The Alpha Male Breeder (7)
The twin horns rising from either side of her head. The black hair cascading down like a waterfall. And those eyes that seemed to look down on everything, as if she stood at the very pinnacle of this world. Melania de Umbra looked exactly the same as the day I first met her.
Throb—!
Calm down… The moment I saw her, blood rushed through me so violently it felt like my cock might get hard any second. But I was still an Alpha Male who hadn’t fully adapted to this other world. Right now, I was still weaker than Melania… so for the time being, I lowered my head.
“It’s been a while, Lady Melania.”
“Aah… you insolent human. Enough with the pointless chatter. You must have a reason for requesting an audience with me.”
“Then I’ll get straight to the point. I know how to prevent the Black Death.”
“…….”
Melania simply stared down at me, that meaningful smile never leaving her lips. She stayed silent for a moment, observing me carefully.
“How bold. You’re different from the other otherworlders. Those who’ve tasted my magic even once become extremely cautious about even opening their mouths, yet you stand there so confidently. Do you have something to rely on?”
Click. Clack. The sound of her high heels striking the stairs echoed sharply. Melania slowly descended until she stood before me. Her finger traced up from my navel, rising steadily before lifting my chin.
“Speak. What is it you desire?”
“I wish to become the supervisor in charge of preventing the Black Death myself.”
“Aha. So you crave power as well?”
What an arrogant bitch. Once I get used to this world, I’ll pin her beneath me and make her cry out. But for now, I had to keep my head down. The ones ruling this world were dragons like her, after all.
“Rather than power, I simply wish to be of service by your side, Lady Melania.”
“Hmm…? For someone who called me nothing but a female on our first meeting, you’ve become surprisingly obedient.”
“At the time, I didn’t realize beings as magnificent as the dragons existed in this world, so I thought you were the same as any other woman.”
“Other women? What do you mean by that?”
“Haven’t you seen them? How those females scream in what looks like pure bliss the moment breeding begins, even though they were crying just before. But dragons like yourself are clearly on a different level from such creatures, aren’t you?”
Different level, my ass. It was pure bullshit. But if it would put Melania in a good mood, I could spout as much flattery as needed.
“Indeed. This body is different from mere humans. Hehe. I like it. Very well. I shall entrust this important duty to you. You need not perform your duties as a breeder for the time being.”
“Thank you. I will do my utmost to be of help to you, Lady Melania!”
“Good. You may leave now.”
She had clearly dismissed me, yet I remained standing, gazing at Melania.
“Do you have something more to say?”
“Yes… I would like you to improve the terrible conditions of the breeding grounds.”
At my words, Melania’s face began to twist.
“Ha… You’re not about to start spouting nonsense about human rights like the other otherworlders, are you?”
These insane bastards… Who the hell brought up human rights here without reading the room? I cursed the stupid predecessors who had been summoned before me and shook my head.
“That’s not what I mean. I wanted to talk about the problem of pregnant women still being sent into the breeding chamber. Even though there’s an easy way to confirm pregnancy, sending pregnant women into the breeding chamber is extremely inefficient.”
“Ha… Hahaha… How insolent, human?”
“Guh…!!”
My body floated into the air. Suspended helplessly as if someone had grabbed me by the throat, I couldn’t help but let out a pained groan.
“There are few mages in this territory. Moreover, there isn’t a single mage with a high enough circle to detect pregnancy. The only one capable would be me. Do you think it’s easy for me to use magic for the sake of you humans? You claim to know a way to prevent the Black Death, but who knows? You might simply be spouting whatever nonsense comes to mind just to avoid your duties as a breeder. Well? Tell me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t snap your neck right here and now.”
“Kehk…”
Thanks to the time I’d spent reading books in the study and talking with Erika, I already understood just how pathetic this territory truly was. The population was two hundred thousand, but that was the entire territory combined. The castle, the city, and all the villages together made up that number… and a recent recount showed that twenty thousand had died from the Black Death, reducing it to around one hundred and eighty thousand. Still, even a mere barony could have a city of two hundred thousand, so for an entire territory, two hundred thousand wasn’t actually that impressive.
In a territory like this, of course there wouldn’t be any high-circle mages. The magic used to detect pregnancy was an extremely complex and mana-intensive high-level spell, after all. That was why I had deliberately spoken as if it were easy, knowing full well it would anger Melania.
“Magic…? There’s a way to tell without using magic at all…”
I forced the words out in a strained voice, as if in terrible pain, pretending I had no idea what she was talking about.
Thud—!
“Haa… Haa…”
“What did you just say?”
On Melania’s face as she looked at me, I could see both bewilderment and the faintest trace of embarrassment. I had intentionally provoked her anger, but it was she who had flown into a rage without hearing me out until the end. In the end, this was exactly what I had led her into.
Preventing the Black Death would require enormous capital and time. But if the pregnancy test method I was about to explain was real, she would be willing to endure that much investment.
“You can confirm pregnancy using only wheat and barley. The accuracy is quite high—around seventy to eighty percent.”
“What? You can confirm it with nothing but wheat and barley? Human… if this is merely a lie to save your own skin…”
And since wheat and barley were staple crops in this world, they would be easy to obtain.
“You may have my neck if I’m wrong.”
“…If you are mistaken, I will kill you.”
Looking somewhat embarrassed, Melania turned with another click of her heels and returned to her chair.
She really would have killed me.
From beneath her short skirt, I caught a glimpse of the underside of her ass. If I had been even a little shorter, I might have seen not only that perfect curve but even the color of the panties she wore.
Wellington Baron, was it? What a waste for a guy like him to see a view like this.
The thought that a Beta Male named Wellington had probably witnessed this sight many times made my insides twist with disgust. That beautiful body was far too precious to be drooled over by mere Beta Males.
“You may leave now.”
“Yes.”
I could have offered a few more pieces of knowledge for the sake of this territory, but now wasn’t the time. First, I needed to earn Melania’s trust with the pregnancy test and the Black Death prevention measures. Those two things had to come first.
*
“You bastard! What exactly did you say to Lady Melania?! How dare an otherworlder like you act so arrogantly?!”
The moment I stepped outside, the agitated Wellington shouted at me.
What a pathetic territory.
No matter what the official lord was, the true ruler of this land was Melania de Umbra. Yet here he was, yelling right in front of the door where she resided about something that had already been settled. Once again, I felt like I understood exactly why this territory was in such a sorry state. The problem was this Baron Wellington, who didn’t know his place and kept causing a scene, and Melania, who allowed him to do so.
This is exactly why Beta Males and females can’t be trusted.
I shook my head and tried to walk past Wellington, ignoring him completely. It might have seemed rude in front of the lord, but I didn’t care. Wellington was nothing more than a powerless figurehead. I had received permission directly from Melania herself. Why should I bother trying to look good in front of him?
“You—!! Stop right there!! How dare you toy with Lady Melania with that silver tongue of yours!!”
“Baron Wellington. I believe I told you before. Know your place and act accordingly.”
Perhaps because Wellington continued to rage, Melania eventually opened the door and appeared, unable to ignore it any longer.
“L-Lady Melania…”
“Do you truly believe I am so incompetent that I cannot see through a mere human’s lies?”
Wellington clutched the nose he had paid a priest a fortune to reattach. At this rate, it looked like it would get ripped off again.
“Lady Melania. I beg you to forgive my father. However, this otherworlder disrespected him first. He could have at least offered a simple greeting, yet he tried to walk right past us. For that reason, I challenge him to a duel.”
“Brother! Alpha is someone Lady Melania has entrusted with an important duty. He might truly possess a method to prevent the Black Death. And you want to duel him?”
“Hmph! My noble honor has been insulted! Besides, if he has any sense, he’ll refuse. Even if he does, I can still salvage my honor, so isn’t that fortunate?”
A blonde-haired, annoyingly handsome knight and Ertia Bicken—the woman I had fucked not long ago—began arguing.
What? She was the lord’s daughter?
I had assumed she was just the daughter of some insignificant barony without any real power, but it seemed Ertia Bicken was more important than I thought. She was the daughter of Wellington, the master of this territory.
“You there. Speak quickly. Will you accept the duel? Surely a man wouldn’t run away, would he?”
The blonde Beta Male provoked me, clearly worried I might try to flee.
“Alpha. There’s no need to listen to my brother. This is nothing more than empty formalities. Just refuse politely and leave.”
Standing beside him, Ertia looked at me with desperate eyes, clearly hoping I would reject the duel. But why the hell should I run away like some pathetic dog refusing a fight?
“A duel… Sounds good to me.”
“Hahaha… You’re a real man. Follow me. We’ll head to the training grounds behind the castle.”
“Wait. Human. It seems you accepted without knowing what you’re getting into. Reject it now while you still can. That man is a Sword Expert of the Highest Rank.”
A Sword Expert of the Highest Rank, huh. From what I’d read in the books, someone at that level could move in ways that surpassed human limits… and this Beta Male had reached such a realm?
“It’s fine.”
Even if he was a Sword Expert of the Highest Rank, I didn’t think I would lose. I had already toyed with Erika—a Mid-rank Sword Expert—using nothing but my physical abilities before knocking her out with a single blow. Even if he was two ranks higher, I doubted the result would change. Besides, I was an Alpha Male and he was nothing but a Beta Male. I had lost to Melania because she was a dragon who had transcended humanity, but within the category of human, I didn’t believe I could possibly lose.
*
A crowd of knights and castle staff had gathered at the training grounds. It had been a long time since a real duel rather than simple sparring had taken place, so everyone had come to watch with great anticipation.
“Alpha… Why on earth…!!”
Erika watched both sides with anxiety rather than excitement. On one side stood Alex Bicken, the eldest son of Baron Wellington and a Sword Expert of the Highest Rank. On the other was Alpha, an otherworlder who had been summoned only recently.
“D-Damn it… Why did you accept the duel…!”
“Ertia. W-Why are those two fighting?”
“I don’t know either. Could you please remove that filthy hand from my shoulder?”
Ertia was still treating her coldly, but Erika seemed unable to rest until she understood what was happening.
“What else could it be? My father is using my brother to vent his pathetic jealousy. How many times has he harassed men that Lady Melania showed even the slightest interest in?”
“Ugh…”
Erika felt as if the sky itself was collapsing. A duel. A mutual, consensual act between nobles to defend their honor through combat. It would not end until one side died or surrendered. The act itself was so simple that, once both parties agreed, not even dragons would forcibly intervene. It was an unwritten rule not to interfere in duels held to protect noble honor. Though it was a rule among humans, the dragons respected this particular custom. If they simply crushed humans with raw power, humans would eventually rebel. Allowing them to follow their own customs to a reasonable degree helped in governing the territory.
Of course, Melania watched the duel with an expression that clearly said she found it displeasing, brushing her hair back behind her horns.
Vrrrrm—!
Since this was a real duel and not mere sparring, Alex drew his real sword and immediately summoned his Aura—the symbol of a Sword Expert of the Highest Rank. It was far more condensed and powerful than the Aura Erika had produced as a Mid-rank.
“Die!”
No longer hiding his intent to kill, Alex charged forward with all his strength, determined not to let Alpha even have the chance to surrender.