Chapter 523 Embodiment, Part ①
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Snick. Thrummm!
The energetic “voice” of Warrior Alex vibrated through Mother Marian’s office.
It was a roar of resurrection, a great warrior singing his joy at being returned to his rightful owner’s hands.
Marian watched him, letting out a rapturous, breathy mumble.
”…He’s even more magnificent than I imagined, Shopkeeper. I can’t believe you brought my little Alex-kyun¹ back to life with such… vigor. It’s like the very first day we met all over again.”
”Alex… kyun…?”
”Yes. Isn’t he just the most precious thing?”
Apparently, in her eyes, a Ddo-Buddy qualified as “precious.” She gave a seductive smile and went so far as to nuzzle her cheek against it.
Honestly, if I hadn’t been standing right there, she probably would’ve kissed the thing.
I didn’t get it. I really didn’t.
(But I can tell one thing: she truly cherishes it.)
”…Er, right. Like I mentioned in my letter, I should officially report that for the ‘treatment,’ I had to hollow out the base and remove the internal components first. The outer skin and the sand-like material inside were what I set aside and preserved during the process.”
”Yes, thank you. It sounds like you went through an awful lot of trouble for me, didn’t you?” said Marian.
”I won’t deny it was a challenge, but it actually gave my shop a reason to start this research, so I should be thanking you. Because of this, we’ve successfully established the technology to dissolve and restore the outer silicone skin,” I replied.
”Oh, well that’s just wonderful then. When I heard you’d started working on product restoration, I thought I might be able to be of some use to you. It seems my instincts were spot on.”
I had a mountain of questions, but I started with the explanation and the gratitude, treating it as a thank-you for her providing the Alex prototype.
She was a good person… probably.
(I still can’t quite shake the sense of trepidation I feel around her, though.)
”But, why did you hide your name on the request? If it was a commission from the Mother Superior herself, I would have been happy to take it,” I asked.
”Hmm, well… because… it’s embarrassing, you know?”
”Embarrassing?”
The last word I ever expected to hear from Marian’s mouth popped out, making me tilt my head in confusion.
”Embarrassing” felt like the word furthest removed from her entire existence.
”My, how cruel. Do you honestly think I’m just some shameless hussy?”
”N-no, I didn’t mean it like that…”
(Actually, yes. That’s exactly what I think.)
Marian was putting on a masterclass in acting—specifically, the art of acting “erotically offended.” But could you blame me? When you’re dealing with a woman who looks like lewdness in a habit, you don’t exactly expect her to have a sense of maidenly shame.
”Hehe, but think about it. I was the one who told you to stop selling those things, yet here I am, secretly loving mine to death. It’s the height of hypocrisy.”
”Ah—well, I mean, if it was the Church’s stance, you didn’t have much of a choice. I understand it was just your job… your duty,” I said.
”Hehe, is that so? Thank you. But, that’s not the only reason I was embarrassed.”
”Eh?”
”I mean, having to explain to your face that I rode this poor boy ragged until he literally fell apart… obviously that’s going to be embarrassing!”
Marian pointed at a discarded scrap of Alex’s old skin, looking genuinely sheepish.
Her expression still oozed sexiness, yet she seemed truly, honestly flustered—talk about a total curveball.
I mean, sure, for a normal woman, that would be humiliating.
But that’s the common sense of an average lady; I never dreamed she possessed that kind of emotional depth.
It seems my internal shock was written all over my face.
”…You really did think I was a total shameless woman, didn’t you?” Marian asked.
”Uh… no… ah, hahaha…”
”Hmph! How rude of you!”
As she huffed in mock anger, I noticed Marian’s well-shaped ears were flushed a soft shade of pink.
Usually, that kind of reaction is exactly what I live for, but I never expected to see it from her.
It was enough to make my own emotional circuits short-circuit.
(I wouldn’t call it a total lapse in judgment, but for the first time, the word ‘cute’ actually floated through my mind in reference to Mother Marian… The world is a strange place.)
”Anyway, I never realized you were so close with my senior disciple, Barbara. How did that connection happen?”
”Ah, Barbara-chan? Yes, well, I was more surprised to find out you were Barbara-chan’s junior apprentice.”
Marian seemed happy to follow my blatant subject change.
It was something I’d been curious about anyway—the link between the head of a convent and a doctor from the red-light district.
But wait, then it clicked.
”Originally, it was our convent that provided medical care for the girls in the brothels. The red-light district is a place where vice runs rampant, certainly, but we can’t just abandon girls in need, can we? No—in fact, to save them from that vice, we’re the ones who have to reach out a helping hand.”
It was perfectly logical.
If you heard “Convent” and “Brothel” in the same sentence, you might suspect something shady, but if the convent’s mission is to aid the vulnerable, then the connection makes perfect sense.
The brothels are the end of the line for women with no kin and no coin—a breeding ground for disease, violence, and strife.
And if Barbara wasn’t there…
”I’ve heard that in the past, we took in many of the girls who could no longer work, either here or at the almshouse. Not just the girls, but their children, too.”
Right.
Without Barbara, there wouldn’t have been anyone to make contraceptives for the girls.
The brothels probably provided some, but they wouldn’t have been as cheap or effective as what Barbara could distribute.
When you look at it that way, Barbara really was a savior to those women… (I already knew that and respected her for it, but hearing it from the people around her made it hit home even harder.)
”For example… the mother of Tetra, Metra, and Netra was a former prostitute. She works at the almshouse now.”
”Wait, seriously!?”
”It’s not exactly the kind of thing they’d bring up themselves, so I doubt they’d tell you. But apparently, giving birth to triplets was quite the ordeal. They aren’t hiding it, though, so I’m sure they’d tell you the whole story if you asked.”
True, I’d never heard them talk about where they came from.
But that slight “different” vibe they had compared to the other Sisters finally made sense.
(I see… Even with people I see every day, there are things I just don’t know.)
”And that relationship continues to this day. It’s less frequent than it used to be, but if a girl wants to go straight and wash her hands of that life, we take her in. That’s why I drop by Barbara-chan’s place every now and then to check in on things.”
One major mystery solved.
I nodded in understanding.
Barbara must have been stunned, too—having the person she usually hands her charity work off to show up holding a trashed Ddo-Buddy and begging for an intro.
Well, several things had finally come to light, but one glaring mystery remained.
Marian seemed to realize it, too.
As she waited for my next question, she started fidgeting, rubbing her thighs together in a strangely restless way.
”I see. That clears a lot of things up. So, for my final question… I’m still wondering…”
”Yes, it would come to that, wouldn’t it…”
”Yes. But please, rest assured. This is strictly for the sake of product research—a purely academic inquiry.”
”…I find that very hard to believe. Shopkeeper, did you hear a single word I just said?”
”Of course. And you only hid your identity because you knew I’d ask this, right?”
”…You really don’t pull your punches, do you?” said Marian.
Achievement Unlocked: I had officially earned a judging stare from Mother Marian.
This was from the woman who usually only did “erotic” or “bewitching.” (I felt like I’d leveled up as a man today.)
”I can’t help it. As the creator of the Ddo-Buddy, there’s one thing I simply have to know.”
”Haa…”
”How on earth did you use this Ddo-Buddy so intensely that it ended up in that state of total annihilation?”
—
Summary:
The Shopkeeper successfully restores Marian’s favorite ‘Ddo-Buddy,’ Alex.
During their meeting, Marian reveals her surprising sense of shame and explains the charitable connection between her convent and the local brothels.
The chapter ends with the Shopkeeper asking the burning question: how did she break the item so thoroughly?
—
Trivia:
- The triplets (Tetra, Metra, Netra) are children of a former prostitute.
- Marian was the one who officially banned the sale of these adult goods while secretly using one.
- The tech used to repair the item involved dissolving and restoring silicone skin.
- Barbara is the ‘Senior Disciple’ to the Shopkeeper, linking the medical and item-creation worlds
—
Character Insight:
Marian shows a rare glimpse of genuine bashfulness, shifting the Shopkeeper’s perspective of her from a purely erotic figure to someone ‘cute.’
—
Lore And Worldbuilding Context:
The contrast between Marian’s religious title and her degenerate hobbies is a core comedic driver for her character arc.
—
Glossary:
Notes:
• Marian – Mother Superior of the Canarias convent, an Ascetic Faction nun of the Church of Demon‑Subjugation, wears a black habit, wavy purple hair, a busty figure, a tear‑shaped mole beneath one eye and a distinctive Monroe walk. She arrives to confront Kento about the Devil’s Stick, balancing a holy façade with an intense personal obsession for the Alex‑kyun product.
• Barbara – Dr. (weary) in a crisp white coat, senior disciple of Old Lady Miranda and sister‑disciple to Kento, practices in Flower Town’s Hanamachi. As the Shopkeeper’s senior disciple and a doctor, she links the protagonist with anonymous clients, mediating repair requests and working closely with the brothels.
• Metra – One of the triplets. Thick navy hair covering her eyes. Beautiful facial features.
• Netra – One of the triplets. Thick navy hair covering her eyes. Beautiful facial features. Shows interest in Kento.
• Tetra – One of the triplets. Thick navy hair covering her eyes. Beautiful facial features.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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