Dark Straw Ver.1
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“Alright……I can do it! “
“What are you doing, Ain-sama? “
On a day when the sun shone bright high in the sky, Ain was in the courtyard of Ishtalika’s castle, ‘White Knight’.
And so, seeing Ain speaking to himself, Chris called out to him.
Ain wasn’t the only one present, the First Princess Katima was also there.
“Nya? What is it, Chris?”
“I heard someone say Katima-sama and Ain-sama were doing something in the courtyard, so I came to see what you were up to.”
“Fufufufu nya. Eight painful months. But finally, my joint research with Ain has come to fruition. Applause is earned, don’t you think nya?”
Chris had no idea what she was talking about, but she couldn’t help but do as the First Princess had asked.
She obediently applauded.
――Nine months have passed since Ain first came to Ishtalika.
With his good aptitude, Ain was able to control his unconscious use of Absorb in just three months.
Afterward, both Chris and Lloyd took turns training Ain.
The contents were mainly all the basics, building his physical strength and stamina, and swinging……and lessons on magic.
Ain was now six years old and would become seven in about six more months.
And between all that, it seemed Katima and Ain had hit it off well with each other, so it was common to often see them together.
Katima was in her lab at the time when Olivia returned home, and basically, she hated letting other people into her lab.
Knowing all this first hand, the servants, knights, Chris and the others were surprised that she allowed only Ain to enter the lab.
“Well, I think it’s about time to do the experiment, ‘daneko’…… err, Katima-san.”
TLN: Daneko, or dame neko, means useless/failure cat. I’m sure you’ve heard in anime the phrase “dame ningen” which translates to a failure of a person. Same thing I just couldn’t find a good way to translate it.
“Umu, it seems so nya. You should go back a little nya, Chris. It might be dangerous nya……Also, Ain, did you just call me daneko? “
“You’re imagining things.”
“Dangerous? ……Eh, EHH, alright, I’ll move away.”
“Alright, here we have everyone’s favorite Ripplemodoki (alive) nya. Now, Ain! Do it, nya!! “
“……GO-!! “
Carefully taking a box that was set aside, Katima took a living Ripplemodoki from it.
The Ripplemodoki was a monster, but it was just one who attracted insects by its sweet smell and ate them.
Anyone could easily beat one even with a wooden stick.
“A-Ain-sama!? “
When Ain yelled, a black tentacle extended from the palm of his hand.
At the end of it were three finger-like things, and there was something like a sharp nail.
It then pierced the Ripplemodoki and some sort of glowing bubble flowed to his arm.
“Ain-sama, what is that!? “
“I did it, I did it, Katima-san…… It was a success! The research has finally paid off!! I also can tell the taste! This is amazing! ……Moreover, the smell of honey is strong and mature on this Ripplemodoki! “
Ain understood a few things from the experiments in the last few months.
Even if the magic stones were of the same monster, they had small individual differences in their flavor.
It was a difference similar to what one would find in crops.
The other was about the magic stone that had been absorbed.
The taste was certainly the same, but it felt of lower quality when compared to absorbing the vitality of the magic stone.
The empty magic stone also became brittle.
And since its properties changed to melting like sugar crystals, Ain used the empty magic stones as flavored powder and dissolved it in water.
He was also studying how to eat the magic stones in a variety of drinks, like the Dullahan’s and Ripplemodoki’s, as well as other magic stones.
“We did it, nya!! We finally did it, nya! “
The two of them didn’t seem to hear Chris’ voice at all, so they didn’t answer her question.
“A…… Ain-sama! Please, listen to me! “
“……Ah, Chris-san, sorry, my bad. What’s wrong? “
“Don’t ‘what’s wrong’ me! What was that ominous-looking thing!? “
“Nya, listen well Chris.”
“Yeah, listen and behold.”
“W-What’s with you two?”
Chris felt slightly afraid, seeing the enthusiastic pair.
“This was, together with.”
“Me, the greatest masterpiece, nya! Its name is.”
“”Dark Straw ver.1! （Nya!）””