Ch.280I’ve Become OO!

While we had prepared countermeasures against the curse, we couldn’t immediately set out to find the culprit. There was no point in wandering aimlessly when we didn’t know where they were, and doing so might only put the perpetrator on alert.

It would be better to naturally take care of other business here, giving time for news of our stay to reach the culprit through Moon Lake’s spies who were in communication with them.

For that reason, we sent letters to the Blackforge Mine, Willow Sanctuary, and the Night Cat tribe’s village to check in and report our recent activities. We also began modifying the bird-type automaton we had acquired from the dwarves of Grandorn Zwei.

We determined that having an automaton capable of wide-area surveillance from the sky without being detected would greatly help in early detection of the Gentleman’s attacks.

Over 10,000 gold was invested in modifying the automaton.

We completely replaced the frame and surface armor with three types of special alloys, and by optimizing the magical formulas that generate buoyancy, we dramatically improved flight time and durability.

We also extended the communication distance with the control goggles by more than twice, and added an electrical discharge function in case it was caught by flying monsters.

Its appearance was now much closer to a living creature, making it difficult for most people to distinguish unless viewed up close.

The completed automaton was named “Aquila.”

It’s the name of Zeus’s pet eagle that carried his lightning in Greek mythology. Despite coming from a religion outside of Grantis, Mina gladly accepted the name.

While spending a couple more days on test flights and fine-tuning Aquila, a welcome gift arrived from the Oak Sanctuary.

It was rum and marrons glacés, specialty products of the sanctuary that could be produced again now that the contaminated elemental incident had been resolved.

It hadn’t even been three months since we solved the case, yet finished products were already made… Grantis’s agricultural environment truly is cheat-level.

“Delicious~~!”

“So this is real marron glacé. The aroma alone is incomparable.”

“Three boxes of rum with 12 bottles each and 20 containers of marrons glacés… Without the Box of Stopped Time, we wouldn’t have had enough space to store them.”

“I suspect they intended for us to sell some for cash. Nominally, they sent these as payment for resolving the incident.”

As Phyllis said, the rum and marrons glacés from the Oak Sanctuary came in elegant bottles and containers, beautifully packaged.

If someone were to ask whether we should be enjoying luxury desserts while someone is dying in a hospital bed, I’d have no defense…

But I think this will also serve as material for the Gentleman’s spy to misread that we aren’t on guard against them.

That’s why we’re deliberately sitting around the lakeside park enjoying snacks and chatting, rather than staying in our luxurious hotel rooms.

“So now we’ll start on the wide-area survey request?”

“Yes, though our ‘preparations’ aren’t completely ready, but even in our current state, it’s practically a free request.”

“After this job is done, are we heading to Westend Seventh next?”

“That’s one option, or we could move directly to the planned site of the 8th Western City and begin the full-scale survey. In a way, this current request could be considered a warm-up for that.”

Our party’s current objective is a wide-area survey request posted at the Adventurer’s Guild.

The survey target is the entire unexplored area southwest of the dungeon where the Overflow occurred.

Now that the Overflow incident has concluded and the restoration of the Wellord Salt Mine is on track, the purpose is to conduct a thorough survey to check for any other potential dangers.

The adventurers who gather for this will spend money, albeit small amounts, purifying the black mana at the Wellord Mine, which will help with the mining town’s recovery.

Of course, our participation in this survey activity is to lure out the Gentleman.

After the previous dungeon conquest, it’s widely known that we possess special means of transportation, and it’s obvious that if we participate in wide-area survey activities, we’ll focus on distant areas that other adventurers would find difficult to reach.

If the Gentleman is monitoring our party’s movements and intends to attack, this would be the perfect opportunity.

Conversely, if they don’t take the bait despite all this, it means they’re either deliberately avoiding confrontation with us or have lost interest in this area entirely, in which case there’s not much we can do at present.

“Then shall we move to the Wellord Mine first, rest once, and start the survey?”

“That seems reasonable. I believe there were also some transport requests to that location, so we could earn some money while we’re at it.”

After leaving this bait, we left the restaurant, purchased large quantities of food ingredients from the marketplace to load into our carriage, accepted requests from the Adventurer’s Guild, checked wanted criminal information at the sheriff’s office, and returned to our lodgings.

We leisurely departed from Moon Lake around 9 AM the next day.

Our route was the shortest course from Moon Lake directly to the Wellord Salt Mine, passing through the point where Gerald Fork had been attacked.

Of course, the chances of being attacked at the same location after more than ten days had passed were almost non-existent.

“By the way, we should take care of what needs to be done before we get too far from the city, right?”

“Finally, the time for the fateful drawing…”

“If only we could control what kind of transformation occurs, even just a little.”

“This is one thing we must leave to luck. I just hope it doesn’t leave a bad impression on Will.”

“Yeah. I’d prefer changes that aren’t too noticeable.”

To activate the body transformation spell—our final barrier against the Gentleman’s curse—Mina took out a voodoo doll that had been modified into a magical tool.

Once mana is supplied to that doll, random changes will occur to the bodies of all six of us, including myself.

We don’t know what will change or how, but since it’s a tool of black magic designed to harm others, we can’t expect positive changes.

We’ll return to normal once the doll is destroyed after resolving the incident, so we just need to endure until then.

“Then I’ll begin. May luck be with us all…”

Iris, who received the voodoo doll from Mina, slowly infused it with mana.

Since it was originally an orc shaman’s tool, black mana was essential for activating its effects.

Apparently, it could be activated with normal mana using Jessica’s Fragment of Omniscience, but forcibly activating a spell that’s close to a curse would only add unpredictable, uncontrollable risk factors.

If we can use it according to its original method, that’s the best approach.

“Whoosh—!”

“Ugh…!”

“Guh…!?”

As black mana spewed from the voodoo doll like fog, Phyllis and Iris, who were sensitive to mana, reacted first.

The black fog that emerged enveloped all six of us and slowly began to take effect.

It felt like something sticky but weightless was pulling at various parts of my body.

I imagine it would feel like having box tape or fly paper stuck all over and being pulled in different directions.

After being squeezed and pulled all over for what felt like several minutes, my vision, which had been darkened by the black fog, gradually brightened, and I could see the changes that had occurred to the five women’s bodies.

“Is it over…? Kyaah!?”

Iris, who lost her balance and fell, had scale-like calluses on both cheeks and the backs of her hands, and a long lizard tail had grown from her backside.

For a moment, the mysterious title “Lewd Ar*gonian Maid” almost crossed my mind, but overall she maintained her dark elf appearance, so it could be considered a moderate change.

The reason she fell was probably due to the balance shift caused by the tail.

“Uwah~ What is this? I’ve grown horns!?”

Mina had a horn sprouting from the middle of her forehead, and her hands had grown slightly larger than usual.

If she were holding a spiked club, she’d look like a cute little mischievous goblin, but I’m also concerned that the change in hand size might prevent her from performing delicate work.

“…I’ve grown too much fur. I look like a Beast King tribe.”

Seti had undergone a stronger manifestation of the beastfolk’s wildness, becoming much more furry than usual.

That said, her face hadn’t completely transformed into that of a beast like the Beast King tribe or Silver Wolf tribe; rather, about 60-70% of her previously exposed brown skin was now covered in fur.

The wild beastgirl look had a fresh appeal to it.

“It seems I’ve turned into a monster. Is this still within acceptable limits?”

Jessica had no changes to her upper body, but her lower body had transformed into green plant stems.

The thick stems were braided like hair, barely maintaining the form of human legs, but honestly, I’m a bit worried about whether she can walk properly.

Was I the only one who thought she looked like a rose because of her red dress?

“Same here. There’s some discomfort, but it’s not unbearable, and there don’t seem to be major restrictions on movement. It’s much better than becoming something filthy that emits a foul odor.”

In Phyllis’s case, there were no changes to other parts, but her long golden hair had transformed into snakes that were writhing about.

As soon as I saw her, I immediately thought of Medusa from Greek mythology and was alarmed, but seeing her face Jessica without anything happening, it seems she didn’t gain the petrification ability.

But somehow… while I understand her hair turning into snakes, tying them into a ponytail gives off a slight impression of animal abuse.

While the five women seemed to have undergone transformations within acceptable limits, the problem was on my end.

The bodily discomfort I’d been feeling, my significantly lowered line of sight, and clothes that were now too loose and threatening to fall off—

Unlike the women, I could tell I had undergone a major change that affected my body size.

“What happened to Will…”

“Huh…?”

“…Will?”

Jessica, who looked at me first, widened her eyes, and Mina, Seti, Phyllis, and Iris couldn’t hide their surprise either.

What? What happened?

“This is…!”

Raising both hands to check my own transformation, I too couldn’t help but be shocked, and I immediately understood why the women in the party were making such expressions.

The small hands raised before my eyes were unmistakably those of a young child.

“Kyaaaaaaaa~~~~♥”

A harmony of screams filled with affection.

It seems my appearance had regressed to that of a lower elementary school student.