To the Theocracy (1)

I felt foolish for having been so anxious; the baby was healthy. And I mean really. Excessively so. At first, I thought Shemel was lying. A baby that wouldn’t die even if stabbed in the stomach? Logically, that doesn’t make sense. But logic aside, there was one thing I was missing. I was the last person who should be talking about common sense. I had forgotten that I was an existence beyond common sense.

An Archmage. I was a mage who defied common sense. A foolish mage who believed that only my flesh was human. When I thought about it, there was no way a body that endlessly absorbed and discharged Mana could be normal. After all, an ordinary human couldn’t even contain one-thousandth of the Mana I wielded. Frankly, my body was a collection of all the Mana floating in nature.

The reason I didn’t eat or use the restroom was because I was replacing everything needed to sustain life with Mana. My body had enough Mana to live like that for a lifetime. So, what about the baby? Was the baby any different? It didn’t eat either, so where did it get its nutrients? The baby had also figured it out: how to replace life support with Mana.

In fact.

The barrier the baby deployed was identical to the one I used.

The baby was drawing Mana directly from nature. Without going through the process of refining it, in its natural state. It was the method I used.

…Imitation.

It was copying my magic.

‘This thing isn’t stronger than me, is it?’ I stroked my swollen belly, lost in thought. The growth accelerator had pulled forward about eight weeks of time. My belly wasn’t quite as swollen as a pregnant woman’s, but I could feel a slight curve.

‘So, if I don’t reconstruct for eight weeks, this is what happens…?’

With a grimace, I fondled my breasts. Having lived most of my life as a woman with small breasts, I couldn’t get used to these large ones. If you separated just the breasts, the appearance was almost the same, so the sense of depravity was no joke. It felt like my entire body was a crime.

I marveled at my body’s high growth potential, then became irritated that my height had only increased by 2cm. Still, if I endured a few years of reconstruction, maybe I could grow to 160cm. I held onto a glimmer of hope. Having lived so short, I wanted to be taller.

But unfortunately, reconstruction ‘reverted’ to the appearance recorded in the Mana wavelength, so I couldn’t increase my height beyond my original form. Yujin at 160cm was still an unrecorded future. I could force it, but… it was a gamble.

“Huu….”

I composed myself.

It was night when I left the temple. Looking up at the sky, the stars, like embedded jewels, twinkled and showed the way. The sky of a world where petroleum had been replaced by Mana, a unique resource. No matter how many times I saw it, I never tired of its beauty. Since using Mana didn’t produce pollution, this world didn’t seem to have to worry about global warming.

The cool night air swirled around me. I set off, recalling Shemel’s warning. ‘-But please, don’t do anything crazy like removing your uterus.’ I had no idea what he saw in me to give such a warning, but I thought he was quite the perceptive person.

As I headed towards the Count’s estate, strange scraps of paper scattered on the road caught my eye. I picked one up to see what it was, and it turned out to be a sensationalized account of what I had done today, along with some rumors. When did they write this? Anyway, whether it’s Earth or this world, articles are equally useless.

However, there were a few interesting things. Among them, I picked up and read one that caught my attention.

-We have glimpsed the truth in that radiant and glorious light, so if anyone knows the owner of that light, please come to the White Magic Tower. -White Tower Lord Leoklaide-

Below that were extravagant conditions, such as promising a blank check and, depending on the aptitude, the position of the next Tower Lord. I read the text with interest, then made a decision.

Let’s not.

It looked like a hassle. Even though I had partially regained my emotions and set a goal in life, I wasn’t the least bit interested in such things. It was the same reason I hadn’t bothered with a noble title until now.

I should get a noble title someday for the sake of the baby… I was already worried about whether I could overcome my boredom and weariness.

So, let’s not do anything pointless today and just go back. That thought dominated my mind. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. The baby was fine, and the residents were back to normal. It was a pretty fulfilling day. Of course, it was a bit of a stretch to call the semi-spiritual baby normal, but what could I do if it was destined to grow up that way? I should be grateful that it didn’t turn into a deformity or a monster.

* * *

Time passed, and even the moonlight faded, leaving me to rely on the light from the buildings in the distance. It was almost dawn, but the Count’s estate was brightly lit. I followed the light, strolling through the night streets. My steps were light. With the baby problem, which had been the main source of stress, resolved, my body felt as light as a feather. With the blockage in my mind cleared, I felt relaxed.

However.

The things that filled the void in my mind weren’t exactly productive. ‘Even if I poured deadly poison into my uterus, I’d be fine…’ Honestly, as soon as I heard that, I thought of the violent plays I couldn’t do because of the baby. I had to pray that the baby wouldn’t inherit my perverted personality.

There were many situations I personally desired, but saying them directly would diminish the stimulation. I pondered how to create ‘those situations.’ The most likely candidate was Shuriel. He knew my true nature and genuinely walked the line until just before death. So, I hoped that he would notice and do it for me without me having to say anything.

-Kkieok.

The door opened. The main gate of the Count’s residence, which I was now used to. I showed the watchman on late-night duty my handkerchief and leisurely entered the mansion. Soon after, I climbed the stairs to the second floor, stepping on the first steps decorated with the family crest.

I gave a light nod to the maids who were doing chores and knocked on Shuriel’s office door.

-Knock knock.

“…….”

No answer. I knocked on the door again, but it was the same. I wondered if he wasn’t inside and turned the doorknob-

Click.

The door opened.

“Shuriel?”

The lights were on. I checked around to see if anyone was watching and entered without making a sound.

“….”

Shuriel was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. Seeing the mountain of documents piled on his desk, it seemed like he was just taking a nap. Apart from that, I was horrified by the enormous amount of paperwork and opened my mouth in shock. Didn’t Hairak handle the estate management? Then what were all these documents…? I doubted he could handle it all alone.

As always, I sat on the desk and picked up a few documents to review. I quietly turned the pages without making a sound. The first thing that caught my eye was the expected routes of the wanted demons. Among them were the expected routes of the demons we had missed, Pordil and Cordil, the twin demons. The possible routes of movement from Kahalia were as follows.

The first was the Ketalia Swamp.

It was where I had caught and defeated the sloth demon Artania. It was a good place to escape, but I didn’t think they would run there. The Ketalia Swamp had been deserted for a long time due to its unique dangers. I didn’t think a demon who hated humans would be interested in a quiet, deserted place. Artania was an exception; he was just lazy.

The second was the Silbehrin Great Forest, located on the far west side of the Empire, bordering the World Tree’s domain.

The World Tree. The domain of the Elves. Unlike their closed-off image, Elves generally didn’t antagonize humans who entered their territory. So, the Silbehrin Great Forest was a popular area for humans. They didn’t mind people picking fruit and collecting herbs. Rare herbs were also abundant, so if you could avoid the monsters, you could make a fortune.

Of course, only if you didn’t use fire magic and didn’t insult the World Tree.

Elves extremely hated fire-based magic. If they saw a mage creating fire in their hands, they would try to kill them without asking any questions.

Of course, they also had ‘unavoidable’ situations where they had to use fire in the process of developing their technology, so their hatred of fire was less than before… but it wasn’t a good idea to bring fire to a race that had been with the roots of the tree since the beginning.

Also, they couldn’t stand anyone insulting the World Tree. I didn’t know what was so great about a big tree, but it was best to shut up about the World Tree in front of the Elves.

‘This place might be possible.’

Several other areas were described after that, but none were as likely as Silbehrin.

‘The land of the Elves….’

I thought Elves were just guys who grabbed bows and ran around near the World Tree, but after researching related materials, I found out that they were masters of siege warfare and a pan-peaceful race.

Since the war with the demons, the Elves had developed all their technology to protect the World Tree.

Their wall-related technology was on par with the Dwarves.

The massive and sturdy walls guaranteed safety, and many races were drawn to that safety. The most representative were the Beastmen. Guys with ears on their heads and tails on their butts. The Elves readily allowed them, and their country developed a strange symbiotic system where the vast majority were Beastmen and a small number were Elves coexisted.

Their country had no name. The Elves didn’t seem to care as long as they protected the World Tree, so they didn’t bother to name it. Humans jokingly called it a cat tower because there were more furry creatures with tails than Elves.

As I was spending time with the documents.

-Jjaeng!

“Ugh…!”

Was I too engrossed in reading? As I shifted my body, I didn’t see the ink bottle on the corner of the desk and knocked it over. It was because my large breasts were blocking my view. Now that my lower field of vision was narrowed, these minor problems were happening.

The ink bottle broke, and black paint stained the floor. It was a disaster. I got off the desk and was about to use clean magic.

At that moment.

Shuriel, hearing the noise, opened his eyes.

“Who’s there?”

It was instantaneous from opening his eyes to subduing. Shuriel grabbed the neck of the petty thief who had brazenly entered his room and was stealing documents and threw him to the floor.

“Kkaheuk, kkeueueuk….”

“You’re….”

In an instant, I was grabbed by the neck and thrown to the floor. I groaned at the pain in the back of my head and both shoulders and twisted my body. I couldn’t breathe. My vision went white with shock. Shuriel didn’t let go of my neck for a while.

“What. It was you.”

However, even though I could resist, I didn’t. Since when, ‘reasons not to get hurt’ had sprung up everywhere, making it difficult to enjoy pain without worry like before. But now it was different. I had Shemel’s guarantee, and I had checked it myself.

This much is okay.

This much…

Pain devoid of worry only produced pleasure. I blushed at the pain from my broken shoulder blade and strangled neck and pleaded.

“Heukkeueuk… Su, breath…”

As my face turned blue from not being able to breathe, my underwear slowly became soaked with a transparent, sticky liquid. At that moment, Shuriel’s hand, which was gripping my neck, loosened. His hand stroked my face, which was gasping for breath, with satisfaction, then moved to my nape. Further down, to my chest.