“Gra~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a!”

Morning is here and I woke up hearing such high pitched scream right next to my ear.
I rub my eyes and stretch my neck.

The light entering the shrine entrance is faint.
It’s still early in the morning.
I want to sleep for another two more hours.

Now then…
I look at Wight who’s at the back.

Though I still can’t tell what Wight’s expressions are with that skull face, I can see that her hands and legs are moving in disarray.
I then revert my eyes and check at Partner.

“Gra~a! Gra~a~a~aa! Gra~a~a~aaa!”

Partner is also moving in disarray.

Then, I saw that the egg sac on Partner’s head has cracked open.
There are also eight spiders that are as large as a human fist stuck on Partner’s face.

“Gra~a~a~a~a~a!”

Hoh, so they’ve finally hatched.
And, they’re all covered in green fur.
The same color as their leg-wriggling mother.

Spider-san… your children have successfully hatched. [T.N: How touching TwT]
I turn to look at the mother spider’s corpse in the corner of the room.

…… That reminds me… I guess I need to bury her outside soon.
No, more importantly, I need to clean this shrine up.

“Gra~a~a~a~a! Gra~a~a~a~a!”

Right, first things first, I’ll have to check out their species.
Focus on the spiders that are sticking on Partner’s face.

【〖Baby Arachne〗: Rank E monster】
【Small spiders covered in fur.】
【They have a variety of evolutions, but since their species have many natural enemies, not many reach adulthood. Even less in extreme environments.】
【Somewhat bitter, but still very delicious.】

So, it’s really related to the parent Arachne, huh.
Many natural enemies?
Don’t worry, if you stick with us, we’ll make sure all of you grow up into fine adults someday.

“Gra~a~a~a~aa, a~a~a~aaaa~a~a!”

…… Guess it’s about time I help Partner out.
I lightly pat Partner’s face with my claw. [T.N: *boop* ･ω･]
The baby spiders stuck on Partner’s face fall off one at a time.
Some took a while to stand back up again, and others immediately got up and went deeper inside the shrine.

Partner gave off a relieved growl and rested her head on the ground.

“Gra~a~a……”

Partner looks up at me from below and groaned.
Plus, her eyes are wet. She’s probably in tears.

…… Well, not like this wasn’t expected since you had that egg sac stuck on your head all the time.
Would you have let me stopped you that time?

Shassha, shassha. Shassha, shassha.

When I thought that sound came from the baby spiders, it’s actually a rubbing sound with hair from under my feet.
The shassha sound echoed throughout the shrine and it’s kinda creepy.
If this is coming from a rank D monster, then a normal human would definitely freak out of this.
It did say that Arachne are gentle.

Then, I heard clip-clop sounds coming from bones.
Turning around while checking the ceilings, Alo is getting surrounded by the baby spiders.
As the spiders slowly approach her, Alo looked around while her neck makes clattering noises.

Just when I thought the spiders stopped moving, they all took a deep breath and resumed their approach towards Alo.
The mass number of those footsteps were very loud.
I stretched my neck at Alo and she frantically climbed on top of my head.
When the baby spiders chased after her, I immediately raised my head away from their reach.

The spiders then lost interest of Alo and scattered about in the shrine.
These spiders are so carefree……

I can feel vibrations on my head.
Alo is still shaking, it seems.
She must’ve been really scared.
…… I guess I’ll put you down once things have settled.

Make sure you learn your lesson from this, Partner.
Depending on the situation, I may end up having to chase them out of here, and I know that’s a bad thing to do.

“Gra~a……”

Partner’s still sulking on the ground, I guess it’s not easy to get rid of your somewhat traumatic experience, even though you’re usually more firm than this.

Hey, weren’t you the one who wanted to bring them along with us?
Pull yourself together and take care of these guys, will you?

Partner saw my eyes and inadvertently looked away.
W-Why you……!

Still, though…… I wonder if I can actually look after these little guys right.
They may be rank E now, but they’re going to get bigger and bigger as they grow up, right?
Monsters grow up extremely fast after all, and when they all become rank B, I might die if I mess things up by then.
If I stir up a rebellion, I’ll be at a disadvantage.

If I really do mess up in raising them, maybe I won’t feel so bad leaving them alone to fend for themselves out there.
Besides, when you actually stop to think about it, I shouldn’t even be keeping monsters in the first place.

While I was thinking of what to do with the baby spiders, they all gathered near their parent’s corpse.
At first, it was one, then a second came, and then a third. And finally, all eight of the baby spiders went near their mother spider’s rotting body.

…… Hm? What are all of you doing?
Could you all be mourning for your mother?

Once again, the eight baby spiders scattered themselves. And, the mother spider’s corpse is gone.
Only green hair remained.

…… T-They ate her.
C-Calm down me, this is probably normal for spiders!
I know that they were just born, and that they needed nutrition, but still…!

When their bellies were full, they gathered together in the corner of the shrine and slept there.
These critters really are carefree.

What to do now…
Am I really serious on raising them?

I look at Partner.
Partner timidly extends her neck closer to the sleeping baby spiders.

“Gra~a……”

Then, as if satisfied, she let out a sigh of relief.
She then turned to look at me.

【“Keep ‘em! Let’s keep ‘em all!”】

A-Are you serious?
Weren’t you in tears back then?

【“It fine! No problem!”】

…… O-Okay then, well, I guess we can keep an eye on them for a little while longer before we decide on what to actually do with them.
Besides, Alo is scared too.

For the time being, I’ll leave the baby spiders alone in the shrine, and get some fresh air outside.

The tree outside the entrance started moving and pulled its roots out of the ground when it saw me exiting the shrine.
I forgot that Lesser Treant is also here with us.
Treants recover their vitality back by rerooting under the soil.

…… But, man… a dragon, a skeleton, a bunch of spiders, and a walking tree.
I aim for a normal life, whether its secluded or civilized, but at this rate, aren’t I taking the demon lord route?!

Right now, my current objective is to level up Wight and secure food.
Well, for the food part, I think I’ll be expecting some more tributes soon.

Also, there’s something else I’m concerned about.
The direction where the Manticore ran away.
The chances that it’ll come back and infiltrate the village again still exists, so I better finish this once and for all.

Plus, there’s that thing that the village shrine maiden said 【“the direction it ran to…… perhaps it’s for the best.”】, it bothers me why she said that.
Just what lies in that direction, I wonder.
I surely would like to check it out while farming up some exp points and securing food.