Monster Musume chapter 56: Kneeling Down on the Ground
The next day, I woke up when the sun was about to rise. Haa, because I slept without eating a meal yesterday...I made everyone worry. A day pa.s.sed and my feelings somewhat lightened. Before I go to the capital, shall I apologize to the princ.i.p.al?
Since Lucas was still asleep, I prepared to go out while being careful not to make a sound. ...What is this strange feeling? Even if I turned around, there was only a desk and a window there. Lucas was sleeping so there shouldn’t be anyone else. There is no place to hide...however, I still feel like there is someone there. Umm, what is this? What should I do if something happens while I sleep?
“Excuse me...is someone there?” Tsuchio
Though I thought it was stupid, I still spoke out. The room was quiet and you can only hear the breathing of Lucas who was sleeping. Is it my imagination...? When I thought so and was about to wear my pants, my shadow shook slightly at the edge of my sight. ...huh, my shadow?
My shadow was unexpectedly shaking slightly with the source being the sunlight shining through the window. Naturally, a shadow cannot shake, if it isn"t caused by a candle. I mean, even a candle doesn"t shake.
My shadow continued shaking soundlessly and just stood up. ...No, it isn"t a lie!? Having my shape, it just stood up aimlessly. Its feet were connected directly to my foot and shadow. ...What is this?
“Emm...who are you?” Tsuchio
“...”
A shadow that doesn"t speak. However, mutual understanding seemed to be possible. It pointed at me and itself with its black hand. The shadow repeated it...and I still have no idea what it is trying to say! Emm, for now, I shall tame it for my safety...I can"t tame it. This being isn"t a devil beast....
So for now, I put my pants tightly on since I was interrupted before. Well, first of all let"s show it to Ruu and the others. Yes, let"s do that. Ruu might be able to understand it. I don"t know whether it can talk.
Well then...Shadow-san. Come.” Tsuchio
The shadow nodded when I say so and returned to my shadow like before. ...Let"s go.
“I´m sorry Tsuchio. I think that this guy can"t speak. I don"t understand it.” Ruu
“I see...well I expected as much. Although mutual understanding is possible...its ego is too thin.” Tsuchio
“How strong is it?” Ruu
“Well it was...like when Lime was tamed?” Tsuchio
"It"s equal...but it wasn"t like this yesterday.” Ruu
After joining with Ruu, the shadow was shown to everyone in the monsters’ quarters. As a result, it doesn’t seem to be able to speak now.
“Buru, Bururu?”
“Uh, it is probably the result of that devil stone. Why this happened, I have no idea.” Tsuchio
“...?” Puru?
“Ah, I didn"t show it to you two. Remembered the scream yesterday? I received a devil stone filled with magical power from the princ.i.p.al...however it slipped from my hand and fell to the ground before it broke..." Tsuchio
“Therefore you cried so much.... In fact is that the reason?”Ruu
“Probably, I certainly saw it falling into my shadow. And I saw the black mist absorbed into the ground, but it actually was absorbed by my shadow” Tsuchio
Because it was dark magic, it could be absorbed by my shadow...or did my shadow possess magic.... Well it doesn"t matter. What I want to know now is what is this fellow? I will check it later in the library. But first....
“What can you do, I will gain a general understanding. Your shape and the feeling coming from you...I mean by all odds, what kind of magical being are you" Tsuchio
“Koku, Koku?”
"A slimes also form their bodies with magic. So, are you a magic creature or are you not similar.” Tsuchio
Can I touch it? ...It is okay, I tamed it. Touching my shadow on which I’m standing feels strange.
I tried to put my hand on the stomach area of my shadow. It was like water.... It looked like it’s a monster that attacks with magic. ...Ah, the feeling of the abdomen was strange.... Since it"s possibly my shadow, does it also have an influence on my body? However, when I stuffed my hand into its body, it felt quite strange. Uーh...there is too little information.
“Good, please show me what you can do” Tsuchio
Saying so, a jet-black rope flew out from my shadow"s body towards Lime. Winding around, Lime used a little strength to tear it off at once. Hee, there is also such magic.
"After all, its magic power is small and a little too weak.” Tsuchio
"There is no helping it. Has it just been born?" Ruu
“That"s right, is its magic power enough to be useful?” Tsuchio
“Soul...though it is Tsuchio´s shadow, its height is lower than Tsuchio and its physique is also quite different” Ruu
“Ah, that reminds me.... When it just came out, it was almost like me.” Tsuchio
Its height is a bit shorter than mine, but overall it is mellow. Well, since it is my shadow, there is no big difference.
“Well, I will keep it even if it is a spirit, demon or ogre. So first of all, I will apologize to the princ.i.p.al.”
“Bururu?”
“No matter the result, I have still already broken that devil stone. Therefore after I apologize, I will show her this shadow.”
In the same way as just a while ago, my shadow pointed at me and itself. I have to give it a proper name....
"Excuse meーーー!!!"
"...What happened, suddenly.."
I entered the princ.i.p.al"s office and immediately put my forehead to the floor. In this state, I explained the circ.u.mstances and showed Shadow-san to the princ.i.p.al. For some reason, when it came out, it was kneeling down on the ground like me. Why is it doing that? I don"t know why, but then it stood up properly.
“I see. You dropped the devil stone yesterday evening and the magic power inside was absorbed by your shadow.... In fact, you dropped it almost immediately after I handed it to you.” Princ.i.p.al
“It slipped...because I played with it inside my hand. By the way, how much magic power was inside the devil stone?” Tsuchio
“I don"t know. I kept it in a safe all the time since I picked it up, thus I can"t judge...according to my intuition, I think it was a considerable amount.” Princ.i.p.al
“Haa.... Thereupon, princ.i.p.al concerning this devil beast, do you know anything?” Tsuchio
“I must/have to say that I don"t know what kind of devil beast it is at all. You better ask Sasha-sensei or look in the library.” Princ.i.p.al
So I went to ask Sasha-sensei. And I stopped Shadow-san from kneeling down randomly. Hey, let"s go!
“Sasha-sensei, I want to ask you something” Tsuchio
“I can hear you, so you don"t need to shout.... What is it?” Sasha-sensei
On my way walking from the princ.i.p.al"s office to the faculty room, I rushed up to sensei. Sensei was holding several books in her hands again. Did she return from the library?
“Ah, yes. I want to talk in the faculty room” Tsuchio
“Then, give me a minute please” Sasha-sensei
“Yes...okay. Shadow-san please come” Tsuchio
Shadow-san stood up. Giving Shadow-san one book as a trial, it was sucked into its body in a moment. What? It cannot pierce through. When another book was given, it was also sucked into its body. ...Somehow it has become interesting. After that, all the books sensei had were absorbed. Shadow-san´s body was like a black hole. Is it similar to Garm?
“Does Sensei know what kind of devil beast it is? For a number of reasons. I tamed it” Tsuchio
“...Perhaps it is a shadow monster. Ghost-type monsters are devil beasts who absorb the life source of creatures by hiding in their shadows. Strangely, there is a lot of magic...in addition, it seemed to be your shadow...” Sasha-sensei
“Yes, I dropped a devil stone on my shadow.... I got it from the princ.i.p.al as a reward for all the trouble. After the magic came out of the stone, it was sucked into my shadow.” Tsuchio
There is nothing new to say, but what was that devil stone...at least I should have appraised it.
“When was that?” Sasha-sensei
“Yesterday evening. When the sun went down.” Tsuchio
“...I see. Well, it probably is a shadow monster. There are a lot of ghost-type devil beasts who are only active at night, but your shadow monster is one of the few who is also active at daytime.” Sasha-sensei
“Hee...so is it usually a human-type in this way?” Tsuchio
“The outline gives the impression that it is thin and tall. This shadow monster has a rather feminine shape.” Sasha-sensei
“Extremely...good.”
My harem candidates increased. Well, I don"t know what kind of feeling it"ll be.
“Nevertheless, your number of familiars has increased. Your familiars are all considerably strong which is very good.” Sasha-sensei
“Eh, what do you mean?” Tsuchio
“Your familiars are too strong when compared to the familiars of others, so there is also a need to keep the balance with other students. Your shadow monster is a devil beast of the lowest rank of ghost type monsters.”
“Is it like a slime..."
“Well, it is stronger than a slime. A high-ranking one had also appeared before that was an a.s.sa.s.sin type."
Take out a target using a.s.sa.s.sination. Every kind of creature is dangerous when a chance is there. It is likely to grow up easily.
“Uuuh...but it is slightly different.... After all, is it because it"s fixed to your shadow...?" Sasha-sensei
“Is it so...hey, Shadow-san. Are you able to separate from me?” Tsuchio
Shadow-san silently separated from me and stopped at a place approximately 5m away. Because she doesn"t try to move any more, that might be the limit. My shadow that expanded was also connected with Shadow-san.
"I thought so...a shadow monster can hide inside a shadow and in this way it isn"t bound to one shadow. The efficiency of hunting has become remarkably worse.” Sasha-sensei
“I guess. Well, the distance becomes longer with growing too probably.” Tsuchio
“Well, you will find out when she grows up. Please raise her properly.”
Shadow monster...how does it grow up? Huh, what do I say...my shadow became a devil beast and it seemed strange as expected. When I think one half of my body became a devil beast. Why did it become a female...is it because I dropped the devil stone at night? Perhaps it"s the idea of positive and negative. The men and day are positive, while women
and night are negative. Well, the sun is a woman in the case of Shintoism, which is Amaterasu Omikami. As Hiratsuka Raicho said, “Originaly, females were the sun.” I don’t believe in Shinto particularly, but women surely have an image of the night. Ah, it isn"t a s.e.xual thing. Isn"t a woman with dark features attractive?
Now anyway, I have the duty as a tamer to raise her well. Like Ruu, I will bring her up as a wonderful human-type demon!
After that, I checked the information about Shadow-san in the library. Apparently, ghost-types have moderate strength and are of the lowest rank. Slimes don"t seem to be made as a comparative target. Other ghost-types like corpses, zombies, skeletons, skeleton soldiers are summoned with dark magic. Because those devil beasts have no self and intention, it isn"t necessary to restrict them with magic. Ah, by the way, they can move even in the daytime. They seem to be weakened to some extent though. Although the Shadow monster is ranked E, there is no change in its threat.
“...Although the rank is low, there is no sign that a creature is really so, thus attention is necessary. Even a C-rank adventurer would be in danger. Fortunately, because the life force of a creature is its food, it is more likely to be safer if I separate with it immediately.... Can"t life force be breathed in a little at a time?" Tsuchio
“That"s so. That is quite effective...but when your life is reduced a little, you will notice it. It is an unpleasant feeling" Librarian-san
Behind me reading an ill.u.s.trated book, Librarian-san stood there before I was aware. Muu, I didn"t notice at all.
"Since when were you standing here?" Tsuchio
“I trained in the past. I let it gradually weaken, it"s used for torture. Noo...those days were hard" Librarian-san
“Is, Is that so. It was hard..." Tsuchio
Whether it"s so...it is someone"s meal every day, so it is no use if I do not give my life force! ...Well, there is only me. I cannot let Ruu do it. My familiars will be weakened if it is absorbed from them. I can do it only on holidays so I can do nothing on a day with cla.s.s.
"Shadow-san, today"s meal is my vitality for the time being. And when I sleep to recover, you"re not allowed to suck it in” Tsuchio
Shadow-san nodded. It is likely it understood...that it may die if I do a bad job. First of all, let"s have it breathe in front of Ruu.
Evening, at the place Shadow-san was my body came to feel heavy, while it absorbed my life. Although Ruu was worried, it seemed I can recover at night somehow.... Absorbing to the very limit...I reserve remembered something a little! It isn"t that I could say!
"Did you become full?"
Shadow-san shook its head aside. Well, it is to the extent I can recover at night...until the living being dies, it"ll keep breathing actually.
“Is that so...if you suck this much only for now, I won’t die right?”
Shadow-san nodded this time. Then, I have no problem for the time being. When I go on vacation, I will let it breathe in fully.
At dinner time, Shadow-san seemed to receive dinner with me shrewdly and poured it into its body. After hearing it later, even normal meals seemed to be able to extend its life. Say that first! I shouted in my mind while being exhausted on my bed....