Volume 4 Chapter 76 The Information Poor
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I’m fishing by the lakeside when Rao comes bounding over—days unwashed, clothes unchanged, arms wide open as if to embrace me. But she stinks. The smell is overpowering.
I dodge. She doesn’t stop.
Splash—straight into the cold lake water.
I can’t just leave her there. With a sigh, I haul her out. She’s shivering, so the only option is to take her to the inn’s public bathhouse. But carrying her on my back would get me soaked and foul-smelling too. So I decide to princess-carry her instead.
”I’m being princess-carried. Heh heh.”
She sounds oddly pleased. And sure, she’s got the looks and the chest, but with that stench and that thing dangling between her legs—I’m feeling nothing.
At the inn, I explain the situation to the merchant employees and head straight for the baths. It’s still morning, so the attendant lets it slide, though at a busier hour, someone this filthy would probably have been turned away.
The baths are mixed, so I strip her in the changing room. The bath itself is empty—no other guests.
I use a slightly animalistic soap to scrub her tangled hair and wash her back. With her hair sleeked down from the water, I move on to scraping the grime from behind her ears and the nape of her neck. Her bare skin is surprisingly pretty, even attractive. Her waist is trim and her figure is good. The side-boob peeking out is obscene enough that I’m tempted to reach under her arm and grab a handful.
But then I see the half-erect weapon down below, and any hint of arousal vanishes instantly.
”The rest you can wash yourself.”
”Oh, don’t be shy.”
”No, thank you.”
I brush off what might as well be an invitation and retreat to the bath. After a while, Rao slides in next to me, leaning against me happily.
By the way, the syphilis alert is still in effect. The curtain at the back is closed off. Naturally, with the possibility of infection, I can’t do anything with Rao. Nor do I have any interest in that direction.
I suspect she knows all of this—and is teasing me on purpose. So I stand up and move several steps away.
”Ms. Rao.”
”Mm?”
”Did you really create a servant who can produce Mana pentamer?”
”Of course. Or well, probably.”
She says this and sidles closer to sit beside me.
The Androgynos Group lays eggs, much like the Amazoness. But the eggs are laid inside a Mother Mushroom—a dome-shaped structure with an empty interior and a floor that’s a honeycomb of chambers filled with water.
Within hours, the eggs hatch into larvae inside the hexagonal tubes. They’re fed breast milk on the spot and grow. In about half a year, their skin hardens into pupae. Two days later, they break through the shell. The emerging baby looks no different from any human or demi-human infant. At that point, a soul is summoned from another world into the Androgynos baby’s body.
If the summoned soul is human, they’re left as-is. If not, they undergo procedures to live as a servant: sterilization, mana suppression, and muscle mass adjustment.
”This time, I summoned a house mouse. Maturation and lifespan are roughly double that of the original animal. So Subject 505—the experimental subject this time—will reach maturity in about half a year, and will live, at most, four years.”
That’s a disturbingly vivid detail. “Subject 505” sounds cold.
”Um, Subject 505—she looks just like you, doesn’t she?”
”True. All babies’ faces look the same, don’t they?”
Fair point. When you look at a newborn, any talk of it resembling its father is inevitably just social nicety.
Still—half a year to maturity? I ask whether that means they become adults that quickly.
”Sexual maturity, yeah. You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking. Though this is my first time summoning house mice, so I don’t know the details. I’ve heard their growth stops around the equivalent of two human years.”
Even if the inside is a mouse, the idea of treating a toddler—at an age where they’d just be learning to walk—as an experimental subject is hard to stomach.
”Wait, was the house mouse summoned intentionally?”
”Of course. The smaller the cerebrum, the fewer individual differences in personality and temperament. That makes the characteristics of the soul’s wavelength easier to detect. But even with precise pinpointing, small rodents are about the limit. Naturally, I had summoning specialists and ethics committee members from headquarters come in to supervise.”
She says it with finality, as if to shut down further questions, and I nod despite not fully understanding.
”So, per protocol, I did the sterilization and muscle adjustments right away, but I got permission to skip the mana suppression.”
So that’s why the ethics committee was there.
”After a week of waiting for the mouse-side stability, I destroyed the mana pool and installed the appropriate magical documents.”
So you have to let some time pass after birth before you can do that.
”Larry, did you know that every quantifier has its own chakra?”
Chakra—that life-energy stuff from India.
”That sounds like a chuuni thing to say.”
”Hmm. This was discovered a hundred years ago, so there’s no subculture context around it.”
Huh. According to Rao, there are organs in the body that accumulate and react with Dimer, Trimer, or whatever. They’re called Dimer chakras, Trimer chakras, and so on.
”Did you know that Trimer and above—Tetramer and Mana pentamer—are produced inside the body?”
”I used to think that, but I recently learned that Trimer exists in Magic Crickets, and some plants contain linear Mana pentamer.”
”Oh, really?”
I only just found that out from the Herbal Compendium. Rao didn’t seem to know. Well, if not for the Red Flame Ball incident, I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention either.
”Anyway. Humans and Androgynos alike have chakras for Dimer through Mana pentamer. But the Dimer chakra is different.”
She pulls her hand from the water and forms a small fireball.
”How did you learn that fireball spell?”
She asks a very basic question.
”Gather mana into a sphere, compress it while rotating it, raise the temperature. Is that good?”
”Excellent.”
Does she think I’m in grade school?
”The same thing happens inside the Dimer chakra. Not as much heat, but the mana is compressed and reacting.”
According to Rao, the mana in the chakra gets compressed and reacts to produce Trimer, Tetramer, and Mana pentamer. Each resulting quantifier is actively transported to its respective chakra.
”Now, according to records from eighty years ago, someone theorized that if you blocked the active transport to the Trimer and Tetramer chakras, Mana pentamer would increase, and you’d be able to produce more of the cyclic Mana pentamer used to treat syphilis.”
So if you block where the Trimer and Tetramer go once they’re produced, the reaction recycles and produces more Mana pentamer. That was the idea.
”But it failed.”
It doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
”Mana pentamer did increase, but it was the linear type. Linear Mana pentamer is highly reactive—used to heal broken bones, large sword wounds, or stop bleeding when a limb is lost. There was too much of it; it leaked out, caused adhesions in internal organs, destroyed brain nerves, created blood clots, and killed the subject quickly.”
If it were me, even if the subject was a house mouse inside, I’d be haunted by guilt for days.
And this relates to the Red Flame Ball.
”But about twenty years ago, a magical document was written for Androgynos who couldn’t control their Dimer mana levels—allowing them to excrete Dimer in their saliva. I adapted that to write a document for excreting excess Mana pentamer orally—using Dimer.”
So she figured out a way to expel the excess Mana pentamer through the mouth.
”Then a Medical Mage can draw out the produced Mana pentamer and incorporate it into their own Mana pentamer chakra. That should give them more cyclic Mana pentamer than they could produce on their own.”
In the end, it wasn’t a direct method for mass-producing the cyclic Mana pentamer needed for syphilis. I have no idea if this is useful for Karl and the others.
”I’m heading to the trading city Takere this evening to discuss it.”
So I’ll see Karl and the others. I wonder how they’ve been—I haven’t heard a word from them.
”I want to go too.”
”That’s out of the question. Mr. Rocani strictly forbids it.”
That old hag (who looks like a crone) really is a pain.
”Oh, right. You said earlier about excreting Mana pentamer in saliva.”
Rao seems to find something amusing about it.
”Well, earlier I was attacked by something called the Red Flame Ball—it used Mana pentamer spun like thread.”
That was in Palermo. I shouldn’t go into too much detail. As I’m thinking that, Rao grabs my hand.
I try to put up a barrier, but she still manages to read part of my mind.
’What’s that?’
She asks telepathically.
’I don’t know what to tell you.’
’Linear Mana pentamer is stable in the air? Unbelievable.’
It wasn’t the power of the Red Flame Ball that shocked her. It was the fact that Mana pentamer could be preserved in open air.
’Seems heat-resistant too.’
It was glowing yellow, so it probably withstood at least 800 degrees.
”Hmm… In that case…”
Rao lets go of my hand and assumes a thinking pose in the bath.
”In that case, in that case, in that case, in that case…”
She mutters nonsense, starts acting strange, tears at her freshly washed hair, squeezes her own breast with one hand and grips her crotch with the other.
What the hell is she doing here?
”But I have to try it.”
”Maybe alcohol would work?”
”No, no, no, water would be better, right?”
Rao rests her chin on her now-erect appendage, closes her eyes, mumbles something like sleep-talk, then suddenly stands, leaps out of the bath, and bolts toward the changing room.
What a weirdo.
I float in the bath with my limbs spread for a while, then return to my room, have sex with Pamela, nap, eat dinner, and sleep.
November 3rd. My body turns seventeen. No one celebrates. Spring is in full bloom. I have nothing to do, no motivation to do anything. Occasionally, I stretch my legs to the lakeshore and nap under the gentle sun—that’s my big event.
Even sex with Pamela feels half-hearted. I feel like I might just dissolve into the inn’s bed.
”Larry, you there?”
It’s dark out. Karl’s voice, a knock at the door.
”Pamela, you hear that?”
”Aye. But he’s callin’ for you, so I’ll stay lyin’ down a while longer.”
”For real? You’ve been lying down all day. Just come take a look for me.”
After a thoroughly lazy exchange, the knocking grows louder, so I get out of bed. I open the door to find Karl, along with other rescue team members, Maria, and Raphael—now Pole’s wife.
”Hey, long time. What’s the occasion?”
”We’re heading back. Came to say goodbye.”
Huh? “Back where?”
”Schweilitz, obviously.”
I don’t understand.
”Is the rescue work done, then?”
”Yeah. We’re taking Maria and Rafaela-san—crew from the Izumo with newborns—back with us.”
It takes me a moment to process.
”So the syphilis is under control?”
”You don’t know?”
Know what? According to Karl, thin saltwater with large amounts of cyclic Mana pentamer dissolved in it was invented, bottled, and delivered. Treatment progressed rapidly.
”Heard you had a hand in that development too.”
That must be about Rao’s work.
”Assistant Professor Alan developed a saturation therapy that shortens treatment time, and everyone’s cured. We’ve handed over follow-up to local Medical Mages, so our job’s done.”
Assistant Professor Alan—the only male staff member in Karl’s lab. He was treated like a gofer, but apparently he’s a capable researcher.
More importantly, I have to ask.
”What about me?”
”Your follow-up shows no symptoms, so you’re fine.”
That’s not what I meant. I meant my situation—my future. I have no information. I want to rejoin the Izumo, but I have no idea how.
”You haven’t seen Mr. Rocani?”
Mr. Rocani—the elder here, my handler—hasn’t been seen since our return from Schweilitz.
”Well, she’s probably coming to send us through the Transfer Gate anyway. Come with us.”
”With you? Where?”
”Back to the Hub Tower, obviously.”
So they really are returning to Schweilitz. The thought of being left behind sparks sudden anxiety.
”Maybe I’ll come too.”
”Don’t be an idiot. You’ve got to return the Izumo to the nation. Right?”
I suppose so.
”Maria, how’s the Izumo doing?”
I ask Maria, who’s holding her infant.
”Don’t call me by my first name like that.”
She scowls.
”Kenze died.”
What? Ah—she was so thin during the Roaring Forties, with the ship rocking constantly and breast-feeding being a trial. She was already worn down.
”The child in the jar?”
No need to ask—if the mother died, there was no way the child could survive.
”Idiot. I’m lying, obviously. No way a monster like her dies. The brat’s fine too. I asked her to come back with us, but she turned me down. Stubborn woman.”
She used to be a bishop’s daughter. Where’d she learn to talk like that? Still, Karl did invite her.
I drag the sluggish Pamela out of bed and head with Karl and the others toward the Hub Tower.
”When we arrived, it was so cold.”
Karl says, sounding nostalgic.
But I have one question I need to ask.
”Hey, which one’s your mistress?”
Two female research students came with the rescue team. Both have great bodies. One is a cute beauty. The other is the capable type.
But Karl doesn’t answer. Maybe both? I could see that for myself, but can a lolicon like Karl handle two adult women?
We arrive at the Hub Tower. Mr. Rocani is waiting at the first-floor gate.
—
Summary:
Larry is confronted by a filthy, emotionally overwhelmed Rao, who has just succeeded in creating a Mana pentamer-producing servant. After escaping her embrace, he ends up bathing her, learning about the internal mechanics of chakras and mana production. Rao departs in a frenzy, and later Karl arrives with news that the syphilis calamity is over—and that Larry is being left behind without clear direction.
—
Trivia:
Rao’s experimental subject, 505, is a house mouse summoned into an Androgynos Group infant’s body.
The house mouse subject reaches sexual maturity in half a year and lives at most four years.
Larry is seventeen on November 3rd, but no one celebrates it.
Mr. Rocani is an elder of Takere and acts as Larry’s handler; she forbids him from leaving with Karl.
Karl invited Kenze to return to Schweilitz, but she declined.
Linear Mana pentamer is highly reactive and can cause lethal internal damage if overproduced.
Maria joked that Kenze died, but Kenze is alive and her child is healthy.
The syphilis treatment breakthrough came from dissolving cyclic Mana pentamer in thin saltwater.
Assistant Professor Alan developed the saturation therapy that cured the plague.
Larry has not seen Mr. Rocani since their return from Schweilitz.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Rao – The Red of Mount Yue, Fifth Generation, is a confident, androgynous colony leader with an elegant yet weary demeanor. Unfazed by nudity, she balances refined politeness with a teasing nature. As a spirit magic programmer, she manages colony operations, coal negotiations, and the obedience of her handmaids. She oversees a household of dozens, including three human-souled members and her two reincarnated successors.
• Mana – A non-commissioned officer and liaison who previously had their mana drained by Larry.
• Al – Alberto (Al), a massive red‑haired man recently wed to Mary, lives near the Dish Basin. He’s a companion of Hans, helping intimidate and rally elders as a villager and leader.
• Larry – Larry is a dark-haired, weary 16-year-old reincarnated Second Lieutenant, cynical Acting Captain of the Izumo, and Associate Professor. A pragmatic, sardonic narrator and Mana user, he founded the Fee Grand Principality, carries Philip IV’s sword, and seeks to protect his companions. Haunted by past trauma and complicated relationships, he struggles with moral conflicts while awaiting his next assignment.
• Ho – Ho is the family name of Oliver, a 17-year-old deck crew member and comrade of the protagonist. As a member of the military unit that defended Garao Village, the young man was ultimately murdered during a night watch, slaughtered alongside Marx-san.
• Mage – Elf mage and shut-in engineer who stands watch in the engine department, managing the ship’s boilers. They are highly reclusive, irritable, and fiercely resistant to any orders coming from the Torpedo Department.
• Karl – Professor Karl Krepelin, head of the Third Medical Magic Laboratory at Schweilitz Academy, is a sharp-witted, handsome, yet naive professor. Pragmatic and exhausted, he leads the medical relief team with a blunt, cynical demeanor. While he provides Larry with academic guidance and informal intelligence on political movements, his talkative nature earns the protagonist’s spite. He is married to Darina.
• Rocani – Leader figure of the Androgynos Group. Appears as a beautiful old woman but is male inside. Emotionally performative and politically calculating. Received Larry’s party at the Transfer Gate and hosted a banquet. Ambivalent about the handmaid trade.
• Palermo – A target location where a battle and reparations negotiation took place.
• Pamela – Pamela is a blunt, sharp-tongued older mage who balances archaic speech with a rural Southern American dialect. Petite and telepathic, this scholarly mentor to the protagonist and Earnest acts as an affectionate, no-nonsense romantic partner to Larry. Whether offering unsentimental strategic assessments or assisting with rituals, she pairs old-fashioned warmth with a confident, authoritative presence.
• Pam – An escort to the protagonist who is observant and loyal.
• Raphael – An individual currently under the care or supervision of Pole, whose retention on the crew was negotiated despite initial resistance.
• Maria – Maria, a heavily pregnant crew member in Earnest’s group, is known for her immense mana and volatile temper. She speaks with practical directness, raising logical concerns about the acting captain’s loan period. Expected to give birth before the loan ends, she holds a fierce grudge against Larry, wishing to kill him personally and opposing any mission that does not prioritize his rescue.
• Pole – An orphaned Celt soldier and anxious Izumo sail-handler, this youthful, enthusiastic deck crew member guides Earnest and the protagonist. Proficient in Turku and local terrain, he is a loyal, gossipy aide who rows the landing boat and leads the marlin hunt. Having left a gambling past behind, he seeks his first love’s freedom. Rafaela is his childhood friend.
• Mar – A battle‑hardened veteran, clad in worn armor, uses door panels as shields and captures enemy crossbows; Larry’s comrade who teases him about his sister‑in‑law’s pampering, known as Martin to his companion Edmond.
• Schweilitz – This kingdom, featuring towering academy spires and a full military arsenal of Royal Army troops, forces the protagonist to return. Ruled by a king involved in a hostage exchange, this political power holds a captive feared for execution. It also ordered the confirmation of Princess Rosa’s corpse, driving a scheme that the Queen has caught onto.
• Rafaela – Pole’s childhood friend and first love from Palermo is a ruling-class intermediary captured by pirates and enslaved. Now a fish preparer and expecting a child, she remains silent and staunchly rejects Pole’s attempts to buy her freedom, viewing his persistent gambling habits as an insurmountable barrier to reconciliation.
• Izumo – The iron-hulled primary vessel, named and personified as a character herself, who loyally carries the protagonist and his crew throughout their journey.
• Alan – A handsome, pragmatic Naval Academy professor and Dean of Shipbuilding who is involved in the protagonist’s current situation and technological developments. A superior to Rosa and Tura, he possesses telepathy and mana-draining abilities. While detached from daily concerns, he is a master of political maneuvering. Well-connected and wary of Baron Wilson, he assigns the protagonist as a visiting professor.
• Kenze – Kenze is a muscular, brown-skinned Amazoness and former Takshurgan operative turned research student. A dragon-tattooed guardian and crew member, she rooms with Larry, whom she would prioritize over any mission. Once deeply bonded with Earnest, she is now quietly wasting away while nursing her egg and larva. Despite declining health and a rural background, she remains a strong, warm, and sea-wary presence.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply