Magi Craft Meister

The time in Kaina Village was 3 PM.

Jin ('s substitute doll) had gone to the library to see how things were. Reiko was with him.

"What do you think, Shion?"

To his surprise, Shion had already read more than 10 books.

Although their content was rather simple, they were still 10 books of at least 500 pages each. Her reading speed was truly something else.

"Ah, Lord Jin, you have the most wonderful collection! There were so many things I didn't know about!"

At a glance, Jin found she had picked books such as "First Aid", "Body Structure", "Body Relaxation Exercises", "Cooking and Nutrition", and "Food Chain".

These books taught many things by lowering their related subjects to a level where it wouldn't be a problem for anyone to understand and chew through. Still, there were many concepts used in them that were not in this world, and Shion was actively absorbing them.

On the other hand, Lucas, who was supposed to be Shion's guardian, was lying down with a book in his hand and taking a nap. It seemed that he wasn't lying when he said that reading wasn't his thing.

"Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

Then, an awkward silence. Shion seemed to be aware that something was wrong.

"Lord Jin, did something happen?"

"Hm? Why do you ask?"

"The atmosphere is somewhat different from usual."

Jin didn't know if Shion's discomfort was due to her becoming aware of the substitute doll, or simply out of anticipation of the information he was about to start talking about, but still Shion seemed to feel that something was off.

He then decided that it would be better to cut to the chase, and began with a question.

"Shion, do the names Istalis and Netros ring any bells?"

"Huh!? Where did you hear those names…?"

"Ah, the truth is…"

Jin explained to Shion that he had learned that they had been taken prisoner in the neighboring Frantz Kingdom.

"What did you saaaay!?"

Shion's shriek echoed throughout the entire library. It was so loud that it caused Lucas to jump out of his sleep.

"Wha-! W-What's wrong, young lady?"

"My sister was captured? That has to be a lie! And even Netros? I wouldn't even believe they could capture Lucas, but that Netros? There's no way!"

Zion was speaking loudly. Her tone was clearly different from before.

"…Shion?"

"Y-Young lady…"

Jin was taken aback, and Lucas was grimacing. And Shion…

"…Ah…"

She soon noticed her own attitude and tone of voice, and her face turned completely red.

"…I-I can't believe this!"

"…"

"…"

She corrected herself to some extent, but Jin and Lucas remained silent.

Then, after some more awkward silence, Lucas was finally unable to endure the mood a second longer, and muttered a few words.

"…Young lady, I believe it's time to drop the act."

"…Huh, right. …Jin, I'll stop using that sickening manner of speaking, if you don't mind."

"O-Oh… Sure, suit yourself…"

It looked like that graceful lady act was hiding Shion's true tomboyish nature.

"C'mon, Istalis and Netros got captured!? That has to be a lie, right?"

"…No, it's true. It seems that the mayor of the town of Enak tricked them into his house and then poisoned them…"

"Poison…"

Shion, whose mouth was distorted to the point where Jin could hear the sound of her teeth grinding against each other, squeezed that word out of her mouth with a regrettable expression on her face.

"…What a coward…"

"Yes, that was a very cowardly move."

"Huh?"

Shion and Lucas both seemed surprised to hear Jin agree with them.

"Don't you agree? He tricked them into thinking he just wanted to talk and then poisoned their food. How's that not being a coward?"

"No, you're right… I just never thought I'd hear those words coming from a human."

"But that's my point of view as a third party. That mayor must have thought that what he was doing was justified."

Jin explained that Marchosias had poisoned a marquis' food with arsenic, and Lardus had spread the Magical Exhaustion Fever.

"…Marchosias and Lardus did those things…?"

After hearing Jin's explanation, Shion drooped her head.

"…I suppose I understand why humans would think that all demons are like that. But trust me! Some clans are peaceful!"

"It's easy to say that I understand what you say. But to be honest, I can't completely trust you."

Jin threw the harsh truth at Shion. She stared at him at first, then stood up with a determined face.

"If my words aren't enough to earn your trust, then I have no choice but to show that you can trust me with actions. This is proof that you can trust me, Jin…!"

Right in front of Jin's eyes, Shion took off her clothes, exposing her completely naked white body.

"You can do whatever you want with me!"

Shion stood upright with her eyes closed tightly. However, her cheeks were completely red, and her entire body was shivering.

"Young lady!"

"Lucas, stay out of this."

Shion silenced Lucas as he tried to stop her.

"Well, Magi Craft Meister Jin! What will you do?"

＊　　　＊　　　＊

"…Ah… Oh, boy…"

Back in Hourai Island, the real Jin was at his wits' end.

"What's the matter, Brother Jin?"

Elsa showed up at a rather unfortunate moment.

"E-Elsa?"

"…?"

Elsa, wondering about what had made Jin so upset, looked at the magic screen he was looking at. Then…

"…Shion?"

Shion was standing there, completely naked.

"…Brother Jin? What's going on?"

Elsa's voice was as cold as ice.

"A-Ah, no, this, what… Ah, this, this is it. This is what's been troubling me."

Jin sounded as if he was panicking, so his explanation was terribly incoherent, but Elsa seemed to have managed to figure out what was going on.

"Okay. For the time being, she should get dressed up."

"Ah, ah, right."

Cold sweat ran all over Jin's face as he realized that demons couldn't be underestimated, since they would do strange things that humans wouldn't normally do in certain situations.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Shion gently opened her eyes, wondering if Jin wasn't doing anything, even though she had shown the determination needed to expose her naked body to him.

Jin was standing there completely motionless, as if he had turned into a statue.

(Huh… that's weird… I heard that human men were vulnerable to this kind of temptation…)

As she thought that to herself, Jin suddenly moved. Shion involuntarily put herself on guard.

But all Jin did was turn around.

"I understand how you feel, Shion. I trust you. So please put your clothes back on."

"…You won't do anything?"

"I won't. Now please get dressed."

"…Okay."

Thinking "what a weird guy" to herself, Shion put on her clothes again. Lucas, who was also facing away from her, was relieved.

"…All done."

At Shion's signal, Jin and Lucas turned around to face her once again.

"So, let me ask you one more time, Shion. What do you want to do from now on?"