Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 12 - Chapter SS1

Extra Story: Together Forever

At Philip’s discretion, we made our way to Aker’s capital about ten days after escaping the Maclaurin Provincial Army. The reason it’d taken a little more time than expected was because we’d proceeded with all due caution. We had been instructed to go to the nearby town first, and once their preparations were done, we moved to the capital as a big group.

With that, we could finally leave the elves’ safety to the army. Relieved of that responsibility, I took my companions and went to Diospyro. There, we reunited with Philip and held more talks with him, mostly because we needed to work out several conditions before we moved on to the capital.

One such condition was the dragons of Draconia. They’d lost their home, and the Mist Barrier that’d hidden them from humanity was gone. They had nowhere left to go, so something had to be done.

As a result of our discussions, it was determined that they would be accepted in Aker as my servants. Strictly speaking, they weren’t, but the people of Aker wouldn’t be able to see the difference. Ella and her siblings agreed to it too.

During that time, Philip actively contacted many others. Part of this was to spread news that “Majima Takahiro and his servant monsters risked their lives to protect elves.” Honestly speaking, I questioned whether it would be so simple, but ironically, the Maclaurin Provincial Army’s actions worked in our favor.

The people of Aker were extremely wary of the provincial army due to its transgression into their borders, and they’d been paying close attention to the army’s movements. During such a sensitive period, a member of the respected Akerian royal family had been taken prisoner, and a reclamation village had been attacked. News spread through the streets in no time at all.

Nevertheless, we didn’t get any opportunities to hear these rumors about us. We couldn’t just go loitering around the capital, so we ended up staying at the castle. Although, maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t hear them. According to the reports Philip received, things had gotten rather crazy. When he asked me whether I wanted to hear the details, I’d shaken my head basically on reflex.

Nonetheless, I’d agreed to Philip’s proposal because I’d been ready for this to happen, so maybe it was best to resign myself to this situation. After all, we had managed to set the foundations for the people of Aker to accept Lily and the others. Next was to determine how we’d make use of this opportunity.

For the next few days, we had continuous meetings and dinners with Aker’s royalty, army, and cabinet ministers. These served the purpose of introducing not only me, but my servants as well, so Lily and Shiran accompanied me. It was a big help to have Philip by our side during all this.

We also had the chance to meet Aker’s king. He was an old man who looked just like Philip would if he’d gotten on in years. They’d already talked things through, so he readily agreed to form an alliance between us. When I spoke of his daughter, the commander of the Third Company of the Alliance Knights, the fatherly expression he made left quite the impression.

During our stay, we received surprising news about the Maclaurin Provincial Army. We didn’t know the full details yet, but it was certain that they’d been annihilated. Maybe we would find something out when the knights who’d gone to investigate returned. All we knew for now was that the direct threat we’d been wariest of had unexpectedly vanished.

That said, even if the army under Louis Bard’s command had been eliminated, the man who’d sent them, Margrave Glantri Maclaurin, was still perfectly fine. It was possible that his righteous heart remained as stout as ever or that his animosity had only been amplified. Also, this was nothing more than the end of the army that’d been dispatched to Aker. It was a catastrophic loss for sure, but even without the immediate threat around, we still had to protest the margrave’s actions. Aker had already made a public announcement to its fellow Alliance members, the feudal lords of the Empire, and the Holy Church.

And so I continued passing my days creating a foundation for us in Aker, when one day...

“I think it’s about time,” Katou said.

She’d called me out for a meeting after dinner. Rose was with us too. Having repaired all her damage by now, she looked at her best friend curiously.

“Mana? What are you talking about? You did mention having something to speak of in secret...”

Rose had apparently come along without asking any questions. There was a pure and defenseless trust behind that behavior. If she had been just a little more suspicious, she might’ve been able to predict what was going on based on the fact that Katou had made these preparations beforehand, ensuring that Lily wasn’t with me. It was actually obvious something was up, but Rose didn’t doubt her for a second. She didn’t have the capacity to. She would never think that her best friend would set a trap for her.

Everything had been scrupulously prepared. In other words, Rose had nowhere to run.

“Okay, Rose. Let me tell you why I asked you here today,” Katou said with an unassuming smile. “It’s punishment time.”

◆ ◆ ◆

In the last moments of our flight from the Maclaurin Provincial Army, Rose had stayed behind on her own and thrown herself into a hopeless battle. The moment she found out about this, Katou had looked as if she were on the verge of death. When Rose returned, Katou had cried and hugged her, waffling between anger and relief, and hadn’t let go for a good while.

“I seriously thanked God back then,” Katou said. “Hee hee. It’s strange, isn’t it? I normally don’t even believe in God.”

“Mana...”

Rose looked extremely apologetic as Katou sadly spoke of these things.

“So, at the time, I swore to punish you for being so reckless,” Katou said, smiling faintly. “No matter what happens, I’ll definitely do it. That’s what I swore to myself.”

“Yes... What?” Rose had been listening earnestly and nodding along, but then she immediately made a quizzical face. “Please wait, Mana. I don’t understand where this is going anymore.”

“Hee hee. Unfortunately, you don’t have a say in this.”

Katou casually ignored Rose’s bewilderment. She was scary when she was seriously angry. After all, both the legendary Great White Spider of the Depths and one of the highest ranking members among the saviors, the Skanda, were frightened of her. Katou thoroughly took advantage of her opponents’ weaknesses, which applied here too.

“Well then, Senpai, I leave the rest to you.”

“No way, it can’t be... Master?!”

Trembling, Rose turned to me, and Katou left, smiling the whole while. The door closed with a clack.

Now that we were alone, I smiled. Well, I wasn’t going to do anything mean to her. Katou could be a little devil sometimes. She probably found it fun to tease the ever-innocent Rose. In fact, she’d been in high spirits about this. Thanks to that, though, things were pretty confusing now.

“Master, what exactly is going on?” Rose asked, turning to me slowly.

“What do you mean? She told you this is your punishment.”

Much like Katou, I also remembered the day I got Rose back with my own hands. After these last few days, we’d finally gotten some time, so Katou and I had plotted this together. We’d also decided on what to do already.

“Well, take a seat.”

I sat down on the bed, and Rose took a seat next to me. Even though she didn’t understand what was going on, she obeyed. I turned toward her and restated what was going on.

“From here on out, I’m gonna pamper you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rose asked curiously. “Aah, no, forgive me. It’s not that I have any objections. I will accept any order you have, Master. Even if there is no definite reason for it.”

“I mean, I’m not the type to punish someone without a reason.”

When a beautiful girl in a maid outfit said stuff like that, it sounded really indecent, so I’d rather she stopped. I didn’t have that kind of fetish.

“Forgive me. But, Master, how is pampering punishment?”

“Aah, I’m pretty sure it will be.”

After thinking it over again, I nodded back to her. In truth, I was sure this was going to be effective.

“Let’s see...” I said. “First, you don’t need to do anything for the rest of the day.”

“Anything...?” Rose started and froze, likely thinking about what this meant. It was a very mechanical gesture, one that was pretty rare from her lately. “Forgive me. By ‘anything,’ what do you mean, exactly?”

“Anything is anything. Anything and everything. You don’t need to work.”

Rose fell silent once more. She was expressionless, but I knew that meant she was thinking about it real hard, so it was cute. After a few seconds, she responded.

“By ‘don’t need to work’...that means it’s fine for me to work too?” she asked.

“So it’s come to this...”

It was just like Rose to not even consider playing and having a good time. As a servant, she prioritized achieving the meaning of her existence above all else. In this sense, her thought pattern differed from a human’s.

“Let me rephrase that,” I said, pushing a finger against my temple. “Work is forbidden. You can’t do it at all.”

“Huh? Th-That can’t be. P-Please don’t joke around like that.”

She was extremely flustered. It was almost pitiful, but I couldn’t pamper her. Wait. No. This was pampering her.

“I’m not joking. On the contrary, if there’s something you want me to do for you, I want you to tell me.”

“S-Something I want you to do for me?! M-Master, that can’t be. This is problematic. Please do not say such outrageous things.”

“I’m not saying anything outrageous.”

She was making a face as if I were making a cruel demand of her. Moved by this, I felt the urge to bring this whole thing to a stop... Wouldn’t it normally be the other way around?

“Even if you say such things...” Rose began.

At any rate, it was true that this troubled her. I didn’t think it’d be this bad, so it was a little problematic for me too. Maybe we screwed up. It was suddenly difficult to keep going. That said, it would be unfortunate to stop here, so after thinking about it a little, I nodded.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped this time.”

“Aah, so you understand now, Mas— Hyah?!”

Rose’s voice cracked. That was because I’d hefted her entire body up and pulled her in closer. She was tall for a woman, but with the amount of mana enhancing my physical strength now, it wasn’t all that hard. I sat her on top of my lap, turned facing to the side, keeping her in my arms.

“Master?!”

We were about the same height, so by doing this, Rose’s face was just a little higher than mine. I looked up, and the moment her eyes met mine, all strength left her body.

“M-Master? What is the meaning of this?”

“I just figured that if you’re not gonna say it, I’ll make a move myself.”

It was simple logic.

“S-So why do something like this?” she asked.

“Hm? I mean, didn’t you always want to be carried in my arms like this?”

“How do you know that?!” Rose jolted in shock, nearly sending both of us toppling over.

“Katou told me,” I said after regaining my balance.

“Mana?!”

“She said you wouldn’t tell me what you wanted on your own.”

“That’s true, so I can’t argue, but...!”

As always, Katou was thoroughly prepared. She’d opened up some time to do this today out of consideration to begin with. Seeing that we’d had no time to ourselves despite the fact that we’d conveyed our feelings to each other, Katou had forcefully created the opportunity for us, which resulted in this situation.

Much like a puppy in my arms, Rose clasped her hands before her chest and curled into herself. It wasn’t that she hated this; it was more that she had no idea what to do. Her body was as soft as any human’s, and only the feel of her ball joints was different. Their sensation wasn’t bad, though. That was just Rose. It actually made me regret not doing this earlier.

“You’re a puppet, so maybe you instinctively want to be held in someone’s arms. If you had only told me, I’d have done it for you.”

Regardless of whether we had feelings for each other, if she had only asked for that much, I’d have responded without question. However, Rose shook her head.

“That isn’t all. I can’t deny it’s my instinct as a puppet...but I wanted you to hold me tight in your arms, not just as a puppet, but as a girl.”

“Rose...”

Just that made me feel it was worth making time for this, because I now knew how innocently she yearned for me.

Rose placed her hand against her neck and pulled out the pendant that’d been hanging inside her clothes. It was the present I’d given her on that date some time back.

“During our escape from the Maclaurin Provincial Army, you embraced me. I thought my wish had been granted. I thought I had no more regrets, but I was wrong.”

She gazed at the small gem in her palm as she recalled that time.

“When I faced my death, I realized that I had regrets for things still undone. That’s also when I realized that that was because I was in love.”

In that instant, the explosive joy and sorrow she’d felt had pierced the darkness created by the Holy Water and Travis. Just remembering the premonition of loss I’d felt at the time made me tremble. If I’d lost her, I wouldn’t have been able to hear of these feelings that she’d kept locked in her heart.

“I’m really glad you’re still here with me...”

“Master?”

“Never do anything like that again. Seriously. I want you to know how important you are to me. No matter how dearly I treat you, it never feels like it’s enough.”

I stroked her cheek to make sure she was there. I combed her gray hair and touched her lips. I pulled her in with the arm I had around her back. I could sense her existence through every part of her I touched, but that still wasn’t enough. It was hopelessly insufficient. I didn’t want to even think about losing her.

“Forgive me. I caused you so much anxiety,” she said.

“You really did. I won’t forgive you so easily even if you apologize.”

That was what this moment was for. I wanted her to understand how much I thought of her, even if only a little. I wanted her by my side forever. I brought my face closer, a distance meant for lovers, and spoke once more.

“Remember this. I’m never letting go of you again.”

“Of course, Master. I’m your puppet...your lover, after all.”

We smiled at each other, and exchanged a vow—a vow between master and puppet, or perhaps one between a mediocre boy and an innocent girl. This vow would never be broken.

That was when I suddenly realized something.

“By the way, you mentioned ‘regrets’ earlier, right? When you faced the provincial army, you realized you ‘had regrets for things still undone.’ What were they?”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t forget we were still in the middle of punishing Rose.

“It means there was something else you wanted to do besides being embraced, something that came from realizing you were in love. What was it, specifically?”

Rose immediately panicked and began waving her hands about in front of her chest meaninglessly. She was so pure and innocent. At this rate, it would take a long time before she ever told me her wish. But that didn’t matter to me. There was no need to rush, because we were going to be together forever.

And so we passed our time sweetly in each other’s company, something that would happen many times to come until the night had passed.