The Tentacle Tree's Secret
Having successfully claimed the Flauros Dungeon as my own, I returned directly to my base through the portal. The slime dragons immediately devoured the bodily fluid jelly stored in the pantry. The slime dragons farmed in the sub-dungeon served as our nutritious snacks and aphrodisiacs, but they were also a vital means of recovery for the slime dragons themselves.
"Thank you for your hard work, Master."
"It was an easy battle. Meari, get this one recovered. Her voice is so hoarse it's quite grating to listen to."
I handed the Amur that Lime had brought along to Meari. Following my instructions, Meari took Amur, laid her on the bed, and began to channel her magical power to restore her. In the meantime, I shared the information I had gathered from Flauros with Gremory and Shaitan.
"Flauros had a massive brawl with the 65th-ranked lord. Since she won, she must have survived, and she was so heavily injured in the process that it was incredibly easy for me to pick her clean."
"That's good to hear. I'm glad you returned quickly. There was actually a matter we needed to discuss."
"What matter?"
"Lancelot."
Just hearing those three syllables, I knew exactly what the problem was.
"That's exactly why I returned early. Where is Lancelot now?"
"After giving birth, she complained about 'semen-loss,' so she immediately grabbed Guinevere and dragged him into the bedroom. She's currently busy fighting him on the bed. Here is the egg she laid."
Gremory carefully showed me the egg she had been holding. Its dark, obsidian-like color looked quite extraordinary for an orc's egg. While the race was fixed as an orc due to the random number generator, the difference in job and grade made me look forward to seeing what kind of entity would hatch.
"Then, should we hatch it right away... or wouldn't it be better for the parents to see it?"
"That's true. If I were to lay your egg, Master, I would want to see it myself."
"I don't think it matters much, but... if you say so, then it must be. Alright."
Gremory called over a passing orc and gave the order. The orcs were constantly loading massive chunks of stone onto carts to transport them to Las Vegas. "On your way, stop by and tell Lancelot. Tell her I'm back, so she should wrap it up and come over here."
"Understood."
The orc pulled the cart across the cavern again. The cart was mostly filled with stone fragments that had been neatly cut from gargoyles. It seemed they had finally found some efficiency in their work; the gargoyles were being cut very cleanly. After the cart crossed the cavern, we shared the situation from before and after the battle.
"There were no enemy raids while I was gone, right?"
"None. Not a single one. I mean it, absolutely nothing happened, so don't worry. How long has it even been since you left?"
"Other portals do not open while a struggle for territory is ongoing. Therefore, you don't need to worry about other dungeons opening portals to attack us."
"That's a relief. As our forces grow, the number of places to defend keeps increasing, so I was worried."
My dungeon, Gremory's dungeon, Las Vegas, and now the defensive Flauros Dungeon. While Meari, Gremory (the main body), Eila, and Flauros were in charge of the garrisons for each, it was true that I had many concerns.
"It's unlikely all four places will be attacked at once. I should create a mobile unit that can provide support through the portals at any time. Meari, Gremory. Is the amount of magic stones sufficient?"
"A mobile unit... are you talking about Warwolves? If it's that, I can secure up to three a day. Adults, not pups. 2-star ones."
"3-stars require intermediate magic stones, so that's impossible. The magic stones we can supply from the sub-dungeon only go up to low-grade. I've used up all the intermediate magic stones I had. It's impossible to summon a 3-star directly now."
"Tsk..."
If only Robo hadn't started a rebellion, he would have been a truly great asset. Perhaps because I had given him a name, he was registered as 'Robo' in the affinity summon, but as usual, resurrecting him required a significant amount of magic stones. Twenty intermediate magic stones. 'I'd rather use those stones to pull a sturdy new Warwolf.' What's the point of an expensive imported car if it's a car that eats its owner? Unless we were wealthy enough to buy two and drive another while one was in for repairs, our legion unfortunately didn't have that kind of money right now.
'Though, I'm expanding my territory to gather that kind of wealth.'
You have to be frugal to succeed. Even if we weren't starving, we had to save where we could. Just like how I absorbed the Flauros Dungeon with its forces intact.
"We'll have to maintain the status quo until the Warwolf Rider unit is created. If we're going to launch an attack instead of waiting for someone to strike first, absorbing the entire unit like I did with Flauros seems like a good method."
"So, are you going to keep using Flauros?"
"Of course. She decided to become my subordinate. She's been a dungeon master for a while, so she has the basics of dungeon management down. I think I just need to touch it up a bit. Lime, it's been a while, but it's time for construction."
When her name was called, Lime started to look around, startled. Her reluctance to do construction was plain to see.
"You can eat all the magic stones that come out while remodeling the Flauros Dungeon, you, Line, and all the slime dragons."
Kkeureureuk.
"Lime says 'call'."
"She learns so quickly. Good, feel free to embezzle as much as you want in the process. But you know the drill, right? If any intermediate or higher magic stones appear, save those. And if something like a Dimension Stone appears, bring it to me immediately. I won't care about the pocket change like the lowest or low-grade ones."
I drew the structural diagram of the Flauros Dungeon on the floor.
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"As you can see, it's a typical force-on-force dungeon where you beat down enemies entering from the entrance. It's a structure that reveals Flauros's personality well."
A hot-blooded frontal assault. And yet, Flauros had met me at the place that could be called the entrance to the barracks where the tribesmen lived (☆). It was quite intense, considering the tribal chief had stepped forward personally to protect the burning leopard beastman tribe, the Blaze Panther.
"That will to protect the tribe is commendable. Originally, people become incredibly strong when they have something they must protect. Even if they are beastmen."
"You're similar to them, Master? Hehe. Did you keep her alive because you thought you were similar?"
"......No? I hired her as is because I thought she would work hard and be loyal to the legion if I held her hostage? Who's similar to that guy? It's not like that."
Everyone had that 'of course you would' look on their faces, just like Ryun, and I felt unnecessarily embarrassed. To quickly change the subject, I pointed to the end of the diagram for Shaitan.
"I came over through an attack portal when I returned, but we can't leave it like that. Shaitan, is it possible to change the portal location? I saw that the portal opened right at the entrance."
"Of course. Since it has become your territory, Master, it is naturally possible to move the portal."
"Then move it to the very back."
Shaitan stroked her stomach and channeled her magic. Although the portal connecting our dungeon to the Flauros Dungeon had appeared in our cavern, it was enough to just block anyone from coming over from the Flauros side.
"Then Lime, leave everything else and do an expansion project right in front of the portal."
The reason I installed the portal right in the middle of the cavern despite the risk to my main base if the Flauros Dungeon were breached. That was because our dungeon's strongest defensive general, who might have inherited the name 'Flauros,' would be dispatched to the Flauros Dungeon.
"Rasil!!"
Kkul-leok, kkul-leok. The golden tentacle tree lifted its head high.
"Hehe. From now on, you have one mission. Go into the Flauros Dungeon and sink your roots in to your heart's content. Stretch your branches to the ceiling, too. And then..."
Kwaduk.
I moved my hand like a hawk snatching its prey with its talons.
"Snatch the adventurers with your branches. Got it? You must not touch the members of our legion. Only..."
I glanced at the prisoner's dungeon and pointed to the portal.
"Repel the intruders. And the ones you catch are yours to keep as fruit."
Kkul-leok, kkul-leok. The Tentacle Drasil began to dance according to my instructions. However, no matter how much of a 4-star monster it was, its intelligence was relatively low, so it could only move according to my intentions if I or another amorphous monster—like Lime—gave it specific orders.
"And just like I taught you last time, you are to toy with the adventurers just as you toy with Gremory. Do you understand?"
"Why am I the example!"
"Isn't getting treated hard your specialty, Gremory? Anyway, bury the men in the ground, and catch the women with your branches and turn them into fruit. After that, well..."
Whether the beastmen eat the fruit or not. It was a shame that the Tentacle Drasil couldn't directly spray its essence or turn what it caught into nutrients. The Tentacle Drasil only sucked the bodily fluids of the captured entities...
"Hey, is this a female?"
"Lime says it's a female."
"......Rasil. By any chance, is that possible too?"
The Tentacle Drasil lifted its roots toward me again. The form, where the wrinkles and suckers were slimy, looking as if it wanted me to insert myself just like last time, was clearly no different from an onahole. But to think that wasn't just an onahole, but actually *that* place.
"......."
Is it possible? Even if I'm a human-lover, must I insert myself into a tentacle?
"Papa, why don't you try it once?"
"What?"
Meari, of all people, suggested I insert myself. Meari stroked the roots of the Tentacle Drasil with eyes full of curiosity.
"Trees usually absorb water through their roots and then discharge it through their leaves, right?"
"Ah, that is called transpiration."
"Is that so? Anyway, just like absorbing water through the roots, couldn't it discharge the essence absorbed through the roots back out through the branches?"
"......Indeed. There is sufficient possibility of that."
Shaitan approached my side and suddenly pulled down my pants. The movement was so natural that I couldn't offer any resistance. Because...
"Meari, wh-what are you doing right now?!"
"I'm conducting an experiment, Papa. You need to help me a little."
Meari, of all people, touched my goods with a deadly serious face. I was so startled that I tried to step back, but my rear was firmly blocked. Ryun, Lime, and Gremory were blocking me from behind. Shaitan took my balls into her mouth and began to mumble while using magic, and Meari began to stroke my goods up and down with one hand while wearing a white cotton glove and taking notes on paper with the other.
"W-wait, just a second! Ughhh?!"
Meari pulled my goods hard. I even felt fear at the action of trying to force me to insert into the tentacle root. But. If I'm being pushed into it forcibly like this...
'It's not like I inserted it because I wanted to.'
My complex inner thoughts were completely lost. Even though I had inserted into elves, slimes, harpies, humans, and Andras, and even though I was planning to insert into the Demon King's daughter, a succubus, a leopard beastman, and Estu, wouldn't inserting into a tentacle tree's root be the end of me as a human?
'Ah, I'm an orc.'
I was already finished as a human anyway. I changed my mindset.
"Let go."
At my command, my subordinates stopped pushing me. Only Meari, who had been shaking my goods with her hand to extract my essence, smiled with an awkward look.
"...If you don't want to insert, you can just pull out."
"No. I almost made a huge mistake. That's right. Meari. Listen well."
I took a deep breath and aligned the glans of my goods with the tip of the root.
"Don't be a picky eater."
If any food is set on the table, you have to taste it first. If I, who declared I would cover the world in *Las*, were to filter out something just because it was non-human—even a tentacle tree root—that could not be called true *Las*.
"I'm sorry, Tentacle Drasil. I had a prejudice against you."
Wriggle, wriggle. The golden branches swayed left and right. It was the first 4-star I had ever pulled, and I felt like I had made a huge mistake because of its appearance. So, it was time to break that prejudice.
"Hoo."
There is a hole. Let's just insert it first. If I taste it and it's really not for me, I can just pull it out again. I caught my breath and let out a battle cry.
"LAAAAASSSSS!!"
Squish.
"It tastes better than Gremory!"
"Hey!"
It wasn't a taste I'd want to eat every day, but it was a taste worth trying once a year.