Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 10 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Battle in the Village

Before anyone knew it, a foreign element had made its way into the village. Twenty knights of the Fourth Company, the elite of the elite commanded personally by Travis Mortimer of the Holy Gaze, had snuck in.

Travis had already taken into account the possibility that spirits were actively searching the area during their attack on this elven village, and though he’d already formed a detached force, he’d also considered that their surprise attack might fail. For that reason, he’d also prepared a means of slipping by the spirits’ search net. As the descendants of visitors, these knights had the power to do so. They weren’t the main force or the detached force; they were the true core of the assault. However, the knights were currently bewildered.

“Isn’t this strange...?” one of the knights said several minutes after entering the village. “According to the plan, the detached force should be charging the village about now...”

There was nobody nearby. Not their fellow knights, nor even any villagers. The only thing present was a thin fog covering the area, giving the deserted village a creepy atmosphere.

“Somebody probably noticed their advance and is preventing them from entering,” Travis said. His voice was calm, but the corner of his eye twitched. “I considered the possibility, which is why I put this plan together. The frontal attack was stopped, and the surprise attack too... The detached force is no doubt fighting desperately to gain entry about now. With his monster guards pretty much all busy, we go for the throat.”

Travis boasted that things were all going to plan, but then another knight spoke up.

“I don’t hear any fighting, though.”

“So...what?” Travis responded, grinding his teeth. “Are you saying the detached force got caught up in a fight in the forest before they could even get to the village?” Irritation stained his elegant features. “If that’s true, then Majima Takahiro realized the detached force was out there before the attack on the village began. Did we have an intelligence leak?”

“Maybe...”

The knight kept his response short, knowing full well how cruel his commander was. Striking a nerve now would be a bad idea.

“In that case, it’s possible the detached force was ambushed in the woods,” Travis said, clicking his tongue. “If they were caught off guard in the forest and held there, then they’ll be far behind schedule in reaching the village.”

Travis wasn’t incompetent. Judging by the current circumstances, he knew that his plan wasn’t going as expected. In reality, his detached force wasn’t just being held there. They were actually moments away from being annihilated. It would be too much to ask him to imagine that outcome, though.

“Seriously. How useless,” he drawled.

“What do we do?”

“The plan stays the same. We’ve come this far, so we don’t need them anymore. We’ll kill Majima Takahiro, and that’ll be the end of it.”

If the others were being held back, then it was safe to assume that pretty much all the enemy’s forces were on the field. Thus, Travis decided that the knights he had on hand were more than enough to kill one boy.

He’d miscalculated somewhat, but it wouldn’t affect the mission’s success. The ultimate goal was taking Majima Takahiro’s head. It didn’t matter how many sacrifices had to be made to achieve that. Perhaps this coolheadedness was Travis’s greatest weapon.

“This is the spot...”

The knights had narrowed down which buildings Majima Takahiro might’ve barricaded himself in based on their location and such. Travis’s group sneaked their way toward one of them. They were convinced it was the right place, because this house had clearly been modified.

What looked like ostentatious black metal plates reinforced the house’s walls. Travis estimated that it would be difficult to blow them down with magic. It was impressive that they’d built such defenses in one night, but there was nobody left to defend it. Now the knights just had to check whether Majima Takahiro was actually there.

“Oh.” One of the knights raised his voice. “I saw a boy in the window just now.”

Travis took a look for himself and spotted an open window. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes. It was a boy with black hair.”

“Hmm. There’s no mistaking it’s Majima Takahiro, then,” Travis said, his elegant features twisting into a cruel smile. “Prepare to break in. Slaughter them to the last.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Embers crackled in the air. Zoltan stared at the burning building with cold eyes. What was he doing out here? That sour thought churned in his mind, and he started to feel nauseous.

“Let’s move on,” he said.

“Right on,” Edgar answered.

The two of them quickly distanced themselves from the burning house. They had infiltrated the village with Travis but were temporarily working on separate orders. Travis had commanded them to search for ambushers in the village, and depending on the circumstances, stall them. While they were at it, they were also to set fire to all the houses.

Now that they were inside the village, their presence was known, so there was no longer any need to hide. If the village they were trying to protect went up in flames, the defenders would be shaken, and it would also boost the morale of the main and detached forces who were attacking from different angles. Zoltan admitted it was an effective strategy, but he found it unexpected that Edgar was accompanying him on this mission.

“Why didn’t you go with Commander Travis?” Zoltan asked.

“Hm? No reason. Just instinct.”

“Instinct?”

Zoltan and Edgar had known each other for a pretty long time, but Edgar’s answer was still curious.

“I figured it’d be more fun to come with you. That’s all.”

In short, he smelled the stench of battle this way. Edgar’s smile was dreadful, as if a bloodthirsty wolf had taken human form. In his own words, this wasn’t the premonition of a pathetic slaughterhouse. This was Battle Ogre Edgar Guivarch getting worked up for a real fight to the death.

It was difficult even for Travis to control Edgar when he was like this. The other members of the company never even tried to get close to him. Having spent so much time with Edgar, Zoltan was the only one who stood side by side with him without any particularly strong feelings about it.

“Besides, who else will work with you?” Edgar added.

“You have a point there.”

Even if they were going to link back up with the force shortly, Travis wasn’t the careless type who’d let his most talented subordinates act independently. Unfortunately, many in the company avoided Zoltan of the All-Seeing Eye because of the gift he’d inherited from his ancestor. The shady types in particular avoided him like the plague. But Edgar was different. He only cared about fighting, and he had no intention of hiding it.

“It’s quiet. According to the plan, the detached force should be forcing their way in about now,” Zoltan whispered while on the move.

Much like Travis, these two found it strange that the detached force had yet to arrive. Actually, since they were walking around the entire village, they likely had a more accurate grasp of the situation than he did.

“That ain’t all. You notice?” Edgar said. “There’s no sign of any tussle at the gate where the main force was supposed to attack. Something probably happened to them too.”

They couldn’t see anything with the walls and houses in the way, but if any fighting was going on, they’d be able to hear it from this distance. Conversely, if the other forces hadn’t met with any fighting, they would be inside the village already. It was baffling that neither of these cases applied.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this...” Zoltan murmured.

“Well, to me, it sounds fun to have ’em put up a fight.”

“That’s why I don’t like it,” Zoltan replied seriously.

“How rare,” Edgar said with a suspicious look. “You hate this that much?”

The Zoltan Edgar knew was tired of absolutely everything. There was no joy in life; he simply fulfilled his duty. Even when people thanked him for defeating monsters, even when he steeped his hands in wicked deeds under Travis’s command, nothing really moved him. Yet Edgar could catch a glimpse of emotion in Zoltan regarding this fight. This caught Edgar’s attention.

“Something up?” he asked.

“I...” Zoltan started, then abruptly held his tongue. He grimaced as if noticing something. “What...? Why?”

Zoltan’s bewildered eyes were fixed on a specific building.

◆ ◆ ◆

Even though things hadn’t gone exactly as planned, the mission was still going well. That was how Travis saw things. That was why he only started doubting when some of his subordinates broke into the building.

Travis figured that Majima Takahiro would gather all the villagers in one place and solidify his defenses. If so, his forces should’ve met a counterattack the moment they charged in. There was none of that, however. They entered the building with no resistance. What was going on? Travis sank into thought—then suddenly turned around.

“Oh shit. They noticed me.”

A little girl with red hair stood there, cursing. She’d apparently been hiding in another building and had come to check what was going on. Travis had spotted her before she reached the building. The other knights who’d yet to enter also noticed her.

“You’re...”

At first, Travis figured she was a villager, but he immediately realized she wasn’t. Her ears were small, so she wasn’t an elf. In that case, she was... Wait. Why had she come here in the first place?

“Whatever. This is close enough,” the girl muttered to herself. She wasn’t afraid of the armed knights. “If you’re Takahiro’s enemies, that makes you my enemies. You better be ready.”

The girl—Lobivia—spoke in a dangerous tone and grasped the sash holding her clothes together.

She removed the sash, loosening her clothing, then pulled her arm out of her sleeve and stared at her enemy. She already had a cranky look in her eyes, but now she faced her enemies with a fiendish gaze, and her pupils shifted into the abnormal eyes of a lizard.

“Fourth Company! To arms!”

The knights still outside the building lifted their shields at his command. The little girl’s body swelled in size, sending her loosened clothes soaring into the sky. Scales covered her skin, a carapace grew over her body, and membranous wings spread out from her back.

“Graaawr!”

Her roar shook the earth, displaying the fangs lining her mouth.

“A-A dragon?!”

The dragon glared at the armored men from above.

“I-It was disguising itself as a human?!”

The knights weren’t shaken only because the girl had transformed. The very presence of a dragon was a major problem all on its own. Dragons were considered the ultimate class of monster in this world.

There were several reasons for this. One was their resistance to magic. A few monsters in this world were known for having a high resistance to pretty much all magic. The most famous among them were dragons. It wouldn’t prove as fatal as fighting against Lily, but dragons were definitely a difficult opponent for the Holy Order. Having Lobivia positioned as the last line of defense had significant meaning.

“Grrr...”

This was the battlefield the boy she idolized had entrusted her with. She wasn’t honest with herself and was rather curt when she spoke, but in her heart, flames of joy and a fighting spirit burned bright. That heat transformed into actual fire surging up her throat.

“Graaawr!”

Her roar drowned out the knights’ screams, and fire shot out of Lobivia’s mouth. The knights immediately held their shields up to block it.

“Hgggh! Hold your ground!”

They were quick to react, but Lobivia had expected that.

“Graaah!”

Now that they were fixed in place on the defensive, Lobivia charged. The knights readied themselves. The rear guard reinforced the strength of the vanguard, who gripped their swords to—

“Wha?!”

In the next instant, a dense fog covered the entire area. It was pretty much a smoke screen. Losing sight of the incoming attack, the knights were dumbfounded. Lobivia, however, didn’t hesitate. They’d discussed this situation beforehand, after all. She’d also lost the exact location of her enemies, but that wasn’t much of a problem. Her sheer mass and speed were enough of a threat on their own.

“Hrgh?!”

She lowered her body and rammed through them. Three knights took the full force of the charge, and flew out of the mist and up into the air. Lobivia was protected by her sturdy carapace, which she’d inherited from her mother, the carapace wyrm Malvina, known to the world as the lord of the Dark Woods of northern Aker, the Rage of the Earth. This carapace had crashed into the defenseless knights, so they were beyond help. Armor folded, bones broke, and meat turned to pulp.

“Gah! What a pain!”

Among the chaos, Travis remained unharmed. He’d inherited a superpower from his ancestor, but he also had the combat experience to match his title as commander of the Fourth Company. He’d leaped out of the trajectory of the charging dragon and was the first to make it out of the mist safely.

“But not yet! We’re only getting started!”

A clever mind, excellent combat abilities, and a trump card in his Holy Gaze... Travis was certainly in the top class among the elite of the Holy Order. He assessed the situation calmly. A dragon’s strength was astounding, and the mysterious fog had taken him by surprise, but he still had an overwhelming advantage.

Only three knights had been defeated. There were fifteen others left, including himself and the ones who’d gone inside. All of them were exceptionally skilled, even among the entire Holy Order. If Travis called back the men who’d gone inside the house, his victory would be certain... So he thought, but in the next instant, his eyes shot open.

“Grraah!”

Lobivia kept up her momentum and rammed the building behind Travis’s group. Only half the house was shrouded in mist, so he had a good view of the spectacle before him.

“Whaaaat?!”

An unbefitting shriek passed his lips, ruining his elegant features. The house, which had been reinforced with black metal plates, turning it into a fortress, easily collapsed from Lobivia’s single strike.

It was as if it had been arranged beforehand. Travis’s men who’d gone into the building were sealed inside and crushed. Not even the elite could escape severe wounds from a falling building. It was possible that several of them would die from it too, depending on their luck. That was to say nothing of them getting out safely and helping in the fight.

“This is impossible!”

Travis screamed, no longer able to maintain appearances. Majima Takahiro was supposed to be inside that building. One of Travis’s subordinates had confirmed it. If his predictions were right, the villagers were all in there too.

So why did the dragon destroy the house? Was it an accident? Had it carried too much momentum in its charge and hadn’t been able to stop? No, that was all wrong. As proof of that, Lobivia got back up from her ramming attack and took in a deep breath. She was preparing to unleash more fire.

“Wai—!”

Even Travis turned pale at that, but it was too late.

“Graaawr!”

The flames mercilessly poured out, burning the collapsed house. A brutal blaze rose into the air for an instant. The fire spread fast. Unnaturally fast.

“N-No way... Th-This can’t be...”

“Graaaaah!”

Lobivia turned around with a spirited roar to face Travis and his subordinates, who all stood there in shock at the loss of the knights who’d entered the building.

◆ ◆ ◆

“What’s up, Zoltan?”

“I sense fear...”

Edgar narrowed an eye at Zoltan. “The hell do you mean?”

“I sense the fear of weaklings. From there.”

Zoltan pointed at a house. His eyes were strangely unfocused. They were looking at something that wasn’t there—thanks to his blessing and his curse, the power of the All-Seeing Eye.

Understanding what was going on, Edgar nodded. “I get it. So the village elves are hiding there, huh?”

“In all likelihood... What do we do?”

“You need to ask? We can’t just leave ’em be, yeah?” Their orders included silencing any witnesses. “It’s a crappy job, but work’s work. We gotta do it.” Edgar didn’t try to hide how tiresome he found this as he drew his sword. “Tch. Guess my instinct was wrong. This way was a miss.”

Zoltan silently drew his blade, but he didn’t start walking.

“This is a bit of a problem...” he uttered.

The house’s door opened, and a boy revealed himself before the two knights.

“No way, you’re...” Edgar said, his eyes wide in shock.

It was Majima Takahiro, the main target of this entire operation.