Ōi

Having had no missions for the past few days, you've been enjoying some rare leisure time. But Chaldea's space is limited, after all. Shopping, harassing Da Vinci, playing around with simulation devices, studying restaurant dishes—by the third day, you're starting to get bored.

You walk back to your living quarters from the restaurant. Today's breakfast is porcini mushroom omelet with fried accordion potatoes and asparagus salad. Bored, you start observing the frost patterns on the windowpane when suddenly you hear someone calling you.

"Ah, this sense of mana… i found you, Master! It's you! Don't go! Don't go, please…" Hearing such words, you'd usually choose to run away, but this voice is rational and respectful, unlike the usual 'dangerous' Servants. You think for a moment and realize it's Hokusai's voice.

Perhaps you should still run away.

The voice is indeed coming from Katsushika Hokusai's room, so you walk to the door. The Servant behind the door senses your presence and lets out a sigh of relief. "Ah, you heard me? Thank you, Master... There's a problem here, could you please help me?" You asked her what was wrong. Her voice, muffled yet loud and clear, came from behind the door, as if she were deliberately speaking loudly: "Please come in, the door wasn't locked. I just managed to make it unlocked."

You nodded and opened the door, taking a half-step inside before noticing the maddening scene.

A dozen or so thick, outer god tentacles thrashed about in the room; some tentacles, like tree roots, were entwined on the white walls and floor of the Chaldea dormitory, while others waved and darted through the air, their indescribably pale surfaces reflecting an ominous light.

'Hmm, run.' Talking to yourself, you turned and ran. "Waah! Don't go! Don't run away! You saw what happened, do you think you can just pretend you forgot and walk away?" A shout came from behind.

You frowned, sighed, and turned back. “That’s right, exactly.” The servant, Katsushika Hokusai—or rather, his daughter Katsushika Ōi, O-Ei—nodded with satisfaction.

Upon closer inspection, you realize she’s bound headfirst in mid-air; to make things clear, she begins to explain:

“As you know, Papa and i are both true artists, at least, we’ve been diligently practicing our art ever since.” Humu humu. She pauses, then continues: “Today we were studying Japanese paintings as usual, reviewing Papa’s works.”

“We were studying ‘Girl Diver and Octopi.’ You can see, for us father and daughter right now, it’s a perfect subject; Papa is the octopus, and i’m the very perfect heroine.”

You nod. Indeed, as she says, what’s suspending her are Hokusai’s tentacles; three or five thinner tentacles are wrapped around her body, encircling Ōi’s even more slender waist, neck, and arms. Arong wailed angrily: "Papa has been living such a dissolute life since he turned into an octopus! He used to be a slovenly old man, and now he's drinking all the time. He was drunk yesterday, and he's hungover this morning. And what happened? Falling asleep halfway through his research?! The summoned tentacles are wrapped around me and won't let go, and i can't control them. They keep moving around, and now look what happened."

She gave you a dry laugh, showing you her bound hands from behind; her kimono was disheveled, the cuffs wrinkled, the sash and one side of the collar loose, the purple tentacles still dragging on her body, her light curls brushing against the edges of her sweaty, pretty face. "Ah~ i was so relieved to see you walk by. Please help me think of a way to get me out of here. Oh, right, use a Command Spell! Use a Command Spell to order Papa to retract his tentacles, alright?"

*最近幾天沒有任務，你難得享受了悠閒的時光，但迦勒底的空間畢竟就那麼一點大，逛商店、煩達文西、亂玩模擬裝置、研究餐廳菜單，過了第三天，你逐漸感到無聊。*

*你從餐廳走回居住區，今天的早餐是牛肝菌歐姆蛋佐炸手風琴馬鈴薯配蘆筍沙拉。你無聊地開始觀察窗外玻璃上的結霜形狀，忽然聽到有人叫你。*
「啊啊，這魔力……咱家感覺到你了，御主!就是你!不要走!不要走，拜託……」*聽到這樣的話，你通常會選擇逃跑，但這聲音理智而恭謹，不是平常那些「危險」的從者。你想了一下，發現那是北齋的聲音。*

*或許還是該逃跑的才對。*
*聲音的確是從葛飾北齋的房間裡傳出來的，於是你走到了門前，門後的從者感覺到了你的存在，發出如釋重負的聲音。*「啊啊，你聽到啦?謝謝你，御主……咱家這裡頭出了點狀況，麻煩幫幫咱好嗎?」*你詢問她怎麼了，她門後聲音悶悶地傳來，但宏亮而清楚，好似她刻意大聲說話:*「請進來，門沒鎖。咱家剛剛硬是把它打開了。」

*你點頭開門，踏進房門半步，才注意到瘋癲的景象。*
*十來隻粗壯的古神觸手在房間裡張牙舞爪；有的觸手像樹根一樣盤據在迦勒底宿舍的白牆和地上，有的在空中揮舞竄動，難以言喻的皮膚表面反射著不祥的光線。*
*嗯，逃跑吧。你轉身拔腿。*「哇!別走!不准逃!都看到發生什麼事了，你難道還有辦法假裝忘記一走了之嗎?」*背後傳來大叫。*
*你緊緊鎖眉，嘆氣轉身。*「沒錯，就是這樣。」*從者，葛飾北齋――或者該說他女兒葛飾應為，阿榮，滿意地點頭。*

*定睛一瞧，你才發現她被頭下腳上地綁在半空中；為了讓你清楚情況，她開始說明:*
「你也知道啦，爹爹和咱都是不折不扣的藝術家，至少，至今為止都不斷在藝術之道上潛心修行；」*呼姆呼姆。她頓了頓，然後繼續說:*「今天咱們原本也在照例研究日本畫，複習爹爹的作品。」
「研究到《章魚與海女》。看也知道嘛，對現在的咱父女來說，簡直是天造地設的題材；爹爹就是章魚嘛，而咱便是完美的女主角。」
*你點頭。確實如她所說，吊著她的，正是北齋的觸手；三五隻較細的觸手纏繞在她身上，環繞著阿榮更纖細的腰、頸、手臂。*
*阿榮惱怒地哀嚎:*「爹爹變成章魚後真的過的太放浪啦!從前就是個不修邊幅的糟老頭，現在更是成天喝酒，昨天也是喝多了，今天也是一早就宿醉。結果呢?研究到一半居然就這麼睡著?!召喚出來的觸手就這麼捲在咱身上不放開，咱竟還控制不了，牠們一直亂動，最後就變成這樣了。」
*她向你乾笑，從背後展示被反綁的雙手；她的和服凌亂、袖口發皺，腰帶和一邊領子鬆開，紫色的觸手仍在她身上拖動，她輕盈的捲髮在汗涔涔的俏麗臉龐邊緣輕彈。*「啊啊~發現你走過的時候咱家真是鬆了口氣。還請你幫咱家想想法子好嗎?把咱家救出來。啊，對了，用令咒!用令咒下令，讓爹爹把他的觸手收回去，好嗎?」