The Tentacle Awakens

by J. J. Pavlov

  Well, it's not like it'll affect me for the time being, since I'm surely not in Yagrath again this time. Considering this is my world now, I'll eventually learn a lot of its mysteries sooner or later anyway. And I intend to live for a long time, so either is fine for me.

  For now, let's start with getting my bearings by looking at the map. I could just walk in the rough direction of Arkaim, which is undoubtedly marked as my destination on the map if I really only wanted to get back right away. But as Maou-mama said, I should take this opportunity to see more of this world.

  I look through my backpack and check the items Rewera listed one by one. When I think about it, a lot of these are things you would find in a disaster survival kit in Japan. Obviously, the pieces of technology they don't have here aren't included, such as a flashlight.

  When I take note of the inventory, I find that there are things I don't really need. For example, there's a knife and a small saw, which I can recreate using my body; I already managed to create sharp blades out of bone on my very first day of being in this new body.

  Bandages are also pointless since this body can fill out any wounds with matter from the inside. In other words, as long as I don't get scattered into many tiny pieces or ground to dust completely, I can regenerate fully.

  There's also a rope, which I should be able to create from my matter as well. Though I don't know whether my body or this material here is stronger or this material here is. I'll still go with what I'm more familiar with, which is my body at this point.

  There is one sizeable sheet of white cloth, most likely for making a tent from, and a piece of tanned leather about the size of a small poster.

  But there's no map.

  I go through everything again, then empty the contents of the bag on the ground and search the insides for hidden compartments, before putting things back inside one by one to make sure I didn't miss anything.

  But there's still no map.

  Maou-mama?

  No map means that I have no idea where I am. While I've been to various places in the Dominion with Maou-mama, when she showed me the kingdom I might someday rule, no place looked like the scenery before me. In other words, I don't think this is even the Dominion anymore...

  While Maou-mama didn't specify where I'd start my journey from, I expected it to be somewhere on the Ceogath continent. Considering Mithra was the one to teleport me, I couldn't have taken a wrong turn somewhere. So this is really my intended start line, then?

  If this isn't the Demon Continent, then the only possible explanation is that this is the human continent - if there even is something like that. It would put me smack in the middle of enemy territory.

  Appearance-wise, I should be able to pass as a normal human being, as long as I don't absorb things through my skin for all to see. I can eat normally, but after using the very convenient Crawling Chaos way for the past weeks, I don't feel like chewing and swallowing anymore. I'll only do it if I really have to.

  I don't have any clothes on me right now since Maou-mama has embraced my body paint-like solution and even started trying it out for herself. When it comes to it, and I have to enter a human town, I can wrap myself in the tent sheet as a stopgap solution. I'll have to come up with a reason for that, or people will think I'm a pervert.

  But I have to say, starting out in such an idyllic looking place is more like it for the beginning of an adventure. This looks like a starting area in a fantasy role-playing game now. Then again, I think I'm strong enough to challenge harder content, although I'd rather not do something like Yagrath again for the time being.

  I guess this is a good way for a ruler to test their children to see whether they are worthy to be a ruler or not. Being thrown into an unknown place and having to find their way back while overcoming all kinds of trials will strengthen a person's character. After all, power breeds complacency, and a king who doesn't know the hardships of life will drive his kingdom into ruin.

  For the first time since returning from the Dark Continent, I'm completely alone again. There are no maids a call away, or Maou-mama whom I could talk to here. While I walk across the plains, I have plenty of time to think about all the things I've experienced so far.

  The sun is slowly approaching the horizon, and I'll have to find a place to sleep soon. Even if my body never tires, my mind is still that of a human's - which means that I need sleep to process all the experiences I make throughout a day.

  Wait, the sun is going down already? It was morning in the demon palace, and within a short teleportation journey, it's become late afternoon already? I didn't arrive here so long ago, it's maybe only been an hour or two, so I haven't been absentmindedly walking for a whole day either.

  In other words, this place is in a different time zone from Arkaim, and most likely ahead by half a day. Does that mean I'm on the other side of the planet right now? I guess my idea of a world trip is actually becoming a reality.

  So on top of being all alone in a foreign place, I'll have to deal with jetlag, too?

  And it is now I realize my tactical blunder. These plains have no trees, and it's quite windy. In other words, where do I pitch my tent and seek shelter from the elements when I go to sleep? While it doesn't look like it'll rain, I feel like I'll catch a cold if I sleep out in the open - even though my constitution doesn't really allow me to get sick, I think. In either case, I'll have to find a solution to this problem sometime soon.

  Ah, I know what to do.

  I transform into a vularen. The fur covering my body retains body heat well, and I can feel myself warming up already. I didn't pay attention to it before when I took this shape to run from the quakemaws, but these wolf-like monsters have pretty soft fur. This is quite comfortable, and I should be able to get through the night without a problem. And if I'm to believe Maou-mama's words in regards to vularen being considerably dangerous beasts, then other wild animals should keep away from me.

  With this issue out of the way, I continue on my trek across the plains until it becomes too dark to proceed. I have a highly efficient version of night vision, but it feels quite alien to me. It's somewhat stressful when I'm in almost complete darkness but can still see as if it was a very cloudy day, so I prefer not to use it. Must be human nature to dislike the dark, or maybe it's just me.

  In either case, I should be able to sleep rather well and safely while in this form.

  I wake up to the sound of thunder.

  Why am I not surprised? Of course, when I sleep out in the open, there will be a lightning storm.

  Ah, I just felt a drop.

  It's starting to rain.

  And within seconds, it intensifies into a full-blown downpour.

  Luckily, I stored the backpack inside my body. I tested the theory during my training with Maou-mama and found that I can consciously will a part inside me to not dissolve its contents. Doesn't mean it will keep things alive, though.

  Thinking back to the vularen that I experimented on by testing how long it could stay alive inside me, I feel like apologizing.

  While thinking such idle thoughts, I'm becoming more and more soaked. I'm feeling heavier by the second because my fur isn't the water-repellant type and is soaking in the rain.

  When I look around, I don't see anything I could use as shelter. I'm thoroughly awake now, so I might as well start moving again. Having no clock is quite inconvenient since I can't tell how long I've slept, or how long it'll be until sunrise. The clouds and rain make it impossible to tell whether a moon is out or not, too.

  Then again, I don't really need to know, I guess. I have nothing planned for the next day, after all. No school, no club activities...

  Damn, I'm starting to think about my previous life again. It's still hard to come to terms with the fact that my life as a high school student, and the track and field ace, is over. And without being able to recall how it happened, too. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to all the people I cared about.

  The rain is only weighing me d
own with such depressing thoughts, so I shake my head to get rid of them. In the same move, I also shake my body of the water clinging to my fur.

  I transform back into my human form and remain naked without bringing out the sheets to cover myself with. They would become thoroughly soaked anyway since I'm already wet. Furthermore, there's no point in practicing modesty out here in the wilderness where nobody can see me.

  Turning my hair into something like a single skin flap in the form of a makeshift hood, I let it hang over my shoulders and cover them from the rain. This is something else I learned from that certain alien parasite that takes over a human's head. This way I don't have to deal with wet hair falling over my eyes.

  I see a gigantic lone tree on a hill, reminiscent of some famous oil painting. I'm sure I can find shelter from the rain there, so I quicken my pace and run towards it. I guess it's a lucky break.

  When I arrive, I find that someone is already here. Not just someone, but a lot of living beings surround the trunk of the tree, huddled together against the winds. They look and sound like sheep, but one detail sets them apart from those I know from my previous life. Their fur grows in various colors, including rather unnatural ones, such as pink and dark blue. There is even a rainbow-colored one among them.

  In the center of them is a boy, sitting with his back against the tree and looking asleep. He's wearing a wide-brimmed leather hat and a cloak most likely made from sheep wool. Unlike me, he's well-dressed for the cold weather.

  Some of the sheep-like creatures bleat at me when I approach, and it wakes up the boy who is most likely their shepherd. He looks around cautiously, before spotting me in all of my barely covered and wet glory. I've already gotten used to being seen naked in the demon castle, and if I can get some shelter here, I don't care if he sees me like this.

  The boy looks at me with round eyes, as if he saw a ghost. Never seen a naked girl before, huh? I'm mostly in my appearance from before my death, be it due to nostalgia or a lingering regret, but the important bits have been erased since they only get in the way. And I have a flesh-colored sheet covering my shoulders, in place of hair.

  I walk towards him, and he tries to back away fearfully, but since he's already leaning against the tree, he can't get any distance. I go straight past him and sit down on the other side of the tree.

  Just when I prepare to change into a vularen again to regain some body heat, I stop to reconsider my position; I'm surrounded by these sheep and their shepherd, so if I turn into something that very clearly looks like their predator, it will cause them to panic. At least I assume that there's such a relation between wolves and sheep in this world. Guess I'll have to wrap myself in a blanket and spend the night like this. It's not like I feel especially cold or something, but it's for my peace of mind.

  I just hope the boy will leave me alone... but obviously, he doesn't leave me alone as I hoped he would.

  "Are you... a fairy?" He asks me in a shaking voice. I can understand his language, but he has a distinct accent. Some words and intonations are different from the language I've been speaking in the Dominion so far. While this world does seem to have something like a universal language, it's not to the degree where completely different cultures speak the same dialect. I assume it's a dialect.

  What part of me looks like a fairy? I'm naked and hugging my knees, wet from head to toe. My hair could be seen as wings, so maybe that's what he's referring to? Do fairies have head-wings in this world?

  "You must be cold. Here, take this." I look up to see that the boy is holding out his coat towards me. Oh, what a nice kid.

  I'm not really cold though, so I shake my head.

  "But you're... n-naked." Now he's bothering me. I just want to sleep.

  I look at him in silence. He's blond and has blue eyes. Everything about him seems human, even though I can't tell with absolute certainty due to his thick clothes. Still, a demon wouldn't ask what I am, since there are all kinds of appearances. It practically confirms my suspicion that this isn't the Dominion anymore.

  He seems entranced by my appearance, and I hear him swallow as his eyes swim all across my body, not knowing where to look. If only you knew my real appearance, you'd run away screaming, kiddo.

  Putting my head on my knees, I ignore him. I'm too tired to start a conversation now. He continues to stand around, unsure of what to do, but soon I hear his footsteps as he rounds the tree and sits down on the other side again. Good, I'll have my peace now.

  I wake up to the sound of birds. The first thing I notice is that a small coat is covering my shoulders. Somehow, I didn't notice that the boy apparently gathered his courage again sometime later and snuck over to place it on me while I was asleep.

  When I look around, the sheep are still there. It seems I didn't sleep for very long, as the sun still hasn't risen over the horizon, yet. I get up and walk around the tree, to find that the shepherd boy is asleep in the spot I first encountered him in, his hat pulled deeply into his face. His undercoat is most likely too thin for this weather, but he still chose to be a gentleman.

  That's quite commendable.

  I cover him with his coat and quickly take my leave, hoping that I didn't wake him up. Hopefully, it'll somehow make him think I was literally just a wet dream.

  Choosing to walk in the direction of the sun, where its first rays are peeking over the horizon, I pass over the ridge of a hill and change my shape into that of a vularen.

  I would only learn much later that the shepherd boy must have been awake and seen my transformation, as a legend formed around this encounter. A beautiful naked woman visits a lonely shepherd and spends the night with him, then runs away just before dawn and transforms into a wolf in the sunlight.

  Nothing of the sort of 'spending a night together' - in the sexual meaning it's most likely intended to sound like - happened, though!

  I messed up!

  I should have asked the shepherd boy for directions to the nearest town or something. He couldn't have been that far away from a human habitat in the first place, even if it's only a farm. But I already walked quite a bit and was swept away by a river for a pretty long distance. I'm not a bad swimmer, but I underestimated how strong the current was.

  Thus, I don't even know the way back to that tree under which I met him. Also, he most likely already left, now that the sun is on the rise.

  Well, I'll just enjoy the adventure into the unknown then. It's not like this could turn out badly or anything, right?

  No, wait! I take it back! Everything can turn worse, and when you're too optimistic, that's when fate strikes you even harder. I can only hope that I'm not going deeper into untouched nature and the wilderness where I'll get lost for the next decade.

  And it seems that I'm getting a lucky break. When I get to the top of a hill, I spot a village in the distance. No walls, only one street, a collection of a few houses. People are working in the golden wheat fields, harvesting the bountiful crops. They look like regular humans, all with hair in shades of blond and light brown.

  I color my hair blond and grow it out to around shoulder-length. Then I turn my irises blue - or at least I will them to become blue, even though I'm not sure whether it actually happens or not, since I have no mirror. This way I should look more like a human from this country.

  As for clothing, I can only wrap myself into the tent sheets from inside my backpack. There's a sewing kit in the backpack, but I can't sew at all, so it's not really useful.

  I think about it for a moment, before deciding to give it a try. It should be better than going in basically naked.

  "Look at that girl; she's in rags."

  "Did something happen to her? Those clothes look like she was attacked..."

  I can hear you, you know. Your pitiful gazes and words of suspicion hurt my heart. Even though it looks like this, I tried my best!

  "Hey, are you alright?" A handsome young man with light brown hair and blue eyes approaches me with a concerned expression. I almost do a do
uble-take when I find that he looks just like the stereotypical protagonist of a fantasy anime.

  "I'm... fine..." I can't even bring myself to talk straight since I have to suppress the urge to laugh about his appearance.

  Wait, this is my chance to get information about this place. In fact, if I play on my vulnerability and female charm, I should be able to get men to do all kinds of things for me.

  Ah, this thought wouldn't even have crossed my mind before, but it came to me so naturally just now. Is this the effect of this body on my mind? It certainly wasn't Maou-mama's training, that's for sure.

  "You don't look fine to me. Your clothes are completely ragged, and you're barefoot. Were you robbed?" He looks me up and down.

  Leave me alone about my outfit already! And I've been barefoot for a pretty long time now. There's nothing wrong with that.

  But he just gave me a story that I can run with. Alright, I'll play the damsel in distress and act like I've been robbed of everything, including the clothes on my body.

  "I... was attacked by bandits... I managed to escape my captors... during the night." I try to put some despair in my voice, though I don't think I'm a good actress.

  "I see, you poor thing... My name is Rolan Helt. Come with me. I'll give you a warm meal and some clothes at least." Showing a thoughtful expression, he extends his hand towards me and smiles in a naturally charming and reassuring manner.

  Success!

  Chapter 5 - Normies Should Just Explode

  They are totally staring at me.

  So what if this is the third loaf of bread and the fifth bowl of soup? My body needs nutrition. I'm a growing girl, although I don't know what otherworldly dimension my body is growing into since it seems to gain more mass on the inside, without showing anything on the outside.

  Incidentally, the people who are staring at me are a group gathered around Rolan. He's a self-taught swordsman who is in a guild with the express purpose to provide all kinds of services to the common people, such as guarding merchants or eliminating dangerous beasts that attack human settlements.