Shoe Predator（EN） (Pixiv Fanbox)

Once again, Laila is traveling all over the place as an adventurer.

She had found herself caught up in trouble inside a certain dungeon.

“Ugh… I still can’t move…”

Laila’s lower body had been swallowed by a giant monster with a tube-shaped mouth.

She was clinging to the monster’s mouth to steady herself.

At first glance, it looked like she was about to be swallowed whole, but perhaps the monster had no intention of swallowing her any further—it was holding her lower body in its mouth without making any noticeable movements.

Seeing this, Laila already had a pretty good idea of what kind of monster it was.

“…I can’t believe there’s a Shoe Eater in a place like this.”

A Shoe Eater is a monster closely related to the sandworms that inhabit deserts.

It camouflages itself against the ground and strikes from below to capture its prey the moment it passes directly overhead.

However, unlike the original species, they do not consume their captured prey immediately.

Their favorite food was shoes coated with the sebum from human feet.

For this reason, Shoe Eaters were quite troublesome monsters—they would burrow beneath the ground in dungeons like this one, seeking out the shoes worn by adventurers in harsh environments, where sebum had thoroughly soaked in, and steal them.

This particular specimen, currently holding Laila in its jaws, had likely been drawn by the scent of her boots.

“…It’s gross, but I guess I’ll just have to stay still.”

However, their primary prey is strictly shoes; once they’ve finished eating, they naturally spit out the adventurer and wander off.

Therefore, even if you encounter one and get captured, it’s considered best not to attack recklessly but to wait quietly until it finishes eating your shoes.

Laila had heard this advice, which is why she’s reluctantly putting up with the Shoe Eater’s meal.

Munch.

“Ugh…!”

Laila instinctively furrowed her brow at the eerie sound coming from beneath her feet and the sour smell.

Even if it was the best course of action, the idea of her own feet being eaten was far from pleasant.

A yellow-green digestive fluid seeped from the Shoe Eater’s stomach lining, splashing onto Laila’s boots as if aiming directly at them, slowly dissolving them.

“Are you really okay…?”

With a tinge of anxiety, Laila could only watch as her boots were devoured.

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Today, I tried drawing a scene where Laila is swallowed whole.

When it comes to being swallowed whole, it’s great to see the character desperately trying to escape, but I also wanted to see her silently watching herself being digested with a look of humiliation, so I decided to feature the Shoe Eater monster this time.

The inspiration for this monster comes from the “Like Like” monster in The Legend of Zelda. I remembered that it had a habit of eating the protagonist’s shield whenever it swallowed it, which gave me the idea for a monster that eats boots.

I’d love to have the Shoe Eater make more appearances in the future if the opportunity arises.