Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 11 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: An Encounter at a Certain Street Corner ~Okazaki Takuma’s POV~

“Oh?”

I heard a voice just as I was about to leave the inn and turned around. An older girl was looking my way. She was Kuriyama Moeko, the girl who’d served as a guard for the exploration team leader.

“Are you going into town?” she asked. “As a member of the exploration team’s upper brass, do refrain from cutting loose too much, Okazaki.”

“Ha ha. I know.”

As one of the nicknamed cheaters in the exploration team, my title among the students was the Almighty Vessel Okazaki Takuma—not that I’d asked for it. I’d simply met the expectations of what others wanted from me, but the power I’d obtained after coming to this world was just a little too great. It was a pain in the ass. On the other hand, it was also a pain that I couldn’t just ignore everyone and say I didn’t care.

“I’m just gonna go around and take in the sights. It’ll be like doing a social study. Wanna come along, Kuriyama?”

“I have things to do.”

Now that was unfortunate. She’d rejected me, but there was no helping that. Kuriyama was always busy. In title, she was Nakajima’s guard, but he didn’t need anything of the like, so in truth, she was closer to his secretary. Nakajima could be pretty lackadaisical about stuff sometimes, so her job was quite a lot of work. He was really talented in all sorts of ways, however.

“Do be careful not to do anything unnecessary,” she warned me one last time.

“Yeah, yeah.”

With that, I left the inn.

◆ ◆ ◆

The exploration team was currently staying in a small inn town. We planned to stay here for two days. We were all cheaters who had outlandish stamina, so although we needed supplies, we had very little need for rest. The reason we were spending two days here regardless was because they’d told us that they wanted to hold a banquet for us.

For the exploration team members, today was something like a day off, and about half our members had gone out into town. Some were taking it easy at the inn, while others, like our leader, had taken on the job of suppressing monsters in the area. Kuriyama was probably busy with that last one. Someone had to work out the operation details with the locals.

In any case, none of that had anything to do with me. That said, I wasn’t thinking of playing around in town like the others either. I suppose you could say I had something I needed to do. It was one of the problems that came with having power, and a bit of a pain in the ass for me.

Kuriyama had told me not to do anything unnecessary, but this was this, and that was that. She’d just have to give up on that hope—not that I planned on screwing up in a way that anyone would notice.

I walked in the opposite direction of the marketplace and came to a stop when I was out of sight from the public eye.

“All righty then. Time to get going.”

I hummed a tune with a tippity tap, but it wasn’t that I’d had the sudden urge to practice tap dancing. I was focusing the mana in my body.

“Hup!”

After about five seconds of little steps, I kicked off the ground with a bit of force.

I felt a floating sensation and a slipping sensation, then I felt as if I was somewhere else.

“And that’s that.”

By the time I landed on the ground, the scenery had changed. I was in another alley, but one very different from before. It was actually an entirely different town, one I’d visited in the past, and it was about a hundred kilometers from the town I had just been in. In other words, I’d teleported.

Teleporting was unusual, even in this world where magic existed; it was only possible with the inherent ability of a visitor.

“Phew.”

Feeling lethargic, I let out a sigh. I’d exhausted a pretty large amount of mana all at once—the one flaw of this method of travel. It was still pretty convenient, though.

“Mister Takuma!”

I shifted my focus to the shadow standing in the alley. I’d known she was there all along, so I wasn’t surprised to hear her call out.

“Hey now. Didn’t I tell you to wait for me at the inn?” I said.

“F-Forgive me.”

This girl’s name was Sarah. I’d saved her from a spat of trouble some time ago. Patterns drawn with white dye adorned her face, which was characteristic of the people who lived in the prairies neighboring the Woodlands.

“I was so happy for your return that I couldn’t wait,” she said.

“I see. Heh heh. Well, no helping that, I guess.”

“Anyways, you really did appear out of nowhere. That surprised me.”

Sarah looked at me with earnest respect.

“That was nothing,” I said, chuckling.

“That’s not true! That’s your ability as a savior, isn’t it?”

“Nope.”

“Huh?”

She was confused, but I couldn’t blame her for that. I didn’t mind explaining it to her, but I figured I would leave that fun for later.

“Sorry, Sarah. That’s all the time I have for chitchat. I’ve got something to do today.”

“Oh. Are you sure?”

“Yup. It pains me, but I gotta go. Head on back to the inn and get some food ready or something, will you?”

“Understood.”

Sarah nodded, not questioning my order whatsoever. Life would be so much easier if everyone listened so readily. Nevertheless, there was no point in complaining about that.

I got moving right away, and after coming out onto the main street, I started walking through the hustle and bustle of town.

“Hm?”

On the way, I noticed a little fuss going on.

“You filthy prairie dweller! You dare make light of me?!”

I came to a stop. “Prairie dweller” referred to the tribe Sarah belonged to. She’d gone off in a different direction, but I had to check just to be sure, so I made my way toward the ruckus.

“F-Forgive me. Please forgive me...”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Sarah. It was a young boy who looked no older than ten, begging for forgiveness from some self-important man. White dye decorated the boy’s cheek much like Sarah’s. His body was covered in scrapes, perhaps from tumbling after being struck.

Much like the name implied, prairie dwellers lived outside of towns in the prairies, raising cattle to make a livelihood. Most people in this world spent their entire lives inside the walls of the town they were born in, so those who didn’t were seen as abnormal. Because of that, people regarded prairie dwellers with prejudice. They were similar to elves, in that sense. It was said that they often faced unreasonable treatment in towns. Saving Sarah from similar trouble was actually how I’d met her.

I thought about what I should do. This boy was part of Sarah’s tribe, so it was possible that they were acquaintances. I didn’t want to get involved in any trouble, but I had no other choice. However, before I took action...

“What are you doing?!” a blond man yelled, stepping out of the crowd.

He was a little high-strung, but he looked like a serious and intense young man. He had a well-trained body, and considering all his equipment, I knew at first sight that he was a soldier. He probably had experience on the battlefield. The intimidating air he gave off as he let his righteous indignation flare was pretty impressive.

“Wh-What do you want, youngster? Do you know who I am?!” the older man yelled back at him. Rather than having any backbone, he seemed used to throwing his weight around, so he couldn’t back down. I felt a little sorry for him. The young soldier who confronted him didn’t falter before such a measly threat, of course.

“I don’t know who you are,” he said, placing his hand on the sword at his waist. “I am Louis Bard. I’ve been entrusted with Margrave Maclaurin’s forces. I cannot possibly stand by and let an injustice pass.”

With that, soldiers made their way through the crowd.

“Arrest him,” Louis ordered.

“W-Wait a moment! P-Please wait!”

The old man started panicking. He came to the realization that this young soldier was someone of status. In an instant, he took on a subservient attitude.

“Please listen to me, sir. This boy’s a prairie dweller!”

“And what of it? We are all fellow humans living in these harsh lands. One’s lineage has nothing to do with it. I’ll listen to your story in detail later. Be at ease. If you’ve committed no crimes, you’ll be released shortly.”

His judgment was fair. He seemed to have a splendid character.

“Goddammit!”

The old man started running, so he’d probably done something to feel guilty about. His belly jiggled as he went. Someone who barely had any exercise wasn’t going to get away like that. The soldiers caught him immediately and twisted his arm behind his back. The man screamed, sounding pitiful. He got what he deserved.

“Take the boy in. Treat his wounds for him.”

“Understood.”

The young soldier passed out his orders after expertly defusing the situation. I made sure of this, then left. I had a promise to keep.

So that was Louis Bard. I’d heard the name before. Iino had talked about him after she returned to the exploration team. She’d also mentioned Margrave Maclaurin, so it was definitely the same man. It was a weird coincidence to bump into someone like him after sneaking away from the exploration team.

Iino had ended up fighting Majima because of the false information Louis had given her. She’d said that Louis was a fine man overflowing with a sense of justice, so if he’d intentionally passed that kind of information... Well, her expression had been quite dark at the time.

From the looks of it, there was no need to worry about that. On the contrary, I’d seen something positive. This world needed more people like him.

With that thought in mind, I came out into the town’s plaza, where I’d promised to meet someone.

“You’re late.” Right off the bat, he greeted me with a complaint, but the boy’s frown quickly turned into a friendly smile. “I’m glad you’re here. Good to see you’re the same as ever, Okazaki.”

“You too, Jinguuji.”

The person I’d promised to meet here, the Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya, furrowed his manly brow.

“I want your help. Will you hear me out?”

“That’s why I came,” I said, shrugging.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Okazaki. Wake up.”

I opened my eyes to a voice calling me. I’d apparently fallen asleep while sitting up. I’d had a dream, one of something that had happened a little while ago. The person from my dreams was right in front of me now.

“Jinguuji? Is it time?”

“Yeah,” he answered briefly.

There was no helping it, then. I stretched my arms and stood up. It was a bit of a pain, but it was time to go save people. I wanted to get it over with quickly and go enjoy some of Sarah’s cooking.