Chapter 167. Necro Marin
Labyrinth, Day 80.
Iris and Hedgehog, who had gone on a dispatch mission, safely returned.
[Return.]
“Good job, Iris.”
[Doodoomba!]
“You too, Hedgehog.”
As I was patting their heads in turn,
Merino, who was preparing food, belatedly noticed the return of the dispatch team, and in surprise, spread her arms and hurriedly ran over.
Merino welcomed them with a big hug, pulling both Iris and Hedgehog into her embrace.
“Welcome back, Destroyer of Worlds, Miss Hedgehog!”
[Doomba?]
“And I missed you too, Iris!”
[Yang yang.]
【Pururu】─LOL What’s with Iris saying “yang-yang”?
【Hwang Mir】─She even mimicked Merino’s tone. LOL
【Mysticism】─😨 Doesn’t suit her.
Following Merino,
other monsters from the base gradually gathered around to welcome the return of the dispatch team.
Afterward, we all sat close together, enjoying the meal Merino had prepared with great care.
After finishing the meal,
Kinogine Arachne and the Blood Jellyfish Princess gathered a few items from the house where the crystal ball was kept and moved them to a corner of the hideout.
[Princess, please lie down here.]
[Mhm.]
What they had taken out were face masks.
Pururu had provided these for Kine’s skincare.
Kine carefully placed a face mask over the Princess’s face.
Then, placing one on her own face, she closed her eyes, gathered her spider legs, and sat down modestly.
【Bubble Bubble】─They’re even doing skincare.
【Yumi】─Because they’re girls.
【Bubble Bubble】─I’m also a girl, but I don’t bother with stuff like that.
【Yumi】─You’re a hero, though.
Kine and the Princess, with face masks on,
were being watched intently by a monster.
[Skincare…]
It was Iris.
Among the countless Irises,
only the one who had just returned from the mission showed interest in the face masks.
She seemed to want one for herself as well.
【Mysticism】─🤔 Why is she interested?
【Luna-chan】─That Iris has always cared more about her appearance.
Kine had a few spare face masks.
I was about to tell her to give one to Iris,
when, all of a sudden,
dodododo.
Merino approached Iris, holding something in her hands.
What she held was lotion.
“Iris, do you want to try some skincare too?”
[Desire. Skincare.]
“I have a bottle of lotion! Let’s use it together.”
[Lotion?]
“It’s a liquid that makes your skin smooth and moisturized.”
[Understood. Request lotion.]
【Rizenova】─Where did she even get that?
【Hwang Mir】─I sent it.
【Hwang Mir】─Ah, but I didn’t send it specifically for skincare. I sent various liquids and liquid-like things to help Japan grow, and lotion just happened to be among them.
【Pururu】─But why does Merino have it instead of giving it to Japan?
“I already fed half of it to her. I gave the rest to Merino.”
【Hwang Mir】─That’s correct.
【Pururu】─Oh, I see.
Iris sat down on the ground, gently settling down.
Standing right in front of Iris,
Merino opened the lotion, squeezed out a generous amount, and applied it to her hands.
“I’ll put it on now, so don’t move.”
[Confirmed. Will not move.]
“Pat, pat, pat!”
[Pat, pat.]
【Hwang Mir】─LOL
【Pururu】─What a ridiculous sight.
【Yumi】─Wait, why are you applying it to her eyes…
【Mysticism】─😰
While a few monsters were absorbed in their skincare routine,
I called over another Iris and checked the screen showing Iris with Necro Puppet Master.
─[This one is useful.]
Necro appeared on Iris’s screen.
Standing before Necro was an unfamiliar humanoid monster, staring blankly.
【Pururu】─Who’s that?
【Mysticism】─🧐
【Yumi】─It looks cute.
【Rizenova】─Doesn’t look that cute.
【Hwang Mir】─It has a face that seems like it couldn’t care less about anything.
A small frame.
Pale skin and half-closed eyes.
A hat with four eyeballs on it.
An unusual robe and a skull ornament protruding from its center.
These were its features,
and it was classified as a B-rank monster in terms of threat level.
Since Necro Puppet Master currently possessed my severed arm, its actual threat level would be S-rank.
“Necro, what’s that?”
─[Hm? You’re watching. This one is a resident I just captured.]
“Oh, right. You mentioned you’d be recruiting residents from the underwater village if you had the time. Did you manage to catch any other monsters besides that one?”
─[This one is the first. I didn’t have time to capture any others.]
After responding,
Necro extended his hand toward the monster standing in front of him.
Then Mind Control was used.
─[Gauntlet, tell me the location of this one’s spot.]
“It’s right in the center of its forehead.”
─[Understood.]
Necro gave a slight nod.
He attached my severed arm to the monster’s forehead.
─[Stay still. Don’t move.]
─[Uuuh…]
【Pururu】─Uuh… LOL what a reaction.
【Mysticism】─🤭
【Bubble Bubble】─It already looks lethargic, but even its voice has no energy. The whole vibe is kind of limp.
【Luna-chan】─That could be its charm. >.<
Necro gave the monster a command.
He told it to hold the severed arm itself and keep it pressed against its forehead.
The Mind-Controlled monster obeyed the command meekly, like a puppet.
Naturally, the spot’s discoloration progressed quickly.
I had already shown it my face through Iris, made it recognize my existence, and removed all hostility.
As the discoloration sped up rapidly,
I shifted my gaze to Necro Puppet Master and asked.
“Necro, you haven’t fully confirmed that monster’s abilities yet, have you?”
─[I’ve already checked. Although I subdued it right after finding it, preventing it from using its abilities, I read its thoughts to figure out what abilities it possesses.]
“Really? What abilities does it have?”
─[It has corpse control abilities that suit our village well. It seems able to control corpses of S-rank and below.]
Corpse control ability.
In other words, it was a necromancer.
As Necro Puppet Master said, it was indeed a fitting talent for our underwater village.
After all, that village was meant to be a puppet village of corpses.
【Hwang Mir】─Whoa! A necromancer!
【Yumi】─It sounds similar to Necro Puppet Master’s ability.
【Luna-chan】─Similar, but a different level~
【Rizenova】─That creature’s power is a lower-tier version of Necro’s.
【Pururu】─At this rate, that village really will end up teeming with corpses.
【Mysticism】─😰
【Bubble Bubble】─It was built with that purpose from the beginning anyway.
While I was chatting with Necro,
the monster’s spot had completely changed from red to green.
The taming was complete.
─[Ah, by the way, this one’s name is Necro Marin. I found out through telepathy.]
─[Uuuuh…]
Necro Marin.
Since it had now become my tamed monster, I decided to tell it my name.
After all, it should know the name of the one who tamed it.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Gauntlet.”
─[Uuuuh!]
After I introduced myself,
Merino, who had come closer, suddenly leaned her face toward Iris and introduced herself as well.
“Hello, I’m Merino Ula. I’m in charge of everyone’s meals at the base.”
─[Uuuuh!]
“Please come visit sometime. I’ll serve you a delicious meal.”
─[Uuuuuh!]
【Pururu】─Uuuu!
【Rizenova】─Uuuuuh!
【Mysticism】─😮😮😮
After introductions,
I was about to work on the Monster Guidebook when Artpega Unibicorn subtly approached me.
[Explorer, the guidebook entry is complete.]
“What, were you watching Iris’s screen too?”
[Yes, I was watching through another Iris.]
She beat me to it.
…Well, nothing to be done.
I told her to let me do the next entry and took the drawing Artpega had made to check it.
■Necro Marin
─Actual Danger Level: S-rank.
─Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: B-rank.
─Ability: Corpse Control.
Labyrinth, Day 81.
I organized a new main exploration team.
The team had four members.
Hedgehog Summoner God.
Azeras.
Nyara Nepenthis.
Iris.
Thanks to the now SSS-rank Hedgehog, we had the strongest exploration team ever.
Oh, and, of course,
I appointed Nyara as the leader of the team.
Leaving the leadership to Hedgehog felt a bit… unsettling.
That one’s head is always full of thoughts about wiggling its butt in dance.
Anyway,
today the main exploration team was headed for Passage No. 8.
This was the door Rize had discovered when he was still a Drifter and was helping me explore.
And the main exploration team was already right in front of that door.
─[Son, is this the door you mentioned?]
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Nyara nodded, lifting her arm slightly.
A heavy gust of wind slowly surged forward, pressing against the massive door and starting to push it open.
Kuuuuung—!
Soon, the enormous door swung open.
Beyond it,
【Pururu】─???
【Mysticism】─😮
【Yumi】─Huh?
【Hwang Mir】─What is that doing there??
a high-rise hotel stood towering before them.