Tentacle Monster Conquest Manual

The cheerful little girl left the room with a lively back view as she walked briskly. Mu Xiaoxiao's lips twitched, then she got up to change her clothes and followed her out. The lovely girls were already sitting at the table, where a sumptuous breakfast was steaming hot.

Rena is adding rice to her bowl.

"Xiaoxiao, go wash up quickly, dinner is coming soon."

Rena wasn't wearing her usual school uniform; instead, she was dressed in a casual long jumpsuit. It was unclear whether she had dressed up carefully or not, but she didn't need to. Her evolution had brought Rena to her most perfect state, and there was no difference between her bare face and her made-up face.

"Mother--"

Reina watched as Xiaoxiao entered the bathroom. Suddenly, her daughter's voice rang out from the window. It was Nino, who was leaning on the windowsill looking outside. The little girl saw a luxury car parked outside the old apartment building and immediately called out to her mother, "It looks like Uncle Nakano! He's here to visit us—"

"Nakano?"

Rena's gaze lingered on the bathroom, then she turned to the outside with a puzzled look. She walked to the window and, sure enough, saw a luxury car parked in front of her house. She recognized it as Nakano Maruo's car, and sure enough, a handsome man with dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep got out of the car.

He looked up and met Lingna's gaze through the window. He paused for a moment, then nodded and stepped into the apartment.

"Teacher Lingna, it's been a while."

“Yes, but Nakano, what brings you here today?” As her student, Rena welcomed the man into her apartment without feeling inferior, and Nakano Maruo did not discriminate against his teacher because of this.

Rather, he respected this teacher from his student days, and even harbored special feelings for him, a fact that Rena was well aware of.

Nakano Maruo nodded kindly to Reina-sensei's daughters, "Can't I come to see my teacher?"

"I didn't say that. Of course I'm happy you could come, but..."

Rena's expression was strange. Nakano Maruo knew about her recovery. When she fell ill, this former student helped her a lot and even wanted to arrange for her to stay at his family hospital. Rena was too embarrassed to trouble Nakano, so she asked her best friend to take her to Nishikino Hospital.

However, although Nakano Maruo seems a bit cold, he is indeed a good person. When she was seriously ill and bedridden, Rena had thought that she would entrust her daughters to Nakano after she passed away. But plans don't always go as expected. Who would have thought that I would meet Xiaoxiao and recover so well?

But this makes it even harder to accept Nakano's feelings. I met with Nakano Maruo when I was discharged from the hospital, and I thought he had given up, but now it seems...

“I came to see you, teacher. Although the doctor’s diagnosis is fine, I’m still worried about your health,” Nakano Maruo said as he entered the house, ignoring the breakfast on the table and staring intently at Reina.

She looked at him with a questioning gaze, "I was relieved to see you still so healthy, teacher."

After saying that, she smiled meaningfully, "Not only that, she's even younger and more beautiful than before."

This isn't flattery, it's the truth. To be honest, when I saw Rena-sensei, Nakano Maruo couldn't believe that this radiant and beautiful woman was the same person who had been lying in bed looking emaciated. The change was too great!

The man was surprised and then felt a sense of disorientation, as if he had returned to his childhood. When he first saw Teacher Lingna, she was still so elegant and beautiful, and now she no longer had that scumbag Mudo by her side.

Rena-sensei is even more charming now.

His heart stirred, and his passion reignited—

But the next second...

"Rena, is there a guest? I heard an unfamiliar voice, huh?" Mu Xiaoxiao, who had just finished washing up in the bathroom, met a pair of surprised eyes. Nakano Maruo had just thought that Rena-sensei had finally gotten rid of the scumbag and was free.

What, what happened to another one...?

Who is this guy? Why is he at Reina-sensei's house? What's their relationship with that overly familiar tone? Nakano Maruo, whose expression changed visibly in an instant, had a whole bunch of questions he wanted to ask, but in the end, he only managed to say this one sentence.

"who are you?"

"Big brother is Mom's student, Uncle Nakano," May was a little afraid when facing Nakano Maruo, but she seemed very close to Mu Xiaoxiao, running to the boy's side and taking his hand.

They had only known each other for a day, but in May they became close to Mu Xiaoxiao. Of course, his irresistible charm played a part in this, and the fact that Mu Xiaoxiao was closer in age to them and not as rigid and serious led to different results.

There was nothing particularly metaphorical about it, but it made Nakano Maruo feel a little uncomfortable. As for Mu Xiaoxiao, he pinched May's cheek in annoyance.

"Damn it, I've been demoted in the seniority for no reason. He calls me 'uncle,' but I call him 'brother'?"

"Oh, so I'll call him big brother and uncle too?"

"Never mind, just call me big brother."

As for Nakano Maruo, Mu Xiaoxiao certainly knew this person. If she hadn't appeared, Rena would have entrusted her daughter to this man and then passed away. To be fair, Nakano Maruo was indeed a good man, raising the five little ones with great care and dedication.

Mu Xiaoxiao admired him quite a bit.

"A student?" Nakano Maruo was taken aback.

"Hello, sir, my name is Mu Xiaoxiao, and I am Ling Nai's student—" Mu Xiaoxiao extended her hand to him.

“…Nakano Maruo is also a student of Reina-sensei,” the man shook hands with him, “but as a student, he doesn’t address his teacher as ‘teacher’ but calls her by her first name, which is very disrespectful.”

"???"

Hostile!

Moreover, it was quite hostile. Mu Xiaoxiao exchanged glances with Nakano Maruo, blinked, and then looked at Rena with a tea-tea-like expression, "Isn't this because I left school? I greeted the teachers properly at school, so this didn't violate any school rules."

"This has nothing to do with school rules; it's about showing respect to teachers."

"Then I'll call you teacher when we're out in public too?" Mu Xiaoxiao asked, looking aggrieved.

“Nakano, that’s enough,” the beautiful and gentle red-haired woman interrupted them, shaking her head with amusement and giving Mu Xiaoxiao a charming look. “I told Xiaoxiao to call me that. It’s okay to be a little closer to each other outside of school.”

"..."

Looking at the gentle Yamato Nadeshiko in front of him, Nakano Maruo was stunned. Reina-sensei, you've changed. You weren't like this before. You would never be so close to your students before. Because of the hurt caused by that man Mudou, you always protected yourself with a cold demeanor.

Isolate others.

Now... he actually has such a beautiful smile on his face?

But why is that smile directed at this student instead of me?

Students, teachers?

Wait, does that mean you guys—

Chapter 247 Nakano Maruo finds it hard to accept

Rena invited Nakano Maruo to stay for dinner. After all, he was her student and had helped her a lot. Rena wouldn't treat him like she treated Mudou, but the atmosphere at the table was a bit strange.

The stern-faced Nakano Maruo kept looking at Mu Xiaoxiao with a slightly hostile gaze. He always felt that Mu Xiaoxiao's relationship with Teacher Lingna was unusual, perhaps because the boy's charm made him feel extremely threatened.

Even Ichika and Nino could sense this hostility, so they secretly glanced at Mu Xiaoxiao out of the corner of their eyes, only to find that this older brother didn't care at all. Instead, he sat down cross-legged with a smile, picked up his bowl, and began to devour the food in his mouth.

"Mmm, Rena's cooking is still so delicious! So good!"

"Eat more if you like it," Ling Nai said helplessly, but she was also a little happy. Seeing that Xiao Xiao liked the food she made so much made her feel gratified and satisfied. She couldn't help but tease her, "Xiao Xiao, the way you are makes me wonder if Xia Hai and the others don't usually cook for you?"

"No, their cooking is pretty good too. They prepare lunch for me every day," Mu Xiaoxiao said, wiping her mouth.

Seeing this guy chatting happily with Rena-sensei, Nakano Maruo felt even more unbalanced and more puzzled about their relationship. Rena-sensei had never invited students to her home before, but now... she was even joking!

Maybe I'm overthinking it, or maybe it's just a change that happened after she recovered. Nakano Maruo kept a straight face, but in his heart he kept reassuring himself.

But no matter how he tried to comfort himself, the more he looked at Lingna, the more he felt that the way she looked at this kid was unusual.

"Huh? We were just talking about Xia Hai and the others when the phone rang," Mu Xiaoxiao put down her chopsticks and stood up. "Ling Nai, I'm going to take this call."

"Well, let's go~"

The phone screen showed the caller ID as Sakura Natsumi. Mu Xiaoxiao walked to the balcony and answered, "Natsumi? So early in the morning... Um, I'm at Reina's place..."

The red-haired woman withdrew her gaze, slightly suppressing the smile on her face. She turned to meet the eyes of Nakano Maruo, whose expression had softened somewhat after Mu Xiaoxiao left, but he still maintained that indifferent look, though a hint of tenderness lingered in his eyes as he looked at Rena.

Although it was hidden very well, it was still discovered by Rena, and she sighed a little.

She was grateful for Nakano's help, but this feeling was truly heavy, especially since it involved someone she didn't like...

"Rena-sensei, you and that person—"

"Nakano, it's breakfast time now. It's best not to talk while eating."

But weren't you chatting happily with that Mu Xiaoxiao just now? His fist hardened, his aggression rose, and Nakano Maruo wanted to retort, but Rena's sharp gaze reminded him of the fear he felt during his student days, so he had no choice but to shut his mouth.

Even after becoming the company president, he still didn't dare to speak loudly in front of Reina-sensei, and had to keep all his questions to himself. "Let's talk after we finish eating, Reina-sensei. I want to talk to you alone."

“…Okay,” Reina didn’t want to talk about those heavy topics while her daughters were still here, and she didn’t want to tell them about her ambiguous relationship with Koko yet, worried that her daughters wouldn’t be able to accept it, so she had to avoid them and talk to Nakano alone.

Hopefully, he can give up.

----------

After breakfast, Rena let Xiaoxiao take her daughters to play, while she stayed in the kitchen with Nakano Maruo. When Nakano Maruo saw this beautiful woman with a graceful figure and captivating charm, he was momentarily dazed, as if he could see a scene of himself and her forming a family.

This is Nakano Maruo's dream.

Reina-sensei is such a good woman.

"Let me help you, Reina-sensei—"

“No need, I can do it myself,” she refused Nakano’s help and cleaned up the dishes by herself. She didn’t turn around or look at him, but said as she washed the dishes, “Ichika and the others were here just now, and there were some things… some topics that were not convenient to mention.”

“Nakano, I hope you’ll be more careful next time and not say anything inappropriate in front of my children.”

Nakano Maruo looked surprised. "I understand, I'll be careful, but Reina-sensei, you said 'bad topics'? Do you really... you and that brat...?"

He was a little incredulous and on the verge of losing his composure. He pressed his teacher for an answer in an impatient tone, but Reina didn't turn around, preventing Nakano Maruo from seeing the expression on her face. Her voice, however, remained as calm as ever. Reina readily admitted it.

"Yes, Xiaoxiao and I have the kind of relationship you're thinking of."

Boom————

For Nakano, even though he had already suspected it, the fact that his favorite teacher admitted it was like a bolt from the blue. "It's true! You—Rena-sensei, do you know what you're doing? That person, if he's your student, then he's still a high school student, right?"

"Are you trying to say that I'm an old cow eating young grass?" Ling Nai turned on the tap, finally turned around, and a faint smile appeared on her bright and beautiful face. "Actually, I often feel that way too, but Xiao Xiao doesn't care about that."

“Rena-sensei, you really are something else,” Nakano Maruo clenched his fists, his body trembling. “First it was that Mudou, and now it’s a high school student. You’re always hanging out with some really weird people, teacher.”

"But even if you don't care about the age gap or the opinions of the world, teacher, are you really sure that guy can make you happy? There has already been a painful tragedy. Aren't you going to learn your lesson?"

"Do you think Xiaoxiao is the same as Wutang?"

"...I don't know if he's a scumbag like Wutang, since I don't know him well, but I do know that guy is definitely very popular and must have a lot of women around him who like him."

Nakano Maruo took a deep breath, gradually regaining his composure, and said.

“I see, I understand now,” Ling Nai said, wiping her hands. “Actually, you’re right. Xiao Xiao is indeed very popular with girls, and he has many girls around him. He’s always in ambiguous relationships with them, and he’s even hooking up with more and more women.”

Nakano Maruo's pupils contracted. "If that's the case, then why are you still—Teacher, you should be different from those superficial women. You can't be the kind of person who only cares about appearances!"

"You also think I'm not that kind of woman, so why do you think I'm with him because of Xiaoxiao's appearance?" Lingnai chuckled. "What I like isn't his face, but Xiaoxiao herself."

“As for his womanizing,” Ling Nai said softly, leaning against the stove. “I don’t care about that, as long as he doesn’t abandon me. And I trust him. Although he’s a bit of a womanizer, Xiao Xiao and Wu Tang are not the same kind of people. Comparing them is an insult to Xiao Xiao.”

"..."

Nakano looked at her in disbelief. His teacher was actually protecting that person like this, actually... speaking up for him.

"And there's something you might not know: it's because of Xiaoxiao that I'm standing here. If it weren't for him, I might have died long ago, and you wouldn't be able to see me now. Think about it, so many things have happened."