episode_0030

The Baby Kraken, or rather this miniaturized Baby Kraken, is just like a hidden piece in this labyrinth.

Information about this Baby Kraken was mentioned in the novel and it had appeared.

However, the protagonist, for the reason of not wanting to raise a pet, disregarded this good hidden piece and only took the treasure chest.

Then what exactly is this mini Baby Kraken?

A Baby Kraken defeated in battle. The mid-boss of this dungeon can shrink like a pet and can also be ordered around like one.

The reason I captured this Baby Kraken right now was to use it as my subordinate.

If you ask why I am using what the protagonist discarded, I can answer like this.

The protagonist is a damn idiot.

Why did they immediately discard this Baby Kraken without considering its abilities? This little one’s ability is truly incredible.

“Excuse me.”

“Poo, poo-oo!!!”

The Baby Kraken tries to escape from my grasp with its round mouth wide open.

But right now, this Baby Kraken is the weakest of the weak, with all stats at an F.

The only stat that hasn’t changed is its vitality.

The Baby Kraken’s vitality is one rank higher than mine, at S+ rank.

While all other stats have turned to F, why is the vitality stat, which increases regeneration and recovery, at S+?

That’s the Baby Kraken for you. Or more precisely, it’s a trait of the Kraken species. Krakens are born with exceptional regenerative abilities, able to regenerate their tentacles within seconds even if severed.

So, you could say it’s just a characteristic of the Kraken species.

Now that the explanation is done, let’s open the treasure chest.

I brought the Baby Kraken along, dangling from one hand, to where the treasure chest was located.

“What is that?”

“Emergency ration?”

“Poo-oo-oo!!!”

Our Baby Kraken starts to puff up its tiny cheeks in anger.

Yes, Baby Kraken. You really look like a Baby Kraken now, so I’ll call you that. But getting angry? This little guy?

I wanted to grab its uncorrected scruff and throw it on the ground, but I held back. It plays an important role in my growth!

After vaguely responding to Piyran’s question, I instructed her to open the treasure chest.

Piyran eagerly opened the treasure chest, showing a face full of excitement, and the chest emitted a beautiful golden light, just as described in the novel, dazzling our eyes.

Wow, it really hurts. Someone might think there’s sunlight trapped inside.

Piyran seemed to find the light painful at first, covering her eyes with her arms, but then peeking through as the light dimmed.

By the way, I had already taken out and examined some treasures from inside.

“This is a cloak.”

Seeing me like that, Piyran shouted, “Ahh!!! Why does Senpai get to see it first!! I caught it!!” displaying a completely different attitude from usual.

This wasn’t her personality in the novel; she was clearly a rough character… Has she changed? Or was this her original nature?

Well, becoming a villain renders all that useless anyway.

Still, to avoid any rifts, I kept apologizing to Piyran and we retrieved the treasures together.

The treasure chest held numerous treasures, and fortunately, among them were the ones I needed.

“I’ll take this and this.”

“…Out of the 4 treasures in the box, you’re choosing those?”

Piyran looked at me with a gaze of complete incomprehension.

Well, it’s a natural reaction.

There are four treasures that came out of this treasure chest.

The “Family Contract Dictionary,” “Cloak of Concealment,” “Seed of Negation,” and “Divine Magic Dictionary.”

What I chose here were the “Family Contract Dictionary” and the “Seed of Negation.”

Among the items that came out of this treasure chest, these two are considered the most garbage and the worst rewards based on Piiran’s standards.

Even I acknowledge that fact.

The Seed of Negation is synonymous with a trash item whose usefulness has yet to be revealed.

The Family Contract Dictionary, on the other hand, is just a mundane encyclopedia-level guide to family contracts that can be learned.

However, I had a reason for choosing this.

While the Cloak of Concealment and the Divine Magic Dictionary also caught my eye, these two felt right for me at the moment.

I told Piiran not to refuse and accept them as they were okay by me.

Upon hearing this, Piiran, with a slight upward twitch of his lips, seemed to feel a bit of joy.

Normally, he only smiled with his eyes, whether raising his voice or showing a happy expression, so seeing his lips curl up truly indicated happiness.

“Thank you…”

Piiran expressed his gratitude sincerely, nodding his head.

I casually accepted Piiran’s thanks and immediately opened the Family Contract Dictionary.

I acquired the Family Contract Dictionary not just for the sake of learning about family contracts but to accept this Baby Kraken into my family.

“Pu… Pwoo…?”

As I wickedly chuckled, the creature with its eight legs, now appearing somewhat uneasy, flapped them like a fish resisting, but it had no strength against my arm.

Tossing the Family Contract Dictionary straight in the dungeon, I quickly scanned through it.

‘Here we go.’

Page 89 of the Family Contract Dictionary contained the method to bind the Baby Kraken to my family.

Through a simple family binding method, one could forever command this Baby Kraken as part of their family.

“Baby Kraken?”

“Pu… Pwoo…?”

[The protagonist’s talent knows no bounds! Acquired skill: Family Contract!]

– Thud!

“Behave yourself, little one.”

Unlike a regular system window, upon seeing a peculiar message, I closed the Family Contract Dictionary.

The talents in this world are vast. Hence, even without fully understanding the book, I could acquire such a skill.

Well, as long as I saw the important parts, there should be no issue with the contract.

The method to forever bind the Baby Kraken to my family was simply,

-Swish!

“Pu, Puwoo!!!”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

The first step involved tearing off one of the Baby Kraken’s tentacles.

-Snip.

I lightly cut my fingertip with a longsword.

As a result, blood began to drip.

“Ouch, that hurts.”

Feeling the sting, I moved my finger to where the Baby Kraken’s tentacle had been torn.

The next step involved letting the Baby Kraken’s tentacle soak in my blood. Finally, by using the Family Contract…

– Boom!

‘Done.’

A brilliant silver light intertwined, connecting me and the Baby Kraken with a chain known as the Contract Chain, which enveloped the entirety of the creature’s head, signifying success.

Enveloping the entire head meant becoming the family of the creature’s entire body, allowing me to command it indefinitely.

The Baby Kraken seemed puzzled by the situation, looking around to understand what was happening.

Yes, you’re mine now. You can’t escape. Good job.

Hmm, but I should give you a name as it enhances the bond between family and master.

A name… a name…

“Pu… Pwoo…?”

Pu?

Pupu?

‘Decided.’

Upon hearing the Baby Kraken’s cry, I decided on a name for this creature.

“You’re now, Puppu.”

“Pup?!! Pup!!!”

Puppu, seemingly thrilled to understand my words, joyfully bounced around, weakly extending seven tentacles towards me like a baby kraken. Or rather, Puppu.

Your name is Puppu. If you keep going ‘pup, pup, pooh,’ what other name suits you besides Puppu? Should I call you Snowball because you’re white? That doesn’t seem right, does it? Or maybe something like Alexandros Imirysice? Too aristocratic, isn’t it? A name this humble and cute is the best.

“Pup!!”

It seems our Puppu is genuinely grateful, with veins bulging on its forehead, expressing true gratitude towards me.

Well, that’s how you should be thankful. I am your benefactor.

But could I also be your nemesis?

Now then, since we’re done with all that, it’s time to do what’s necessary for growth.

“Want something to eat?”

“Pup····? Pupㅡ!”

-Zzick!

“Pup!!! Puppu!!”

What’s necessary for growth? That would be devouring the tentacles of the baby kraken.

Kraken tentacles are packed with nutrients, making them excellent growth items when consumed raw.

However, those unaware end up cutting off the tentacles every time they defeat a kraken, cooking them and burning away all the nutrients inside.

This was the first time I felt so frustrated while reading a novel. After all, wouldn’t the same apply to baby krakens?

-Ding!

As if pressing a doorbell, a clear ding sounded, and a system window appeared before my eyes.

This system window probably indicates an increase in stats from consuming the tentacles.

“The nutrients of the kraken are seeping into your body. Due to insufficient nutrients from the consumed tentacle, a random stat has increased. Strength stat proficiency has increased by 0.01.”

As expected. However, it seems that a baby is still a baby, as the stat proficiency didn’t increase much.

Nevertheless, that’s fine. With more consumption, the stats will surely rise.

Oh, but if you eat too much, there might be side effects, so one must consume them one at a time every hour.

I already tore one earlier… what a waste.

“Pii-ran?”

“Yes?”

“Open your mouth.”

“What’s th-! Eugh····!!”

Since they say sparing leads to ruin, I just fed Pii-ran a tentacle.

Upon suddenly having a fresh tentacle in their mouth, Pii-ran seemed to taste bitterness and spat it out in disgust.

Tsk, what a waste.

“What are you doing now…!”

Pii-ran got upset at having a tentacle put in their mouth. I gave it to you for your growth, and you reject it. Well, sorry, my bad.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to try it.”

Since revealing that eating tentacles raw leads to growth felt too precious to share, I decided it was better to keep it to myself. So, I simply apologized.

Pii-ran, puzzled by the situation, shook off the tentacle residue from their mouth with a disdainful expression.

Now, here arises a curiosity.

“Pup····Pup····!”

Does our Puppu feel the loss of two tentacles being torn off? And when do the tentacles regenerate? Could this be considered domestic abuse? But it’s okay.

Baby krakens only have sensory organs developed in their heads, so places like tentacles lack sensory perception. Once they reach adulthood, tentacles would develop sensory perception, but since this little one won’t grow, it’s easier to eat the tentacles.

The reason why Puppu reacts so dramatically to having its own tentacles torn off is likely due to a sense of loss… It’s sad, realizing how easily parts of its body can be torn off.

But hey, you know what? They’ll regenerate in just 10 seconds.

-Zzrrrr…

Look at this. Only 10 seconds have passed, and one of the tentacles I tore off has already regenerated.

Truly an S+ in vitality. If I were to lose an arm, it would take me hours at least, but this little guy regenerates in mere seconds.

The tentacles themselves seemed small, which made it even more so, and being one rank higher than me, they appeared to have better regenerative abilities relatively.

Loss may feel severe at first, but as you continue to experience it, you will become accustomed to it.

Don’t you know? Just like how games that seemed difficult at first become familiar when played a lot? It’s the same with this situation. If you keep getting cut, you’ll get used to it.

Now that you’re part of my domain, you can’t escape, right? Forever mine? If you’re torn apart every 3 hours, you’ll gradually get used to it.

Domestic abuse… well, there’s no argument against that. Forcing someone to lose body parts even if they don’t feel pain is akin to abuse.

But you know what? If it helps my growth, I can do anything. For the sake of the hive, there was no holding back now because it’s the time for growth. If it’s necessary for growth, I’ll do anything.

Wearing a wicked smile, I approached Pupu, who tried to escape from me with her tiny body.

-Snap!

“P-Pu…? Pupu…?”

However, in her diminished state, escaping from me was futile.

Pupu, caught by my large hand, came to me in a limp state.

The reason Pupu suddenly tried to flee was, of course, because she felt threatened.

Quick on the uptake. How did you know I would tear off two tentacles for emergency rations? Let’s start by tearing off two. Come on, let’s get used to it! You’ll get accustomed to the feeling of losing tentacles like your legs or arms!

-Twist!

“P-Pu!!!!”

Without feeling any pain, exaggerate a bit more. One more left.

Screaming, Pupu, feeling painless pain, shouted loudly, enveloping this labyrinth’s mid-boss room with cries of “P-Pu!”

However, no one was there to help Pupu, and Fiiran just watched from the sidelines.

No, more accurately, with eyes of disdain, Fiiran muttered while looking at the scene.

“Ugh… seafood must be their taste…”

That’s not it.