Ch.281Little Gunman and the Harem of Otherworldly Beauties

As part of our operation to lure out the Gentleman, we were slowly traveling by carriage toward our first destination, the Wellord Salt Mine. We needed to pace ourselves properly to allow the Gentleman, who had received information from a spy in the city, to follow us.

The effects of the magical physical transformations varied from person to person, but overall they didn’t cause major problems. Setty, who had grown fur all over her body, was uncomfortable due to the increasingly hot weather but could still manage her daily life. Phyllis also experienced no significant discomfort except that her snake-transformed hair would unconsciously cling to people beside her while sleeping. Mina was also living normally, apart from being unable to wear her Magiascope or Aquila operation goggles because of her horns.

However, Jessica and Iris were having slightly more difficulties than the other three. Jessica’s lower body had transformed into plant stems, ruining her favorite stockings, and she frequently suffered from thirst unless she drank water more often than usual. This suggested that the characteristics of plant-type monsters were having a mild effect on her physiology.

Iris, on the other hand, didn’t have physical issues, but she was taking time to get accustomed to balancing her body with the suddenly grown tail. Above all, her main concern seemed to be that whenever she got nervous or surprised, her tail would straighten out, lifting her skirt and exposing her bare legs up to near her buttocks. This included the minor issue of having to borrow Setty’s underwear because of her tail.

Finally, I, who had transformed into a child around 10 years old…

“Oh my goodness~ You’re so cute~”

“If I have Will’s child later, a son would look like this…”

“Hmm~ I thought I was firmly into older men, but…”

If I had to name a concern, it would be being surrounded by these monster girls who had transformed, being touched and stroked 24 hours a day. Of course, there’s no reason to refuse skinship with the women I love, and it’s commendable that despite all this, I’m still diligently taking turns driving the carriage and conducting aerial reconnaissance with Aquila without neglecting our original purpose, but…

“Will, are you not scared of my hair?”

“The way it shimmers gold makes it look mysterious rather than scary. But could you stop sneaking it through the gaps in my clothes and wrapping around various places?”

“Uh, umm. I’m sorry. Unconsciously, I just…”

There’s Phyllis, who tries to sneakily attempt tentacle play using her snake-transformed hair.

“Now that your body is smaller, you fit right into my arms. Maybe it would be good to just keep you in this state…”

“Mmph mmph mmph! (I can’t breathe, Jessica)…”

“Ahh~ Looking up at me like that is so cute~ Hey Will, won’t you call me ‘Big Sister Jessica’?”

“Mmmmph! (She’s not even listening)…”

Then there’s Jessica, who keeps burying my face in her voluptuous chest whenever she gets the chance, holding me tight and refusing to let go.

“Hehehe~ Will~ Time to change clothes~”

“I told you I can do it myself! I’ve worn overalls several times before!”

“Hehehe~ Do you think a human child can physically resist a dwarf big sister~?”

“Stop it!!”

And Mina, who uses the excuse that I’m borrowing spare clothes because my body has shrunk to try to strip me naked, saying she’ll “help me change.”

“There, there. Were you scared, Will? Come here and have some milk.”

“No, no, no, Setty, that setting is going too far.”

“Good children should listen to their mother.”

“This is wrong, we need to do something about this quickly…”

Then there’s Setty, who tries to comfort me after being tormented by Mina, pulling me into her soft, fluffy body and immediately exposing her breast to nurse me.

“Haah, my young master… W-would you like to go to bed right now? The scenario of being the first experience for an innocent boy… *pant pant*”

“Mina, put this woman in the doll house right now.”

“Ah! I’m sorry, master, anything but that!!”

And finally Iris, who openly covets my virginity (which I don’t have) with gleaming eyes. It was truly a total disaster with no other way to describe it.

Well, I’ve only shrunk in body, not regressed mentally to a child, so being touched and stroked all day does make me feel like I can’t hold back sometimes. But how should I put it… I have a feeling that if I were to do anything in this state, it would end badly in many ways. For example, some mysterious transcendent being with the mission of protecting children and adolescents might destroy this world.

Anyway, while repeating this daily routine, we steadily drove the carriage and safely arrived at the Wellord Mine on the afternoon of the third day. The residents of Wellord Mine rushed out to the village entrance to welcome us as soon as they saw our camping carriage, but we couldn’t carelessly reveal our transformed appearances due to the curse.

Phyllis, whose appearance had changed relatively little, pulled her hood over to hide her hair and convinced people that she was “avoiding contact with others due to health issues.”

Afterward, we purchased children’s clothes, shoes, underwear, and other items for me from a traveling merchant who had come from another city. I was finally able to avoid wearing Mina’s ill-fitting work clothes, but wearing a holster and revolver with children’s clothes made me look like nothing more than a kid playing sheriff. It seems the only way to regain my dignity as a man is to quickly resolve the Gentleman problem and destroy the cursed doll.

“Good. Anyway, we’ve arrived here safely…”

That evening, after setting up our camping carriage in the village square, we began a strategy meeting that also served as a mid-point check. While we intended to work hard on the wide-area investigation as per our request, the most important thing was figuring out how to lure in the Gentleman’s group and capture them securely. Of course, if our prediction that the Gentleman would follow us turned out to be wrong, it would all be for nothing… but that probably wouldn’t happen.

Because—

“First, let’s summarize what happened on the way here from Moon Lake. Phyllis?”

“Yes. As Will predicted, from the second day, two men on horseback have been following our carriage at a distance. I couldn’t be certain since I was looking down from above, but they seemed to be maintaining the maximum distance at which they could monitor us through binoculars.”

As Phyllis discovered, from the day after we left Moon Lake, coincidentally, two suspicious men have been following us. If they had business at the Wellord Mine, it would be safer to take the roundabout route through Leatherwork, but the fact that they deliberately followed our carriage through rough terrain is unnatural by any measure.

“If there are only two of them, it seems they didn’t plan to attack us before reaching Wellord Mine.”

“Well, if they’re aware of our movements, they would also know our numbers, and no matter how confident they are in their abilities, they wouldn’t be crazy enough to attack a group of six that includes a high-level mage with just the two of them.”

“Then those two must have also entered this village? They wouldn’t have enough time to return to Leatherwork without purifying the black mana here.”

“No. They stopped about ten minutes away from the village and stopped following us. After that, I couldn’t track their movements as they left Aquila’s field of vision.”

“Hmm…”

Following us diligently only to break away just before reaching the village.

Do they have a fake barrier tower to monitor us from a distance without entering the village?

Or perhaps there are already spies from the outlaws hiding here, and they’ve passed the surveillance baton to them before making a forced march to Leatherwork.

If that’s the case, it would be best to stay holed up in the carriage cabin until the moment we leave Wellord Mine.

“Alright. Tonight we’ll sleep in the carriage as is, and we’ll depart first thing in the morning. Phyllis, please be careful not to reveal your hair and ask around if there have been any unusual occurrences near where that dungeon was. While you’re at it, mention that we came for the wide-area investigation activity.”

“To leak information about our next destination?”

“Yes. From then on, it will be difficult for them to predict how we’ll move around, so if they want to ambush us somewhere out of people’s sight, this will be their best opportunity.”

Of course, there’s a non-zero possibility that the Gentleman has other plans and might target us when we return to Moon Lake after completing the wide-area investigation. But my adventurer’s intuition whispers that an incident will definitely occur during this investigation.

‘I need to find out for certain this time. What exactly are the Third Eye tribe, and what connection do they have with Anastasia’s Book of Adventure.’

Before I knew it, my interest had shifted from saving Calliope’s life or obtaining the Dark Sword to complete the Bio-Converter, toward uncovering the secrets tied to the ancient history of Grantis.