It was, of course, just a prop. It wasn’t breathing.
“This is a good pose. It’s quite intimidating, and way cooler than any normal art piece.” Cain stood in front of the taxidermy dragon, folded his arms, and nodded in satisfaction.
At this time, Cain had yet to be cognizant of one important detail. His perspective on dragons was still aligned with that of his previous life. He thought dragons were cool. However, the people of this world viewed dragons very differently. Dragons in this world were terrifying harbingers of calamity. If a dragon like this were to appear in a city, the flames it could unleash would cause a tragedy. An army of over one hundred knights would be necessary to deal with it. It was a horrifying monster capable of erasing a small village in a single day. The red dragon Cain had placed in his home would be considered an SS-rank monster by the adventurer’s guild. Cain wasn’t even a registered adventurer, so there was naturally no way for him to know that.
Satisfied, Cain returned to Garm and the others.
“I placed a taxidermy monster in the center of the entrance hall,” Cain announced in a proud voice. “I don’t have much in the way of other decorations—will that suffice?”
“Is that so? We’ll check it out later, then.”
Cain continued to show his family around the offices on the second floor of the mansion.
“AIEEE!”
Screams resounded from the first floor of the mansion. Garm and Cain glanced at each other, and Garm placed his hand on the sheath of this sword.
“It sounds like it came from the entrance hall. I’ll lead the way.” Cain said.
Cain, who usually didn’t carry around a weapon, had to take one out of his Item Box. He found a sword, hurried towards the staircase, and glanced downstairs. He saw several trembling maids collapsed on the floor in the middle of the entrance hall. Following their line of sight, the maids were looking at the taxidermy dragon that Cain had just created using magic.
“Oh, I forgot to tell them.” The realization caused Cain to break out in a cold sweat.
Cain heard his father ask from behind him, “Cain, what sort of monster did you place in the entrance hall?” He could feel his father’s cold glare on his back.
“…A dragon,” Cain said apologetically.
Garm put away his sword and sighed without saying anything.
“For now, summon everyone to the hall immediately. If you don’t explain in advance, this situation will only repeat.”
Cain nodded at Garm’s suggestion.
Cain assembled his family and all his servants in the entrance hall. His servants were trembling as they looked at the giant creature before them.
“I’m so sorry,” Cain apologized. He pointed his finger at the lifelike taxidermy dragon that seemed prepared to assault someone at any moment. “I kind of just placed this thing here without informing any of you in advance…”
“…Cain, what is this dragon?” Garm’s cold voice resounded through the hall.
“I ran into it when I sneaked into the Forest of Monsters by myself, so I defeated it. It was the strongest monster I encountered.”
Everyone present was speechless. Dragons were symbols of fear. Anyone who met a dragon had no choice but to accept their fate. Surviving an encounter was considered a miracle. Dragons were SS-rank monsters. The greatest adventurers in the world wouldn’t dream of facing one alone. The way Cain just nonchalantly mentioned defeating such a beast was completely unbelievable. It just wasn’t something they could imagine a ten-year-old doing.
“…We will speak of this matter at a later date.”
“…Okay.” Cain could only respond listlessly.
“This dragon is even a red dragon. It’s definitely an SS-rank monster. I’ve never seen one preserved in such a perfect state. If you were to sell this thing, it would go for at least one thousand platinum. It may indeed be a better idea to display this rather than some poorly-made decorations. You’re planning to register as an adventurer in two years anyway, right Cain?”
Cain began to mentally calculate what Garm had just said. One thousand platinum…that’s 10 billion yen?! Holy crap!
“One thousand platinum…? I didn’t expect it to be that valuable. Yes, I’m planning to register as an adventurer once I turn twelve, before I enroll at the academy.”
Once he was a registered adventurer he could sell the monster corpses he was hoarding—but he wasn’t about to tell anyone that.
“…I see. Don’t push yourself too much. I doubt you’ll listen, though…”
As they conversed, another scream resounded from within the mansion. This time it was Sarah’s voice.
“What happened now?” Garm asked, exasperated.
Garm and Cain headed together in the direction of the scream. It had come from one of the bathrooms. They arrived just as a satisfied Sarah emerged. Upon seeing Cain, a wide smile broke out on her face. She went over and grabbed him by the shoulders.
“Cain! What’s with that toilet of yours? It’s incredible! The way it goes jwoosh! It even cleans and dries you! Install it at our place too! I want it done today!”
Cain breathed a sigh of relief. He recalled that he had recreated a toilet based on the knowledge from his previous life. It was, of course, a toilet that came with a bidet. Toilets in this world followed the western style, but they were simple things that flushed water by channeling mana into a magic stone. It was capable of disposing of sewage water properly, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy Cain, who was used to the comforts of his previous life. He had recklessly created a new toilet to meet his expectations.
He set a control panel on the right side sitting down, and if you touched it, it would make the magic stone inside spew out water. As for the mana needed to operate the toilet, it would automatically take a tiny amount of mana from whoever was using the toilet once they sat down.
“Very well, Mother. I’ll install one at your place as well. Is that fine with you, Father?”
“Why not. But first, I’d also like to give it a try.” Garm entered the bathroom to test out the toilet. The sound, “Oho hoh hoh?!” was audible through the door. Shortly after, an embarrassed Garm came back out.
“I would indeed like to have one of these installed at our place as soon as possible. Not only in our residence here in the capital, but back in Gracia as well. Are you planning to sell these as well?”
“Eventually. I don’t plan to charge my family members, so I’ll go set it up for you.”
“That would be most welcome.”
“You’re always doing the unexpected, Cain. Whether it be that dragon or this toilet, you always do things we couldn’t possibly have imagined.” Sarah was generally extremely open-minded when it came to her children.
Finished with the tour, the family gathered in the living room to relax. The rest of his family would be leaving soon, but Cain was going to live here from now on. Reine had shouted, “I’m going to live here too!” but Sarah dragged her away by the collar. She was also a big fan of Cain’s specially-made toilet.
The carriage arrived at the front door, and Sarah and Reine boarded first. Garm was the last one to leave, and right before getting onboard, he turned back to Cain, seemingly recalling something.
“Oh, by the way. Newly-established aristocrats in the capital are expected to hold a housewarming party. I recommend doing so as soon as possible.” After saying that, Garm boarded the carriage and left.
Cain watched the carriage leave, his face tensing up once he understood the meaning behind Garm’s words.
What the heck? Why?!
Garm’s parting words left Cain speechless.