Reincarnated as the Count's Plum Blossom Swordmaster
A low hum filled the air.
Mana flooded the walls of the bedroom in the Frucus mansion. Space rippled, and a circular portal took shape. Beyond it, I could see my own bedroom in the Tevra fief.
A warp gate.
The warp gate Yuria had been installing had finally come online.
Even with Yuria handling it, the installation had taken a long time. Unlike teleportation, warp-gate magic was an art lost to the distant past.
"A warp gate is closer to a magical tool than a spell," she explained. "Fit a mana stone into the base here and channel mana through it, and it activates."
Yuria stepped through the gate as if to demonstrate. From my bedroom in Tevra, she looked back at me.
"This warp gate thing… can you install one in other worlds? If we could set one up in reality, that would be huge."
"It would be difficult."
Yuria answered without a second's hesitation.
"Every world has different mana wavelengths and laws. You would need to rework the warp gate to match that world's rules. Even then… there are too many variables. The chance of failure is high."
"But you made this one. Doesn't that mean it's possible?"
"I didn't create this warp gate. I merely restored what little information remained in ancient grimoires, adapted to my own methods. This gate is built on the laws of this world."
"So applying a warp gate to another world is basically a no-go. Well, can't be helped."
I wasn't particularly disappointed. I already had spatial transfer scrolls, which were far more portable than a fixed warp gate.
"Yujin. Aren't you coming through?"
When I stayed put, Yuria tilted her head and asked. I grinned.
"I don't know. Suddenly I don't feel like crossing over. If there were something fun waiting on that side, maybe."
"Really…"
Yuria was quick on the uptake. She understood exactly what I wanted and smiled with a resigned air. Her hands had just begun to loosen her dress when the door to my Tevra bedroom burst open and a maid with long, dark blue-green hair appeared—Melissa.
"I felt a surge of mana, so I came to check… so you've finally finished the warp gate."
Melissa took in Yuria mid-undress and me watching from the other side of the portal with a rising erection, then let out a long sigh.
"You know this isn't the time."
"…Haha. It's always like this, isn't it?"
Looking sheepish, I stepped through the warp gate.
Yuria and I followed Melissa to the annex. A guest who had come looking for me three days earlier was currently staying there.
Melissa barged into the annex without knocking. A woman sitting on the sofa, eating expensive chocolate, saw me and shot to her feet. Red hair tied in twin tails swung with the motion.
"You're late! I've been waiting here for three whole days! Why are you only showing up now?!"
Her red eyes burned as she glared at me.
I looked her over and snorted.
Pretty face, short stature, A-cup chest. No—AA-cup. Practically flat.
Sharnel Gurchi.
One of the original heroines.
She and I had crossed paths at the academy before.
She stood about a hundred and fifty centimeters, but she felt even smaller than that. Petite as she was, she was older than me. Sharnel was the same age as Kyle.
She wore a black skirt and a white blouse. A black robe lay discarded in one corner of the room. The look was close to a Goldway Academy uniform.
Years had passed since we'd last met, and nothing about her appearance had changed.
…Her skill has, though. She's reached the level of an Archmage?
The growth was absurdly fast—until you remembered her master was the dragon Priscilla. Being a dragon's disciple, of course she had talent.
I sat in the chair Melissa had brought and faced Sharnel. She checked Yuria, clearly displeased by something, and dropped into her own seat.
"Sharnel Gurchi. Explain the situation."
"…It's a long story. Where's Kyle?"
"Kyle went west. They're short-handed out there."
By now he was probably on the battlefield, killing enemies with his one remaining arm. Sharnel clicked her tongue hard and crossed her legs. Her frame was so small it only looked ridiculous.
"The only one I can trust is Kyle… so why did Master send me to you and that maid…"
"Watch your mouth, Sharnel. I'm Count Frucus. And Yuria is my fiancée—soon to be my wife."
Melissa brought another chair and set it beside me. Yuria sat with composed grace. Melissa already acknowledged her as the lady of the house.
Sharnel was undeterred.
"I'm an Archmage."
Archmages received treatment equal to a count or higher. In times like these, with war sweeping the continent, they could even claim a marquisate.
"Which is why I'm letting this end with a warning. Just tell me what happened."
"…Are you going to help?"
"Did you come for help? With that attitude, I thought you were here to make demands."
Sharnel's face twisted. She started to shout, then seemed to grasp the situation and clamped her mouth shut. A vein stood out at her temple; it was almost funny.
"…After graduation, I followed Master."
"Priscilla, right? How is she doing?"
I thought of Priscilla and licked my lips. The memory of a dragon's pussy I'd tasted once sent blood surging into my cock.
"…Master has been sealed. I came to find you because… her last words were to seek help from you and Yuria."
"Priscilla is sealed?"
It sounded like nonsense, but Sharnel's serious face made it clear she wasn't joking.
"Start from the beginning. In detail."
"…After graduation, Master and I traveled all over the continent. Her goal was to find and destroy Demon's Gates."
Demon's Gates.
Also called Demon Gates—stones with the power to summon demonic beasts and demons from the Demon World.
I listened carefully. Priscilla had destroyed six Demon's Gates in total and had been locked in a long campaign against Panteum, the organization within the Demon Association that installed them.
"So Panteum got the better of Priscilla?"
It was hard to believe.
Priscilla wasn't just any dragon. She was an Ancient Dragon—one of the strongest beings in this world.
"It wasn't only Panteum that attacked us. Leocio Chrysaor. That damned Red Dragon joined hands with the demons and ambushed Master! I managed to escape at the end thanks to her help, but Master…"
Tears welled in Sharnel's eyes. Watching her, I felt a flicker of doubt.
"You said Priscilla was sealed, not killed. Why seal her instead of finishing her off?"
"A sacrifice."
Yuria spoke before Sharnel could.
"One method of summoning a demon is a sacrificial ritual. They likely intend to offer Lady Priscilla as a living sacrifice to summon the Demon King."
"…You know a fair bit about demons. We have to rescue Master before they complete the Demon King summoning. Do you understand? If the Demon King is summoned, the middle realm is finished. Humanity will fall as slaves to the demons and suffer. So we have to save her as soon as possible!"
"No. There is time. This is not an ordinary demon—it is a ritual to summon the Demon King. Time, place, sacrifice, and rite must all align. From what I can see, there is at least half a year of leeway."
Yuria's cool assessment must have grated. Sharnel couldn't hold back and shot up from her chair.
"What do you know?!"
"I have researched demons for a long time. I have had ample opportunity. On the subject of demons, I know more than you."
"You—!"
Sharnel raised her mana. Her twin tails floated upward. The air turned scorching in an instant.
My breath grew tight; I frowned. Yuria flicked her right hand. Sharnel's mana vanished, and the air returned to normal.
Sharnel trembled, face pale with shock.
"H-how did you erase my magic in a single moment?!"
"It looked dangerous, so I removed it. Attempting a grand spell indoors… you must have lost your mind."
"I wasn't going to cast it! I was only trying to threaten you! No—more than that, what you just did… only Master can do that! Who the hell are you?!"
"Yuria Grace. Yujin's fiancée… and his maid."
Yuria smiled at me. I smiled back and kissed her cheek. A faint flush colored her face.
"Ah, this is so annoying!!"
Sharnel screeched.
"Mm. I find it annoying too."
Melissa chimed in from the side.
In any case, the explanation was finished. The sealed Priscilla was believed to be somewhere in the Cobalt Kingdom.
"…I think Master is in the Cobalt Kingdom's capital. In the royal castle."
"Why do you think that?"
"Leocio Chrysaor is Galissus Cobalt, the founding king of the Cobalt Kingdom. Master told me Leocio founded the kingdom himself and has ruled it from the shadows ever since."
"I see."
I nodded.
"But why do you assume I'll help you? All I've done is listen to the story."
Sharnel's pupils shook hard.
"You won't help…? Master told me to seek help from you and Yuria…! Right! Yuria! Help me! If you and I join forces—the one who subdued me in an instant—we can save Master without needing that bastard's help at all!"
"I refuse. I only listen to Yujin."
Yuria wrapped her arms around my right arm. I grinned at Sharnel. Her face was so red it looked ready to burst. She stared at me, then dropped to her knees on the floor.
"I-it's a crisis for the whole world! Help me! If Master dies and the Demon King is summoned, everything is over! I'm not doing this just for myself! Master will provide material compensation! She's a dragon who's lived a very long time! She's collected a fortune!"
"Your way of asking is all wrong."
Sharnel clenched her teeth.
"…Even if it isn't you, I can ask someone else. Kyle… Kyle would definitely grant my request."
"Heh. Your information's a bit slow. Kyle is a one-armed cripple. That arm-cripple is going to save Priscilla? Even a passing dog would laugh. Hahaha."
"Hehehe."
Yuria and I laughed together.
Sharnel's eyes went round.
"K-Kyle is an arm-cripple…? Th-that's impossible!"
"Do you think I'd lie to you over something this small? And Priscilla told you to seek help from me and Yuria. Are you going to ignore your master's words?"
"Kh…"
Sharnel hung her head.
Priscilla almost certainly wanted Yuria's power, not mine. But Yuria was mine—so to borrow that power, she needed my permission.
I stroked Yuria's hair and jerked my chin at Melissa. Melissa shook her head, then approached Sharnel and whispered in her ear. Whatever she heard made Sharnel bristle.
"Y-you want me to do that?! Have you lost your mind, Melissa?!"
"That is how one asks Master for help. If you don't want to, fine. Walk out of the mansion as you are. Remember—you're the one who needs this, Sharnel."
"Khh…"
Sharnel clenched her fists in frustration. I kept stroking Yuria's hair and waited for her decision.
Honestly, it wouldn't matter if she stormed out. I was going to save Priscilla either way.
Demon King or not, Priscilla was a woman I had marked. I wasn't going to let her die.
Sharnel seemed to steel herself.
She stripped completely, folded her clothes neatly, and set them on the floor. Naked as the day she was born, she slowly lowered her head to the floor at my feet—a somewhat clumsy nude dogeza.
Her chest was exactly as expected: flat as a board. Her pussy was a natural bare slit without a single hair. Unlike her chest, her hips were fairly developed. Her skin was flawless, without a single scar.
I set my foot on the crown of her red hair.
"Heh. Yes. That's how you ask. Now I feel a little more inclined to grant your request."
Sharnel was a troublesome woman.
Pretty face, but not my type. Still too good to hand off to anyone else.
Maybe I should grow her chest a bit. Her face-to-body proportions aren't bad… if her breasts were just a little bigger, she'd be decent.
Conveniently, I had just the right item for the job.