A boy raised by a demon king and a dragon king seems to be peerless in his school life. - Volume 12 Chapter 3 & 4

Volume 12 Chapter 3   No Men Allowed

“A village where men are forbidden, huh… This is turning into a hassle.”

Nighttime in the dormitory.

Sharo, the descendant of a hero and also Ruisha’s lover, frowned as she listened to Ruisha’s story.

Kevin from the Adventurer’s Guild had said, “I’ll tell you the location of the village. But I wouldn’t recommend going there,” before giving them the information.

Taking his advice into account, Ruisha decided that charging in recklessly wasn’t a good idea. Instead, he gathered Sharo and Iris for a strategy meeting.

“If you can come up with a good plan, let me know. I know it’s a tough one, but…”

“Well… Ruisha-sama, you have quite a lovely face. What if you disguised yourself as a woman? You looked stunning the last time you did it, after all.”

The suggestion came from Iris, a vampire.

She had a point—Ruisha had cross-dressed before, and he had looked undeniably cute. If he refined his disguise even further, they might be able to fool the serpentfolk, the Lamia. However…

“According to Kevin, the Lamia have highly developed sensory organs. Their sense of smell and hearing are sharp, and they can even detect heat. Even if I disguise my appearance, I don’t think I can completely hide the fact that I’m a man.”

“I see… I was hoping for another chance to see Ruisha-sama dressed up, but…”

Iris said with obvious disappointment.

Ruisha barely managed to swallow the words that almost escaped his lips—You just want to see me cross-dress, don’t you?

Doubting his comrades wasn’t good. Even if she was ninety-nine percent in it just to see him in a dress.

“But then, what do we do? The only idea I can come up with is for Iris and me to go into the Lamia village alone.”

“Yes, at the moment, that seems like our best option.”

Since both Sharo and Iris were women, they wouldn’t be attacked on sight. The best plan seemed to be for Ruisha to wait outside while they gathered information from within. However…

“That won’t do. I don’t know what dangers might be waiting, and I can’t send you two into such a risky place alone.”

Ruisha spoke firmly, his gaze unwavering.

To him, he was merely stating the obvious, but hearing him say something so decisively masculine made both Sharo and Iris feel a little flutter in their stomachs.

“S-sheesh, fine! If you’re going to go that far, I guess we won’t go in alone!”

“Yes… A maid who goes against her master’s wishes would be a failure, after all…♡”

Ruisha suddenly felt like the humidity in the room had risen. Ignoring that unsettling sensation, he thanked them, saying, “Thanks. Alright, let’s think of another plan.”

“Hmm…”

The three of them furrowed their brows, searching for a new idea.

But no matter how much they thought, they couldn’t come up with a good solution.

After a while, Sharo suddenly perked up.

“Oh! Magic! If disguises won’t work, can’t we just use magic to change your gender?”

“A gender-swapping spell, huh…? I’ve read about it in books before, but it’s a pretty obscure magic, so learning it wouldn’t be easy.”

“Oh… I thought it was a good idea, though.”

Sharo’s disappointment was clear.

Then, Iris, who had been silent until now, calmly raised her hand.

“I actually know a lot about that magic.”

“What?! You do?!”

“Yes. I looked into it out of personal interest a while back, and I still practice it regularly.”

“What are the odds…? By the way, why were you trying to learn it in the first place?”

“…………I plead the fifth.”

Ruisha felt a chill run down his spine.

Was she planning to use it on me…?

But now wasn’t the time to question her motives. He needed to learn more about the spell.

“So, what’s the verdict? Can you use it?”

“To be honest, it’s difficult. I’ve memorized the basic theory, but transformation magic that alters the human body requires the aid of a ‘magic potion’ to be successful.”

Magic potions, which take effect from within the body, have powerful influences on human physiology.

For a complex spell like gender transformation to work, a potion’s assistance was essential.

“And not just any magic potion will do. It has to be made from a powerful base ingredient. Tch, if only it were something I could afford with my allowance, I could have made it myself…”

Iris clenched her fists in frustration.

Ruisha couldn’t help but wonder—if she had enough allowance, what would have happened? A shiver ran down his spine.

“A magic potion made from high-grade ingredients, huh? There’s no way we’d just conveniently—wait, ah!!”

Ruisha suddenly shouted, startling both Sharo and Iris.

While they flinched in surprise, Ruisha, having realized something, began speaking excitedly.

“I got it! We do have an ingredient for the potion!”

“R-really?! Where?!”

“In the backyard! The Mandragora growing there—it should work as a potion ingredient!”

The legendary plant, Mandragora.

In ancient times, it was overharvested to create powerful magic potions. If they could get their hands on it, they might be able to brew a gender-swapping potion.

With that in mind, Ruisha immediately began making preparations with Iris, the one most knowledgeable about transformation magic, to brew the potion.

◇◇◇

Volume 12 Chapter 4   Mandragora

“So this is a Mandragora… This is my first time seeing one.”

Early the next morning—

Ruisha and Iris arrived at the small field behind the dormitory to check on the condition of the Mandragoras they had planted.

“Still, I can’t believe that imperial soldier just gave you seeds for something this valuable. What could she have been thinking?”

“Hmm… Well, she’s a pretty straightforward person, so maybe she wasn’t thinking much at all? She might’ve just thought, ‘If I give this to him, he’ll find an interesting way to use it.’”

“To give away something so precious on a whim… I just can’t understand people who don’t appreciate the value of things.”

“Come on, thanks to her, we’ve found a possible solution, right?”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

Iris still seemed unconvinced, while Ruisha, not one to dwell on things too deeply, pressed forward with the conversation.

“So? Do you think the Mandragora will work for making a gender-changing spell?”

“Yes. I analyzed the harvested Mandragora you gave me yesterday, and I believe it should allow for gender transformation without issue.”

“Really?! That’s amazing!”

Ruisha cheered, but Iris didn’t share the same enthusiasm. Instead, she hesitantly added,

“But… the effect likely won’t last long. At best, it might last about ten minutes… which means you’d have to drink the potion constantly.”

“Drinking it that often would make my stomach all sloshy… In that case, I guess we should try using this one instead.”

Saying that, Ruisha turned toward a particularly large Mandragora growing in the field.

“What about this one? I figured the ones I gave you might not be enough, so I wanted you to take a look at this.”

“This is… Are you sure this is really a Mandragora? Isn’t it a bit too impressive?”

Iris hesitantly examined the massive Mandragora.

After getting Ruisha’s permission, she carefully cut off a small portion of the exposed root and infused it with magic to analyze it.

“This is incredible… The potency is far greater than the ordinary Mandragora you gave me. If we use this one, I should be able to create a potion with a much longer-lasting gender transformation effect!”

“Really?! That’s awesome!”

Ruisha and Iris rejoiced together.

With this, they had a way to enter the village of the Lamia. Wasting no time, Ruisha prepared to harvest the Mandragora.

“Alright, I’m going to pull this out now. Mandragoras scream when uprooted, so cover your ears and step back just in case.”

“A plant that screams? How fascinating… Truly worthy of being called a legendary plant.”

Following the instructions, Iris covered her ears and took a few steps back.

After confirming that she was at a safe distance, Ruisha firmly grasped the base of the Mandragora with his left hand, while gripping the golden Dragon King’s Sword in his right.

(Even the smaller ones had quite the voice. Since this one’s so big, its scream must be even louder. I have to end this in an instant!)

Focusing deeply, Ruisha yanked the massive Mandragora out of the ground in one swift motion.

『GYA—』

“Now!!”

The very moment its face emerged, Ruisha mercilessly slashed it.

The Dragon King’s Sword sliced cleanly through the Mandragora’s face, cutting it in two before its scream could fully escape.

『AA…』

Letting out a final, sorrowful whimper, the massive Mandragora fell completely silent.

Ruisha felt a slight pang of pity, but this was necessary for their goal.

Holding it in his hands, he silently apologized, vowing to make full use of it.