Chapter 403: Dieting Methods

"Cui Qian."

"Mr. Rod, you're here!"

The big squirrel Cui Qian and the little horse-girl Little Little Bangde were frolicking and play-fighting around a group of noticeably smaller Rotatosk grey squirrels.

At the sight of Rod walking over, they scrambled over on all fours, the rolls of fat around their waists jiggling as they ran.

Little Little Bangde, covered in squirrels, also flew at him with a grin.

She crashed straight into his arms in an instant, affectionately wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his bear-like waist, like an octopus.

The rest of the grey squirrels, seeing Rod, also felt fond of him and scrambled up his trouser legs one after another, and in no time at all they had covered his entire body.

Feeling the childlike innocence and warmth of the forest, Rod couldn't help but feel happy too.

Grinning, he pulled out small biscuits and candy from his spell pouch to share with them.

But before long he began to feel a little awkward.

Mm.

Little Little Bangde's recent growth spurt had been quite something — she changed every day, her height already approaching one point four metres, and the winter clothes bought at the start of winter were already looking a bit short on her, her chest bulging out, the cargo volume a little excessive.

The key thing was she didn't avoid it at all, chest pressed against chest, squishing and squeezing.

Old father Rod indicated he was a bit embarrassed.

"Little Little Bangde, come down."

"No way, it's been so long since I last saw Rod!"

"We only saw each other yesterday."

"That's already a long time!"

Helpless, Rod could only sit down on the spot and free both hands to tickle her ticklish spots.

Little Little Bangde couldn't stand it, but even though she was stimulated into loud laughter, she still refused to let go, as if deliberately competing with him.

Her plump, rounded little bottom pressed and bounced, knocking against him again and again.

She both struggled fiercely and burst out laughing, and in no time at all she was sweating.

Her brown bangs were stuck to her smooth forehead by sweat, and she panted heavily into Rod's face with a face full of smiles.

A faint smell of sweat and the scent of milk rushed into his nose.

It made Rod break out in a sweat all over.

This is getting a bit dangerous, folks.

Rod knew it was her competitive nature playing up, so he could only hurriedly concede.

"Then give me a kiss."

A look of mischief appeared on Little Little Bangde's face, her eyes looking down at Rod's lips.

Okay, okay, okay.

Simple.

A light touch on the forehead would do.

Unexpectedly, Little Little Bangde seemed a little dissatisfied, but luckily she didn't say anything more, rolling backwards out of Rod's embrace.

Laughing, she took the chance to grab the grey squirrels beside her: "Who was it just now that pulled my hair—"

Whoosh—

Watching her start to romp around in a tangle again.

Rod breathed a sigh of relief, and guiltily looked around — thankfully, no sign of the half-deer girl Miss Xiao Ke.

Back to the main topic.

"Cui Qian, you said you have a gift for dealing with the great dragon — what is it?"

Rod was already sitting on the ground anyway, so he simply crossed his legs.

The big squirrel Cui Qian's fluffy cheeks on both sides were stuffed absolutely full.

With her four front teeth, she held the biscuit in both hands and crunched away at top speed, crumbs tumbling down onto the rolls of fat around her waist — she really did look like a simpleton.

"Oh oh, right, there's still this matter!"

She stuffed the biscuit into her mouth in one go, and scrambled up onto Rod's crossed legs on all fours.

She plopped herself down with a thump.

Incredibly heavy, like having a solid block of cement pressing down.

"Have you really been dieting, Cui Qian?"

"Of course! I recently learned two dieting methods — 'intermittent fasting' and 'carb cycling' — from a new weight-loss mage over in Shi Ying Town, and I've been keeping at it this whole time! I'm sure I can lose weight!"

A weight-loss mage, huh.

Rod had heard a little about her, and had always taken her for a new swindler.

Anyway, anyone with the mind to diet has some spare cash, and the Town Hall wasn't in any rush to deal with her.

But Rod knew Rosalia had some dirt on this weight-loss mage in her hands, and had been holding it back without releasing it.

Obviously, once this pig was fattened up enough—

She would certainly hire a few bards to spread the dirt far and wide, and once the reputation turned bad, she would go along with public sentiment and raid her house.

Reputation gained, money gained.

A win-win.

The meaning of win-win, of course, is that Shi Ying Town wins twice!

No helping it — with fiscal pressure so great, harvesting a bit of the stupidity tax from wealthy idiots to subsidise things is hard to avoid.

"Just out of curiosity, what are these two dieting methods?"

Rod asked while brushing the biscuit crumbs off her belly for her.

"Heh heh."

Cui Qian's face was full of smugness, her little short hands on her hips.

"When all's said and done, Rod, you're still just a human, so it's perfectly normal that you don't understand a lot of things."

"Right, right, right."

"Then Big Sis Cui Qian will properly teach you the great weight-loss method! First is light fasting — that is, lightly biting off food. Pay attention, the key is to be gentle, that way the stomach won't notice you're eating, and you'll naturally lose weight!"

"."

"Shocked, right?! I never expected there'd be a method that both satisfies the cravings of mouth and belly AND helps you lose weight! Mages really are great! Let's continue with the second one — carb cycling, that is, carbohydrate cycling. Rice during the day, noodles at night, and in the latter half of the night, big flatbread this time. You know what carbon is? It's—"

"Doesn't it make you bloated?"

"The first few days, a little, but once you get used to it, it's fine. After all, it's for losing weight!"

Rod pinched the bridge of his nose.

He decided to find a day to go beat up that weight-loss mage — at this rate, the big squirrel in his own forest would never be able to climb a tree again.

Off topic again.

Once more, back to the main subject.

Rod asked again about the gift for dealing with the dragon.

"Ta-da!"

Cui Qian fished out an ordinary grey-white stone from the layer of fat at the back of her waist.

It was still smeared with saliva.

The big squirrel's whole body stiffened, an awkward look on her face, and she hurriedly tucked the stone away.

"Sorry, that was my gnawing stone. You know how it is, our squirrel incisors grow fast—"

Rod laughed.

But unexpectedly, the other grey squirrels playing nearby saw this scene and started chittering chaotically.

The little horse-girl Little Little Bangde was born able to communicate with animals, so she served as translator on the spot.

She doubled over laughing and said:

"They say that in the tradition of the grey squirrels of Luotatuske, giving your gnawing stone to someone means a proposal of marriage — hahahahaha—"

"I just grabbed the wrong one!"

Cui Qian and the grey squirrels shouted loudly, and she glanced at Rod with a touch of coy shyness:

"This… this is the good stuff for dealing with the dragon! What happened just now was a misunderstanding!"

She pulled out another ball-shaped object wrapped in withered yellow leaves.

Rod of course didn't pay it any mind.

But this little ball, only half a palm in size, was heavier than he'd imagined.

【Treasure: Binding Silk Ball】

【Treasure Property: Binding】

【Details: A treasure made from the silk of Spider Queen Ross. This treasure can unleash powerful binding magic — white silk ropes will bind key joints and other vital parts, restricting the target's flight and movement ability by 60%.】

Restricts flight?

A dragon's flight speed is far faster than 【Flight Spell】. Although their massive bodies make them hardly agile, aerial combatants have always been a pain to deal with. Being able to restrict flight ability is a pretty good item.

Hm? Wait.

Agility.

Dragon.

A flash of inspiration lit up in Rod's mind.

Why must one go find a Spirit-type spell just to raise one's own agility?

I am the only seventh-tier War Soul user on the continent. Apart from the Bronze Dragon and the Gorgon, I can still accommodate at least ten more War Souls at this stage.

There are so many agility-type magical beasts on the continent — just contract a few outstanding ones, and won't stacking up speed be a cinch?

Rod smacked his own forehead in annoyance.

How narrow-minded. It's not like I have to build a one-of-a-kind Spirit-Energy War Soul.

If I find the War Soul unsuitable later, it's not like I can't just dissolve it — at worst I'll just be weakened for a few days!

Thinking this.

Rod suddenly felt the 【Binding Silk Ball】 in his hand grow hot with an intensifying spiritual resonance.

And at the same time, the 【Treasure Affinity】 on his panel triggered once more.

(End of this chapter)