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Chapter 8.3

 

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Translator: Einbedo
Editor: Weasalopes

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「Would you look at that.」

「They’ve passed through here, that much is obvious.」

At around that same time, Tatsuya and Haruna had finally stumbled upon what appeared to be traces of Hiroshi’s group. Along the way they got stuck in yet another loop, made their way through an inconveniently positioned river and fought off a group of mobs.

An hour had already passed since Hiroshi first engaged the final boss. Needless to say, the remaining party members were all on edge by this point, with the only saving grace being that Mio’s detection ability could still pick up on them, which meant that they were still hanging on a thread. How thick the thread was, however, was anybody’s guess.

「Even I could smell the miasma from a mile way, it reeks of it. They’ve gotta be close by!」

「They’ve just gotta.」

After wasting so much time, aimlessly wandering through the dungeon, the two were barely able to conceal their excitement. All they could think about at the moment was running it down to the boss, despite the fact that they had suffered some damages running straight through most traps and several groups of enemies, not to mention that their mana reserves were borderline acceptable at best, and even then they were hinging on potion poisoning, having downed one too many of the things. From an outsider’s perspective it was blatantly obvious that taking a short rest was the right call here, they, however, did not have access to such a perspective.

Even if they did their choice would’ve likely remained the same as, judging for how long the fight’s been stretching on for, the added numbers advantage they’d be able to provide would likely be sufficient enough to turn the tide. Granted their mana pools being half empty wasn’t exactly all that reassuring, it was still good enough to at least take care of the adds if they played their cards right.

「This one here’s trying to get away from us, as if we’re letting that happen.」

「Let’s make haste.」

 And so they made their way through one of the holes Hiroshi had torn the dungeon earlier straight for the final boss, without any second thoughts. This overeagerness lead them to making one grave error in judgement.

「What the-」

「Artie you so cuddly, yes you are.」

「And huggable too.」

「Such a sweetheart.」

Haruna’s upper body was assaulted by three little critters, who seemingly popped up out of nowhere.

「Haruna, now’s not the time to flaunt your best Artiem impression.」

「I’d appreciate it if you lent a hand here!」

Their tentically feet glid through one of her more sensitive parts, conjuring up a funny sensation that Haruna wanted nothing to do with… for her own sake. The grave atmosphere they had going was in shambles.

「If by Artie you mean Artiem, you’re barking up the wrong tree there fellas.」

「Not Artie?」

「Not Artie…」

「But she smells just like Artie.」

「Blond hair, babylon’s, just like Artie.」

「Where’s Artie?」

Having released Haruna from their tentically grasp, the creature began wisping around the area in search of Artiem.

Their appearance was… difficult to describe, so let’s just say they most closely resembled a half-assed cartoonified octopus. To give you less of an abstract image, take a heavily moefied anime girl and reduce her to only a head, now make her locks look like tentacles, don’t make them too gross, and now you’ve got a good mental projection of what it must’ve looked like. Basically something you’d see on a phone strap.

Although one might erroneously assume it to be an aquatic creature it, in retaliation against all common sense, could zoom around in the air as if it was no one’s business, although it’d probably be just fine off residing in the ocean for all it cared.

「Don’t get me wrong, they are alike, but there’s some very clear differences you’re turning a blind eye to here.」

「Took the words right out of the mouth. I mean our race is different for one and don’t forget that my hair’s straight while hers is a little wavy.」

「Haruna’s got blue eyes while Artiem’s are green but, most importantly, Haruna’s the fairer of the two.」

「Her breasts are bigger.」

The little creatures had no clue what most of those words meant but when ‘breasts’ and ‘bigger’ came up they got right to checking firsthand.

「Supple.」

「And soft.」

「But small.」

「small…」

Once they were done with their thorough ‘check-up;’ they let her breathe free. Haruna, however, was barely able to catch her breath after the ‘check-up’ she received at their tentacles. Despite this state something inside her mind made sure to properly document the two instances of the word ‘small’ making their way into their critique. The fact that the process was completely unconscious didn’t do wonders for her image either.

「Could we get back on topic now?」

「Topic?」

「What topic?」

「What are you all even supposed to be?」

He was about as direct as it got. Tatsuya understood that they had their priorities, which they probably should be getting to, but he wanted to get some intel on the little creatures, for future reference.

「Be?」

「Race-ace–ace–ace?」

Something like that, yea.

「Octo-gals~」

「Alan Wein’s pets.」

This revelation completely stupefied the two.It’s not like they had any real incentive to lie nor did it seem like they were but they just wanted to believe that Alan Wein had at least a shred of dignity somewhere in there.

「Why were you here and what’s your connection to Artiem?」

「We got stuck in the dungeon when it was forming.」

「We couldn’t get out so we settled down here.」

「Artie’s a priestess.」

「Priestess-ess–ess–ess.」

「A nurse?」

 Besides that last bit their story was mostly coherent. By that point they already had a good idea of Alan Wein’s ulterior motive.

「He wanted Artiem to lure them out so we could get them to safety.」

「Without a doubt.」

「Where’s Artie?」

「She should be in that boss room over there.」

The octo-gals were merrily bouncing up and down until the words ‘boss room’ came out of Tatsuya’s mouth, at which point they abruptly stopped.

「Boss?」

「Miasma-ma–ma–ma?」

「The core is right over there and the boss is real meanie.」

The octo-gals went right back to bouncing up and down.

「Corrupted Ent.」

「Immobile.」

「Wide range of attacks.」

「Took some of us prisoner.」

Everything seemed fine and well until that last concerning bit of info, which Tatsuya wasted no time investigating further.

「There’s more of you?」

「Besides the prisoners.」

「About this much.」

More than a hundred octo-gals popped in to introduce themselves with those very words.

「We」

「Colony.」

「invertebrates.」

「One for all.」

「Collective conscious.」

「fuse/de-fuse at will.」

The process was so effortless that they managed to do it in rhythm to the words right then and there.This, naturally, left the two speechless and why wouldn’t it, when they saw the head grow to five meters in size right before their very eyes. According to them, the only reason they didn’t keep on going was due to space restraints. Had they all the room in the world to fuse, they could give the average castle a good run for its money size wise.

「In that case, wouldn’t you be able to single handedly take on the boss then?」

「Nuh-uh.」

「Little space.」

「Add galore.」

「Lacking firepower.」

 Their comedically economical use of language was so inappropriate, considering the gravity of the situation, that it took them their all to focus on the task at hand without bursting out in laughter. Upon further questioning it became clear that their only means of attack were tentacle sweeps. Due to their invertebrate nature and naturally high magic resist, there was little they couldn’t brute force their way through, although, due to space constraints, their particular brand of cheese wouldn’t fly in this particular instance.

「He may be big and scary but he sure ain’t gonna last a second against me, I’ll tear it from limb to limb.」

「Yes yes, good for you, but isn’t it odd how Makoto’s group still isn’t here yet?」

「We’ve already wasted enough time as it is, going back to get them would only waste more.」

She nodded. They’ve already stuck around one spot for much too long, given the circumstances.

「Makoto?」

「Party?」

「Who’s that?」

「What’s she like?」

 They most certainly didn’t overhear the mention of a girl’s name.

「She’s a fellow party member, alongside one other, who’s also a girl.」

「Girl? What’re they like?」

「One’s, debatably, within the age bracket to even be considered a girl. Both of them are on the shorter side, with one being about ten centimeters shorter than Haruna and boasting an ironing board for a chest, while the other’s an extra ten centimeters runtier with somewhat tangible breasts.」

「Alrighty.」

「Be right back.」

The group of octo-gals in a nearby room mysteriously vanished with those very words. Moments later they came back with Makoto and Mio secured firmly in their slimy grasp. One might get the impression that the octo-gals were a feeble minded creature, from the way they carried themselves in conversation, but they were a lot wiser than one might give them credit for initially.

「Target acquired.」

「Neutralized.」

「Abducted, solitary confinement.」

「Ransomed.」

「Disposed of~」

「Do you mind *not* making me fear for my life here, you bloody things!」

Although they were just loose words, together they alluded to a rather unsettling set of circumstances, which Makoto, who was locked into a suggestive position, didn’t waste any time in pointing out. This tickled their fancy and made them keep on the act for further reactions.

「Upside down.」

「Slave.」

「Capital punishment.」

「Disposed of~.」

「Quit it and put me down already!」

Makoto growled at the top of her lungs only to be released as far off the ground as they could get. She made sure to give them a cold, hard look after just barely making a safe landing.

「Ironing board.」

「Estrogen deficiency.」

「Rub three times.」

「To make it grow.」

「Level up.」

「How long is this going to go on for?」

Mio put up with the humiliating feel of having her developing breasts with her usual brand of expressionless, while quivering on the inside. The world had never seemed quite as cruel as it did at that very moment..

「What’re these things supposed to be anyways?」

「Octo-gals, a pet of Alan Wein’s, supposedly.」

「Pet.」

「Servant.」

「God, that hand!」

「The window! The window!」

「Would someone shut those things up already?」

Their incessant little remarks after close to every single sentence had started eating away at Makoto’s soul. The fact that they occasionally drifted off into the realm of references they shouldn’t have privy to made matters even worse. They were pretty obscure ones as well. which could only lead one to believe that Alan Wein had played a role in imparting such questionable knowledge upon them.

「Let’s leave them be, Hiro’s just ahead.」

「I can them fighting. There’s no doubt.」

「Let’s make up for lost time.」

「Hold it.」

「Something, go over.」

The octo-gals formed a physical barrier, barring the party from progressing forward.

「Outta the way.」

「Artiem’s over there you know.」

「It’s dangerous out there.」

「It’s dangerous out here.」

「Watch your feet.」

Their descriptions were awfully vague but it all became crystal clear once they peeked into the path they were about to walk down.

「What on earth.」

「A bottomless swamp by chance?」

「become, poisonous.」

「Expand.」

By the time they’d realized what the octo-gals were trying to get across it was already too late.

「Woah!」

「Aah!」

「The ground!」

「This one’s real bad!」

Before they knew it the ground underneath their feet had transformed into a gloopy mess, dragging them down deep into its jaws in the blink of an eye.

 

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