Is It Wrong to Try to Tame Monsters in a Dungeon? (Written seriously)

(This chapter was uploaded on Saturday 17/August/2024 8:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the chapter's footnotes.

"..." small moment of silence.

"Talking"

[Different Language Dialogue] (What language it is: Accent if necessary)

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Inner Dialogue'

{Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names}

(PoV)

(Flashback, including the text)

Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

(Line Break)

(Some of Henryk's diary) 

Monday, 14/1/1057: 

Because I was bored out of my life by second day, I asked Shira to teach me the alphabet and how to write. 

The result of studying for some days, I discovered that the only difference between English and this world's common language, Koine, is simply how the letters look. How to arrange them into words, their phonemes, and the words themselves, all of it's the same. 

Wednesday, 16/1/1057: 

A week after I first regained my consciousness, I started to feel much better. I was legible for another potion, now that my body was more stable and had enough nutrients. 

Also, during this week, my eyesight stabilized and the fog disappeared. I was stunned for a whole minute when I saw a platinum-blond village girl with moderate freckles. It was a cruel twist of fate, since that appearance's the same as my former fiancée, a woman I hated with every breath I took. Regardless, I tried treating her neutrally. 

I loathe to admit it, but coupled with the way she acted and her mostly cheerful personality, she was my type of woman. Not that it means shit when there's nothing between us. 

Thursday, 17/1/1057: 

I forgot to write it yesterday, but it was the day I started writing down my diary. I wrote down things from memory. And here I am, explaining this to myself, and whoever will be reading this. 

Seriously, what am I thinking? Writing this might make me sound full of myself, egotistical even. 

Friday, 18/1/1057: 

During the evening, Fey woke up for a brief period again, checked on me, then ate some strips of meat and collapsed again. She was too injured, too exhausted to do much beside eat and rest while her body recovered. 

I asked them, and it appears that animals don't drink potions because of their bitter taste. 

Funnily enough, they hate the taste so much that they completely ignore the healing effects of the potion and thrash around so no more of it enters their mouths. 

Monday, 21/1/1057: 

Today marked the day I regained my ability to move independently, albeit still assisted sometimes. I walked with a limp, and my muscles have already showed signs of diminishing in size and strength. I'll need to put a heavy training schedule once I could move freely. 

I'm not ashamed to write this here, "I CAN LIVE WITHOUT THAT SHAME! HELL YEAH!". 

Fey woke up again. I tried convincing her to eat her small meal with a light spray of potion. The less time she spends suffering from injury, the better our lives are. I hate to see her constricted to the ground, not able to spread her wings and fly around, playfully spreading mischief like usual. 

The neat part was when Fey looked as if she was tasting the meat, identifying the invasive taste, then swallowing it with some struggle and a little gagging for the first few bites. 

Wednesday, 23/1/1057: 

Fey made enough recovery that she started tearing every fabric in the room out of curiousity. She was discovering what material they were made of. I was smiling like an idiot until Shira pointed it out. 

Monday, 28/1/1057: 

I was told that I now can move around all on my own. The first thing I do? Walk to where the wolves were kept like a madman, uncaring for the dangers. To be fair, the villagers were safe with them until now, with no case of assault within the month. 

I still was accompanied by a very sticky Shira, and a sleepy Fey. 

Shira has transparently told me why she wanted to make me feel indebted to her. She wanted to use me to have a way to Orario, something her father left for her to deal with. He told her that she has to find someone to protect her along the way, at least. And he preferred outright abandoning the idea to go altogether. 

Fey was the bigger problem between the two, as she weighed a hefty amount, and I barely could lift her without damaging my protesting muscles further. 

Now, onto the wolves. They were quite smart, very smart. They still took to the rules of wolf packs and their hierarchical order, that the parent's words were law. And with how the mother was smart, she made sure her cubs were well-behaved. 

That isn't to say she was approachable. She maintained a distance and bared her fangs whenever someone approached uninvited. 

I observed her interacting with the cubs from a distance, and when she looked my way, she surprised me. She came all on her own, looked me directly in the eyes, before betraying my expectations of a confrontation by sitting, looking at me for a prolonged period of time, before giving up and barking. I got the delusional feeling that she was thanking me, as she then elegantly made her way back to her cubs. 

Has she observed the fact that eye-to-eye contact with humans doesn't always mean a conflict or lead to a challenge of one's authority? I'll need to observe her further. 

Thursday, 31/1/1057: 

I was given a detrimental option. I was reminded that the estimate for a natural recovery, a safer option on the long run, would be around another month. If I chose to use potions, it'd take me less than a week to make a complete recovery, followed swiftly with some pretty big chances to incur disastrous consequences. Chances, but avoidable ones. 

Though I knew what my choice was, and made it clear, I asked them to be sure. The answer I got was that over-reliance on potions might lead to both addiction and defects in the recovered areas. That was also why my 2 doses were spaced as far apart as weeks during my treatment, even though I was in great pain. I thanked them for choosing the better option for me when I couldn't. 

(Line Break) 

(Saturday, 8/2/1057) 

(Henryk's PoV) 

"So, Shane, what familias pass through the area? When do they do that?" I sat down with Shane at a table. I invited him to breakfast, using some of my precious coin. 

'Even though it doesn't set well with me, I'll take advantage of their well-meaning hearts. I'll make sure to pay them back later' 

"You want to know that now?" Shane raised an eyebrow at me. His expression showed confusion and some hesitation. 

"I won't throw myself at death just to grow stronger. I assure you of that" He sighed and let me continue as I left him no room to interrupt. "It's just that I want to gamble with my fate, over the chance to gain a skill I need right now" 

Shane shook his head in pity. I could tell he thought I wouldn't get the skill I wanted, and I agree with him. For all intents and purposes, I might get a skill that makes things worse. 

"The only familias that come close enough to make contact with the village are ones we contracted for a quest" A rising sense of hopelessness came over his words as he talked. "And from the last 2 who visited, only lady Artemis remains in the surroundings of the village" 

"And her familia's female-only. Is that what you were gonna say?" I asked, nonchalant. I'll still try to join. A healthy dose of stubbornness might do the trick. 

That talk only ended when the meal finally arrived minutes later. He settled for telling the goddess of the hunt that I wanted to talk to her personally. 

Did I mention that Fey joined us with a small chunk of raw meat prepared for her? I ate as I watched her gobble it down in small pieces. Her pinning it down with a foot then struggle to tear into it at the start was cute to watch. 

"Why did you insist on not cutting the meat to smaller pieces?" Shane looked at me questioningly. He was judgmental with his gaze. 

"Little chicks start by struggling to tear into their food. And since she became weak enough to revert to that stage, she should start by doing what she did back then, putting in a gargantuan effort to eat every meal. Her strength'll come back faster this way, as animals work somewhat differently from us" I handed her some water, and she drank it before smothering her head in the rest while it was still within my hands. 

"That's brutal, young man" With his curiousity sated, Shane ate in silence. 

"Th-..." I heard a hauntingly throaty voice, certainly not alone as Shane was also going increasingly pale. "Than-..." I heard it again. I looked to my side to see Fey with her beak open and her eyes focused. "Thanck-... -ou... Y-u-... Thanck-... You.." ('Th' as in 'The') 

... 

"Am I the only one hearing this?..." I asked, going pale myself, though for an entirely different reason. 

"No, you aren't..." A stranger from the next table answered me. I looked around and saw many people looking at Fey strangely, as if she was a new form of demon. 

"Fey, do you understand my words? You can nod if you do" I assume that she wouldn't be able to say the words just because she wanted to, so I told her to do something else to confirm. 

We looked at her and waited in a silence. It was disappointing to everyone. And it was a relief to some when Fey didn't react to what I said. 

'Has she picked up the word, at last? But I thought eagles don't do that, though?' I mulled over it then and there, and a certain random, completely unrelated idea came to mind. 'Does it really have anything to do with those magic stones she ate?' 

"Good girl, Fey" I let it behind me and praised her as I scratched her head lightly. If she did understand words, then all the better. And if she didn't, she does understand the gesture. 

I then spent some time reassuring people that Fey was just a bit of an unusually smart eagle and nothing else. That seemed to put them at ease, though they maintained a larger distance between them and us. 

(Part of Henryk's diary) 

Monday, 10/2/1057: 

I asked Shira if I get to move out of their home, but she denied it firmly, looking flustered while doing so. Her excuse was that I wasn't fully recovered. 

If anyone asked me, I know it's to get me to do something later. But that just makes me more eager to leave the place as soon as I could. 

Tuesday, 11/2/1057: 

After Fey showed signs of mimicking human speech, I tried and tested her cognitive abilities. From what I gathered during these past days, she could understand the connotations of words, but not the words themselves. And once I changed the pitch of my voice, she didn't recognise anything, much like in the past. 

Saturday, 15/2/1057: 

The villagers were accustomed to the mother wolf sneaking in the night to hunt outside the city, returning with her game before sunrise. She was bringing with her small things like rodents and rabbits. Sometimes, she brings birds with her. 

Because word spread around, coupled with seeing me sitting close to them often, the village folk decided that curiousity wouldn't kill the cat. Not in this case, as there were no cats. No one was hurt, as the mother wolf simply got away from those who displeased her. Her cubs followed suit. 

Someone reading this much later might ask why I mentioned this. Well, brace yourself, whoever you are. The morons allowed the wolves to roam the village. While yes, they were monitored, they were still faster than most people give them credit for. 

One wrong move and a child's gone. And that's especially true since the children had no fear. They constantly tried getting a closer look at her and the cubs. 

(Line Break) 

(Sunday, 16/2/1057) 

(Henryk's PoV) 

Today, I wanted to rest not in bed, but in the open. I wanted to have a breath of fresh air. I chose to rest in Grysia's shades. When I got close, my eyes caught sight of its bark. It was very rough and splintered in many places. 

'This tree's old, very old. If compared to the Kapok trees, and judging by its trunk's thickness, it may be in the final few decades of its life' 

"Shira, I remember when we talked about this tree, you mentioned how it repels monsters" I made it so my words sound like a question. 

"It does. From its leaves, a powder harmful only to monsters spreads through the wind" She said. Her eyes were downcast, heavy with a great sense of loss that was apparent in her voice, light leaving them for a second. "The records tell that the last Grysia lived approximately for 300 years. This one is already 268 years old this year" 

'Ah, I see. That's why it looked this old' 

"G- Gr-G-Grisa..." Fey said and then looked at me intently. I instantly knew what she wanted and gave her the head pats she requested while giggling slightly. 

"Can you not plant another one before this one dies? The new one would be able to mature before it's too late, no?" I asked. 

"It is not so easy" Shira shook her head despondently. "Once a Grysia is alive in an area, it is impossible to plant another. The older one spreads a poison that kills off any budding saplings of other Grysia trees" 

"And? What about its own saplings?" I asked, feeling incredulous. 

Shira's sad smile became wry. 

"In a cruel twist of fate, even its own saplings aren't spared" She looked grateful, yet somewhat resentful, towards Grysia. 

(A day of Henryk's diary, Monday, 17/2/1057) 

"From what I gathered during these past days, she could understand the connotations of words, but not the words themselves," or so I thought. It seems that Fey's still getting smarter. Her pronunciation's gotten better over the days, and she got much better skill with words. 

It seems that she now could discern the phonemes by comparing the voices and taking the pitch out of the equation. Now, she could follow through our speech without the prior confusion. 

The one thing that didn't improve was her voice. It still sounds like a parrot that's just starting to learn, though hers has a sharpness to it to go alongside the throaty part. 

My little paralysis demon has already memorized common things, like saying 'Thank you' when receiving something, 'Want meat' when hungry, 'Full' when she's done eating, 'Head pat' when she wants me to be affectionate with her, 'Play' when she feels like playing or spreading chaos around, '̴̧̒P̴̻̈́̈́a̸̩͛p̸̥̄̔ȧ̷̜̔'̴̙̣͂́ 

(That last one was 'Papa', but he scratched it in his diary) 

You don't need to know how that last one got in there with the rest of them. 

(End of Chapter)

Greetings, dear readers.

The reason I split this chapter into two is because scrolling down to where you left last would feel hellish with +6k words if you read on your phone. That is if you had to get out of the chapter for some reason, and the app decides to reset the point you were all the way back to the start.

Have a nice time, ladies and gentlemen.