From a certain point of view, taming monster girls was no different from taming O-mon pocket spirits.
Find them, battle them, defeat them, and then capture them.
See? Simple and straightforward.
It was just that the methods used by pocket-spirit trainers looked more… pure.
For example, you find a pocket spirit, summon your own pocket spirit, defeat the opponent, and after they lose, you throw a Master Ball and store them inside. Success.
But Monster Girl Trainers were a bit more complicated.
Finding monster girls and defeating them was still correct, but after that, the Monster Tamer had to personally bind the monster girl with a rope called a "Capture Rope." And if the monster girl refused to submit, you might even have to imitate Meng Huo and capture and release her seven times…
Of course, tying her up counted as completing the first step. The second step was to stare into the monster girl's eyes and chant an incantation. If the other party was willing to accept becoming a familiar, she would then become the Monster Tamer's servant.
So, simply put, a Monster Tamer capturing monster girls meant secretly hiding in the forest, then rushing out the moment you saw a monster girl, knocking her to the ground, and then tying her up with ropes to make her your property…
...…
Why did the latter process feel overwhelmingly like a crime even though it was the same sequence of steps?
Forget it. No matter what, the task still had to be completed.
Of course, since he was going to capture monster girls, weapons were definitely out of the question. If he chopped them to death… a dead monster girl wouldn't be useful even if he brought her back, right?
Thus, Monster Tamers had their own weapon.
A whip.
"Is this it?"
Duanmu Huai looked at the small leather whip in his hand and asked curiously. The maid beside him nodded.
"Yes. Only those who can skillfully wield a whip are considered qualified Monster Tamers."
"Does this thing even have killing power?"
Duanmu Huai shook his head, then looked toward a tree in front of him. He tightened his grip on the whip, took a deep breath, and then swung it with full force!
"———————PA!"
The whip sliced through the air with a piercing shriek and smashed heavily into the tree trunk. The next moment, the tree—over a meter thick—was snapped clean in half, its upper portion flying away and instantly turning into a pile of shattered wood.
"..."
"..."
Duanmu Huai looked at the maid. The maid said nothing.
"Please be a little gentler. Don't use that much force."
"…Alright."
Thus, after completing a series of basic operations like WSAD movement, pressing F to interact, right-click to aim, and similar fundamentals, Duanmu Huai officially graduated and left the mansion, heading into the forest to look for pocket spirits—
No, monster girls.
Normally, just like how the protagonist at the start of a Poké-something adventure would receive a starter companion, Duanmu Huai also had such a candidate—the maid.
However, the maid stated that Duanmu Huai's contract-control over monster girls was not yet mature. She said she would wait until his control was fully stabilized before signing a contract and becoming his familiar.
Alright then.
She was probably afraid of getting her head blown off.
That was understandable.
After all, avoiding danger was a biological instinct… and Duanmu Huai did have a prior record of blowing up a Demon King's head…
Honestly speaking, even he himself was a bit worried.
"Who should I catch…"
Walking through the forest, Duanmu Huai muttered quietly while flipping through the illustrated guide in front of him. According to the maid, the island was divided into several regions, each sealed by a barrier. Only after obtaining at least two familiars would one barrier be lifted, unlocking a new region. After completing all tasks and becoming an independent Monster Tamer, one would finally be able to leave the island.
For Duanmu Huai, defeating and subduing monster girls wasn't a problem at all.
Strictly speaking, Monster Tamers themselves didn't possess much combat power, which was why they relied on monster girls to fight—much like how trainers couldn't beat pocket spirits themselves.
But Duanmu Huai was different.
With his strength, dealing with monster girls was effortless. So for him, power and combat capability weren't his concern at all.
Fortunately, according to the guide, many monster girls possessed special abilities. For example, Maid-types naturally loved cleaning and organizing, which explained why the mansion was kept spotless.
That ability wasn't useful in combat, but it was extremely useful for daily life.
Duanmu Huai decided to follow this line of thinking.
After all… if he really wanted combat power, he might as well tame a Demon King.
To be honest, he didn't even look favorably upon the combat power of ordinary monster girls. The ones in his Soul Cards were stronger.
So he would just look for monster girls with special or life-support skills.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch."
Just as Duanmu Huai was wandering through the forest, he suddenly heard a sound coming from beneath a nearby tree. He raised his head and looked over, only to see a girl squatting there, holding a carrot and munching away happily.
...…
How should one put it?
An empty forest, a sudden appearance of a girl, and she was holding a carrot and eating it.
In any other world, this would probably be the setup for at least one horror story.
Like maybe she wasn't chewing on a carrot but on a human arm.
But here…
People in forests weren't that rare.
At least, "people," from the Inquisition's point of view.
Still, compared to the maid, Duanmu Huai could tell at a glance that this girl was a girl-type monster.
The reason was simple.
Just look at her.
The girl herself didn't look much different from a human. She had a cute, pretty face and fluffy short green hair, and at first glance, she looked like a normal person.
Unfortunately, unlike the maid, she had a pair of long rabbit ears growing from her head, and a fluffy rabbit tail behind her…
Not only that, her clothing was extremely bold.
Her upper body was clad in a half-transparent, gauze-like nightgown, through which her skin was clearly visible. Her lower body wore white thigh-high stockings, paired with that fluffy rabbit tail behind her—
Honestly speaking, if this were in a bar, she would absolutely be the perfect bunny girl.
I remember seeing something like this in the guide…
While watching the carrot-munching girl, Duanmu Huai quietly took out the illustrated guide and flipped through it.
Let me see…
Oh, found it.
Rabbit-Rabbit. A low-level girl-type monster with little danger…
"Ah!"
Just as Duanmu Huai was reading, he suddenly heard a cry. He raised his head and saw the bunny girl lifting her head to stare at him.
However, she didn't turn and run like a real rabbit upon seeing a stranger. Instead, she smiled warmly and waved at Duanmu Huai.
"Hello——!"
"Hello."
Duanmu Huai nodded and greeted her back. The bunny girl hopped up and bounced toward him, curiously staring at him.
"Who are you? Tell me, tell me!"
"My name is Duanmu Huai. I'm a Monster Tamer."
"Monster Tamer?"
Hearing his words, the bunny girl looked him up and down curiously, then glanced at the whip in his hand before breaking into a smile.
"Ah, do you want to play with Bunny-Bunny? Do you want to play S and M games? Or do you want to play a fighting game?"
"Huh??"
"Come play, come play!"
As she spoke, the bunny girl bounced forward and punched Duanmu Huai in the body.
"...…"
Was that an attack just now?
Why did it feel like children playing around?
No, it was even weaker than that. When kids hit people, they didn't know how to hold back—that stuff hurt.
But the bunny girl's punch felt more like playful coquettishness.
It didn't hurt at all.
"Come on, come on!"
While Duanmu Huai was utterly confused, the bunny girl hopped backward a few steps after punching him, bouncing up and down as she called out to him.
What does this mean? She punched me once, so I'm supposed to punch her once too?
What kind of turn-based system is this?
...…
Bunny-Bunny is so cute. If I punch her, she'll probably cry for a long time.
Duanmu Huai silently took out the whip.
Alright…
Be careful. Don't use too much force…
Then—
He swung the whip.
The black whip cut through the air like an afterimage. The next moment, the ground at the bunny girl's feet exploded.
With a scream, the bunny girl collapsed to the ground and—
Passed out.
"…So weak!"
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai was speechless.
He hadn't even hit her, alright?
And she still fell over.
So weak…
No wonder she was the lowest-level girl-type monster.
Anyway, since he'd already attacked her, he might as well capture her.
With that thought, Duanmu Huai walked over to the unconscious bunny girl, took out the binding rope, and flipped open the illustrated guide.
"Let me see how this is tied… damn it, why is this so complicated? Can't I just tie the hands and feet and be done with it? What the hell is OO-binding? And what the hell is XX-binding? Why is tying a knot this exhausting…!"
While cursing nonstop, Duanmu Huai followed the guide step by step. After quite a bit of effort, he finally finished bundling the bunny girl up.
"Phew… this is exhausting."
Standing up, Duanmu Huai looked at the bunny girl, who was now tied up like a crab, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Why was tying her up more tiring than fighting?
Next…
Let me see what the tutorial says.
Take the bound girl-type monster back home and perform the contract ritual…
Alright then.
Duanmu Huai silently picked up the tied-up bunny girl.
No matter what, it was still a gain.
He'd bring her back first and give it a try.
(End of Chapter)