“Ah, bleh! It’s so salty!”
Lonis regretted it the moment she touched it with her tongue.
It felt like taking a huge gulp of seawater, and the saltiness twisted Lonis’s face into a grimace.
Elucia, meanwhile, looked delighted to watch the show and burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! Just as I thought. You really are a stupid maid, aren’t you?”
“Y-you’re the one who told me to eat it!”
Lonis protested miserably. She didn’t dare charge at Elucia and fight her… so all she could do was widen her eyes and glare at the black-haired girl, full of resentment.
“Hmph. I did it so you’d understand. Even though they’re all water-type magic crystals, there are countless different kinds. If you don’t know how to tell them apart, don’t go using them carelessly… If you use a Tidechime Stone while cooking, I’ll make you suffer for it.”
“Ugh…”
Lonis lowered her head and hurriedly set the Tidechime Stone, now stained with her saliva, aside. “S-so how do you get a Tidechime Stone? Does it occur naturally?”
“It occurs naturally, but specialized factories can make it too. As for how it works, it’s simple. I’m sure even a stupid maid like you can understand.”
“Huh?”
“It’s the compression of matter. This Tidechime Stone was made by compressing dozens of cubic meters of seawater. And a Flame Crystal? That’s made by compressing several tons of combustible material just as it catches fire.”
“What?!”
Lonis’s eyes widened in shock. She’d never imagined that was how magic crystals were made!
That was a little different from the laws of physics she remembered, but what Elucia said next left Lonis even more stunned.
“Of course, this isn’t compression in the purely physical sense. That would turn it into something like neutron-star matter… This kind of compression uses the power of a certain four-dimensional space to produce an energy conversion.”
“U-uh… huh?”
“According to the resonance between gravitational waves and matter, theoretically, anything can be compressed into a magic crystal. For example, plastic magic crystals, Radiance Crystals, black hole magic crystals, and submissive maid magic crystals.”
“What do you mean, a submissive maid magic crystal?!”
“But processing and making magic crystals is an extremely complicated process, so for now, humans can only produce a limited number of standard types. Flame Crystals are mainly used as fuel for machinery and for heating. Water Crystals are mainly used for agricultural irrigation and transporting water. Wind Crystals are mainly used for aircraft and firearms. Thunder Crystals are mainly used to power factories and interrogate prisoners.”
“Oh…”
Lonis blinked. She thought she was starting to understand. No wonder Elucia’s phone could shoot flames—it must work in a similar way.
“That’s why, in this world, magic crystals are known as the ‘second currency,’ after gold and silver. Some rare types can fetch a fortune.”
“Th-then, when we were in the Snowrealm Royal Capital, didn’t we collect a lot of Ice Crystals…? Couldn’t we sell them for a fortune?”
Lonis’s thinking was simple. If Elucia had money, maybe she wouldn’t be so mean to her.
Maybe Elucia could even hire a maid, and then Lonis’s life would get a lot better.
However…
“No. There’s only a little left in the capital.”
“Huh?”
“Kelu got there before us and cleaned out all the magic crystals in the area.”
“D-damn it!”
“Still, I can teach you how to identify different magic crystals. From now on, keep your eyes open when we’re out in the wilderness. If you collect enough magic crystals, I might begrudgingly give you a reward.”
“A reward…?”
These days, just hearing the word “reward” made Lonis uneasy. She was afraid she’d hear the buzzing of a certain device again.
But Elucia handed her a chart. It read:
…
Slave Maid Rewards: Magic Crystal Edition
1 ordinary magic crystal — 1 point
1 large magic crystal — 5 points
1 rare magic crystal — 25 points
1 divine/abyssal magic crystal — 1,000 points
…
…
Point Rewards:
A new pair of stockings — 20 points
A new pair of high heels — 50 points
A new maid outfit — 100 points
A new set of casual clothes — 300 points
A gorgeous Gothic dress — 500 points
Promotion to Honorary Slave Maid — 1,000 points
…
Looking at the rewards, Lonis felt like Elucia was messing with her completely.
What was this, some kind of 18+ dating sim? Why were all the rewards she got clothes that made her look like a doll?!
She wasn’t even a girl. Getting a little dress wouldn’t make her happy… Well, probably not.
And what was the difference between an Honorary Slave Maid and a Slave Maid?
They were both slaves!
Lonis wanted to glare at Elucia to show her how furious she was, but then she saw the last page and froze.
Because there, in plain sight, it said:
…
The chance to gain your freedom and become a boy again — 100,000 points
…
…
…
A hundred thousand points sounded like a lot, but compared to the value of magic crystals, it wasn’t completely out of reach, was it?
All she needed was a hundred abyssal magic crystals… She had no idea what those were, but they couldn’t be that hard to find, right?
Of course, Lonis didn’t know this.
Even an experienced crystal hunter could only find about five ordinary magic crystals in a day.
And divine or abyssal magic crystals were treasures you could only stumble upon by sheer luck… Some people could search their whole lives without ever seeing one.
In other words,
even if Lonis were an experienced hunter who found five a day, and had incredibly good luck, she could only find 2,000 magic crystals in a year.
She’d have to work for fifty years straight just to meet the point requirement and earn the “chance” to gain her freedom and become a boy again.
And Elucia had the final say on what this “chance” actually meant. (In truth, Elucia would never let Lonis become a boy again. She was just teasing her.)
But Lonis didn’t know any of that yet. All she knew was that at last, she had a chance…
A chance to escape being a girl!
A chance to be free!
A chance to stop wearing these shameful skirts every day and walking around with a pair of boobs on her chest.
…
She wanted to leap up and kiss Elucia’s toes right then and there… The evil black-haired girl suddenly seemed so dear to her.
“Master Elucia, sob…”
“What is it?”
“Y-you’ve been so good to me! I don’t know how I could ever thank you for this…”
“Hmph. That expression is disgusting. Don’t come near me, you submissive maid… It’s time for class. I’m going to teach you how to tell the different magic crystals apart.”
“Okay!”
…
With a goal to motivate her, Lonis felt like she was learning incredibly quickly.
There were a lot of different magic crystals, though: five major categories, thirteen subcategories, and 156 rare types.
But the silver-haired girl only had to look at them once to remember almost all of them.
And Lonis didn’t just memorize them. She could also draw conclusions and ask all the right questions:
“Um, Master Elucia! What’s the difference between a Thunder Crystal and a Lightning Crystal…?”
“One occurs naturally, and the other is man-made. Lightning Crystals have stable energy, so they can provide power over a long period. But Thunder Crystals have a short-lived, unstable output, which makes them suitable for weapons.”
…
…
