“Yelp! Yip! Meow…”
Slowly suffocating to death, another Iron Wolf. I whispered softly to its pitiful cries.
“Don’t worry. You’re not dying; you’re just living with me.”
What would I even do with the hide? I’d just blow it all on gacha anyway. Obviously, the most common drop would be Mana Herbs.
Thanks to the Gluttonous Stomach, I’m devouring all the Mana Herbs to grow my mana pool, so it’s not entirely wrong to say this guy is practically a half Mana Herb…
“Ugh. This feels gross.”
It looked like I was foreseeing my own gacha explosion. With a gloomy heart, I focused a bit harder on the weak flame.
Skills obtained from gacha allow you to skip efforts that would normally take ages to accumulate.
With the specification boosts for casting, even minimal related knowledge is inscribed directly into your body.
I definitely appreciate the stat boosts…but anyway, since it’s a ‘skill,’ I believe its true value lies in the knowledge part.
For example, this weak flame I’m currently using.
It’s a very simple magic that can be called basic magic. Is that why even the Mage Tower, which wants to monopolize magic, can’t stop it from spreading here and there?
But can the weak flame they learned be truly the same as what I’m using?
They claimed the gacha system is the same, but there are a few points that seem curious.
In the Pan Continent, the weak flame is just a spell that adds fire. Its power is trivial, and it’s impossible to manipulate its form.
You can increase the output a bit by adding mana, but if you go beyond a certain limit, the structure of the magic itself collapses, so I agree with the first statement.
I haven’t tested it myself since my mana is not that abundant, but the knowledge I received mentioned something similar.
However, then there’s the statement about not being able to manipulate its form, and that makes me tilt my head.
No matter how much I dig into my brain, I can’t find any such information. If I just put in a little effort, it seems like I could make it work.
I decided to give it a try.
…And I succeeded.
“Eh?”
Instead of scorching the whole nose of the Iron Wolf, I blinked at the flames that split into two, blocking only its nostrils.
I was a bit nervous because I wasn’t using the skill with the usual click sensation, but…
It turned out to be just the same. It worked simply because I tried.
“Why is this working?”
No, wait. Thinking about it, it might be natural. The pickpocket skill wasn’t just sneaking away a wallet; it also allowed me to disarm someone face-to-face, right?
Smirking, I returned the flame to its original form. I think transforming it takes a bit more mana.
More importantly, even if the Iron Wolf was suffering, the speed at which it was losing energy had slowed down.
The heat must be getting transmitted deeper, but the smoke that burns its flesh had decreased, reducing the suffocation’s efficiency.
Only after squeezing all my little mana until just before my exhaustion did I manage to take down the Iron Wolf.
“Phew… Please, Lydia!”
“…That’s strange. I was the one who hired Jonah as my porter.”
Lydia sulked, pouting her lips in dissatisfaction. But her body was diligently slashing open the belly of the Iron Wolf with her aura.
Well, there was also Ellie’s request in the middle, and Lydia had gotten quite into training me, but… this was supposed to be a trial period for a porter.
The logic was that I should be at least at level two to do porter work properly.
At first, I had no idea what that meant, but now that I’ve rolled around on the first floor myself, I understand.
At the very least, I shouldn’t poke unnecessary traps that cause problems, and I should be able to manage loot and have the stamina to carry all sorts of gear.
In other words, I’m currently too weak to serve as Lydia’s porter.
“Waaah.”
“You can’t catch something like the Iron Wolf with a ‘waaah’.”
Shrugging at Lydia’s jab, I began to finish up the partially skinned Iron Wolf.
Peeling off the hide was tough, and since I hadn’t learned it properly, there were many damaged parts…
But even if I recover half, that’s 40 copper. Or I could use it to make my armor. The leather armor I’m wearing now is a cheap beginner’s adventurer set.
If I had armor made of Iron Wolf hide, I could fight a bit more actively on the first floor.
Though it’s a bit tattered, I looked at the skin I managed to peel off with satisfaction and tied it atop my bag.
Since I already had two Iron Wolf hides, it formed a stacked three-layer. Thinking of how all this is money made me feel warm inside.
“Hehe. Today’s meat side dish is ready!”
“Don’t you eat meat every dinner? Ellie always has meat for every meal.”
“I am currently being dominated by Ellie.”
“…That sounds like a strange phrase. What’s ‘dominated’?”
“Don’t you know ‘dominated’? It’s short for being raised and then eaten.”
“That’s a curious term. …But to me, it seems like Ellie is the one being eaten rather than the one doing the eating.”
“Well, then it becomes ‘reverse domination.’ I like either side.”
The concept of domination has a romance…!
For proof, digging through all kinds of creative works often reveals sparks of domination flavor.
These include Theseus kidnapping Helene, the tall uncle, “You’re a student, and I’m your teacher,” “The Tale of Genji,” “Princess Maker,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and so on…
The important thing is that from ancient Greece through the Middle Ages to modern times, countless people have handled the element of domination regardless of east or west.
While there might be controversies in reality, in terms of romance, there’s no denying its validity.
“What do you think Ellie would like? She doesn’t seem brave enough to touch my side, so it’s reverse domination, right?”
“I really don’t want to know Ellie’s preferences. Especially with her in front of me.”
“Hmm. That definitely puts me in a tricky position regardless of how I respond. My thoughts were shallow. Then what about you, Lydia?”
“…You’re asking me?”
Lydia seemed taken aback. I grinned and asked her.
“Yes, Lydia. It’s definitely you I’m talking about. You clearly said you wanted to use me as a porter, but I’m too weak now, so you’d grow me to level two and carry me around. Isn’t that domination?”
I slipped past the neatly organized bag and stuck to Lydia’s side.
“Surely, you aren’t going to say no, right, Lydia?”
“I-I didn’t do anything!”
“You didn’t do anything? Under the pretext of ‘training’ me, you’ve given me equipment, taught me how to fight, followed me around to make sure I don’t get hurt in the labyrinth… You also enforce a so-called normal life on me, right?”
“…Enforce? No, I just…”
“I know. That it wasn’t your intention. I merely used the word ‘enforce’ because I couldn’t think of a better one. It’s all born from goodwill, wanting what’s best for me.”
Chuckling, I said this and lightly placed my hand over Lydia’s.
“However, what I want to say is this: happiness doesn’t require one to live a normal life. Even the most twisted people can lead a somewhat decent life.”
“…….”
Lydia, who seemed surprised by my sudden interjection, couldn’t manage a response.
She looked like she was taking it quite serious… Of course, I meant every word, but that was merely a build-up for what I really wanted to say.
I gently tightened my grasp on Lydia’s hand.
“So, please take responsibility.”
“…What?”
“If you’re going to make me into your ideal type, you better take responsibility. I mean, raise me properly and don’t abandon me.”
“But Ellie… I never intended that in the first place…”
Normally, Lydia would sharply cut through and dismiss comments like ‘nonsense’ or ‘difficult,’ but today, her reactions seem sharper.
Maybe that’s why. The playful spirit surged, and I found myself saying things I normally wouldn’t.
“Do you know what, Lydia?”
“…What is it?”
“In knightly romance, affairs are a fantasy.”
“That, that’s…!”
Knight literature. The kind we commonly associate with wandering knights roaming about defeating evil and courting ladies… Or in this case, gentlefolk. There’s a story of someone bonding with the other in the Pan Continent.
Due to the nature of such literature, many of them touch upon married men…
“Domination is a fantasy. Affairs are a fantasy. So doesn’t combining both into dominant affairs become the fantasy of all fantasies?”
“Fantasy…”
I whispered softly into Lydia’s ear, who had stiffened, wondering what sort of imagery was running through her head.
“Don’t you want it? The fantasy.”
“……!”
Lydia’s eyes widened. But perhaps the stimulation was too strong. The more sane Lydia suddenly glared at me and flicked my forehead.
Thwack!
“Greeeh!”
“Joking like that is forbidden. Now hurry up and pack your things. We have to move to the next area.”
As Lydia turned her back to me, it was astonishing that even though she was facing away, her curves were visible.
Goodness…
Pretending to rub my forehead where she hit me, I couldn’t help but focus on the rare view before me.
“I want to, but… This bag is too heavy for me to carry.”
“Hmm?”
“I already caught three Iron Wolves, right? The weight of the hides is no joke.”
The Iron Wolf boasts a size akin to an ox. Naturally, the hides are just as big and heavy.
“Could you at least carry half for me, Lydia? I promise I won’t hunt anymore and just go straight back.”
“…I don’t even know who’s the porter here.”
Despite grumbling, Lydia helped carry part of the load.
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