Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 11 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Unshakable Heart ~Lily’s POV~

“Subjugate the fake savior...?” I repeated in a daze.

Leah’s news was so shocking that I nearly stopped healing my master. I’d heard of the fake savior rumors, and I also knew that several villages had been destroyed, but I had no idea what any of those stories had to do with my master. It almost sounded like a bad joke, but Leah’s expression was dead serious.

“A messenger from Diospyro just arrived. The information is certain,” Leah explained.

“A messenger...?”

“Excuse me.”

A one-armed man wearing the uniform of Aker’s Royal Army entered the room behind Leah.

“Adolf?” Shiran said, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Shiran. I didn’t think we’d meet again like this.”

This was Adolf, a soldier stationed in the neighboring town of Diospyro. He’d once been a knight at Fort Tilia, but after losing an arm, he’d returned to his home in Aker to work as an instructor for the army. He was Shiran’s former comrade in arms. In the past, we’d gotten a runestone from him to use for our manamobile.

“Adolf, I’ll excuse myself here. I leave the rest in your hands,” Leah said, her face pale as she exited the room.

“You’ve been through a lot,” Adolf said, turning back to Shiran. “Prince Philip told me everything, including what happened to your body. I’m disappointed you couldn’t tell me yourself.”

“I’m sorry...”

“Don’t be. I jest. You had to consider Takahiro too. I know these things can’t be made known so frivolously.”

Behind Adolf’s smile was consideration for his comrade. That only lasted for a second, though. Adolf’s eyes moved over to the figure of my sleeping master.

“I hurried to bring news of what was going on without resting on my way from Diospyro... But to think he would collapse...”

“Adolf, are you certain Margrave Maclaurin has sent his army this way?” Shiran asked.

Adolf nodded meekly. “Yes. The information comes from the army. The margrave’s soldiers had already gotten quite close by the time I left Diospyro. A man named Louis Bard is leading them. Officially, they’re here to subjugate the fake savior involved in Fort Tilia’s attack, the Wicked Monster Tamer Majima Takahiro. We’ve confirmed around five thousand soldiers.”

“Five thousand?!” I yelled. “He sent five thousand soldiers just to kill my master?!”

“More specifically, I’d say they were gathered to kill him and all his servants,” Shiran said, her expression grave. “It’s not really outrageous. Hypothetically...just hypothetically, if I were in their position, I would make the same decision. That isn’t just because it’s Takahiro either. The great saviors are said to possess strength to match a thousand, so you would need more than a half-baked force to deal with one.”

Shiran’s voice was stiff. Even discussing the hypothetical possibility of pointing a blade at a savior was uncomfortable for her.

“They also have to consider you and Gerbera, who can hound a warrior-class visitor on your own. And though it’s presumptuous, I’m here too. With Rose and all of his other servants together, Takahiro possesses more strength than the average visitor. That is exactly why...”

“They want to pulverize him with the weight of a huge army?” I finished.

“That’s the gist of it.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but it made sense. Shiran said that a visitor was strong enough to match a thousand. Conversely, a thousand people were enough to kill a visitor.

Reality wasn’t that simple, of course, but even a superhuman had their limits. It was harder to deal with larger numbers of enemies, not to mention the accumulation of fatigue and wounds resulting from such a fight. Numbers possessed a violence all their own.

“Margrave Maclaurin is the leader of all the southern imperial nobles. He owns more territory than the entirety of Aker, and more wealth than we could ever fathom. I’ve heard he has easily more than ten thousand soldiers at his beck and call. If he truly plans to attack Takahiro, I’d expect at least that many soldiers to come.”

Shiran paused, a deep crease forming between her brows.

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Why Margrave Maclaurin’s army crossed over Aker’s border.”

I cocked my head, so Shiran went on to explain it in detail for me.

“Naturally, a foreign army cannot enter another country’s territory of its own accord. There are cases when an army is invited, given the circumstances, but as you know, Aker and the Margraviate of Maclaurin are on extremely bad terms. It would take something considerable for Aker to allow their armies across the border.”

“Even if Maclaurin’s army had a reason, they’d never get permission. We never know what they’ll do while they’re here,” Adolf added bitterly. His position as a soldier entrusted with national defense played a big role in his response. It looked like Aker and the Margraviate of Maclaurin really didn’t get along.

“So why?” Shiran asked dubiously. “Shouldn’t the provincial army’s border transgression have been detected earlier than this?”

“It wasn’t. Those bastards never gave notice and suddenly appeared on the border.”

“Impossible... That’s practically an invasion,” Shiran said in disbelief. “What was the army doing?”

“We couldn’t do anything,” Adolf answered regretfully, having predicted her question. “The Holy Order is accompanying them.”

“What...?” Shiran froze. She probably had a rough idea now of what was going on. “Did you just say the Holy Order?”

“Yes. I heard that knights of the Holy Order are accompanying the Maclaurin Provincial Army. As such, it’s an expedition of justice. A simple soldier has no say in it. On the contrary...of all things, those bastards in the provincial army are claiming this is revenge for the Fourth Company’s annihilation.”

“No way...” Shiran replied before going silent.

“I get it now. They got us,” I said, biting my lip as I figured it out. “That’s why Edgar suddenly attacked us like that.”

My master was bedridden because of Edgar’s attack. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Meaning Travis and the margrave are in cahoots,” I concluded.

I’d also heard the name Louis Bard before. He’d been with Travis when Iino had gotten false information about us in Serrata. They’d definitely been conspiring together since then to bring down my master.

“That’s so cruel...”

I couldn’t help but realize how bad things were. They’d prepared five thousand soldiers just to crush us. What’s more, our forces were significantly hampered. Shiran was remarkably weaker than usual, and I had to focus on my healing magic and couldn’t move from my master’s side. Above all else, my master was unconscious.

I looked around the room and saw anxiety dominating Lobivia’s childish face. Her small hands gripped the sheet of our master’s bed. I managed to keep myself from breaking down, but it was hard to claim I was composed. Anxiety was contagious. It spread farther and farther, dyeing all hearts in darkness. A heavy atmosphere hung over the room.

“Sister. May I say something?” Rose asked, suddenly speaking up. Her calm demeanor left me dumbfounded for a moment. Rose was acting entirely normal.

“Huh? Oh, sure. What is it?”

“How will we take action?” she inquired, as if it was a perfectly natural segue.

Even considering that her emotions didn’t really show on the surface, I couldn’t sense any agitation in her. She was merely asking about what was necessary.

“If we only ponder over how bad the situation is, nothing will change,” she said calmly. “No matter what is going on, our objective has already been decided. We have to protect our master. We must take action to accomplish that. Am I wrong?”

Rose was already thinking pragmatically. Or rather, she was just acting as she always did. She was our master’s shield. She only ever thought of one thing, and that was an unshakable truth.

Her steadfast nature had an immediate effect on everyone present.

“Right... Yeah, you’re right.”

If anxiety was contagious, then the opposite was also true, especially when we had a common goal. Rose had given us a reliable direction to go in, and the atmosphere in the room clearly changed. I was no exception.

“Hee hee...”

I was reminded of the time the still-nameless white arachne had abducted our master. Rose had also saved us back then. She was the precious and cute little sister of whom I was so proud. She was always the reliable one when it came down to it.

“Okay. Then let’s think about what we’re gonna do,” I said, smiling at Rose.

“Yes.” Rose nodded.

Without a moment’s delay, Katou cut to the chase. “In general, we can either counterattack, run away, or try to negotiate.”

It was as if she’d known it’d end up like this, or that she’d believed it would.

“What do you think we should do, Katou?” I asked.

“Counterattacking will be pretty tough,” she answered immediately.

“Thought so...”

There was no miraculous method that could strengthen our forces. We couldn’t put up a fight, so we had no choice but to avoid battle.

“That leaves either running or negotiating. It’d be nice if we could just talk things out, but...” I grimaced at the thought. “So long as they’re in cahoots with Travis, who picked a fight with us for no reason, that’s also out of the question.”

“No, I wonder about that,” Katou said. “They might not really be conspiring with Travis.”

“What do you mean?”

“Travis’s objective was to defeat the Wicked Monster Tamer so that he could get honor and glory. But what about the margrave? It just doesn’t seem worth it for him.”

Katou fiddled with her pigtails as she continued to voice her thoughts.

“Shiran’s theory that five thousand soldiers are necessary to defeat Majima-senpai makes plenty of sense. But what about the cost for such an expedition? Unlike Travis, who was free to deploy the knights in his company however he liked, the margrave has to shoulder the costs of an expedition himself. No matter how wealthy he is, he can’t just whip out a sum like that at a moment’s notice.”

She shot a look at Shiran, who nodded in return.

“That’s...certainly true. You make a good point, Mana. An army eats up expenses even during times of peace. An expedition consumes far more. If this were within his own territory, it’d be a different matter. According to the rumors, the fake savior has been wreaking havoc, so it would be perfectly natural for him to take action to eliminate them. But this is Aker. With such poor relations with us, the margrave has nothing to gain.”

It wasn’t worth it. I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. In that case...

“Then the provincial army really is an ‘army of justice’ here to subjugate the fake savior?”

Now that I thought of it, I didn’t know much about the margrave himself, but the man in charge of his army, Louis Bard, had a strong sense of justice—according to Iino. I wasn’t sure whether her judgment of him was trustworthy, but at the very least, she’d felt something in him that resonated with her own sense of justice.

If so, maybe Louis Bard was working with false information, much like Iino had been when she attacked us. It was possible and would be a serious nuisance, but if that was the case, then there was also a faint glimmer of hope.

“If the Maclaurin Provincial Army is dancing to Travis’s tune,” I said, “we might be able to avoid a battle by correcting the misunderstanding. We can start by running away, and in the meantime...”

“Let’s borrow Prince Philip’s strength,” Shiran finished for me. “It’s a little different from what we planned, but it’s ultimately the same. The provincial army can’t ignore the words of royalty. Adolf, what is Prince Philip doing now?”

“He should be on his way to meet with His Majesty to discuss the relationship we wish to establish with Takahiro. I’m sure he’ll receive news of the provincial army’s transgression on the way, though. This is Prince Philip we’re talking about. He could already be on the move.”

“Then, could you ask Prince Philip to try and undo this misunderstanding while we run away and try to buy time?”

“Of course,” Adolf answered with a reliable nod.

“I don’t know who this fake is, but Takahiro is a real savior,” Shiran asserted. “He’s not deserving of such slander. Prince Philip has already promised to cooperate with regards to the Holy Order’s Fourth Company. We must inform him.”

With that, we had a plan. We couldn’t deny the possibility that the margrave was scheming something, but even if he was, buying time was a valid strategy. Either way, if we could somehow tide things over, it would work out one way or another.

I lowered my gaze to my sleeping master. I stared lovingly at his face, illuminated by the white light of healing magic. I would protect him. With everyone’s strength put together, we could overcome this crisis.

Now that we had a plan, we all nodded. And just as we were about to set things in motion...

“Wait, slime.”

A woman’s deep voice resounded from the doorway as the door opened. An enormous gray figure slipped into the room. My eyes shot open.

“B-Berta?!”

Yes. Standing there was none other than the two-headed wolf Berta. Having apparently followed her here, Ayame was also by her side.

“Y-You startled me. You came back?”

Berta had accompanied us on our travels for a while, but she’d returned to her master Kudou Riku’s side. She’d said she would come back our way, but I never thought she’d show up with this kind of timing.

“I’m surprised you got into the village. Did Gerbera let you through? Oh, never mind. I guess that doesn’t matter right now.” I took a second to organize my thoughts. “Listen to me, Berta. Things are really bad.”

Her position was complicated due to her allegiance to her own king, but Berta was trustworthy. I knew how strong she was too. It would be reassuring to have her help.

“To get right to the point—”

“I know,” Berta said, cutting me off and skillfully closing the door with a tentacle. “The Maclaurin Provincial Army is closing in, right?”

She walked to the middle of the room, looked at my master, and groaned quietly. I could hear a tinge of regret in her utterance.

“Things have gotten rather troublesome here, I see...”

“Y-Yeah.”

“I heard the last parts of your conversation already,” Berta said, turning one of her snouts my way. “Your prediction is on the mark.”

“Huh?”

“The Maclaurin Provincial Army is on the move for the sake of justice. There’s no mistaking that.”

“H-How can you know...?” I asked, thrown off by hearing this from her.

“I saw it.”

She saw it? What could she possibly have seen?

“I have something to tell you.”

She apparently hadn’t simply returned to us. After giving it some thought, I realized it was strange for her to show up here. My master’s relationship with Kudou Riku was kept hidden. It was better to avoid being seen talking to Berta like this whenever possible, yet she boldly showed herself. That meant she had a reason to do so. All eyes gathered on her as she opened her mouth once more.

“It’s about the provincial army, and about the fake savior.”