Ernant abandoned his official duties and immediately went to the underground laboratory.

There, the alchemists with joyful faces and their first successful creation were waiting for Ernant.

As soon as he discovered the successful creation, Ernant pushed aside the alchemists and approached it.

It, the experimental subject who had perfectly received the Chimera transplant without side effects, still had a dazed expression.

Ernant slowly examined the pupils and mouth of the dazed subject.

“Perfect… Completely healthy without any abnormalities.”

Undisguisable joy appeared on Ernant’s face after his inspection.

He looked at the first successful creation as if it were the most precious jewel in the world and said,

“We’ve finally succeeded. Finally… we’ve perfectly awakened a non-awakened person without any side effects.”

Immediately after confirming the success with his own eyes, Yulia came to Ernant’s mind.

Previously, Yulia had told Ernant:

That he was walking a wrong path.

That it was impossible to use monsters beneficially, and that they were just enemies of humanity.

Suddenly unable to contain his laughter, Ernant burst into loud guffaws.

“Hahaha!”

The aide, who was watching Ernant laugh suddenly with concern, quietly approached him.

“Your Majesty?”

“I’m delighted. Truly delighted.”

Ernant, who had barely stopped laughing, continued to speak to the aide.

“Now I can properly show that I was right.”

“Will you go to Lord Schnenstern to show this achievement?”

“Yes, I’ll show her and persuade her. But it’s obvious she won’t listen to words alone. Yulia is very stubborn, after all.”

Ernant could easily anticipate Yulia’s reaction.

If he showed the stubborn Yulia that they had awakened abilities without side effects through Chimera, she would surely not admit that she was wrong.

In that case, there was only one way to break Yulia’s stubbornness.

“Secure more successful subjects. I’ll go to find Yulia right away with them. Then—”

Ernant whispered more quietly and secretly.

“I’ll show her the power of the awakened ones I’ve created. I’ll make her submit miserably. After such a humiliating defeat, even Yulia won’t be able to tell me I’m wrong anymore.”

Whenever Ernant saw Yulia’s noble gaze, as if she didn’t have even a speck of moral flaw, he had thought:

That he wanted to mercilessly break that nobility and make her kneel before him.

That he would personally correct that arrogant attitude that relied only on innate strength.

“I’m looking forward to it…”

Ernant imagined it.

The sight of Yulia kneeling weakly before an overwhelmingly powerful force, finally realizing she was wrong and whimpering.

The moment he imagined it, he felt a tightening sensation below.

The members heading to the ruins were three in total.

Me, who would directly fight the monsters.

The Commander, who wanted to observe me.

And Edbert.

Of course, Edbert had only entrusted the monster extermination request to me, but he didn’t prevent the Commander from coming along.

He said it was fine to stay together until we encountered the monsters, and he himself was coming along to prepare for any unforeseen situations.

So, when I came out early in the morning after finishing breakfast to depart with them, I encountered a somewhat surprising situation.

“This… is an animal called a camel, right?”

Edbert nodded at my question.

“You know it. Have you ridden one before?”

“No, I’ve only seen a few on the way here. Before that, I’d only encountered them in books.”

“Riding one isn’t too difficult. They’re gentle creatures despite their large size.”

“Hmm…”

Although Edbert said it wouldn’t be difficult, I couldn’t easily mount the camel.

What a strange appearance.

It was a completely different animal from the horses I was used to riding regularly.

After pondering for a moment, I softly called out to the Commander.

“Commander.”

“Yes?”

“Would it be alright if I rode on your camel with you?”

Fortunately, the Commander had easily mounted the camel.

Even though it must have been his first time riding such a beast, his posture was flawless.

So I thought to ride with him, but he shook his head for some reason.

“That might be difficult.”

“Would it be uncomfortable if I sat with you?”

“It’s not so much that the posture would be uncomfortable…”

The Commander, trailing off, urged his camel closer to me.

Then he leaned down and whispered.

“If I sit right up against you, my lower half would be in quite a predicament.”

What does he mean? Before I could wonder, he continued.

“Just whispering to you like this is already causing a reaction down there. If we sit together, it would naturally stand up straight.”

“…”

“Then, while we travel, my hardened son would keep rubbing against your back, which would be nothing short of torture for me.”

I thought he simply didn’t want to ride together because it would be uncomfortable, but I never imagined this would be the reason.

Feeling heat rising to my cheeks, I glanced down towards the Commander’s lower half.

Looking at his lower body, it was true.

Not completely, but I could see the shape of it already half-swollen.

“Ahem, I understand. Then I’ll ride alone.”

Somehow embarrassed, I cleared my throat unnecessarily and tried mounting the camel.

Contrary to my worries, it wasn’t as difficult as I had thought.

Should I say it felt quite stable?

Anyway, after I mounted the camel, Edbert asked me.

“Shall we depart now?”

“Yes. Let’s hurry. It would be best to arrive before nightfall.”

“Alright, follow me well.”

After that, Edbert began to guide us to the ancient king’s tomb, and we followed behind him.

Thump, thump, the footprints of three camels were imprinted long on the soft sand.

According to Edbert, it wasn’t supposed to be far.

But it was far.

And it was hot.

Seeing me start to sweat profusely again, the Commander called Edbert to a halt.

“Let’s rest here for a while. There seems to be some shade over there.”

Where the Commander gestured with his eyes, there was a large tree casting a shadow.

Edbert glanced at my condition and nodded.

“That sounds good. If we don’t rest, Yulia might collapse before we even face the monsters.”

So, with everyone’s agreement, we stopped for a moment and entered the shade of the tree.

Perhaps due to the low humidity, it was quite cool in the shade.

As I relaxed in the cool breeze, the Commander approached and checked my condition.

“You really don’t handle heat well. How about creating a little ice with your ability?”

“No, I should conserve my magic as much as possible. We’ll be facing monsters soon.”

Rather than wasting magic to fight the heat, it was better to just rest in the cool shade.

It’s not like I had an enormous amount of magic like the Commander.

“Then, shall I give you some water?”

“Yes, I’d be grateful if you could share. I’ve already finished all of mine.”

“I’ll get it out now. Wait a moment.”

“Yes, thank y— Ugh! Wait, wait a moment, there’s something on my ankle right now…”

Just as I was about to receive the water skin from the Commander, I suddenly felt a pain in my left ankle.

Looking immediately, I saw a snake biting my ankle hard.

The Commander quickly removed the snake from me, and Edbert, who was nearby, examined it closely.

Then he muttered as if it were unfortunate.

“Oh no… Of all things, it’s a venomous one.”

“Is it a viper?”

Edbert nodded regretfully at my question filled with dismay.

“Don’t worry too much though. It will hurt a bit, but it’s not that lethal. Moreover, it’s a common species in this area, so we can easily get an antidote in the village we passed earlier. With the antidote, it should heal quickly.”

“I see…”

“I’ll go to the village. Meanwhile, Martin, you suck out the wound to remove as much venom as possible from Yulia.”

“With my mouth? I’ll do that. Leave it to me here, and you get the antidote as quickly as possible.”

Edbert nodded at the Commander’s words and immediately departed on a camel to fetch the antidote.

In the meantime, the Commander examined my bitten wound with a worried face.

“Oh no, it’s already starting to swell? Does it hurt a lot?”

“Can I be honest? It hurts enough to make me curse.”

“Then you can curse at me if you’d like. I won’t feel bad at all hearing you curse. No, rather, it might feel quite good because it’s different—”

“Aaargh! I just got bitten on the other side too! There must have been another one! You stupid reptile bastard! Son of a bitch!”

“…That feels even better than I expected?”

The Commander, who heard the curses, sucked on my ankle with a slightly flushed face.

It was quite a unique experience for both him and me.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.