085. Octopus Bread - Labyrinth Day 44
Merino Ulla was preparing the meal when she made a mistake. It wasn't a big one. Just a minor slip—dropping the food she was cooking onto the floor.
"H-hoeeeng... S-sorry, yang..."
Merino trembled, glancing back and forth between the fallen food and me, gauging my reaction. When I didn't do anything, she blinked rapidly and asked, "Yang? Why aren't you hitting me, yang...?"
"Y-you're not gonna hit me, yang?"
"Why would I hit you?"
"I just messed up, yang?"
"And?"
"If you mess up, you get hit, yang? That's just how it is, yang?"
"That's not how it is."
"...This is weird, yang. Really weird, yang."
Unable to comprehend, Merino tilted her head and resumed cooking.
Time passed, and the finished dish was seasoned pork. Made from Pigking meat, with Black Magma Slime-003's magma as the base for the seasoning. Sprinkling some horn powder and adding a few strands of fur turned it into a spicy-sweet sauce.
"Yang yang! Everyone, time to eat, yang!"
With the meal ready, Merino naturally took only a small portion for herself and scurried to a dim corner, crouching down.
She did the same last night...
The reason was simple. Instinctively, she saw herself as lower in the hierarchy, so she tried to eat out of sight, like livestock unable to share a table with superiors.
I told her to eat together...
Probably not used to it yet. Habits die hard.
"Merino. Come here and eat with us."
"Yang... ? Ah!"
As if suddenly remembering yesterday's talk, Merino beamed and hopped over to my side.
Of course, she couldn't sit right next to me.
[Explorer's left seat is mine. Don't even think about it.]
The left was taken by the centaur. [Father's right side is mine. No yielding.] The right by Kinogine Arachne, standing firm.
"Hoeeeng..."
Merino's face fell as she sat a bit away—from Melody Fox's side.
"Fox yang. Enjoy your meal, yang."
[Kyuu.]
"Tasty, yang?"
[Kyuu.]
"Laserless Leaf's leaves are the tastiest for me, yang. Nearly passed out from how good they were yesterday."
[Kyuu.]
"Oh, and you know what, yang? I'm actually super smart, yang."
[...Kyuu?]
"Our kind are all dumb usually, yang. But I stole a thick book, taught myself letters, learned all sorts of knowledge, and got smart, yang. Impressive, right?"
[Kyuu...]
"If Fox yang tries, you can get smart like me too, yang."
[......]
Excited to eat with other species, perhaps? Merino kept talking nonstop to Melody Fox on her left. Her right was Snake Head, but [Ororororo!!! Chiiiii!!!!]—busy slurping meat enthusiastically, and too scary-looking anyway. Not a word to it.
Before eating, I set aside meat for the Oasis Shelter. Skipped portions for Dog Spider-001's pack and Jellyfish-002's group—they're too numerous; let them fend for themselves. Also packed for the Jo-ryeokja: curry rocks and seasoned pork, into plastic containers from Ha Yu-mi, then used Reverse Support Tickets to send to all five.
Normally limited to Gold rank+, but Rise Nova's Diamond rank bypassed that. Diamond perks include allowing Reverse Support to lower ranks.
Soon, rave reviews poured in. Meat and rocks both delicious. Should send more occasionally—if Reverse Support Tickets allow.
Labyrinth Day 45.
Curious about the drifters, I checked their count.
Drifter Count: 30
More survivors than expected. These new drifters were strong or lucky enough to avoid monsters.
Tomorrow's a rest day from scouting. Maybe use the Drifter Tracker.
Originally planned to ignore them. No intent to seek out. But now, a slight change. A tiny curiosity about who they might be? Seeing oddballs like Merino sparked interest in other races, worlds.
Jo-ryeokja were curious too.
Like Pruru said, wasted spending big on the tracker just to ignore it...
Might change by tomorrow. Minds shift like reeds.
As I fiddled with the tracker—
[Sreung! Suuuung!]
Black Magma Slime-003's voice from outside. Another scouting party back.
Putting it down, I stepped out. Team 5 returned, a massive octopus at their feet.
"Team 5 caught it in the desert earlier."
"Of course not. Iris wasn't streaming when they caught it—just sensory link."
"Threat level? Nerfed B-grade."
I named it Poisonless Octopus. S-grade poison handler, nerfed to B-grade. Desert dweller, naturally.
[Everyone rejoice! I brought something tasty-looking!]
[Nonsense! I caught it!]
Bastet Daong and Anubis Dragon argued.
[I landed the finishing blow!]
[Lies. It was dead before your attack landed.]
Bickering over credit. SS-grade ones fighting over that?
"Yang? Cooking ingredient, yang?"
Merino, spotting it mid-rest, jumped up and toddled over, inspecting.
"Has poison, yang. I can eat raw, but you all need my horn or can't, yang."
She snapped off half a horn, ground it to powder, sprinkled evenly over the Poisonless Octopus corpse.
Then to Bastet Daong: "Bastet Daong yang! You went to the desert, right, yang?"
[Bastet Daong. Yes, desert trip done, ong.]
"Could you grab some sand maybe, yang?"
[No. Too annoying, ong.]
"Yang... Sorry, yang... I overstepped asking..., yang."
[...Not overstepping. Anyone can ask. Anyone can refuse, ong.]
"No, yang... Livestock like me asking deserves a beating, yang... Punish me hard for the mistake, yang..."
[......]
Pitying her? Bastet sighed deeply, turned. [Need sand? I'll fetch from desert pronto, ong.]
"Th-thank you, yang!"
As Bastet turned to leave, Anubis—filing claws—stopped her.
[No need, Bastet.]
[Daong?]
Anubis approached Merino. [Need sand? I'll provide.]
Hand to ground—sand poured like a waterfall from his palm.
[More if needed.]
"Yang yang! This is plenty, yang! Thank you, yang!"
[Heh.]
Grinning sidelong at Bastet, Anubis resumed claw care.
"Now I can make something delicious, yang! Everyone, look forward, yang!"
Merino sprinkled horn powder on the sand too.
"All fluffy now, yang. Gonna add octopus legs here, yang."
As she mixed, I scooped sand, tasted. No fur yet—no flavor, but good texture. Moist, chewy—like bread.
Merino bounced around like playing with clay: big sand balls, stuffed with sliced legs, fur seasoning, finally placing round sand bits on spread Black Magma Slime-003.
Browning sand balls evoked takoyaki. I dubbed it sand octopus bread.
While waiting for the giant sand octopus bread to bake, I opened the notebook from the Wandering Merchant and worked on the codex.
■ Poisonless Octopus
— Actual Threat: S-grade
— Current (Nerfed) Threat: B-grade
— Ability: Poison
Done with the codex, the sand octopus bread was perfectly golden and ready.
"Everyone gather, yang! Come eat, yang!"
We huddled, each grabbing a hot sand octopus bread, and dug in. Thanks to Merino, another satisfying meal.