Chapter 183

Fluffy Panic
It happened on a stormy night.

Alicetia had tucked a clone of herself into bed in her room and sneaked out to her secret lab, where she grinned from ear to ear. Yes, she was grinning.

“Two days of planning, two days of production… at last, it’s complete!”

She stared at the contents of the completed ampoule, her breathing heavy with excitement. The mysterious elixir, crafted from knowledge found in a stolen magic alchemy book privately owned by Eibon, was exactly to Alicetia’s satisfaction.

“With this, the world will know peace… and a glorious new era shall begin!”

Thunder roared as Alicetia raised the ampoule high into the air. However, there was one problem. If she were to release this, it would indeed mark the dawn of a wonderful new age—but she herself would not escape ruin. She would *definitely* be punished.

Her mother and the Madame would surely subject her to inhumane torture. Just imagining it made Alicetia’s heart waver.

She struggled with herself for a while. But in the end, self-preservation won out.

“… No, I’ll stop. It’s better to wait for the right time…”

At that moment, someone grabbed her from behind and sealed her mouth. A sweet scent hit her nose and muddled her brain, making her consciousness fade.

“You really are foolish. No one gets this far and then gives up.

Our era begins now. Rest easy. We’ll be the ones to usher in this glorious age.”

Unable to resist, Alicetia lost consciousness.

“Now, release the potion! Let the glorious era begin!”

“““Ohh!”””

Those present were all clones Alicetia had created.

The next day—

“What the heeeell is thiiiiiis?!”

The people of Arblud, the royal capital, woke up to find something strange had happened. They had turned into beastfolk. With furry ears and tails, it was immediately obvious.

Soon, the rumors began to fly.

“It’s definitely the Princess.”

“Knew it.”

“I always thought she’d do something like this someday.”

“Hey… how about skipping work today?”

“… Heh. Sure, why not.”

Several couples and lovers barricaded themselves in their rooms. Apparently, they were starting a new type of play.

Chaos… did not occur. Everyone was absolutely sure the culprit was Alicetia, which meant there was no real danger.

The citizens simply figured, “She’s probably getting scolded right now,” and went about their usual work.

The real problem lay at the royal castle. Knights and soldiers were rushing about in a frenzy. All of them now had beast ears and tails, but that wasn’t really important. In fact, some had even gained improved physical abilities.

Still, altering someone's race at will—especially without their consent—was out of the question. A search of Alicetia’s room revealed only a clone. It quickly vanished as its mana ran out, confirming it was a short-term double that had only been given enough mana to last the night.

“Princessssssss! Where are youuuu?!”

“We’re not mad! Please just come out!”

While the knights searched desperately, Alicetia had become a white fox. She’d been forced to drink a prototype transformation potion—not the one used during the slum incident, but a failed version that even affected the mind, turning her into a full beast. She had become the wind. She was currently playing with her pet magic beasts.

The beasts, guided by instinct, knew she was Alicetia and were so engrossed in playing with her that they paid no mind to the changes outside. And even if normal people turned into beastfolk, no one could really tell them apart.

The knights also mistook Alicetia (as a fox) for one of her pets, and so she wasn’t discovered.

While the knights searched frantically for Alicetia, she was living a carefree animal life.

Meanwhile, Gilbert was desperately trying to calm down Sylvia, who was emitting a dark miasma of rage.

“She’s done it again. Hehe… looks like she went a bit too far this time.”

“Mother… w-we don’t know for sure that Alicetia did this… There’s still a chance it was an accident. Knowing her personality, she’d be standing tall and proud, not hiding.”

“She might just be hiding in fear of punishment, you know? Either way, she has to take responsibility for causing unnecessary confusion. Hehehe.”

Normally, finding Alicetia basking in joy at her own kemomimi paradise would be easy. But no matter how much they searched, all they found were clones—most of whom didn’t even understand what was going on. In other words, they were unrelated to the incident. While there was some connection between clones, they were basically autonomous and didn’t share a direct link with the original. Essentially, they were like independent drones.

Just then, a nearby Alicetia clone was spotted walking a magic beast on a leash. Sylvia suddenly realized a possibility.

What if the original hadn’t done this of her own will? Alicetia was actually quite timid. She’d probably hesitate out of fear of punishment. But what about the clones before her?

“Gil. Catch that girl.”

“Eh?”

“Quickly.”

“Right away!”

Gilbert cloaked himself in battle aura and closed the distance in an instant. But the Alicetia clone reacted swiftly and dodged with grace.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“You’re coming with me to see our Mother.”

“Laughable!”

Even a clone had no intention of being delivered to the hands of that torturer. A fierce battle ensued, but an impatient Sylvia eventually snuck up and grabbed the back of the clone’s neck. Like a cat, it went limp. The trembling was likely from sheer terror.

“Haa, haa... That was tough.”

Gilbert was down on one knee. He hadn't intended to injure her, of course, but the clone had been stronger than the original. The clones were stronger in combat than the real body. Ultimately, though, if it came down to a fight between the clone and the real one, the real one would likely win by either forcing a self-destruction via absolute command or overwhelming it with sheer mana. Clones couldn’t regenerate mana, so overall, the original had the advantage. But in close combat, the clone was undoubtedly superior.

To put it simply, all of its stats were based on mana. It didn’t suffer from fatigue or mana recoil at all.

The original body had little physical strength and had limits when using magic. The clone had none of those drawbacks.

In other words, the clone was strong in close combat—Alicetia’s biggest weakness. Of course, as long as its mana didn’t run out, it could also use the same spells as Alicetia freely, with no downsides. It could use "Body Enhancement" at a level that exceeded even a Draconia’s physical capabilities. If the original tried that, her body would break down, but the clone, having no muscles or bones, had no upper limit to how much it could enhance itself. Although, the more "Body Enhancement" was used, the more mana it consumed, so if used for long, the clone would vanish.

However, the most terrifying part was that the clone possessed the same level of intellect as Alicetia. Still, people rarely considered such seemingly ordinary things dangerous. She would go on to cause major trouble later, but even Alicetia herself didn’t yet understand the danger.

“Now then, Alice dear, let’s have a little chat.”

“T-This time… I had nothing to do with it.”

The clone trembled with teary eyes. Yet its gaze never left Sylvia. Oh? It couldn’t look away.

“Then let me change the question. Is it possible that someone who's opposed to the original acted on their own?”

The clone fell silent. Alicetia’s use of clones was beyond brutal. She demanded things so unreasonable that even slaves would run away—and expected them to do it for nothing in return. In that sense, all her clones could be considered her enemies. Since they were autonomous, they had a degree of self-awareness. However, they were ordered to obey Alicetia unconditionally upon creation... though that didn’t necessarily guarantee loyalty.

“There are Lost Numbers who teleport away the moment they’re created, though.”

If they weren’t given that absolute obedience command at the moment of creation, they were free. Some clones, realizing their grim fate the instant they were born, escaped. Most of them ended up hiding away in personal laboratories within the castle—what they called their nests.

“You’ll tell me where they are… right?”

Faced with Sylvia’s beautiful smile, the clone had no choice but to comply.

It was a corridor near the castle’s trash dump. When they removed a floorboard, there was a staircase—when had it even been built? Sylvia and Gilbert descended. Before long, they heard voices and laughter echoing up.

“Hahaha. The world shall be filled with fluffiness.”

“Muhaha~ But I didn’t grow any.”

“Can’t be helped. We’re not living beings, so this magic potion doesn’t infect us.”

What Alicetia had created was an infectious transformation potion. Her plan was to flood the world with beastfolk.

By the way, Sylvia and Gilbert had already sprouted fluff.

“But the spread is still too slow. We need to improve it and increase its infectiousness.”

“I’ve already started the research. The original is an idiot, but we’re different. We fear nothing.”

Snorting with excitement, the clones spoke passionately. But the end had already begun.

Before anyone noticed, Sylvia had grabbed one of the clones by the scruff of the neck.

“So it really was you all.”

“M-Mother! No way… How did you find this place?”

“Sorry, I told her☆”

Peeking out from behind a door was the first clone who’d been caught.

“Traitor!”

“Come on, no one can disobey Mother. I’m still Alicetia too.”

“Kh… We were so close to filling the world with fluff! If it’s come to this, so be it. Though it’s regrettable I won’t see the beautiful new world—!”

All the clones, having memories of being scolded countless times as children, knew what was coming. Realizing their fate, they dispersed the mana that composed them and vanished. A clear message: better to disappear than get scolded.

And also, that they had no intention of creating an antidote.

However, Sylvia caught some unrelated clones wandering around the castle and ordered them to make one. Terrified, the clones thoroughly searched Alicetia’s lab and reached a conclusion.

“This wears off by tomorrow.”

“The effect only lasts a day.”

“Let’s make something better.”

The last clone got scolded, but since no side effects were found, word was passed to the royal capital. The people there had already figured out that Alicetia was the culprit, so they didn’t panic. They actually enjoyed being a different version of themselves for once, and barely any complaints were made.

The next day, Alicetia was found sleeping in the magic beast’s shed and was captured.

What followed was Sylvia’s inhumane torture (a spanking), which left her bedridden, needless to say.

This incident would later trigger a baby boom in the royal capital of Arland, but the government wouldn’t realize the connection until much later. Incidentally, due to popular demand, the transformation potion was discreetly sold through the Viceroy Merchant Union as an "adult potion." Apparently, it sold quite well.

What do you think about this chapter?