Young Master, Please Put Some Pants On! - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 69

If she had switched bodies with Noel, he would have surely noticed something was strange. She had just asked Garulus to keep the body swap a secret, but she wondered if that was even possible.

“Ooh! A swallowtail butterfly!”

Watching herself excitedly chase after the swallowtail butterfly, she somehow felt like sighing.

“Haah…”

“Captain.”

As she let out a deep sigh, someone called for Noel from afar. It was one of the knights from the Ducal Residence. Regardless, Mellis was busy organizing her thoughts while fidgeting with her fingers, lost in anguish.

“Captain?”

“Noel. They’re calling you.”

‘Ah, right!’

Noel acted out Garulus’s manner of speaking in a calm tone, and only then did Mellis come to her senses and hurriedly get up from her spot.

“All preparations are complete.”

‘Preparations?’

What preparations were complete? Mellis blinked her eyes, unable to understand the situation.

“Isn’t today the regular training? You said it would start at 2 o’clock, so everyone has finished assembling.”

‘Huh?’

Regular training? What was this about? She glanced at Garulus beside her with a bewildered expression. But Garulus, or rather Noel, who had turned his back to her, was pretending to know nothing and eating snacks.

‘Surely not, Lord Noel. No way…?’

“Come on. Let’s go quickly! We’ve prepared some very rigorous training!”

‘No, no!’

However, Mellis, who couldn’t bring herself to resist, had no choice but to be led by the knight’s hand pushing her back toward the training ground.

‘That eagle bastard…!’

Mellis’s silent scream echoed pitifully.

* * *

“Huff, huff…”

She staggered as she walked, her body heaving as she caught her rough breath. The training that had lasted over four hours had pushed her to her limits. It was only because she was in Noel’s body that she had endured this much; if it had been her original body, she would have already fainted and collapsed.

She was newly amazed at how incredible the physical abilities of a real beastkin were. Though there would be individual differences, Noel, being an eagle beastkin, had an exceptionally light body, and his eyesight and grip strength were remarkably outstanding.

If her whole body hadn’t been exhausted, she would have enjoyed trying out animal transformation, which was quite regrettable.

‘I need a place to rest, a place to rest…’

Terrified that the knights might catch her, Mellis was hiding behind the armory in a secluded area when the acrid scent of cigarettes wafted faintly from somewhere.

‘Hm?’

Turning around out of curiosity, a familiar silhouette came into her view. That brown back of the head was…

‘Lord Malcolm?’

To think that Malcolm was the one secretly smoking cigarettes behind the armory. Mellis blinked at this quite shocking scene. Who would have thought that he, who usually insisted on maintaining an upright attitude without any disorder, had this side to him? It was truly unexpected.

“What? Why are you here?”

Moreover, Malcolm, who had spotted her, even frowned and showed his irritation. Mellis was quite confused by this unexpected situation. And it didn’t even end there.

“Hey, you said you’d wait up front, so what are you doing here… No, Lady Noel!”

Anna, who had opened her mouth with a blunt voice, spotted her and hastily covered her own mouth in panic. When Anna appeared, Malcolm silently stubbed out his barely half-smoked cigarette with his heel.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t they say those two were childhood friends?’

Mellis looked back and forth between the two people, piecing together the cause and effect. A secluded place, Malcolm and Anna, childhood friends, a secret meeting.

Ah, I see. It seemed her feelings that had been directed toward Noel had shifted elsewhere. When Mellis nodded as if she had realized something, Anna shouted with a flushed face.

“It’s not like that! We just had something to talk about for a moment…!”

The flustered Anna hung her head low. At that moment, Malcolm, who had been silently watching her, gently lifted the corners of his mouth as if amused.

‘…Was Malcolm the type of man who could smile like that?’

Mellis wore a dazed expression at his unfamiliar smile. However, Malcolm soon erased his smile as if nothing had happened and spoke in a low tone.

“Well, it’s something I need to tell you anyway, Noel. Since you’re here, listen up. The movement in the western mountains is unusual. The regular subjugation was just a few months ago, but we’ve received reports of magical beasts appearing again.”

“What? Already?”

The western mountains located in the Severus Duchy were one of the few areas in the Empire where magical beasts appeared. Therefore, Kerman regularly sent knight orders to conduct subjugations, which were usually carried out once per quarter.

But this year, the appearance of magical beasts had been strangely frequent, and subjugations had also been conducted more often than in previous years.

“There’s been no damage to civilian homes yet, but it seems like something has gone wrong. So although it’s a bit early, it looks like they’re planning to move up the regular subjugation schedule. This time, the Grand Duke will also participate directly. But the problem is that strange rumors are circulating.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Children from the slums in the Astina Marquessate have been going missing frequently. There are rumors that this might be related to the magical beasts in the western mountains.”

“Ah…”

Anna let out a small sigh. The Astina Marquessate was a place that bordered the duchy’s territory with the western mountains as the boundary. However, the western mountains were strictly land belonging to the Severus Duchy, and subjugating the magical beasts there was also the ducal house’s responsibility.

“You’re saying the responsibility could fall on the Grand Duke?”

“With quite high probability. You know that Marquis Astina is the leader of the noble faction. That bastard who’s desperate to tear into His Grace wouldn’t just let an opportunity like this slip by. So while this subjugation is being carried out, I’d like you two to conduct a separate investigation related to this.”

Anna nodded slightly at Malcolm’s request. However, she soon furrowed her brow and muttered.

“Did you try requesting cooperation from the Magic Tower? If magical beasts really laid hands on children, this isn’t something we can handle on our own.”

“Of course I requested it. The answer was obvious. They said they can’t send mages until abnormal movement of magical beasts is confirmed. Instead, they offered to provide magic tools that can detect magical flow.”

“Ha, what kind of ridiculous nonsense is that…”

Malcolm also bit his lips in frustration. In fact, though he couldn’t rashly tell anyone, Malcolm had been suspecting the Magic Tower as the mastermind behind this recent incident.

Even setting aside the Revolity incidents so far, their uncooperative attitude regarding magical beast-related matters was completely incomprehensible.

‘It’s just that the reason isn’t clear.’

Kerman seemed to have similar thoughts, but since there was virtually no connection between the Magic Tower and Revolity, they couldn’t move rashly.

Meanwhile, Mellis, who had been listening to their conversation, fell into deep thought. Magical flow – a certain idea flashed through her mind.

* * *

Mellis’s steps as she returned to her room were strangely excited. Come to think of it, Kerman had definitely told a similar story before.

“But why didn’t you mention it until now? Reading magical flow is such an amazing ability.”

Seriously researching healing power meant she could also understand the flow of special abilities in more detail. Of course, reading the flow of special abilities was possible even now, but it wasn’t an ability that could greatly help anyone.

‘Actually, since there’s usually no occasion to use it, I was hardly aware of it.’

Researching the flow of special abilities would definitely provide a good justification for frequenting Professor Hopnilman’s laboratory. Above all, being able to help the people of the ducal residence – wasn’t that a very joyful thing?

According to Malcolm, the next regular subjugation would be in about two weeks. It wasn’t a long time, but it was sufficient time to practice. Mellis, who wanted to hurry and tell Arsian this news, moved with an excited heart.

‘But I wonder if those two are doing well?’

It was already well past evening. Due to continuous training, she hadn’t encountered either of them even once since leaving earlier. Feeling inexplicably anxious, Mellis quickened her pace.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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