Chapter 43 The Toasty D✱✱do-Buddy Reveal꞉ A Risky Business Relaunch
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It’d been a few days since the meeting at the Beast-person Association, and honestly, both the Association and the Church of Demon-Subjugation were staying quiet. In the meantime, I’d been busy: catching up with my mentors and gathering intel on Adult Magic Tools, even getting an earful about ‘Forbidden Tools’ from Tania, the adventurer Elf.
I already knew about aphrodisiacs strong enough to wipe out a city thanks to my mentors, but I never imagined there were so many truly wicked traps and magical devices out there. It’s terrifying, really—the things people do. Or rather, the sheer amount of chaos that powerful magic is causing is something I’ve totally grasped now. It makes perfect sense why the Church is taking such harsh measures. Those pervy religious fanatics were actually doing their job, huh?
Anyway, the business recovery plan I cooked up the day after the sales ban was about to hit its final stage.
”So, I hereby present our shop’s Fourth Development Plan!” I declared, gripping a Ddo-Buddy like it was a microphone.
”Yeah! That’s the way, Big Spender!” Lily, my experimental slave, cheered, clapping her hands enthusiastically.
Adventurer Elf Tania, however, just looked utterly exhausted. “Look, I’ve got a bunch of things I want to tsukkomi¹ on, but are you really developing a new product right now? We just got the Beast-person Association to cooperate; shouldn’t we just wait for them to contact us?” she questioned, her expression full of wary pragmatism.
”Tsk, tsk, tsk, Tania-kun, you’re so sweet, so incredibly sweet, man. Sweeter than pouring honey all over a pancake smothered in sugar!” I chided her.
”Oh, let’s top that with ice cream, sugar cubes, and maple syrup! Maybe we should just eat it drenched in a whole bowl of honey!” Lily added, her eyes wide with delight.
Tania’s face twisted into an even more complex, slightly revolted expression, while Lily just looked delighted by the idea of that sugar overdose. Even when she’s making a face like that, a beautiful woman is still beautiful, I mused, though the sugar image was making me nauseous. I needed Tania’s help for this development plan, though, so she had to fully understand what I was trying to do.
”It’s true, we’ve gotten the Beast-person Association as allies. But we can’t afford to just sit back and wait in this situation,” I explained, leaning in.
”Hmm. What exactly do you mean by that?” Tania asked.
”The Beast-person Association is purely a business partner, that’s what. They aren’t volunteering; they’re helping us because they see a profit in cooperating,” I stated simply.
”I see…?” Tania’s face showed she was half-grasping the concept, but this was a truth we absolutely could not forget. This applies not only to the Beast-person Association. Even Chairman Chromans of the Grizzly Merchant Guild, Mr. Ouka² and Lady Aerith³ of the Garou Merchant Guild, and of course, Mr. Badatt of the Tasogare Merchant Guild—they would all definitely bail on us if we stopped providing them with profits.
Anyone would do the same. I would do the same. Initially, you fade out slowly and quietly to avoid making waves, but eventually, you’re out the door. This unspoken rule of business won’t change, even in a new world.
”For example, let’s say the Church refuses to approve the sales restart for the ‘Tremble-Ddo-Buddy’—which they’re currently helping us with. What do you think happens then?” I pressed.
”I’m hoping Sister Amelia will manage to snag us permission to sell the Npple Clamper, though,” Lily dreamed aloud.
”Ah, I get it now. While we still have products like the normal Ddo-Buddy, it won’t be enough to satisfy the Beast-person Association or the various Merchant Guilds,” Tania realized.
”Exactly. And they approached me because they believe I can always deliver them another profitable opportunity. If I act like a baby bird sitting here with its mouth open, waiting for a worm, they’ll abandon me instantly, and this shop will be ruined,” I concluded with a sharp nod.
”The merchant’s world is certainly a harsh one,” Tania sighed, a flicker of genuine respect in her eyes.
”It’s the same for adventurers, isn’t it? Would you add someone to your party who has no chance of performing well on a high-difficulty quest?” I challenged.
”…You’re right. I apologize for questioning your move,” Tania conceded.
”Nah, don’t worry about it. Getting on the same page is important,” I said easily.
Tania nodded, fully convinced. It was a sad but necessary rule of life. When I was an adventurer, the thugs I hung around with were good to me, but they never invited me to join their party. It was only natural. Inviting a deadweight like me on a quest would mean splitting the reward, and worse, risked failing the quest and threatening their livelihood. It wasn’t a cruel judgment; it was just the standard rule.
That’s why I have to develop a new product and offer new value. A foolish person who just sits around with their mouth open is only waiting for a tragic end.
”I understand the situation. So, what new product are you planning to develop?” Tania probed.
”Heh heh heh. Listen and be amazed! The product we’re developing is the Toasty Ddo-Buddy, also known as the Skin-Temp Ddo-Buddy!” I announced with a flourish.
”Ooh, finally!” Lily applauded again, but Tania’s excited expression had returned to a complex, skeptical look. As a loyal customer of the shop, she was likely trying to picture the product and decide if it was worth buying.
”Is that… well, does that just mean a Ddo-Buddy that heats up to body temperature?” she inquired cautiously.
”Precisely! This is the shop’s all-out, comeback product, designed to fill the hole left by the Tremble-Ddo-Buddy ban! And it’s all about the Ddo-Buddy!” I punned.
”Way to go, Master! You’re so clever!” Lily chimed in.
”Hmm… I hate to ruin the mood, Kento, but is that really going to sell? From what I’m hearing, it doesn’t sound very appealing,” Tania offered her tough opinion, ignoring my brilliant joke. I gently stroked Lily’s head, who was clearly enjoying her role as my hype-man today.
”A valuable customer opinion. Why do you feel that way?” I asked.
After a moment of thought, as she organized her head, Tania spoke, choosing her words carefully. “First, the function is too plain. A Ddo-Buddy that just warms up lacks the shock value of the Tremble-Ddo-Buddy. That vibration feature made the pleasure instantly imaginable…” she pointed out.
”You’re absolutely right. This product has no flash,” I agreed immediately, nodding at the flaw Tania had identified. I had intentionally chosen the Toasty Ddo-Buddy because of its plainness. We’d already messed up big with the Tremble-Ddo-Buddy, so I couldn’t afford to pick another product that would provoke the Church. That’s why I eliminated anything ‘anal’ or any of the gimmick products like ‘wiggling Ddo-Buddies.’ I also rejected the aphrodisiacs and lotions, as their effects were hard to adjust and distinguish from existing products.
The Toasty Ddo-Buddy was the perfect middle ground: non-controversial but still attractive. I shared this background with Tania. Now for the secret sauce: the sales pitch.
”Here, hold this, Tania. This is a prototype of the Toasty Ddo-Buddy. It uses the same switch as the Tremble-Ddo-Buddy,” I instructed.
”Ah, so this is what you’ve been holding this whole time… Ngh, oh! It really is warm! It feels just like the real thing… Ah…!” Tania gasped, gripping the prototype.
”Heh heh. You figured it out, didn’t you?” I smiled at Tania, whose eyes were wide open. Yes, that was the effect I was banking on. Anyone with sexual experience would feel this—it instantly brings back the sensation of a real arousal. And the key benefit: you can have that feeling anytime, even without a partner.
This insight came from Lady Aerith and the other beast-women who testified at the Beast-person Association meeting. They all named their Ddo-Buddies and showed affection for them. ‘A Ddo-Buddy just like a real lover’—that was the catchphrase, the concept, and the sales strategy for the Toasty Ddo-Buddy.
”I-I see. The presence in my hand is definitely addictive… B-But there’s another problem! Couldn’t someone with even a basic understanding of magic easily replicate this function…?” Tania challenged.
”Hee hee hee. If you think so, then go ahead and try to warm up a normal Ddo-Buddy,” I replied confidently, presenting her with a regular Ddo-Buddy that had no extra gimmicks. Tania looked at it suspiciously as she took it.
”Should I use a magic to raise its temperature?” she inquired.
”That’s what I want you to figure out. Just like the folks who’ll try to copy this heating feature after the Toasty Ddo-Buddy launches. Go ahead and try whatever you like,” I encouraged.
”Hmm…” Tania fell into thought, gazing at the Ddo-Buddy in her hand. Simply using magic to ‘raise the temperature’ can be done in many ways, and it differs greatly depending on the caster.
”Fire magic… that probably won’t work, right?” she guessed.
”Go ahead and try it, but the Ddo-Buddy will just burn, and you’ll end up with a ‘grilled Ddo-Buddy’ or a ‘scorched Ddo-Buddy.’ End of story,” I responded.
”Right. Well, then I’ll try a simple heating magic, the kind you use to warm up leftover soup,” she decided.
”Go for it,” I allowed.
Tania then gathered up her magical power in her hand to cast the spell. Heating Magic is a simple ‘life magic’ that anyone with a modicum of magical talent can cast. It’s widely used, and even average housewives use it daily. Most spells have a known developer, and recent spells are documented in books, but Heating Magic, like fire and water magic, is ancient, its inventor unknown.
That means it’s been with humanity for ages, helping people live. Being a long-lived Elf, Tania might know the inventor or have a deeper understanding of it, but I knew this experiment was going to fail.
”W-Whoa! The Ddo-Buddy is starting to melt!” Tania yelled.
”See? That’s why it’s not easy to replicate the heating function. It’s likely a reaction between the Ddo-Buddy’s material and the ‘Hardening Magic’ used during its creation, but as you can see, the Ddo-Buddy melts into sludge when you cast Heating Magic on it. It’s totally useless,” I explained.
”If you knew that, you should’ve told me before I tried it! My hands are all sticky now!” Tania protested hotly.
”Tania-sama, please use this cloth,” Lily offered, holding out a rag.
”Ah, thank you, Lily-sama…” Tania muttered.
”My bad, my bad. I just wanted you to experience the pain of my development work—and the failure that the knock-off manufacturers will face, you know?” I teased.
Tania was pouting as she wiped the residue of the melted Ddo-Buddy from her hand. Seeing is believing, and I wanted her to feel that discomfort to fully appreciate the new product’s utility.
”Okay, I get it; Heating Magic won’t work. But what about this method?” Tania said, a defiant smirk spreading across her face as she created a sphere of water with her magic.
She then plunged a spare Ddo-Buddy (which she’d taken from Lily) into the water and infused it with magical power. She was likely casting Heating Magic on the water sphere itself. Sure enough, a warm Ddo-Buddy emerged a moment later.
”Look! I reproduced the Toasty Ddo-Buddy with magic!” Tania declared with a smug flourish.
Hmph! Tania was so caught up in the challenge, she completely forgot we didn’t want it to be easily reproducible. Her pride as a skilled magic user was clearly piqued by the problem.
”Yes, you’re right. You can reproduce the Toasty Ddo-Buddy that way,” I admitted.
”See! I told you! The Toasty Ddo-Buddy isn’t an appropriate new product, is it?” she challenged.
”Not true. Think about it: Who besides you is skilled enough to conjure a floating sphere of water and control the intricate level of Heating Magic needed to warm up a mere self-pleasure device to perfect human body temperature?” I retorted.
”Ah…” Tania finally understood the problem. Both Water Magic and Heating Magic are common spells, but maintaining a sphere of water in mid-air while simultaneously casting Heating Magic with the fine temperature control needed for ‘skin temperature’ takes a high level of skill.
Only high-level magic users who handle complex spells daily could pull that off. It wasn’t something your average Ddo-Buddy user could do. We’re talking C-rank adventurers or maybe Third-Class Magic User License holders among civilians. By the way, I was an F-rank adventurer and don’t even have the lowest Fifth-Class Magic User License.
”T-Then, what if someone just uses a pot or something, and concentrates only on the Heating Magic?” she suggested desperately.
”Well, they could do that. But then why would they bother with Heating Magic when they could just light a fire and boil the water?” I pointed out.
”Y-You’re right! But… wait! Doesn’t that mean even non-magic users can replicate it?” Tania’s eyes widened, finally remembering that replication was a bad thing. She was panicking, but I’d naturally already planned for that, too.
”Yes, it can be replicated. But who is going to bother with a pot, water, and fire just before they’re about to pleasure themselves? If they do, they’ll be the exception, not the majority. Plus, wiping off a waterlogged Ddo-Buddy is annoying, too,” I argued.
”I-I see! So the value of the Toasty Ddo-Buddy lies in solving all those irritating steps…?” she realized.
”Exactly. And there’s one more thing you might have forgotten: A Ddo-Buddy warmed up in a pot of water will eventually get cold,” I added.
”N-Now I get it! The Toasty Ddo-Buddy’s convenience and its near-perfect ‘male arousal’ replication are unmatched because it maintains the appropriate temperature and keeps heating up!” Tania’s eyes were sparkling, utterly different from her initial skepticism, as she gazed at the Toasty Ddo-Buddy in her hand. It was a rather suggestive, slightly perverse sight. I felt a weird mix of nostalgia and arousal—sad that the old, easily embarrassed Tania was gone, but excited by the passionate one in front of me now.
Tania played with the Toasty Ddo-Buddy for a while, flicking the switch and watching it heat up and cool down instantly. The instant-heat feature was definitely a great bonus, even if it was just a byproduct of the materials.
”Yes, it’s truly wonderful. It is wonderful, but… there’s still one problem left,” she mused.
”Oh? Please tell me,” I invited.
”The most important problem, actually. Which is, is the Toasty Ddo-Buddy truly pleasurable? In other words, the question of user experience…” Tania murmured, her cheeks faintly flushed, her eyes already alight with expectation and excitement just as I was about to move on to the material science part.
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Summary:
Kento unveils the ‘Toasty Ddo-Buddy’ as his new, low-risk business strategy following the ban on the ‘Tremble Ddo-Buddy.’ Tania challenges its profitability, leading to a hilarious yet practical demonstration where she attempts to replicate the warming function with magic. They discover that the unique material melts with heating magic, and replication via water and fire is too inconvenient for the average user, thus proving the Toasty Ddo-Buddy’s unique value in the market. The final hurdle is the ‘user experience.’
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Character Insight:
Kento’s loyalty to his business—and his friends’ financial well-being—drives him to constantly innovate, even if it means acting like a lunatic to sell adult goods. Tania is an intellectual and pragmatic customer whose skepticism acts as the perfect final QA for Kento’s concepts.
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Behind the Scene:
The scene establishes the harsh economic reality of this fantasy world: all alliances are purely transactional. Kento’s decision to develop a ‘plain’ product is a calculated risk to avoid further conflict with the Church while slowly rebuilding his core business, symbolizing his shift from reckless entrepreneurship to a more sustainable, though still risqué, business model.
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T/L:
¹ tsukkomi (Japanese): The act of interjecting, pointing out a flaw, or making a quick, often comedic, rebuttal to a ridiculous statement or action in a conversation. It’s often associated with the ‘straight man’ role in comedy. ↩
² Ouka-shi (Japanese): Mr. Ouka. ‘Shi’ is a polite honorific for a gentleman or respected man. ↩
³ Aerith-jou (Japanese): Lady Aerith. ‘Jou’ is an honorific indicating a noblewoman or a young woman of high status. ↩
Notes:
• Tania – An Elf adventurer who, despite her race’s reputation for low sex drive, is secretly quite passionate. She initially seemed ‘wasted’ (emotionally dry) to her friend Raika, but was easily introduced to the pleasure-items sold at ‘Harvest.’ She is easily embarrassed and attempts to maintain a dignified facade, despite her recent, frequent purchases. She wears practical but light armor over a simple cloth tunic and short pants, highlighting her grace and agility. Her primary relationship is one of friendly senior-junior with Raika.
• Lily – the sl*ve and primary experiment subject for the magic shop, ‘Harvest.’ She has striking pink hair, Blue eyes, medium breasts, which the Protagonist associates with being ‘wanton’. She has a working knowledge of magic, which she kept hidden from the slave trader.
• Chromans – President of the ‘Royal Capital Beast-person Mutual Aid Association’ and the manager of the ‘Grizzly Merchant Guild,’ a top-tier weapons and armor dealer. He’s powerful, influential, and very business-savvy. Have round, cute bear ears (sooty brown), bushy beard and hair (sooty brown), and large build with muscular physique under a expensive gown.
• Aerith – A wolf beast-person and Ouka’s daughter. She is intensely attracted to Kento’s creative genius and is not shy about showing her interest. Have gray fur hair and tail, wearing elegant dress.
• Badatt – The 7th-generation manager of the long-running Tasogare Merchant Guild. Despite his fat, oily, ugly bastard, have multiple rings appearance, he is a competent and respected manager who listens to his employees. He is a man of ‘good sense’ but is overwhelmed by the explicit nature of Kento’s products and the ensuing chaos.
• Ouka – The middle-aged head of the Garou Merchant Guild, known for leather goods and accessories. He is a prominent figure using his own family’s experience to advocate for the ‘Tremble Ddo-Buddy’. Have gray wolf ears and wear merchant attire.
• Amelia – The Sister of the Church of Demon-Subjugating, who usually buys from Kento, has light blue hair.
• Kento – The owner of the magic tool shop ‘Harvest,’ which discretely sells adult goods. He’s a former overworked, ordinary salaryman from modern Japan who was suddenly transported (isekai’d) to this fantasy world. He has dark hair and an unremarkable appearance, typically wearing a plain, slightly suspicious-looking shop owner’s clothes looks like Kazuma Satou from certain series. He has a minimal amount of magic power, enough to craft his specialty items.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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