Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 10 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: And/Or

In the early afternoon, I found myself in a room of a certain building. Among the charred remains of the village’s residences, it was the sturdiest one. The surviving elves were gathered inside, and Shiran was sleeping in another room.

In other words, it was our last line of defense. Thinking of it like that made my chest feel heavy. I’d played out every scenario that had come to mind, but there was no guarantee everything would go well.

“All that’s left is to believe in the others... Hm?”

I clenched my fists atop the table in front of me and turned toward the room’s entrance. I heard footsteps drawing nearer and, after several seconds, knocking at the door.

“Come in,” I said.

“Excuse me.”

It was Helena. She was supposed to be with her grandmother Leah nursing the villagers, but right now, she was wearing her leather armor with a sword hanging at her waist. Even though I wouldn’t allow our enemies to get this far, considering the situation, it wasn’t a bad idea to prepare for battle just in case. Her expression bothered me, though.

“What is it, Helena? Did something happen?” I asked.

“No, nothing happened or anything,” she answered stiffly.

“That’s good,” I said, a little curious about her behavior. “How are the villagers doing?”

“They’re calm. Kei talked to them.”

“She did?”

Now that I thought of it, with Shiran out of commission, Kei was the only one of the village chief’s family who could move about. She was very reliable for her age, so she was probably looking for something she could do to help. I was honestly grateful that she was helping me with things I couldn’t get around to.

“What are the others doing?” Helena asked.

“They’re busy with the jobs I gave them.” My servants were the same in that they were doing what they could. “They’re working to defend the village.”

“Is that so? Everyone is trying so hard,” Helena said before giving me a determined look. “Mister Takahiro, please let me fight with you.”

“Out of the question,” I answered immediately.

“Why?!”

“I will not make any unnecessary sacrifices.”

Helena was pretty skilled with a sword. She could even put up a fight against the Empire’s regular soldiers. Be that as it may, she was nowhere close to being able to fight a knight of the Holy Order. The best she could hope for was injuring someone on her way down. It was far more likely she’d die without accomplishing anything.

“I’m resolved,” Helena said. She’d predicted I’d be against this, so she didn’t back down so easily. “I’ll at least take a single arm or eye with me.”

Her words were befitting of Aker’s militaristic spirit. Thinking back on it, Shiran had told me something similar before.

“I said it’s out of the question,” I repeated, shaking my head. She tried to say something else, but I cut her off. “If you die, Shiran will be beyond recovery. I can’t allow that, and you don’t wish for it either, do you?”

“B-But...”

“Besides, I don’t think you can fight properly right now.”

I’d noticed her trembling fists ever since she entered the room. She was pale too. She was in no condition to fight. Having said that, I didn’t mean to make light of Helena’s resolve. Her trembling wasn’t a display of fear, but rather her determination.

However, the people of this world couldn’t fight the Holy Order. I recalled Dennis’s grief-stricken expression from being cornered. From what I could see, the other villagers were much the same.

To the people of this world, saviors were the light of hope, the pillars that gave them the spiritual support to keep on living. The people had faith in saviors. The Holy Church raised these saviors up high, and the Holy Order fought by their side. As a result, these organizations were representatives of the saviors’ authority. They were the very symbol of righteousness.

Simply put, the devout believers had excommunicated the villagers and judged them as sinners in their god’s name. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say they were denying the villagers’ very existence. The shock they must’ve felt could never be understood by someone who didn’t live the way they did, only capable of surviving with faith as their support.

The only thing they could do was try to make excuses. Pointing their swords at the Holy Order would be absurd. If anyone in this world was capable of fighting them, they would have to have unwavering resolve, staunch conviction, or an unshakeable sense of justice.

In truth, just speaking of fighting them must have caused an inordinate amount of conflict in Helena’s heart. In such a state, she wouldn’t actually be able to fight.

She knew I was right, so she dropped her unreasonable request. Instead, she asked in a helpless, trembling voice, “Can you win...?”

I knew all of the survivors in the village were harboring the same anxiety, so I nodded firmly.

“It’s okay. We have a chance.”

Just this once, I pretended the tension that had been running through me moments ago didn’t exist. I felt like I had to. The words I spoke to bring her peace of mind weren’t a lie either.

“I’ve thought of a way to get through this.”

I’d decided to protect the villagers. To that end, I was going to do absolutely everything I could. Katou had told me that this was an unavoidable battle, and I completely agreed. We had to make a place in this world that would accept us. My heart was set on it. It wasn’t only about being accepted, though. The number of things we’d have to protect would multiply. The responsibilities on my shoulders would grow heavier. That was what it meant to live in this world, and I couldn’t run away from it.

“They’ve severely miscalculated,” I added. “If we take advantage of that, we can win.”

I would exhaust everything I’d fostered up to this day to avoid losing even one more life.

“Mister Takahiro...” Helena gulped. After a few seconds, she caught her breath. “Very well.”

I wasn’t sure whether my words were enough for her, but her stiff expression relaxed a bit.

“You really are worthy of Shiran’s recognition,” she added happily. “I’m sorry for intruding, sir. I will convey your words to everyone else.”

She quickly bowed and turned on her heels.

“Wait a moment, Helena,” I called before she ran off. Once she turned back to me, I said, “I have something I want to ask you too. The night we stayed in Rapha, when you noticed Shiran’s strange behavior in that storehouse, why did you so readily leave everything to me?”

Back then, I’d had to chase after Shiran as soon as possible, so I hadn’t given Helena an explanation. Nevertheless, she’d left Shiran to me and cleaned up the storehouse in the meantime. I wondered why that was. I’d lost the chance to ask her back then, so I figured now was as good a time as any.

“Oh, that? It’s because Shiran acknowledges you,” she answered immediately. “She strongly believes in herself as a knight, so even when she’s suffering, she won’t tell anyone. A knight cannot feel any pain, so she just makes a face like it’s nothing.”

Helena clenched her fist in front of her chest as if she found this vexing.

“That’s why I was surprised when she came back to the village,” she continued. “For that Shiran to trust someone else with her own problems? It was unthinkable. I mean, she even asked you to stand in for her for our duel, right? It’s the same thing. The Shiran I know hates troubling others above all else, yet she relied on you as if it were perfectly natural. That’s why.”

“Helena...you understand Shiran well, huh?” I said, sighing with relief.

Helena blinked in confusion, then blushed and averted her eyes.

“N-Not really,” she protested. “It’s just always bugged me to see someone act all cool and say nothing even when they’re in pain...”

So she said, but I wondered about that. Why did Shiran’s behavior bother her? When I looked at it like that, Helena’s attitude was easy to understand. Her fabricated sour look and intentional slander brought an amused smile to my face.

“Personally, I think it’s pretty impressive that you understand her,” I said, but then my smile turned bitter. “I only managed to realize that recently.”

I’d always watched Shiran the knight, yet I hadn’t noticed the girl within all this time. Helena was a true childhood friend.

“Even though Shiran is a girl before she’s a knight...” I added in self-derision.

Seeing me like this, Helena’s eyes widened.

“She’s not, though?” she said dubiously.

“Huh?” I stared back in wonder, caught off guard by her remark.

“She’s a knight,” Helena declared. “Hopelessly so, in fact. No matter what happens, that will never change.”

I never thought I’d hear it like that. But, at the same time, Helena’s words just clicked. It made sense. I’d been so focused on Shiran as a knight that I hadn’t seen her as a girl. That was why I’d decided to treat her as a girl from now on rather than a knight. However, even though she was a girl, it didn’t stop her from being a knight or anything. I had been wrong to question which one was her true nature. She was a knight and a girl. If that was the simple truth, then...

“She is a knight. Please don’t forget that.”

The words I’d once been told rang in my ears again.

“Commander... Is this what you meant?”

“Mister Takahiro?”

I finally realized the true meaning behind the commander’s words when she’d entrusted Shiran to me back on that night in the reclamation village.

“Takahiro!”

Just then, the door flew open and Leah came in. She looked like she was at her wits’ end, and behind her, her contracted spirit flailed its little limbs about vigorously. Even without the spirit’s warning, I could guess what was going on based on Leah’s expression.

“The knights are here!”