The Great Tentacle Rush
The latest trend these days is pet tentacles, apparently? Squelch. Squelch-squelch. The lukewarm, disgusting sensation of mud crawling up my ankles. The moment I stepped barefoot into the swamp, a foul stench slammed into me.
"Ugh." Damn, that smell is seriously nasty. But it's not the tentacles' scent. They just happened to set up shop in this filthy place. Totally manageable. So my gaze stayed locked on one thing only—the bizarrely writhing bundle of thick, elastic tentacles right in front of me.
"Haaahng! Don't press there! Be a little gentler, won't you!"
Above me, Duchess Valenti—her light blonde hair done up in those signature buns—was writhing in midair, her waist tightly bound by the tentacles. It was the textbook definition of a perfectly illustrated violation scene. But honestly, what did that have to do with me? It's not like we're friends or anything. My only goal was to stuff the main body—the core—of these magnificent tentacles safely into my pocket.
Of course, I'm already etching the image into my brain too.
Slither—! As I approached the center of the swamp, several tentacles that had detected the intruder twisted their heads like snakes spotting prey and shot toward me.
Splat!
"...Oh?"
In an instant, sticky masses of flesh coiled tightly around my thighs and forearms. Instead of panicking, I let out an impressed gasp.
This is insane.
The unpleasant, slippery sensation that hit the moment it touched my skin. But beneath that was a strangely warm body heat, and an incredible elasticity that squeezed with the contraction and expansion of living muscle.
"Whoa, shit. So this is what it feels like."
It wasn't something you could just brush off as "sticky." Everything about it was so... chewy? Plus, the mucus it constantly secreted reduced friction while creating this weird suction. It was like ergonomic perfection, literally optimized for this exact purpose!
"So this is what the girls feel, huh."
I finally understood perfectly why the heroines in my erotic manga couldn't put up any real resistance in front of tentacles and just helplessly melted away. Which meant I absolutely had to obtain this thing. It'd be nice to have a lab space where I could raise it too. Burning with scholarly curiosity, I pushed through the faint paralytic poison and mucus the tentacles were spewing and headed deeper into the swamp.
"Ugh."
Of course, getting close wasn't easy. These things were strong enough to casually wrap up and swing around an adult woman. More and more tentacles coiled around my body, smearing me with viscous slime. The physical pressure felt like it could crush my bones at any moment. But I didn't give up. No, I couldn't give up.
My brain circuits spun rapidly as I finished my calculations. First option: give up here and go back? I'd be throwing away a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get a perfect tentacle pet. Dereliction of duty as an erotic manga artist. Second option: push all the way in and secure the core? Acquire my very own tentacle pet. Inspiration boost of 1000%. Jackpot. The answer was obvious.
"Out of my way, you bastards!"
The tentacles tightened with monstrous strength, their paralytic mucus burning against the skin.
"Save me, please save me...!"
Duchess Valenti, Elena von Valenti, was sobbing in midair, drowning in despair. Who was she? The precious daughter of a ducal house that set trends across the empire's social circles. And here she was, suffering unspeakable acts from a monster in this revolting pit of filth.
Her luxurious silk training uniform was already soaked through with mucus, clinging so tightly that her skin showed through. Her proud bun hairstyle had long since unraveled into a pathetic mess like strands of seaweed.
"Where is everyone...! Hurry and save me...!"
But no one came to rescue her. The noble young lords who usually fawned over her and the talented mages had already abandoned her and fled for their lives.
Aah... My honor. Is this how it ends?
The moment she hung her head in shame and despair—
"Hng...!"
Along with the wet squelch of mud, someone's rough breathing reached her ears. Through her blurred vision, Duchess Valenti witnessed an unbelievable sight.
A barefoot boy who had kicked off even his shoes and rolled his pants up to his knees. It was that infamous new student from the Art Department—Ian Ash.
Why is that man...?!
Her lips trembled. He was taking every attack from the grotesque tentacles head-on, advancing toward her one steady step at a time. The tentacles bound his limbs and splattered filthy mucus all over him, but there wasn't a trace of fear or hesitation on his face. Instead, his eyes burned with an eerily fierce and passionate heat.
Oh my god...
Duchess Valenti's heart pounded violently. Because his gaze wasn't the lecherous kind that would lewdly scan her soaked, revealing figure! It was the noble and blind gaze of a knight charging bare-handed against a horrific monster with the single-minded determination to save her!
"It's dangerous! Don't come any closer!"
Duchess Valenti cried out without thinking. Her usual arrogance was gone, replaced by desperate concern for the boy willing to sacrifice himself for her.
But Ian ignored her completely and finally reached right beneath her.
"You're in the way. Move a little."
Ian's voice came out strained as he fought the tentacles. Growling like a beast, he reached both hands without hesitation toward the root of the largest bundle of tentacles holding her. The moment those rough but decisive hands dug under her waist—
Aah...!
Duchess Valenti's mind went completely blank as an indescribable fluttering erupted from deep within her chest.
He's being this devoted... for me...!
The boy's face, covered in mucus and utterly disheveled, looked far more dazzling and heroic in the eyes of the young duchess than any prince on a white horse.
"Found it."
At the base of the thickest pillar where the tentacles tangled together. Digging through the wet mud with my bare hands, I felt something hard and rough at my fingertips, just as expected.
This is it.
The main body and power source of the tentacle monster—its core. There wasn't any fancy gimmick. Just a large, hard shell hidden deep inside the tentacles. All I had to do was pry it open like cracking a clam I bought at the market.
Too easy, you say? Yeah, it really is. The author who left behind thesis-level detailed information about tentacles in a book had lamented how many people died because they didn't know how to deal with them properly. I agree. Ignoring the tentacles' resistance, I gripped the hard shell firmly with both hands.
"Hup!"
I twisted with all my strength to pry it open.
Crack—!
With a refreshing sound, the shell split cleanly in half. At the same time, everything around us froze as if someone had hit pause.
"Hyaat?!"
The tentacles that had been violently writhing in the air and toying with Duchess Valenti all went limp at once, like machines whose power cords had been pulled. The duchess also fell with a wet splat onto the swampy ground along with the powerless tentacles.
But I had no time to worry about the duchess sitting on the ground.
"Heh, yeah. This is it. This is the good stuff."
Inside the shell. There it was—a transparent, cute little pink 'mini tentacle' slightly smaller than an adult man's fist, curled up and pulsing with a steady thump-thump. This was the monster's heart and core. My very own tentacle pet that I would finally cultivate!
"You're mine now!"
I almost did the whole triumphant trainer pose lifting the glass jar like I'd just caught a Pokémon, but I held back. People would definitely think I was crazy. Suppressing the soaring joy for a moment, it was time for the loot collection. I took out the transparent glass bottle I'd prepared in advance and carefully transferred the mini tentacle into it. Its glowing pink form was utterly adorable.
Now that I'd achieved my goal, there was no reason to linger in this stinking swamp. I stood up and immediately turned around. Duchess Valenti was sitting on the ground, clutching her wet silk hem and staring blankly up at me. She looked like a drowned rat, but the way the clothes clung to her skin created some excellent reference material for curves.
Hmm, so a chest of that size falls like this. Okay, memo complete.
I quickly did a mental sketch, stored it in my brain, and walked out of the swamp without a shred of regret.
Squelch, squelch.
When I emerged from the mud and returned to where I'd started, Lena and Senior Dusik were staring at me.
"Why are you looking at me like I'm a lunatic?"
Senior Dusik shouted in horror.
"Because you left Duchess Valenti on the ground and only brought back that weird bottle, obviously!"
"I clearly told you from the beginning that my only goal was this cute little guy. Would a man of the Ash family go back on his word? I swear on our family honor."
I held up the glass bottle and gave it a light shake. When Senior Dusik saw the wriggling mini tentacle, he backed away, calling me a madman.
"Are you okay, Ian? You're not hurt, are you?"
Lena looked worried and started to approach, so I quickly raised my hand to stop her.
"Ah, stop. Don't come closer. You'll smell like this too."
"Huh? O-okay..."
"And since I jumped in trusting you, help me out a bit."
"What do you mean...?"
"Pull up a ton of water and wash off all this filthy mucus and mud stuck to my body with high pressure."
The reason I could jump in so confidently. It was Lena Youngstern. At my shameless request, Lena let out a disbelieving chuckle. Then she began gathering blue water-attribute mana at her fingertips.
That was when it happened.
"Y-you...!"
From behind came the sound of someone desperately splashing through the mud, followed by a tearful, urgent cry. When I turned around, Duchess Valenti—with her ruined training uniform and seaweed-like hair—was running desperately toward me. Her eyes were blazing with fierce heat.