The Tentacle Witch

<Side : Herry Tetrahedron>

This is a story from my time at the Academy.

“Ah, shit… drew it wrong.”

The Academy for Nurturing Talent. Mostly just called the Academy for short, it’s a place of education.

The Headmaster’s motto was equality in education. Therefore, no discrimination based on origin, wealth, gender, etc… between Imperial citizens and Royal citizens, rich and poor, women and men. Anyone with talent could enroll, receive an education, and be nurtured into a proper talent… that was the Academy on the surface.

Inside, it was a den of ugly political maneuvering and vicious bullying, a so-called… ‘Academy for Breeding Morons’.

Despite claiming not to discriminate between those from the Empire and the Kingdom, the Academy was built squarely within the Kingdom’s territory, and naturally, students from the Kingdom looked down on and bullied students from the Empire.

It professed that anyone with talent could enter, but apparently having rich parents counted as a talent, as noble parents who knew nothing about Magic paid endowments to get their children enrolled.

“If I draw it like this and summon… it won’t work, will it? Probably?”

As if those divisions weren’t enough, they now used the Magic they were learning to tear each other down and make fun of each other.

They touted flashy, but mana-inefficient, seemingly impressive… fireworks-like, shoddy Magic as the best, and ostracized students who learned mana-efficient and useful, but crude and unimpressive Magic.

The most looked-down-upon of all was… Summoning Magic.

My major, Summoning Magic, had somehow become known as the worst Magic in the Academy.

–Boom…

“……3599th summoning failure. What’s wrong this time?”

As students continued to avoid it, professors majoring in Summoning Magic gradually began to give up, and students who couldn’t receive instruction changed their majors, creating a vicious cycle where professors didn’t come to the major with few students.

Students gradually left or stopped coming to the existing Summoning Magic classes, and eventually, I was the only one left.

Rumor has it that next year, they’re going to improve the perception of Summoning Magic and invite several related books and professors…

But I, I…!!

“I’m graduating next year!! Aaaargh!! How can I graduate when I haven’t learned anything? Failing a grade would negatively affect interviews at guilds and such, and I don’t have the money to forcibly stay longer. Haa……”

As I clutched my head and despaired at the harsh wall of reality, a man opened the tightly closed door of the classroom and entered.

“Herry. I was wondering where you were, and you’re here trying to summon some riffraff again?”

An obnoxious voice that sounded like he’d dipped his tongue in arrogance.

The name of the male student holding a Staff that looked expensive at a glance was…

“Tch… Riotera. What did you come for this time? Get lost. I’m busy.”

“Busy? It looks like the summoning has already failed.”

The top student in Astrology class. Riotera Maximoff. Born of noble blood, rich, and reputed to be able to aim for a professor position as the youngest, not to mention a spot as an Astrology graduate.

And… he’s also my classmate from when I enrolled.

“I told you, you should quit that crappy Magic and switch to another field.”

“Whatever. If you’re just going to nag, get lost. Or give me money.”

We’d been bickering since we enrolled, and in the beginning, Riotera and I were competing for the top and second spots in the Astrology class.

But after I switched to Summoning Magic, the gap widened, and I, learning an unpopular and avoided subject, became a student that no one recognized in the Academy.

At least… that guy would occasionally come and give me a hard time, so I didn’t lose the ability to speak, but it’s still not easy listening to him show off all the time.

“What brings you here today? You’re not going to tell me to return to that star and sky Goddess, Hecate Goddess, are you? Ha, too bad. It’s too late for me to switch majors, and I’m graduating next year and leaving.”

“Herry. Aren’t you a little paranoid? When have I ever given you harsh words? It’s all blood and flesh for your life…”

“Shu, t, up. I don’t want life advice from someone my age, and all you ever say is quit that, do something else, do something else. I’m sick of hearing it!”

It was always like this. He’d come as he pleased, nag me with advice as he pleased, and leave as he pleased… I cursed him every day, but he’d stubbornly come back…

“Wait, Riotera, don’t tell me… have you been coming to be my emotional trash can? Or do you have some kind of disease where you get excited when you’re cursed at?”

“Haha… I think you’re better at harsh words? Well, anyway…”

Riotera came into the classroom, dragged a chair over to the broken Summoning circle, and sat on it.

“How long are you going to stay like that?”

“Wh, whaaat…!? What. What are you trying to say?”

Riotera started speaking in a serious tone, not his usual arrogant one.

“The rumors about Summoning Magic. Do you know about them?”

“……Ugh.”

“The perception of Summoning Magic has worsened, and there are rumors that students who learned Summoning Magic are suffering from Magical impairment one after another. And it’s said that no one is succeeding in Summoning Magic itself.”

“Those are just rumors. It’s because they’re not skilled enough? I, I can summon if I just try a little harder!”

“Haa… I respect your passion… but I honestly think there’s someone behind the scenes trying to discredit Summoning Magic.”

Riotera brought up the rumors surrounding Summoning Magic.

Of course, I, who was majoring in Summoning Magic, had heard several things. That people who majored in Summoning Magic and tried it often had nightmares, or suffered from impairments that prevented them from using certain Magic.

And that Summoning Magic hadn’t been summoned at all in the Academy for some time.

“So… you’re telling me to give up?”

“Giving up is your choice. Trying is also your choice, but… I’m speaking seriously as a colleague and classmate who once competed in academics. If you want… after you graduate, I could hire you as our family’s exclusive Magician. You’re proficient in Elemental Magic as well as Astrology. I think you can make up for the wasted time and effort.”

“Ugh……!”

“I’m leaving. Think about it. Herry.”

–Squeak…

Riotera left the classroom with a shadow cast over one side of his face. Inside the chaotic classroom, I picked up the school uniform top that I had thrown aside and hurriedly ran out.

“Damn it…! You obnoxious bastard…!! What does he know, denying the longing I hold so dear!”

I was filled with anger. I burned with inferiority. That became fuel, and the passion that had been stagnant was ignited.

“I’ll definitely, definitely succeed. Damn Riotera!”

Huffing and puffing, I arrived at the Academy’s grand library. A repository of knowledge where vast amounts of data and books were stored, and external organizations even applied to look around.

–Squeak… Bang!

The guys obsessed with appearances created an atmosphere where studying in the library wasn’t cool, so the number of people going to the library decreased significantly.

What do those guys think the Academy is! They’re like germs eating away at the Academy! If they want to socialize, they should go to a social club!

I passed the section where basic Magic books were displayed and went deeper inside. That place was full of books that hadn’t been identified yet or advanced Magic books.

They’d been identified as not having any Curses or anything, but most of them were incomprehensible to students. Of course, I was one of them, but as someone who had briefly studied Astrology, I could read a little because Astrology required learning ancient languages.

I’d been there often, but I still hadn’t made any progress. I was angry at Riotera’s words and felt like I had to do something, so I came.

“Why didn’t you even find out why I switched to Summoning Magic… can’t you even sympathize with my longing?”

The perception of Summoning Magic fell into the gutter because of one student’s words.

‘Isn’t Summoning Magic about fighting by borrowing someone else’s power instead of relying on your own? I think the guys who use Summoning Magic are all irresponsible.’

“If that’s the case, Fire magic is also shooting fire, so isn’t that also fighting with the power of fire? All the guys who were swept away by that shoddy mudslinging are the same! Controlling the summoned beast is also part of Summoning Magic, but there are too many idiots who don’t know that!”

I took out and put back several books in the stacks. Then I grabbed a book with a classic cover.

“Creation and Evolution… Headmaster Beatrice’s book.”

Beatrice Yale Plie. Headmaster Beatrice, a blue-haired Beast-person with goat features, majored in Creation and Evolution, and Summoning. A field of study that mainly involves creating new life and evolving it. Its origins date back to the myths of creating animals and plants in ancient times.

And… going back, not long after I enrolled, I went to see the Headmaster’s Magic demonstration.

She summoned golden and black goats and put on a spectacular performance. With just a slight wave of the Staff in an empty place, the colorless space was filled with colorful goats.

I was fascinated by the Miracle of creating substance from nothingness, rather than the method of looking at the stars that I had been learning. I switched my major to Summoning Magic, but… whether it was because I didn’t have the talent or because the education was lacking, I couldn’t even summon a single summoned beast, let alone achieve any results.

“What’s missing… I’ve been so devoted, why aren’t I getting any results…”

No matter how much I studied, it was useless. There were no results, and if I graduated without anything to show for it… my longing would become vague. The warm longing that temporarily turned my eyes away from the harsh reality would… collapse…

–Thud… Thump!

“Ouch…! That hurt…”

Just as tears were about to well up, a book fell on my head.

“What is this…… what kind of book is it?”

A strange book that was all black and had a cover made of some kind of wrinkled leather. It was written in squiggly red letters that looked like earthworms were crawling around…

“Su, mmon…… the author is XXXXX YeX XXX… Er, hmm… I can’t recognize anything else.”

I could only see the word Summon and the author’s name… but I quickly opened the book and read the contents, thinking that it might be related to Summoning Magic.

Fortunately, the inside was written in an ancient language, but I could interpret it without difficulty because I had learned it, and it was written in detail.

“King of the deep sea… the one who sleeps in the abode under the sea… so this is a book to summon that?”

It was written in a meaningful and vague way, but the summoning method itself was very simple.

Draw a Summoning circle and chant. It was a simpler method than any Summoning Magic I had done so far. If it was this simple, even a normal person who didn’t know Magic could summon if they could draw a Summoning circle.

“I can do this… I’ll think of this as the last time… let’s just try it once.”

I took the Magic book that I had been holding tightly in my arms as if possessed and quickly ran to an empty place where I could draw a Summoning circle.

Soon, as the sunset was setting, I entered an empty annex of the Academy that no one would use now and quickly drew a Summoning circle.

“It’s being kept in the library. It’ll be safe. Please, pleeaaase…!!”

The movement of the chalk contained half confidence and half desperation. As I followed the drawing in the book, a huge Summoning circle that covered the entire floor was completed.

“All that’s left is to chant…… Okay, here I go…!! Come out!!”

As I chanted as written and put my hand on the Summoning circle…

–Whoooooosh!!!!

–Kugaaaaaaang……!!

“Ugyaaak…!!!”

A huge explosion and the resulting smoke and pressure pushed me away.

At the same time, the annex wall shattered, the smoke that had been trapped flowed into the sky, and the setting sunset light streamed through the gaps in the collapsed annex wall.

“The summoning, the summoning…!”

But I didn’t care about the clumsy mistake of the annex collapsing, and I turned on the lights and ran to check the Summoning circle to see if I had succeeded in summoning……

“Kyu…?”

“An, an eyeball with Tentacles…?”

A small strand of Tentacles with one eye, almost as thick as a hair. It was in the very center of the Summoning circle, covered in dust.

“Could it be that I succeeded…?”

I reached out my hand to the Tentacles, and it wriggled up and climbed onto my hand. I was overjoyed to see it… and then I fainted from the shock.

In my fading mind, I heard the voices of several people buzzing, and my vision went completely dark.

–

–

–

“Ugh……”

Then I opened my eyes and woke up in the infirmary, and next to me was a blue-haired Beast-person with goat features nodding off………

“Uwaaaak…!! H, Headmaster…?”

“Ah, um… you’re awake, Herry student. Are you okay…?”

The Headmaster couldn’t even hold her head up properly, as if she had been sleeping deeply until just now.

“Ah, yes… I, I’m okay. I don’t have any injuries or tears.”

“That’s amazing. To be unharmed even though there was such an explosion… it’s a blessing in disguise.”

Headmaster Beatrice asked about my well-being for a moment and then continued the story. Her expression seemed serious. Different from the Headmaster who had been dozing off until just now…

“Herry student. You have committed a very serious crime.”

“Ye, yees…? What do you mean… Su, surely it’s because I destroyed the annex? Bu, but the Academy has insurance for this kind of thing, right? Even if other students in other majors occasionally destroy buildings, they rebuild them quickly…”

“There are such cases. But the situation is more serious than you think.”

“What, is…?”

“First of all, to explain, the Academy’s buildings are using buildings that were built as places of learning in ancient times. Buildings with ancient Magic can easily block external invasions and cannot be scratched by any ordinary attack.”

The Academy building had such a history… Th, then I destroyed that building…?

“And that ancient Magic is a valuable Magic historical material that cannot even be reproduced with the current Magic system, and Herry student destroyed it.”

“O, oh… th, th, that’s…”

“Of course, the building itself can be easily restored. But no matter how much we put all kinds of blessings around it with the essence of modern Magic, it will not be as effective as before. This means that when the Academy is in danger in the future, the Academy building, which will be operated as a shelter in an emergency, will not function properly. It will clearly come back as severe damage.”

“So, sorry…”

“Considering all those cases and calculating, Herry student has been sentenced to pay this amount of compensation to the Academy.”

The paper that the Headmaster took out from her arms had an astronomical amount of compensation written on it.

Trembling, I took the paper and barely looked at the Headmaster’s face and opened my trembling mouth.

“I, I don’t have that kind of money…”

“That compensation was calculated by taking Herry student’s circumstances into consideration as much as possible. The debt repayment period is 10 years, and the interest rate will be kept to a minimum. Please keep that in mind.”

“No, aaaa…”

“In addition to more unfortunate news, Herry student’s expulsion procedure has been approved.”

This laid-back Academy, which gives even the most troublemaking students suspensions, rarely gives expulsions. I was disgraced by being expelled from such an Academy, and I lowered my head in disappointment…

“Kyu…?”

“Ah…”

After failing to summon thousands of times, the precious summoned beast that I had finally summoned slipped out of my sleeve and rubbed its eyeball against my palm.

It was a small creature’s charm, but the depressed and desperate confidence was instantly regained when I saw it.

“Huu… I understand. I’ll pay off that compensation. I’ll pay it off…… In the worst case, what happens to me if I can’t pay it all off…?”

“In that case, a debt collector belonging to the Academy will come, and assuming you do not resist, Herry student will come back here.”

“Oh… what if I resist…”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. We won’t kill you. However, if you resist, there is no guarantee that your limbs will come back safely.”

I’ve never even heard of a debt manager at the academy…

“Then, coming back here, I…”

“Most likely… Student Herry will be used as teaching material for the academy. Your body will be dissected piece by piece, with each organ used where it’s helpful, and the remaining skeleton and joints will likely be used as anatomical specimens.”

The headmaster, calmly explaining the horrific consequences of failing to repay the debt, remained expressionless before me, seemingly devoid of any emotion or sympathy.

But, I can’t just cower like this…! I succeeded in Summoning magic!! Let’s be confident!

“B-but, I can… no, I will do it! Just you watch!”

“Yes, I’ll be looking forward to it. Well, I’ve delivered everything I needed to… Ah, Student Herry’s belongings have been removed from the dormitory and placed outside the infirmary. Please leave the academy as soon as your condition improves.”

Headmaster Beatrice left those final words, opened the infirmary door, and started to leave… but paused and spoke again.

“By the way, Student Herry…”

“Y-yes?”

“Did you succeed in the Summoning?”

“N-no… I, I didn’t…”

“…I see. Understood.”

–Squeak…

Silence filled the infirmary. I crumpled the paper with the debt amount on it and shoved it into my pocket.

“Let’s do our best from now on. Tentacles… I’ll definitely succeed.”

Not long after, I tried to quickly leave the academy with my luggage. There’s no point in staying here any longer…

It’s okay. I have the Summoning circle all in my head anyway. With this, I can become stronger…

–Step… Step…

It was the time when dawn had just ended, and morning was about to begin. Yes, it’s a suitable time to make a new start.

As I was about to leave with the rising sun behind me, a familiar, annoying voice called out.

“Wait. Herry!”

“…Riotera.”

“What happened? You’re expelled…”

Riotera, panting as if he had run quickly, spoke.

“That’s right. It’s funny, isn’t it? The academy that gave only a suspension to the guys who beat a poor student half to death, is expelling me.”

“Could that be… related to the collapse of the annex…”

“It’s fine. I’m not a student here anymore… I have no obligation to talk anymore.”

“Herry…”

“Ah, and I prefer younger guys. Thanks for the kindness and advice, but this is where our relationship ends. Thanks for everything, Riotera Maximoff.”

I don’t know what Riotera’s face looked like then. I don’t particularly want to know…

“Tentacles… shall we start as adventurers? Heehee♡”

After that, it took only five years to pay off all the compensation to the academy, including interest, and to receive the title of Archmage.

I’m the best after all…!!

–

–

–

Side : ALL>

Pink Tentacles creep up from even the smallest cracks.

Countless Tentacles, obscuring the sky and covering the earth, instantly swept through the Resistant People’s residential area, binding people.

When the Tentacles caught a family, they molested their children, corrupting them and turning them into servants of the Goddess, and when they caught lovers, they corrupted one of them and turned them into servants of the Goddess.

Instead, the remaining humans were not harmed in any way, but were captured and moved to the labor zone.

[Worthless things. Not only do you bow your heads to the glory of the Goddess early on, but you resist so much]

(Worthless things. Not only do you bow your heads to the glory of the Goddess early on, but you resist so much)

Overseeing the labor zone was a pink-haired Witch wrapped in Tentacles.

Strangely, she spoke backwards, constantly rubbing the Dick covered in Tentacles, and watching the humans laboring with difficulty.

Even apart from her, the Tentacles with eyeballs spread throughout the labor zone followed the every move of the labor Slaves, and if even the slightest suspicious circumstance was seen, they were immediately bound and punished.

And… those who additionally carried out the punishment were the precious beings of the labor Slaves who had been corrupted by the Tentacles before. Having lost their emotions and becoming mere puppets who only listened to the orders of the Goddess and her apostles, they did not even recognize their precious beings and inflicted brutal punishment with sharp whips and hard Clubs.

“This is punishment. Atonement for the foolish ones who dared to challenge the Goddess”

For the Goddess’s apostles and Slave Incubus, who possessed physical abilities that transcended human comprehension, the labor of human Slaves was worth less than a handful of ashes, but the reason for making them do such harsh labor was only one.

It was because they did not follow the Goddess’s will and created a group of fugitives called the Resistance, challenging the Goddess’s authority.

“Shall we do today’s broadcast with that child? It seems like their heart has been broken quite a bit♥”

There were still Resistance Villages in various places. The Tentacle Witch’s companions were also thoroughly searching for these, suppressing and corrupting them, and using Magic to display a huge screen across the continent to broadcast in order to break their morale.

They had Slave Incubus act, promoting the joy of serving the Goddess, and how all kinds of diseases and starvation were resolved when they became Slave Incubus, and once a day, they broadcast content to break the Resistance’s will to resist.

They filmed from beginning to end the appearance of those who had been supporting the Resistance surrendering on their own, submitting to the Goddess, and then being corrupted, and showed it loudly throughout the area.

When the gloomy face was violated by the Slave Incubus’s voluptuous breasts and Enormous Cock and turned into a happy face, it was broadcast live, causing the Resistance’s morale to drop and many to despair.

Occasionally, the apostles also participated, corrupting them even more cruelly.

–Squish♥ Squish♥ Squish♥

“Ah♥ I wish this world would quickly become the Goddess’s, then I would have no more wishes♥”

The Tentacle Witch, sitting on a throne made of Tentacles, was receiving infinite pleasure as her Yoni and Anus were poked by Tentacles sprouting from the chair.

Even now, the Tentacles spread throughout the area find and punish the impudent ones who do not follow the Goddess.

The Tentacle Witch feels extreme joy in punishing those who have committed sins. As if… she herself has not forgotten the experience of being punished by the Goddess, and is trying to share that joy with others.

“Everything is for our great and lewd Goddess♥”

Even though the punishment she received had already been forgiven by the Goddess, her words are still reversed for the sake of that atonement.

The words sound normal to those who hear them, but they are words of bewitchment that drive you crazy the more you hear them.

There is no way to escape from the cursed Witch’s Tentacles. She is a fragment of the evil Demon god who will cast the world into darkness.

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