Chapter 61 - Innovative Trends are the Fruits of Creation
The initial quantity of the miracle drug, the temporary hair loss prevention potion, sold out everywhere we went as we toured various squares.
Of course, there were still strong skeptical gazes, but having Yohena as the face of the operation was effective.
The saint who serves the goddess wouldn’t lie!
This was a measure of how Yohena’s usual image was perceived by the city people.
But that’s not possible.
Yohena also lies sometimes.
When I make long-lasting sweet snacks to sell as side dishes.
Often, about 20% of that quantity mysteriously evaporates.
Of course, I implemented the confession-protocol on the prime suspect.
The confession-protocol procedure is as follows:
Lift up Tinya.
Put down the exhausted Tinya.
Only after finishing acts that can’t be described in words did Tinya confess the identity of her accomplice.
When I immediately raided the crime scene.
“I, I, I’m not ea-eating…”
I was able to arrest the saint who was making excuses with cookie crumbs all over her mouth.
Having been caught at that very point, the saint had no choice but to willingly participate in this great commercial activity.
But, this business is just beginning.
Our prospective baldy teachers are still in a state of uncertainty.
But in a week, they’ll be lining up in five circles in front of the shop based on almost religious fanaticism.
It was natural.
Even modern advanced pharmaceutical technology hasn’t developed a drug that ‘perfectly’ prevents hair loss.
Although it’s for a limited time, wouldn’t it become permanent if taken consistently?
Of course, to meet that demand, we need to secure an appropriate quantity.
“Ark-nim. We’re short on materials?”
“Hmm…”
We’ve hit the chronic problem of raw material shortage.
Moreover, those raw materials are…
The tail fur of beast-kin that I personally issued a poaching ban on!
As if there’s a law of conservation of total hair.
Only by sacrificing the beast-kin’s tail fur can we protect human hair for a limited time.
Of course, it won’t be a problem right away.
But once people are addicted to the drug, they can’t quit.
Of course, it can’t make non-existent hair grow, but what if the supply of the drug that was at least protecting what’s there is cut off?
I might be treated as not just a village public enemy, but a world public enemy, on the level of a great demon king.
“Meong meong~”
I fell into thought while stroking Lumi’s tail.
How can we legally and peacefully poach tail fur?
This was a crucial issue that the fate of the shop, which had finally started to normalize, depended on.
There’s a saying that even a sheet of paper is lighter when carried together.
So we held a meeting for the future of our shop.
Of course, Lumi and Renatel are excluded.
…It’s a bit too much to discuss a project for skinning beast-kin tail fur in front of beast-kin.
“Can’t we just catch them appropriately and skin them appropriately?”
“Rejected.”
Ari, shamelessly advocating for looting without even changing her expression.
“We’re not on good terms with the cat-kin yet. How about we sweep away all the cat-kin while we’re at it?”
“…That’s a bit…”
Saha, she has a bit of an extreme side too.
I guess she’s built up some resentment, especially struggling with cats while climbing the tower.
But such Holocaust-like ideas are not good.
“Umm. How about Tinya bewitches them and then we quickly strip off just the tail fur? They won’t remember!”
“Hmm…”
Essentially similar to Ari’s looting suggestion, but Tinya’s opinion seems quite good in that she proposed a method to avoid aftereffects…
“No, we can’t.”
I almost got caught up in the thieves’ instigation.
The only conscience of the hero party, that’s me.
I must constantly be on alert and enlighten the heroes so they don’t go down an evil path…!
“Isn’t there a more peaceful way to solve this? No skinning, no stealing.”
“Hmm.”
“Kyup…”
The collective intelligence fell into silence.
“May this humble servant speak?”
Elise demurely drew her chest together (wow), flashed an alluring smile (kya), and opened her moist lips (pya).
“There are drugs that make hair fall out, if we feed them this–”
“Devil! You really are a devil…!”
“My, you flatter me.”
I reconfirmed the average morality of demon-kin.
Give me back my wow-kya-pya.
After vowing to confiscate and destroy all of that evil drug that shouldn’t exist in this world later.
I looked around at the faces of the collective intelligence.
Everyone seemed to have no good ideas other than violent methods.
“Um, I’ve been thinking.”
Although she bore the dishonor of being a cookie thief.
Yohena, who seemed to have the highest level of morality among these lawless thieves, finally started to offer an opinion.
“You know how long, flowing tail fur is a symbol of honor there, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What if we change the trend altogether?”
“!”
A bolt of lightning struck my head at this quite rational and reasonable opinion.
Even just looking at trends in my hometown.
There was a time when all men grew their hair messy and dirty in the so-called shaggy cut fashion.
But how is it now?
After fierce competition with formidable era overlords like the two-block cut, the shaggy cut is now only found in mysterious groups that captivate women’s hearts somewhere in East Korea.
Or you could only find traces of the shaggy cut in characters from Last=Fantasy who are stuck in past glory.
Leading a new trend for the Great Forest and beast-kin.
And obtaining tail fur fairly as a byproduct…!
I looked out the window at Lumi, who was disciplining Renatel again today.
Someone like Renatel, the Darang-dae leader of Darang Dream Land.
She should be sufficient as the first sacrifice for the Great Forest’s short hair decree.
A little while later.
“Kyawuuu…!”
“Stay still woof!”
After subduing Renatel, who was lured in by the call for snacks.
The original thief gang started a serious discussion about how to design a short but pretty style.
“There are already many beast-kin whose tail fur has been cut off anyway. How about something like a grand integration to move towards a new era, a unified fashion for a new paradise of beast-kin?”
Saha…
I didn’t see her that way, but she seems to have a slightly failed art school applicant’s artistic temperament. Beast-kin-ism, what a terrifying idea…?
Moreover, Renatel’s hostile reaction, who was to become the test subject herself, was just growling and barking, and if she wasn’t being held by the nape by Lumi, she looked ready to pounce on Saha right away.
That’s not democratic.
I curtailed Saha’s right to speak by confiscating one of the snacks in front of her.
Saha looked at my fingers with sad eyes.
Only after such an example was made did sound proposals start to come out gradually.
As a result of devising a plan that could cut off as much volume as possible while still showing sufficient beauty.
The tail-hairstyle often done by cute dog breeds like Pomeranians.
I don’t know the name, but we decided on a style where it’s closely shaved from the bottom to the middle, leaving the tip like a brush.
Of course, the opinion of the test subject, Renatel, was thoroughly ignored.
Why?
Because a perfect superior-subordinate relationship with Lumi had already been established.
The Darang-dae leader cannot beat the beast-kin leader.
Although she was still just a candidate for beast king.
“Kyawuuu!”
“No, nooo!”
“The pride of the wolf-kin like this…!”
“Ugh, huk, sob…”
There was some minor resistance, but.
Originally, the higher-ups should set an example for others to follow.
Like Yi Hyeong, the diplomatic monarch of Joseon who overthrew the old era and established a new empire, one must take the initiative in accepting the short hair decree to control the chaos of the three politics.
19th floor, Zone 1.
“Wh-what kind of appearance is that? …Wait, why are you approaching, stop, I said stop…! Kyau, kyauuuu!”
“Nyaaak! What are you doing to the tail nyan cute nyan fluffy nyaaaan!”
For the crime of being captured as prisoners.
And for the crime of watching the prisoners well so they couldn’t escape.
We gave Enya and Roen the opportunity to lead the “soon-to-be-trendy Great Forest style tail style”.
It was only natural, but.
The one who took the lead in grooming the wolf-kin and cat-kin tail fur was Renatel.
A good custom common to all humanity.
Share joy to double it!
Of course, some people who distort that intention often mutter “I can’t be the only one who can’t see it” and press like on hate posts.
Surely our Darang Dream Land leader wouldn’t have such a gloomy idea.
“Everyone, attention! From today, we will move towards a new era with a new fashion! Make the wolf-kin great again, and further, make the beast-kin great again!”
Fortunately, it seems the wolf-kin didn’t have slogans like “the body and hair are gifts from parents”.
And attaching a very cute ribbon to the neatly trimmed tail also worked as an effective charm point.
The sprout of an innovative trend began to bloom in the beast-kin’s territory.
There was no time limit in Zone 1.
Soon, “remnants of the old era left after accepting the new fashion” began to pile up generously.
Roughly estimating, it was an incomparable quantity to what our heroes had intermittently looted.
Moreover, we even confiscated the tail fur that Darang-dae had been keeping themselves.
We should be able to extract enough for about two months.
Of course, Elise will have to work a bit harder.
That Neb is good at alchemy too, right?
“Now. Let’s go straight to the 20th floor today.”
Now it’s time to graduate from the Great Forest.
And “enlighten” and “inspire” new demon-kin friends to join the hero party.