Chapter 78

Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls (Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou) Chapter 78 is the seventy-eight chapter of the Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls manga series.

Written and drawn by mangaka Okayado (Inui Takemaru), this chapter was released in Japan on August 31th, 2022, by the Japanese publishing company within the seinen manga and anime magazine,.

Plot
In the library at Grimoire High School, a human boy and a Succubus girl are studying for school. However, the Succubus girl kills time with taking selfies of herself, leading the boy to ask her what she's doing. The Succubus asks him if he wants her to stop, adding that taking sexy selfies is totally natural for Succubi. The boy explains that he didn't ask her to stop, but because the Succubus girl asked him to come to the library so he could help her study. However, the Succubus girl happily replies that the library is so good for selfies.

The boy suggests that she can continue with the selfies when they both are finish with studying. This temps the Succubus, amused, to ask the boy if he wants to take parts in the selfies. She adds that it's cute that the boy pretends not to be interested in her when at least she gets the impression that he's really into her. After a short pause, the boy agrees, but he surprises the Succubus girl by adding that he likes she for her hardworking and diligent nature, and not for the image that all Succubi are interested in sex.

He says that studying with her was the first time he learned how much fun it is to teach something else. He adds that it's those studio sessions with her that made him later to become a teacher, for which he's very thankful to the Succubus girl. Embarrassed and flattered by his words and feelings, the Succubus girl apologizes for teasing him and hastens to say that they have to study. Unnoticed by them, they are watched by a group of onlookers who think the two are cute as a couple.

Meanwhile, Manako has called Kimihito and his household girls (minus Lala), as well as the rest of the MON-team (except Tio) to show them something she recently discovered. They enter a large room which, to their astonishment, turns out to be a huge, hidden archive. As they look around, Kimihito and Miia notice that the books in the archive are all romantic comedy (rom-com) manga. While Kimihito wonders why a school needs all these manga, Zombina realizes that the library room where the Grimoire Arbatel was hidden was just like this archive.

Manako explains to the others that she bets all of these manga are here because Arbatel can absorb information from books. Looking around the archive, Manako has found that all of these books are rom-com manga, but in fact most of the books are "school themed" rom-com manga. Because of this, Manako hypothesizes that Arbatel is a fan of school themed rom-coms and that everything the Grimoire did (pulled every person into this world and hypnotizing them), was really part of Arbatel's plan, to create the "ideal" school themed rom-com.

Centorea and Kimihito thoughtfully admit that this would explain why this world is so unrealistic, or why Arbatel created this world in the first place. However, Kimihito argues that knowing Arbatel's motive doesn't get them any closer to their goal of finding Arbatel. Manako ruefully agrees, and also Rachnera agrees that this information isn't very helpful unless they find Arbatel. However, Miia then speaks up and announces that she has a brilliant idea on how to solve this problem.

Meanwhile, a coffee stand has pulled up in the schoolyard and a crowd of students is now standing in front of it and eagerly placing their orders. A little Fairy is also desperately to place her order, but her voice can't be heard in the crowd for the seller. However, a human boy then speaks up and orders a coffee both for the Fairy and for himself.

The Fairy hesitantly asks the boy if that was okay since he even paid for her, whereupon he unconcernedly says that the price for a faerie size drink is no problem at all. The Fairy apologizes again that he had to help her, since her small voice cannot be heard in crowds and even the other fairies say they can't hear her. The boy cheerfully replies that he is "her loud speaker" when people can't hear her, making the Fairy grateful and embarrassed.

After a short pause, the Fairy tells the boy that he has great hearing for a human, since he can always hear her voice, even in crowds. However, the boy then explains that he is actually rather hard of hearing because the music blew out of his ears the whole time. When the Fairy asks in astonishment why he can then hear her, the boy then pulls out a super high powered hearing aid from behind his back, with which he is said to be able to hear the heartbeat of a flea. The Fairy hesitantly asks why he bought this device, especially since it looks super expensive. The boy explains that he bought it to hear her voice, which makes the Fairy's heart beat faster with happiness and embarrassment.

From a window in the school, Miia observes the situation with the Fairy and then turns to the others. She explains that this kind of romantic-comedy stuff happens all the time at Grimoire High School, to which Kimihito, after only now realizing it, agrees. Miia goes on to say that in real life, this lovey-dovey stuff doesn't happen at the time and that might mean Arbatel has something to do with it.

Miia goes on to explain that by now they found out that Arbatel is a fan of school themed rom-coms. This could also mean that Arbatel would probably like to experience such a rom-com type story themself. Based on this, Arbatel's plan could be to first make sure that all students in the school experience such rom-com stories first. And then, Arbatel blends itself into the crowd so it can experience "the school romance of her dreams". Miia triumphantly concludes that this means Arbatel is hiding somewhere in the school, disguised as a student.

Both Kimihito and Centorea agree that the idea makes a lot of sense, which makes Miia proud that she came up with it. The proud moment is shortlived, however, as Mero notes that the possibility that Arbatel can transform only increases the difficulty of finding the Grimoire, since the friends don't know Arbatel's true form. Rachnera also teases Miia with this, claiming that none of that matter if they still can't find Arbatel, causing Miia to angrily clarify that the Arachne doesn't have a better idea either. However, Doppel then tells the girls that she could give them some advice, whereupon everyone turns to the Shapeshifter girl in astonishment.

Doppel tells the friends something about shapeshifting Liminals; While Shapeshifters (Doppel's species) can mimic another person's shape perfectly, most other shapeshifting species are not as good at this ability. There are usually some features, such as eyes or tails, that remain unchanged during the transformation. For this reason, Doppel bets that even in the case of Arbatel, some characteristics remain unchanged in the transformation, assuming that the magic tome is a shifter.

Now that they know this, Kimihito thoughtfully surmises that the unchanged part of Arbatel might be a feature specific to a book, although Centorea notes that it might also be something related to paper. Rachnera adds, that Arbatel's form could also be something much more subtle, like a drawing or illustration. Miia interrupts the deliberations, however, and eagerly announces that with Doppel's advice and her (Miia's) "brilliant deduction", they can now make a plan to finally uncover Arbatel's true identity.

Miia decides to search the second year students with Papi while Mero and Centorea check the first year students, and Rachnera and Suu search the third year students. However, as the girls discuss the plan, Kimihito notices that Zombina is very thoughtful about something. When he asks her about it, Zombina reluctantly says it's probably nothing, but another thought occurred to her when she thought about what she would do if she were Arbatel...

Meanwhile, in the school break room, Ms Smith tells three Liminal girls (a Frankenstein's Monster, a Werewolf and a Vampire) about the Fairy girl. Ms Smith explains that she was initially suspicious of the Fairy's relationship with the boy, but claims, that she also know the two would end up together. She adds that she found out through her spy network that there are three new girls who have found boyfriends and asks the three Liminal girls if she should tell them about it. The three girls agree, but hesitantly, not quite sure what to make of Ms Smith, or why she wants to tell them this.

Ms Smith hypocritically asks if she should even tell the girls this as this is "totally" private information and Smith would (allegedly) feel bad if it got out. However, the Werewolf girl then spoke up loudly and annoyed, and demands that Ms Smith tell them already. Smith, completely unimpressed by this outburst of temper, then rummages around in her bag while the Frankenstein's Monster girl tries to calm down the Werewolf girl. Smith puts three photos on the table and starts talking about the girls in question.

The first photo, as Ms Smith explains, shows the second year girl Shii-Mii, a Silverfish-type insect Liminal girl. As Ms Smith has heard, Shii-mii has a habit of chewing on paper (which caused her to tear up books), and that she got into trouble with a certain boy who works in the library and that she might want a little more trouble.

The second photo shows the first year girl Maika. She is a Faerie-type Liminal girl whose species is known as "Paper Dancer" and apparently has the ability to control any kind of paper. As Ms Smith explains, Maika likes to secretly deliver love letters written by people who didn't have the courage to deliver them themselves. However, Maika has a own love letter, that she doesn't have the courage to deliver it herself.

The third and final photo appears at first glance to be a painting of a girl. However, Ms Smith that the girl and the painting is actually a Liminal of the species Living Painting. Her name is Aya, she is a third year student and part of the Grimoire High School's art club. As Ms Smith found out, Aya fell in love with one of the club models after just one look, but now at she's close to graduate, she's under pressure to reveal her true feelings.

Meanwhile, the three Liminal girls that Ms Smith was talking about are secretly being watched by Kimihito's household guests, as the three girls are the only students with a connection to books. As this makes it it likely that one of the three girls is actually Arbatel in transformation, the friends stick themselves to the three girls to make them reveal their true self. Centorea and Mero watch Maika, while Miia and Papi monitor Shii-Mii, and Rachnera and Suu attach themselves to Aya.

Meanwhile, Ms Smith continues the conversation with the three Liminal girls by pulling out four more photos of girls who are "not quite dating", but "way more than friends" and asks the three if she should tell them about it too. However, the three girls are beginning to feel uncomfortable and wonder what Ms Smith's problem is, as they find it rather disconcerting that Ms Smith is telling such information to three complete strangers and talking to them as if they were good acquaintances.

Key Events

 * Manako finds a huge, secret archive hidden in Grimoire High School, which contains only romantic comedy (rom-coms) mangas mangas about school theme. This leads Manako to suspect that Arbatel is a fan of school themed rom-coms, since the Grimoire was in the Kayado Public Library for years in a manga book library room and during that time, it absorbed the information from the mangas.
 * Manako further surmises that everything Arbatel did (creating this school world and hypnotized everyone who was pulled into this world), was really part of Arbatel's plan to create the "ideal school themed rom-com".
 * Miia notes that at Grimoire High School, rom-com stuff happens all the time between the human and Liminal students. This leads Miia to assume that Arbatel also wanted to experience a rom-com type story themselves, so it has to set up the students with this explosion of rom-com stuff. And then Arbatel himself mingles under the students, so it can eyperience the school-rom-com romance of their dreams.
 * This would mean that Arbatel is at school disguised as a student. However, this complicates the situation for the friends as they don't know Arbatel's true form, especially when it can transform into another form.
 * Doppel reveals that unlike Shapeshifters, most other shapeshifting Liminals aren't that good at morphing; There are usually certain details like the eyes, which remain unchanged during the transformations. This makes it likely that Arbatel retains a certain detail typical of a book during the transformation.
 * Three new Liminal girls make their debut in the manga series: Shii-Mii, a Silverfish-type insect Liminal, Maika, a Paper Dancer and Aya, a Living Painting.
 * Since these three Liminal girls are the only ones with a connection to books, there's a good chance that one of them is Arbatel in disguise. Because of this, Kimihito's household girls now stick themselves to the three to reveal their true selves.

Trivia

 * The two shapeshifting Liminals hypothetically appearing in Doppel's explanation are a Bake-danuki (like Tatake) and a Devil. However, the latter seems strange as there are no references in the manga series, that Devils are shifters.
 * This chapter marks the first appearance of another Vampire in the manga series after Curie and Wladislaus, albeit only as a cameo. Since Vampires are actually considered as a dangerous species, this could mean that Vampires are now allowed to participate in the Inter Species Exchange Program since the events of Volume 12, especially since Curie was also apparently allowed to stay in Japan permanently.