[Character: Rudeus Greyrat] [Age: 18] [Health: 1000, mana: 1000000, strength: 500] Emotion Points: 9530880 Status: [God Rank blessing: God-Caressed Cheeks] Effect: Greatly enhances natural good looks and greatly increases the rate at which affection is gained from the opposite sex. [God Rank blessing: God-Gushing Tear Glands] Effect: Increases mana recovery rate by 10000%
Time flew, and several years passed in the blink of an eye.
Over those years, Rudeus exchanged letters every six months with Roxy and Sylphie, who were far away.
He still hadn't taught them how to summon Wind Letter Spirits, though, because he felt the time wasn't right yet.
As his fame spread across the continent and grew more outlandish, his Emotion Points shot up like a rocket, climbing until they were just shy of ten million!
With time on his hands, he casually browsed the deepest reaches of the System Shop.
Good grief, the prices of those legendary "divine artifacts" had enough zeros to make his head spin: a billion... ten billion...
"Uh... I'll be going. Sorry to bother you."
He silently rolled his eyes.
Divine artifacts weren't all that impressive anyway. It wasn't that he couldn't afford them; he just didn't need them, that was all~
Damn system, you profiteer!!
Of course, those past two years hadn't gone to waste.
Under his guidance, with his "advanced theories,"
Eris had actually managed to create a Magic Sword Style secret technique!
For some reason, Eris had recently begun unconsciously incorporating certain dance movements into the sword techniques she developed.
Could it be because of that bottle of dance potion?
None of that mattered, though. Eris's first secret technique was truly dazzling.
He had shamelessly named it-
Crimson Lotus Waltz!
With that technique, Eris had undoubtedly reached Saint Rank in strength and strutted around the house every day.
As for Ghislaine, the Sword King who ordinarily knew only how to cut people down on instinct, after listening to his in-depth analysis of Touki!
She applied it to her subsequent training, and her Touki level naturally rose from Advanced Rank to Saint Rank. Her strength had already begun to brush against the supreme threshold of the "Sword God."
As for Rudeus himself...
Whenever he had time, he threw himself into studying this world's magic circles and runes, painstakingly working through his findings as if he were writing code and copying everything into his notebooks.
After several years, his results were remarkable!
The three thick manuscripts on the desk were the fruits of his labor:
The True Record of Myriad Magic Seals contained an extensive account of magic circle theory.
The Complete Book of Planar Spirit Summoning contained classifications and analyses of a vast number of summoning circles and runes.
The Magic Sword Style Sword Codex recorded his insights into training in the Magic Sword Style.
After years of accumulated study, he now had an exceptionally unique understanding of spirit summoning.
No exaggeration, no false modesty: if I wanted to, I could even use "mana code" to weave Ultraman into existence in this other world!
It felt like a veteran top-tier programmer developing a new piece of software.
Once you had a thorough grasp of the core logic behind the most fundamental code, the rest was practically effortless, easy to do at a moment's notice.
A well-configured computer could improve processing power, and the vast, inexhaustible supply of mana within him was the ultimate source of his confidence to look down on everything!
During this time, he had continually used the lessons of failure to work backward and deduce the correct combinations of runes.
For example, which rune adjusted a summon's body proportions, and which pattern could directly interfere with a life-form...
Which rune would directly change a summon's personality to tsundere or yandere...
The answers to all of these emerged from countless "major disasters."
Until I finally put down the last words of the Complete Book of Planar Spirit Summoning.
Without exaggeration, it was unquestionably the most comprehensive masterpiece on summoning on the continent.
Even an ordinary person with no talent and the combat power of a weakling could obtain it and become a top-tier summoner renowned throughout a region.
For that very reason, I added "special anti-theft barriers" on the level of curses to the title pages of all three books.
If anyone without my permission dared to force a peek,
the entire book would burn to ashes in an instant, along with the peeker's eyebrows!
He had therefore made several copies himself, just in case.
Also, as he grew older day by day...
He increasingly felt the effect of that blessing in his body growing stronger to an unreasonable degree.
It seemed to be because this body was nearly an adult...
The young maids in the mansion had been looking at him more and more strangely lately!
Whenever he walked down the corridor pretending to be serious, either one maid would seemingly pinch his cheek by accident, or another would blush and smack him on the butt from behind.
It left Rudeus inwardly wiping away sweat every day:
Boys really do have to damn well protect themselves when they're out and about!
Perhaps because of this, Eris's recent moods were like the eve of a storm.
That little vinegar jar could knock over several jars of jealousy in front of him in a single day, puffing out her cheeks and glaring at him all day long.
But she'd suddenly quieted down these past two days, which gave Rudeus the creeps-
Could that action-oriented young lady be secretly cooking up some mischief behind my back again?
"Master Rudeus... I... I have a request concerning magic..."
Just as I was letting my thoughts run wild, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind me, raspy, strained, and carrying a slightly unnatural, magnetic quality.
Rudeus turned around and looked at Ghislaine, who stood in the shadows.
"Well, this is a surprise. The sun must have risen in the west today."
His trademark gentle, harmless smile appeared on his face, but he couldn't help feeling secretly delighted:
Oh? Has this day finally come?
No wonder the mansion's been as quiet as a grave these past two days. Everyone's been secretly preparing a surprise for me.
Well~ whatever it is, I'm the one who gets to enjoy it and benefit in the end, hehe~
"Let's go... go to the magic classroom."
Without even waiting for Rudeus to say more, Ghislaine grabbed his wrist with her large, callused hand and half pulled, half dragged him outside.
"Hey, hey, slow down, Ghislaine. You're going to flatten the carpet..."
A moment later, Rudeus was dragged into the empty classroom.
"Go on, then. What did you want to ask?"
Rudeus folded his arms and looked at her, putting on an air of profundity.
But when Rudeus looked up, he saw Ghislaine's rugged cat ears twitching slightly, while her eyes darted wildly and uncertainly between the ceiling and the floor.
When had Ghislaine ever acted like such a dainty young woman before?
In the past, when she focused, her gaze had been so sharp it was as if she meant to swallow her prey whole and strip it alive.
"Um... well... I just wanted to see what Master Rudeus's Saint Rank magic is really like..."
"Saint Rank magic?"
Rudeus couldn't help laughing:
"There's far too much to choose from. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, lightning, ice, or compound magic? Which kind do you want to see?"
"Huh?!"
Ghislaine suddenly raised her one eye, which was full of disbelief. "
Rudeus... you've already mastered that much Saint Rank magic?"
"Naturally."
Rudeus raised his chin slightly, pleased with himself:
"Who do you think I am? To tell you the truth, I can even whip up Emperor Rank and God Rank magic by hand now~"
"Really?!"
Ghislaine's breathing grew noticeably heavier, her beastfolk admiration for the strong reaching its peak:
"Then... could you show me here?"
"Ahem, if I actually cast an Emperor Rank spell here..."
Rudeus pointed somewhat awkwardly at the floor beneath them:
"I'm afraid half the Asura Empire's territory would be wiped off the map."
"I see..."
For a moment, a kind of heated awkwardness settled over them.
After a while, Ghislaine tugged at the hem of her clothes, a little ill at ease, and broke the silence by making conversation again:
"Then... Rudeus, how far have you gotten in your Touki training?"
"Touki, huh? That stuff really is pretty difficult."
Rudeus shrugged and said:
"But thanks to you, I managed to scrape my way to Saint Rank a little while ago."
"I expect breaking through to King Rank in another few months won't be much of a problem."
"As expected of you, Rudeus... so cool!"
Perhaps it was because she was so excited.
As Ghislaine spoke, the thick, fluffy gray wolf tail behind her began wagging uncontrollably and wildly from side to side, making crisp pattering sounds.
It was a striking tail, fluffy and full of wildness, and it looked extremely nice to rub.
"Um... Ghislaine."
Rudeus swallowed silently, his gaze fixed firmly on the swaying tail.
"Hmm? What is it, Rudeus?"
"Actually, for all eighteen years of my life, I've always wondered what a beastfolk tail feels like..."
"Huh? But aren't you only eighteen?" Ghislaine asked, puzzled.
"That's true, so can I touch your tail?"
"Huh? My t-tail?!"
Ghislaine froze as if she'd been placed under an immobilization spell, looking somewhat at a loss.
She fell into an intensely conflicted struggle:
"My tail... might not be okay..."
"Why not? Just one touch~"
Not quite willing to give up, Rudeus took a step forward.
Ghislaine uncharacteristically turned her head away, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz and carrying an almost imperceptible tremor:
"Because... because it's too... too sensitive there... so no means no!"
"All right..."
Rudeus lowered his head in disappointment:
"Then what about your back muscles?"
"My back muscles are fine."
She answered so readily. What a contrast.
So I can rub anything except her tail?
Beastfolk really are a species with a peculiar logic.
"Then... Ghislaine, I'm really going to start touching you now, okay?"
Rudeus tentatively reached out both hands, his voice carrying a trace of nervousness he hadn't even noticed himself.
"Mm..."
"I'm really going to touch you now, okay?"
"..."
Ghislaine's silent compliance was his answer.
She obediently turned her back to Rudeus, bracing her muscular arms somewhat stiffly against a heavy mahogany classroom desk.
Because of this posture, the contours of her waist and hips, perfectly proportioned, full of explosive power yet retaining their feminine curves,
formed an almost criminally enticing arc beneath her skintight clothing.
Rudeus looked at the athletic body before him, sculpted as if from marble, and his throat went dry.
A heat rose steadily within him, and the air in the room seemed to freeze and grow warmer in an instant.
Rudeus slowly reached out, his palm finally pressing against the burning skin of her waist and abdomen, taut with tension-
Click-
Without warning, the heavy carved wooden door was shoved open.
"Lord Rudeus! It's time for your meal... Aaaaaah-!!"
The young maid who had come to summon him to dinner was still holding a tray at the doorway.
When she saw the frozen, visually striking pose inside the room, her whole face instantly turned so red it looked ready to drip.
With a piercing scream, she slammed the door shut with a bang at the fastest speed of her life.
A scramble of panicked, fleeing footsteps immediately sounded in the corridor.
The sudden scream was like a bucket of ice water, instantly dousing all the romantic tension in the air.
Rudeus snatched his hand back like lightning, and Ghislaine jerked upright as if shocked.
The atmosphere, which had nearly caught fire, cooled completely after that interruption.
"...Let's go to the dining hall."
"...Mm."
A minute later, the two walked out of the classroom side by side, their faces blank and their eyes fixed straight ahead.
Putting on the saintly air of people who had just been engaged in a pure and profound academic discussion, they headed for the dining hall together.
If not for Ghislaine's beast ears, which were still trembling slightly, who could have guessed what had just happened?