Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 12 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Awakening

What had once been Travis was gone, and I was left alone in the darkness. The foreign invader in my world had been defeated, but my body wouldn’t stop breaking. The sound of ruin scattered broken fragments like sparks into the void. I didn’t try to stop it either. I simply let it happen. I wasn’t being negligent or anything, though. I just believed it was necessary.

By doing this, I finally understood. I was losing my memories of my old world, but that wasn’t the true purpose of this phenomenon. At the end of all this destruction to my being, I would transform into something else.

Of course, if that happened, nothing of what I was now would remain. It was terrifying, but if I lost absolutely everything, then gained something to make up for all that loss, my wish would be granted. Maybe that wasn’t a bad trade, even if “Majima Takahiro” no longer existed at that point.

I wanted to protect everyone. If that wish could be fulfilled, then maybe this was fine. It was who I was by nature, after all. If I kept going and became something that existed only to protect, then—

“You can’t, my dear.” A presence took shape behind me. “You can’t.”

Arms reached around me and embraced me.

“Salvia?”

Now that Travis was gone, she’d regained her freedom. Her large breasts sat atop my head from behind. It felt strangely nostalgic.

“You mustn’t damage yourself more than this.”

It was like she was scolding me, but contrary to her harsh tone, her embrace was so gentle. This brought me a sense of relief, and my overheating thoughts cooled down.

Salvia affectionately stroked my cracked and breaking cheeks with her slender fingers. “You’ve done enough, my dear. Nobody wishes for more than this.”

Yeah, maybe she has a point... I’d lost a fair bit of my being. Everyone would surely grieve if they learned of this. I didn’t want that.

“It’s all right. If you find yourself lacking in any way, I... No, we will make up for it. There’s no need for you to carry this burden all on your own.”

“Sster!” Asarina appeared and started gnawing on my ear, purring cheerfully. “Ssster.” She then protested with a voice full of displeasure, which calmed my nerves.

“Yeah... You’re right.”

The destruction and transformation happening to my body settled down. I’d lost so much and been right on the verge of turning into something else entirely, but that was fine with me. I’d gained something to make up for all that loss.

“Sorry for making you two work so hard, Salvia, Asarina.”

Travis had been defeated. I didn’t need more than that, so continuing would be putting the cart before the horse. Maybe the day would come when that wasn’t enough, but that day wasn’t today.

“Let’s go back,” I said.

“Yes, let’s,” Salvia replied, nodding and giving my head a tight hug.

Maybe she had an inkling of the erroneous thoughts that’d been going through my head. It was as if she had stopped a child from going somewhere dangerous. As her breasts pushed down on my head, I gave her hand a good pat, then began surfacing from the darkness.

Now then, it’s time to take back what’s dear to me.

◆ ◆ ◆

I opened my eyes. I was inside the manamobile I’d been sleeping in the last few days. I immediately sat up.

“M-Master?!”

Lily, who was by my side, sounded shocked. She’d been tending to me all this time, and she looked exhausted.

“Sorry for worrying you,” I said, pulling her toward me.

Shivers ran through her entire body. “Master...” Her voice was filled with delight and relief as I pulled her into an embrace.

“I’m okay now,” I said right into her ear, then let her go. I wanted to talk a lot more, but unfortunately, we didn’t have the time for that.

“Ah, you can’t! You just got up,” Lily said in a fluster as I tried to stand.

“Don’t worry.”

I pushed her back as she tried to stop me, then got to my feet. I’d been lying down in here for quite some time, but I managed to get up smoothly. I didn’t feel anything amiss after being poisoned for so long either.

“Huh?” Lily looked at me in astonishment. “No way. No matter how I look at it, to recover that fast is...”

Having been the one to treat me this whole time, she knew exactly how odd this was.

“It’s almost just like me or Gerbera...”

Lily suddenly went pale. She knew about my ability, and she’d been by my side the entire time she’d been treating me, so she probably realized what’d happened.

“Master...” she said with tears in her eyes.

“We’ll talk later,” I said, shaking my head. I had wished for this, and I didn’t regret it. “Come with me. I need to speak with everyone.”

I got out of the vehicle. The moment I did, all eyes fell upon me. Everyone froze, their expressions full of shock.

The first to come to her senses was Lobivia. “Takahiro!” She ran to me ahead of everyone else and leaped into my chest. “Takahiro! Takahirooo!”

Tears quickly formed in the corners of her usually unyielding eyes.

“Thank goodness. I’m so glad. Hic... Waaaah!”

She began crying like a normal child. Bloodstained bandages were wrapped around her all over—proof that she’d kept fighting even after losing her mother and her home. All the tension in her had finally snapped, and she continued wailing and crying.

“Sorry, Lobivia. I’m fine now.”

I returned her hug and looked at everyone else who’d gathered. Gerbera, Shiran, Katou, Ayame, and Kei were here. Leah and the other elves were also watching me. They were wounded and exhausted, but everyone was all right. However, Rose wasn’t among them.

“O-Oh, you’ve really recovered,” Gerbera said as she drew nearer. “Th-Thank goodness. Really, that’s good...but we can’t rejoice.”

Her relieved expression quickly clouded over. Next to her, Katou was deathly pale, and Kei was hugging Katou’s shoulders. As I glanced their way, Shiran joined the conversation.

“Takahiro, there’s something we need to tell you. I know you’ve just woken up, and it must be difficult to hear this, but—”

“You don’t need to worry about me. Rose set out on her own to stall the enemy, right?” I said, cutting her off.

“So you’re aware...” Shiran said, putting a hand to her mouth. “How?”

“The mental path. I don’t know all the details, though,” I answered, then got straight to the point. “I need to go get Rose. Sorry, but can you explain what happened?”

“That’s...”

“I’ll tell you,” another voice said. “I’m the last one who saw the puppet, after all.”

Berta walked up to me, and the atmosphere around us became tense.

“It happened after we identified what was wrong with the Mist Barrier. The puppet proposed setting some traps to slow the enemy, and she nominated me to stay with her as a guard and a means of transportation, saying she’d catch back up with the group after finishing the necessary preparations. Once we were alone, she told me she’d stay behind. I left her there and came back on my own.”

After she quickly explained the details, Berta narrowed her four eyes.

“You look calm. I figured you’d be resentful.”

“That’s ’cause I can guess Rose’s thought process,” I told her, sighing. If this had been a sudden event, I might’ve been flustered, but I’d seen Rose’s smile in the world of light. “She figured Lily and the others would stop her, so she chose you to go with her. Judging by her personality, she’s really sorry that she used you like that. There’s no point in blaming you for it, Berta.”

“You really do understand her. Even knowing all that, will you still go to the puppet’s side?”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m here for.” I’d paid the price already, so I didn’t hesitate.

“I see. Then there’s no stopping you anymore.”

Berta snorted. She looked unexpectedly happy. She’d been the last to talk to Rose, so perhaps she felt a certain way about this.

“But things aren’t that simple,” Berta said. The atmosphere again became tense. “To get to the puppet, you’ll have to take on the provincial army. They’ve split into two forces, but they still number in the thousands. Furthermore, their pursuit force is still hounding us.”

“Takahiro, Berta has a point,” Shiran joined in. “We were attacked by the pursuit force not too long ago. Berta came back just in time, so we managed to get by, but if we ignore one of the two main army groups, they’ll close in on us too.”

The pursuit force that had been hounding the elves and the two separate forces of the provincial army—we had to deal with all three at the same time. It didn’t need to be said how hard this would be; everyone here had experienced it for themselves. Maybe that was why.

The elves had been silent this whole time, but one of them spoke up.

“Mister Takahiro, may I say something?”

“Leah? What is it?”

Leah smiled, exhaustion evident on her face from the continuous flight. Her husband Melvin walked up to me alongside her.

“There’s one way of resolving this problem,” she said. She was physically drained, but her voice was strong.

“Auntie, that’s...” Shiran started, but Leah ignored her.

“Please don’t mind us and go after Rose,” she said, her serene expression conveying her resolve. “We decided this together after discussing it. Everyone has done so much to try and save us. It’s enough.”

“At this rate, we’ll all go down together,” Melvin joined in. “It seems you’re worried about the pursuit force and the other half of the provincial army, but if not for us, there would be no need to consider such things. Mister Takahiro, you may take your whole group to go get Rose.”

It was, in fact, just as Melvin said. If we were on our own, we would be free to take action. If we left the elves, we could get away with fighting only the main force that Rose was currently engaging. It was a valid plan, but only if I didn’t care about what we’d lose in the process.

“We cannot keep taking advantage of your kindness,” Melvin said. “We will show that we can get through this in our own way.”

They weren’t just going to take it lying down. That said, about the only thing they could do was use those who could fight as sacrificial pawns to allow the others to escape. Having been badly injured in the battle against the provincial army, Melvin knew that already. This was the kind of people they were, so I didn’t hesitate.

“Thank you for the offer,” I said, genuinely happy for their kindness, “but I can’t accept.”

“Mister Takahiro...” Melvin said. Both he and Leah looked perplexed.

“I’ve decided to protect everyone.”

I refused to lose a single soul. I wasn’t going to lose Rose, and I wasn’t going to sacrifice anyone to get her back. I’d decided to do things that way.

“Can you do that?” Melvin asked.

“Not with my own strength,” I answered, shaking my head.

I knew I wasn’t suited to fighting, but there were still things I wanted to protect. To do so, I’d reached out for anything I could without regard for my own safety. I’d expended myself to my very limits, so what I’d gained was in no way small. The situation had already changed: I’d changed it. If I understood that and cooperated with everyone, we had a chance.

“Let’s all get through this together. Please lend me your strength.”