Monster Taming Broadcast

S-Class Monsters and Below.

And even the Assistants lost their memories of the Hedgehog Summoner.

Showing them the drawing of the hedgehog from the Monster Index didn’t change anything either.

“I don’t know who that is, it’s my first time seeing them…”

Monsters below S-Class, including Merino, and even the Assistants watching from another world…

It seems only those at an exceptionally high level of the soul retain their memories.

Boglebogle — I’m sorry. I can’t remember, even looking at the drawing.

Mysticism —
Mysticism — Looks incredibly scary. Why does that look like a hedgehog?

“The one on the right is the Abyss Undead Spirit, and the small one on the left is the Hedgehog Summoner.”

Mysticism — Ah!
Mysticism — It is indeed a hedgehog! So cute!

Pururu — Still, looking at the index, it seems like it was really tamed at some point.

Yumi — That’s right. Mr. Gun wouldn’t just randomly draw a monster he never saw. It seems our memories have really been erased.

Rize Nova — While it’s true our memories are gone, it seems more accurate to say the existence of that Hedgehog person has been erased.

Boglebogle — But if their existence has been erased, shouldn’t all the photos also be gone?
Pururu — That might be because it’s just a drawing.

Seems those who see the drawing still can’t recall anything.

Well, it wasn’t necessary to help them regain their memories.

After all, monsters of S-Class and above, including me, still held on to memories of the Hedgehog Summoner.

“It seems to be the work of a monster with some special power… If we catch that guy, our memories will return, and we’ll be able to find the hedgehog.”

Fii! We must retrieve our Doo Doom Bar! Some bad guy kidnapped it!

Pururu — What’s a Doo Doom Bar?
Yumi — Maybe it’s an ice cream name? The hedgehog must have liked a Doo Doom Bar ice cream.

Leaving the heated princess behind, I turned my head to look in one direction.

Snake Head and Mummy Skeleton.

And the passage the Hedgehog Summoner went to explore.

Cave No. 5.

Just a little deeper in lies a vast underground world, the habitat of Poison Apples.

“Mummy Skeleton. Where did your team explore today?”

Today, the exploration group didn’t have Iris with them.

They decided to only revisit areas they had already explored.

The purpose of this exploration team was to gather food from the habitat of the Poison Apples.

I remember… We only went to the places marked on the map… and brought back Poison Apples.

Fortunately.

It seems they didn’t explore deeper on their own.

“Then the likelihood is high that they were attacked by a mysterious monster in the places we know, unless the Hedgehog ran off to explore deeper by themselves.”

The search range has narrowed down.

If all goes well, we should be able to find it quickly.

“But Mummy…”
I answer.
“Why didn’t you bring back any Poison Apples?”
It wasn’t my responsibility to carry them.

The Mummy Skeleton answered that, glancing at the Snake Head standing next to it.

The Snake Head shook its head, expressing confusion.

Orooro? I wasn’t in charge of carrying! Wasn’t it you, Mummy Skeleton?

Pururu — That snake-head can talk, huh? Look at it ditch its concept when panicked and speak fluently.
Mysticism — First time hearing it talk.
Yumi — I think I saw it talk once before.
Rize Nova — Orooro! Chui!

The Snake Head and Mummy Skeleton started squabbling over who was in charge of carrying the items.

I quickly intervened between them.

It seems the Hedgehog Summoner was the one in charge of carrying supplies.

*

We organized an exploration team.

Kinogine Aracne.

Blood Jellyfish Princess.

Black Magma Slime, Puppet Niarah Nepensys.

Including me, that makes five.

We decided to search Cave No. 5 for the Hedgehog Summoner.

Though not officially counted, Iris was with us.

The other SS-class monsters stayed behind in the Hideout to protect the other S-class monsters.

After all, a monster that erases existence could show up at our hideout.

Pururu — Mr. Gun, are you really going to look for the hedgehog? Isn’t that dangerous?
Mysticism — You’re saying you won’t do anything dangerous.

“This time, I just feel uneasy sending only monsters. Plus, a friend has disappeared, so it doesn’t feel right to sit back and relax.”

Yumi — Taking risks to save a friend! That’s so brave!
Pururu — Mr. Gun values the monsters he tamed more than he lets on.
Mysticism — No matter how much he pretends, he has a lot of affection.

“Honestly, I don’t think it will be that dangerous, so I’m going myself. For now, it seems that mysterious monster’s powers don’t work on me.”

It’s been a while since I last explored myself.

Sitting idle waiting for monsters to find the hedgehog was too frustrating.

I added my thoughts.

Yumi — True, if it were me, I wouldn’t be able to just sit around waiting for the return of someone dear to me.

Boglebogle — If someone lacks abilities, waiting is the right thing to do, but since Gun has enough power, it’s fine.

Rize Nova — You have the strength to take on SS-Class monsters, so I don’t think you need to worry too much.

Pururu — Just be careful.
Mysticism — Stay safe!

With that, I moved forward to the entrance of Passage No. 5 with my team of search monster.

And then.

Gun, I’m here. Bbangbbang.

“Welcome.”
From beyond the Warp Device, Omega appeared.

Ah, right, we were supposed to go to the Desert Rest Area today, huh?

We had promised to install a warp device there and brainstorm our plans to develop the village while looking around.

Unfortunately, the promise must be delayed.

Finding the Hedgehog comes first.

Nothing more important than that.

I explained the current situation to Omega and said,

“Omega, come with me.”

Bbangbbang.

Omega followed me into Passage No. 5.

*

— [To prepare for encountering new monsters, I will stay on standby for the Monster Index]

A voice from Centauress flowed out through Iris.

Not just her, but other monsters continuously communicated with our search team through Iris.

Pururu — Reverse entrance. Haha.
Among them,

the loudest was Merino Ula.

— “Gun, be careful! There’s something above! Oh, wait! I saw that wrong!”
— “Oh! There’s an apple over there! Go eat it!”
— “What?! That apple is ugly! Don’t eat it!”

“Merino, could you keep it down a bit?”
— “Yay!”

After calming Merino down.

I began to pick up speed, searching the vast underground world, the habitat of the Poison Apples, when I spotted a remarkable tree.

Unlike the other apple trees, this one had no Poison Apples at all.

Why doesn’t this tree have any Poison Apples?

With that question in mind, I squinted to look closer and noticed a pile of bear dolls underneath the tree.

Of course, they weren’t ordinary bear dolls.

Pururu — Why are there bear dolls piled up like that?
“Those are monsters. All of them are rated B-class, so the actual danger level is likely S-class.”

— [New monsters detected. I will begin the index work immediately, Explorer.]

Pururu — Wait, those bear dolls are S-class?!
Mysticism —
Yumi — They definitely look like regular bear dolls, but it’s so weird.
Rize Nova — They don’t seem like they’d be S-class monsters, indeed. Well, it’s not like Gun’s judgment is ever wrong, though.
Boglebogle — You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

I maintained my distance.

For a while, I stared silently at the bear dolls.

Specifically, I was closely observing two of them among the many.

One large bear doll and one small bear doll.

The large bear doll was hugging the small bear doll.

After a bit of time passed.

— [Explorer, the monster index has been completed. Please look at Iris’s screen.]

Centauress displayed a drawing on Iris’s screen.

“Wow, that was quick. Good job. But why did you draw these specific bear dolls among all the others?”
— [I just strangely liked those two bear dolls the most. I’m not sure why myself.]

“…Really?”

I took my gaze away from Iris.

Then I slowly walked towards the pile of bear dolls.

The large bear doll and the small one.

I felt something from them.

A feeling like there’s an invisible thread of connection.

As I approached, all the bear dolls placed under the tree suddenly turned their heads sharply toward me.

Pururu — Holy crap, that startled me. Is this a horror movie or what?
Yumi — My heart almost dropped…
Mysticism —

The bear dolls all focused their gazes on me.

It felt like they would attack me if I got any closer.

I halted my steps and stood still, locking eyes with the two bear dolls I had been observing closely.

And softly, I spoke.

“Doom Bar.”
…
…

“Doo Doom Bar.”
…Doo Doom Bear.
…Doo Doom Bear.

At the word Doo Doom Bar, the two bear dolls reacted.

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