Chap 50-Crows Are Indeed Cool

 

“O-Okay. Go ahead for now. Can we erase it later?”

“Yes. I will definitely erase it on the day the princess, who is an embarrassment anywhere, truly becomes confident.”

Erasing it can be done anytime.

How much money have I made from this in the gutters?

This tattoo business was probably the most honest work I’ve ever done.

Of course, I think I’m strong enough without doing this, so it doesn’t matter. Recently, more and more people are getting tattoos to improve their body specs.

It’s not like they’re directly strengthening themselves with some kind of drug. It’s done with a spell, so the body is naturally strengthened.

“Then, at least make the tattoo design a bit decent.”

“How about this?”

I showed her the most popular package.

Cleavage, lower abdomen, both arms, thighs, back—it was truly a high-end spell package.

On the surface, it’s a pretty well-made design.

It’s as if flames were made into a pattern. Flames encompassing the body are engraved on the skin.

“What is this? No, this is too much.”

She thinks this is too much?

“It maximizes mana circulation and simultaneously enhances body activation and mana regeneration.”

“Is it different from drugs?”

“Yes. Of course, it’s not very noticeable, but this is popular with women.”

Originally, to embed a spell of this magnitude, you’d have to befriend barbarians who engrave patterns on their bodies, so I showed her something simple and expensive.

Originally, the larger the spell, the more the tattoo occupies the body, but the really expensive packages incorporate complex spells while keeping the tattoo simple and beautiful.

“The design is kind of extravagant. And a bit vulgar.”

“Really? I think it would suit you well. It’s just that you see it with prejudice, but fire is amazing. It’s the most expensive one, and that’s why no one gets it. This is what they get instead.”

When I showed her the most popular tattoo on the next page, the princess was startled.

Because that tattoo occupied a much larger proportion of the body.

It almost covered her entire thigh.

“Hmm. Am I generalizing?”

“It would look beautiful on you, Princess. It’s not flashy but sophisticated.”

Of course, that’s because it’s made with a spell.

Due to their body structure, women often engrave spells on their chest and lower abdomen to protect the abdomen rather than just for contraception.

In other words, they engrave defensive spells.

In that case, it’s mostly a charging type, where the spell is activated by channeling mana into the tattoo.

I showed the princess the description of the abilities of this spell.

“Ah. I don’t know, do whatever you want.”

The princess made a decision.

Then my job is to draw a great picture.

I cleared the blanket from the princess’s bed, leaving only the sheet, and looked at the princess, tapping the sheet.

It was a signal to lie down here.

“Okay, lie down here in your underwear. Let’s start with the front.”

“Underwear?”

“That’s enough.”

The princess frowned as if she didn’t believe me, then lay down in her underwear.

She definitely has a good figure.

Her breasts are quite large, and her waist is slender. Just looking at her, I knew what to do.

Looking closer, she’s quite beautiful.

I can’t harbor any ulterior motives, so I decided to slowly draw on her body.

“But can you do it properly? Like, without it being crooked?”

“I’ll draw it properly even if you struggle because you don’t like it. It’s different from a regular tattoo. Sometimes, giving mana to this tattoo will increase its effect even more.”

“Okay, just hurry up.”

It’s literally mana.

It’s about coloring mana and engraving it on the body.

Slowly, very slowly, I first stared at the princess’s body, which was clearly visible in front of me, and then applied the mana needle.

First, the flame pattern engraved on the chest looks like flames rising upward, centered on the cleavage. This is to protect the chest where a woman holds mana.

Sometimes, the princess’s breasts jiggled whenever she twisted her body, which kept distracting me, but whatever.

“I-It’s ticklish.”

“Please bear with it a little longer.”

“I’m really getting a tattoo on my body. My mother will be surprised.”

“You’ll just have to say you had no choice to survive.”

After all, the Second Empress, the princess’s mother, is a woman who chose the option of sending her daughter to Schperen to save her.

She would accept this much.

Of course, her life is in danger, so what else can she do?

After the cleavage, it’s the arms.

Instead of engraving the same cross-like mark on the back of the right hand on the back of the left hand, I implant a flame shape.

And the same goes for the forearms, and then the lower abdomen.

This lower abdomen area is especially dangerous.

“Do you really have to do it there?”

“I don’t have to, but it’s my preference.”

“No, you should do it on your own body.”

“Of course, the tattoo will look a bit ridiculous as your belly swells during pregnancy, though.”

That’s why a female adventurer who got a tattoo from me came to ask me to erase the tattoo after she got pregnant with a party member’s child.

I charged her a lot.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll ever have a baby.”

“That’s true.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there won’t be a man for the princess in the kingdom, at least. Moreover, even if you were to connect, the other person would be the child of a high-ranking official. They might find out about the demonic star sign. You won’t be able to hide it forever.”

It’s a fact that will eventually be revealed.

You can’t be sure that your husband won’t find out about the demonic star.

This star sign is a bit dangerous to hide forever. Of course, the princess is in a delicate position to marry.

“It’s too much of a future story.”

“The princess’s situation is so bad right now that you have to worry about that. A star sign is something that lasts a lifetime after all.”

Stars are so cruel that, just as people walk a predetermined fate, a star sign has no intention of breaking away from its chosen contractor.

It has no intention of letting go of the contractor human.

I don’t know what it wants, where the star sign leads humans, or what kind of influence it has.

In the end, being chosen by a star sign means receiving strong power and having to move according to the will of the star.

There are records of a Hero who fought against the stars in the past being torn apart like a dog, so it seems that there are sometimes people who try to resist the stars.

The fact that the demonic star chose the princess also means that it can move the princess as it pleases, but the future is the problem.

“Then forever.”

“Yes. You might live as an old maid.”

“That’s troublesome.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you at least until you’re safe.”

“W-What are you talking about? What if I’m in danger forever?”

“I’ll just have to protect you then.”

Honestly, the princess will be safe enough before that.

If the princess gains the power of that star sign, she will become strong enough.

So I can tell her to rest assured for now.

Besides, if that really is a Demon King-level being, I have to watch her from the side even if I don’t want to.

I can’t leave such a hidden danger and go somewhere else.

“Y-You’ll protect me forever? What about you? Aren’t you going to get married?”

“Well, I’m not really interested in men.”

That’s the condition Master set for me to live in this body.

In the first place, it’s not like I’m giving up on my life just because I’m protecting one princess.

It’s something I can do by manipulating the princess in the palm of my hand and taking the lead.

“But you wet your panties. Of course, there are some people who relieve themselves in their panties while getting a tattoo.”

“It’s not pee!”

She seemed very embarrassed, so I decided not to say anything more.

I need to protect a woman’s pride in this kind of situation.

I just pretended I didn’t see it and drew the picture a little more diligently and delicately.

While engraving the spell, I incorporated as many necessary things as possible. To make it react to her mana and move.

When I finished, a purple light rose slightly from the tattoo as a whole.

It was proof that it was properly activated.

“Okay, it’s done.”

“It feels like it’s getting very hot, but is this okay?”

“It feels that way because it’s connecting to the princess’s mana. There’s no problem at all. Now we just have to do the back.”

The princess got up and looked at the tattoos drawn on her body, then made a complicated expression, turned around, and lay down as she was.

It came out beautifully, so why is she like that?

She might be like that at first, but if she thinks about the benefits those spells give her body, I think the princess will soon say it’s good.

Besides, if that really looks vulgar among the royals, that’s good in its own way. It’s moving away from the throne.

The back is a little easier.

It’s like drawing on drawing paper, and it’s flatter than the front, so it’s fun to draw.

So I was about to draw when.

“Can you do the same thing on the back as you have?”

“This is the Bathory family crest, though.”

“Then never mind.”

She seems a bit dejected.

Maybe it’s just my imagination. Or maybe there’s another reason.

Like she likes crows or something?

Crows are unexpectedly popular birds in the underworld, but I never thought a woman like the princess would be interested in them.

Originally, it was engraved by the Thieves’ Guild to use as a code name.

The spell can be engraved on crows anyway.

It’s not patented, so it doesn’t matter.

“Well, it’s not patented, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Then please do it.”

She’s coming out very firmly.

“Well, crows are cool.”

“It’s not because of that reason, but ugh. Anyway, please do it.”

The princess is a strange woman.

Why can’t she honestly say she likes crows?

Even though crows are popular birds in the underworld, they are actually worshiped as auspicious birds in some countries. I never thought a woman like the princess would be interested in them.

Anyway, since she said she likes crows, I was about to engrave it, so I first untied the bra straps and moved the needle to her back.

Creak

At that moment, the dormitory door opened naturally.

Ah, I forgot to lock it.

Still, how many people would barge into the princess’s room, even if it’s the rose hall?

Or maybe it’s that Ellie or something?

I left Sera with Shukat, so it can’t be Sera. The person who burst into the room was none other than the princess.

Princess Luciella. It seems she’s finished her negotiations with the Emperor in the imperial palace.

“What are you two doing?”

Did I make her angry? The princess looked back and forth between me and the princess and then got annoyed.

I don’t know what it is, but I felt like I had to make an excuse.

“It’s simple. I’m going to give our princess a tattoo.”

“Why a tattoo all of a sudden?”

“As you can see, I have to cover what needs to be covered.”

Luciella scanned the princess’s body up and down, then her eyes went to her right arm.

That Libra is really a scam.

Even without a star sign, you can become strong enough if you work hard. A high-level adventurer with Libra would be the perfect setting as a thief.

It’s a shame, but what can I do?

My star sign is just as good.

“Ah, you mean the demonic star?”

“How do you know that?”

“That person is Libra. She knows everything about what a person is doing, what they have, and what they are like. So there’s no point in hiding it.”

If you try to hide it, you’ll only show a more sinister side.

It’s better to just show everything. The princess accepts this kind of thing easily, perhaps because of the influence of the star sign.

Or maybe she’s seen so many human masks and insides that she just accepts things like that as basic.