Chapter 31— Dicing

"Well, I'm tired, but I have to do it."

　It was when I came back to the village and got my luggage organized.

　I have to do something that isn't very pleasant from now on.

　It was the task of cutting the horns off of the Familiars.

　All three Valkyrie breeds presented to the aristocratic Fontana family had their horns cut off.

　I thought about how they didn't have to cut all three of their horns so suddenly.

　However, I couldn't complain at the scene and could only look at it.

　As my father worried, it is absolutely necessary to check whether a horned Familiar will die debilitatingly.

　I've been worried about this for days, but now that I'm back in the village, it doesn't make any sense to procrastinate. (TLN: Opposite mind of me, my dear friend called Ars.)

　If I will cut off the horns, I’ll have to do it quickly.

　In this way, I decided to cut the horns of the Familiars.

　* * *

　There are six Familiars that I have raised. Valkyrie, who I raised first, and the other five, who I raised on my second time.

　Of those five, two were injected with my magical power to hatch from their eggs.

　The other three were hatched by having the first Valkyrie inject magical power.

　And this time, the three that were raised by Valkyrie were presented to the aristocrats.

　In other words, there are only two animals that I have left who are going to be sold. (TLN: Remember, no Valkyrie on the list of available merchandise.)

　This time, I decided to horns of one of one of them.

　The reason is simple.

　This is because I thought that if one of the Familiars under the same conditions was left horns and the other’s were cut off, the progress of each could be compared.

　If cutting their horns will obviously kill one prematurely, I should stop cutting them off.

　The first time I will use a metal knife that I bought in the city will be used to cut the horns of the creatures ...

　However, when I think about it, I think people used to cut deer horns even in my previous life.

　I think that there was a problem that if they weren’t cut off, the deer would quarrel and start fighting with their horns, which could lead to injuries on both sides .

　So far, I haven't seen any fights between the born Familiars, but it may happen in the future.

　Above all, I thought that it might be better to think of the Familiars as a type of commercial livestock rather than as a member of a family, like a pet.

　It may be better not to give them names.

"Okay, are you ready? I'm sorry, but please be patient and don't go crazy."

　I started to cut the horns of one of the two Familiars, stroking its white hair, as it was standing quietly.

　It was very difficult to cut two horns with a good level of thickness.

　However, I wonder if it understood what I said, because the Familiar kept patience throughout the entire procedure.

　And finally, the second horn fell to the ground with Goron.

　* * *

"Hmm. No way, this fact ..."

　Several days have passed since the horns of the Familiar were cut off.

　For now, both of the tested-on individuals are fine. 

　In particular, there is no sign of them having a poor physical condition, and suddenly becoming really weak.

　For the time being, I was relieved to say that nothing seemed to happen.

　But then new facts came to light.

　It turns out that the individual without horns can no longer use magic.

　Not only could it not use the original magics such as [Leveling] and [Soil Improvement] that I use, but also the life magic [Drinking Water] could not be used.

　When I happened to witness the hornless individual drinking water and not magically creating some itself, I finally realized that it couldn't use magic.

　Why did it happen?

　What we know now is that a horned individual can still use all the magic normally, whereas a hornless individual cannot use magic at all.

　However, when I focused my magical power on my eyes and observed the hornless Familiar, it seems that the magical power has not disappeared from its body.

　Does the phrase “It has magical power, but the magical power can’t be used” able to describe this situation?

　Actually, as I learned later, it seems that the same thing can happen to humans.

　Of course, humans do not have horns.

　Instead, humans can't use magic if both of their hands are gone.

　This is what my dad told me, and on rare occasions a soldier loses both his hands in the battlefield, and he will spend the rest of his life without magic.

　Life magic such as [Lighting] and [Ignition] may not be activated without a hand, considering that you can cast a spell after pointing your finger at the place where you want to cast the magic.

　And for the Valkyries, the horns may play that role instead of the hands.

"... This may be valuable information in a sense ..."

　If you cut the corners of Valkyrie and others, they will not be able to use magic.

　This information seems to have only disadvantages on the surface, but it seems to me that it is an advantage.

　Because I remembered that the peddler had said that he had never heard of a Familiar that could use magic.

　Maybe there’s one out there, but I can't imagine what would happen if a species that could use magic suddenly appeared in the Familiar industry where magic originally couldn’t be used by most of the Familiars.

　It may cause trouble.

　But there is a bigger problem than that.

　That is, the Valkyrie species that I raised can be mass-produced using the magic of [Magical Injection] as long as there is a Familiar Egg.

　Originally, it would be necessary to purchase from me because these types of Familiars can only be raised by me.

　If it turns out that the same Valkyrie Familiars can be mass-produced without me, there is no need to buy them from me.

　In other words, it means that my monopoly profit is gone.

"Okay, let's cut all the horns of the Familiars that I will sell to the peddler."

　So I decided to always cut off the Valkyries’ horns before shipping them off to the peddler.

　Their appearances do not look that different, having the cut-off stub being hidden in their shaggy hair. In fact, these Familiars will look just like the horses that I know from my life on Earth without their horns.

　I decided to continue this dicing work if it wouldn't affect my life.

TLN: Summary:

We now know that the “Valkyrie” species can no longer use magic without their horns. We also have found out that humans can’t use magic without their hands. To make an easier explanation for why Ars wants to cut off the horns, here.

If people find out how to use [Magic Injection], and find out that the Valkyries can use that magic, then they can put 2 and 2 together. They will realize that if they buy just one Valkyrie and any Familiar Egg, the creature raised by the Valkyrie using [Magic Injection] will be a member of the Valkyrie species. Then, those 2 Valkyries can be used to create 2 more. This would mean that Ars would lose his business opportunity. See?

⅓ for today. 

P.S.: The chaps are slow because I am starting to stockpile them for a gift to the readers. This is happening to both Smartphone and Bricks. Expect a little gift on April Fool’s Day. ;)

Edit: This is the correct chap. However, I just labeled it "Chapter 32" instead of "Chapter 31".... everything's fine.