Chapter 254: The Empire of Rats

Raticati’s POV

I was extremely upset. And for someone like me, who could normally find something good even in the most unpleasant situations, that was already a rather serious problem.

The reason? That mysterious white stone.

Ever since I had found it among the treasures my master had given me, I had tried to discover its true nature. I examined its surface, used my magical probing staff, tried to identify its element, and even searched for some hidden magical pattern.

However, I had no success! It was as if the stone simply refused to cooperate with me. Since I couldn’t figure out what it was used for, I eventually put it aside.

I had a Rat Shop to manage, after all. There were goods to organize, customers to observe, materials to catalog, and a huge number of things that required my attention.

My intention was to find some specialist capable of identifying the stone as soon as I had the time.

But... I never found the time, and two days passed in the blink of an eye. Until that early morning. The shop was already silent. Most of the lights had been turned off, and the moonlight coming through the window was slowly disappearing as dawn approached.

— Huh?

My eyes turned toward the wooden table near the window. The white stone was there, but it was glowing. A faint white light emanated from its surface.

At first, I thought it was simply reflecting the moonlight. I approached it.

I was certain. That light was coming from the stone itself! I extended one hand and touched the stone’s surface. It wasn’t warm, nor was it cold. Its temperature seemed perfectly normal.

Then I looked toward the window. The stone had apparently absorbed some of the moonlight and transformed that energy into its own power source. I took a magic crystal from my bag and placed it near the white stone.

It was at that moment that something unexpected happened.

The stone moved.

— Huh?!

I was startled and almost dropped the crystal.

The white surface began to separate, and small sections opened up. Then other parts began to slide.

CLICK.

CLACK.

CRACK.

The entire stone began to disassemble. When it finally finished... an extremely strange magical machine was standing before me.

Its appearance vaguely resembled a communication mirror. A mechanical arm emerged from one side, slowly moved forward, and grabbed the magic crystal I had placed on the table. Then it carried it toward the lower part of the machine’s body.

There was an opening there. The crystal was placed inside it.

Then...

BZZZT!

A series of mechanical noises echoed throughout the room.

And a strange voice rang out.

— An entry-level mutant energy crystal has been detected. It can be used as an energy source. Magical Kernel, serial number 1599. Estimated function recovery: seventeen percent. Initiating...

I remained completely motionless.

— Magical... Kernel?

A screen located at the top of its body tilted toward me. A violent distortion swept across the surface of the screen, and a gigantic eye appeared.

— AAAAAH!

I jumped backward.

That eye practically filled the entire screen!

And then a hoarse, noisy voice echoed throughout the room.

— Peculiar... this is truly peculiar...

— Why did a Magical Kernel that had shown no activity for more than three hundred years suddenly awaken?

The eye seemed to observe me.

— Hey, little fellow. Were you the one who activated this Magical Kernel?

That language... I had never heard it before. But, somehow, I could understand every word perfectly.

— Who are you?

— And how did you manage to squeeze yourself inside that tiny object?

My brain began working desperately.

That eye was enormous. If it really belonged to a creature... then that creature’s body had to be gigantic! And if that creature came out of that tiny object, how could I possibly survive?

The enormous eye on the screen moved backward, and the image zoomed out, finally allowing me to see the rest of the individual. I fell silent, and my mouth fell open.

The terrifying giant was actually... a Rat! A Rat practically identical to me!

He was approximately one meter tall. He had white fur, two large ears, and a pointed nose. And that enormous eyeball I had seen earlier? It was merely a special pair of glasses!

The Rat on the other side was wearing a rather dirty white coat. A pen was tucked behind one of his ears. And a huge magnifying glass was positioned in front of his eyes. He looked extremely strange.

— You... you’re also a Rat?

The fellow immediately seemed annoyed.

He moved closer to the screen and began gesturing with his arms.

— Little fellow!

— You are speaking to the greatest Chief Inventor of the Rat Empire, Viscount Ratal!

His voice was filled with pride.

— Therefore, before asking questions, you had better use the proper honorifics!

This Rat was truly arrogant. But... he was a Rat!

— Oh... Great Viscount Ratal...

I gave a small bow.

— Could you tell me exactly what this object is? And why can I understand your words?

Ratal’s face twisted.

— Damn... #%@￥%...

He muttered a few words that I couldn’t understand and then sighed.

— It seems you still haven’t understood anything.

He adjusted his coat.

— What you’re looking at is a Magical Kernel that I invented.

— The Interdimensional Long-Distance Communication Device.

My eyes widened.

— Interdimensional... device?

— Exactly!

Ratal spread his arms.

— Simply put, it is a small piece of equipment that allows two Rats to communicate and even transmit items across absurdly vast distances between worlds.

— And why can I understand your words?

Ratal pointed at me.

— Because you’re also a Rat!

— It doesn’t matter which world a Rat lives in.

— If it’s a Rat, then naturally it can understand the language of Rats. It is a language exclusive to our race!

I had never imagined that something like this existed.

— If this machine was invented by you, why was it left here?

Ratal seemed even prouder.

— Because that’s precisely its purpose!

He explained that when he was young, he had produced hundreds of similar devices and scattered them randomly throughout the multiverse.

Rats or other intelligent creatures who found those machines could use them. In this way, they could become his customers.

— If my memory serves me correctly, the last creature to use Device Number 1599 was a powerful Light Spirit.

Ratal sighed.

— But that fellow was far too poor.

— He possessed practically nothing that could satisfy my commercial interests.

My eyes began to shine.

— You’re a merchant?

Ratal puffed out his chest.

— Naturally!

His voice became even prouder.

— I am Viscount Ratal, the greatest engineer, inventor, and interdimensional merchant in the Rat Empire!

— Rat Empire?

I asked quickly.

Ratal replied proudly:

— The glorious empire of Rats...

He explained that the Rat Empire was a kingdom built by the Rats themselves after they conquered an entire world.

There... We Rats were the true masters. My heart began to beat violently. An entire world ruled by Rats? My eyes filled with tiny sparks of envy.

Then... I slowly lowered my ears. I remembered my own situation.

Ratal seemed to understand immediately. He remained silent for a few seconds.

He had probably seen similar situations before. In most material worlds, Rats were considered weak.

They didn’t possess particularly powerful bodies. They had no extraordinary innate abilities. And among demonic creatures, they usually occupied an extremely low position.

Ratal began asking me all sorts of questions. I answered patiently. Until, at one point, he seemed to conclude that I was probably just a miserable Rat with no money.

That offended me.

— What?!

I immediately opened my waist pouch.

— Look!

I threw my treasures in front of the camera.

Light Crystals, Sapphires, Rubies, White Agates...

Ratal’s jaw practically dropped.

I raised my nose proudly. Finally, he was beginning to understand who Raticati was! But I quickly realized that he wasn’t very interested in the ordinary elemental stones. He was only interested in a few of the crystals I currently possessed.

He explained that in the Rat Empire, practically all advanced technology relied on magical machines. And those machines required energy, Crystals, Magic Stones, and special materials.

If he could take some of those materials back to his empire and figure out how their energies worked... He could contribute to the development of new machines.

We both realized the same thing. A gigantic business opportunity was right in front of us, and the more we talked... the friendlier we became.

Until we finally reached a conclusion.

We would do business.

We began making our lists. Mine was enormous, containing everything I knew about that might interest Ratal. He did the same, and then we began comparing our lists.

— How much for this?

— Two Magic Crystals.

— Two?!

Ratal almost jumped.

— One!

— One and a half.

— There is no such thing as half a crystal!

— Then one!

— Deal!

And so our first negotiation began.

We had only become friends a few minutes earlier.

But the moment money became involved... Everything changed. Over a single Magic Crystal, we ended up arguing for several minutes.

Over a difference of two crystals, we exchanged insults.

— You shameless Rat!

— You brown-skinned thief!

— Take it or leave it!

— I should be the one saying that!

The negotiation continued.

When I realized it...

The entire night had passed.

More than twenty hours of negotiations. And what was the result? Two interdimensional transactions. The total value of both was less than five Magic Crystals. And I had spent three Magic Crystals just to keep the communication running!

— Hahahaha!

I danced in front of the screen.

— I saved a crystal!

On the other side, Ratal was furious.

— You brown-skinned Rat! You shameless bastard! You are the most despicable merchant I’ve ever encountered!

I smiled.

— Thank you!

...

1630 Words