Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 10 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Knight’s Salvation ~Shiran’s POV~

Because of my vast combat experience, I noticed a change in the atmosphere.

“This is...?”

I sat up, my body still weak. The omen of a terrifying power about to be unleashed sent chills running down my back. Something was happening right outside the house, and the moment I pictured who was fighting there, my body unconsciously began moving.

“Takahiro...!” I blurted as I tumbled out of my bed.

“Shiran?!” Mana shrieked in surprise from the chair at my bedside. I had no time to pay her any mind, though.

“Hggh! Gah!”

I crawled across the floor, unable to put any strength into my withered limbs. My arms trembled. My mind couldn’t keep up with what I was trying to do, but my body kept trying to get me to my destination.

Mana stood up from her seat in a panic and grabbed my shoulders. “Wh-What are you doing?”

I weakly squirmed about, resisting her hold. “...to go,” I mumbled.

“Huh?”

“I have to go.”

Without even realizing it, my voice crawled out of my throat. I abandoned any thought and obeyed my heart. I stretched out my trembling arm, reaching for the wall—to the sword leaning there.

What was I even trying to do? The calm portion of my mind remained dubious. I couldn’t fight anymore. I didn’t need to fight anymore. I’d turned into a demilich and learned how unsuitable I was to be a knight. I’d been driven to the very edge, ruining my mental stability and wrecking my undead body’s balance, and a part of me was still worn out by this bloodstained vicious circle.

“Hey, Shiran, even if you aren’t a knight, I want you to stay with us.”

That was what Takahiro had said to me. Even if I wasn’t a knight, even if I was nothing more than a normal girl, he’d told me he wanted me with him. He’d embraced this cold body of mine.

“It’s fine if you can’t fight. You’re not a knight anymore. You’re just another girl.”

I was happy. My heart trembled. Those words had saved me...so why was my hand once more trying to take up the sword? My mind questioned the act, but my body didn’t hesitate.

“Shiran...” Mana muttered.

I raised my head and saw my reflection in her eyes. I could see my own desperate expression. However, there was no sign of a ghoul rampaging with anger, nor was there any sign of a warrior prepared to sacrifice herself. There was someone else there—someone who couldn’t yield. Mana was wise and easily understood.

“Very well...”

Her bewildered expression turned to one of conviction. She quickly walked to the wall, picked up the sword leaning against it, and came back to me. She helped me to my feet, then handed it to me.

“Please take care of him, Shiran.”

“Thank you...!”

With that, I stumbled forward and opened the door.

◆ ◆ ◆

I closed the door behind me and walked into the hallway.

“Ack... Hgh...”

My legs tangled up immediately, and I bumped into the wall. My limbs weren’t moving the way I wanted them to. I felt like I was going to collapse to my knees at any moment. Regardless, this was far better than my previous bedridden state. My undead body was greatly influenced by my mental state, meaning...

“I’m stabilizing...?”

At the eleventh hour? No, because it was the eleventh hour. Some things only came into sight during bad situations. Maybe Mana had noticed the atmosphere. I had a premonition verging on conviction as well. Even if my thoughts couldn’t keep up, my body and heart knew.

Ever since I became like this, I’d only known anxiety, pain, and hesitation, but the answer was right in front of me now. That conviction pushed me forward. I clenched my teeth and proceeded down the hallway. The room I’d been sleeping in was on the second floor, so I managed to stagger my way to the staircase.

“Ah...?!”

Even though I’d recovered somewhat, I could still barely walk. How could I descend a staircase properly? I missed my footing instantly and quietly shrieked as I tumbled down to the first floor.

“Gah... Ugh...”

I was dizzy. A violent despondency assaulted my body. I felt like vomiting, as if I’d had too much to drink, but just then, an ominous presence swelled up just outside the house. The sound of something breaking to pieces followed soon after. The villagers hiding in the house screamed, and I heard something tumbling into the hallway.

It was Takahiro. It had to be. I knew by instinct. Perhaps that was thanks to the mental path, even if my connection to it was shoddy. Shortly after, I heard explosions from the outside, and a white mist flooded my vision. Takahiro was probably buying time to prepare himself for the next attack.

In other words, he’d withstood the enemy’s first attack. I honestly admired him. The ominous presence I’d detected felt similar to that of Gerbera when she was serious. If Takahiro had managed to withstand an attack like that, then it was praiseworthy. He’d certainly gotten stronger.

Takahiro’s talent for fighting was middling at best. He didn’t have any grand blessing like many of the other visitors either. Yet he’d struggled his way through several life-or-death situations, and he was constantly imposing a strict training regimen on himself, so he’d grown considerably.

I’d watched him as his swordsmanship and spiritualism instructor. His path was so severe that any normal person would’ve broken. But Takahiro hadn’t.

He was his servants’ master.

That conceit supported him. His unshakable conviction for his servants’ feelings became his strength. The same could be said about his servants too. They responded to the expectations they placed on themselves, and as a result, both servants and master kept getting stronger. Their relationship felt like an ideal to me, and I was envious.

“I have...to go...”

I started moving again. Fortunately, I hadn’t injured myself by falling down the stairs, and I didn’t feel any pain. I straightened up, thanking my undead body for the very first time. My limbs seemed to have forgotten how to work. They jerked about, and just standing on my knees made me dizzy. Yet, despite my spectacular tumble down the stairs, my hand firmly gripped my sword as though it would never let go again.

Aah, so that’s what it means. I could hear the last piece of the puzzle clicking into place, and my thoughts finally caught up to my heart. Having come to an understanding, I laughed at myself.

“Good grief... How hopeless am I...?”

The Third Company of the Alliance Knights was gone. I was no longer a knight. What’s more, I’d come to realize that I was unsuitable to be one. But...but I still wanted to be a knight. I really was hopeless. Backed by my desire, I gripped my sword tighter.

Aah, that’s right. I wanted to be a knight to protect everyone. That’s my truth. I now knew what I’d wanted to hear from Takahiro.

In short, I knew what he was to me.

I knew what I wanted him to be.

Sadly, that wish would never come true. I could see that clearly.

“Ah...”

I crawled around the corner of the hallway and spotted the person I was searching for. The white mist made for poor visibility, but I wouldn’t mistake him for anyone else at this distance.

“Takahiro?”

The boy turned my way. He looked like he’d been in an intense battle. His white clothes were stained red all over. His left arm was particularly bad, dribbling blood from his fingertips. Nevertheless, the strength hadn’t left his eyes.

“Shiran...?”

Takahiro looked surprised that I was here, but his expression changed right away when he understood.

“I see,” he muttered, glancing at the sword in my hand. He stood up, then walked my way. “Did you come to fight?”

“Sorry...”

I cast my eye down. I’d promised to stay in my room, and here I was wasting Takahiro’s consideration. No matter what feelings I harbored in my heart, that was the truth. Takahiro didn’t get angry, though. He just smiled.

“I’m not going to criticize you,” he said. “Actually, maybe I was mistaken.”

“Takahiro...?”

I raised my head. He looked back down at me with earnest and warm eyes.

“Ah...”

I couldn’t turn away from his gaze. It was sucking me in, as if his eyes held the very core of my being captive.

“Hey, Shiran.”

“Yes...?”

I forgot about my urge to vomit and replied like a child. My heart had long since stopped beating, but I was under the delusion that it was pounding in my chest. I had a premonition. Or maybe it was hope. I could feel my emotions pouring out even more than before. I couldn’t see anything else. Here in this white world covered in mist, there were only the two of us.

“Just maybe, I might’ve been trying to do something very cruel,” he said. “I might’ve said something wrong.” Even his usual overly serious tone was like a spell mesmerizing my heart. “But if that is what you wish for...”

He held out his blood-soaked hand. It was like a scene out of a play.

“Will you fight by my side?” he asked. “I want you to protect everyone with me—as a knight.”

“T-Takahiro...”

Shivers ran down my body like a wave. A surging torrent of emotion filled me to the brim. I couldn’t endure it, and tears spilled from my eye. These were the words I wanted to hear from him. This was what I’d given up on.

“I-I... B-But, I’m not a kn-knight any...” I tried to reply, but my trembling lips were getting in the way.

“You’re right. The Third Company is gone. In that sense, you aren’t a knight anymore,” Takahiro said. Unlike me, he was very calm. “But that doesn’t matter.”

He was always like this. At a glance, he looked like a boy with nothing special about him except a tender heart appropriate for his age. But when it came down to it, his resolve was unshakable.

“The commander once told me something,” he continued. “Knights devote their swords to the ideals of justice and the salvation of the weak. Specifically, here in this world, they come as a set with the heroes of salvation. So, the only thing a knight needs is a savior. Everything else is inconsequential.”

“But you’re—!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Takahiro said, nodding. “I’m no savior.”

Yes. I’d given up for this very reason. Majima Takahiro was special to me. I was supposed to die back at Fort Tilia, but he’d picked up my shattered dreams from the depths of darkness.

Takahiro wasn’t a dazzling hero out of a story, but to me, he was the savior I was meant to fight with shoulder to shoulder. However, Takahiro always insisted that he was no savior. On the contrary, he hated the very existence of saviors. For that reason, I’d never conveyed these feelings to him. In truth, his opinion still hadn’t changed.

“I won’t become the type of savior this world hopes for,” he said with a bittersweet smile. “I know my limits. I’m a petty man who only cares about the people close to me being happy.”

There was a certain kind of resignation behind his words, but at the same time, there was also some kind of pride behind them, saying that was a good thing.

“That’s exactly why I want to answer the feelings of those who are dear to me,” he added, flashing a bright smile. His expression was that of someone who’d bet everything he had on what he believed in with no regrets whatsoever. “Shiran, you’re dear to me.”

His expression and his casual tone left me speechless.

“If you need this from me, then I’ll meet your expectations,” he continued. “What is a knight? What is a savior? It doesn’t matter what the world thinks. If this is what you wish of me so that you can become a knight...”

He spoke his next words with more sincerity than ever before.

“Then I will become your savior.”

What emotions lay behind those words? He was so serious, so he wouldn’t have said that half-heartedly. His words seeped into my soul.

“Is it all right for me to be a knight...?” I asked.

“To me, you are the definition of a knight,” Takahiro answered immediately. “That feeling hasn’t changed since the first moment I saw you at Fort Tilia. Honestly...I really admired you,” he said, somewhat embarrassed. “I also wish for you to be a knight, Shiran, so I’m happy that you wish something of me.”

I was the one who was happy for being needed. I was sure I was tens, maybe hundreds of times happier. I could feel my wavering core rapidly regaining shape. Perhaps it was a rebirth, in a sense. I’d been broken, and now I was remade even stronger. I felt pure and innocent joy, and there was only one response that came to mind.

“Takahiro.”

An oath. I would establish an oath that would never be broken. I corrected my posture as much and as smoothly as my weakened limbs would allow.

“I offer my sword, my body, and my soul, in all their entirety, unto you.”

I knelt before him, and reverently bowed my head.

“I am your sword. If an enemy would threaten that which you wish to protect, then no matter who it may be, I shall remove them from your path.”

Thinking back on it, this was strange. The natural order was for a savior to exist and for a knight to offer them their sword, but that wasn’t the case for us. Only by seeking each other out did we become a savior and a knight.

But as I was now, whatever was normal to others didn’t make a difference. I was a knight, and Takahiro was a savior. If that was what we wished of each other, then nothing else mattered at all. I had no more hesitation or misgivings.

“I swear here and now, I shall remain by your side until the end of time.”

I took the hand of my dear savior, a savior who existed only for me, and sealed my oath with a kiss.