Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Leaving the Cave

I had power. That was good and all, but I had no choice but to accept that my current situation was extremely dire. It had already been three days since I had a proper meal. It was good news that my wounds were healed, but at the rate things were going, I was going to slowly starve to death.

“Hey, Lily. I need to secure food and water. Can you do anything about that?”

In response, I felt Lily’s will telling me, “Certainly,” in my mind.

I see. This is convenient. Is it some form of telepathy? I can feel a connection between us, like some sort of “mental path.”

In any case, it seemed something could be done about my needs. I had basically thrown that question out there without expecting anything to come from it. This was a pleasant surprise.

“Okay, then could you get something ready right away?” I cheerfully asked.

Lily gave an “affirmative” through our mental path and stretched out a feeler toward me. It shone with an aqua-colored light.

“Huh?”

Water-attributed magic activated, and a large quantity of water poured down atop my head.

“...”

The sound of water splashing across the ground echoed throughout the cave. Despite being indoors, I was drenched head to toe, as if I was out in the rain. I ended up standing stock-still as I watched droplets of water drip from my bangs. Lily’s gelatinous body shook about in a somehow triumphant manner.

“Okay. You’re really talented, Lily.”

There was no mistaking this fact. However, it seemed we needed to spend some time on understanding each other a little more. First, I needed to get across that humans couldn’t absorb water through their heads.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Achoo!”

I warmed my body by a bonfire while stuffing my cheeks with a whole roasted skink on a stick. My talented partner and guard Lily helped me forage for dry sticks to use as kindling, as well as a number of these small lizards for food.

My soaked school blazer had dried, and my belly was full. I had an abundance of water at my beck and call. Meaning, now I had to decide on what to do next.

“What do I even start with?”

The first thing that came to mind was securing my own safety. In this case, it meant finding a means of protecting myself from potentially hostile monsters as well as from the students who came to this world with me.

Lily was extremely talented. Her—it was bothersome to skirt around it, so I decided to refer to her as a girl—ability to use magic was a tremendous boon. She apparently specialized in water and wind magic. It was somewhat outside the norm for a slime to be able to use magic. I’d never heard of such a thing while I was at the Colony.

However, as a result of asking her several questions, I determined that Lily was unfortunately not a particularly strong monster. From purely the perspective of combat potential, she was apparently a low-ranked monster among those in the forest.

Even so, it didn’t mean Lily was just some trash mob. I was able to grasp her nature through our mental path, which indicated that she was a monster called a mimic slime. Her special ability was mimicry. Simply put, she could transform into anything she ate. I was quite surprised when I had asked her what she was capable of and she responded by transforming into a skink.

If she were to eat a monster who specialized in combat, she could power up by mimicking it. However, to do that, she had to start by defeating a powerful monster. It was a bit of a dilemma. Having said that, this was only the case before she became my servant. There were multiple ways of accomplishing this now.

“Alright, Lily. I’m going to gather more servants. Please lend me a hand.”

I could enhance our combat potential by acquiring more servants. I believed this to be the natural course of action to take. Lily would have to fight while protecting me if she were on her own. But with another servant available, one of them could be assigned as my guard. The simple act of multiplying our forces was advantageous, and above all else, it allowed for Lily to become stronger by eating a more powerful monster if we could defeat it by combining our powers.

Besides, just taking the future into consideration, there was meaning behind gathering more servants. That’s because I believed my ability to tame monsters was inferior to the abilities of the other cheaters. Those of the exploration team who used cheats could easily kick about the monsters in the forest. While I relied on monsters to fight, it put me at a disadvantage against other cheaters. My only choice was to make up for quality with quantity. In that sense, having more servants was indispensable.

I was worried whether I would actually be able to tame them properly, but there was no other choice but to give it a try.

“...Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll go well.”

Perhaps having sensed my anxiety, Lily brought her over-two-meter-tall body closer and gently patted me with her silky surface. Apparently, the mental path transmitted my emotions to her to a certain extent. And in return, I could feel her sense of concern for me.

It seemed that Lily was earnestly thinking about me now that she had become my servant. This made me happy, even if those feelings were born of my cheat to begin with. A warmth filled my heart. I wasn’t alone. I surely wouldn’t have felt like this if a human was with me. That’s because I never knew what they were ultimately thinking.

“I’ll need to stay in hiding for a bit.”

I enjoyed poking the springy surface of Lily’s body for a while as I muttered to myself. It was fine for me to run around and stock up on strength for now.

“There’s one problem though... I’m not convinced my cheat will activate when facing off against a monster...”

The cheaters of the exploration team all naturally understood what kind of abilities they possessed. I was the same in this regard. I had no worries whatsoever concerning Lily. The fact that I didn’t share the same conviction when it came to taming other monsters meant it was completely unknown territory to me.

“Although... I won’t get anywhere by hiding in this hole forever.”

There was a need for me to be somewhat proactive.

◆ ◆ ◆

I left the cave with Lily in tow as the thick scent of trees and earth tickled my nose. I was accustomed to this smell after spending a month in the forest, but I had forgotten about it over the last few days. That’s because my nose was blocked up by congealed blood and wasn’t working after getting beaten up.

We began by searching the immediate area. The cave I found was a tiny hole on the side of a small hill. The surrounding area was lush with greenery, and the cave itself afforded a poor view of its surroundings. That also meant it was difficult to find. It was probably fine to use that cave as our base for the time being.

“...Found one.”

After an hour of investigating the area, we happened across a monster. A life-sized puppet made of wood was wandering around the area. We called this monster a magical puppet. It was the most common monster within the forest.

Much like Lily, magical puppets possessed a special ability of their own. It could pretty much be summed up as the ability to manufacture magical goods. The puppets themselves were armed with wooden weapons and armor, and these were enhanced using magic. They were astonishingly sturdier than steel.

These armaments were actually the main equipment used by the cheaters of the exploration team. The acquisition of weapons and armor was a primary concern for the team when exploring the forest and fighting monsters. They couldn’t go on fighting barehanded forever.

If this were a video game, any old monster would likely have a chance of dropping a weapon. Unfortunately, this was reality, and it wasn’t that convenient. Magical puppets were an exception, however. If defeated carefully, it was possible to take the weapons and armor they were using. As a result, the magical puppets in the area around the Colony were hunted to extinction in a frenzy to acquire equipment. The one before me was likely a survivor of said hunts.

“It’s looking good.” I slapped Lily’s body as she sat next to me. “Let’s get us a weapon.”

The magical puppet was equipped with a spear and buckler. Setting aside whether Lily was capable of using such a weapon, it wouldn’t hurt to have such tools available to us. The only thing left to do was to see whether or not I could successfully tame it.

For now, I made preparations based on the assumption that this would become a fight. We went around in the direction the magical puppet was going to cut it off. It was good fortune we found it before it noticed us. This way we could check whether I could tame it without having to suffer a surprise attack.

It might have been better for us to scrupulously plan our every move under the assumption that a battle would break out. However, I possessed no such knowledge. Besides, be it by good or bad fortune, I didn’t possess many tricks in my hand to play. Thus, I didn’t have the leisure to formulate any manner of complex plan. The only thing I could do was resolve myself.

I gritted my teeth, suppressed my fear, and started the operation.

“Hey! You there! Look over here!”

I jumped out of my hiding spot and got its attention by shouting at it. The magical puppet turned toward me.

“—!”

And in an instant I knew this wasn’t going to work. My senses were telling me that this one wasn’t going to obey me. In other words, this was our enemy.

The magical puppet fiercely dashed toward me.

“...Tch.”

This was a tough situation. I was assaulted by fear toward an enemy I could never defeat. I grit my teeth and pushed down my dread. The strength which gave me the ability to do so was surely what people called trust.

“Do it! Lily!”

The charging magical puppet was struck by a water bullet fired from the side. Splinters of wood flew through the air along with one of its arms.

Lily didn’t move particularly fast for a monster, but it wasn’t all that difficult for her to assault an enemy who had been struck by a surprise attack. Her gelatinous mass crushed down on the magical puppet, and its wooden body began creaking.

“Alright! We got it!” I cheered joyfully.

However, it wasn’t going to go that smoothly. The magical puppet didn’t drop its spear when it was struck, and it used it to stab Lily’s body.

“Gaah?!”

The spear pierced through Lily with a splash as liquid came flying out. The pain I could sense through my mental path with her felt like an unpleasant scratching on my consciousness.

“Lily!”

A second and third time. The magical puppet continued to gouge its spear into Lily’s body. She was apparently unable to use magic while holding down her enemy and continued to eat more strikes. Each time the spear pierced her, liquid shot out and wet the ground.

Lily really wasn’t a monster suited for battle. Her feelers wrapped around the puppet’s arm to try and stop its attacks, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the spearpoint from repeatedly puncturing her body.

Lily’s digestive fluids were eating away at the magical puppet’s body. With such a large form crushing down on it, the cracks which ran down its body from the initial attack were spreading. However, it was possible that Lily wouldn’t be able to hold out until it died. I couldn’t just watch from the sidelines.

“You bastard! Just die already!”

I roared at the puppet and rushed toward the grappling monsters. Lily was my only means of combat—and my last ray of hope. I wouldn’t be able to do anything if I lost her here. But that wasn’t all. The logical part of me saw her as such and decided to take action, but I also possessed a pure fear of losing her.

I don’t want to be alone anymore. I can’t stand it.

The curtain was supposed to come down on the last act of my life, but Lily gave me one last hope. I couldn’t possibly lose her, even if it meant exposing myself to danger.

“Uoooh!”

I grabbed the shaft of the spear with all my might. The combination of Lily’s strength and my measly muscles was just able to stop the spear’s movements. We would have likely both been dead if we hadn’t managed to blow off one of its arms with our surprise attack. Our luck had yet to run out. It was up to us to determine whether our good fortune would continue.

“Come on! Come on! Die! Die! Just die already!”

I repeatedly kicked the magical puppet’s head, but it was completely unfazed by my efforts.

Goddamn it!

The most I could do was help hinder its movements. Victory was ours if we were able to maintain this equilibrium. Lily’s attack was slow but effective. However, were we truly able to keep this up?

I desperately shook off the weak-willed thought encroaching on my mind.

It’s alright. We’ll definitely win.

It was a miscalculation that Lily’s physical strength was weaker than anticipated, but we still had the advantage here. This was the do-or-die moment. We just had to combine our strength to defeat the enemy before us. But just then...

“...Oh.”

My thoughts froze over completely. A new magical puppet had shown itself from behind a row of trees. This one was armed with an axe and a shield, and its featureless face was clearly pointed right at us.

“You’re kidding me...”

My throat felt completely dry. What bad timing. I generally considered myself to have poor luck, but this was far too cruel. We had no means of dealing with a second enemy. It took everything we had just to handle the magical puppet Lily was taking on right now. That being said, even if I let go of the spear and took on the new enemy, I wouldn’t even be able to buy us time.

Do we run away? But that’ll be tough. Lily isn’t that fast, and I’m no better. There’s no way we can get away from these monsters. What do I do? What can I even do...?

As I continued to grope for a nonexistent answer, the new magical puppet charged in. It was even faster than the one we attacked and had closed a distance of more than 10 meters in a flash.

“Lily! Take it down!”

Lily complied with my command and sent forth several feelers to intercept it. In hindsight, this was a poor move.

“Wh-Whoa?!”

The magical puppet we were pinning down managed to pull the spear out of Lily’s body by taking advantage of her grip loosening when she attacked the new enemy. As a result, the spear was yanked out while I was still holding onto it, and I was thrown to the ground where I landed on my back.

“...!”

I reflexively shut my eyes, and when I opened them once more, a wooden spearpoint was hanging right above me. The expressionless face of the magical puppet who was being crushed was looking down on me.

The spearpoint descended. Lily wrapped her feelers around the shaft to try and stop it.

She’s not going to make—?!

Wooden splinters scattered to the ground.

A life was taken.

The sounds of battle ceased.

The forest was silent once more.

“...Wh-What... happened...?”

I saw the spear planted in the ground just a few centimeters from my face, and a cold sweat ran down my cheek. My brain spun its wheels trying to get a grip on the situation. The scene before my eyes just didn’t make sense. The head of the magical puppet who was trying to stab me was pulverized to bits.

I could tell something came flying toward it. But that was as far as I got in figuring it out. I then heard the sound of something cracking and tearing apart. I turned to look at the noise and spotted a large battleaxe sticking out of a tree. The axe went halfway through its trunk, causing it to tear apart and come down.

“...”

I put my hand to the moist ground and sat myself up. A white light immediately wrapped itself around my body and healed the minor wounds I got from falling to the ground. This was Lily’s healing magic. No matter how I looked at it, she should have been healing herself before tending to me, but I decided to inform her of such afterward.

I took a look around us. There was one other monster next to me aside from Lily. It was the magical puppet who was wielding an axe and shield—not that it had its axe in hand. And this one was kneeling before me.

“...Don’t scare me like that.”

I grumbled a complaint and felt a sense of bewilderment from the magical puppet. It was the same type of connection I shared with Lily. If this phenomenon was common to all my servants, then I could apparently tell at a glance whether a monster had become my servant. Under the condition I could calmly assess the situation, that is.

This information was a great harvest. But that wasn’t the greatest outcome from this incident, of course.

After letting out all the strength in my body, I collapsed to the ground.

It seemed I made it through my first battle. And not only that, I managed to obtain a reassuring ally.