Monster Girl Development Master

Page 11

But now that things have come to this point, Zhuang Sen no longer needs to consider Dantalian's feelings, and there's no need for any pretense: "I hope you won't regret it, Nia. Although I won't allow it even if you do regret it, let me make this clear: I have very strict requirements for my wife."

Nia became a little nervous: "For example?"

The little guy has already started to fantasize: the more indulgent the nobles are, the more conservative and harsh they are, especially towards those of lower status.

On the contrary, Dantalian, who knew Johnson better, had already curled the corners of her mouth and was ready to watch the show.

Zhuang Sen's expression tightened with a serious expression: "I know that nobles often lead dissolute private lives, but I will not allow my family to do so. Although this may sound unconvincing, I hope my wives will not have other men or women. You can discuss it with me, but you must obey my decision..."

Nia's tense face gradually relaxed as Zhuang Sen spoke, eventually becoming a mixture of smiles, surprise, and helplessness. She maintained this expression until Zhuang Sen finished speaking before she softly asked, "Zhuang Sen, all you've said is demand 'chastity,' 'mutual assistance,' and 'obedience'?"

That's all? Do you know how hard it is to find a woman like that, even if she only meets one of these criteria! She would be hard to find even in a monogamous world like in the past, let alone in a feudal medieval aristocracy. Do you think I don't know how decadent your private lives are?

Wait a minute, it seems he really doesn't know, after all, this isn't his original world.

Dantalian finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Zhuang Sen, you've been reading too many chivalric novels."

Nia sighed and shook her head: "These aren't strict requirements, they're just basic requirements for married life. Those decadent guys are specially trained to expand and acquire bloodlines. Who would send that kind of woman out in a proper marriage? Are they afraid of making enemies?"

Dantalian laughed so hard she almost fell over, her huge breasts trembling: "Actually, there are also those who specifically choose that kind of woman, such as declining families whose bloodline is dwindling and who urgently need to increase their seed source."

Nia's face turned cold, and she grumbled, "My old man wanted to do that before, after all, I'm his only child, but unfortunately his status is too low and his Iron-Swallowing Rat bloodline ability isn't outstanding, so he hasn't found a suitable one yet."

Zhuang Sen was so confused he could hardly contain himself. Seriously, do you nobles play fancy games or not?

Okay, it's not that hard to understand. It becomes clear when you consider the importance of bloodlines. In this world, noble bloodlines are a genuine source of power, and nobles naturally control them to prevent their outflow. But at the same time, they also want to steal other people's bloodlines. So what do they do? The answer is to cultivate a group of "bloodline thieves"—those sophisticated noblewomen and ladies whose goal is to preserve their lineage, preferably with those of high-ranking bloodlines, to enhance their family's prestige.

Of course, one must also be wary of being reborn through someone else's seed and repeating the old Habsburg practices—in this bloodline world, where bloodline knowledge is monopolized and the connections between bloodlines are much stronger than in the previous life.

For ordinary nobles, the true responsibility and obligation lay in preventing the outflow of bloodlines and increasing their own direct lineage. In other words, aside from professional "bloodline thieves," the focus of most noblewomen was on expanding their husbands' bloodlines, not their own; that was no longer their responsibility. Unless there were exceptional circumstances, such as the seemingly harmonious marriage of Lia Farau and Cross Leon, even then, Lia bore Cross a child and never sought other men.

So instead of worrying about them finding other men, you should worry about whether you can withstand the exploitation.

Having figured all this out, Zhuang Sen naturally understood the problem: "You dare call yourself feudal?"

Zhuang Sen pinched Nia's cheek angrily and pulled her into his arms: "Very well, you're doomed from now on. Get ready!"

Zhuang Sen had expected to receive a smug smile, but after a long while he heard no sound, he could only see a small, round face that was as red as the rising sun.

Clearly, no matter how nicely she talks, Miss Nia is still a fifteen-year-old novice.

She's even cuter now.

The author says:

Author's note: Yesterday I told a friend that his picture had been praised, and here's his reaction after seeing it.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Bloodline of the Tall and Short People

The adorable and delicious-looking child is so easy to tease. The king of witty remarks starts making funny faces as soon as the main event begins, which even made Zhuang Sen laugh.

Finally, let's get down to business.

Zhuang Sen played with Nia's small hand and casually asked, "Nia, did you feel anything was wrong when you awakened?"

Nia's face was still flushed, and the warm, rich scent emanating from Zhuang Sen made her even more shy, so much so that she didn't immediately realize what was wrong: "Wait, nothing's wrong?"

This left Zhuang Sen at a loss: "Is there really nothing wrong? Like your abilities or something?"

Leaving aside the true form of bloodlines—after all, dwarves and humans don't look that different—the number of awakened abilities is definitely problematic. In this world, normal bloodline awakening doesn't allow you to gain all abilities at once. At most, you'll gain one or two at the start, and the rest will have to be acquired by increasing your bloodline development level, and there's no guarantee you'll get any new abilities.

This is common knowledge for people of noble blood.

On the contrary, Zhuang Sen's awakening gave him all his current abilities at once, and the difference between it and a normal awakening is so great that it cannot be ignored.

"Uh, ah..." Miss Nia finally realized what was happening, her face flushing even more, and she said shyly in a low voice, "No, there is indeed something wrong..."

Dantalian chuckled and leaned closer to Zhuang Sen, reaching out to touch Nia's cheek, teasingly saying, "Why don't you come out for a bit first?"

Nia hesitated for a moment, then snuggled back into Zhuang Sen's arms: "It's okay, you have to get used to it—oh dear!"

The pert, tender buttocks, which had been pushed back too far, suddenly lifted up, but the burning, hard feeling lingered for a long time, turning the little guy's face into a bright red apple, as red as if it were about to bleed.

Under Dantalian's mocking gaze, Zhuang Sen released Nia and pretended nothing had happened: "Since you know something is wrong, you should know what to do next without me telling you, right?"

Nia, who had already turned back into Dantalian's arms, lowered her head, not daring to look at Zhuang Sen: "Well, I won't reveal it."

The scheming noblewoman has transformed back into a shy young girl.

Zhuang Sen felt a sense of satisfaction, but he didn't know what to say next. Just then, Dantalian's voice suddenly rang out, like a savior: "So, Zhuang Sen, you planned to take Nia in from the beginning, right? After all, you can't let her leak secrets."

No, it's the voice of the devil.

Who says keeping secrets means taking someone in as a wife? Can't we just take a child from a retainer's house as a hostage? Can't we bring them home to pass on the knowledge of the bloodline? Ultimately, with such a strong enough bond of interest, there's no way Nia would leak the secret!

But meeting Nia's sparkling eyes as she looked up, Zhuang Sen could only nod: "Well... actually, this isn't our first meeting today, Miss Nia. Do you remember that time you went to the market to buy a forging book?"

Nia's mouth opened slightly as forgotten memories flashed back, settling on the face of a boy leaning against a door, lost in thought. His soft, joyful eyes and warm, gentle smile... Well, the rest was all Nia's fantasy, but undeniably, it did increase Nia's fondness for Zhuang Sen.

It was indeed the voice of salvation.

Johnson and Dantalian exchanged a glance, praising each other for their tacit understanding in manipulating a young girl's feelings.

Too evil, too cunning.

It’s time to get down to business.

Zhuang Sen bent down slightly, more symbolically than practically covering the tent, and said with a serious expression, "Nia, there's more to keep secret than just that. Think about it, is it possible to change your current situation?"

Nia nodded. Having escaped Zhuang Sen's clutches, she was in much better shape. The various abilities she had instinctively understood when she awakened became clearer as she actively recalled them.

A moment later, she went from being a 1.2-meter-tall dwarf back to being a 1.25-meter-tall dwarf.

"I feel there's no need to change back," Dantalian said with a hint of envy. She also wanted to maintain her true bloodline form so she could unleash her full power and it would also help with developing her bloodline. Unfortunately, that was far too shocking and couldn't be revealed before completing her third awakening, otherwise it would cause unpredictable dangers.

Those without bloodline do not expect to reveal their true bloodline.

Nia felt the same way and reverted to her dwarf form. Although she was five centimeters taller in human form, it greatly limited her strength. While the knowledge granted by [Forging Mastery] hadn't disappeared, her instinctive forging intuition had been significantly weakened. If she could easily forge decent magic iron equipment in dwarf form, she would need to concentrate on forging in human form, not to mention the weakening of her strength and physique, and the limitation on the number of abilities.

As expected, the true form of bloodline is still the best.

Nia looked at Zhuang Sen and thought to herself, "Brother Zhuang Sen is the best too."

Dantalian began to murmur again, "Speaking of which, Johnson, why don't you let Nia try that ability too?"

Which ability are you referring to? Is it [feeding] or [inheritance]?

Zhuang Sen felt that today was enough; if it continued, he wouldn't be able to control himself and might do something that wouldn't pass censorship.

So instead of continuing along with Dantalian's words, he pinched Nia's cheek and said, "Alright, that's enough for today. It's hard to digest anything more. We'll talk about the rest later."

Dantalian was quite disappointed; she had wanted to see if the dwarves would also be bewitched by Johnson's blood. But then again, the little one had already received too much information today; she should take a break. Anyway, she couldn't escape.

On the other side, Zhuang Sen opened his system panel and began to check the gains that Nia had brought him.

[Dwarf Bloodline Development - Beginner Completed, Obtained Tall Dwarf Bloodline *1, Dwarf Race Encyclopedia Unlocked]

This was the message Zhuang Sen received after Nia's awakening was completed. As for the details...

[Tall and Dwarf: The tallest subspecies of dwarfs, leaders of warriors]

[Genus and species: Pygmy race/Demi-human race/Earth race]

[Bloodline Limit: Level 4]

[Bloodline Abilities: Forging Mastery, Mineral Identification, Super Strength, Rock Skin, Stone Slinging...]

[Convertible Bloodline Types: Dwarf, Subhuman, Earthling]

[This feature can be applied to any bloodline, adding that bloodline to it.]

[Note: Target qualifications will affect the success rate of adding and the way bloodlines are displayed]

The difference between this bloodline and that of the angels without rank isn't particularly significant; it just means there are many more bloodline abilities. A more concrete experience is needed to determine this, which of course can't be done on the carriage. However, we can try other things.

Zhuang Sen selected the tall dwarf bloodline and looked at Dantalian and Nia, who were talking. Numbers of 0% and 99% appeared above their heads respectively, indicating their success rate in adding this bloodline. The Holy Lamia, who had no relation to demi-humans, dwarves, or earth beings, was completely unusable, while the perfectly suited dwarf Nia was almost at maximum success.

What if he were to give Dantalian a holy dwarf bloodline in the future? Wouldn't that naturally transform her into a dwarf? Zhuang Sen imagined Dantalian as a dwarf, but... well, he couldn't quite picture it. After all, how could someone with that kind of figure be shrunk down to the size of a loli without ruining her size?

Then Zhuang Sen opened the encyclopedia page, and there were more than a dozen encyclopedia entries for the dwarf race, from the most common dwarf to the subspecies of tall dwarf, gray dwarf, frost dwarf, etc. They are clearly also level 3 bloodlines, so why can the rankless angel only unlock itself? Could it be that the rankless angel is an orphan without subspecies?

That doesn't make sense either; isn't it the prototype of all angels?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Testing the Waters

Glorious Manor, Reception Room.

Lady Lia and Earl Clos sat facing each other at a square table. The rising aroma of black tea stood between them, mirroring the tense atmosphere between them.

Lia, dressed in a heavy and formal gown, didn't even glance at Kross, staring at the air in front of her: "Count, is there something you need?"

Count Cross's expression remained unchanged, though his face was gloomy, as if he were a cunning villain: "Come and see you and Zhuang Sen. Wasn't he seriously ill not long ago?"

Lady Leah's eyes grew colder, her grief overwhelming her, and she was filled with indignation: "Since you know about this, why do you still treat my son so cruelly? Just because of that worthless Jem?"

This question questions why, despite Jem's death, Johnson's place in the succession line hasn't increased, remaining tenth. Of course, to outsiders, this seems reasonable; after all, he murdered his brother and was caught red-handed—not being punished is already quite lenient. But Lady Leah isn't an outsider; at least she has to pretend otherwise.

Count Cross's gloomy face flickered slightly, and his tone hardened: "He killed his brother with his own hands in front of so many people. If he weren't your son, if he weren't my son, he would already be a corpse."

This was an undeniable truth, but it did not convince Lady Lydia. She wiped away her tears and said sarcastically, "Oh, yes, the crime of fratricide, how terrible! Your dear brothers, sisters and father must be proud of how much you value your family, my brave Cross."

When Clos Leon was the son of the Earl, he was thirty-sixth in line to the throne, and those ahead of him... well, let's just say that all of Johnson's uncles, aunts, and cousins ​​could be counted on two hands.

Count Cross remained unmoved. He never denied his own glorious achievements, but he wasn't there to discuss that with Leah. He was there to investigate the changes in Johnson. He should have been dead already, not just recovered from a serious illness. With his abilities, it was impossible for the Church of the Nemesis to stand by him so recklessly.

And his blood... Count Cross was very curious as to why Johnson had changed so much. In his opinion, there seemed to be only one force that could do such a thing and had a reason to do so.

So he spoke again, his authoritative and heavy tone completely unwavering, just like his profound mind: "Lia, I'm not here to argue with you. I'm just here to check on my son. Where is Zhuang Sen?"

"He's not home, he went..." Lady Lia looked at Cross's cold and gloomy face, a surge of resentment rising within her, "He went to see someone who cared for him more than you, Count Cross, who was also the one who healed him, if you want to know who it is."

Kross's dark eyes flickered as he recalled the intelligence: when Zhuang Sen was seriously ill, he invited many doctors and clergy to treat him, but in the end, the one who stayed was a nun from the Church of the Nemesis, and it was the very nun who was rumored to have awakened a fourth-level holy bloodline with Zhuang Sen's help.

It's definitely related to the Church of Nemesis, but how did they manage that? Zhuang Sen wasn't their first target; everyone else died on the spot…

Seeing Count Cross fall silent, Lady Lydia's heart sank as well, but she, who was already on the verge of madness, still couldn't help but plead: "Cross, Cross, I believe you know that Johnson's serious illness is no accident. I beg you, find the murderer. If you can find him, I promise to make Johnson never do these crazy things again. He just wants to find the villain who murdered him."

Count Cross shook his head: "You know the rules, Leah, especially now. If I'm going to find the murderer for Johnson, then I should also take Johnson's head for Jem."

In fact, Count Cross was not a law-abiding person, but since he was the murderer of Zhuang Sen, he couldn't very well hand himself over.

Lady Leah's pleading expression froze, then gradually returned to normal, and she said, "I understand, Cross. Well then, let's leave it at that. I have other things to attend to, so I won't see you out."

The already cooled black tea was picked up, and the smooth celadon cup was gripped so tightly that it almost broke.

Count Cross seemed oblivious to the obvious hint to dismiss him, and said to himself, "It's alright, I'll just wait for Zhuang Sen. He should be back tonight. You're always clinging to him like a banshee."

He believed that Lady Leah must have information about Johnson's changes, because Johnson would tell her almost everything, which wasn't a good habit. You couldn't trust women too much, not even your mother. Women were too emotional; with just a few words of provocation, they would reveal everything you wanted to know, even if they had sworn not to.

But Lady Leah had no intention of letting Cross stay the night; all she wanted now was revenge! Not to watch a man who was clearly capable of doing so but refused to do it, like a disgusting snot stuck to her floor.

“No, Cross, I have no time to entertain you.” She refused bluntly and without any attempt to hide her feelings. “You can go and comfort Jem’s inferior mother. Although I think she regrets that you didn’t help her dear Tim eliminate another rival instead of her son’s death, she would be happy to serve you so that her inferior family could receive some favors from the Earl, just as she thought when she climbed into your bed.”

The sharp, sarcastic remarks made Count Clos frown, which was why he had never liked this woman and had barely seen her after giving birth to Zhuang Sen, a mere formality. But today, he could tolerate it…

The heavy footsteps eased the increasingly cold atmosphere in the room slightly. Then the door was pushed open, and Lydia, fully armored, appeared in the doorway. However, Lady Lydia and Earl Cross looked past her and at Johnson behind her.

"Mother." Zhuang Sen first greeted Lady Liya, then looked at Earl Cross in surprise: "And Father, I didn't expect you to come today."

Count Cross was also surprised, but more excited. A smile even appeared on his gloomy face: "Zhuang Sen, you're back. I was just talking to your mother about you. I heard you were seriously ill before. Are you better now?"

"Yes, thanks to my mother and the nuns of the Vengeance Church."

The pointless small talk continued for a while. Count Cross acted as if he had never seen Johnson kill his beloved Jem, and Johnson seemed to have no intention of killing this old man Deng and taking over as count immediately.

Until Kloss got to the point: "Johnson, how did you awaken the Holy Eagle bloodline?"

Zhuang Sen looked dejected and sighed, "I have to thank that serious illness. I felt like my blood was boiling, like I was being cooked, but Goddess, I survived and found that I had already awakened."

This was a reason that Johnson and Lady Lia had prepared long ago, and it was the only reason they could come up with. It wouldn't be difficult to find out whether the Falau family had sent the awakening potion, especially for Count Cross. Without the awakening potion, awakening was normally impossible. Although there are records of some early bloodline members achieving natural awakening, that was something like a myth.

There was no other way but to attribute it to the most illogical serious illness. Fortunately, there was no need to fabricate the subsequent conspiracies and intrigues; the answer was simply revenge and competition.

But what Zhuang Sen didn't expect was that the reason they made up actually matched one of Cross's guesses.