Chapter 578 Breeding Season
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Side story number two. A quick recap on Pororo Snail breeding, since there has been some progress worth noting. Let us start with the basics.
The Pororo Snail, as everyone knows, is the material used in the vibration mechanism, the core component of our shop’s popular product, the Tremble-Dildo-Buddy.
It is a snail-like monster that inhabits the deep reaches of the forest near the royal capital, also known as Canarias Forest. Timid by nature, it possesses no means of attack. It prefers damp, dark places.
For reasons still not fully understood, its shell begins to vibrate when it reacts with Metag Stones. Thanks to that, we were able to develop some rather interesting magic circuits, which in turn made us a tremendous amount of money.
However, these creatures only inhabit the forest near the royal capital, and at this rate, their declining numbers risk becoming a serious problem. That was when I came up with the idea of a farming operation. After obtaining private permission from both the Church and His Majesty, I began a breeding experiment in the forest surrounding Fenoro, the capital territory of Viscount Nixfen’s domain.
My collaborators were Ray, Viscount Nixfen, and Kushe, the head court mage of Coalmine. They released Pororo Snails into Fenoro Forest and confirmed their overwintering. That was the state of affairs until now. And just recently, we received confirmation that the Pororo Snails had successfully laid eggs and that their population had increased.
”Ohhh, so they hatched? I only confirmed the egg-laying last time. That was quicker than I expected, huh,” Kushe said.
”Yeah, and apparently the reproduction rate is quite high too. I’d heard Pororo Snails have a strong breeding drive, but this is a welcome report,” I replied.
We were down in the basement of the usual Dildo-Buddy Palace, talking while going over a letter from Ray. After confirming the Pororo Snails’ overwintering in early spring, Kushe had returned, but she had since traveled back and forth to Viscount Nixfen’s territory several times. During her late-spring trip, she had confirmed the existence of eggs. This letter was the report that those eggs had hatched successfully.
”Oh yeah, so apparently they’re hermaphrodites, just like regular snails. They were going at it everywhere, it was insane,” Kushe said, stretching out on the bed. “Especially when it rained. Like, super intense. Meanwhile, I’m stuck here missing Kento with nothing but my hand to keep me company…”
”Come on, don’t say that. When I get back, I make it up to you properly, don’t I?” I said, kneading her slender hips as I spoke.
”Hehe, literally? Sure, it’s intense, but that’s that and this is this~ Oh, and the Lord Viscount seems pretty pent up too, so you better brace yourself,” she teased.
”…Noted,” I said.
Kushe had sprawled across the bed, saying this in a distinctly sulky tone. I kneaded her thin hips as the conversation continued. Pororo Snail mating, though. That must have been quite a spectacle.
Pororo Snails are giant snails rivaling large dogs in size. Naturally, their bodies are slimy mollusks. Watching those slippery forms squelch together in the forest… some might find it erotic. Others might find it disgusting enough to retch.
Incidentally, the discovery that they are hermaphrodites came from Kushe and her team’s observations. It was no great mystery, really. Once they spot another of their kind, they just go at it, indiscriminately. And what is more, after all the squelching, both individuals lay eggs.
This discovery, too, owed itself to the diligent work of Kushe and her team. At the start of the breeding experiment, before releasing them into the forest, they marked the shell of every individual. Being able to identify each creature is convenient for both population surveys and ecological observation. Besides, if something happens to an individual, the shell mark makes it easier to confirm.
Over time, however, some of the researchers (Ray, Kushe, and soldiers from Viscount Nixfen’s territory all participate in the breeding experiment) became able to identify individuals without looking at the shell markings. Some even began giving them names. It sounds like things have gotten quite interesting out there.
For example, there was “Jack and Emily are mating!” That one was relatively tame. But then there was “Michael got eaten by a vulture!” and “Lucius laid eggs!” The forest was apparently a chaos of joys and sorrows. But I digress.
”Okay, let’s see. Then, ‘the population increase is remarkable. Already as many individuals have been born as were originally released into the forest,’” I read.
”Well, that tracks. They are hermaphrodites, and they lay eggs like it is nothing. If every single one of those eggs hatched, this many is only natural. Honestly, it might even be low,” Kushe said.
”Hmm. So either some eggs did not hatch, or they got eaten by other monsters…”
”Who knows? Is that not in the letter?”
”No, apparently this was just a preliminary report confirming the hatching. She said she would send more detailed information about the new individuals once it is compiled. But even after the eggs hatched, the Pororo Snails’ breeding drive does not seem to have calmed down. Apparently, you can observe mating everywhere,” I said.
”Ah, so that is why they cannot confirm the exact population count yet? The numbers are still climbing, so they cannot pin it down?”
”She did not spell it out, but that is probably it. We cannot relax just yet, but I think it is fair to call this a provisional success.”
We continued talking as I let out a long breath. Overwintering, breeding, and a confirmed population increase. From here, the breeding experiment was moving into its next phase. Just because young had been born did not mean the experiment was over.
The next goal was to raise these hatchlings successfully into adults. And then we had to confirm that those adult Pororo Snails could lay eggs in turn and reproduce another generation. Only once that was achieved could we stably collect the shells as material.
After that, we would need to verify whether those shells actually served as material for the vibration mechanism. In other words, whether they would vibrate. If that phenomenon was not caused by the Pororo Snail shells themselves but by some substance they consumed, some substance unique only to Canarias Forest, then this entire experiment would be rendered meaningless.
…I had anticipated as much, but this was proving even more labor-intensive than I had imagined.
”But this does make me wonder. Why do Pororo Snails only inhabit Canarias Forest in the first place?” I said.
”Yeah. Depending on the reason, even these newborns might not survive,” Kushe replied.
”…Nothing caused a mass die-off during the winter, right?”
”Uh-uh. When the snow came and temperatures dropped, they did slow down. But none of them died. The only losses were a few picked off by other monsters. They are fast runners, though, and apparently their slime tastes awful. Some even got grabbed in a mouth and still managed to wriggle free. Their vitality is pretty high, honestly. Oh, and there was one that got badly injured but regenerated almost immediately.”
That slime was the substance Pororo Snails secrete from their faces when they sense danger. The trait that gave them their name. I had always thought it was a gross, mysterious bit of biology, but it apparently served a genuine survival purpose. Their regeneration ability was interesting too, but it only deepened the mystery of why their habitat was so limited.
”Maybe that timid personality of theirs is the problem? Like, they just hole up deep in the forest and do not venture elsewhere,” Kushe suggested.
”That would be convenient, at least.”
Regardless, the experiment was going well on the whole. With the surge in demand for the Dildo-Buddy following the succubus incident, I had to keep investing effort into this.
I was about to stand and draft a reply to Ray with new instructions, when someone tugged at the hem of my shirt. Naturally, it was Kushe, still sprawled across the bed.
”Monster breeding is important and all, but our breeding is pretty important too, right?” she said.
”…Yeah, that is why I am trying to finish work first so we can breed without distractions,” I replied.
”Ugh, so stingy. One quick round is within the margin of error, right?”
”That is because it never ends at one round!”
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Summary:
The Pororo Snail breeding experiment in Viscount Nixfen territory has reached a key milestone: overwintering confirmed, eggs laid, and a new generation born in significant numbers. Both the head court mage Kushe and the Viscount contribute fieldwork, while the protagonist monitors progress from afar. The team now faces the challenge of raising the hatchlings to adulthood and verifying that their shells still produce the vibration effect outside their native habitat. Meanwhile, Kushe makes it clear that the protagonist’s attention is wanted on a different kind of breeding entirely.
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Trivia:
1. The Pororo Snail is a large, snail-like monster about the size of a large dog, living deep in Canarias Forest near the royal capital.
2. Its shell reacts with Metag Stones to produce vibration, which forms the core mechanism of the Tremble-Dildo-Buddy product.
3. Kushe and her team marked every individual’s shell before release, enabling population tracking and identification without recapture.
4. Pororo Snails are hermaphrodites. After mating, both individuals lay eggs.
5. Their facial slime, the source of their name, serves as a defense mechanism and also plays a role in their rapid regeneration.
6. The breeding experiment is conducted in Viscount Nixfen’s territory, not in Canarias Forest itself.
7. If the vibration phenomenon is linked to a substance unique to Canarias Forest rather than the shells themselves, the entire farming operation would be pointless.
8. Pororo Snails are fast runners despite their size, and their slime tastes bad enough to deter most predators.
9. The Dildo-Buddy Palace refers to the protagonist’s home base of operations, including a basement workspace.
10. Researchers have started naming individual Pororo Snails, and the field site is described as a chaotic mix of joys and sorrows.
Notes:
• Nixfen – A gentle-looking viscount and trained combatant who governs the territory hosting monster breeding experiments. In the Royal Capital’s pleasure district, he manufactures and sells adult goods that mimic Kento’s products. Despite his pretty-boy appearance, he is a formidable, territory-holding aristocrat involved in dark regional operations while actively competing or intersecting with Kento.
• Kushe – Kento’s companion and Coalmine’s head Court Mage, this blunt, flat-chested woman has haphazard dark green hair and a loose robe. Elegant yet deadpan in combat, she constantly delivers reality checks. She mischievously leaks secrets, breeds monsters in Nixfen, complains about her knees, and joins a group learning to act spoiled toward Kento, though she is bewildered by his slime.
• Ray – A Viscount with flaxen-gold hair in a men’s wolf cut. Possesses a sweet mask and a prince-like aura. It is revealed at the end that Ray is actually a woman. She has started manufacturing and selling adult goods similar to Kento’s products in the Royal Capital’s pleasure district.
• Kento – Lord Harvest, a reclusive, dark-haired Northern Continent viscount and young isekai inventor, resembles a salaryman. Bound to the Queen, he runs a magic shop and tavern, crafting adult goods; though weak to erotic things, his gear makes him immune to Succubus charms. He created the Ddo-Buddy and Slime-Pal weapons. Analytical yet easily swayed, he is pampered by subordinates, shares a quiet bond with Amelia, corresponds with Meryamisha, and is pragmatic with guests like Nada.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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