act36side

Gkh gkh!

Wuh!

Aaaaaagh—

Gkh gkh gkh wuh! Laios! (I see now, your names are 'Bitey', 'Angry' and 'Lazy'? I'm Laios!)

Wuu gkh, gkh gkh!

Gkh gkh gkhhh!

Hoo—

Gkh gkh huu gkh wuu gkh gkh! (Of course we're friends!)

Secluded in the mounts, Laios loses track of time.

He no longer cares if the thunder booms or not.

He's now good friends with the ink spirits. They eat together and live together. Every day, they pluck fresh fruits and frolic about in the hillside forest.

He even understands their speech—

You sure the lad's around here?

No... But the ink spirits all came from this direction.

If he's been researching them this whole time, I figured he'd be here.

You said that ever since he came out here, the ink spirits haven't been attacking the village as much.

Maybe he did something to stop them?

But I've got a sneaking suspicion he's run off to play with them god-knows-where...

You might be right... We'd better find him, quick!

Phew...

The longer Laios lives with them, the more he has come to understand these 'ink monsters.'

I should head back and tell everyone about this.

They'll be amazed! After all—

Gkh gkh?

Gkh gkh woo! (Come with me. I'll introduce you guys to my companions.)

Wuu gkh—

Wuu wuu gkh gkh! (Don't worry, they're good people. They won't harm you—)

Wuu—

Gkh—gkh— (Yeah, I'm sure they'll welcome you all!)

Laios, we're here to help—

you...

Huh?

The three rescuers see a most bizarre scene.

Laios, the one they’ve been worried about and eagerly searching for...

is crawling around on all fours like a wild animal, talking to the ink spirits in an incomprehensible language.

It was at that moment that they felt something shatter in their hearts.

Wuu gkh gkh! (Oh, you guys came at just the right time!)

Wha...?

Oh, sorry. I've been using their language for so long, I nearly forgot how to speak to humans.

...Sorry to have bothered you. We'll be on our way.

Hey, don't go, I've got some real important discoveries to tell you!

Oh, no, no need. We'll find our own way out and let you live out your dream here.

I was gonna say I learned something about how to leave.

...You learned what now?

Just watch.

Hey guys, it's lunch time!

Gkh—! (Happily scramble to each and every pile of fruit)

Did... Did you <i>tame</i> them with all this fruit?

Hraaagh—

They're changing color!

That's one of its traits. Bitey changes color when it's full.

It's called Bitey?

Mhm. The one that looks like a small dog is Angry, and the tortoise-shaped one is Lazy.

Did you name them?

No, they told me.

Gkh, gkh—blurgh—

Eurgh, this one's eaten so much it puked! And the vomit's so colorful, it's kinda sickening—

Hmm? Wait, that smell... Is that... alcohol...?

What are you doing, Senshi?! That's ink spirit <i>puke</i>!

Smells like fruit wine. Hmm... A good ferment, if my nose is right.

Tastes pretty good, too.

Don't just eat random things!

Calm down, Marcille. Listen.

Listen for what?

The sound of what's sloshing around in their bellies. This one has wine inside, while this one has jam.

...And?

Keep looking.

Aye, this one's got gushing springs on its back after eating all that fruit. Hmm... This... Oh my, how refreshing. It's fruit juice!

What does any of this have to do with getting out of here?

Wait a moment and you'll see.

Senshi, do you have any containers we can keep the jam and drinks in?

I do. I've been drinking with the villagers a whole lot recently, so I got a few cups and bottles on me.

Don't tell me you're thinking of...

Don't tell me you want to...!!!

Nicely done, though this jam will need some sugar if you want it to be palatable.

As for the juice... It's refreshing, sure, but a bit bland.

But if we blend the juices that go well together...

Add in some sugar, stir it until it's mixed evenly...

Pour into a glass, add fruit slices for decoration, and... It's done!

My improved ink spirit wine, jam, and juice! Give it a try!

Oh, this fruit wine really does have new flavors to it.

Bit too much sugar for one day, though. We should get some exercise to work it off.

I really don't want to speak with people who are willing to eat vomit...

Honey is bee vomit, Marcille.

The vegetables I grow on the golems are also fertilized with excrement from people in the dungeon—

Stop! I don't wanna hear it!

What's up, Laios? You haven't said a word since earlier.

I'll tell you all my plans now.

When I was chasing that ink spirit with the mole, I was surprised to discover that they'd happily slack off from attacking the village if it meant they got to eat fruit instead.

Which means...?

Monsters do attack humans, and sometimes that <i>is</i> due to their aggressive nature...

But most of the time there's a specific reason, like their habitat getting encroached upon, or something happened that enraged them.

But there's no reason why they attacked the village. At first I thought it was out of hunger, but these guys are far too docile and meek when they eat to back it up.

Gkh?

Yeah... That one's even dripping with spit.

Then there's the villagers. It's incredibly strange how they have absolutely no understanding of ink spirit behavior.

We've only just arrived and I've already found out you can tame them with fruit. But the villagers have clashed with them countless times. They should've learned a thing or two about handling them, even if they didn't want to.

But they haven't. It's like they have no need for it.

Maybe they tried before, but didn't learn the proper way?

That'd be even stranger. If they tried and failed, wouldn't it make more sense to just leave this dangerous place? Obviously, they chose to stay, so wouldn't they want to keep trying to fend them off?