Chapter 249: The Horned Woman and the Female Mage

"Smuggled goods from the Celestial Flower Kingdom?"

The horned lady behind asked, sounding doubtful.

She walked over.

Leaned on Rod's shoulder with her elbow as if they were old friends.

With her other hand she took the deep pink magic ring from Ona and examined it closely.

"The circuitry inside is a bit rough, but the craftsmanship really is the same as the Celestial Flower Kingdom's."

"This little-girl stuff doesn't suit you!"

Ona hurriedly snatched the ring back.

"Nonsense, all girls like these things, and I'm no exception."

The horned lady laughed, patted Rod's shoulder, and said: "Young man, don't you agree?"

Rod could sense the immense spiritual energy within this one—at least above the eighth tier.

He also knew she was hinting, "I want one too."

He smiled and nodded.

No other substantive action.

Who are you? We aren't even close, and you're already expecting a gift? That's way too nice-guy of me.

Only this horned lady clearly hadn't read the polite refusal in his smile.

She even hooked her arm around his shoulder directly.

A rather masculine big face leaned close.

"Little fellow, you're really good-looking. Do you have some charm-type spiritual art or treasure? How come I'm starting to like you?"

Rod was taken aback.

He immediately recalled one of his buffs.

【Bai Niu's Charm】

【Details: A native spiritual art hidden within the Minotaur bloodline. Grants affinity bonus toward bovine creatures, and makes one more easily loved by married women.】

This was the buff he had obtained after he and Lady Kali purified a bull skull filled with vengeful spirits.

"A little buff I picked up by accident."

He didn't say outright what it was, but he didn't hide it either.

"I see—sniff—you smell so good, just smelling you is getting me worked up. Want to go for a round?"

Rod's chin was tipped up by thick, sturdy fingers, and warm breath nearly puffed against his face.

The horned lady before him was very powerfully built, even more muscular than a normal male beastman.

Normally, Rod had a very high tolerance for girls' body types.

From land naga to female beastmen, from half-deer people to halflings—all were within his range.

But the one before him just didn't quite work.

If not for her chest having a certain curve, with that chiseled-from-stone tough-guy face, Rod would have almost opened his mouth to call her "big bro."

"Back off, back off! You're scaring my guest!"

Before Rod could even speak, Ona stepped in and declined for him just in time.

She shoved the horned lady away with all her might.

Her face showed displeasure.

"Oh? Ona, am I stealing your man?"

"Don't talk nonsense, Cosi! This one is Lord Yulia's relative—no wait, a friend!"

The horned woman Cosi's smile faded.

The look she gave Rod turned solemn.

A relative of the Vampire King Yulia?

That was no small matter.

Rod: "?"

A relative? Of Councilor Yulia? I've never even met her.

The only connection between me and Yulia is the scorpion woman Hera—could it be that Hera secretly took me for her son?

That can't be right!

"Anyone Lord Yulia has taken a liking to must be no pushover—Mr. Rod, are you interested in joining our Cleanup Squad?"

Cosi issued the invitation quite formally.

"Cleanup Squad?"

"A squad that cleans up alternate spaces—cosmic beings or cosmic phenomena within them that might pose a threat to the real world."

Wow.

Sounds really dangerous.

A squad that just from hearing about it you know countless people would die in—Rod absolutely could not join.

"Poaching someone Lord Yulia has taken a liking to right in front of me? Aren't you going a bit too far!"

Ona was angry.

She and Cosi shoved at each other, then laughed and traded insults for several more lines.

Then she quickly drove her out of the office.

As for the human mage who had been sitting nearby the whole time, she glanced at Rod, nodded to Ona, and also left the office.

Rod naturally noticed.

Moreover, what this person was wearing was a robe similar to those of the Bahadur Academy of Magic.

Only the color was different — the one he'd encountered before wore a black robe, while this woman wore a purple one with even more exquisite line patterns.

Market District.

As expected, it was a sea of heads, people coming and going.

However, the Magic Control Union had intentionally controlled the crowd, so it didn't look too packed.

Ona walked through the crowd.

She flipped her palm over, admiring the Cai Se Mo Fa ring on her hand without pause.

Her eyes were full of fondness.

Rod didn't really understand the current trends on the continent — to him, this colored ring looked rather non-mainstream.

"So, the current boom in the Market District is all thanks to the cleanup squad that Young Lady Koshi belongs to?"

"Yep, Koshi and I are both direct subordinates of the six commissioners of the Magic Control Union. Hey, do you think the purple looks better on my index finger or my ring finger?"

"Both look good."

"Really~~"

Rod stopped in front of a general goods shop and easily spotted several items on his shopping list.

Looking at the remaining quantities, none of them were plentiful.

He hurried to buy them.

When he actually packed them into his spell pouch, he couldn't help feeling a little relieved.

The massive haul of cosmic creature spoils brought in by the Otherspace Cleanup Squad really was no joke — even though this wasn't a street in the cosmic creature specialty zone.

If he'd obediently queued up and waited for those thousands of people to pass, probably most of the Market District's stock would have been swept clean.

"That female mage looks like she's from Bahadur Academy of Magic? I recall the academy under the Magic Control Union and that academy are rivals, right?"

Ona's white robe had very long sleeves that covered both hands, usually hanging down casually.

But now that she was wearing the colored ring, her hands kept dancing in front of her, never once lowered.

"Vanessa Valentine, a magic professor at Bahadur, eighth-tier upper stage? I forgot who arranged it and set up a meeting between me, Koshi, and her. She wanted two things — one was a rare cosmic creature remains from the cleanup squad, the other was a certain containment object."

Ona didn't care at all and blurted out the content of their discussion.

Presumably she had no intention of agreeing to her.

"This person has a terrible reputation. A few years ago she was imprisoned by Bahadur for colluding with the Inferno, and only recently released."

Colluding with the Inferno, huh.

This didn't really surprise Rod — nowadays, mages colluding with the Inferno was nothing unusual.

Almost every day the newspaper had a section dedicated to denouncing Etherlon's inaction on this kind of crime.

This Vanessa Valentine just did it two years earlier — if it were now, she probably wouldn't have been imprisoned at all.

What surprised him was—

Bahadur actually has independent law enforcement authority!? An independent prison??

Ona stopped in front of a small food stall.

She bought a skewer of hot-boiled potatoes and radish, its aroma wafting everywhere.

She blew on it as she spoke: "They say Vanessa Valentine had her experimental materials and a bunch of stuff stolen by a student a few years ago, and her memory was affected too, which made her a bit unhinged — otherwise she wouldn't have so brazenly come to the Magic Control Union."

Rod was taken aback:

"Experimental materials and a bunch of stuff stolen, and her memory affected too?"

Why does that sound so familiar?

(End of Chapter)