Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 10 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Words I Wanted to Hear ~Shiran’s POV~

“On reconnaissance...?” I asked.

Mana nodded from the chair at my bedside. “Yes. Senpai and Lily went out in the morning.”

“I understand Lily going, but even Takahiro is acting as a scout? Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

“Not really. There’s some risk to it, but Majima-senpai can perceive the entire area, and Lily has the sense of smell of a wolf. It would be pretty hard to find the two of them in a forest and launch an attack. Even if they are discovered, Lily’s a fast runner, so they could easily get away.”

“When you put it like that...”

They were difficult to find, and they could run away before getting captured. That was more than they needed to act as scouts. Actually, they were quite the fiendish pair for the job.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t look like the Holy Order is keeping that strict of a watch,” Mana added.

“They are under the impression they’re on the offense. I can see why they’re being a little negligent. Did they take this into account already before they went out scouting?”

“They did. Although, even if the knights were more vigilant, it’s not like it’d be easy to get anywhere close to those two.” Mana’s eyes then shifted to the spirit floating next to me. “It’d be different if they had a skilled specialist—for example, a spiritualist—with them, but I doubt Travis has any among his subordinates.”

“You have a point there.”

“The knights shouldn’t know about Senpai’s new mist magic either. Even if he spreads some out, they won’t be able to understand what it means. The Woodlands are gloomy anyway, so if he thins the mist out as much as possible, they shouldn’t even notice it.”

“Did you come up with this plan...?”

“I did. I’m surprised you can tell.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious.”

The plan was foolproof, and it made full use of Takahiro and Lily’s abilities. When I looked closer at Mana, I saw inconcealable fatigue in her expression. She was seated, but she swayed about a little once in a while. She probably hadn’t slept since this all started. She knew that she was of no use in battle, so it was fine if she was exhausted. Even after running about rescuing the villagers, she’d obviously spent the entire evening scheming.

“Senpai’s Misty Lodge can grasp everything happening within it. Lily’s five senses all surpass those of wild animals. They can find out the enemy’s location and hear the orders being handed out from a spot where they won’t be noticed.”

“So we can hear all of their secrets.”

That was pretty harsh. If our opponent wasn’t Travis, I might have even felt sympathy for the enemy, but Travis had misread Takahiro’s abilities from the start. From my point of view, the Fourth Company and Takahiro’s group were about the same in strength. In a head-on confrontation, they would both suffer serious casualties.

However, the Fourth Company had split their forces in two so that Takahiro wouldn’t be able to run away. Their plan wasn’t bad in theory. If Takahiro was just going to lie in wait inside the village, the knights could fight from a superior position. Be that as it may, if Takahiro knew Travis’s strategy beforehand, he could turn it against the knights and create a gap between them.

“That’s the gist of it. Shiran, please take it easy and get some rest.”

“Understood...”

I nodded back to her. She was here to check on how I was doing. Kei had been by my side up until now but had excused herself for a bit. In all likelihood, she was helping Takahiro out.

“Don’t worry. I won’t force myself to join the battle,” I said.

“Really? I sure hope so,” Mana replied composedly.

I averted my eye. My gaze was suddenly drawn to the sword leaning against the wall. That was my sword. I’d asked Mana to bring it and put it somewhere I could see it. My sword was like a part of my body. I was restless without it. Now that I was dead as a knight, my sword was also pretty much dead, but even so, it was a part of me. Few people would choose to lop off and cast aside their arm just because they couldn’t move it. This was the same.

“Honestly...I thought you’d refuse,” I said.

“Huh? Oh, about bringing your sword?” Mana replied with a knowing smile. “Senpai might get mad if he finds out... Well, it’ll work out. From what I can see now, I don’t think you’re going to do anything reckless.”

Mana had apparently determined that I wouldn’t go on a rampage. She sounded confident. She turned to look at the sword leaning against the wall, then narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

“I don’t know how things will go for a different Shiran, though,” she mumbled. “When that time comes, I figured your sword will be necessary.”

“What do you mean...?”

“Who knows? I don’t understand knights,” Mana said, shaking her head. “Still, I just have a hunch. That’s all.”

I didn’t understand. Maybe Mana didn’t really understand either. It felt like her words came from her intuition after watching all of us, rather than any logic.

“I will, of course, stop you if you try and rush off to fight,” she added.

“I know...”

I nodded obediently and closed my eye. Just as I’d told her, I wasn’t going to force myself into battle and break my promise with Takahiro. He’d told me that without the strength to participate, I was just a girl and didn’t need to fight anymore. It was actually good fortune. In most cases, the only thing awaiting a knight was a miserable death.

There were those like Adolf, who after dying as a knight, lived on in a different way, but such exceptions were rare. My brother had died right before my eyes. I’d witnessed dozens of my comrades dying, so I’d figured I would meet the same end. And I had. When I stood against Juumonji Tatsuya after he revealed his true nature, I’d lost an arm and an eye. He’d also stabbed me in the stomach and pierced my heart.

I’d always, always fought with my life on the line. I’d clenched my teeth during my strict training, I’d endured pain on harsh battlefields, and I’d shed tears at the deaths of my comrades in arms. Yet I still swung my sword for the sake of protecting what I had to. And, in the end, I’d been cruelly killed.

However, thanks to Takahiro, I had unexpectedly continued my story. Now that I could maybe spend the rest of my days as a girl, I would surely be happy. But...

I opened my eye. The sword leaning against the wall naturally attracted my gaze once more. I recalled the conversation I’d had with Takahiro in the morning.

“Why do you go so far?”

“If I sacrifice myself, you can escape this danger. So, why?”

I’d asked a foolish question. It was because he trusted me as a companion. Takahiro wasn’t the type to ever abandon his companions, which was why he wouldn’t use me like some sacrificial pawn. I didn’t even need to ask him something so obvious. I’d truly been a fool.

All the same, another thought came to mind. Had I asked him that because I wanted to hear another answer? If so, what did I want to hear? I continued staring at my sword as that incoherent thought grew larger and larger in my mind...

“Hm?!”

As I indulged myself in reverie, my sprite twitched in front of my eye.

“This is...?!”

The sprite’s senses were drawn to something with malice.

“An enemy?” Mana asked.

“Yes. And very nearby.”

I couldn’t spare it much mana right now, so the sprite’s search range was very restricted. Seeing as how it had detected someone, the enemy had to be in the village.

“But Aunt Leah’s spirit should be surveying the entire village. How could an enemy get so far in...?”

“Something unexpected must’ve happened,” Mana said, her face tensing. “I guess things won’t go as planned.”

She remained calm, maybe out of consideration for me. Only her hands, tightly clenched atop her knees, revealed her inner thoughts.

“It’s okay. This is a battle, so we have to expect the unexpected. Majima-senpai figured something like this would happen and put some countermeasures in place.” She was definitely worried, but she still believed in him. “This is the do-or-die moment... Please come back safely, Senpai.”