Volume 4 Chapter 75 House Arrest
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”What did you just say?”
”I said we’re going to Takere—the trading city.”
Karl snapped back, dark circles weighing heavy under his eyes.
Apparently, this had been decided last night at the welcome party—after I’d already left.
Originally, syphilis had entered the Land of the Fire Ring through Takere, spreading from there into Androgynos Group territory. The distribution of infected individuals skewed far more heavily toward that region than the capital.
”They’re rushing to build quarantine facilities right now,” Karl said. “We’re gathering all symptomatic cases there, and we—along with the local Medical Mages—will concentrate treatment efforts.”
Now that he mentioned it, that did sound like the most efficient approach.
”So we’re going there too?”
”No. You guys are staying here.”
The official reasoning: only those who’d been in contact with potential carriers and were showing symptoms could enter the quarantine zone. For people like us—exposed but asymptomatic—the protocol was to keep away from the colony and self-isolate in regional lodgings.
”So what about our treatment?”
”Observation, basically,” Karl replied.
”For how long?”
Karl spread his hands wide with a look that screamed who knows?
”Hey,” he said, “I heard you’re still on loan to the research institute here, right?”
Right—I’d completely forgotten about that with the syphilis calamity and the Schweilitz situation. In exchange for food aid to Izumo, I’d been loaned out to the reincarnation researchers for three months.
”I tried asking Senior Elder Rocani-san to let you assist with treatment,” Karl continued, “but they turned me down, citing the loan arrangement.”
Come to think of it, I wanted to know how Izumo was doing too.
”Did they say anything else?”
”You’re pretty slow on the uptake, you know that?”
Karl’s tone practically screamed are you an idiot?
”What’s that supposed to mean?”
”Think it through—really think,” Karl said. “What does it mean if our relief team, you, and Izumo are all in the same place—Takere trading city?”
What was the big deal? I didn’t see anything wrong with it.
”Listen,” Karl pressed. “What did you say at the party last night?”
”Uh… I introduced your relief team?”
”That’s not all.”
”Oh—right. I mentioned the relief team’s contract term: three months, paid.”
I’d only said it because the official name of Schweilitz’s royal court demanded it.
”Exactly,” Karl said. “To the Androgynos Group—the Land of the Fire Ring—they want us here until this syphilis mess blows over. And if they’re going to show gratitude, they want to control the narrative. Right?”
Well… that made sense. If we hadn’t set a fixed term, there’d be more room for flexibility.
”What if, after those three months are up, the Land of the Fire Ring decides not to let us return to Schweilitz?”
I doubted it would come to that.
”Breaking an agreement between nations usually means war,” Karl said. “But we’re too far apart geographically.Still, don’t forget—Schweilitz’s military might is right nearby.”
”You mean Izumo?”
Karl nodded heavily. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
International negotiations are decided by military power. Pretty words and emotional appeals don’t settle things.
”Meaning Izumo—with its proper command structure—is too powerful for the Land of the Fire Ring to handle,” Karl explained. “They’d be at a massive disadvantage in any interstate negotiation.”
”So that’s why they’re keeping me separated.”
That was the only reasonable conclusion.
”Whoa, whoa, whoa—if this is that dangerous, use telepathy!” I said. “Someone could hear us!”
”You idiot,” Karl shot back. “Two guys holding hands at this hour of the morning? That’d look even more suspicious.”
Fair point. I didn’t want to hold hands with Karl either.
”But the ship has Fredys—she’s our deck crew foreman,” I pointed out. “That woman’s a battle-hardened veteran, and she’s got better judgment than I do. The dwarf bridge squad leader used to be a ship captain too. That’s two proper command candidates right there.”
The objection came from Pamela, sitting across from me.
”Ye fool,” she said. “A commander’s nothing without people willin’ to follow.”
What was she getting at?
”Say they attack this country while ye’re not back yet,” Pamela continued. “What would Kenze and Katarina do? They’d refuse to follow—they’d insist on a rescue first. And what about Maria? She’s got the most mana and the worst temper. I reckon she’d oppose it too. Besides, Fredys and Roland wouldn’t step up as commanders while ye’re still alive. Ye ought to be able to figure that much out.”
Wait—was I really that well-liked?
”Don’t go gettin’ ideas,” Pamela scoffed. “Fredys and Roland just don’t want the responsibility. Maria wants to kill ye with her own hands, and Kenze and Katarina are after that lower half of yers.”
Blunt as always.
Karl was snickering beside me.
”If the relief team gets detained by the Land of the Fire Ring,” Karl said, “and ye’re on Izumo—what then? As a Schweilitz military asset, ye’d use force to free them, wouldn’t ye?”
Well… as much as Karl annoyed me, if he made his wife Darina cry, Marie would kill him. I’d probably fire a few suicide drones into the trading city, threaten to break them out. Worst case—march on the capital, blow up the Hub Tower. With no transport infrastructure besides Transfer Gates, this country would descend into chaos, and I’d execute the rescue operation in the middle of it all.
”Ye know this, don’t ye?” Pamela added. “Androgynos Group has no military of its own—they rely on the Amazoness. And you’re on good terms with Queen Kakuka of the Nyunpai—the Amazoness’s head family. And what about Elder Rocani?”
Avoid conflict.
”First step,” Karl concluded: “they won’t let you get anywhere near Izumo.”
So that’s where this was going.
”At least until the syphilis calamity passes,” Karl said.
I see. Karl agreed with Pamela’s assessment.
”So basically, as long as you guys heal the patients quickly, there’s no problem,” I said.
My observation earned a glare from the man beside me.
”We’re not acclimated to the climate here,” Karl said. “The fatigue is brutal. A healer’s physical condition directly affects treatment outcomes—you know that.”
True—the dark circles under Karl’s eyes looked painful. Probably from the temperature difference and jet lag. The younger students seemed surprisingly energetic, so it was probably an age thing.
”Just… focus on the treatment,” I said.
With that, I left the room, changed clothes, and headed to the laboratory where Ms. Rao and the professors were waiting—my first visit in a while.
Despite me being back, the professors kept muttering about whether I was even necessary. Questions directed at me were rare.
”Ms. Rao,” I asked, “am I actually needed here?”
I asked her—was it “her”?—as she scribbled program on parchment. She seemed equally idle, busying herself with her own work.
”Ah… well,” she said, scratching her frizzy hair, “if all you’re doing is summoning, I don’t think it matters much.”
She scratched her frizzy hair and looked at me.
”The professors are hung up on how your consciousness can return to your previous life—how the Larry inside here and the you over there swapped,” Ms. Rao explained. “They’re trying to build an observation device for consciousness.”
”An observation device for consciousness?” I repeated.
”Yes,” she said. “It’s all Greek to me, though.”
She answered and turned back to her parchment. If even Ms. Rao didn’t understand it, I was completely lost.
I changed the subject.
”Can I ask you something?” I said.
”What?” she replied without looking up.
I brought up the human trafficking story I’d heard from Cisco.
”Ah—so you found out,” Ms. Rao said.
Ms. Rao answered without surprise, still glaring at her parchment.
”I’m writing a module for the obedience circuit—Yes Sir—for exported maidservants,”1 she said.
Even hearing it explained, I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
”Before, we knew what work they’d be doing, so we could write the program for specific tasks,” Ms. Rao explained. “But now only general-purpose models sell, and it’s a nightmare.”
Ms. Rao set down her parchment and started venting.
Back then, for farm work, they knew exactly what the job entailed, so they could write specialized program. Now, with all kinds of tasks being assigned, they had to create something like artificial intelligence—capable of executing whatever it was taught. Even if the soul was from a rat or sewer rodent, the maid’s brain was as capable as a human’s, so resources were sufficient—though building massive, complex program was still tricky.
”Even so,” she said, “we rarely write new source code anymore. We just set parameters on existing programs and include them.”
Spirit magic2 really is just computers. The magical documents written on parchment are program, the spirits are the OS, and the maidservants are the devices. Ms. Rao didn’t even call them magical documents anymore—just program.
”Up until now,” she continued, “we’ve been patching things together to make it work.”
Apparently, maidservants could go haywire if given overly complex orders, overworked, or exposed to life-threatening situations. Ms. Rao was writing new source code to suppress those outbursts.
The flood of technical jargon was beyond me, but basically—she was programming maidservants to be as obedient as robots.
”Earlier,” I said, “you mentioned making them infertile—was that through surgery?”
”No,” Ms. Rao replied. “Contraception, libido suppression, mana-blocking, and striated muscle configuration are all done at the very first stage.”
Now I was even more lost. At least I understood it wasn’t surgical like neutering dogs or cats.
”It’s not about altering their thought patterns—these are direct interventions on bodily functions,” she explained. “For contraception, we adjust hormones continuously, like an always-on birth control pill. But since there’s no vasectomy, sperm is still produced and their bodies remain masculine. The side effect is heightened libido, so we suppress ligands that act on the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus. Pretty amazing, right?”
It certainly seemed impressive—and also way beyond what should be done to human beings.
The conversation drifted to muscle development. Most maidservants were used for farm labor, but those assigned to household work needed muscle suppression to avoid looking disproportionate—so they’d suppress testosterone and such.
”Right,” I said, “and you mentioned mana-blocking earlier.”
”You know that in the Androgynos Group, even humans can handle mana, right?” Ms. Rao said.
I remembered the first time Ms. Rao had used telepathy with me.
”If a maidservant could use mana—” I started.
”That wouldn’t be good, I imagine,” she interrupted.
”Exactly,” I agreed.
Ms. Rao beamed with vindication.
”It’d be a problem if a maidservant sleepwalked and launched a Fireball,” she said. “Or if they started reading minds.”
Would it be a problem if they read their master’s mind? Pamela read mine constantly.
”Can you do the opposite?” I asked.
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
”Hmm… it’s not impossible,” Ms. Rao mused. “Mana-blocking fixes the mana pool in place—all you have to do is release it.”
Apparently, program—spirit magic—could do something like bursting a mana pool through pressure.
”But… why?” she asked.
When she asked, the first thing that came to mind was a maidservant soldier using magic tools—someone without a soul of their own. If they fought on the front lines with artificial shishi-odoshi,3 coilguns, the casualties among regular troops could be drastically reduced.
No, no, no—that line of thinking was dangerous.
”Maybe I was thinking… whether we could make maidservants create Mana Pentamers,”4 I said.
It was a flimsy excuse—almost entirely made up on the spot.
”I thought it might make treating syphilis easier,” I added.
”I see,” Ms. Rao said. “But people eighty years ago struggled with this, so someone must have had the same idea. The fact that it never materialized tells you something.”
Yeah, that made sense. It was just a passing thought anyway.
”Ah—but maybe—” Ms. Rao started.
Ms. Rao made a weird face and shoved a finger into her ear.
”Ah… no, that won’t work—” she muttered.
”No, wait, that might work—”
”No, no, no—but… hmm.”
She spiraled into her own world, scratching her frizzy hair, muttering to herself, and for some reason squeezing her own generous chest.
”I’m going to see the head contractor,” she announced abruptly.
With that abrupt announcement, Ms. Rao left the meeting room and never returned.
I asked one of the professors later. The “head contractor” was the prime contractor for spirit magic software development. Developers like Ms. Rao—programmers and systems engineers—were subcontracted to create the magical documents (software) that controlled maidservants.
* * *
Days and weeks passed.
Even in the high-altitude capital, spring had arrived in earnest. Sunlight sparkled across the caldera lake, and unfamiliar flowers bloomed wildly along its shores.
And I was bored out of my mind.
The professors had finally finished the observation device they’d been building. If it worked properly, there was a good chance we could eventually specify and summon animals—and possibly even contact people from my previous life.
After all that struggle, the device was assembled based on their hypotheses. But testing hadn’t begun. For testing, I needed to enter the Mother Mushroom, make contact with Ms. Henrietta, and record the results.
But since I couldn’t be confirmed free of syphilis infection, I wasn’t allowed inside the Mother Mushroom. If I contaminated it, the colony would have to be shut down entirely. No one would take that risk.
And since I was probably the only person in this world who could contact beings from my previous life, the research ground to a halt.
With nothing to do, I couldn’t get permission to return to Izumo—nor to travel to Takere trading city.
I was under house arrest in the capital.
So I started fishing in the caldera lake right in front of the city.
It was a massive lake, yet the fish were tiny—nothing bigger than my palm—and full of tiny bones that made them a pain to eat.
I’d been hoping for trout or bass, but clearly, I’d been wrong. Still, there was nothing else to do.
My birthday was approaching.
That day, as I was fishing—catching nothing I planned to eat—a strange person approached from a distance.
Hair a tangled mess. Clothes blackened with grime. The kind of person you could smell from a mile away.
And they were walking straight toward me.
Damn it. Time to bolt.
As I started packing up my gear, the walking ragpile called my name.
”Mr. Larry,” the figure called out.
It was Ms. Rao.
”I did it!” she exclaimed. “I created a maidservant that can produce Mana Pentamers—just like you suggested!”
No way.
With this, I could finally go home to Izumo.
Overcome with joy, Ms. Rao tried to throw her arms around me—but she smelled absolutely rank. I dodged, and she tumbled straight into the still-cold waters of the caldera lake.
—
Summary:
Karl and Pamela corner Larry with a military-political analysis revealing that the Land of the Fire Ring is deliberately keeping him separated from Izumo to avoid being overpowered in negotiations, with Karl advising that their relief team’s rapid healing is the key to resolving the standoff. Larry visits Ms. Rao in the lab, where she explains the horrifying depths of spirit magic programming—how maidservants are controlled through modules like the obedience circuit for export, complete with hormone manipulation and mana blocking. The conversation sparks an idea in Ms. Rao that leads her to abruptly leave, and weeks later, she returns disheveled and triumphant, having created a maidservant capable of producing Mana Pentamers.
—
Trivia:
The syphilis outbreak entered Androgynos Group territory through Takere trading city and spread from there, with infections concentrated outside the capital.
Larry is on a three-month loan to reincarnation researchers as part of a food aid agreement for Izumo.
Karl tried to get Larry released from the loan to assist with treatment, but Senior Elder Rocani refused.
Pamela uses rural Southern American dialect markers including ye, yer, willin’, and gettin’.
Pamela correctly predicts that Kenze, Katarina, and Maria would refuse to follow orders without rescuing Larry first.
The Androgynos Group has no military and relies on the Amazoness, whose head family Nyunpai is led by Queen Kakuka—Larry’s ally.
Spirit magic functions like computer programming: parchment documents are program, spirits are the OS, and maidservants are devices.
Ms. Rao writes modules for the obedience circuit—Yes Sir—for exported maidservants.
Maidservant programming includes contraception via hormone adjustment, libido suppression, mana-blocking, and striated muscle configuration.
Mana-blocking fixes the mana pool in place and can theoretically be released.
Larry briefly considers using soulless maidservant soldiers with magic tools to reduce casualties but rejects the idea.
Larry is under house arrest in the capital and cannot return to Izumo or travel to Takere.
The Mother Mushroom cannot be used for testing the observation device because Larry may be carrying syphilis.
Ms. Rao creates a maidservant that can produce Mana Pentamers after Larry’s offhand suggestion.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Izumo – The iron-hulled primary vessel, named and personified as a character herself, who loyally carries the protagonist and his crew throughout their journey.
• 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.
• Fredys – Izumo’s section chief and deck crew foreman is a battle-hardened, reliable sailor with a formal military bearing and clipped tone. Despite her past in slavery and social awkwardness, her sharp judgment makes her an indispensable advisor. Related to the Ullmans via Uncle Torge, she lives with Roland and an assistant, serving as Earnest’s subordinate but refusing command while Larry is alive.
• 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.
• Katarina – Katarina, a voluptuous 30-year-old Izumo flight squad leader and volatile telepathic mage, is a complex handful who enjoys teasing protagonist Earnest by listing his exes. An older former Magic School student, she pressures subordinates while advocating for Gida. Often the target of Eida’s frustrations, she is known for being after Larry and refusing orders unless they involve a rescue.
• Roland – Roland, a dwarf bridge squad leader and former ship captain, is an indispensable, cautious navigator known for his technical expertise and impressive maneuvers. A gay man living with Fredys and a young boy, he uses telepathy to communicate and maintains a practical nature. Though he refuses to supersede Larry as commander, his skill is unmatched, as seen in his remarkable reverse docking ability.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Darina – A beautiful, city-polished 13-year-old Barsheni native, Darina is a troubled Medical Magic student with strong Complex-type mana. A childhood acquaintance of the protagonist and Marie, she serves as Marie’s devoted maid, housemate, and co-caregiver for the infant. Married to Professor Karl, she also gathers spider silk for the Capital and acts as an associate who informs Marie on sensitive matters.
• Marie – Marie, an authoritative Kiridal professor and former Weasels leader, manages the protagonist’s home in the Capital. The sharp-tongued, pregnant mother of Anjelica and niece of Isabella, she balances her academic work at the Arsenal Bureau with a rustic demeanor. Though she loves her husband Kenze, she harbors unresolved abandonment issues regarding Larry, often frustrated by his disappearances.
• Kakuka – Kakuka, the authoritative and decisive Queen of the Amazoness’s head family, Nyunpai, is known for her short black hair, tan skin, and pragmatic leadership. She maintains a dignified demeanor during strategic negotiations and shares a friendly, trusting relationship with Larry, having previously entrusted him with critical deliveries and readily adopting his proposals to integrate new Dwarven technology.
• 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.
• 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.
• Cisco – Cisco Cliff-Blue the Sixth, an earnest and friendly young Androgynos, leads the colony near the coal outcrop. A pottery artisan who collaborates with dwarves on engineering, he is a reincarnated former student who naively accepts the handmaid trade. As Earnest’s primary contact for negotiation, Cisco serves as the crucial link to the human trafficking information brought to Rao-san.
• Mana – A non-commissioned officer and liaison who previously had their mana drained by Larry.
• Henrietta – Earnest’s fourth wife, Henrietta, is a muscular, busty orphan, mage, and Royal Magic Academy researcher who served as a royal guard until her assassination during the Haritz Rebellion. Now parasitizing Larry’s daughter—identified by Pamela via scent—her telepathic link persists. Larry must contact her inside the Mother Mushroom to test his observation device and considers summoning her via their bond.
• Tim – Jarek Dvorak, 14, the village’s eldest son and recent graduate, has short dark hair, a lean build and thoughtful eyes. He arrived in Obernbach with his father, watches the Golem’s arrival with trepidation, and, as a sugar‑beet cultivator from a family that refines sugar, boasts of pleasures in the district. A carefree, slightly reckless friend of Larry’s.
• Ti – A component of the name of the Port Administrator.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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