Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 12 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Rampage

Essentially, the armed forces of this world were made up of standing armies in the employ of local feudal lords. The people faced constant threat from monsters, so life here couldn’t be maintained without them. There were also those among the common populace who could fight, but they largely belonged to militias. These militias cooperated with the local armies to protect their villages and towns, but while some did advance into the army, these were two different organizations.

The Maclaurin Provincial Army was no exception. The soldiers served the margraviate’s house, so they were exceptionally loyal. The current margrave, Glantri Maclaurin, spared no expense to protect the people of his territory, so he treated his soldiers far better than any other province did. The organization itself was sound, evidenced by how a lowborn man like Louis could climb high among its ranks, and there was no cause for discontent down to their lowest ranks.

The provincial army usually protected its own territory from monsters, so being dispatched to a foreign nation like Aker was an irregularity, but morale hadn’t dropped due to the aforementioned factors. On the contrary, being dispatched all the way to Aker to “subjugate the fake savior who has brought harm to the populace” convinced them that their feudal lord was the greatest of men.

That was in fact true. The margrave was a splendid lord, at least to those living in his territory. That was why none of the soldiers questioned what they were doing. They felt nothing when it came to attacking the elves of the reclamation village.

Contempt for elves was common sense in the margraviate. Practically no elves lived there, and many of the citizens saw them as incomprehensible beings who’d slipped into human society in other territories. This obviously wasn’t the opinion of every single citizen of the margraviate, but those who questioned such ideas were the minority, and Louis had kept such people away from positions of leadership in the provincial army.

What’s more, the elves were guilty of “colluding with the fake savior,” so the soldiers didn’t hesitate to hunt them down like dogs.

“Just a little farther,” Louis Bard muttered to himself from atop his horse.

He was leading the main force of his army through the Woodlands. He’d split off a detached force of two thousand men, but the main force still numbered over three thousand. By the end of today, or by tomorrow at the latest, everything would be settled.

The soldiers would be awarded with medals for the long expedition, and Louis would be credited with the honor of defeating the fake savior. Private talks had already been held for him to wed one of the margrave’s daughters. There were the other nobles to consider, so he’d be marrying a daughter further down the line of succession, but this still demonstrated how much trust Glantri Maclaurin had in him. Louis’s position within the margraviate was sure to become rock solid.

Not that Louis had much interest in his own reputation to begin with. What brought him joy was the fact that he’d be able to serve the margraviate even better than before, the fact that the margrave had such faith in him, and the fact that the man he idolized like a father would truly become his father-in-law. He had to bring this battle to an end to live up to the trust the margrave had put in him.

Just as Louis renewed his determination, a soldier came running over to him.

“Commander Louis, I have a report.”

“What is it?”

“We found something strange to the front. We’d like instructions on how to deal with it.”

“Something strange?”

Louis grimaced. He brought his horse to a stop and pulled up a telescope. There was, in fact, a mysterious object to the front. To describe it plainly, it was a matte-black box. It looked to be made of some sort of metal, and it was shaped like multiple boxes with their corners rounded off, stacked atop one another. Judging by the nearby trees, it was about as tall as a human.

This was clearly suspicious. It was still far away, so he couldn’t make out any details, but at the very least, he could tell the object wasn’t natural. He had no idea what it was for, but considering the current situation and its placement, it was very likely something Majima Takahiro’s group had set there to retaliate against the army.

It was large enough for someone to fit inside, so maybe something was hidden within. Or perhaps it was some sort of trap. It didn’t really matter either way. They had no reason to carelessly approach something so glaringly suspicious.

“It’s no obstruction if we simply blow it up from afar,” Louis concluded, and just as he was about to pass the order... “Huh?”

A sound of puzzlement made its way up Louis’s throat. The unusual box had started moving, sliding across the ground. Although he gasped at the unexpected development, Louis was an outstanding commander. He immediately came back to his senses and strained to see through the telescope. After several seconds, he realized that the box had wheels.

“It can’t be... That’s a transport manamobile!”

They were mainly used by armies to ferry goods through the Woodlands, but they were also sold secondhand to the general populace. The provincial army had brought several of them on this expedition. The reason Louis hadn’t realized sooner was because planks were positioned over the wheels as if to protect them from the sides. Its uncommon shape had misled him. That wasn’t the only odd thing about it either.

“Isn’t it moving a little too fast?”

At first, it was only moving at walking speed. However, it gradually built up to running speed, then kept going to a point that no normal person would be able to keep up with it.

“But that’s impossible...”

Manamobiles couldn’t move very fast. That was common knowledge, so it was natural for Louis to be surprised by this sight. Nobody in this world had ever seen the like. Somebody from another world would be a different matter, though.

If any visitors were present, they’d liken it to a car, which was largely the right impression. The vehicle’s creator had heard stories of another world from the master she loyally served and had since held great admiration for the automobile.

“Tch! Destroy it with magic!”

If there were any enemies on board, Louis couldn’t allow them to get close. He’d been slow to react because of the outlandishness of the situation, but it wasn’t too late to turn the tables.

The provincial army was well trained. They’d been drilled on how to react to sudden ambushes. The moment Louis sent word, the officer at the front had the men take up formations. Shields lined up as those behind them intercepted the enemy. Seeing as how the vehicle looked to be covered in metal, they’d judged that arrows would have little effect, so the attack consisted mostly of magic.

A barrage of fire poured down on the manamobile. Because of the vehicle’s unexpected speed, not all the projectiles found their mark, but with so many of them, some were bound to hit. Multiple pillars of fire burst from the vehicle’s surface.

“Excellent.”

Louis nodded as he peered through his telescope, but several seconds later, a deep crease formed between his brows.

“What...?”

Even after being struck by magic, the mysterious vehicle remained on course.

“Impossible...”

Louis’s shock was understandable. The entire exterior of this manamobile was made of the same material as Lily’s black spear, so it was practically an armored personnel carrier. The provincial army—or anyone else from this world for that matter—would never think that such a thing existed.

Before they could admire how well-made it was, they had to wonder why such a thing had been made in the first place. The truth was rather ridiculous. After all, the concept behind the vehicle’s development was to make something that wouldn’t break even if Gerbera swung it around, so it was the eccentric product of Gerbera’s smashing their last manamobile into smithereens during their fight with the Skanda Iino Yuna. In truth, it was more of a blunt weapon than a vehicle.

It didn’t make any sense. It was hard to tell since she was so serious and levelheaded, but the girl who’d created it could be a bit of an airhead. Normally, someone would’ve stopped her before it reached this stage, but when faced with his servant’s enthusiasm to one day make a car, her master had carelessly forgotten to quip that a car wasn’t a blunt weapon. Before he knew it, it was already too late.

She hadn’t created this on the spot, of course. She’d made too many of the necessary parts even before the group’s first visit to Diospyro, so she’d had several vehicles’ worth stored away in her magic bags. As for the runestone that served as its engine, she’d used a spare they’d procured for their own manamobile. In other words, aside from the abnormally tough exterior plating, everything else was made of standard parts.

For that reason, the shocking speed had to come from some other technology, which she’d used once before already. In the defensive battle against the Holy Order, she’d repulsed the enemy using combat fireworks—magic tools that used runestones to their breaking point to yield a tremendous output. She’d put the same thing into practice here too. To be more specific, the combat fireworks were a byproduct of creating this manamobile.

If there was one flaw to point out, it was that she wasn’t yet able to create an imitation of the main runestone yet. Every time they cranked it up to such speeds, they’d have to go buy a new one, so this was far from being practical for everyday use. She’d been so dejected by this outcome. Not even she believed that the day would come where it would be of some use like this.

“It’s not stopping!”

The runaway vehicle quickly closed the distance. It was showing some damage, but it wasn’t slowing down. On the contrary, it was getting even faster.

“Wait, stop...”

The blood drained from Louis’s face. He now had an idea of what the enemy was planning.

“Wait. Hang on. It can’t be...”

He had the right idea, but the puppet’s rampage was far beyond anything he imagined. The rear end of the vehicle suddenly exploded. This wasn’t because of the ongoing magic barrage; the imitation runestones planted inside the vehicle itself had caused it. The purpose behind this was to generate even more propulsion. The manamobile closed the remaining distance at quite literally an explosive speed.

“What do you think of this, Master? Rockets are the thing of dreams, right?”

“Who told you that? Oh, never mind. It was Mikihiko again, huh?”

Her master had been at a loss when she introduced the idea to him. He couldn’t help but deeply sigh as he thought of his best friend throwing him a thumbs-up. After seeing how happy his servant was, though, he’d relaxed and smiled.

“Well, whatever.”

“Ummm, is something the matter, Master?”

“It’s nothing. If you’re enjoying yourself, it’s all fine.”

Her normal composure had vanished in cheerful glee. She’d cocked her head in confusion, the innocence of such a gesture having only deepened the boy’s smile.

The end result was far less pleasant for Louis and his men, however.

“Eeeek! Aaaaah!”

The soldiers at the front screamed. They’d been prepared for any monster attack, but nobody had even dreamed of such an inexplicable object hurtling toward them. There was no time to run away. The mystery vehicle, far removed from the initial concept of a modern car, smashed into the front line of the provincial army.

They’d had their shields ready, but those were blown away in an instant. The soldiers behind them were crushed before they had any idea of what was going on. The vehicle’s front end collapsed in, and the back wheels sprang off the ground as it pitched forward. Nevertheless, it didn’t lose momentum. It continued tumbling end over end, flattening soldiers in its path and sending some flying away. Everyone was screaming in panic.

Before long, the vehicle came to a stop upside down. It was a disaster. Injured soldiers groaned all over. The ones who’d been out of harm’s way were speechless, incapable of understanding the spectacle before them.

After a good ten seconds, someone kicked the manamobile’s door open from the inside. Several soldiers screeched at the sight. Whoever it was had been responsible for this hellish scene, so they had to be some kind of outrageous horror. With that thought in mind, even these elite soldiers remained frozen in place. They readied themselves for a nightmare, and precisely because of that, their shock at what came out of the vehicle was just as intense as what they’d experienced from the manamobile’s kamikaze strike.

“Now then... It looks like my plan succeeded.”

A beautiful girl stepped out of the vehicle. Her braided hair swayed in the wind, and her delicate and shapely face surveyed the area. Her maid outfit looked totally out of place; she would’ve been more at home inside a palace attending to some noble.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, everyone.”

The girl bowed with refined mannerisms, as if she couldn’t bring any shame to her master. She’d practiced this gesture so she wouldn’t seem out of place, so she could mix into human society and remain by her beloved master’s side. She was so elegant that it was hard to imagine her as the one responsible for so recklessly crashing a vehicle into an armed formation. This discrepancy brought all the soldiers’ thoughts to a halt.

“My name is Rose,” she said with confidence, raising her head. “I am my master Majima Takahiro’s second servant, and his shield.”

Her smile was strong, as if to show that this was the point of pride that supported her existence.

“I have come to protect my beloved.”

What once was nothing more than a wooden puppet now looked like a flower in full bloom. Beauty wasn’t all there was to this flower either. She had thorns to protect what was dear to her.

She reached into her apron pocket and delicately pulled out an unbecoming and enormous battle-axe.

“Allow me to say this beforehand.”

She slammed the haft of her axe against the ground with a thud. When she next spoke, her voice carried far and wide.

“All those who have lost the will to fight, cast aside your weapons and flee. I have no intention of chasing you down.”

She was fighting only to protect. She wielded a weapon, but she was a shield—nothing more, nothing less. Rose understood this well. Actually, she wanted it to be like that. Whether or not to forgive an enemy was for her master to decide; she only had to think of how to protect him. She didn’t need any other thoughts.

“Prepare yourselves.”

With loyalty and yearning burning in her heart, the puppet threw herself into battle.