Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 12 - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Never to Let Go Again

The angel puppet went flying away in pieces, its limbs scattering all over the ground. I turned around and flexed the long claws on my fingers a few times.

“Now then, who wants to get dismantled next?”

The knights who’d been looking for an opening to attack me faltered at the sight of the bizarre claws. Seeing the wreckage the puppet had been reduced to in a single strike, it was only normal they would hesitate at this point. That was when Berta caught up to me. She’d forced her way through the wall of knights, but not without getting a few wounds in the process.

“Are you all right, Majima Takahiro?!”

“Yeah, how ’bout you?”

“Fine, of course,” Berta answered, wiping the laceration on her cheek.

It would’ve been hard for me to handle this many enemies on my own, so I was glad she’d made it here.

“Huh...? Berta?” Rose said in bewilderment. It was her first time seeing Berta in this form, so her reaction was to be expected.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Berta replied. “Looks like you’re fine too.”

“Huh? Um, yes.”

Besides being surprised by Berta’s true form, Rose couldn’t have imagined her favorable attitude considering the wolf’s usual obstinacy. The expression Rose made as she kept trying to comprehend the situation was cute. Now wasn’t the time to be explaining things to her, though. Sensing a gaze on me, I turned around. A masculine man stood there, the same one who’d been about to deliver the finishing blow to Rose.

“Commander Louis! Please fall back!”

Soldiers came running over to him. He was apparently the commander of this army, Louis Bard. Margrave Maclaurin had made the decision to get rid of me, claiming I was the fake savior, but Louis served as his proxy here. In a sense, this man represented the margrave himself. He glared at me with righteous indignation and hatred in his eyes.

“You! You’re Majima Takahiro?!”

He had so much vigor that he was liable to charge me with his sword at any moment. Before he could, though, Ottmar held him back.

“Commander Louis, can I get you to back down?” he asked.

“Sir Ottmar... But if I do...”

“We shall fight this battle.”

Ottmar looked terribly pale. He had nearly twenty angel puppets by his side. He’d made these on the spot, and they were likely far weaker than the large puppet I’d broken, but there were a good number of them. What’s more, the knights of the Holy Order surrounded me and pointed their blades my way.

“You must take command of the soldiers as quickly as possible,” Ottmar said to Louis, keeping his eyes fixed on me. “This is an unparalleled opportunity.”

“An opportunity?” Louis said. “But the army...”

“Yes. The army is in tatters. It’s probably an effect of this mist, but that doesn’t matter right now. The important thing is that Majima Takahiro has charged into our midst on his own. So long as we finish him, our objective will be fulfilled.”

Ottmar spoke indifferently. The soldiers’ chaotic screams still persisted all over, but it was as if he didn’t hear them.

“B-But Sir Ottmar,” Louis said with a daunted look, “to put up a fight, we first need to gather the retreating soldiers.”

“No. Leave them for later. First, we finish Majima Takahiro. A fair number of soldiers have scattered, but a good forty percent should still remain. With over a thousand soldiers, we can definitely bring Majima Takahiro down.”

Ottmar remained calm despite the situation. He didn’t let himself get swept away by the flow. He kept his eyes on what he had to do—and only on what he had to do.

As a matter of fact, Louis’s argument wasn’t necessarily wrong. The soldiers under my illusion were running away without a care. Being stranded in a forest was bad enough, but this was the Woodlands. The Maclaurin Provincial Army was only strong as a single entity working under a commander—each individual was only as strong as the average soldier. If they weren’t recovered immediately, a significant number of them would be devoured by the Woodlands. Ottmar’s decision was synonymous with abandoning them. It wasn’t that Ottmar was being irresponsible, though.

“Encircle the area and corner Majima Takahiro. We’ll stall him here and buy you the time to do so.”

The ones in the most danger here were the few knights who had to fight. Ottmar had taken on that role with them as if it were perfectly natural, but he had no fervor like Louis. That said, he didn’t use others as convenient tools like Travis had. Well, maybe he did, but he was one of those tools too. Ottmar made decisions based purely on whether they’d accomplish his objectives.

Was the way he treated people as numbers and disregarded the value of any individual because he was a soldier loyal to his mission? Or had he lost his heart, much like the puppets he manipulated? At any rate, his instructions got through to Louis.

“Ugh... Very well.”

Louis was a soldier too, and he understood the validity of Ottmar’s plan. Their target had dived into enemy territory with almost no protection: they couldn’t let this opportunity pass. Louis withdrew so that Ottmar could pass out his orders.

At present, it would be difficult to make use of an army that had pretty much been routed. Nonetheless, Ottmar had determined that Louis would be able to gather his scattered soldiers and focus them on the enemy in front of them. He was probably right too.

“Maintain the envelopment. Support my puppets where appropriate.”

Ottmar’s plan was to buy time until the army finished preparing. If they pulled it off and Louis ignored all the sacrifices necessary to launch an all-out offensive, the power in my left arm and Berta’s assistance wouldn’t be enough for us to get away. We wouldn’t go down without a fight, but we would eventually run out of stamina and be crushed by their numbers. It was undeniable.

“You’ve made an error in judgment, Majima Takahiro,” Ottmar stated. “You’ll die because you tried to save that puppet.”

Rose’s broken body stiffened in my arm.

“How unfortunate,” he continued. “If only you had abandoned it and run away, you would’ve ended this while the scar was still shallow.”

Ottmar was indifferent to the end, intending to dampen my spirits. Whether that worked on me, though, was another matter.

“You just don’t get it,” I said, laughing down at him. “While the scar is shallow? Don’t be stupid.”

I glanced at Rose. She didn’t seem to get it either, so now was as good a time as any to make myself clear.

“I’m here because that’s a fatal wound for me.”

“Master...”

The presence in my arm looking up at me felt so dear. That sensation alone ensured that I would remain unwavering.

“I see... So you’ve made your decision,” Ottmar said, lowering his voice.

Even as he spoke, his angel puppets closed in little by little. Farther to the back, the knights were watching for any openings. They were showing me that if I let my guard down, they would attack, their goal to deplete me both physically and mentally. Their ultimate goal was to buy time, but they weren’t going to let me have it easy. The situation was a powder keg ready to blow at any moment.

“Yes, it’s just as Majima Takahiro says,” Berta said, breaking the silence and looking down at Ottmar. “You lot don’t understand a thing.”

“What?” Ottmar muttered quietly, sensing something in her gaze.

Berta’s calm demeanor showed that, despite the knights surrounding us, she didn’t feel cornered. She then glanced toward me.

“They’re here.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, understanding the meaning behind her brief words. “I was ready to slog it out in a battle of attrition for a bit, but they’re earlier than expected. Looks like she really put in some effort for us.”

“What are—” Ottmar started, but froze midsentence.

A shadow fell over us. Realizing that something was above him, Ottmar looked up at the foggy sky. Directly overhead, what could easily be mistaken for a massive boulder came plummeting down.

“Wha—?!”

Enormous wings spread out, stirring up the mist. Its wingspan was about ten meters wide, and the majority of its body was covered in a sturdy carapace.

“Graaaawr!”

Fire began igniting in its mouth, sending embers dancing in the air.

“It can’t be... A dragon?!” Ottmar yelled, wide-eyed in shock.

“Graaaah!”

The dragon landed as if to protect us, bathing the bewildered knights in flames. That wasn’t enough to bring down knights of the Holy Order, but caught off guard, they were forced to fall back. As the dragon’s roar shook the air like an electric current, a young girl called out to me.

“Takahiro!”

A small figure leaped from the roaring dragon’s back. Her red hair seemed even more vivid than the red conflagration behind her.

“Lobivia!”

Just as I called her name, she dove into my chest.

“Takahiro! Rose! You okay?!”

“Yeah, we’re fine. You did well.”

“Mm. I got through to them.”

Lobivia nuzzled her head against my chest. She didn’t usually act like this. Part of it was due to her emotional instability, but accomplishing what she’d set out to do played a larger role. The fruits of her actions were right before us.

“She can’t talk like that, so I have a message from Ella,” Lobivia said, glancing at the dragon who was holding back our enemies with fire. The dragon took a quick look our way, and Lobivia spoke for her. “‘Now that we’ve lost our settlement, we have nobody to turn to. You protected my little sisters. To repay that debt, and for so much more, we dragons shall fight by your side,’ she says.”

“I see. Thank you, Ella.”

The dragon howled in response. After giving her a smile, I wrapped an arm around Lobivia.

“You too, Lobivia. You really did good.”

“Mm.”

I’d asked Lobivia to contact the dragons who’d escaped to safety. It was of course no coincidence that she’d located them. The Mist Barrier covered this region, and the dragons of Draconia had managed to live here because they were the only ones who could navigate it.

However, as the one who’d made that barrier herself, Salvia was a step above them. In a sense, she was the Mist Barrier itself. It was no exaggeration to say that it was the Misty Lodge but on a grander scale.

I’d asked Salvia to link up with the nearly destroyed barrier to locate the dragons who’d been too injured to stay on the run. Fortunately, the majority of them had been nearby. Thanks to that, we’d saved those who had nowhere to go, provided healing for those who needed it, and asked those who could fight for their help. Right about now, Kei was likely treating the injured. Those who could fight had answered their littlest sister’s call and had come flying over.

“D-Dragons?!”

Screams echoed all over. Beyond the fog, giant shadows leisurely flew about. There were seven of them. Just as the Maclaurin Provincial Army started to rally back to a functional state, flames poured down from above. The dragons, who’d remained in hiding despite their vast power, finally bared their fangs, and the sight shattered the spirits of the already-routed provincial army.

“Majima Takahiro!” Ottmar said with a groan. “Is this your last hand?!”

Unable to retaliate, the soldiers scattered randomly as flames rained down on them. With this attack, even if the knights sacrificed themselves to buy time, it would be impossible for the remnants of the army to launch an all-out offensive. The basis of Ottmar’s plan had flown out the window.

So what would his next move be? We glared at him, waiting for him to speak.

“Retreat.”

At the same time he gave that command, the angel puppets charged as one.

“As expected. He acts fast.”

I’d predicted this and swung my claws without hesitation. My other companions intercepted the puppets too. Our enemy was shrewd, though. After commanding his subordinates to retreat, Ottmar sent out more angel puppets against us. Using up his power to the last drop, he nearly collapsed, and the other knights picked him up and ran off. His reckless actions paid off, because by the time we finished dealing with all the angel puppets, the knights were a fair distance away.

“We chasing them?” Lobivia asked.

If we seriously wanted to, we could probably annihilate them, but I shook my head.

“No. We should take this chance to group back up with everyone.”

This battle was our victory, but other fights were going on. In particular, the detachment that’d been sent around still had plenty of strength. Lily and Shiran were holding them back, but if we acted too slow, the detachment could reach the elves before us. It was best to meet up with Lily and Shiran, then go get Gerbera and Ayame.

“We’re pulling back.”

I held Rose in my arms and mounted Berta, whereas Lobivia jumped up onto Ella’s back. Berta broke into a dash, and Ella roared. She was signaling her siblings to retreat. The fighting here was over.

“Still, it would’ve been nice to finish either Louis or Ottmar here and now,” I muttered to myself.

Even if we pulled through today, Louis wouldn’t give up. He was absolutely going to reorganize the Maclaurin Provincial Army and have another go at us. The same went for Ottmar of the Holy Order.

“No need to fuss about that,” Berta said. “You can just use the time to think about what to do. After so many losses, it’ll take a while for them to regroup. We’ve bought more than enough time.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Until now, we’d been forced to deal with events on the spot while they drove us into a corner. Given enough time to deal with them, things would be a different story.

“Besides, so long as you have time, things might change,” Berta added.

“How so?”

I cocked my head. She was implying something, but I couldn’t tell what. Berta’s human half turned to look at me.

“It’s nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not for certain, so I’ll refrain from saying anything.”

Something had come to Berta’s mind, but she didn’t say more than that. Instead, she took a quick glance at my chest.

“Besides, don’t you have something more important to talk about?”

“I sure do.”

This time, her words were easy to understand. I nodded, then looked down at the girl who was still in my arms.

“M-Master...” Rose said, meeting my gaze with a start.

She reacted like a child who’d been caught playing a prank. She kind of resembled a small animal, which was pretty cute, but I couldn’t afford to be lenient here.

“F-Forgive me. I acted selfishly,” she said.

“Seriously.”

Rose’s expression stiffened. Normally, she’d be prostrating herself on her hands and knees to apologize, but with no limbs, she couldn’t even do that. I felt a little sorry for her, but after causing me so much anxiety, I had to be a little angry. I hadn’t lied to Berta when I told her I was angry with Rose, so I had to get that across to the person in question too.

“If you really died, I would never have forgiven you.”

I hefted up her light body a little, staring down at her face from above. As I did, Rose immediately started acting flustered.

“Wah?! Master?!”

“I can’t tell if you’re angry with her or pampering her,” Berta said with an exasperated sigh.

“Both,” I said, shrugging. “In Rose’s case, this is the most efficient way.”

Maybe that wasn’t actually a bad idea. It was a good opportunity to explain just how dear she was to me.

“U-Um, Master?” Rose said, her voice very faint.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Please stop teasing me. I’m so unsightly right now.”

Even without any of her limbs, Rose made sure to press the left side of her face between my neck and shoulder. She’d been struck by the enemy, and half her face was now broken. She didn’t want me to see her like that, and I wasn’t the type to tease her about it either.

For that reason, I pushed Rose away from me again and held her in front of me, placing a hand on her cheek. This was partly to hide the part she wanted to keep covered, and partly to keep her face fixed in place, as Berta’s running was jostling us about.

“M-Master...?”

I decided to pamper her while also properly communicating my feelings, so I came up with the best way to do it.

“Never leave my side again, Rose.”

I pulled her in and locked her in an embrace so that she would never think of vanishing without a word again. I mentally thanked Berta as she pretended not to know what was going on and brought my face closer to Rose’s.