433. Let’s Sign a Contract! Girl!
“What are you guys doing?”
Ning Chu stared at the three girls squatted in a circle on the ground, puzzled about what was happening.
The trio turned to her in unison, Yan Xinya with her wolf ears perked up and her eyes sparkling, waved her hand at her, “What are you doing here!”
“Come see what Lily picked up!”
“Picked up?”
Ning Chu casually closed the door, curious, and walked over to peek at the center of their circle.
On the ground was a squirming little octopus, its big, shiny eyes staring back at her, with ears that resembled a pair of elephant ears. Its skin was translucent and pinkish, and it wasn’t larger than a ping pong ball, looking adorably like it had jumped right out of an anime.
She blinked, hesitating before recalling an eating livestream, “Little Dumbo Octopus?”
This kind of octopus was said to be popular as a pet; many people loved to keep them. But she knew it from a food video… although it didn’t quite look like this one, as the Dumbo Octopus in the video didn’t have tentacles this long.
“What is that?”
Yan Xinya tilted her head as she noticed the little octopus was trying to inch closer to her. She grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks and pushed it back.
“Um, it’s a very cute octopus; many people keep them.”
“This is what Lily picked up! She said it suddenly fell from the sky.” The wolf girl leaned forward, hands on her knees, peering intently at the pink octopus, musing, “Is it tasty?”
“From the sky?”
Ning Chu’s eyelids twitched.
“Maybe someone didn’t want it anymore and just tossed it away?” Lin Li licked her lips, sticking out her tongue, “Do you think grilled octopus is better, or boiled with garlic sauce?”
“Sounds tempting~ Grilled octopus?”
Yan Xinya and Lin Li, two canine creatures, began deliberating over cooking methods.
Ning Chu, however, looked a bit worriedly at the little octopus. Could it really be this coincidental?
The tentacle monsters she read about in books did appear in octopus form with suckers, but they definitely didn’t match the cute, pink little octopus in front of her. Tentacle monsters were all dark and heavy, female foes draped in sticky substances, while this octopus seemed harmless and adorable.
“No way.”
Just as Yan Xinya was ready to heat up a frying pan, Lily suddenly grabbed her shirt, resolutely shaking her head.
“Why not?”
Ning Chu was startled.
Oh no! This succubus can’t possibly be thinking of keeping the tentacle monster as a toy forever!
“Growing it bigger would make it tastier.” Lily said seriously, “It’s too small, there’s no meat.”
“……”
“Then how do we keep it?” Yan Xinya squatted back down, still poking at the little octopus.
Lin Li eagerly ran off to get a clear cup filled to the brim with water, coming back to drop the octopus into the cup with her chopsticks: “See, this works! It’ll look great in the dorm!”
“True~”
As soon as the octopus was splashed into the chlorinated tap water, its tentacles twitched slightly as it struggled to escape. Lin Li quickly pressed the cup lid down, twisting it shut tightly.
“……”
Ning Chu found herself at a loss for words.
Though she wasn’t sure if the octopus was a tentacle monster, tap water didn’t seem very suitable for keeping octopuses, right?
“What does it eat?” Lily asked, frowning.
“There must be octopus food for sale online!” Yan Xinya eagerly pulled up a shopping app, “Once it’s bigger, we can totally have grilled octopus, right? It must taste amazing!”
“Boiling keeps the original flavor!” Lin Li objected, “Grilled flavor is too strong; it ruins seafood!”
Lily pondered for a moment and suggested, “Let’s just cut it in half.”
“I wonder how big it can grow… Can we keep it alive?”
“Just cook it when it’s about to d*e.”
Ning Chu observed the little octopus in the clear cup, which had initially struggled violently but now lay at the bottom, looking lethargic, almost as if it were contemplating its life choices.
But as a potential meal, nobody seemed to care about its condition.
She pulled out her mobile phone and texted Qian Qian: “When you’re done over there, come check on something here.”
Better to have Qian Qian come by for a quick assessment, so Lily didn’t accidentally raise a tentacle monster as a pet.
It might look harmless now, but once it grew, the whole girls’ dormitory would be in trouble!
The initial curiosity about the octopus faded, and the girls scattered to do their own things.
Lily placed the cup with the octopus on a bookshelf as decoration, then turned to Ning Chu, her big eyes shimmering with confusion and an “of course” kind of light.
Wasn’t it said that if you went out at night, there’d be tentacle monsters? But now look who was out and about!
Clearly, it was just a scare tactic, and only that husky would believe it.
“Got a bit of an urgent matter…” Ning Chu sat beside Lily and whispered, having previously shared the tentacle monster story with her, “There’s a tentacle monster at school, and I suspect it’s the one in the cup.”
Lily glanced at the little octopus, “You bought it yourself.”
“No, I’m serious!”
Lily looked down her nose at Ning Chu, even grabbing the cup and stuffing it into a drawer: “Mine now.”
“Not trying to steal it…”
“Ning Chu! You came all the way here in this rain! Planning to sleep in the dorm tonight?” Yan Xinya leaped over, wrapping her arms around Ning Chu’s shoulders from behind, “Once you’ve come, you can’t leave!”
“Staying again?” Lin Li scoffed, rolling her eyes, “Such a shameless person.”
“It’s still Ning Chu’s dorm! If you don’t agree, go complain to An An!”
There was a light knock on the dorm door, causing Lin Li to swallow her argument, stand up, and open the door, only to find a stranger with red hair and twin ponytails standing outside.
“Who are you?”
“My friend! She came to see the octopus!”
Ning Chu turned to explain, but Lin Li was too focused on the black cat on Qian Qian’s shoulder, staring intently at it.
“Lily, bring the octopus to the balcony; let’s talk.”
“???”
Lily, bewildered, was pulled to the balcony by Ning Chu, clutching her cup and looking perplexed at the two girls and the cat before her.
The balcony door was shut behind them, and Yan Xinya, who had been eavesdropping inside, suddenly yawned and leaned against the windowsill.
“Girl! Do you want to sign a contract with me? Become a righteous magical girl who saves the world?”
Before Ning Chu could ask anything, the black cat jumped right in to persuade, “You can fulfill a simple wish, gain powerful strength to fight evil, and…”
Lily shook her head coolly, not even showing any surprise at a talking cat.
She was just too scared, her legs turning to jelly as she slid down the tiled wall and sat down with a bump.
“Wait, first check if this octopus is an evil demon!” Ning Chu interrupted the black cat again, squatting down to soothe Lily, “It’s okay, it’s probably not a bad guy… maybe…”
The black cat hopped down from Qian Qian’s shoulder, inching closer with cat-like grace, its green eyes locked onto the octopus in the clear cup.
“I don’t know~”
“Ah?”
“I’m not a magical girl contracted with that evil demon, how would I know?”
Ning Chu was incredulous: “Didn’t you guys search the school high and low?”
“Yeah, we did a thorough search and found no evil demon.” Qian Qian quipped, “So what’s the hurry to drag us out?”
So you two are judging entirely with your eyes, huh?!
“Girl~ Want to sign a contract with me?”
The black cat kept trying to convince Lily.
“Don’t listen to it!”
——————
Pretty cute, but according to Little Wen, not tasty.
