Chapter 624: Tally's Speculation on the Desire-Severing Pill

Late at night.

The bonfire barbecue party had ended.

Rod returned to the ranger's cabin.

Reclining against the headboard, he once again took out the letter from the rabbitfolk Ona.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't even written by Ona herself.

It was written by a subordinate in the Containment Division of the Magic Control Union—perhaps she merely wanted to borrow Ona's name so Rod would read the letter promptly.

"A dwarf rebellion?"

According to the letter.

The dwarf artificers of the Magic Control Union had collectively defected, and with the assistance of 【Locke's Heart】, they raided the Containment Division, stealing and releasing a large batch of dangerous contained objects.

And Ona, as the Deputy Minister of the Containment Division, had naturally remained on duty there until her charge, the Vampire King Yulia, returned.

Facing the dwarf artificers' defection, she bore the brunt of it, was severely injured, and had not regained consciousness since.

【Locke's Heart】—Rod had seen it before.

It was a brass mechanism that puffed out steam, mainly used to help Magic Control Union employees handle increasingly heavy workloads.

He still remembered that at first, the Magic Control Union hadn't thought much of the thing.

But as the dwarf artificers refined it, whether it was the 【Long-Distance Teleportation】 the Union depended on, or the assessment of spell-disaster levels and appropriate compensation, this information-processing hub was involved in all of it.

That's right.

The brass spirit-measuring orb in Rod's hand was itself a product obtained with the dwarves' assistance through 【Locke's Heart】.

And the dangerous spell-disaster contained objects in the Containment Division had also been drastically reduced through its regulation and intelligent alerts, and it had entered large-scale use.

Precisely because 【Locke's Heart】's involvement ran so deep.

From the initial strike to the fall of the Containment Division, it took less than a mere ten minutes, by all accounts!

And because the dwarves took its core structure with them, the Magic Control Union's 【Long-Distance Teleportation】 treasure had completely ground to a halt!

Directly making it impossible to pursue them.

This was also why the letter warned Rod not to use any dwarven-made items.

Strictly speaking, not to use any items in which 【Locke's Heart】 had been involved.

"So. What's the objective?"

Rod didn't quite understand.

The dwarf artificers held a fairly good position within the Magic Control Union, and dwarven-made wares commanded extremely high prices, with the dwarves themselves holding pricing rights.

One only had to look at Selina's brass prosthetic limb to know that.

As far as he knew, the dwarves hadn't signed any sort of indenture contract with the Magic Control Union either.

"Knock knock knock—"

A knock came at the door.

Rod didn't even look up: "Come in."

Illuminated by the fluorescent plants on the trees outside the door, Tally's petite figure appeared, standing pitifully at the doorway without daring to step inside.

"Master."

"You've already had today's portion this morning, Tally."

"Tally's chest feels stuffy, and a bit dizzy, uncomfortable."

Rod shot a glance.

He saw her expression hesitant and wavering, her little face deathly pale.

He said nothing—he had originally intended to call this mischievous little rascal over to spend the night under observation.

He didn't know whether that Desire-Severing Pill would have side effects on a succubus.

"Rest here tonight."

"Hehehe."

Tally let out a feeble laugh as though she'd gotten her way, and after closing the door she was about to curl up on the beast-hide sofa Rod usually sat on.

"Come sleep over here."

But Rod patted the empty space on the bed.

The girl froze for a moment; seeing that her master didn't seem to be joking, and afraid he'd change his mind, she immediately darted over and claimed the spot on the bed.

But she still didn't dare to snuggle up.

Curled up on the pillow embroidered with the word "Effort," her lips pale, she gazed at Rod with a foolish grin.

It was only when Rod pulled her over and held her in his arms that she delightedly hugged him tight.

The succubus's body was very cool.

The spiritual energy moving within her also showed obvious fluctuations.

If Lady Kali hadn't diagnosed that there wouldn't be any major problem, he really would have thought this one had Suffered Heavy injuries.

"Will you keep misbehaving in the future? Serves you right."

"If Master is this gentle from now on, Tally wants to get hurt every time~~"

Perhaps the effect of the Desire-Severing Pill was kicking in.

In his embrace, Tally unusually didn't fidget; she simply buried her face in the crook of Rod's neck, her breath constantly tickling him.

Rod patted her back, and unlike before, he didn't tremble with oversensitivity.

Unreasonably calm.

Mm.

A Tally without desire, huh?

What would it be like, I wonder.

"Master is still reading this letter."

Tally nuzzled her face against him as she turned, and caught sight of the letter in Rod's hand.

"Mm, I'm just curious about the dwarves' purpose."

"Tally might know, you know."

"Oh?"

Rod glanced curiously at the petite little girl curled up in his arms.

She wore a loose vest and shorts; as she rubbed against his abs, the clothing rode up, and the broad expanse of snow-white skin beneath pressed against his.

Her long, slender, silky thighs were crossed and tangled around him, yet she made not the slightest suggestive move—impossibly pure.

Tally didn't ask for a reward the way she usually did.

Playing with Rod's palm as she dozed off, she said:

"Dwarven craftsmen are arrogant, they worship extreme rationality, and they reject any form of deity worship—probably even after the Goddess of Magic appeared. Didn't I tell you my aunt once hunted in dwarven lands? She said dwarven craftsmen will chatter away while telling you some theory about mechanical reproduction, enough to bore people to sleep."

"I guess, just like how the Baldur's Academy of Magic longs for a 【Magical Singularity】, the dwarves, who aren't exactly skilled at magic, likewise hope to create a 【Technological Singularity】 of explosive growth—and that 【Heart of Lork】 thing is exactly that."

"And the Goddess of Magic, my lady Mystra, she raised the Weave's canopy to protect the material plane, and moreover granted all spellcasters the great convenience of 【Spell Slots】—maybe that itself is a magical singularity? I don't really get it."

Rod understood.

"You mean the dwarves want to imitate Mystra."

"It's the Goddess of Magic, Master—calling a deity by name directly isn't very respectful, you know."

Tally nodded, neither proud nor impatient, and went on:

"They worship extreme rationality. To them, the 【Heart of Lork】 is a perfectly controllable machine and computing center, and the 'deity' created from it would be their very own 【Technological Singularity】."

"A mechanical deity."

"Dwarves who don't believe in spells or deities, trying to use machinery and computation to manipulate divine power—a race utterly arrogant beneath that honest-looking exterior. Of course, this is just a tiny bit of Tally's guess, that's all~~"

Tally smiled sweetly and nodded, already half asleep.

Rod patted her head and laughed: "Seems like you've gotten quite a bit smarter."

"Tally has always... been very smart, you know."

Her words came in broken little bits; she couldn't even open her eyes.

"Sleep."

"Okay."

The next morning.

Sunlight streamed into the room.

Rod opened his eyes, and the first thing that met his gaze was Tally, sitting primly at the bedside, neatly dressed.

Not a trace of seduction on her face; her chest was flat.

Her expression was pure to the point of absurdity, and she stared straight at Rod's face.

"Good morning, Tally."

Tally's cheeks flushed red all at once.

She hurriedly scrambled off the bed, clutching the loose, wide neckline of her clothes to keep from exposing herself, and gave a proper bow.

"Good morning, Master Mr."

"Mm."

(End of chapter)