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[Volume 2 on sale now!]
The real self, unable to be completely hidden away.

Original work: Toboso Yana
Layout: Hazuki Wakana
Illustration: Kowono Sumire

Chapter 15: The oppressive octopus pot **Tried to go with EN's aliteration, with the second meaning of oppressive like gloomy? I don't know if it really works.** / The melancholic octopus pot.

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[Azul's innermost cold memory] **didn't know cold memory was an actual thing in psychology, looked it up because i wasn't sure if i should use 'distant' or 'cold' here.**

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My only place of belonging
Was always inside the octopus pot.

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[Mornin'!]
[We got a test today right?]

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Azul: I gotta hand over my homework.

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Azul:Wah!
Mob: Mooorning! Azul!
Azul: Urgh!
Mob: Eugh!
Azul: It hurts...

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Azul: Wh- What are you doing all of a sudden...!

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Mob: Oh here we go! He's lettin' out the ink!
Mob: Lamezul, lamezul, ink spitting loser! **don;t know if i kept the spirit of the original rhyme/pun lol**
Mob: Hey! You made my fin all dirty!
Mob: Clean it up, chop chop!
Mob: You got all those legs on ya doncha?
Mob: Slowpoke!
Azul: S-stop it...
Azul: Why are you saying all of this...?

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Mob: Wah! Run away!
Mob: He's gonna cover us in ink again!
Mob: Not like he can keep up with us though! Gyahaha!
Azul: [Sniffle sniffle]
Azul: Why is it just me...
[Unlike other mermaids]
[I have legs covered in suction cups]

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[I am withdrawn, unable to even speak clearly.]
[Utterly bad at both studies and sports.]
[---I am]
[Always all alone.]
[The slow, inept little octopus.]

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Mob: When he's around the water gets all muddy.
Mob: I mean, when he cries he spits out ink.
Mob: Even when we play tag he just gets caught right away.
Mob: He's too boring to even play with.

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[If that's the case]
[Just leave me alone]
[Go on and play your little fruitless games running around in circles!]

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[I may not have fins that allow me to swim quickly]
[But]
[I have 10 limbs that I can move freely]
[Those guys have only two hands, I have 5 times as much]
[That I can use to write things down from grimoirs]
[If I need ink to draw magic circles]
[I can produce it at any time]

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[Just wait and see]
[One day, I will definitely]
[Put you airy-fairy mermaidin your place!]

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[Goodbye, Teacher!]
Jade: Oh... He's from our class.
Floyd: Huh? He is?
Jade: Where is he sneaking off to?

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Jade: We have nothing better to do, let's go and see.
Jade: Pardon the intrusion!
Jade: What are you doing by yourself in a place like this? ...Wait...
Floyd: Whoah.
Floyd: Huh~~ It's pretty wide in here!
Azul: [Wh-] Who the hell are you guys!?
Jade: Magic to change species,
Jade: Magic to steal a voice
Jade: You've been researching grimoirs?

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Azul: Don't touch that!
Azul: I'll keep studying
Azul: And grasp power just like the Sea Witch!
Floyd: Whatcha got in here~~?
Azul: Huh!?
Azul: Hey-
Azul: I said wait!

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Floyd: What's this place? It's dirty.
Floyd: It's full'a junk.

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Azul: Nuisances! Get out of here!
Azul: [Geez!]
Floyd: Jade. That octopus's pretty amusing.
Jade: Indeed, Floyd. He's very interesting.

Floyd: [That ended up a good kill-time!]

[And so]
[I continued devoting all of my effort, and after a couple of years passed...]

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Floyd: Hey, didja hear?
Floyd: That chubby mermaid from the other class
Floyd: Got super skinny and got himself a girlfriend.
Jade: And in return
Jade: It seems like the tenor he was so proud of became nothing but a hoarse voice.
Azul: Huuh. Really.
Jade: And the mermaid from the other class that was stressing about their unruly, unkept hair
Jade: Turned up with their hair smooth and silky.
Floyd: And in return
Floyd: They lost their big fin that allowed them to swim fast.
Azul: Uh-huh. I see.

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Floyd: Hey, Azul.
Jade: That was all your doing, wasn't it?

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Azul: ...Mine? What makes you say that?
Jade: That kind of powerful magic
Jade: Is not something those happy-go-lucky fish could even think of using.
Floyd: Octopus-chan. It's you whose been studying magic this whooole time.
Azul: ...Heh.
Azul: Heh heh.
Azul: Heh heh heh!
Azul: Heh hahaha!
Azul: Is that so...

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Azul: I can't believe
Azul: That I've already been found out.
[Rising from the weak to the powerful]