Chapter 145 145: Corrupted Mana

Come morning, the Protagonist announced his intent to return to the city. Of course, his harem would go with him, but what caught me by surprise was Ryoko's declared intent to accompany him. By this point, I was more or less sure that the Protagonist's Beast Taming Unique Skill, or whatever it really was, was more along the lines of a Passive Skill than an Active one. Because I had never seen him use magic or a Skill or anything like that, I thought it made sense to assume his Beast Taming worked similarly to an 'aura' effect. Essentially, just by existing around him for long enough, beasts, and evidently beast-blooded girls, would continue to grow increasingly attracted to him. Taking into account Cassie's mention of him "smelling like a good person", I thought that could also have something to do with it. Now, just because the dragon girl herself wanted to go, it didn't mean her family was happy about the decision. "―Young lady. You will not be going off on some whimsical adventure simply because you feel like it." "It's not just because I feel like it! I merely... find myself appreciative of his kindness." "Oh, goodness... This is just the same as what happened with your brother! He became infatuated with some human woman parading around, calling herself a hero, and you know well what fate awaited him! I will strictly not allow it." "I'm not the same as Brother was! I don't care about fighting the Demon King, so leave it alone!" "Ryokokyoro! Come back here now!" '...Uh. Feels a bit awkward. And wait, did she say...?' That happened during breakfast, and immediately after, the girl grabbed the Protagonist by the arm and stormed out of the cave, the other three girls quickly following them. Despite seeming to smoulder with a faint hint of fury, the Elder that was her father surprisingly didn't give chase, opting instead to retreat to a deeper cavern to calm his mind. Meanwhile, I also made the decision to stay behind. There were still a number of things I needed to discuss with those Elders from last night, and besides, I was certain the Protagonist would return within the next few days... Most importantly, even if things were like this, it wasn't enough to screw up my plan. 'I should probably give it a few hours, though.' Until then, I guess it was fine to continue where we left off before. ❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖ "―'Corrupted mana'?" "Yes... You were curious as to why those pesky Golems pop up every now and then, were you not? The answer in its simplest form is due to corrupted mana." "I've never heard of that term before." "It is no wonder. The existence of corrupted mana is generally a well-kept secret. At least, it was when I last wandered the outside world, things may have changed in the last few centuries or so, as things do." "...Can you explain what it is?" "Well, I don't see why not. It can be a touchy subject for many dragons due to our inherent relationship with magic, but the two of us have no qualms discussing such 'naughty' things, wouldn't you say, hehehe...?" "Ohoho, indeed. Then, would you like to hear the story?" "The story?" "Yes. The story of the Demon King." ❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖ A while later, I was eating lunch. For a myriad of reasons, I decided to eat below the sun and blue sky, on the wide, plateau-like terrace just outside the cave's entrance, with the walled city clearly visible in the far distance. There was still plenty of mountain left to climb that was higher than this if one so desired, but this was more than high enough, for both the Dragon Tribe and for my own need. In any case, the story I was told about that Demon King character was quite interesting. Well, it was the same old story you would hear in any JRPG, really, but it was a classic for a reason. And, more than anything, I found what I thought might be a solution to my biggest problem. That is, my inability to interact with mana whatsoever. See, not only did I discover the existence of Demons in this world, but concurrently, the identity of the person who was most likely the Antagonist was revealed to me. After all, who else could be more fitting of that label than the Demon King? As it turns out from the story those Elders told me, the Demon King was cursed some thousands of years ago to be unable to absorb or use mana. Because of that, he developed a method of "refining" it, processing what was once pure until it became something so different from its original form that it couldn't be recognised anymore. That is, the Demon King's Mana Corruption. As the name implied, this Mana Corruption was said to, well, corrupt mana. Using the new, corrupted form, the Elders said the Demon King was able to manipulate it just like ordinary mana, and therefore regained his ability to use magic. When I heard that, I thought it could be both good and bad for me. On one hand, if I managed to acquire that ability through the Service Charge when I clear the Contract, it might allow me to actually turn normal mana into something I can use. On the other hand, I had wondered if I would still need something like mana veins anyway in order to actually use it, or a mana core to store it. In that case, it would still be useless, and there was no practical difference between it and regular mana. Of course, if someone had both regular mana and corrupted mana, the two energies would clash and the individual would most likely die from the recoil of their body's rejection, but for someone like me or the Demon King who had no mana to speak of, wouldn't there be no problem? Posing such a 'hypothetical', those Elders swiftly educated me, and in fact I learned I wouldn't actually require any of that at all. Corrupted mana can interact with physical matter. That meant, so long as I could harness it somehow, I could effectively store it in my body, like in my heart, and have it pumped around through biological veins, the same that pumped blood. Incidentally, it was apparently also by corrupting the mana of some of the world's "ley lines" that those Golems kept appearing―the corrupted mana from beneath the earth caused a magical phenomenon, and because it can interact with physical matter, it was able to manipulate those gigantic stone slabs. Either way, the main takeaway was that I saw a path. A future where I could use magic didn't seem so much like a crazy delusion anymore. 'Well, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I still have to clear this Contract first.' Speaking of which... I think about now was a good time. Finishing my lunch, I changed my posture to lie down in a prone position. 'The timing should be enough. It was a few hours up yesterday, but down is around twice as fast, and considering the temperament...' Calculating something momentarily, I casually retrieved the White Death from Storage. Holding it with two hands, I unfolded the bipod attachment to ensure proper stability, lining the exceptionally long barrel to point just over the top of the tree lining beneath me. "...Bingo." Peering through the scope, I swiftly found them. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long at all to locate a carriage large enough to carry over a half-dozen passengers, plus supplies and luggage, travelling through an otherwise empty grassland littered with nothing but big slabs of rock and crushed debris. Because it was a sunny day out, naturally, those guys also didn't think to close the back of the carriage. Well, why would they? No one could have predicted that something like this would happen, not in any universe. And, there he was. Right in the middle, snuggling next to both a dog and dragon girl, and with a third cat girl lying in a ball on his lap like the lucky bastard he is. '...Was.' Lining up the center of the crosshair with that peaceful, utterly unsuspecting look on his face, I gave it just a moment as I traced the movement of the carriage. Professionalism would take care of the rest. "..." Taking a deep breath, I blinked, wet my lips, and moved my finger to hover just slightly over the trigger. It happened right at that moment. "!!" All of a sudden my body froze, the menacing golden glare of a dragon staring back at me.