack stuffed full of bricks.
She still couldn't quite believe she was doing this kind of work, but she had no choice if she wanted to stay alive.
A job that held no interest for her and wasn't even in her field of expertise—women felt the most pathetic when forced into such things.
And so, Cheshire Cat was more miserable now than she'd ever been.
"Nyow?!"
In the midst of it all, she bumped into someone and fell flat on her butt in spectacular fashion.
The sack of bricks hit the ground with a thud.
She tried to see who she'd collided with, but first came the feel of something cold pressing against her face. The chill made her jolt.
"Nyi?!"
"Why so jumpy?"
At that distinctive low voice, Cheshire Cat realized two things.
First, the person she'd bumped into was Florian. Second, the cold thing on her face was a chilled bottle of Chuir.
"...Chuir!"
Cheshire Cat's eyes sparkled instinctively. Florian asked slowly,
"How's the work going?"
"Ah..."
The lady's expression darkened.
Florian had simply been asking after her well-being, but to Cheshire Cat, it came across as, 'I see you're slacking off, so you still haven't gotten your head on straight? Having a blast with this job, huh?'
"I'm sorry, nyang..."
Cheshire Cat bowed her head deeply and reached for the fallen sack of bricks.
But before her hand could touch it, Florian picked it up himself. He lifted it as lightly as if it were a feather.
And in turn, he placed the bottle of Chuir in her hand.
"Nyang...?"
"Breaks in the middle of the day are important too. Have a sip while you rest."
"Nyaaang...?!"
It was an unbelievable offer, but there was no reason to refuse.
She popped the cap off with her sharp claw and gulped down the Chuir.
"Nyaaaang!"
It really felt like heaven was right in front of her.
Come to think of it, heaven had seemed to peek through earlier while carrying those bricks too... but anyway, that was different from this.
After wetting her throat a bit, her vision finally cleared. Cheshire Cat looked around.
Not just her—all the servants were being handed snacks here and there. The cat lady stared blankly at the sight for a moment.
"What?"
"Ah, it's nothing, nyang."
"Making me ask twice..."
"Eek!"
Cheshire Cat immediately straightened her posture and licked her lips.
"I-It was just... this scenery feels so strange, nyang."
"Yeah, I suppose it's not something you're used to."
She nodded vigorously.
"Exactly, nyang. We work only the set hours, get snacks during breaks, and no one's executed for messing up a bit... It's the complete opposite of Wonderland, nyang."
The complete opposite.
Those three words were enough to lift Florian's mood. After all, his goal was to create a world the polar opposite of the one Elfriede wanted.
The man nodded.
"That's exactly it. We're going to act the opposite of everything Elfriede does and build the opposite kind of world."
He gazed into the distance and continued softly.
"So of course it's natural to look after our members' welfare. If you don't, they'll betray you for personal gain anyway. We'll take such good care of them from the start that they won't even think of it."
"Nyang..."
"We care for the sick, praise those who work hard, and we've long abandoned the 'kill first, ask questions later' approach."
Chuir was a high-proof premium liquor. The buzz was already starting to hit.
Was she drunk on this unfamiliar sight, or just on the Chuir...? She drained the rest of the bottle and asked,
"Lord Florian."
"Yeah?"
"Come to think of it, I still haven't heard the organization's name, nyang."
"Want to know?"
Cheshire Cat nodded eagerly. Florian's lips parted.
"Elbalom."
"Elbalom..."
Cheshire Cat suddenly snapped her fingers.
"I get it, nyang! Diamond Knight Grinfinder is an elf, Spade Knight is Balrog, Clover Knight is Lombard! You planned to absorb Wonderland from the start, nyang!"
"Well... absorbing it was the plan from the beginning, but..."
"Lord Florian's ambitions are truly grand, nyang! My loyalty!"
"Enough. That's enough, so you're done with construction duty. Get started on that job I mentioned last time."
In the end, he couldn't bring himself to say it was short for "Elfriede-shit-lom."
Only after dispatching Cheshire Cat to track down leads on Dnia's knights underlings could I finally return to the mansion's bedroom and sink into the sofa.
Bathe, recharge the stigma through Ellis's body, calmly settle my erection, rescue the executives kidnapped to the clinic...
I'd been drowsy since the bath, and now I could finally sleep.
A habit from my Shadow days.
Sitting on the plush sofa, pistol in my right hand. Dim the lights to half brightness, close my eyes—perfect.
"Time for nightmares."
Time for nightmares. That way, reality might feel a little more beautiful.
The Shadows' speech patterns still lingered on my tongue. The moment I closed my eyes.
-Nng! Grr! Kyiiing!
"......"
A noise perfect for ruining sleep came from outside the window.
What the hell was that? It sounded like a living creature clinging to life.
-Kyiiing! Nng! Nng!
Ignore it and sleep. I'm a Shadow. The top among Shadows, who maintain calm in any situation.
-Bang!
-Nng! Nngkyaak! Nngkyaakkyaak!
I bolted up, flung open the window, and yelled,
"Hey! Shut that dog up!"
"It's not a dog barking—it's rabbits crying."
"Whoever you are, you're in deep shit now."
I vaulted over the windowsill and landed on the ground. What entered my sight was Ellis, surrounded by a swarm of rabbits.
First things first, I kicked her in the butt. She yelped and jumped up.
"Rabbiiits!"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Ah~ Well, I was trying to practice some magic after a long time, but the rabbits got really startled, I guess. My specialty's explosion magic, after all."
Haa... I sighed deeply, rubbing my forehead with one hand. I couldn't fathom why rabbit hutches were near the training grounds in the first place.
"Separate the rabbits' area from the training grounds completely. Got it? Or do I need to spell it out?"
"Ah, got it."
"Sigh... Ellis."
"Yes, Master. I'm listening."
"What happened with that order to start researching antidotes with Dodo?"
"It's going great~ We set aside a fixed time each day and devote it entirely to antidote research~"
At least Ellis wasn't taking my words lightly. Among the executives, she might actually be the most loyal to me.
"How long until it's done?"
"The drugs circulating in Wonderfentanyl territory won't take long. If things go really fast, maybe tomorrow?"
"Good. We won't sell it for money yet. If anyone comes sniffing for drugs, pass off the antidote as drugs and hand it over—for pocket change."
"Yes~ Got it~ Tohihi~"
"I'm going back to sleep. If I wake up one more time to noise, I'll stretch your ears into rabbit ones. Got it? Or do I need to spell it out?"
"Heeeng... Pull on my chest too, then..."
"Just scram."
As I turned to head back to the bedroom, Ellis grabbed me once more.
"Oh, right. Master~ Check this out."
"What?"
Ellis started unbuttoning her top. My fist clenched naturally.
"N-No! I-It's not like that!"
"Then what."
"Look at this!"
She exposed the area above her chest, at her collarbone, where elegant cursive lettering was tattooed.
'......?'
And what was written there was my name.
"Are you insane? Who told you to tattoo my name?"
"No no no, it's not that! I didn't do it! I just noticed it again while washing up!"
"What?"
Come to think of it, the lettering didn't quite match tattoo ink.
It was more like... yeah, similar to the stigma engraved on my forearm. Black, but shimmering gold under light.
"Hmm, looks like a stigma."
"Ooh~ Nice. Did I get something thanks to you, Master?"
"Dunno. Just keep training for now."
"Yess~ Ah, this feels good."
Ellis hummed a tune and began drawing strokes in the air with her finger.
A red stroke and a massive influx of mana into the circuit. One glance told me it was explosion magic.
'Magic, huh. Magic.'
Was it because I'd dropped out of the academy? I'd faced plenty of mages, but I couldn't handle a variety of magic types myself.
That's why I always relied on weapons like the Witch's Curse, pouring mana into them. No matter how vast my mana reserves, I didn't know how to shape it into spells.
Sleep was already ruined, and bored, I idly traced along with the strokes Ellis was drawing in the air.
Seven strokes, eight, nine, and finally ten.
Suddenly, the magic circle lit up.
Booom—!
"Ra-Rabbits?!"
"......?"
The explosion spell detonated. Ellis's and my eyes met in the air.
She turned around, eyes wide, and asked me,
"H-How did you just do that? Wait, can you handle explosion magic too, Master?!"
"Uh..."
I don't know either. What is this?