The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

「I want coffee milk.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu whispered this as he got out of the bath and remembered a promise that he had made at a bathhouse on Earth.

Apparently there was coffee in Lambda, but it wasn’t a major drink; it seemed to be a drink for only a small portion of the wealthy.

The wealthy. In other words, celebrities; the bourgeoisie*.

Thinking about that only made him want to drink it more. Wouldn’t there be coffee trees growing somewhere?

Basking in the breeze created by an electric-fan-shaped Golem that he had made himself, he remembered that coffee could be replaced by dandelion roots.

「I wonder if I can make it using the dandelions in this world. Well, if I find any, I’ll give it a try.」(Vandalieu)

He had been unable to drink coffee at some point on Earth because his uncle had declared that coffee was a luxury, so he had read a book in his middle school’s library called『Edible Wildflowers in the City』and tried it out.

If it turned out to be delicious in this world as well, he would recommend it to everyone.

「Now then, I guess it’s time to go. Stop spinning.」(Vandalieu)

Ordering the electric-fan-shaped Golem to stop spinning, Vandalieu left the bathhouse to begin the medical examination of Basdia’s body.

Incidentally, the dandelion coffee that Vandalieu would create in the future would turn out to be not very delicious, perhaps because the plant itself differed from the dandelions on Earth. It did not become popular in Talosheim.

However, he made electric-fan-shaped Golems from the surplus wood that could obey certain commands such as rotating their propellers, setting their rotation speed to one of three levels and swaying left and right across a bed. These became popular in Talosheim instead.

「Now then, I’ll start the medical examination.」(Vandalieu)

「Yeah, I’m counting on you.」(Basdia)

Wearing a white fur in place of a white doctor’s gown, Vandalieu immediately used【Spirit Form Transformation】on his arms, which then penetrated Basdia’s body as she was lying down.

It was his first time examining Basdia with this method, but he had done it plenty of times to other Ghouls so he was very accustomed to doing this.

『Hmm, maybe it’s because her Rank increased. Her body is the embodiment of health.』(Vandalieu)

There were no problems with her blood, her blood vessels or the function of her major organs. In fact, everything was very vigorous.

There was also no problem with her uterus. Vandalieu couldn’t see any injuries, inflammation or disease. Could it be that pure coincidence or perhaps stress was the reason that she couldn’t get pregnant? So he thought, but he checked her ovaries as well just in case.

『… Hmm? This is strange, what is this?』(Vandalieu)

And then he felt a strong, uncomfortable feeling.

「W-what’s wrong, Van? It seems that your hands have stopped…?」(Basdia)

Basdia was enduring the sensation of some foreign objects creeping around inside her, but she noticed that Vandalieu’s behavior had changed and spoke out to him.

「Hmm… I’m going to examine you a bit more, so tell me if it feels unpleasant.」(Vandalieu)

As he said this, Vandalieu concentrated on examining her two ovaries.

Normally, the ovaries and testes would contain strong signs of life. Vandalieu perceived that life as heat.

With healthy ovaries and testes, touching them with his spirit-form hands would even feel like plunging them into boiling water, but… Basdia’s ovaries didn’t feel hot.

『Are her ovaries dead? No, it’s not to that extent. But they’re not functioning normally.』(Vandalieu)

So what was causing this problem? Vandalieu examined them again, but there was no injury or disease. Vandalieu consulted his knowledge that he had learned on Earth and the information that he had overheard in Origin.

『Now that I think about it, those researchers did say that my death-attribute magic contributed to the fields of obstetrics and gynecology.』(Vandalieu)

They were unpleasant people who would constantly be muttering things in an indistinguishable tone and then shout at Vandalieu when he failed to hear them. Well, Vandalieu didn’t care about the researchers right now.

『If I recall, abortion, contraception, prevention of s.e.xually-transmitted diseases… Ah, infertility treatment.』(Vandalieu)

Though not every case had been successful, there had been some occasions in Origin where Vandalieu’s death-attribute magic had been used to treat infertility. There were numerous methods such as prolonging the life of the egg cells and sperm as the Magic Items that he had created for the Ghouls did, and using【Youth Transformation】on the egg cells.

But there were also cases that were difficult to treat with death-attribute magic.

『Basdia’s case is one of those. If the egg cells aren’t mature, they can’t be fertilized. It would be simpler to treat this using life-attribute magic.』(Vandalieu)

The ovaries were functioning sub-optimally and the egg cells were not maturing. With that being the case, it would just be a matter of using life-attribute magic to make the ovaries work more vigorously, but Vandalieu possessed no apt.i.tude for the life attribute.

Fortunately, there were individuals capable of using life-attribute magic in Talosheim, like Nuaza. There was the option of asking him to help. However, there was a problem in that Vandalieu didn’t know how knowledgeable Nuaza was about physiology.

Magic is strongly influenced by the caster’s knowledge and imagination. If a mage who has spent his whole life in a country that is perpetually in the season of summer and a mage who has spent his whole life in a country with harsh winters were to both create ice using magic, the one from the snowy country would be able to do so more skillfully.

In the same way, Nuaza casting some vague magic without knowing how the organs function wouldn’t be very effective.

Vandalieu could teach Nuaza what he knew, but unlike basic arithmetic, it would take time for Nuaza to understand physiological concepts.

「Well then, I’ll give it a try first, and if that doesn’t work then I’ll ask Nuaza to help.」(Vandalieu)

「Hmm? What are you saying about Nuaza… Kuh, ah, ugh.」(Basdia)

This method was very roundabout and many steps would have to be followed. The gist of it was that Vandalieu would suck out the negative components of the ovaries and transfer his own Vitality to them, making them function normally.

Though the overall process would be difficult to control using life-attribute magic, it would be completed in one step, while doing it with death-attribute magic required the process to be divided into dozens of separate steps. Without the【Chant Revocation】skill, it would likely take over an hour.

『I’ll activate【Surpa.s.s Limits.】I wish I had three… or at least two more brains.』(Vandalieu)

He began complaining internally about the fact that his head was becoming feverish even with the use of【Surpa.s.s Limits】, but quickly put those thoughts aside.

「It feels kind of warm?」(Basdia)

「It’s because of my【Rapid Healing】skill and【Enhanced Healing Power.】」(Vandalieu)

Even the process of transferring his Vitality to her needed him to transform his arms with【Spirit Form Transformation】, fuse them with Basdia and trick her body into thinking that they were a part of it, trigger his【Rapid Healing】skill and cast the no-attribute spell【Enhanced Healing Power】at the same time.

Around ten minutes pa.s.sed and the【Rapid Healing】skill stopped. It seemed that things had healed for now.

Both the left and right ovaries were now overflowing with enough Vitality to burn Vandalieu’s spirit form hands.

Vandalieu wasn’t sure whether they had completely recovered or whether the effects of this treatment were temporary, but it should be fine for… at least a month.

「I’ve finished treating you for now. Let’s see how things go from here.」(Vandalieu)

「It’s over, huh… Th-thanks.」(Basdia)

With sweat on her face, Basdia let out a sigh of relief. As Zadiris had experienced when Vandalieu applied【Youth Transformation】on her, it seemed that the sensation of his spirit form hands crawling around inside the body was not a pleasant one.

「I’ll inspect you again in a month from now. If anything happens before then, let me know.」(Vandalieu)

As Vandalieu said this, he felt a vague feeling that he had become a doctor. As this thought ran through his mind, his stomach growled. It seemed that this work had taken a toll on not only his Mana, but his body as well.

「I’m hungry as well. Alright, I’ll make something. We brought plenty of ingredients with us from the Dungeon, after all.」(Basdia)

「I’m counting on you.」(Vandalieu)

It had been several months since Vandalieu had become three years old, but Darcia still didn’t allow him to cook using a fire… even though he did possess the【Cooking】skill.

Vandalieu removed the wooden lid and gently lifted her out.

With a wet cloth he had sterilized with【Disinfect】, he wiped her smooth skin, taking care not to cause any scratches to it. Using【Sterilize】would only kill microorganisms; it wouldn’t remove any dust.

『Bocchan, what are you doing?』(Sam)

「As you can see, I’m taking care of Zandia by hand.」(Vandalieu)

Sam had an indescribably confused expression, but Vandalieu answered his question while caring for Zandia, of whom only the left hand and wrist remained.

「Now that I think about it, you’ve started to make quite a lot of different facial expressions, haven’t you, Sam?」(Vandalieu)

The previous Sam… the spirit form of Sam that had sat on the carriage was mist in the shape of a person and the horses pulling the carriage were only mist in the shape of horses. It had been impossible to distinguish any kind of facial expression.

However, now that Sam’s【Spirit Form】skill had leveled up, he definitely appeared to be a human at a glance, albeit one with pale skin and red eyes. Each hair of his beard had been reproduced realistically; if he wore a hat to cover his eyes, he would look just like a regular, pale-skinned person.

The horses were the same; if they closed their red eyes, they would look like normal horses… No, they might appear too ominous to be called normal, but in any case, they did appear to be horses.

『Haah, thank you very much. More importantly, why are you performing such a n.o.ble deed? I would understand if it were an Undead, but I do believe that it is but a hand.』(Sam)

Vandalieu had cast【Preservation】on the hand to prevent decomposition, but it wasn’t Undead or anything; it was still just a hand. Sam apparently found it strange that Vandalieu was taking care of it.

「If I didn’t treat it well, she would get angry at me when we meet, won’t she?」(Vandalieu)

If Zandia had become a sentient Undead, she wouldn’t be pleased to learn that her hand had been treated poorly. That was why Vandalieu was caring for her hand.

Hearing this, Sam gave a sigh of relief.

『So that is how it is. I had presumed that you might be the kind of person with a strong interest in certain body parts of the opposite s.e.x, Bocchan…』(Sam)

「No, I don’t have a fetish for hands.」(Vandalieu)

What an outrageous misunderstanding. Vandalieu didn’t have a taste for such things.

『I see. I have heard that there are many n.o.blemen who have peculiar tastes, so I thought that perhaps…』(Sam)

『If anything, Father, Bocchan prefers muscles.』(Saria)

『The problem is that we don’t have either muscles or hands. Our hands are pieces of armor, after all.』(Rita)

It seemed that n.o.blemen were sinful people in this world as well.

『Speaking of n.o.blemen, there’s something I wanted to confirm.』(Darcia)

Darcia spoke as she smoothly appeared and joined the conversation.

「Mom, I definitely feel hesitant to be discussing things like this with you –」(Vandalieu)

『Not that. I mean regarding the kind of n.o.bleman that you want to be in the future.』(Darcia)

That side of things, huh. Vandalieu breathed a sigh of relief.

『You said that you’ll make a child with Basdia when you become an adult; are you serious about that?』(Darcia)

He had breathed that sigh of relief too early.

「I was thinking that things might turn out that way.」(Vandalieu)

In any case, Vandalieu was still in a three-year-old’s body, unable to feel l.u.s.t or feelings of love, so he wasn’t sure. But he was thinking that things would end up that way in more than ten years from now.

He thought well of Basdia, she was beautiful and he didn’t feel any negative feelings at being desired by such a person.

She was a member of a different race, but Vandalieu himself was a child of mixed blood. It was apparently possible for them to have children, so he couldn’t see a reason to refuse.

He had always yearned for a warm family, anyway.

『Don’t get me wrong, I think that Basdia is a great person too. She’s st.u.r.dy, and I can believe that she would protect you, Vandalieu.』(Darcia)

「… Yes.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu felt a strange desire to object, but considering that he was a young child and Basdia was a Ghoul Amazoness, he understood that this was easy to imagine.

『But I think that many people would loudly disapprove of that if you wanted to become a n.o.bleman. The Orbaume Kingdom is much more tolerant than the Amid Empire, but there will be people who hate Dhampirs as well…』(Darcia)

It seemed that Darcia was concerned with the events leading up to and after Vandalieu becoming a n.o.bleman.

Indeed, when Vandalieu thought about it, it might become a problem if Vandalieu were to have a child with Ghouls who were treated as monsters by human society.

There had been people who would start baseless rumors even on Earth, and there would be some who would be displeased with a Dhampir becoming a n.o.bleman.

『There would also be problems regarding succession.』(Saria)

As Saria said, having children would directly lead to having problems with succession. This was only natural, as n.o.ble families were families that continued generation after generation.

And whether the Orbaume Kingdom would accept the possibility of a half-Ghoul child being the next generation’s successor to Vandalieu’s family was largely questionable.

Of course, even after Vandalieu became a n.o.bleman, neither he nor Basdia would think of making their child a n.o.bleman as well, but there would be those who would make a fuss over the mere「possibility」even if Vandalieu himself didn’t desire that.

Vandalieu had never given this proper thought or consideration, but he had something of an idea.

「About that, I’ll alter my course and aim to be not a n.o.bleman, but an honorary n.o.bleman.」(Vandalieu)

『If I recall, honorary n.o.blemen are n.o.blemen only for one generation who cannot be succeeded, right?』(Darcia)

『Yes, it is a t.i.tle bestowed to people who were made n.o.blemen because of their achievements and those who cannot succeed their n.o.ble families due to being born after the first son.』(Sam)

As Darcia and Sam said, honorary n.o.blemen were n.o.blemen who could not have a successor. They generally did not govern over land and would receive an annuity for the rest of their lives, but they were mostly n.o.blemen only in t.i.tle.

But this only-in-t.i.tle n.o.bility would be convenient for Vandalieu.

『Would you be content with that, Bocchan? Well, most people would consider that to be a great success in life.』(Sam)

『I’ve heard that the annuity that such n.o.blemen would receive is several times the income of a normal person, but…』(Darcia)

This was how honorary n.o.blemen were generally treated. There were plenty of stories of individuals who had strived to become n.o.blemen but only managed to become honorary n.o.blemen.

「Yes, because just receiving an annuity without having land, an official position or a successor is much more convenient.」(Vandalieu)

Naturally, Vandalieu had no need for land. He had no knowledge of how to make a region prosper. He could simply find and employ a reliable va.s.sal to do it for him, but doing that on his own would be difficult. No matter how he thought about it, he could only imagine that it would be more than he could handle.

He did think that he would be able to do various things with【Golem Trans.m.u.tation】if he owned land with people living in it, however.

An official position would be too much to handle as well. Vandalieu had lived for around forty years in total, but he had no experience in regards to society. He could probably fill the position if someone taught him how, but he couldn’t imagine that it would be enjoyable work.

As for having a successor, when he had seen how long Dhampirs’ life-spans were at the Adventurers’ Guild before, he had thought,「Ah, that would be impossible.」He estimated that he would live for three thousand years as long as he wasn’t killed; there was no way that he would become an n.o.bleman that would be succeeded.

That was why he was aiming to be an honorary n.o.bleman. He would have no land, official position or successors. But those around him would still respect him as a n.o.bleman.

It would also be much easier to reach this position than a court rank where he would have land and require a successor.

「The reason I wanted to become a n.o.bleman was so that the guys who will be reincarnating here from Origin will hesitate to kill me, and because I want enough money to live in luxury. I’m alright with being either a n.o.bleman or an honorary n.o.bleman as long as I have the reputation that comes with it.」(Vandalieu)

『What will you do to gain the required sum of money?』(Sam)

「I’m thinking I can just earn it normally as an adventurer. Let’s do our best, everyone.」(Vandalieu)

Even just the materials that they had obtained from clearing Garan’s Valley today would sell for a considerable amount at an Adventurers’ Guild. Vandalieu figured that if he could earn this much as a three-year-old, he would eventually be able to earn more than a lowly n.o.bleman if he continued working hard.

「And I’m sure that giving up my n.o.bility would also be simple if I were an honorary n.o.bleman.」(Vandalieu)

『Eh?! You’re going to give it up?!』(Saria)

「Yes. I think I’ll consider it once I come to an understanding with the others who will be reincarnated.」(Vandalieu)

For Vandalieu, gaining the status of n.o.bility was nothing more than a means to an end.

It was true that being a n.o.bleman would be convenient. It would certainly feel good to exercise his influence and special rights, and he had no doubt that there would be delicious foods that only n.o.blemen could eat, high-quality goods that only n.o.blemen could obtain and pieces of art that only n.o.blemen could see.

But what if the burdens of being a n.o.bleman became greater than those privileges? What would he do if it hindered his interactions with the Ghouls and Undead, or he were to get involved in some troublesome power struggle?

It was simple. He would simply return the tool that had already served its purpose.

「A n.o.bleman wouldn’t be able to give up his position easily if he is in charge of land with people living in it, but an honorary n.o.bleman wouldn’t have responsibilities or anything. I would just need to give up my position, stay low for a hundred years or so and then wait for things to calm down.」(Vandalieu)

Sam and his daughters were at a loss for words.

In this world, n.o.blemen were special people; they were treated as completely different creatures even if they were members of the same race. In fact, there were more than a few n.o.blemen that wouldn’t hesitate to say that they were superior beings to commoners.

『It’s certainly exactly as you say. That’s amazing, Vandalieu. To think that you had put so much thought into it; I’m seeing you in a new light now~♪』(Darcia)

Darcia’s reaction was like this, but only because she had been raised in a Dark Elf village whose society was nothing like an aristocracy.

For those like Sam and his daughters who had once served n.o.blemen, Vandalieu’s view on things was astounding.

But this was something that Vandalieu could say because he possessed the values of modern j.a.pan. He wouldn’t go as far as to say that all of humanity were like brothers and sisters, but he would only give a scornful laugh at those who said that n.o.blemen were beings who were superior to commoners.

Sam and his daughters were still completely silent, and Vandalieu became worried that his statement based on his own values had caused them unpleasant feelings.

『I see… As expected of you, Bocchan.』(Sam)

But it seemed that this wasn’t the case. As Sam opened his mouth to speak after having been completely still for a while, he seemed to have a deeply moved expression on his face.

『So you are saying that the status of being a n.o.bleman would be nothing but a hindrance to you, Bocchan!』(Sam)

「… Eh?」(Vandalieu)

『It is just as the G.o.ddess prophesized. An extraordinary individual must have extraordinary ambitions!』(Saria)

「Wait a –」(Vanadlieu)

『And you even said that you are the Holy Son to Borkus-san! So you really are planning to use Talosheim as a foothold to unite the entire continent?』(Rita)

「You’re joking or teasing me, aren’t you?」(Vandalieu)

It somehow seemed that there were various independent rumors and exaggerated truths. I don’t plan to do anything that outrageous, thought Vandalieu as he scratched his head.

Even if he were to do something like that, at most, it would be the restoration of Talosheim.

『I’m sure it will be fine; Vandalieu is the type who grows when people praise him. Given a thousand years, I’m sure that he’ll be able to unite the continent.』(Darcia)

「I think you’re a little too patient.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu didn’t feel any enthusiasm for the idea of spending a thousand years uniting the continent. The continent wouldn’t be unified so easily, anyway.

Things don’t always go as planned in life, but Vandalieu thought that becoming an honorary n.o.bleman was a reasonable goal.

The next day, Borkus’s party still hadn’t returned so Vandalieu joined Zadiris and her group in training, deciding to ask questions about Jobs later.

「Since you are joining us today, boy, we will be doing special training.」(Zadiris)

They were outside Talosheim’s walls. The Ghoul mages led by Zadiris, the Black Goblins and the Anubises including Memediga were gathered here.

「Now then, we will begin training with the aim of acquiring the【Chant Revocation】skill.」(Zadiris)

Everyone gave a cheer. The【Chant Revocation】skill is a skill that allows the user to cast spells without the necessary incantations.

The effects of this skill could be described in one word as tremendous.

It removes the need for the actions normally taken to cast spell, causing spells to require no time to prepare. It allows for consecutive casts of spells that pushes the caster’s Mana and Intelligence to their limits and even removes the risk of a spell’s incantation of giving away which spell is being cast or being interrupted to make the spell misfire.

It is a remarkably more difficult skill to acquire than the【Chant Reduction】skill that shortens the time needed to make an incantation, but its effect is also remarkably different.

But the method of learning the skill is exceedingly simple. One simply needs to continue casting spells without incantations.

But casting a spell without an incantation consumes at least several hundred times the amount of Mana and produces an effect that is less than a tenth of the original spell. Even skilled mages cannot perform this task repeatedly.

And so Zadiris and the others were casting spells silently to try and learn this skill.

A light resembling that of a firefly so small that it was almost invisible in the sunlight appeared at Zadiris’s fingertip.

Small droplets of water appeared at the fingertips of the Ghouls and Undead t.i.tans to dampen their surroundings, pinky-fingertip-sized flames appeared and vanished and small gusts of wind blew around them.

As this process was repeated, one by one, they ran out of Mana.

「We’re counting on you, boy.」(Zadiris)

「Oka~ay.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu had been watching up until now, but now he used【Spirit Form Transformation】on his arms and changed their shape so that they became bundles of tubes. And as these pipes reached the mages, his Mana pool of over 100,000,000 was poured into them through【Mana Transfer.】

This was the crucial point of the training. Zadiris and the others lacked Mana, so even if they did training to learn the【Chant Revocation】skill, it would take far too long for them to achieve their goal. And for Vandalieu to do the training of using up his entire Mana pool of over 100,000,000 to increase its size, it would normally take more than an entire day.

And so Vandalieu was providing the mages with Mana. This allowed Vandalieu to quickly and easily use up all of his Mana.

「Alright, we will continue the training!」(Zadiris)

With this method, the mages could perform ten days’ worth of training to gain the【Chant Revocation skill】in a single day.

The problem was…

「I’m surprisingly free.」(Vandalieu)

The problem was that he didn’t get the feeling that he was training just by acting as a Mana source, so he seemed quite free. If he crossed his legs and meditated, then perhaps it would seem more like training.

Monster Explanation:

【Ghoul Amazoness】

When a Ghoul woman with qualities suited for magic learns and diligently studies martial skills instead of magic and continues to do so after becoming a Ghoul Warrior, she can increase her Rank and become this race.

There is no significant change in appearance, but tattoo-like patterns appear on the body. Physical ability increases significantly and the patterns on the body grant the【Magic Resistance】skill and enhances inherent magic-oriented qualities.

As it is a considerably rare race, there are never two Ghoul Amazonesses in a single village. They typically act as leaders of groups and groups with a Ghoul Amazoness tend to have other women in powerful positions.

It is said that there are groups of Ghouls entirely made of women led by a Ghoul Amazoness in the depths of some Devil’s Nests, though this has not been confirmed.

It is unknown what Ghoul Amazonesses become if they increase their Rank further; no such case has been confirmed up until now. However, it can be a.s.sumed that individuals who master not only martial skills but magic as well may increase their Rank to become an even superior race.