Sorry for the delay, I’ve been super busy lately.
I’m thinking of making a section where I post the weirdest pieces of filler text that Deepl put into the translated chapter, in place of the actual sentence. This time around, it’s: In the event that you’re in the market for a new pair of shoes or boots, then you’re in the right place.
Translation: Zioming
Editor: Zioming
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Chapter 70 – A Golden Fox and a Run-Down Kingdom
This one is a bit shorter, and the next one will be a bit longer. I’m not very good at adjusting the amount of words in a chapter…
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I was sitting in our room, drinking tea and stroking Maria’s ears (the best way to pass the time). Sakura and the rest of the main party arrived just as I’ve had my fill of Maria’s ears.
Tiramisu, Maple and Chocolate went back to the mansion to get a lecture from Lucia. They are now being officially employed by the Chamber of Advanced Commerce, so they have to learn a lot more about human common sense.
“Hmm, is this the person who was in a Sera-like state because of ‘Gluttony’?”
Entering the room, Mio saw Aisha lying on the sofa and asked.
“Mio-san, please don’t call it that!”
“I see, it is a Sera-like state…”
“Not you too, Master!”
Sera looked pretty miserable.
“But, unlike Sera, she can’t eat as much as she wants. While her appetite grew, her body remained the same, so if she ate too much, her stomach would burst and she’d die, according to Alta.”
“Ugh. …So, she’s like a reverse Sera.”
“Why do you have to use me as the standard!?
“No, it’s just that… It’s a state that makes you eat a lot, so the first thing that came to mind was Sera-chan…”
I know how you feel.
“Please don’t do that!”
“Dora can also eat a lot~!”
Things were starting to get a bit noisy, but Aisha still didn’t wake up.
A: The mental burden was likely too much for her. She’ll probably stay asleep for the rest of the day, at least.
If she isn’t going to wake up today, it would be a pity to leave her lying on the sofa like that.
“It seems she won’t be waking up today, so I’ll take her to another room.”
“Jin-sama, please leave it to the maids…”
I tried to carry Aisha, but Maria stopped me. Shortly after, a maid entered the room to take care of her, probably contacted by Maria via telepathy.
“Ah, please wait…”
As the maid was about to pick Aisha up, Sakura suddenly stopped her.
“Her stomach is still pretty bloated, so I’ll create a spell to cure it…”
“Right. It would be a pity to leave her like that.”
Looking closely, Aisha’s complexion is pretty pale. She got cured of ‘Gluttony’, but it didn’t make her bloated stomach go away.
“<Magic Creation> ‘Refresh’!!”
Sakura used her unique skill.
If there’s no magic that can cure Aisha’s ailment, we can just make one ourselves.
Original Spell ‘Refresh’
Relieves physiological ailments. Overeating, abdominal pain, headache, lack of sleep, muscle aches, etc. Being a recovery magic, it causes some mental strain. Recommended to use about once a day.
Yeah, it’s a fight or flight kind of magic.
“It’s done… ‘Refresh’…”
Saying that, Sakura used ‘Refresh’ on Aisha. The effect of the spell was instantaneous and Aisha’s belly was back to normal in no time flat. Her complexion also improved, so she should feel a bit better now.
After watching the maid carry Aisha away, we all decided we had no more plans for the day, so we used ‘Portal’ to return to the Kastal mansion to take a rest.
We could have stayed overnight in the living quarters of the Norkutt branch, but we would interfere with the maids’ work if we did, so I decided to go back home instead. As you can imagine, construction work makes a lot of noise, so they halted it all, not to disturb our rest.
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The next day, it was the last day of free activities.
We finished our breakfast, which included Chocolate’s eggs, and, as we were talking about what to do today, I suddenly got a report from Alta.
A: The Golden Fox that rules Narnka Kingdom has gone mad under the influence of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ curse mark of ‘Lust’. (ED: lit. ナルンカ – narunka)
There are so many parts of that statement that I want to ask about, that I don’t know where to begin. For now, let’s have her explain in order, as usual.
Narnka Kingdom is a country we said we might visit in the future, right? Is that where the Golden Fox is?
A: Yes. The adventurer maid who entered the Narnka Kingdom confirmed it with the map. I’m certain it’s the same Golden Fox that Maple had mentioned before.
Does the Golden Fox rule the Narnka Kingdom?
A: Yes. She became the queen and now rules the kingdom by using the king as her puppet. That’s why the taxes were on the rise.
And now, the Golden Fox, who’s ruling the kingdom from behind the scenes, has gone mad. Even worse, she has the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ ‘Lust’ curse mark. I wonder what’s going on in that place.
A: For now, the curse mark’s spread has been limited to the royal palace, though most of the people inside have already contracted it, so it’s only a matter of time before it spreads to the capital city.
Does that mean that the damage so far is also contained to the royal palace?
As a fox lover, I’d love to tame the Golden Fox if possible, so it would be better if she hadn’t caused too much harm. If she had already killed a lot of people …I would probably have to give up on her. The aftertaste would just be too bad to stomach.
Then again, even if there are no human casualties yet, there might still be other victims. According to Maple, the Golden Fox is ‘good at deceiving people’. There’s no reason for such a monster to not hurt humans. She might have caused a lot of harm in other ways.
Well, it’s probably OK as long as I don’t know about it. …Look, it’s my favourite animal, I’m obviously gonna be biased about it. …Unless she has a rotten personality. That’s an immediate disqualification.
All in all, it’s shaping up to be a really good day.
“I’m going to tame the Golden Fox today. Who wants to come?”
“Yes, I’ll follow Jin-sama.”
Maria was the first to raise her hand when I asked the people present. Well, that’s pretty much par for the course at this point.
“Oh, right. The royal palace of the Narnka Kingdom, that we’re going to, has been infected with the curse mark of ‘Lust’, so do keep that in mind when deciding. Also, Dora can’t come due to educational concerns.”
No matter how you look at it, being exposed to the effects of a ‘Lust’ curse mark, can’t be good for her future education. I mean, I don’t want her to grow up in a sheltered environment, but there are limits to what I’m willing to let her see.
“Eeh?! Dora also wants to come~!”
“No can do.”
“Mu~…” (sulking)
Dora puffed up her cheeks in protest, but honestly, it just made her look cute instead. I patted her on the head to cheer her up.
“Ehehe, patted by Master. OK, Dora will be a good girl~!”
After having her head stroked by me for half a minute, she was back in a good mood. So simple.
“I… I think I’ll pass…”
“Sakura’s not coming. Well, I guess that was to be expected…”
“Yes… It’s probably something that I don’t want to see…”
Well, if you come along, you’ll probably be exposed to some pretty graphic scenes. Sakura is not very good with carnage, and, although the situation in the Narnka royal palace is likely going to be more erotic than bloody, it might still be too much for her.
“I’ll go!”
“I will also come.”
Declarations from Mio and Sera soon followed.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I think I’ll probably be okay. …without having all of my senses blocked this time. (ED: Mio is seriously bad with both carnage and horror, so, when they were conquering the graveyard-themed floors of the dungeon, she was being carried around with both her eyes and ears covered.
“Me too. Back when I was still a noble’s daughter, I probably couldn’t have handled it, but now …I should be fine.”
Looking at the two of them, they don’t seem to be pushing themselves, so it should be OK. …They’ve really grown stronger.
“What about the three of you?
Next, I asked the Tiramisu, Maple and Chocolate monster girl trio.
“I’d love to go, but…”
“Rejected.”
Maple wanted to go, but got immediately shot down by Lucia.
“Both Miss Maple and Miss Chocolate are too ignorant when it comes to the rules of human society. If they are to be associated with the Chamber of Advanced Commerce, they will have to study hard from now on.”
“That’s why…”
“That’s why.”
“I see.”
As monsters, they are both mostly oblivious to human customs, so if they plan to live as humans from now on, they have to catch up on it at least a bit.
“Miss Tiramisu can go. She’s a reincarnated human, so she already has the basics down.”
“Hmm …Tira-chan will also study ☆ It would be mean to leave the other girls behind ☆”
“It’s good to have you Tiramisu.”
“Yeah, let’s do our best together.”
So the three monster girls are staying behind to study. With just Maria, Mio and Sera coming, it’s basically the early slaves group.
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After some basic preparations, we went to Narn, the capital city of the Narnka Kingdom with a ‘Portal’. To be specific, we moved to a ‘Portal’ placed a little away from the city gate.
“My apologies. I wasn’t expecting you until we got a proper base set up in here…”
An adventurer maid (in normal clothes) said apologetically.
“No, I’m the one who randomly decided to come, so don’t worry about it.”
“As you wish. I’ll enter the capital city and set up another portal post haste.”
“No, we’re already here, so we’ll just go ourselves.”
Sure, it would be more convenient, but if we’re going to wait for you to do it, we might as well just go personally.
“Then, at least let me set up a ‘Portal’ in the royal palace.”
“I think you’re skipping way ahead here.”
“But, it’s unbecoming of a maid to bother her master.”
“It’s what I want. I’m not feeling bothered.”
“…I understand. Then please enter the city the regular way.”
“Yeah, let’s go with that.”
That said, we parted ways with the adventurer maid and headed for the gate. She will apparently enter some time later.
“The slave maids really care for Master…”
“It’s already second nature to them.”
“I’m glad to see Lucia trained them well.”
Watching my exchange with the adventurer maid, Mio and Sera smiled, while Maria nodded with satisfaction.
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“The toll is 10,000 gold per person.
“What?”
I was surprised to learn the current fee for entering the city from the gatekeeper.
“Isn’t that too much?”
“Isn’t it usually around a thousand gold?”
That’s what the average toll was in other cities, so, 10 times the normal amount… I mean, it’s not like we can’t afford it, but …….
“If you have a problem with it, don’t go in. That’s what I’ve been told by the higher-ups. A few years ago it was 1500 gold…”
I see, that means it’s gotten more expensive since the Golden Fox came. It all makes sense now. But still, isn’t that a bit too expensive?
“I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll pay.”
“Is that so? I don’t know what your business is in the capital, but I’m already starting to like you.”
According to the gatekeeper, the 10,000 gold fee only applies to travellers and other unaffiliated people. Apparently, 80% of them give up on entering when they hear it.
We paid 40,000 gold to the gatekeeper and entered the capital city. It’s a good thing we came in a small group. It would be a waste to spend money on something like this…
Narnka Kingdom is pretty small, with a population of around 10,000 people, most of them living in the royal capital, Narn. Obviously, the city is so small, it can’t even begin to compare to the capitals of larger countries like Kastal, Estia or Eludia. The royal palace, which you can actually see from the city gate, is also incomparable in scale to those of bigger countries.
Looking at the map, I noticed that almost half the area of the royal capital seems to be a slum. Although there are no people starving to death, the standard of living seems to be quite low.
A: It seems that the Golden Fox is going with a ‘keep them barely alive’ policy. Trying to squeeze them dry, without actually killing anybody.
So, basically, it’s just as rough as our previous information suggested?
To be honest, I’m quite relieved that the Golden Fox isn’t that evil. What? The poor? As long as they don’t die, I don’t really mind that much.
There was no reason to go near the slums, so we took the straightest road possible to the royal palace.
There haven’t been any infected people outside the palace yet, right?
A: Yes. It is fortunate that the royal palace is isolated and no damage has spread to the outside yet.
Looking at the map, the palace is almost completely isolated from the outside world. It’s surrounded by layers of canals and a moat, which makes it nigh impossible to get in or out without using the drawbridge.
A: They used to lower the drawbridge several times a day to let people and supplies go in and out, but now it just stays up all of the time.
It seems that people under the influence of ‘Madness’ can’t make rational decisions. As such, they never thought of lowering the drawbridge and going out into the town.
A: To begin with, there is no one capable of doing that in the royal palace any more.
Hm? What do you mean?
A: If you check inside the palace, most of the people who have gone mad are in a coma. This is the effect of the Golden Fox’s rare skill.
I didn’t look into the Golden Fox or the royal palace until now because I didn’t want to spoil it for myself, but now I’m getting curious, so let’s have a look.
…Hmm, most of the people in the royal palace have very little HP and MP left. And they’re all lying down, fainted.
Here’s the status of the Golden Fox that caused it.
Name: Tsukiyo (Madness – Lust) (ED: 月夜 – tsukiyo, lit. moonlit night)
Level: 112
Gender: Female
Age: 1291
Race: Golden Fox (Rare)
Skills:
Martial Arts: <Unarmed Mastery LV4> <Bow Mastery LV5>
Magic: <Fire Magic LV6> <Dark Magic LV7> <Recovery Magic LV3> <Illusion Magic LV7> <Space Magic LV3> <No Chant LV7>
Techniques: <Etiquette LV7> <Negotiation LV4> <Conversation LV8> <Brainwashing LV9>
Body: <Body Strengthening LV6> <HP Drain LV4> <MP Drain LV4>
Other: <Transformation LV10> <Energy Drain LV10>
Cursed mark: <Lust LV->
As you can see, she is incredibly strong. Even her level is on a level of monsters in the final floors of the dungeon. (ED: Final hidden boss was lvl 200, but regular monsters’ levels went up to 125) She’s also the oldest one yet and she’s got multiple high level skills.
To top it off, she even has skills that I’ve never seen before, perhaps even some rare ones…
<Brainwashing>
Brainwash the target using magic. The strength of brainwashing depends on the skill level. It’s possible to prevent it, if your resistance to negative status effects is high enough. The chanting time is long and it’s difficult to use it in battle. Can’t be used with <No Chant>.
<Energy Drain>
Absorb the mental energy of the person you touch. Can be activated at the same time as ‘HP Drain’ and ‘MP Drain’. (ED: This one translates as a certain sex act in Chinese, but this is a family-friendly novel…)
<Lust>
Impossible to tame. Harder to escape. Can control sexual desire.
Even better, she’s not alone.
“What’s the matter, Master?”
“‘That’s the look you get when you find something interesting, while looking on the map.”
I may have been grinning a little.
“Can Mio-chan even tell what Jin-sama is thinking? I envy you so much…”
“No, I just sort of do. Don’t look at me like that…”
And then there’s Maria’s diehard jealousy. Her eyes are quite scary. Mio is also scared.
“Mio guessed it. The status of the Golden Fox is even more interesting than I expected.”
“Let me see… What the…!? Two of them!?
“There are two?”
“Yeah. There’s another one, in addition to the one that’s gone mad.”
“Seriously…?”
I honestly almost missed it. If you look close enough, there’s another Golden Fox. It just got overshadowed by the mad one.
Name: Tokoyo (ED: 常夜 – tokoyo, lit. endless night)
Level: 5
Gender: Female
Age: 10
Race: Golden Fox (Rare, Rare Variant)
Skills: <Illusion Magic LV1> <Transformation LV5> <Spatial Manipulation LV7>
<Spatial Manipulation>
Can manipulate the surrounding space. Cannot manipulate more than one space at a time. The effect wears off if the user is rendered unconscious.
Are they a mother and daughter pair? I think the age gap is too big for that. The daughter has a skill that seems to be pretty rare. And she’s a rare variant. (ED: They explained a couple of chapters ago that there are rare advanced species of each kind of monster, like the Golden Fox, the Giant Man-Eater, or the Harpy Queen, and then, there are rare variants of monsters, that are stronger that the regular ones, but not as much as the more advanced species of the same kind. She is both, so basically a rare variant of an already rare species)
Of course, I’ll tame them both. I couldn’t possibly miss a mother and daughter fox duo.
“By the way, Master, why are the people in the palace all unconscious?”
“Maybe the madness caused by ‘Lust’ raised their libido, and when they tried to turn on the Golden Fox, she used her combination of ‘HP Drain’, ‘MP Drain’ and ‘Energy Drain’ to suck them dry.”
A: That’s correct.
“So, it was like that after all.”
“Is that so? Then, I guess it’s not as bad as what we were expecting.”
“Yeah, I suppose it isn’t. But it seems that not all of them are like that. It’s good that we didn’t bring Sakura and Dora with us.”
Looking at the map, you could see the situation pretty clearly. Most of them are comatose, but not all of them.
While talking, we arrived near the royal palace. There were guards stationed in front of the drawbridge, but since there was no one left inside that could lower it anyway, we used Nosferatu to fly to the other side instead.
Holding Mio and Sera in my arms, I flew over the moat, with Maria following us close behind, running through the air with footholds made with ‘Barrier Magic’.
“Maria-chan can really do anything.”
“Honestly. Apart from in close combat, I feel like I keep falling further and further behind her in what I can do.”
“You’re right. She’s pretty amazing.”
Hearing me say that, Mio and Sera both looked at me with surprise.
“Do you actually mean that?”
“Coming from Master, who can do almost anything, it’s got to be sarcasm, right?”
“No, I really think so. Unlike me, who can’t learn any new skills on my own, and can only rely on my subordinates for that, she learned all of them herself. I honestly think that’s pretty amazing.”
Is Maria really just my bodyguard? Even while diligently protecting me all of the time, she keeps steadily learning new skills.
-Beshin
There was a loud noise, so I stopped moving and turned around, only to see Maria fall down a bit before regaining her balance.
“What’s wrong?”
“‘I’m sorry …I’ve lost my footing for a bit.
Did she try to conjure a barrier right below her in a hurry? That’s unusual. She’s usually not one to make such mistakes.
“Are you alright? Should I carry you with Norferatu?”
“No, I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”
“…All right. Please be careful.”
“Yes.”
We got back on our way.
“What happened to Maria?”
“Maybe she forgot herself when Master complimented her. She’s pretty weak to his praises…”
We crossed the canals and the moat, and landed in front of the royal palace. From there, I decided to backtrack a bit and enter through the front door.
“There are no guards on the palace side, it seems.”
“Well, according to the map, they have all gone mad.”
“Is that how far the infection spread…”
Surrounded by the canals and the moat, the inside was a picture of chaos. It’s good that the gatekeepers stayed outside the palace. Inside, there were people lying everywhere, some of them in a state it’d prefer not to describe in detail.
“Wow, it’s just as we expected.”
“Pretty much. What do you want to do? Won’t they all die at this rate?”
Checking their status, it turns out the HP and MP of infected people don’t recover over time. …That’s bad. If your HP and MP get so low, you fall into a coma, and they don’t regenerate …you will die.
“Right…”
In the first place, is there any way to cure a person who has gone mad?
A: No, there is not. To be precise, there is no other way than to become Master’s subordinate and receive the ‘Avatar’ skill.
In other words, I am the only one who can actually save all those people. I have no obligation to help them, nor do I have a grudge against them that would make me want them dead, but If I just tame the Golder Foxes and go home, leaving them like this, this country will fall apart without them.
“I don’t want to have a bad aftertaste after taming the Golden Foxes, so let’s help them.”
“But, won’t we have to enslave all of these people then, Jin-sama? They won’t be able to consent to becoming your subordinates in their current state.”
“Point taken.”
I won’t be able to make them my subordinates with ‘Engage Link’, so, as Maria pointed out, the only option left is to enslave them, and then forcibly subordinate them later. I already know from the case with Aisha that I can use ‘Slave Arts’ on mad people, but… It’s going to take forever to use it on everyone in the royal palace.
“In that case, could you please leave it to the maids? We keep increasing the number of Jin-sama’s subordinates, so there are quite a few of them who specialize in ‘Slave Arts’…”
“The maids can really do anything…
“Honestly…
“Pretty much…
It’s amazing to think how many things the maids can do. They’ve already helped us a lot during our time in Atto Union.
A: It’s their pleasure to be of service to you.
“Very well, let’s leave it to them.”
“Yes.”
Saying so, Maria placed down a ‘Portal’ in the royal palace, out of which 12 maids came and lined up in front of us. They all have the ‘Slave Arts’ skill.
“As I’ve explained, please use the ‘Slave Arts’ on all the mad people in the royal palace. There are no exceptions. However, please stay away from the area around the Golden Foxes. You can take care of people there after Jin-sama has already tamed them.”
“Yes!” x12
The maids spread out and started to use the ‘Slave Arts’ on the comatose people. It’s a bit of a grey area, enslaving people while they’re unconscious, but we’re doing it to help them, so…
“Now then, Jin-Sama. Let’s go to where the Golden Foxes are.”
“Oh? Sure…”
Maria and the maids are maybe a bit too reliable.
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Backstory – The Maid Unit (ED: I translated it as just ‘the maids’)
A group of slave maids (most of them believers) serving under Jin. There are more that 300 confirmed members at the moment.
In order to respond to Jin’s every request, they are honing their skills day and night, and increasing the range of their services.
The group includes multiple adventurers, dungeon explorers, merchants, cooks, architects and musicians. There are also several slave dealers and tour guides to meet all the needs that may arise during Jin’s future sightseeing.
Naturally, all of these only cover a small fraction of the maids’ many activities, and there are new ones added all the time.
To be honest, I think this chapter’s MVP was definitely the maids, don’t you?
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Next time, it’s finally the foxes’ turn (the main act). (ED: Another hard to translate sex joke to finish it off… 🙂
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