Chapter 41
“This is the basis for my judgment that there wouldn’t be a problem~.”
At that moment, Lucy held up several sheets of paper and spoke. Since I was too overcome to continue speaking, she must have thought I was doubting her.
“Variant magic increases in output as its Depth increases. But the mana waveform that causes the variation is divided into a maximum of four stages according to Depth: the initial stage, the advanced stage, the dormant stage, and the terminal stage.”
She showed me several sheets of paper. They looked like ultrasound images rendered in various colors. They also resembled slightly crude pieces of modern art.
“But variant magic fundamentally has a target… or rather, a limit. I mean the maximum extent to which the body can mutate. Once the body has finished changing completely, there’s no need for additional changes, right? You can think of it as being similar to that~.”
“Hmm. Is that what you meant by terminal?”
“Yes. This is the mana waveform displayed by Mr. Wayne’s Beast Regression magic. The paper Lucy is holding shows the waveform of another variant magic. Can you guess what the two images have in common?”
As Tirsi spoke, she held up another sheet whose paint was still running. I examined it closely before speaking.
“…They both feel rather calm.”
Since I wasn’t an expert, that was all I could say.
The mana pattern of Beast Regression and those in the other pictures were almost symmetrical left and right, like decalcomania, and the paint splatters were subdued. As I looked at the green paint on the paper, I felt a vague sense of déjà vu.
“If I were to draw the movement of the mana when I use Beast Regression, I think it would look exactly like this.”
“Correct~! This is a picture made by applying the mana observed by the magical device directly to ink! What they have in common is that, in both cases, the mana causing the variation is in the terminal stage.”
Lucy picked up another sheet. Both the paint and the image on it were a mess, as if a tiny fairy had danced across the paper with a brush.
“This is the mana waveform of the advanced stage, when the body is actively undergoing variation. Anyone can tell at a glance that the feeling is different, right? This is happening with your magic because the mana causing the variation has stopped moving.”
“Ah, I understand what you’re saying.”
I caught on to the conclusion the two women were trying to convey.
“Variant magic has a ‘maximum extent’ to the changes that occur in the body, and that stage can be determined with this magical device──”
I tapped the iron cylinder and continued laying out my deduction.
“Since Beast Regression is showing the same symptoms as other variant magics after the variation has stopped, no further variation will occur in my body. May I understand it roughly that way?”
“That’s right. You understood perfectly.”
At that confirmation, I regained my composure.
The dick-expansion upgrade patch caused by Beast Regression was 100% complete, meaning there would be no further changes.
So variant magic didn’t make the body change endlessly. Each spell achieved its own predetermined ‘target’ and then stopped. Since this was the conclusion experts had reached by combining actual cases, it was probably reliable.
“The magical device our guild has isn’t the finest available, but its precision is trustworthy, so you can rely on it.”
Lucy spoke as she organized the images containing the mana waveforms.
“Your image in particular came out exceptionally clean and easy to read.”
As she tidied up, she picked up one of the sheets, blew gently on it, and showed it to me. It looked like a direct tracing of the shape of a man’s dick and balls.
Wait, why did that shape look oddly familiar?
“Ta-da~! This is an image made by projecting the traces of mana left on your dick! It’s also called an aftereffect trace, Komani, apparently?”
That was fucking my dick, all right. I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even react.
“…Does the trace really remain that blatantly?”
“It’s a projection of the mana that remains, so it won’t last long. If you get examined again in a few days, it won’t look like this anymore. So, about that… may I make something based on the shape of this image?”
─Slurp.
Lucy spoke as she ran her tongue over her lips. My back grew damp at the sensation of my head coming face-to-face with a venomous snake.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t. If someone said they were going to make something modeled after your body, wouldn’t you find that creepy too?”
“Aww, what a waste.”
When I refused, Lucy readily backed off. Then she waved around the scan of my dick, whose paint was still slightly wet.
“If you don’t like it, it can’t be helped. What are you going to do with this image? Do you want to take it, or should I dispose of it for you?”
“I’ll dispose of it myself, so please give it to me.”
“Tsk.”
I took the dick scan and tore it to shreds. What could I possibly use something like this for? I felt sorry for the tree, so the proper thing to do was get rid of it quickly and turn it into fertilizer.
Riiip─ Riiip─.
I tore and crumpled it into a ball, then tucked it inside my clothes. I’d have to throw it into a furnace somewhere later and burn it. After that, I let out a deep sigh.
“In any case, I’m worried about what comes next.”
“What are you worried about?”
“The Beast Regression magic. If word of this gets out, it’ll cause a tremendous upheaval.”
Beast Regression was a spell comparable to dick-enlargement surgery.
A dick-enlarging mutation with absolutely no side effects!
What man anywhere would simply ignore that? Just as I had guessed several times before, everyone would try to learn Beast Regression like it was a passive skill.
For some reason, it currently only worked on me, but if research continued and the cause were identified, other people would probably be able to use it too.
As a result, might the day eventually come when the average dick length of men in this otherworld reached thirty centimeters? Fuck, that was terrifying.
“No~? That probably won’t happen.”
Lucy said this in a fairly confident voice. I asked, puzzled by her words.
“Why not? I know it sounds ridiculous coming from me, but I imagine many people would try to learn it for the sake of Beast Regression’s side effect.”
“Hmm~. Explaining that would make this conversation rather long.”
Lucy cocked her head, then stretched and suddenly blurted out something irresponsible.
“Okaaay~! I’m not into boring conversations, so I’ll pass!”
“Huh?”
“Hehehe. Ask Tirsi about the boring stuff~. She knows more about it than I do.”
Lucy rose, moving her legs seductively, waved her hand, and glided past me. She stopped, filling the air with perfume, and gave me a seductive look.
“If not… would you like to come to my room and have an interesting little chat?”
Lucy’s finger approached and lightly traced my jawline. At that familiar motion, I answered without hesitation.
“No, thank you. I’m flattered by the offer, but I’ll have to decline.”
With Frang right there, was I supposed to cheat? That was absurd.
Of course, I dreamed of polygamy, but this was a separate matter. Sleeping with another woman behind Frang’s back and then giving her a post facto report saying, ‘She’s your second wife! Please get along with her!’ would raise all sorts of problems.
‘What if Frang got hurt because of that?’
If I were to take a new wife, I had to discuss it properly with Frang first. Having accepted the culture of this otherworld, that was the minimum courtesy I could show her.
Above all, Frang and I weren’t even properly married yet. It hadn’t even been that long since I’d met my first wife; how could I already be swept away by another woman?
“Kyahaha! I knew you’d say that.”
Although I rejected her outright, Lucy laughed without a care.
It was impressive that she didn’t let such minor failures bother her. If I hit on a woman and got rejected, it would probably stick with me for a week.
“Then I’ll be going! You two handle the rest~!”
And so, the blonde social butterfly dropped a bomb and flitted away. Tirsi and I remained like scarecrows where the storm had passed, then let out a sigh.
I suppose it was the same in every world: introverts could never keep up with the pace of social butterflies.
***
Tirsi and I returned to the office Ouslate had used.
“At least it’s a relief to hear that the side effect I was most worried about isn’t a problem.”
I leaned back against the sofa and exhaled deeply. Tirsi sat across from me and nodded.
“Yes. I’m glad I was able to examine you and give you good news, too.”
She wore a slightly awkward smile. Well, it was a fairly embarrassing subject to talk about proudly.
─Your dick is healthy! That’s great! Clap, clap, clap!
It was hardly something a young woman could say without feeling embarrassed. Thinking of Tirsi’s feelings, I brought up another subject.
“In any case, I’d like to finish asking the question from earlier… Why did Ms. Lucy say that no one would try to obtain Beast Regression?”
Since it was an important matter, I straightened my posture as I asked.
Magic that enlarged a dick was attractive no matter who heard about it.
Most of the men in this world, wives dissatisfied with their husbands’ size, and even people hoping to make money with this magic!
I had secretly thought that all sorts of people like that would be captivated by Beast Regression’s ‘not-quite-a-side-effect.’
If I didn’t make the magic public, I might be hounded by the world like someone who had won the lottery.
That was why I planned to donate the Beast Regression spell to the Mages’ Guild before a problem beyond my ability to handle arose.
A dick-upgrade-patch spell was basically a lottery ticket anyone could use. Holding on to it without the ability to protect it wouldn’t do a damn thing for Frang’s or my safety.
It was better to hand this trouble waiting to happen over to someone else quickly, so I wouldn’t have to bear responsibility or suffer any harm from it. After all, no idiot would come looking for me to obtain a spell that was available to everyone.
And if someone did, they’d probably be a moron too broke to afford a grimoire.
‘Once my dick problem is treated, I can just wash my hands of it and run away. Everything will be fine.’
That was why I had honestly revealed the side effect as well.
Yet for some reason, everyone else was lukewarm toward this magic. Even that racist bastard Ouslate, who seemed to have no conscience whatsoever.
It was impossible to imagine that selfish idiot kicking away a pumpkin that had rolled right to his feet. If he had thought Beast Regression could make money, he would have tried to sweet-talk me into giving him a monopoly on the spell somehow.
Therefore, this indicated that wizards didn’t find Beast Regression’s side effect─dick-enlargement surgery─attractive.
I couldn’t help wondering why.
“Hmm. To give you the conclusion first, there’s no guarantee that other people would suffer the same ‘side effect’ as Mr. Wayne.”
Tirsi spoke carefully, choosing each word as though organizing her thoughts internally.
“The side effects of variant magic differ from person to person. Variant magic is connected to an individual’s aptitude and genetic traits.”
“…That’s a little difficult to understand. What does that mean?”
Being well educated didn’t mean someone was necessarily good at explaining things. When I failed to understand, Tirsi seemed to ponder for a moment.
“I can explain it in detail, but it’ll take a while. Is that all right?”
“Yes. Please do.”
Tirsi nodded as though she understood, then brought a blank sheet of paper and a pen from the shelf. With them, she drew two human figures. Her pen strokes were quite delicate, though not as good as Frang’s.
“The origin of variant magic was the magic of ‘changing the body to suit one’s aptitude in a desired direction.’ They say that even a lich, the ultimate destination of a black mage, is one example.”
An arrow appeared beside the drawing of a person. At the end of the arrow, Tirsi drew a skull.
“Black magic is powerful, but the user has to pay a price too, right? The fundamental reason that penalty occurs is that the human body can’t withstand evil mana.”
“That’s right.”
They say that every time a black mage uses magic, their blood rots while they’re still alive or insects swarm through their body. Their bodies become wrecked by black-magic mana, like wooden containers holding sulfuric acid.
The thought of insects swarming through a perfectly living body was so fucking grotesque that I didn’t even want to imagine it. Since black magic in this otherworld demanded such a horrific price, it displayed insane performance like the demonic arts in martial-arts novels.
That was why the archetypal dungeon was a black mage’s hideout.
A bastard who used magic that mangled his own body was hiding away and plotting something. How the fuck could that possibly be normal? Naturally, the moment you found a place like that, you had to exterminate it like a nest of cockroaches.
“But if a body can be mutated into that of a lich or a demonfolk, the black mage can acquire an ‘aptitude’ for evil mana.”
Tirsi’s pen moved several times. The skull changed into one that emitted wisps of black aura.
“Liches don’t pay the price of black magic. In magical studies, skulls and corpses are symbols of death. To a lich, who is also undead, darkness and yin mana are merely resources that enhance its power.”
“…Are you saying Beast Regression is that kind of magic too?”
“No. It isn’t such an ominous magic. It’s just that… the side effect of Beast Regression appears to be determined by the ‘aptitude’ we’re discussing here. That’s because the mana waveform has the mutation pattern known in academia as the BSK type.”
What the hell was the BSK type?
Wait, hadn’t I heard that when Lucy and I were talking earlier too? Tirsi quickly noticed my question and gave me an additional explanation.
“The BSK type I’m referring to is short for the ‘Berserk’ type. That’s what we call the same mana waveform as the ‘beastification’ magic used by Berserks.”
As she said this, Tirsi added cat ears and a tail to the person in the drawing.
Berserks.
That was a term referring to the people of a race that made up one of the three great barbarian peoples, alongside the Ulsterians and Vikings.
But these people were particularly lacking in presence among the barbarian peoples.
Personally, I suspected they had been tacked on just to make three instead of two, since calling them the two great barbarian peoples sounded awkward. There was absolutely no record of these people leaving any mark on history.
They were weaker than the Ulsterians, while their ferocity and technological prowess were nowhere near the Vikings’.
The Berserks I knew were either madmen rampaging around with enormous greatswords or sword demons slashing away with Frenzy activated. But the Berserks of this otherworld were remarkably gentle people, to the point that the etymology of their name—‘rampaging madly’—seemed meaningless.
The reason such gentle people were called barbarians.
It was because Berserks possessed the physical characteristics of animals──in other words, they were beastfolk.