Kyou kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou!

“It failed!”

On the roof of some hotel in the city, Murata Ken pulls his head out of the murky water, while red and white koi fish swim around his knees.

Fishy water drips from his hair as he turns to Bob, sitting on a chair under an umbrella.

“How?!”

“This is the exact VTR[1].”

No one would have thought that the man wearing sungla.s.ses, c.o.c.king his head, and playfully speaking j.a.panese is the Maou controlling Earth.

But speaking of controlling, you could say it’s hard to compare between him and Bill Gates.

Leaving puddles of water on the dry cement, Murata stares at the plasma screen.

“d.a.m.n, I was so close to getting s.h.i.+buya there. As long as I can reach his soul or consciousness, the rest of it is my forte, by then I can use that to go to where he is. But… did you get it?”

“Mn, very clearly.”

Though the picture captured in the water is blurry, but Murata’s body was taken perfectly.

“For a midair garden full of floating stuff, this is a pretty clear shot.”

“Yeah.”

Shouri forces himself in between Bob and Murata, who are whispering to each other, with his forehead.

“But—If we really get to the other world through a dirty pool on top of a hotel, wouldn’t it be ludicrous if we caused the koi to continuously disappear? Only cute spot-billed ducks and their babies can start a journey from this sort of place, wasn’t it?”

Looking down from the bridge, s.h.i.+buya Shouri makes sarcastic comments while he stares at Bob’s hand.

Only because he really wants to know if his brother’s ‘special’ friend was telling the truth.

“It’s not a matter of the location, you know! JUNIOR, what matters is the timing.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me JUNIOR, I’m not your son… Waa!”

Halfway through the recording, the top half of Murata’s body disappears, and the one who yells is Shouri, from up on the bridge.

He grabs the red rails, shouting,

“H-he vanished! That’s too weird, hey!”

“You can pretend it’s supernatural photo and submit it, friend of my brother. But please don’t forget to block my eyes with black lines.

Murata looks fascinated as he points at the upside-down images.

“See, we got so many. But after this one, a force from the other side immediately pushes me back here. So forget bringing s.h.i.+buya back, I even felt the s.p.a.ce over here and over there colliding head-on, and both sides would bounce back to their original position. Otherwise, there would be a split second’s chance to catch up to him.”

Murata, who had instantaneously appeared in the image, disappears from waist up again.

Though this time it only lasts for a few seconds, and not too long later his entire body is floating on the surface.

“See? Because s.h.i.+buya’s existence isn’t very stable as it is, so sometimes I can feel it, and sometimes I can’t, I couldn’t get any clues at all that second time. What kind of place is he, exactly?”

“Probably somewhere maryoku can’t reach?”

“Obviously, otherwise I’d feel more spirited, maybe even full of life. And also, this is useless now too, because the power is too weak to bring him back.”

Murata takes the golden brooch off his chest as he says that.

After waving off the water on his gla.s.ses, he puts it on his palm and scrutinizes it closely.

“It wasn’t s.h.i.+buya’s to start with, so the attraction is rather weak. It might sound weird, saying it like this, but even if I follow his on-and-off trail, there’s not enough power to get to where he is. On a side note, which clan’s emblem is this? This should be a bird, right? It’s been a few thousand years in this place, I can’t remember emblems at all.”

“I think this kind of thing lives around Austria, but when it comes to emblems, every clan seems more or less the same. I know I can’t tell at all, does that count as a bird? I always thought it was a crocodile looking sideways.”

To Shouri, who is standing at the side, their conversation gives him the urge to ram his head into the wall.

Normal people wouldn’t confuse birds and bugs, right? The guy with the sungla.s.ses, is there something wrong with his head?

Earth, is this okay?

Is it really okay to make an Uncle like this Maou?

He’s the old man who was dancing the samba in the shopping streets with a cane in one hand, you know?

“…Better to just skip being governor, and jump straight to being Maou of the financial world.”

He’s starting to feel that it’d be better for him to inherit the position of Maou, perhaps that was Bob’s plan all along.

But now isn’t the time to be worrying about the future of the Earth, because his only brother was taken to an unknown world and has yet to return.

Wait for me, Yuu-chan! Big brother will come save you now!

“Hey, hey! The white gla.s.ses and black gla.s.ses up front!”

“What is it, colored gla.s.ses?”

“Don’t call me colored glances! Let me go to that world too, c’mon, let me try, for all you know, I might be able to just flow over to Yuu-chan, just like that? After all, he and I share the same blood!”

“Don’t be stupid!”

The old and new gla.s.ses people immediately retort.

“Didn’t I already tell you, s.h.i.+buya’s older brother? That’s completely impossible, even if the entire Taepodong[2] explodes. I have the soul of the Daikenja who was born there, and even then I faced a lot of hards.h.i.+ps because I lived on Earth for too long. For someone like you, who was mentally and physically MADE IN Earth and have no maryoku whatsoever, it’s impossible to get to that other world. If you don’t have a particularly strong power leading you, it’s mission impossible. Unless Mount Fuji erupts, or the Niagara Falls flow backwards.

That’s just plain impossible.

“Even I didn’t think it would be so hard, after all I’ve already completely become an Earthling. Good grief, who would have guessed that the "If you mix with scarlet, you"ll become red"[3] saying would end up being true."[3]

“j.a.pANESE idioms really describe things well. Now what, Murata? Wanna go to the duck pond and try again?”

Murata shakes himself, trying to get the fishy water off his body, and sneezes loudly.

He looks just like a long-haired dog.

“When is R-Rodriguez getting here?”

On the other hand, the last man in the gla.s.ses trio crosses his legs on the red bridge and sits back down. Fiddling with his short student-like fringe, he mutters ineligibly,

“…Niagara… To make Niagara flow backwards… First I need a pa.s.sport.”

Being a committed brother, he has even prepared himself mentally to break the law, but his target doesn’t seem to be Mount Fuji.

Feeling insecure about his subordinates’ firepower, Lord von Bielefeld secretly sighs again, his tightly-knit brows ruining his handsome features.

Theoretically, he can understand why the strategy is to have those with no maryoku as the central fighting force.

“So then you will steer this ‘Friends on the Sea’ to Seisakoku, I trust you have no objections?”

“It is my honor, Your Excellency Wolfram!”

Captain Sizemore, whose principle is ‘the world’s seas are my seas’, also known as ‘the Drastic Action Sea Monk’ salutes, his back completely straight. The warrior of the sea gives off a feeling of solemnity and authority.

“But the mission this time isn’t limited to just the sea, you may be forced into operating on land… No objections there either, right, Sizemore?”

“Of course not, Your Excellency. Whether fortunate or otherwise, even though I was born as a mazoku and have very little hair, I never had any maryoku. Still, I hope that the skills and courage that I have acc.u.mulated all those years on the sea through booze, tears, men and women, can be of use on land.”

“Mn. Ah—You said trained through men and women… N-never mind. To us, Seisakoku is an unknown continent, we have no idea what harsh environments await us. It could be a desert where dry winds run wild, or a swamp where the air is moist enough to feel, and the smell of rot permeates. This trip could be torture, but before we bring His Majesty back safely, I hope you will stay strong to the end of the mission.”

“L-leave it to me, Your Excellency! As for how to deal with the harsh surroundings, we will shave all our hair, cleanly and completely, before leaving, so please don’t worry!”

Though he says the words with his mouth, perhaps he’s reluctant to part with his beautiful hair, because Sizemore’s eyes are clouded with tears.

“Are you talking about hair? Don’t tell me you’re talking about hair? If so then there’s no need to shave it off, it’s better to let it grow naturally, y’know.”

Seeing the Wolfram he always treated as a kid mature into an adult so obviously, Sizemore is rather touched and starts sobbing.

Eventually the snot doesn’t stop flowing, so he can only suck it back desperately.

“Ah~ Your Excellency, who would have thought that you’ve already grown up, and into such a handsome young adult! As your grandfather, I’m so happy!”

“When did you become my grandfather? Didn’t we just meet for the first time last year?”

“And surely your mother on the other side of the star must be ecstatic too!”

“Sizemore! Have you joked enough? My mother is very much alive. Not only that, she’s alert on the lookout for the chance to have another child.”

The next one should be a girl, having a daughter will definitely be great.

Her Majesty the previous Maou touched her youngest son’s golden hair, staring dreamily at the face that looks so much like hers.

As a woman, she still wants to enjoy her life for a lot longer.

“As Lord von Christ and I are unable to come with you, Sizemore, the leading power goes to you. Based on your previous results on the battlefield, I feel very a.s.sured. But this mission is after all different from a war, where you kill the enemy before you. Do you understand, Captain? I believe in your abilities, and hope that you do not disappoint.”

“L-l-leave it to me!”

“And then bring that miscellaneous man Dakaskos with you… You may feel that there are too few soldiers, but I will do my best to send a second team as reinforcements. I will also dispatch a medical team and supplies, I hope you can wait patiently.”

“If you’re talking about the medical team, there’s no need to wait.”

Restored to her kind personality, Gisela gives a determined but friendly smile.

“I’ll come with you, in my father’s place.”

“But Gisela, didn’t you say that people with strong maryoku will feel extremely uncomfortable? Then you…”

“Yes, you are absolutely right. The closer we get to Seisakoku, the stronger the discomfort, and it’s possible that majutsu can’t be used either, the abilities of the healing hand will also disappear. But Your Excellency, I just hope you will understand this. Healing was never just majutsu. The true essence of healing is the healer’s heart, a kind heart is a necessity, and the most important thing is the modesty of wanting to heal the wounded.”

“…Modesty is the most important?”

The hands she put on Wolfram’s shoulders exert some force, threatening the immediate safety of his shoulders.

“That’s why, Your Excellency, even if I’m unable to use majutsu I still want to head to Seisakoku, and continue healing my beloved soldiers, or any local casualties. Did you know, Your Excellency? The military academy’s famous medical instructor… ‘The Men Lose Their Ears’, what her famous last words were?”

Shaken continuously by the agitated Gisela, Wolfram’s blended right brain finally remembers the portrait hanging in the academy.

“‘The Men Lose Their Ears’… I remember, it’s the White Demon?”

“She once said, ‘Why do we heal? Because the wounded are piled right there!’”

Hey~ It shouldn’t be ‘piled’, it should be ‘lying’, right? Why did she treat soldiers like objects?

But just when the Sergeant’s powerful words pump up everybody present—

There’s a terrifying sound of something being dragged down the hallway, and low moans, sending chills down everyone’s spines.

“Wol—fram--!”

Psssst—Psssst---

“Wo—lfra—m!”

Psssst—Psssst---

Dakaskos’ voice is trembling when he speaks, while Wolfram points at himself warily.

“Y-Your Excellency, that’s calling you.”

“Mi? It’s calling mi?”

Just as everyone’s fear peaks, someone roughly kicks open the previously shut door to the captain’s quarters.

The brave muscleman—Adalbert opens the door when everyone is waiting with bated breath.

“Waa!”

The door slamming into his face, Lord von Christ Günter falls over comically.

“What, so it was Günter?”

“It’s wrong to say it like that, right? I dragged my houryoku-affected spinning head, and my body that cannot walk properly due to seasickness, and worked so hard just to get here!”

He makes it sound like such a monumental task, but the problem is the room where he was resting is just next door.

As soon as Lord von Christ Günter sits down on the chair his adopted daughter offers him, he puts an expression that says ‘And now I want to drink tea’.

It is only when Wolfram rolls his eyes at him that he remembers his reason for coming to this room.

“Right, right, the reason I dragged myself here despite my illness… Wolfram, it’s because I thought of the ideal way to help you, whose maryoku is weaker than mine.”

“You say my maryoku is weaker than yours?”

Hearing the displeased tone coming from the pretty boy with high self-esteem, Günter suddenly shouts,

“Do you want to go to Seisakoku—?”

“I want, I want to go—”

Not only is he instantly hooked by the nose, Wolfram even raises his hand.

“Very well. Then allow me to perform the von Christ clan’s secret technique, pa.s.sed down through many generation, on your body.”

Stop pretending, Wolfram looks at his adopted daughter Gisela suspiciously.

But perhaps she didn’t hear what her adopted father was saying, because she’s looking off to the side.

“Although it was never used on anyone before, this is my top secret specialty.”

“Specialty? It’s not something like s.e.x rea.s.signment or appendicitis, is it?”

“That’s surgery, not specialty, and besides, you should ask Anissina for something like that. Mine is an even more transcending specialty, it’s a forbidden technique to completely seal of the opponent’s maryoku.”

“Forbidden technique… You aren’t using me as an experiment, are you?!”

“Of course not, that was a very rude thing to say. Don’t compare me to Anissina, that’s rather hurtful.”

Günter pushes up the reading gla.s.ses he’s been wearing a lot recently, frowning the face pale from blood loss and the influence of houjutsu.

“The reason you can’t head to Seisakoku, is because your maryoku is still considered strong. So if you seal it, you should be able to go to His Majesty’s side…”

He throws open his arms, covered with too many ornaments on his sleeves, and suddenly takes Wolfram into his embrace.

Everyone holds their breath and focuses on the scene before them, because it looks like a huge bear attacking a small deer.

“L-let go of me, Günter! I can’t bre… Are you trying to kill me… Hugging so tightly!”

“Ah~ Mm, Wolfram, so mean~ Aha—Mm!”

“Let go… Let… Really…”

“Ah—Don’t tell me, Wolfram, OH—YEAH—”

He wraps the frozen Lord von Bielefeld into his arms, even pulling up his beautiful pale grey hair with his hands, and then, making some heart-breaking panting sounds, rubs his own head as though he’s was.h.i.+ng his hair, an action worthy of being known as history’s most outstanding destructive force.

Gisela has gone white, and this does not mean she was born White Gisela.

She just doesn’t want to face her respected adopted father’s dramatic change in personality when it comes to real life.

As for everyone else, they remain completely silent, and turn around as one unit, banging their heads onto the wall fiercely.

Because they can’t watch anymore, and go on to decide that such a terrifying image must never linger in their memory.

It should be a dream, this is definitely a dream.

That beautiful prime minister—Lord von Christ Günter, actually reached his demonic claws out to Yuuri’s fiancé, His Excellency Wolfram!

Amongst the people ramming into the wall with empty eyes, only Sizemore and Adalbert are mumbling, ‘like father, like son’.

Even though the two don’t share any blood relations, they still managed to become such an intimate father and son pair.

Only Maxine, lying in a corner of the room, has his eyes tightly closed and froze like a stone.

He is the only person to witness the historical secret technique with his own eyes.

After a period of time so long people started mistaking it for forever, Lord von Christ finally leaves Wolfram’s side and sits on the chair.

“Oh-ho, thanks for that—”

It could just be a psychological effect, but it seems as though his skin is smoother and s.h.i.+nier, his cheeks flushed and bright, just like a cat who just ate the canary.

Having just absorbed the essence of youth, the super bis.h.i.+e looks like he even wants a toothpick to clean his teeth after a good meal.

On the other hand, released from his embrace, Wolfram’s body has gone completely limp, and he falls to his knees like a young lady, staying there motionlessly.

“Y-Your Excellency, Your Excellency Wolfram?!”

Gisela pats his cheeks gently a few times before he finally regains consciousness.

Being even more heartless than his daughter, Günter just sits on his chair and looks down at Wolfram.

“Good, now stand up, Lord von Bielefeld Wolfram. After that, the maryoku that always existed within your body has been wrapped up by that s.h.i.+ny membrane of mine, and won’t be released until I undo the technique. In other words I will always exist within you, so even if my body can’t go with you, my soul can follow you to His Majesty’s side.”

And therein lay his true intentions.

He isn’t just purely sympathizing with Wolfram, what he really wants is to use this chance to go to Yuuri’s side.

And his chosen method is by having part of his spirit hitchhike on someone else’s body, a method that troubles others.

“Why does it have to be you, of all people? And in my body?! Stop joking around, I don’t want accept such a disgusting secret technique!”

"But it has already been done, right?"

You shouldn"t be saying "right", right? It"s not "right" at all! is what everyone said at the same time, their voices mixing like okonomiyaki ingredients. Hiros.h.i.+ma-style okonomiyaki is His Majesty"s favorite.

“You want to go, right? You want to go to His Majesty’s side?”

“O-Of course I do.”

“Then what else is there to worry about? Now that your maryoku is more or less gone, you can head to Seisakoku, flooded with houjutsu users! Although I don’t want to be connected to you physically and spiritually twenty-four seven either, but in order to go to His Majesty’s side, it’s the only choice I have. Since my physical body cannot be used, at the very least I have to put in some effort with my soul. Ah~ Your Majesty… If it’s possible, how I’d love to be one with you. I’m already tired of this body and its naturally powerful maryoku… Cough! Coughcough!”

When he takes his hand away from his mouth, he finds it stained with bright red blood.

Günter slumps weakly to the ground, saying,

“…Goodness, it’s blood.”

“It came from your nose, your nose.”

“We digress! Anyway, Wolfram, I’m pinning all my hopes on you now. Come, take this with you.”

He pulls away the sleeve ornaments and reaches inside, pulling out a thin circle of string and forcefully hanging it around Wolfram’s –who has yet to recover—neck, there’s even a pale grey pouch hanging on the end of the circle.

“G.o.d—It’s wet! Why is it wet?!” (TN: The Chinese term can already be read as ‘Heavens’, but that doesn’t sound like something Wolf would say…)

“It’s not wet, it’s just a little moist, perhaps it caught some of my sweat when I was sleeping. That’s a charm woven from my hair, a hundred per cent pure hair, I call it ‘Günter’s Protection’.”

Lord von Bielefeld feels as though he’s been cursed. Looks like he’ll either be strangled, or decapitated in his sleep. Deep disgust almost makes him faint.

“It’s too—too disgusting…”

“Listen carefully, when you’re in mortal danger, you just have to grip this ‘Günter’s Protection’ tightly and chant the mantra, ‘Gün Gün Gün Gün Gün, Gün Gün Gün Gün Gün, Gün Gün Gün Gün Gün’, and I may even be able to go to the place you are.”

“Another long, stupid and meaningless sentence.”

“Uh—Can we open our eyes now?”

Dakaskos, who was ramming into the wall until the last moment, asks timidly. Maybe he finally noticed the atmosphere, because Lord von Christ looks around on his knees, realizing that everyone looks pale.

“What happened? What a sad thing it is, that witnessing such a rare ceremony is enough to scare you all witless? Ah! How embarra.s.sing, how can you take up the grand mantle of His Majesty’s sword and shoield like that?”

Listening to those words coming from a man bleeding from his nose, everyone can’t find the energy to be angry.

Günter puts one hand on his chest and the other on top of that, the stance of someone praying to His Majesty s.h.i.+nou.

“Ah~ Your Majesty, von Christ Günter feels deeply uneasy, seeing these cowardly and incompetent soldiers, led by a child of only eighty-two. O wise s.h.i.+nou, please a.s.sist this last-moment tracker team.”

Even this is just an old man’s joke, if he’s allowed to continue, there’s no telling what he might say.

Wolfram angrily pulls Günter’s chair and sits on it, saying,

“So you look down on my ability?”

“Of course not. Based on your combat experience, though, I’m a little worried about your capability to lead when the two sides collide. I don’t know if you can make the right decisions…”

Despite just having lost to Lord Weller due to insufficient combat experience, he pretends that never happened and continues spouting big words with his hand on his forehead.

“Sizemore is brave and valiant, but he is, after all, more used to battles on the seas; instead of asking Dakaskos to pick up a sword, he would be more useful with a broom. Can a combination like this really bring back His Majesty? Firstly, in firepower alone I feel uneasy. A Wolfram who can’t use flames, is like melon bread without melon.”

This slightly difficult simile causes everyone to ponder for a while. Although Lord von Bielefeld purposely keeps his tone low, there’s no hiding the frustration in his heart.

“But the situation being as it is now, there’s no way to increase our firepower, unless you want us to wait until brother sends the s.h.i.+n Makoku fleet over? You should have heard about the unnatural current near that continent, right? The time interval for sailing is almost over, if we postpone this any longer, there’s no guaranteeing we can reach Seisakoku safely.”

“That’s right, theoretically it should be like that…”

“Let me go too!”

The previously silent Adalbert leaves the wall he was leaning on.

“Feels quite interesting, let me give it a try.”

His st.u.r.dy chest is trembling with curiosity, and each side is taking turns to twitch, too.

“You might not know this, but I’ve long ago abandoned my ident.i.ty as a mazoku and my maryoku, so be it mazoku soil or a continent full of houryoku, there’s no difference to me. Maybe I’m unable to fight n.o.bly like you all, but another sword arm is another…”

“Stop joking! Who wants to borrow your power!”

Wolfram yells, interrupting the traitor of the mazoku.

Technically he should maintain the dignity of a leader, and keep his composure, but he just can’t help it.

“How can we let the man who betrayed us, and who hates the mazoku, approach such an important king?”

“Hold it, stubborn brat!”

“Shut up, puppet muscleman! You have no right to call me that! And where did you learn my nickname from anyway?!”

“From a hotel full of female students.”

Adalbert replies calmly, such an interesting rumor had actually crossed borders.

“Hey hey hey, there’s no need to get so agitated over a nickname, right? Besides, if you won’t let me board the same s.h.i.+p just because I abandoned my ident.i.ty as a mazoku, isn’t that rather unfair? You’re the commander in charge of an important battle, it won’t do for you to be so narrow-minded, huh?”

“What…”

Those blue eyes look down at Wolfram, who stood abruptly, from above.

“What a joke. You’re in charge of such an important mission, and you don’t even have the magnanimity to work together with a hated enemy? I really sympathize with the soldiers who have to work under such a narrow-minded commander.”

Feeling as though his innermost thoughts were seen through, Wolfram bites his lip tightly.

His patience as one of the Ten n.o.bles, and as the Maou’s trusted subordinate, is actually being tested by someone he never even imagined.

Just a simple sentence, and he can reject this man’s proposal, sending other loyal soldiers to a.s.sist.

But if someone asks him if that’s the best decision, he simply can’t guarantee that with a clear conscience.

If he wants to build a strong tracking team, then Adalbert’s partic.i.p.ation won’t be any loss.

He is also a fighter, it’ll be okay if he is treated as just another p.a.w.n.

And as long as a close eyes is kept on him to ensure he doesn’t do anything that may harm them, then there shouldn’t be any problems.

All that’s left is Wolfram’s own emotions, and there should be a sway to control that.

He tries his best to convince himself,

“This is for Yuuri.”

Wolfram glares at the other man’s eyes, opens his tightly-bitten lips, and remembers to curse ‘you split-open b.u.t.t-chin’ before replying,

“…Fine, I’ll let you on Sizemore’s s.h.i.+p.”

“That’s the way, ah~ Right, I wanna bring this guy along too.”

He pokes the caterpillar-like object thrown on the ground with the tips of his toes.

“That’s the man who wanted to a.s.sa.s.sinate me and Yuuri!”

“Putting aside how hard it was for me to steal him especially out of Shou s.h.i.+maron’s prisons, I have no intention of letting him ride comfortably to s.h.i.+n Makoku, and the simplest way is to stuff him on this s.h.i.+p. There’s no need to treat him as a person, either, just treat him as part of my luggage.”

“…Up to you!”

Looking at his lips, curving up happily for goodness knows what reason, Wolfram turns around wordlessly, and after throwing down a simple ‘you make sure to watch him properly’, he leads Sizemore out of the room.

Because there are tons of things to prepare, and since Lord von Christ is unable to come with, everything can only be left to him.

“Hmph!”

The muscleman continues smiling evilly, and even hums happily.

Things are getting more and more interesting, it’s been a long time since he was this happy.

He just didn’t think that the third son, known for his hard-headedness, also has a leader’s ability to make the right choice.

Looks like people do change, but that should also be something to do with the rookie Maou’s appearance.

When the image of black hair and eyes floats into his mind, his expression relaxes unconsciously.

“Right, now let’s see what expression that spoiled third son will have!”

“Adalbert!”

Hearing that deep voice call his name, all the muscles in his body tense in spite of himself.

Lady von Christ Gisela is standing half a step away from him.

“W-what, so it’s Sergeant?”

Just a mention, but her actual position isn’t sergeant, that’s just the way people call her for convenience.

“Here’s something for you.”

Gisela hands a small red bottle over to Adalbert.

“It’s not the antidote, but use it when you want to get rid of Potion I’s effects.”

“What’s this?”

“Sheesh, have you already forgotten? This is for the ex-Shou s.h.i.+maron soldier lying over there!”

She moves her empty hand to her mouth, and puts a finger on her lips, signaling, ‘This is a secret’.

A chill runs down Adalbert’s back suddenly, and he can’t help but take a few steps back.

“The effects of the medicine should start working soon, I’ll protect you two with a blurred gaze.”

“Protect what?”

“Hehehe… Hehehehehehehe…”

Gisela smiles the smile of someone planning something naughty, then backs away quickly.

Her legs barely move at all, and the effect is so terrifying, even the usually domineering muscleman gets gooseb.u.mps.

“W-what do you want to protect?”

What kind of medicines are MaChicken Danger Potion I and II, exactly? Adalbert shudders the muscles he was always so proud of, and picks up the manual on the ground.

The white paper is covered with red and black ink handwriting, just looking at it feels ominous. That ice cold script is undoubtedly Anissina’s.

“What… An invention that transcends this generation—MaChicken Danger Potion will open a new world for fowl-haters everywhere…

“The chickens, who just yesterday hated you and sprayed sand at you, will today become your most loyal subordinates! You just have to feed newborn chicks Potion I, and the amylase within will make the chicks take the first person they see to be their father, without question.

“Likewise, by feeding the chicks Potion II, the isoflavones will cause the chicks to consider the other party as their mother, and become ‘useless sc.u.m you can boss around’.

“However, of both potions are used together, they will strengthen the chicks’ a.s.sistive acids, creating an emotion surpa.s.sing chickens and humans, so it is fairly dangerous.

“That is indeed very dangerous… Ah?!”

Adalbert turns around, feeling a pa.s.sionate gaze on him.

Only to see Crop Pony, who has gotten his upper body free, looking up at him.

His left hand is supporting his body on the ground, his right hand stroking his mustache gracefully, and his lower body wrapped in the wool carpet is stretched completely straight.

His pose is that of a mermaid.

Shocked, Adalbert reads the manual in his hands again.

“Feed Potion I… will take the first person they see to be their father…”

“…Lord Father?”

The question mark at the end of his question causes all the hairs on Adalbet’s body to stand on end.

“H-hey, hey, hey! What are you playing at, Maxine? Don’t look at me like that! And why the h.e.l.l are you blus.h.i.+ng for! I’m not your father?!”

Looks like Lady von Karbelnikoff invented something useless again.