Chapter 61: I'd Rather It Stayed Hacked!

"Let's activate it. We are all enzu; it shouldn't be too excessive."

With that, the hero's card dissolved into light, and Rein closed his eyes.

The next instant, a "Rein Kuku" with constantly flickering pupils blinked and woke up.

Unlike "Suel," who had immediately drawn his sword and charged out, the newly awakened hero took a moment to understand the current situation.

Soon, he noticed Rein's worry and anxiety. Rein had genuinely considered locking himself in his room all day, fearing he might deeply offend the hero.

"Kuku" felt a little angry. He was a mature adult; how could he take his anger out on a junior over such a small matter?

Negative satisfaction? What was that? Did it have anything to do with Lord Kuku?

"Tsk tsk, to actually underestimate Kuku. Is Kuku the kind of person who would take his anger out on others because of a big, bad dragon and some blinding, smelly tin can? Well, yes, Kuku is." It seemed this self-talking hero was quite problematic.

"Friend, friend, are you free? Can you come play with Lana?" At that moment, Lana came looking for him.

Rein had been too busy lately, and their scheduled playtimes had been repeatedly postponed.

Seeing that Rein was finally free, his friend took the initiative to visit.

At that moment, "Rein Kuku" looked at the cute little Lana, and his mood instantly improved.

Kuku-Rein loved white hair and red eyes the most, and since she was such a pure little cutie, he loved her even more.

"It's all my friend's fault for not playing with cute little Lana! Today, I'll play with little Lana to my heart's content!" Rein made a promise, and Kuku swore he would fulfill it.

Immediately, little Lana jumped up in joy.

"Yay! This time you're not allowed to quit halfway and say you have business!!"

Hearing this, "Rein Kuku" felt immensely guilty. Why was this bad self of his so heartless as to stand up cute little Lana several times?

However, because the little girl was jumping around, her dress—already worn very loosely—slipped off once more.

She frowned, remembering she would be scolded if she went without clothes, and hurriedly lowered her head to pick it up.

"Lana doesn't want to wear clothes? Then don't wear them." Catching glimpses of certain memories, "Rein Kuku" happily gave a thumbs-up.

Due to their different species, non-human Kuku, who felt nothing for beastman females, saw no issue with a little cub going naked.

Among his tunnel-dwelling kin back home, pants were luxury items, and most practically went without them.

Seeing the little one still hesitating, he directly grabbed her small hand and shook it happily.

"Come on, friend, let's go catch sea-mothers together."

"Mm, mm!"

And so, the big friend grabbed the small friend, and the two took flight.

***

"What a peaceful day..."

Meanwhile, in the living room, young miss Saliman was happily enjoying her afternoon tea.

"...Getting rid of those troubles means I can finally take a proper vacation. And the princess has finally left." The latter point was the most important one.

Saliman wasn't the only one feeling a sense of relief; she had been under pressure for a long time.

The princess finally departing from her mansion was the greatest source of stress.

Her superior had finally left, allowing this "girl" who tried so hard to act mature to completely relax.

Yet, thinking of the man still residing in the mansion, she felt a trace of unease... Had she been too cold to him? After all, he had suddenly lost his power today, making him at his most vulnerable.

Seeing his solitary back as he returned to his room, even his usual confident demeanor had seemed a bit hurried, and his mood rather depressed.

Perhaps she should have a maid send some pastries in later.

She hesitated again. Should she just deliver them herself? But their relationship didn't seem to have reached that point yet; wouldn't that be a bit too much?

"Forget it, there's still plenty of time. I'll take it one step at a time..."

The young miss slumped her face onto the table, once again giving up pathetically.

Despising her own uselessness while gazing at the hallway outside, she blew softly at her coffee cup.

The next second, she spat the entire mouthful out!

"Lana!! You're not wearing clothes again! I've told you several times to dress properly..." The little one walked right past.

Just as she wanted to stand up and stop them, an even more bizarre scene appeared outside the hallway door.

Something that at least looked like Rein—or something resembling Rein—skipped past the door as well.

"...dress properly." She was dumbfounded. What was so white? What was unbound? What kind of person only wore socks?!

Oh elephant, oh elephant, why is your nose so long!

Yes, to fulfill Lana's dream, free her from constraints, and let her enjoy a happy life, "Rein Kuku" was also wearing nothing but socks as he skipped right past!

Instantly, Saliman froze, turned to stone. Her once-elegant pupils were filled entirely with swaying elephants, elephants...

"Ahhhhhhh!" A miserable scream echoed throughout the Suddar estate.

Was the head of the house under attack?! Instantly, various covert superhuman bodyguards and combat maids lurking in the mansion were activated.

They hurriedly dropped their work to check on the head's condition, and then...

Oh elephant, oh elephant, why is your nose so long!

Rein Kuku spun and jumped, passing by happily.

"My lord!"

"What is wrong with you!"

"What kind of dark magic is this? A priest, get a priest here quickly!"

Many of the mansion's maids privately viewed Rein as their future master's husband and knew a fair bit about him.

Private gossip was inevitable, but most of them approved of this future master's character and ability.

This bizarre spectacle didn't just open their eyes; it made them seriously wonder if they were dreaming.

"This lord has completely regressed today... Could he have fallen ill along with Miss Lana? I heard Miss Lana is also an old comrade of his with similar issues, and she lost her memories too." One combat maid quickly came up with a plausible-looking excuse.

However, watching their future master's husband dancing swan lake naked with a little girl... Oh heavens, the Suddar family's century-old reputation!

"Stop him! Don't let him go out into the streets no matter what!" For the honor of the Suddar family, they had to stop them!

Thus, the formidable mansion guards began desperately trying to intercept the duo as they climbed up high.

Good grief, he was standing in a one-legged crane stance right on top of the Hero's statue's head! Elephant, stop shaking!! This was definitely a nightmare! Definitely an illusion!

Finally, the frantic snake-woman caught up. Waving her hand, she intended to cast a hypnotic spell.

"Mind..."

Yet Rein Kuku, standing quite far away, merely raised a hand at that exact moment.

The spell's glowing aura on Saliman's hand vanished instantly; her spell had been countered!

That was utterly ridiculous! At such a great distance, the moment she cast the spell, it was successfully identified and countered.

She had used a rare psychic secret art, and yet it was instantly suppressed and countered?

At that moment, Saliman was completely dumbfounded.

"I have some interest in spellcasters..." Recalling this, the woman gritted her teeth in anger.

"You liar!" Roaring, the woman began her next spell.

This time it was a third-circle psychic secret art, a secret passed down by her mentor. She was going to teach this man who lied to her a lesson.

"Snap!" The one-legged standing man didn't even bother to turn his head.

With just a snap of his fingers—sound without even a glance—he successfully countered it again.

Looking at the extinguished magical glow on her hands once more, Saliman began to question reality.

Seeming to grow tired of the scenery or perhaps having memorized the mansion's layout, Rein Kuku finally jumped straight down.

Then, he was surrounded by the combat maids who had been waiting, holding clothes ready to...

"Snap!"

Another snap of his fingers, and a patch of slippery oil appeared on the ground.

Normally, such a low-level grease spell would be completely meaningless to these combat maids.

Yet incredibly, every single one of their feet slipped, and they were about to fall...

"Snap!" Yet another snap of his fingers, and a low-level feather fall spell (reducing fall damage) actually made their falls silky smooth.

These were the most basic first-circle spells and cantrips, but nobody had ever heard of anyone being so extravagant as to cast feather fall on a flat-ground slip.

How could feather fall even take effect at such a low height? It defied all logic.

At this point, the outer-circle maids got serious. They began treating him as a formidable enemy, but it still didn't help.

It seemed this awakened "sorcerer" lord had infinite mana; with just a few random cantrips, he eluded the pursuit of the maids and the young miss.

And so, while Lana welcomed the happiest day of her life, the entire Suddar estate welcomed its most humiliating day.

On that day, the suits of armor in the hallways moved on their own, engaging in a joyful game of jousting.

On that day, the mansion's curtains were turned into a multi-story snow slide, and with the help of actual falling snow, the cheerful laughter of the little girl and the man echoed across the rooftops.

On that day, the Hero's statue came alive, danced a frantic tap dance, and returned face-down to the fountain pedestal adorned with crayon drawings.

On that day, the fountain water transformed into jellyfish-like water elemental spheres, being led around the entire mansion by the two of them.

On that day, there was endless laughter and the frantic chasing of maids and the young miss—well, at least the first two seemed quite happy.

On that day, the mansion gained countless new sources of amusement...

***

"I want to die, truly."

Awakening the next morning amidst utter chaos, Rein sat upon the graffiti-covered statue's head inside the house, questioning his existence.

"Really, I want to die."

Naked save for a pair of socks, he was seriously contemplating philosophical questions concerning life and death.

Opposite him was the mistress of the house, the victim of his destruction.

"Get out!" Wearing a burlap sack and curtains as clothing (since her actual clothes had been ruined by cantrips), Saliman's face wasn't just red—even her tail was standing straight up in fury.

Rein had no face left to see anyone. He hastily fled, taking Lana back to his own home.

Meanwhile, Saliman returned to her room in a rage, only to spot an oil painting depicting the great hero challenging the Demon King's mammoth war elephant.

Oh elephant, oh elephant, why is your nose so long.

Her face instantly turned red.

Perhaps from anger, or perhaps... something else.