Approximately one week after Regro Burnedead departed Kivotos, returning to the world of magic... Kivotos was currently engulfed in—
RUMBLE, CRASH, BANG! CLANG-CLANG-CLANG! SHATTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
"This is Team Custard, no sign of the baby!"
"Th-This is Team Soda! We haven't confirmed any sightings either!"
"This is Team Strawberry, same here."
"This is Team Chocolate! Wakamo is seriously about to rampage; the restraints are already tearing...!"
"Oh, my dearest! Where have you gone in your tiny form?! Wakamo is overcome with worry... Oh, at this rate, I'll just destroy everything around me!"
"I told you not to! Izuna, tie her tighter! Nina, use the new wrench to tighten any loose parts! Team I, prepare backup restraints and muzzles! Whatever you do, don't get bitten!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"Is this what they meant by 'Fox of Calamity'!?"
"Damn it, what's wrong with this person!? The 8-gauge wire is already fraying!"
The students of Schale had split into their respective teams, fanning out across Kivotos, searching for "a certain individual." If they didn't find this person quickly and bring them back to Schale, not only would that person be in danger, but Wakamo might just rampage with enough force to raze all of Kivotos.
"This is Team Gehenna. Makoto just got run over by the baby, who was crawling. She's currently squashed flat."
"G-Gu...ho..."
"Chairwoman!?"
"And she's practically on death's door."
"This is Team Trinity. Nagisa has fainted, foaming at the mouth from extreme anxiety. Within our district, Mika and Tsurugi are running around with serious expressions, smashing through residential areas. There was also a report of Hanako being found with a rope... Well, yes. It's chaos."
"Hmm, this is Team Abydos. Hoshino-senpai is searching for Sensei in full gear. Her eyes are serious for once. We're also searching from a helicopter but can't find anything... For now, just one thing: the baby is our little brother, no objections accepted."
"Shiroko-senpai, don't pick fights with everyone!"
"Shiroko-chan, there was a figure over there. Let's chase them."
"Roger that."
"This is Millennium. Our Engineering Department has deployed every drone we have to search the area. The Maid Department, led by Asuna, and Veritas are collecting surveillance camera data to try and track the baby. The Game Development Department, along with Sumire from the Training Department, are heading out on the ground for final capture and retrieval... Are we perhaps the most normal ones here?"
In short, it was pure chaos. And while everyone was chasing this being called "the baby," what was Mash doing? It was simple.
"Giggle, giggle!" PITTER-PATTER-PATTER-PATTER!
Mash was the baby being chased. He was crawling — in other words, on all fours — dashing all over Kivotos, at a speed that easily surpassed cars and motorcycles.
How did it come to this? Why had this situation occurred? It all began when Mash lent a hand to one particular student.
"—And so, my lord, I've created a prototype: the 'Elixir of Youth,' which rejuvenates the skin. I absolutely want Sensei to drink it!"
"Shall we consider that an attack on Sensei?"
"Hime-chan, do rats taste good?"
"Maybe if they're cooked."
"Stay, everyone, stay."
Inside the Schale office, a student had come to Mash with a request. Her name was Yakushi Saya, a student from Sankai Official Academy.
Normally, she was an inventor belonging to the Alchemy Research Club and a pharmacology expert. This time, she intended to have Mash ingest the medicine she had invented and record the results. In simple terms, it was a type of clinical trial.
However, the students residing in Schale would never allow him to drink such a suspicious concoction. Saori, Hiyori, and Nina had already aimed their guns at Saya, maintaining a menacing pressure as if ready to riddle her with bullets the moment she chose her words poorly.
"Please, my lord! I've considered everything... Sensei is the only one who can withstand the effects of this prototype medicine! Animal testing yielded too many inconsistent results..."
"If it's unusable, just dispose of it. And don't create drugs that put an excessive burden on the human body in the first place."
"Scientific progress comes with risks!"
"Sensei, can I shoot her?"
"No, no, that would cause all sorts of problems. So, what kind of medicine is it? I just want to hear that much."
"Simply put, it makes your skin youthful and plump. A magical elixir for those worried about their skin... Hehehe, isn't it exciting?"
"Apparently there are lotions with similar claims back home, but even Grandpa said, 'they never really make you young again,' so..."
As humans age, their skin loses moisture. Saya's logic was to reverse the age of the skin. Her idea was not wrong, and the fact that she managed to complete it as a prototype was commendable.
"...How much 'younger' are we talking?"
"In Sensei's case, the estimated skin age would be roughly equivalent to around 10 years old, my lord."
"...Understood, I'll drink it."
"Sensei!?"
"Really, my lord!?"
"She went to all the trouble of coming here; it feels a little, you know, mean to send her away."
"H-However, Sensei..."
"Besides, it's fine. I've developed a tolerance for poison and stuff."
"—I'm sorry."
"Ah, no, that's not... I mean, I apologize."
"If you'll drink it, then things will go very quickly, my lord!"
While Mash inadvertently stirred Saori and the others' regrets, Saya, unconcerned, pulled out her "Elixir of Youth" from her bag and handed the vial to Mash.
"...Isn't the color bad? It looks like the... gaming PC, was it? The Game Development Department wanted something like that."
"It's unavoidable due to the composition, my lord."
"I see."
"No, wait, Sensei. I don't know... this color just feels wrong."
"What's rainbow colored?"
"Roughly 16.8 million colors, apparently... Looks delicious."
"Hiyori, absolutely do not drink it."
"Well then... here goes nothing."
Medicine is something you don't want to drink if you take too long. Mash, having prepared a cream puff as a chaser, downed the medicine in one gulp.
"How is it? How is it, my lord?"
"...Super bitter... Ugh."
"There's no leeway to adjust the taste, either compositionally or within the development period, my lord."
"Even so, it's too bitter."
"Hmm... Well, at least, as a minimum courtesy—"
"Also, my body's getting hot, and... huh, I'm dizzy too... Ah, this is bad news."
"Sensei!?"
"My vision's blurring— Thud..." THUD!
"—Sensei!!?" "Oh no...!!"
As expected, Mash collapsed due to the medicine's effects. While his consciousness was hazy, he saw Saori and the others desperately trying to help him—but for some reason, Regro's back flashed in his mind.
(—Crap, losing consciousness...)
A few minutes after drinking the medicine, Mash completely lost consciousness. ...And then, just a few minutes after losing consciousness, Mash's body underwent a strange transformation.
"...Smoke?"
"No one has a smoke grenade... Wait, what...? Sensei's hands, were they always this small?"
"...Hold on, they're too small. And something's off about his appearance too."
"—Hey, everyone... The smoke is coming from Sensei's body."
"No way...! Saya!! What in the world is happening!?"
"Ah-wah-wah-wah...! N-No way... The medicine's effects are working too well...!!"
When the smoke cleared, Mash's body—had shrunk. And not by just 10 years or so... He was a single digit, meaning, one year old.
"Not just his skin, but his entire body... reverted to infancy!?"
"No way."
"Cute."
"Sensei... Sensei became a babyyyy!?"
"—I should have stopped him... Damn it!"
A completely infant form. A small amount of hair on a tiny head, a soft, chubby body without muscle... and the blank expression characteristic of babies—though that was already his usual look. In any case... Mash had reverted to a baby that day.
"...So, is it really... this child, this baby, is Sensei?"
"Y-Yes, my lord..."
"I see... sigh—What have you done!!??"
"Hieee!! I'm sorry, my lorddddd!!"
Mash sat neatly on the sofa... No, since he was a baby, let's call him Chibi Mash. For a baby, he was strangely calm, and for some reason, his expression was completely unchanged from usual.
Watching Mash with despair was Hayase Yuuka. It was Yuuka's turn on duty today, and upon arriving, she was astonished by this sight and immediately began interrogating Saya.
"Small... isn't he?"
"Yeah, small. Very small."
"...One wrong move and I feel like I'd crush him."
"W-Well, he's a baby... right?"
"Bab."
"Oh, he spoke—no, his voice is deep..."
"His voice is still the same, isn't it...? No, how can that be?"
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