Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Buying Low (3)
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Chiiip! Chiiik-!
A hamster wearing gray panties over its head wailed pitifully.
It was crying so heartbreakingly that the center of the gray underwear, soaked with tears the size of hamster drops, was stained dark.
"...Yuria. What do I do about this? Is she okay?"
"She's fine, fine. Maykin has a habit of turning into a hamster when she panics. It happened once during this dungeon practicum too."
"Isn't that dangerous...?"
"Not really, Oppa. The fact that she reflexively cast transformation magic out of shock means she was in no state to help even in human form. She never turned into a hamster mid-battle in the dungeon... Though she did transform right before getting digested alive by the plant monster Alraune."
In other words, she wouldn't turn into a hamster without realizing it unless the situation was truly soul-crushingly dire.
"Wait. So you're saying she thinks I'm something like Alraune digestive fluid?"
"Well... Getting caught by you or trapped in an Alraune's disguise pretty much ends your life either way, so maybe that's it?"
"What."
Wondering where this absurd misunderstanding started, I looked at Yuria. But instead of explaining, she smirked smugly.
"Ahem. Maykin said she wanted to know about you, so I told her a little."
"Let me ask first—what exactly did you say?"
"Just the truth, of course. That you're a monster the entire academy couldn't take down even if they all rushed you, or that you value honor so much you won't move without cause, but give you an excuse and you're a beast ready to rampage... Something like that?"
"???"
What on earth did I look like in Yuria's eyes?
And what conclusion did she reach that made Maykin turn into a hamster?
Shaking my head, I dug into the still-warm underwear and pulled out the hamster, placing it on my palm.
Chiiiik-!!
The brown hamster curled into a ball on my palm, letting out a wail like the world was ending.
I poked its plump little butt and spoke.
"Maykin. Calm down. I just want to know the details of Grand Duke Ignatus's request."
Chiiik...?
"Mm, mm. I get it. Friends chatting, and suddenly someone barges in—you'd be startled, especially if it's the lord of the land."
"Uh... I don't think that's it, Oppa?"
"It's not?"
Didn't it feel like getting caught skipping school by the teacher mid-conversation about how to ditch class?
Yuria flashed a meaningful smile at my blinking eyes.
"We were talking about your size, and then you burst in. She must've gotten scared thinking you'd go, 'Heh heh heh. If you're curious about my size, I'll show you myself. Nudge nudge!'"
"..."
Really? No, how does one even arrive at that conclusion?
Absurd as it was, assuming Yuria was right, I gently coaxed Maykin.
"Don't worry. Today, I'll keep it to just talk. So undo the transformation first."
Chiiik...?
Maykin looked up at me with her round, shiny eyes. Knowing the contents were human didn't stop the automatic fond smile from a hamster's appearance.
"If you stay like this, I might accidentally step on you."
Chiiik?!
"Whoa... Oppa, that's a bit much."
Maykin freaked out, and Yuria inched away.
I was being sincerely concerned—why this reaction?
Girls this age are impossible to understand.
As I shook my head, the hamster flailed its tiny arms frantically and cried out.
Chiiip! Chiiik! Chiiip...!
Mana burst from its small body. The moment it closed and opened its eyes, flesh tones filled my vision.
Squish.
"Eek?!"
"Oops."
The heavy weight on my hand that had held the hamster moments ago. The sensation of fingers sinking into soft flesh.
Yes. Naked Maykin was crouched on my palm, butt planted firmly.
...Well, her clothes were still scattered on the floor, so it was inevitable.
I nodded and carefully set her down.
"Put some clothes on first."
I closed the door and stepped out briefly. Lifting my head at the stares from around, I saw:
Creeeak. Thud!
Female students who had peeked out scattered in a panic.
That's when I realized how I must have looked.
A man barging into the girls' dorm wielding power and official business, brazenly toying with his sister's roommate.
"Wait."
Wondering if it was that shocking, I tilted my head—then it hit me.
"Ah."
What was normal in House Zahav wasn't outside it.
...Was the sole reason my playboy antics always failed just the House Zahav average?
It was a deeply thought-provoking moment.
A short time later. Ignoring the sweltering southern heat, she was wrapped head to toe in a blanket, even Yuria keeping her distance in disbelief...
Anyway, the calmed Maykin spoke in a small voice.
"Master... I mean, Grand Duke Ignatus's request to Grand Duke Zahav is simple."
"What is it? No matter how I think, it can't be worth a million gold."
"He wants help making Dragon Tooth Soldiers."
"...Dragon Tooth Soldiers?"
Blinking at the unfamiliar term, Maykin explained.
"Ah, Dragon Tooth Soldiers are top-grade golems made periodically from Master's shed scales or teeth. In the west, where there are plenty of mages but few knights to protect them, it's key tech for holding the front lines."
"Makes sense. Grand Duke Ignatus is a territory lord and Magic Tower Master... but I hear he doesn't command personal loyalty, so it's natural."
With grand duke status, he could build a castle like Zahav if needed, swear fealty from nearby lands, and raise knights with honor as bait.
But Ignatus chose differently.
He built a magic tower to maximize his dragon race's strengths, revised his visions for human comprehension, and trained mages.
The reason was simple.
After subjugating the Tragedy God Tragodea, unable to fully kill a god, it was split into four calamities, each borne by one of the four grand dukes.
While House Zahav in the south managed dungeons and bore the duty of containing most of Tragodea's former monstrous army.
Ignatus in the west bore the duty of suppressing the Death Dragon Mortheus—who betrayed his kin out of fear of death and sided with Tragodea—and his undead horde.
I didn't know the full details, but he judged that raising high-level mages was more important than balanced forces, so he built the tower.
Or perhaps, as Maykin said, whether Dragon Tooth Soldiers or something else, he thought replacing decent knights with some method was more efficient.
Anyway, I got the reason. Like how Zahav, weakened by successor strife and struggling with dungeons, sought imperial aid through Cornelius.
Ignatus must have hit a snag blocking the undead as before and asked for my help.
Maykin eyed me nervously. I grinned at her.
"Good. As a grand duke house ourselves, we're not ignorant of such worries—we can help anytime. But specifically, what and how? I'm no mage. I know how to kill them, but not how to make Dragon Tooth Soldiers."
"Eek! I-if I'm done here...!"
"...That was a joke. I only kill mages trying to kill me or black mages."
"R-really...?"
Despite human form, she peeked cautiously from the blanket, glancing around warily.
After a while, Maykin spoke in a slightly relaxed voice.
"We-well... Master and the senior disciples will handle making Dragon Tooth Soldiers anyway. What the west needs isn't the tech to make them, but materials for stronger ones. So..."
"So?"
"It's just..."
"Don't beat around the bush—spit it out."
"Ugh. I want to, but..."
Frustrated by her hemming and hawing, I furrowed my brow slightly.
Somehow sensing it, Maykin shrieked like she was possessed.
"W-we need Grand Duke Zahav's baby batter! Please bestow the grand duke's baby batter filled with solar mana!"
"...Huh?"
Blinking in disbelief at what I'd heard, Yuria shot up and shook Maykin's blanket vigorously.
"I trusted you! I trusted you...! Liar Maykin! We wouldn't sell Oppa's baby batter for a million gold!"
"Heeeek!"
Yuria's cry of betrayal overlapped with Maykin's scream.
The next morning.
A truly scandalous rumor began circulating among academy students.
Enoch, the new grand duke of Zahav.
He'd stormed the girls' dorm in broad daylight, forcibly toyed with a poor mage.
And succeeded in corrupting and training her in under 30 minutes, making her beg for his baby batter herself.
Enoch, preparing to head west, heard the rumor and nodded.
"Should I think positive?"
Anyway, my first playboy reputation built—great!
...I felt a bit down.