Chapter 101: Kappa House

Two days before the date, I completely lost my concentration on making magic staff and couldn’t get anything done, so I went to visit Mamono-kun at his house. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all if I didn’t do something to distract myself before the big day.

Mamono-kun’s house, Kappa House, is located in Wakaba City (formerly Mizuho Town). Since it’s next to Ome City, the access from Okutama is quite convenient. Mamono-kun warmly welcomed me when I arrived late at night, hidden from view, thanks to the spider witch’s transportation.

“Good evening. Sorry for barging in so late at night like this.”

“Oh no, not at all. I was working late anyway. Please, come in, come in. Let me introduce you to the monsters in my home.”

Wearing an apron over pajamas and a proper kappa mask, Mamono-kun ushered me into Kappa House, a bizarrely designed building clearly inspired by a kappa.

Since I was told I didn’t need to take off my shoes, I stepped in still wearing them. Right at the entrance, there were two perches where a sparrow and a swallow slept soundly. On a larger perch was a massive bird with two pairs of yellow and orange wings.

“Whoa, it’s huge! What kind of bird is that? A phoenix?”

“That’s Sacchan the Thunderbird. She’s a monster that mutated from the Earth-native condor species. She competed with and drove the original species to extinction and now dominates its niche. Monsters that have completely replaced Earth-native species like this are called ‘replacement species’ in technical terms. She’s classified as Class C-2.”

“Hoooh…”

“And do you recognize these? This is a Pouch Sparrow and a Pouch Swallow.”

While I stared at the Thunderbird, who was sleeping with her beak nestled into her chest feathers, Mamono-kun continued introducing the sparrow and swallow.

The chubby, round sparrow was a Pouch Sparrow, a classic monster I was familiar with—Hiyori used to keep one for a while.

But the swallow was unfamiliar. All I knew was that they were used for postal delivery.

“I know the Pouch Sparrow, but I’ve never seen the swallow before. Is it a recently popular monster?”
“Recently… yeah, you could say that. The Pouch Swallow is actually a man-made species created through selective breeding using the Pouch Sparrow. I believe Hokkaido Monster University developed it about 15 years ago. They used arousal magic to create combinations that normally couldn’t reproduce. While retaining the obedience of the Pouch Sparrow, their flight speed has greatly improved. They’re mainly used in express mail services. They can defend themselves to some extent, and the loss rate for packages is low. However, since their pouch has less capacity than the Pouch Sparrow, they’re not suitable for carrying large cargo.”

“Wow… Oh, you’ve got a ton of certificates there. Have you won lots of contests or something?”

I pointed to the certificates framed and hung on the wall of the entrance, and Mamono-kun chuckled.

“Just ‘Mamono-kun’ is fine. Those aren’t awards—they’re licenses and permits. From left to right, a Class C handling permit, a Class B handling permit, a Class C-4 breeding license, a diploma from Hokkaido Monster University, a certificate for keeping monsters in urban areas… Various things, but basically, they’re all necessary for keeping, breeding, and training monsters.”

“So you really do keep a lot of them?”

“Right now, I’ve got about 80 species, around 300 individuals.”

“That’s insane…! Can you even manage your mana with that many gremlin implants?”

Even the weakest monster, the Pouch Sparrow, needs a 2K gremlin implant. For 80 species, that’s at least 160K. Even if Mamono-kun has more mana than the average person, that’s still a huge drain.

“It’s commonly believed that gremlin implants are necessary to bond with monsters. But once you get past their wariness or hostility and form a bond, you don’t need to keep the implant in. You implant it, drain your mana, form a bond, then remove it and restore your mana… repeat the process, and you can manage just fine. Actually, I don’t have a single implant in place right now. Not many people go through repeated implantation and removal like I do, though.”

Mamono-kun tilted his beak upwards slightly, looking proud.

I see. He’s basically doing the same thing I did when I removed the gremlins after befriending the Fire Lizards.

Even Mokutan, who is the child of a witch and has human-level intelligence, got uneasy when I removed my gremlin. Keeping up a relationship with wild-born monsters without a gremlin implant is no easy feat.

Doing that with 80 species and 300 individuals—Mamono-kun operates on a whole other level. He’s seriously impressive.

Apparently, the entrance was the bird section. Besides the three birds I saw, there was also an Earth Molebird, a Class B-2 bird, but it was burrowed underground asleep, so I didn’t get to see it.

I tiptoed around carefully, since Molebirds get grumpy if you stomp or shake the ground near their nest. The ecology of monsters is complex and mysterious—ignoring expert instructions could cost you your life.

After admiring a hallway filled with detailed sketches and descriptions of historical Class A-1 monsters (I grinned when I spotted the Great Kaiju and Daidarabotchi), we moved to the greenhouse.

It was dark because it was night, but faint blue-white will-o’-the-wisps floated around, softly lighting the space.

Ghost-types…? At the very least, these would be Class B-3. They’re intangible, can pass through physical barriers—basically roaming freely in this greenhouse. Is that really safe?

Maybe my doubts showed on my face, because Mamono-kun cheerfully pulled a bone from his pocket and waved it to entice the will-o’-the-wisp.

“Don’t worry. He’s technically Class B-3, but his threat level is more like Class C-3. Normally he just feeds off magical energy naturally emitted by corpses. As long as you’re not gravely injured, he won’t try to suck out your mana or life. He’s harmless to healthy people.”

“Then… it’s safe?”

“You just can’t keep them within 200 meters of a hospital. But as long as you follow the rules, there’s no problem.”

Mamono-kun handed me a fresh bone and let me feed the will-o’-the-wisp. It was wary of me and didn’t come close, but when Mamono-kun lit a lantern and did a bizarre little dance, the creature relaxed, approached the bone, absorbed something from it, and floated away, satisfied.

“Looks like he’s full. You saw how he drifted away vertically instead of sideways? That’s a sign he’s in a good mood. Adorable, isn’t he?”

“Huh, kind of like how Fire Lizards start headbanging when you hit them with a gas burner. Those weird quirks really do make them cute.”

“You mean a Charmander?”

“Ah, never mind that. By the way, what kind of bone is this? A cow? It kinda looks human…”

“It’s a human bone.”

“A HUMAN bone!?”

He answered so casually I shrieked and dropped the bone.

Mamono-kun caught it with an “Oops!” but—why are you so calm!? That’s human remains! Why would you hand me something like that!?

“It’s okay. It’s my bone.”

“HOW IS THAT BETTER!? That’s even worse!”

“No no, it’s not that bad. Not common, sure.

But you know, some monsters just really prefer human flesh or bones. It’s just like us craving BBQ or ramen—maybe not essential, but definitely tempting. So sometimes I cut off small parts of myself—nothing that can’t be healed with magic—and use that to make food. I’m not inconveniencing anyone else, right? So it’s fine, right?”

“I… wait, huh? I guess… if that’s how it is?”

Now I was just confused.

At first, Mamono-kun had seemed like a totally normal, reasonable guy.

But the more he talked, the more his eccentricities came out. He’s a total weirdo after all!

“Sorry for startling you. I assumed you’d be the type who’s okay with this kind of stuff.”

“Ah, you can just call me Dairi. And I dunno, I get told I’ve got weird tastes too, but I guess I’m average when it comes to splatter horror…? Although, dying doesn’t scare me much. My girlfriend killed me once, and I was just like, ‘well, that happened.’”

“…I see. Just in case, let me say this—it’s probably best not to talk about resurrection magic publicly. It’ll just cause unnecessary trouble. The Blue Witch will likely make a formal announcement eventually, right?”

“Ah. Yeah, sorry, let’s keep that between us.”

“Sigh… Dairi-san, do people often tell you that you lack a sense of danger?”

“Wow, how’d you guess!?”

I was genuinely shocked by his sharp observation.

Seems like Mamono-kun also has a good eye for people. Elementals really are amazing. He’s not a kappa for nothing.

After the greenhouse, Mamono-kun showed me various monsters kept in different environments—like ponds, tanks, flower beds, darkrooms, and wind tunnels. Most of them were diurnal and asleep, but there were some nocturnal ones, and I even got to interact with a few. There was one experience I had to turn down, though—licking a gremlin to bond with a snail monster. That was a hard no for me. Still, I learned a lot.

The reference room was fascinating too. It felt like a natural history museum, lined with monster specimens, including a poorly made stone statue of a witch with eyeballs and a model recreation of a giant monster.

Finally, Mamono-kun showed me the grand enclosure. The entire great hall had been turned into a cage, and inside was a grotesque monster that had the upper half of a horse and the lower half of a middle-aged man. It wandered around aimlessly. It looked like leftover parts from a centaur slapped together. LAME.

“That is Centaur Amari. Among the ones I can show you, he’s the most dangerous Class Otsu-1 monster.”

“So he is made from leftover centaur parts, huh?”

The bizarre monster—like a horse’s upper body stuck onto a human man’s lower half—clomped toward Mamono-kun, who was holding a lantern.

It snorted heavily, pushed its face up against the iron bars, and glared at me while snuffling. I took a step back, instinctively recoiling from the middle-aged-man-smelling breath. What the hell is this thing?

Mamono-kun gently stroked Centaur Amari’s snout and began explaining.

“He’s excited to see someone unfamiliar. But Centaur Amari is a smart monster. He’s been trained not to attack visitors, so he won’t attack you, Dairi-san.”

“Oh, uh, that’s good to hear—”

“FUGA!!”

Just as I started to feel relieved, Centaur Amari bared his fangs.

A horse with carnivorous teeth!?

Centaur Amari bit through the iron bars and Mamono-kun’s hand, then began chewing it all up like it was nothing.

I screamed, but Mamono-kun, still calm, used his severed hand to tickle the monster’s chin.

Now’s not the time for that!! Your blood’s spurting out like a fountain!

“Oh dear, he’s really excited. It’s okay~ You’re not scary~ There, there, there.”

“HEALING MAGIC!!”

“Oh, there’s a healing magic scroll by the entrance. Could you grab it for me? Sorry to trouble you~”

Following Mamono-kun’s calm instruction, I sprinted to the entrance, yanked open a box with a red cross, grabbed the scroll, and rushed back to the grand enclosure.

Warm light from the scroll instantly regenerated Mamono-kun’s missing hand.

He thanked me as I trembled in fear, then turned to look at Centaur Amari—now squatting in the corner doing squats—with the gentle eyes of a father doting on his playful child.

“He knows he can bite me and it’s fine. He’s just being affectionate. Isn’t he adorable~!”

“Adorable!? He bit through an iron cage! What’s the point of the cage!?”

I pointed at the iron bars, still bearing sharp bite marks.

What happened to safety? That weird-looking monster really is a Class Otsu-1 threat. An iron cage doesn’t feel reassuring at all.

I thought it was a perfectly valid concern—but Mamono-kun remained unfazed. As he wiped the splattered blood with a towel, he calmly explained.

“Monsters that attack people are normally supposed to be put down. Even if the human was 100% at fault. This cage isn’t to protect humans from monsters—it’s to protect monsters from humans. That’s why it’s fine as it is.”

“…Eh?”

“Besides, it was our fault for riling him up. If a strange monster suddenly entered your home, you’d try to drive it off too, right? Centaur Amari just did what anyone would do.”

“Y-Yeah? Maybe…?”

Was he explaining Centaur Amari’s nature to me, or was I just getting talked into accepting this? I wasn’t sure anymore.

Still, despite being introduced to so many monsters, I hadn’t been attacked once. Mamono-kun’s words carried a certain weight.

Even the angel on my shoulder was now shoving a battered Iruma into an incinerator and whispering, “He keeps dangerous monsters, but since the only one getting hurt is Mamono-kun, it’s technically fine.”

Guess it is fine, then.

Mamono-kun suggested I try feeding Centaur Amari some carrots, but after just witnessing that splatterfest, I wasn’t about to do it with my own hands. I watched from a safe distance as he fed the monster.

Strangely, Mamono-kun seemed to appreciate my hesitant attitude.

Apparently, most people either panic and run off or spit in outrage that such a dangerous creature should be put down. A little nervousness like mine was actually rare.

Well, honestly, I think those people are the more sensible ones.

But maybe because I had my tail set on fire by a baby fire lizard once, I’ve always had this understanding deep down that raising monsters comes with risk.

Sure, I still think Centaur Amari is terrifying—but more than that, I just can’t help but think: Mamono-kun is freaking amazing.

By the time we finished feeding Centaur Amari, the sky had already started to brighten. The Spider Witch was scheduled to come pick me up around dawn, so I told Mamono-kun it was time for me to leave.

Mamono-kun was a good guy—he gave me a monster tour all the way until morning, even though I’d shown up in the middle of the night. Sure, I caught glimpses of his more dangerous side, but there was no doubt he was a good guy.

I thanked Mamono-kun as he came to see me off at the entrance.

“Thanks for today. I had a blast. I mean, a lot of things… happened, but still. Next time, why don’t you come over to my place? I’ll give you a tour of my workshop.”

“Oh? I’d love that. Actually, back when I wasn’t sure I could make a living studying monsters, I considered becoming a staff craftsman.”

“Ahh, so that’s why the craftsmanship on your costume was pretty solid? It’s a bit rough around the edges, but I thought the basic techniques were there. Then maybe tomorrow—wait, no, I’ve got a date. But three or four days from now? Anytime after that is fine. I’ll clear the Mist of Confusion so you can get through.”

We were about to part ways with polite bows when Mamono-kun suddenly stopped me, his kappa face unusually serious.

“May I ask you something? Dairi-san, do you believe that all monsters and humans can coexist?”

“Probably not.”

I answered without hesitation, and Mamono-kun’s kappa face turned a bit sad.

Huh? I think I might’ve been misunderstood a little.

I figured I should explain my thoughts in more detail.

“Uh, so, here’s the thing. I’m human, right? But even humans can’t fully coexist with each other. Biologically speaking, once our territories overlap, it’s just not gonna work. Too stressful. If humans can’t even coexist properly with other humans, I don’t see how it’d work with monsters. But if you keep some distance, you can still communicate—like through letters. You can create and sell things via intermediaries, contribute to society that way. I mean, I’m here talking to you just fine, Mamono-kun, so it’s not like all humans are hopeless. It’s like, when you think about it on the level of “humanity” as a whole, coexistence seems impossible. But if it’s one-on-one, person to person, then it is possible. Maybe it’s a matter of scale. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, while humanity and monsters as a whole might not be able to coexist, you and Centaur Amari definitely can. Does that make sense?”

I wasn’t sure if I’d explained it well.

When I looked at him, Mamono-kun smiled brightly.

“Yes. I understand perfectly. I’m glad to know that’s how you think, Dairi-san. Next time you come by, I’ll show you the basement too.”

“Oh, now I’m looking forward to that.”

We shook hands with big smiles and wrapped up my first-ever house visit feeling completely satisfied. That was some good communication.

The last time I had this much fun visiting someone’s place was with Hiyori and Ohinata.

Looking back, the whole night felt thrilling in a way.

A little too thrilling—I half-expected the cops or an ambulance to show up at some point.

Well, it is what it is.

I’ll pray to the Divine Octameteorite that Mamono-kun doesn’t end up accidentally getting arrested over some monster incident. I really don’t want to be that guy commenting, “Yeah, I always figured it would happen eventually.”

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