Monster Taming Broadcast

After defeating the Time Eater,

Gauntlet returned to the innermost part of the dungeon, the boss room.

Naturally, they had no idea about their travel into the future.

They thought they had opened a door of spatial transfer, jumped to another space, defeated the boss, and returned to where they originally were.

And then.

［… W-Who are you?］

“What the?”

In front of Gauntlet stood a monster trembling in fear.

Currently, Gauntlet was in the boss room beyond the door.

The monster in front of them was indeed the true boss of this dungeon.

Of course.

Gauntlet did not see the monster as a boss.

They thought of it as a bonus monster that one would encounter upon returning to normal space after defeating the boss in the boss room they had visited through spatial transfer.

［… I-I don’t know who you are, but I will surrender for now! So please spare my life!］

The true king of the dungeon quickly knelt and pressed their head to the ground.

They quickly realized the extraordinary nature of Gauntlet.

“I’ve never seen a dungeon’s innermost boss surrender so suddenly….”

［Hehe… For a lowly being like me to surrender to a noble person is only natural…］

The pathetic demeanor of the dungeon boss.

Gauntlet stared at them in disbelief, scratched their head, and turned to leave.

Even if it was a monster,

They had no intention of killing an opponent who posed no threat, had harmed no one, and begged for their life while surrendering.

Thus, as Gauntlet exited the dungeon, they thought to themselves.

‘SSS-Class power, huh… This feels a bit dangerous…’

Gauntlet’s body was overflowing with an excess of power.

It felt like a dangerous force that could annihilate everything with a single mistake.

‘I wonder if I can control this power.’

Gauntlet questioned whether they could truly master such overwhelming power.

‘First, let me suppress this energy flowing from my body. I can’t go around emitting such a horrifying aura.’

Gauntlet’s current state was serious.

Even without the ability to sense the danger level of the opponent, anyone seeing Gauntlet right now could easily identify them as more dangerous than S-Class.

In this state, they wouldn’t even be able to hold a conversation with other humans.

Thus, they had to suppress their energy.

They had to make themselves appear like an ordinary human in the eyes of others.

‘Hmm… Is this enough? No, this seems a bit excessive… Was suppressing energy always this difficult? I’ll need to practice suppressing this energy for at least a few weeks.’

Fortunately,

The continent where Gauntlet currently resided was a place devoid of humans.

This was a land where humans did not dwell, the Demon Continent.

It was a continent long ago conquered by the Demon Kings.

Moreover, it was located far from human territory and was a place where ordinary people couldn’t set foot.

For someone who wasn’t S-Class, coming here would be akin to coming to commit suicide.

‘Before moving to another continent, I need to master controlling my energy here. And before that….’

Gauntlet strengthened their legs and leaped high into the air.

Like a spring, Gauntlet’s body soared into the sky in an instant.

Soaring high above, Gauntlet thought,

‘Let me test how much power I have for a moment.’

They glanced down at the edge of the Demon Continent from the sky.

Gently extending an arm, they assumed the stance of Technique: First Level.

‘Just in case, I’ll go as weak as possible… like gently petting a baby….’

BANG-

Even calling it Technique: First Level was an embarrassment.

They lightly flicked their finger, delivering a light tap.

In that moment,

BOOM-!

The shockwave ripped through space, and in an instant, half of the Demon Continent vanished without a trace.

As a result, a massive tidal wave surged.

Tidal waves dozens of meters high began to crash over the remaining land, and deep within the continent, an earthquake erupted, splitting the ground and toppling mountains.

Moreover,

The colossal earthquake shook the entire continent, awakening volcanoes and spewing lava and ash high into the sky.

‘… What? I clearly released all my power and just lightly flicked…’

Gauntlet couldn’t help but feel taken aback.

And they felt a dread towards the power they held.

They knew that a power so excessive it couldn’t be controlled was a poison.

‘Crap.’

From that day onward,

Gauntlet’s physical training took on a new meaning.

To adapt to and become accustomed to the power, they engaged in rigorous bodyweight exercises without pause.

Practicing power control.

Practicing strikes lightly.

Practicing attacks that would not damage the surroundings, and so forth.

They started training not to become stronger, but to perfectly regulate their own power.

Thus, in the ruined Demon Continent, Gauntlet dedicated six months to intense power control training.

As a result,

They gradually became proficient in wielding their power freely, learning techniques to incapacitate an opponent without causing fatal injuries, and able to unleash powerful and concentrated attacks without harming the surrounding environment.

Additionally,

They succeeded in suppressing their dangerous energy.

With light contact, they no longer emitted any power, allowing them to live their daily life like an ordinary person.

In the process, Gauntlet also developed a technique named ‘Technique: Second Level, Internal Collapse.’

Afterward,

Even after leaving the Demon Continent, Gauntlet continued their relentless physical training and meticulous power control exercises to avoid harming the innocent.

Under the belief that with great power comes great responsibility.

*

Day 72 in the Labyrinth.

I had a dream.

It was a dream of the strongest monster I had encountered in the past, the Time Eater.

The day I had a life-or-death battle with that SSS-Class dangerous being and ultimately acquired SSS-Class power.

Why did I suddenly dream of this?

There was only one reason.

‘… I thought I had heard the voice of the Chrono Knight from somewhere, and it turned out to be the same as the voice of the Time Eater I had heard before.’

Could this really be a coincidence?

Is there some connection between the two?

As those thoughts circled in my head,

I slowly opened my eyelids to wake from sleep.

Then Merino’s face entered my view.

Merino was shoving food into my mouth.

I naturally chewed and swallowed the food, then asked Merino,

“… What are you doing?”

“Yummy? Eat up! Chew it well!”

“No… what’s with feeding someone while they’re asleep?”

“You looked hungry.”

Truly, an incomprehensible creature.

Well, I had no intention of scolding them since it was an action undertaken out of concern for me.

“… Don’t tell me you’ve been feeding me while I was sleeping before?”

“I fed you every day! You ate really well even while sleeping!”

Merino emitted no malice whatsoever, so they hadn’t seemed to notice until now.

Although they could sense hidden malice,

Pure actions with no malice were usually adjusted to avoid detection while sleeping.

Sure, I can detect even the smallest actions, but…

If I fell asleep in such a sensitive state, I wouldn’t feel refreshed even upon waking.

Of course,

My body in S-Class didn’t have any problems even without sleep.

I simply liked to sleep steadily; it was a habit I had maintained since childhood.

Since then, my sleep craving had always been stronger than my desires for sex or food.

“Don’t feed me while I’m asleep in the future.”

“Yummy! I won’t do it anymore starting today!”

Merino replied, nodding eagerly.

Although they acted oddly,

At least they listened quite well.

After that,

Having unexpectedly finished breakfast, I sat up.

Then I turned on the broadcast and continued my day as usual.

*

*

*

Today marked the official start of the underwater town’s construction.

The interior work of the desert town wasn’t finished yet, but Omega had no particular involvement in the interior.

The monster migrating to the underwater town from headquarters was the Necro Puppetmaster.

And the Necro puppets, excluding Niarah.

‘Hmm. I’m starting to get a little confused.’

Unlike when everyone was gathered at the headquarters,

Now, my domesticated monsters were scattered across different locations.

The dog spider group and jellyfish group engaged in long-term exploration.

The Poison Apple managing the apple farm.

Desert town.

Underwater town.

Machine factory.

With so many scattered monsters, I began to lose track of who was where.

‘I should make an organizer.’

Therefore, I decided to create an organizer where I could see the assistant index at a glance.

There was no need to draw it again.

I had a copying machine for the images that Omega had sent.

It was also possible to shrink images and copy them.

‘Let’s exclude the indexes that don’t need to be inserted.’

Excluding the Assistant Index.

Excluding the Otherworld creatures index.

Also excluding the drifter who had left the labyrinth.

Since they weren’t beings in the labyrinth anyway.

Ah. Of course, I added Merino Ula to the index organizer.

She was planned to remain in the labyrinth, so of course, she had to be included.

And since I dreamed about the Time Eater today,

I also planned to include it.

Although the Time Eater wasn’t a monster in the labyrinth, perhaps its kin might be residing within the labyrinth.

The image of the Time Eater was taken when Missy visited our home, took a picture of it in a frame, printed it, and sent it over.

Apparently, she was near our house at that time.

Anyway,

With that, the index organizer was completed.

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