Chapter 194 – Totem: I'm in Danger

Most beastkins in this world had their own religion.
However, the target of their religion wasn't God but the totems of their respective tribes instead.
Rather than calling it a religion, it might be more appropriate to call the totems spiritual supports.

Meanwhile, after being worshiped by the beastkins for a long time, these totems had also developed special properties.
For example, the catkins' totem would increase their wielders' agility and flexibility as well as improve their wielders' mana conductivity.

Of course, each catkin tribe only had one chief totem.
The chief totem also had a massive size, preventing it from easily being carried away.
Hence, when alchemists spoke about using the beastkins' totems for alchemy, they referred to the smaller auxiliary totems placed around the chief totem.

Although these auxiliary totems weren't as powerful as the chief totem, they still possessed a portion of the chief totem's strength.
So, this made them excellent alchemy materials.
The only problem was that even the auxiliary totems were incredibly rare.

Typically, these auxiliary totems would only be awarded to the most excellent geniuses among the beastkins, and outsiders would rarely be able to get their hands on one.
Because of this, in most alchemy textbooks, the beastkins' totems were described to be as rare as the elves' Seed of Nature.

“That's about it for the beastkins' totems,” Lacey said, concluding her explanation on the different types of totems available.
Then, she looked at Alice, who sat on the sofa across from her, and Ciel…who was serving as Alice's footrest, with a strange expression and continued, “Even if the beastkins' totems aren't turned into magic tools, they can still provide an excellent effect when wielded as they are.”

“I see.
The auxiliary totems, huh…”

Alice nodded to express her understanding.
Before learning about the different types of totems available, she was surprised to hear that the beastkins' totems were verified as excellent alchemy materials.
After all, totems were the beastkins' spiritual pillar.
There should be no way the beastkins would agree to give others their spiritual pillar, let alone let others use it for alchemy.

However, it made a little sense if they were talking about the beastkins' auxiliary totems.
Although auxiliary totems were only awarded to the elites among the beastkins, it wasn't exactly impossible for some to flow into the hands of outsiders due to various circumstances.
Then, these outsiders must've either sold these totems to curious alchemists or been curious alchemists themselves.

“If it's the chief totem, it can definitely be turned into an amazing magic tool.
After all, it is a totem that has been passed down for thousands of years.
It might even be possible to create an Artifact with the chief totem,” Lacey said, doing her best to ignore the moaning catkin under Alice's feet.
“But no beastkin tribe will give their chief totem away unless the tribe has faced ruin or destruction.”

“I have no intentions of targeting the beastkins' chief totems.
I'm no demon,” Alice said, shrugging.

Alice honestly wasn't interested in the beastkins' chief totems.
So what if they could be turned into Artifacts? She'd instantly have an Artifact ready to use if she stripped Ciel's panties.
Her interest in the beastkins' auxiliary totems was solely due to her curiosity.

“Ciel, you're considered an elite in your tribe, right?” Alice asked as she put a little more strength into the heels of her feet.
If Ciel was considered an elite in her tribe, she might be able to get her hands on an auxiliary totem through Ciel and satisfy her curiosity.

“Yes, I guess you can say that… But I can only get my hands on a totem after I graduate,” Ciel obediently answered while gasping for air.
“H-Harder, please…”

Alice helplessly shook her head when she heard Ciel's request.
It was only when she was mistreating the catkin like she was doing now would the other party obediently answer her questions.
Otherwise, the catkin would only respond to her with a contemptuous gaze.

Alice also couldn't help but wonder what kind of reaction the patriarch of Ciel's tribe would have when he learned that their “elite” was behaving in such a manner.
Would he get a heart attack?

After lifting her right foot and stomping Ciel onto the floor, Alice looked toward Lacey, who was doing her best not to look down, and asked, “If we manage to secure an auxiliary totem from the catkins, what can we make with it?”

“Mostly agility-enhancing tools.
The effects can be quite significant if processed properly,” Lacey said with a blush on her face.
When she saw the blissful expression Ciel made when being stepped on by Alice and thought about how she would become Alice's maid in the future, a thought suddenly came to her mind, and her face grew even redder.
Even so, she still tried to keep calm as much as possible as she answered Alice's question.

“Is that all?”

Alice originally thought the catkins' auxiliary totems could be used to produce something novel.
However, when she heard that they could only be used to produce agility-enhancing tools, her interest in the auxiliary totems plummeted.
After all, could any of these agility-enhancing tools provide as significant of a boost as the Hero's Sword or panties?

While Alice was considering what other things she could ask from the catkins aside from taboos, the front door of Lacey's apartment suddenly opened.
Then, a blue-haired loli stomped into the room angrily.

Similar to Lacey, Kristine wasn't a student of the March Academy, so she couldn't stay in the academy's dormitory for long periods.
Instead, she stayed in the same apartment Alice had rented for Lacey off-campus.

After angrily stomping into the apartment, Kristine's first thought was to vent her complaints to Alice and Lacey.
However, before she could do so, her eyes were drawn to the panting and blushing catkin under Alice's feet, and the words she originally prepared to say ended up stuck in her mouth.

“What's wrong, Lady Kristine? What made you so angry?” Lacey asked.

Lacey had more or less adapted to this strange situation already.
So, when she saw the shocked look on Kristine's face, she took the initiative to speak up and help Kristine out of this awkward predicament.

“Uh… It's nothing important.
It's just another blind bastard pestering me incessantly.
But I've already stuck him into the ground to let him cool down,” Kristine answered.
Her anger had subsided significantly due to the shock Ciel had given her, so she merely gave a summary of the cause of her anger.
After saying so, Kristine moved over to Alice.
Then, while looking at the catkin under Alice's feet, she asked Alice in a confused tone, “What are you doing? Did she offend you or something?”

Most of Kristine's knowledge of society was still stuck in the past.
Meanwhile, people with fetishes like Ciel were incredibly rare during Kristine's era.
Even if such people existed, they would definitely keep their fetishes a secret from others.
Hence, when Kristine saw Ciel, her first thought was to assume that the catkin had angered Alice somehow.

“This… I'll explain it to you later,” Alice said.
She felt that “masochism” might be too stimulating of a topic for someone whose thoughts were still stuck three hundred years into the past.
So, it was best if she explained it when nobody else was around.
“By the way, Kristine, what do you know about the beastkins? Specifically, the catkins.
I'm planning to visit the catkins in a few days.”

“The catkins?” Kristine looked down at the squirming Ciel when she heard Alice's question.
Then, she said, “If we are talking about the beastkins…it would have to be their totems, right? I recall one of the beastkin tribes' totems seem to have the ability to locate the Demon King.”

“???”

Alice was stunned.
Why hadn't she heard of such a wonderful item before? Or, more specifically, if such a useful item truly existed, why hadn't anybody mentioned it to her before? In a situation where nobody knew where the Demon King was hiding, shouldn't such an important piece of information be shared with her, the Hero?

…

TL Notes:

I'm not sure if the “apartment(公寓)” mentioned in this chapter is the “house(房子)” mentioned in Chapter 188.

In Chapter 188, the first paragraph mentions that Alice had rented a house for Lacey in the March Academy's “noble's dormitory.” Yet, in this chapter, it is mentioned that Lacey and Kristine aren't allowed to stay in the academy's dormitory.

This is a contradictory point if we assume the noble's dormitory is located on campus, so there are two possible scenarios:

1) The noble's dormitory is located off-campus.
(It was never mentioned whether the noble's dormitory is on-campus or off-campus.
It was only mentioned that the nobles have much better living arrangements since they are paying more money.)

2) Alice had initially rented a house for Lacey on campus when Lacey was working on Kristine's body.
With Alice's identity as the Gryffin Princess, she could've probably gotten the academy to bend the rules for her.
However, after Lacey constructed Kristine's body, Alice no longer had to keep Lacey under close supervision, so she rented an apartment off-campus for her to avoid troubling the academy.

Find the original at h*sted novel.