Chapter 190: Skins are a Serious Matter (5)
Chapter 190: Skins are a Serious Matter (5)
Nero had come.
Even though I, the Young Lord of Fermaton, was the one who made the offer, she honestly didn't have to show up.
After all, she was a Perfect Maid.
She was a flawless professional with enough talent to choose her own master.
So, I truly didn't think she would come to my office. Given my reputation and her distaste for anything lewd, I figured she’d find working in my territory difficult in many ways.
And yet...
"I believe this is the first time I've seen you smile."
"I am fond of milk tea."
"I'm glad we have something in common. Ah, well, this Mana Milk is..."
"You mentioned it was made by milking succubi, correct?"
Nero held the cup with both hands and took a light sip.
"...It is sweet. It possesses the pure sweetness of milk tea without any aphrodisiac components to trigger sexual excitement. It is quite remarkable, Young Lord."
"I-is that so?"
As someone who enjoyed modern milk tea, I felt like I was only just catching up to my old standards, but Nero seemed to genuinely like it.
"I'm glad. I'm planning to refine it further and find a way to package it in containers for easy distribution."
"Milk tea in containers...?"
"For now, glass bottles. But refrigeration is difficult, and long-distance transport is a challenge. I'm looking for something that can handle both."
It was easy for me to just say "milk tea," but the common folk couldn't enjoy it. Black tea was expensive, and once you factored in the milk, honey, or sugar, the price skyrocketed.
I hoped for a day when milk tea could be enjoyed as easily as canned coffee.
Why milk tea, specifically? Because I liked it.
With the heart of a dictator who wanted his personal favorites to spread across the world, I was developing specialized storage containers based on my own desires.
"Want to see one? Hmm?"
"Have you succeeded in the development?"
"I have. Surprisingly... it's this."
I had one successful prototype.
"Ah."
"Is something the matter?"
"...The shape is a bit suggestive. Is that alright?"
"Hmm."
Nero frowned for a moment, but then spoke.
"It is fine. I am already well aware of what kind of person you are, Young Lord."
"Well, that’s a relief then. Amy. Bring one of the milk teas in my specialized container."
"Which container should I bring, sir?"
"Um... the Hania one."
"I will bring it immediately."
Amy left the room and returned shortly with an object.
It was a glass bottle shaped like a breast, with milk tea sloshing inside. To the naked eye, it looked like a glass bottle, but it was actually a 'Breast-Shaped Magic Stone.'
"This is...?"
"I put the milk tea inside the magic stone. I inscribed a magic circle on the inner lining to block heat for insulation, then sealed it with an airtight plug."
What Amy brought was the Hania bottle—a Breast-Shaped Magic Stone modeled exactly after Yurdias’s chest.
"As long as the mana doesn't run out, the contents won't get lukewarm even if left in a cold environment."
In reality, this was a magic stone meant to store mana. These Breast-Shaped Magic Stones were being sold as high-priced contraband in the Kingdom and the Empire, raking in massive profits. They were currently only circulating in the underworld, but eventually, they would find their way into the royal and imperial families.
My goal was to milk that market for as much gold and cash as possible before that happened.
Putting milk tea in a Breast-Shaped Magic Stone was originally just a toy I made because I wanted to stick a straw into a bottle shaped like my knights' breasts and slurp up milk tea like it was breast milk.
I should have made at least one normal-looking bottle if I knew this would happen.
Ah.
Ruji Fermaton.
Because I had linked everything to sex to build my image, I couldn't conduct favorable negotiations with someone who wasn't a fan of the subject.
Reflect on your actions, past Ruji Fermaton. You should have at least made something that would allow you to cosplay as a normal human being.
—Actually, no. If I did that, people would see it and say, "As expected, Ruji Fermaton’s madness was fake."
"...Ugh."
"What is the matter?"
"Nothing. I just suddenly felt a bit embarrassed that I was the one who created this."
I pushed the Breast-Shaped Magic Stone to the side.
"...If I change the shape of the container, I can send it anywhere. It would be great to have a magical tool that keeps the internal temperature cold as long as mana is supplied, even during long-distance travel."
Distribution would be much easier if I had something like a refrigerated truck. I might not be able to see the world outside Fermaton, but the people living in that world would surely praise Fermaton as they drank the milk tea I sent them.
I might not be able to make carbonated drinks, but I could at least make milk tea for everyone. All for the day when everyone on this continent shouts "Long live Ruji Fermaton" while sipping their tea.
"Young Lord."
Nero pointed at the Breast-Shaped Magic Stone with a serious expression and a grave voice.
"Does the liquid inside maintain its temperature, or does it simply keep getting colder?"
"...If I had to describe it, I'd call it 'insulation.' Hot things stay hot, and cold things stay cold. It's designed so that it doesn't cool down or get lukewarm when left outside."
"Does it truly stay cold even after time passes?"
"Of course. The temperature is maintained until the mana is completely exhausted. The magic was specifically designed to preserve the temperature it had when it was first poured in."
In that sense, you could call it a 'thermos'...
"...Wait."
Come to think of it.
Isn't this a pretty incredible invention?
"Nero. I've realized I need you even more now."
I reached out toward Nero.
"In business, you can't always achieve great results with just one perspective. You need to look from different angles. You've presented me with a new viewpoint."
Things that were common sense to me as a modern person. Things that those inside Fermaton took for granted. To apply those things elsewhere, I needed talent that could see them through a fresh lens.
"Nero. I want you to be my 'Seiso.'"
"...Seiso?"
"Yes. Seiso."
What is Seiso? It is the antithesis of lewdness.
Pure white.
A nobility like a single flower.
Untainted innocence.
If I had to pick the most "pure" woman among those in the Fermaton territory right now, I would choose Nero without hesitation. It had nothing to do with whether she’d had sex or not.
Astarotte, who was once the closest to being pure, had become a Sex Queen—no, a Succubus Queen. Charlotte, the next candidate, was busy practicing footjobs.
Nero was the only woman in the sex-drenched Fermaton Castle who could be proudly presented to an all-ages audience. She was the only one to whom the word "modesty" could be applied amidst the madness of the curse.
And perhaps, when the "time" came, she would be the kind of woman who would reveal a hint of hidden lewdness only to me.
Girls like this usually have the most degenerate true natures.
I’d seen plenty of adult art featuring stone-faced sex, ejaculation management with a look of contempt, or Femdom play where she treated a man like a slave.
But you never really know until you actually put your cock in. Like Charlotte, the hurdle might look high, but once you clear it, she might be the one saying, "Let's work harder for the sake of our sex life."
Wasn't she supposed to hate lewd things?
Of course. She hated "women" who were lewd and obscene at all hours of the day. She had probably been tormented by such women incessantly.
"Nero."
I turned my extended hand and offered it to her as if for a handshake.
"Won't you work at Fermaton Castle? I'll pay you generously."
"...The pay is fine. What I am curious about is the 'censorship' you mentioned outside."
"Ugh."
So she was interested in censorship. As expected of a woman who hated lewdness, she wanted to control it by any means necessary.
"If you see our censorship, you'll be seeing the dark underbelly of Fermaton, so I can't just let it slide. I can show you on the condition that you either sign a secrecy oath or agree to work in Fermaton. Is that acceptable?"
"If the censorship is satisfactory, I will comply."
That was unexpected. I didn't think she’d be this overtly curious about censorship.
But who was I?
I am Ruji Fermaton.
A man who lived through all sorts of censorship, unable to enjoy adult content as an adult should. I might not know how to bypass censorship, but I knew how to apply it better than anyone.
Everyone has to experience it to truly understand.
"First, look at this. Amy, bring that necklace."
"Here it is."
Amy produced the item I wanted instantly, and I placed the Bitch Collar in front of Nero.
"This is an item that allows me to forcibly explode the sexual desire of the wearer."
I explained the functions of the Bitch Collar to Nero. She frowned, but her reaction showed significant interest.
"An item that puts a woman in a constant state of heat just by wearing it... Intriguing. However, this doesn't seem to have much to do with the 'censorship' you mentioned, Young Lord."
"No, no. We don't use it much in Fermaton, but the Bitch Collar has this function."
If a parameter can go all the way to the right, it can also go all the way to the left.
"The Bitch Collar makes a woman go mad with lust. Sensitivity times fifty. That sort of thing. But what if the opposite were possible?"
"...Pardon?"
It was just like the difference between big breasts and small breasts.
"Sensitivity, 5%."
I would take the sexual sensations.
"If you invert the Bitch Collar, it becomes a Wooden Collar."
It drops the sexual sensations the human body can feel to the absolute minimum.
"It reduces sexual sensitivity to near zero, extinguishing all sexual excitement. This is the other power of the Bitch Collar."
Turning a woman into a block of wood.
"Control over sexual desire."