Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 13 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Demon King’s Pain

“Please excuse the sudden visit,” Kudou said, sitting down on one of the sofas in the room. “It’s rather difficult for me to make an appointment, given my position.”

His smile was unbelievably gentle for the man whom the people of this world were gradually recognizing as the Lord of Darkness. It was as if he was free from all worldly troubles. He’d always been slender, but he’d gotten so thin lately it almost seemed like he wasn’t really here. Yet he didn’t appear frail. I could sense a certain strength of personality behind his composed behavior.

“I don’t really mind,” I said, taking a seat on the opposite sofa.

I couldn’t be careless, but there was no point in being openly hostile. I had Rose and Katou clean up the area, and treated him like a guest.

“It’s still a bit of a surprise,” I added. “I figured you’d be staying out of sight.”

“It’s not like I’m always hiding in the middle of nowhere,” Kudou said. “If needed, I personally come to town, just like this. I do bring guards with me, though.”

Behind him, one of the doppelqueen Anton’s spawn stood waiting, imitating the form of Juumonji Tatsuya. Next to her was the nightmare stalker Dora, who’d come out of Kudou’s shadow and was now exchanging stern looks with Gerbera. The dirty sludge Caesar was probably hiding beneath Kudou’s clothes too, and Berta, who’d been guarding us all this time, was also at his side. What’s more, Kudou also had five guards with him dressed like Aker’s soldiers. That said, they weren’t human. They were probably more of Anton’s spawns.

When I looked closer, I realized their faces looked familiar.

“You had Anton’s spawn mimic the palace guards and guide you all the way here?” I asked.

“Exactly.” Kudou nodded, then held out his palm to me. “Just let me say this now. No harm was done to those being mimicked. I’d rather you not come to hate me, Senpai. I just had them take a little nap.”

He was being rather considerate, at least for him. Much like he said, something must’ve necessitated this surprise visit.

“I’ll release them the moment I leave,” Kudou continued. “Though, I might not have the time for that if something happens to me. Also, my subordinates are on standby outside the town, ready to move at any time, so do keep that in mind.”

“I have no intention of harming you. You don’t need to threaten me like that.”

“I’m sure you don’t. I trust you in that respect. After all, you’re the one who said you’ve yet to give up on me.”

Kudou’s shoulders shook with laughter. He looked as if he was genuinely having fun. When he was like this, he looked like nothing more than a boy who was a year younger than me.

I noticed that Berta, who was lying on the ground by his side, was looking up at him. She didn’t notice my gaze, too focused on staring at her master. Her eyes looked delighted yet also sad. I knew that Berta wanted Kudou to be happy. Even if he had to meet his end, she wanted him to go gently and not in despair. She knew it couldn’t happen, but she still wished for it.

Seeing her master having fun must’ve been a good thing for her. On the other hand, knowing that this was only a momentary thing might’ve made her feel utterly powerless. Her feelings weren’t reciprocated, though. Kudou paid no attention to her and kept going.

“However, we need to attend to some formalities. You were threatened, Senpai. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Meaning I had no choice in this?”

“Exactly.”

Kudou did have a point. This visit was inconvenient for me, in a sense. For example, say people saw this as my conspiring with the Lord of Darkness, who threatened the world. Any respect I’d earned would diminish substantially. Worst-case scenario, it would seriously damage our current position.

To that end, it was necessary for him to “threaten” me. That way, I could use it as an excuse. Kudou probably wasn’t lying about his subordinates being on standby outside town, though.

“What drove you to such lengths to come here?” I asked curiously.

“To speak with you, of course.”

“Just for that?”

“Yes, just to speak with you. I was really surprised when I heard you got away from the Maclaurin Provincial Army. They even had the Holy Order’s help. I rushed over when I found out you were in danger, but it turned out I wasn’t even needed.”

Apparently, when he heard the provincial army was after my life, Kudou had traveled all the way here. This information suddenly triggered a realization, and I knitted my brow.

“Now that you mention it, how long have you been in Aker?” I asked.

Judging by his tone, he’d arrived not too long after we repelled the provincial army. That meant...

“A massive wave of monsters attacked the provincial army while they were trying to regroup,” I added. “Was that your doing?”

“Yes, well, you got me there,” Kudou answered, shrugging. “I didn’t make it in time for the decisive stage, so I figured I’d earn a few points that way.”

He spoke as if it were no big deal, but what he was saying was terrifying.

“That’s pretty crazy,” I said. “The provincial army still had thousands of soldiers at that point.”

“Regardless, they were exhausted after their battle with you. It wasn’t all that impressive.”

So he said, but it would be impossible for me to accomplish the same feat. In all likelihood, even among the exploration team’s cheaters, very few people could’ve done the same all on their own. Kudou’s opinion differed, though.

“You’re the amazing one, Senpai.”

“What?” I murmured in bewilderment.

“The power we are granted comes from our wishes,” Kudou said. “Back then, in that place, I wished that this world was better off destroyed. In other words, I wished for the power to fight. I took a different path, but by nature, I’m the same as the visitors on the exploration team. It only makes sense that those who wish for strength would become strong, right? But you’re different, Senpai.”

His tone was both light and affable. I could tell that he was being serious.

“You’ve become strong,” he continued, “but there’s something even greater you should be aware of. As a result of your strength, you’ve had a large influence on this world. You stand in the eye of the typhoon. When you move, the world moves. The Holy Church, grand nobles, and even saviors are forced into action.”

“And you are too?”

“That’s right. I won’t deny it.”

Kudou hid his true intentions behind his gentle smile, but his coming here like this clued me in. He wanted to get an idea of how I was going to act next. By doing so, he could anticipate future events. How he would take action, or what he wanted to accomplish, I still didn’t know.

“I heard from Berta,” Kudou said. “You’re going to the imperial capital to hold talks with the margrave?”

Kudou had been nothing but cheerful this whole time. I hesitated for a moment about whether I should explain the situation, but he’d likely heard the general details from Berta already, so there wasn’t much point in hiding it.

“Yeah, the plan is to keep the margrave in check by cooperating with the Holy Church and the exploration team,” I answered.

“If that happens, then pretty much all your remaining unresolved issues will go away, huh? You’re slowly building up your foundation in Aker too. So you’re just a step away from achieving your goal, then?”

“So long as everything goes well.”

That said, we were steadily closing in on our objective; our reception at today’s parade gave me that conviction. Considering how, the last time I’d met Kudou, I wasn’t sure whether I’d find anywhere to settle down, things had changed significantly. Time had passed, and we’d made progress. It was surely the same for the boy before me too.

“How about you, Kudou?”

I decided to broach the subject. In a way, this was a good opportunity. After all, I had no idea where he even was most of the time and had no way of contacting him. But now here he was, visiting me of his own accord. I still hadn’t given up on him, so this was a golden chance to try and persuade him.

“What’ve you been up to?” I asked, looking into his eyes.

“The same as you, Senpai,” he answered, hiding his intentions with a smile. “I’ve been acting to fulfill my goal.”

He wasn’t going to open up about it that easily, but I knew that already, so I prodded further.

“Was hunting the ‘fake saviors’ a part of that?”

“Well...” Kudou’s smile broke ever so slightly. He paused for a moment, then came to an understanding. “I see. Iino Yuna told you? Now that I think of it, she came here too, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

Iino had told me everything about what she’d seen regarding the fake savior incidents in the eastern Empire. One such story described the thoughtless blunder a group of former exploration team members had made, and how Kudou had mercilessly killed them.

“I also heard you made the Mad Beast Takaya Jun your servant.”

“So you know about that too? There was no point in leaving him behind,,” Kudou said casually.

To his side, Berta’s ears drooped awkwardly. For a time, she’d acted as if she was trying to avoid us—Lily in particular. Kudou’s addition of the Mad Beast had probably been the reason for that. Berta hadn’t been able to talk about it because of her position, but because of her personality, she hadn’t been able to act normal and pretend nothing had happened either. As for her master, he regained his usual composure right away.

“Just to explain, he consented to becoming my subordinate,” Kudou said.

“Consent, huh? Is that how you’re able to dominate the Mad Beast?”

“Exactly.”

Due to the nature of his ability, under normal circumstances, Kudou wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this. It seemed he really had gotten Takaya’s consent.

“Although, the Mad Beast no longer has a personality,” Kudou added. “He’s no more than an animal now.”

“That makes sense...”

I held back a sigh. It didn’t sound like Kudou was making this up. The last show of humanity the Mad Beast had displayed to Mizushima before leaving had been the last fragments of the boy known as Takaya Jun. After losing that, he’d become nothing more than a wild beast. What he was before didn’t matter anymore.

In a sense, he’d had a lot in common with Mizushima. She’d commented that his fate was inevitable, a dark shadow hanging over her expression at the time. It was clear she hadn’t come to grips with it yet, but in her mind, she had no choice but to accept reality.

In all likelihood, Kudou had gotten Takaya Jun’s consent to subjugate him just moments before he vanished from within the Mad Beast. The two of them hadn’t really known each other before then, so it was still a mystery as to how exactly he’d gotten Takaya’s consent. If I had to guess, Kudou had used his obsession with Mizushima, but that was just groundless conjecture on my part.

At any rate, with the Mad Beast, Kudou’s forces had gotten even stronger, which was exactly why I found this odd.

“You said you’d destroy the world, right? You’re the Demon King who’ll kill all of humanity. I don’t see you as being so indiscriminate, though.”

I spoke my honest opinion.

“In truth, if you unleashed the monsters at your command, you could’ve obliterated one or two provinces by now,” I continued. “But you haven’t, despite having the power to kill cheaters who’ve broken away from the exploration team and having the Mad Beast at your command.”

Honestly, one of my greatest apprehensions was that, after Kudou escaped from Fort Tilia and recovered his strength, he’d begin attacking people. However, despite having enough strength to wipe out the Maclaurin Provincial Army, he’d done nothing of the sort. According to Iino, Kudou had seemed indifferent toward the villagers, who’d been plunged into a crisis because of the former exploration team members. In her eyes, at least, he hadn’t seemed driven by hatred. If that was true, a certain possibility came to mind.

“Hey, Kudou. Somewhere inside you, are you hesitating?”

Kudou was also human, so such a thing was entirely possible.

“If so, you shouldn’t deny that hesitation. People change... People can change.”

With everyone’s help, I’d made progress little by little too. For example, even the idea of joining the exploration team—whom I’d always been tremendously suspicious of—was worth considering now. In that case, there was no reason Kudou couldn’t do the same. At the very least, someone here wished for his happiness.

“If you’re hesitating, then you should stop for a moment. It’s a good idea to reconsider whether you still agree with that hatred inside you.”

Kudou fell silent for a moment and stared at me, maintaining a faint smile. In my peripheral vision, I saw Berta looking up at her master with bated breath.

“Aah... You really are strong, Senpai,” Kudou said after a short while, the nature of his smile changing ever so slightly. “You’ve been strong ever since the day I met you. I’m sure that’s why you’ve managed to change.”

Perhaps he was making this expression unconsciously. He almost looked a little jealous.

“The human beasts who destroyed the Colony, no matter how great a power they possess, are endlessly weak creatures,” he observed. “You’re the opposite. No matter how little power you had compared to them, you were so strong. Now you have power to match theirs...yet your nature remains the same. You’re as strong as ever. That’s how you can perceive your own weaknesses and continue changing.”

“Kudou...”

“But not everyone is as strong as you.” Kudou shook his head feebly like a tired old man. “In general, humans are weak beings with nothing else going for them. I was forced to learn that lesson on the day the Colony fell. Even my past self was no different. I’ve gotten strong now, but that doesn’t mean I’ve acquired the same kind of strength you have, Senpai.”

“That’s not true. Even you—”

“It’s useless,” Kudou said, cutting me off with a chillingly dry voice. “My hatred won’t go away. I can’t get rid of my resentment. I just can’t forgive them... How could I?”

Maybe my question had pricked at his heart. A portion of the thin veneer he’d kept over his expression peeled back, and his dark voice resounded as if in an endless bog. At a glance, the serene smile he always wore to hide his inner feelings made him seem indifferent to the world, but that was only how he looked on the surface.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Kudou said. “How could I possibly stop now? I can’t allow such a thing.”

He spoke as if to convince himself, an air of obsession in his voice. Watching Kudou’s eyes widen slightly as they began shaking erratically, I could no longer say anything to him. Behind those eyes was a hatred and despair dark enough to paint the whole world black.

He hadn’t changed at all since the last time I saw him. Kudou was surely looking at “something” in the past. Maybe that was all he ever saw. That was why he wouldn’t stop. I didn’t know what’d happened, but that event must’ve tormented him all this time. It must’ve been hell for him to carry that. It was practically a miracle he was able to act so rationally most of the time.

But now that balance had been broken, and he was so tragic. He was on the edge. He put a hand to his temple and muttered as if pleading with someone.

“I’m the Demon King who’ll destroy this place. I’m evil. I’ll curse this world to my very last breath. I swore to that day... That’s why...”

His eyes darted about wildly, then stopped on Berta’s figure.

“Oh yeah... There’s one more thing I need to do.”

Something about our exchange had reminded him of something. His voice went curiously flat, all emotion vanishing from his tone. I had a bad feeling but couldn’t stop him in time.

“G-Gah...?!”

Berta, who’d been lying on the ground, suddenly sprang up.

“Gaaah?! Ugh...”

Her breathing turned ragged, and she groaned in agony. She curled up into a ball and fell back down in pain, her paws clawing at the ground.

“Hak, gah... M-My king...”

Kudou coldly looked down at his subordinate as he listened to her cry out. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that he’d used his power as the Lord of Darkness.

“Kudou?! What’re you doing?!” I yelled.

I didn’t know what was going on, but I had to stop him. Someone took action before I could, however. Ayame’s fur stood on end as she began barking in anger.

“Graoh!”

Bewildered by the sudden event, we were still trying to grasp the situation. In contrast, not really understanding our conversation, Ayame had simply recognized that her good friend Berta was being attacked. She’d been curled up in a ball next to my sofa, but she leaped into action and spat a fireball in one smooth motion. Her aim was on point; she targeted Kudou’s face. Being hit there would leave him seriously injured, but the fireball didn’t reach him, because a tentacle got in the way.

“Kuu?!”

Ayame was shocked: the one who’d protected Kudou was none other than Berta.

“Stop...Ayame,” Berta said, staggering to her feet and trembling. “Don’t...butt in.”

Kudou had only given her agony for a few seconds, but the pain was evident in her voice. Still, even in that state, Berta spoke clearly.

“This is our problem.”

“Kuu...”

Ayame’s ears drooped, a sad light in her beady eyes. She was too young to understand and maybe even felt that Berta was rejecting her. I reached out for Ayame’s back and comforted her as I turned my eyes to Kudou.

“Want to explain what’s going on?” I said, acting as relaxed as I could. I couldn’t hide the slight tension in my voice, though. “You can brush it off as an internal affair, but...”

I took what Berta had said into consideration while still speaking my mind.

“Even so, Berta has been caring for us,” I added. “I can’t just stand by while you torture her out of nowhere.”

She hadn’t snapped like Ayame had, but Rose’s hand was in her apron pocket, and she was gripping the weapon within. Gerbera was also giving off an aggressive aura. I was well aware that my expression was stern too.

Kudou turned to me, but he wasn’t wearing his usual gentle smile. He was expressionless.

“Berta disobeyed my command. This is simply punishment,” he said.

“By that, do you mean revealing her true form?” I asked.

During the battle against the Maclaurin Provincial Army, Berta had fought in her true form, something she’d been hiding all this time. For some reason, that form had a striking resemblance to the exploration team’s Beast of Darkness, Todoroki Miya, and Kudou had ordered her to keep this hidden. Berta was loyal to her master, so this was about the only act of disobedience that came to mind.

Just as I thought, Kudou nodded. The fact that he knew despite not having been there at the time meant that Berta had confessed when she reported to him about what’d transpired. He wouldn’t have known had she held her tongue. She was such an honest girl. She’d definitely been prepared to receive this kind of punishment, and judging by her reaction, she didn’t want us to stop him. Nevertheless, it was partially my fault that Berta had exposed her true form, so I wanted to at least put in a good word for her.

“I get what you’re saying, but she did it for my sake,” I said. “Could you just leave it at that?”

With that, Kudou stood up.

“You leaving?” I asked.

“I cleared the area, but the noise just now might’ve attracted someone.”

“Right...”

In truth, I wanted more time to try and persuade him, and if possible, I wanted to hear about his relationship with Todoroki Miya, who was the cause of Berta’s punishment in the first place. I couldn’t make that happen at this point, though.

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. Please do be careful of your surroundings,” Kudou said. “The world is in the middle of a great upheaval. The exploration team and the Holy Church might not be the only ones involved in this situation. Heaven’s Voice has been quiet lately, but they might take action too. Also, this is still unconfirmed, but it seems the visitors who’ve scattered all over the place are showing signs of movement as well.”

In parting, Kudou left me with words of consideration, but they were directed at me alone. Kudou took his subordinates and headed for the door, leaving only Berta behind.

“M-My king, I...”

Berta half rose to her feet. Maybe she was trying to apologize again, but Kudou walked right past her.

“I have no need for a pawn that disobeys me,” he said coldly, not even sparing her a glance.

Berta froze. As expected, Kudou paid her no mind. He stopped and turned to me once more.

“Oh, right,” he said. “Senpai, when you go to the Empire, please take Berta with you. The other visitors might complain, but you can tell them you pitied my abandoned servant and picked it up as your own. It’s not entirely a lie.”

His words were cruel. He’d previously told me that he didn’t care if I used Berta to her death, but now he was practically saying that he was casting her away for being useless. Even if her punishment was over, he hadn’t forgiven her in the least. What’s more, there was no more room to mediate between them.

“Then if you’ll excuse me. Take care.”

Kudou then left. To the very end, he didn’t look at Berta at all.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Sorry,” I said to Berta after a few seconds of silence. “That turned out pretty weird.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Berta responded. “It’s not your fault. I disobeyed his order. I was going to take the blame for it now or later. Besides...I’m used to this.”

That was probably true. Still, it had to be painful for her. It was obvious that she was disheartened and hurt by it.

“I’m stepping outside for a bit...” Berta said, leaving the room. She probably wanted to be alone.

I let out a sigh. “What’s up, Katou?” I asked, seeing Katou make a face as if she was deep in thought.

“Nothing... I just think it’s strange.”

“Strange? What is?”

“Kudou fusses over you so much, but he went out of his way to displease you.” Katou brushed her pigtails and cocked her head. “Berta mentioned it as well, that it was only a matter of now or later. He could’ve just punished her out of sight after we were done talking, yet it was like he put on a show for you.”

“Maybe Berta disobeying him was just that unforgivable? Exposing her true form, I mean.”

“Maybe. It’s also possible he’s plotting something.”

“Making Berta come with us to hatch some kinda scheme? That sounds a little far-fetched.”

“You’re right. I doubt Kudou would do anything to get you involved in any conspiracies.”

Katou readily admitted this, perhaps having thought it through that far already.

“Berta isn’t capable of that kind of thing to begin with,” she asserted. “I’m sure Kudou knows that. In that case, that display wasn’t about some kind of scheme, but...”

Katou sank into thought for a moment, but shook her head.

“No, the rest is just my imagination,” she said. “Even if we want answers, it’s no good to read too much into it. Instead of thinking about stuff like that, it’s better to deal with what’s before us.”

“What do you mean?”

Katou pointed next to me, where Ayame had plopped down on the sofa, visibly depressed. She was trying to handle the fact that Berta had rejected her. Her big poofy tail looked so sad.

“Come here, Ayame. Let’s go make up with Berta,” Katou said, walking up to her.

Ayame raised her head. She didn’t have the energy to jump into her arms like she usually would. Instead, Katou lifted her into her arms and comforted her.

“Kuu...”

“It’s okay. You’ll be able to make up,” Katou told her. “The two of you are such good friends.”

She signaled me with her eyes, and I stood up. I had to deal with what was before me. She had a point.

“I’m going too. Rose, Gerbera, can you come with me?”

“Understood.”

“Of course.”

“Oh, but before that, we need to report the soldiers who were replaced by Anton’s spawn. They’ve probably been released by now and are on their way back already, though.”

“In that case, Senpai, we’ll have to see Philip first.”

“Right. By the time we finish talking, Berta should have calmed down some.” I turned to Ayame once more. “So that’s the gist of it. Don’t worry, Ayame. Berta’s probably feeling down about it too. Let’s all go to her together.”

I looked Ayame in the eyes and petted her as Katou held her against her chest.

“Kuu!”

Ayame yipped, asking for more. She stuck out her tongue and licked my face; her drooping tail perked up just a little. It seemed she’d managed to cheer up a bit.

I heard someone giggling, so I looked up and unexpectedly met Katou’s eyes right in front of mine. I finally noticed that I’d rudely barged into her personal space, but she didn’t pay that any mind. She just smiled a little awkwardly.

“Okay then, shall we?” Katou said.

“Yeah, let’s.”

I nodded, then left the room with everyone in tow.