Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 13 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Before Arriving ~Katou Mana’s POV~

At a town near the imperial capital, we spotted the Maclaurin Provincial Army. To be precise, we caught up to them as they were on their way to the capital. It was a near miss.

This was strange. We’d been told that, based on the time it took to go from the center of the margraviate—the mining city Nourias—to the imperial capital, they should’ve arrived at their destination already.

Naturally, with exceptions like the Fairy Ring, long-range travel in this world was undertaken on foot. Sometimes unexpected trouble would hamper one’s schedule, but that wasn’t the case here. We moved up to the upper story of the church to get a better view of the provincial army outside the town.

“There are a lot of them,” Majima-senpai muttered as he looked out the window.

The Maclaurin Provincial Army had set up camp outside the town. According to the reports, they numbered around two thousand men. It was an imposing sight, as if they were about to start a war.

“With that many soldiers, I guess it’s only natural they’d be a little later than expected,” Lily said, sighing. “It’s normal for someone of status to have escorts to ward off monster attacks...but that’s way too many.”

“The provincial army’s military force should be significantly depleted after their recent expedition,” Shiran said, her expression stern. “Considering what they need to defend their own territory, two thousand should include every single soldier they can put into action.”

“Wow, that’s crazy,” Aoi said, her carefree tone a stark contrast to everyone else’s. “I wonder whether they’re gonna invade the capital.”

“That doesn’t sound like a joke...” Iino said bitterly. “They might attack once Majima gets there.”

“For real?” Aoi asked.

“The margrave is certainly liable to,” Iino answered.

Iino was the only one here who’d met the margrave in person, so she sensed more danger from this than the rest of us. It was definitely an unexpected situation.

“I’m truly sorry,” Gordon said, bowing deeply. “I didn’t think the margrave would lead such a large army here.”

The Holy Order had claimed it could suppress the margrave when inviting Majima-senpai to the imperial capital, so its members must’ve been breaking out in a cold sweat seeing such a force. After all, we could choose to turn back at this point.

Seeing that we had no idea what could happen, we had, of course, considered that option. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons the dragons of Draconia were accompanying us was so that we could rely on them as an emergency means of transportation. With them, we could use the air lanes, so even if we couldn’t match the speed of the Fairy Ring, we could still return to Aker within a month or so.

Majima-senpai’s expression was grim—a display of how seriously he was taking this after properly grasping the situation. He wasn’t going to lose his cool or flare up in anger for no reason. As proof of this, his next words weren’t an emotional outburst criticizing the Holy Order, but a cautious question.

“That’s odd... What’s the margrave planning?”

He glanced my way. He was looking for my opinion as if it were a perfectly natural thing to do. I was really happy that he relied on me like this.

“It certainly is odd,” I said, consciously maintaining my cool as my heart thumped away. “We didn’t anticipate that things would turn out this way. We didn’t think we needed to.”

“Miss Katou, we—” Gordon started, raising his head in a slight panic.

“Oh, I’m not blaming you or anything,” I continued, assuaging his fears. “We simply judged that it wouldn’t end up like this. I mean, Majima-senpai went up against five thousand soldiers of the provincial army. It makes no sense to come at him again with an even smaller force.”

“That’s what’s bothering me too,” Majima-senpai agreed.

We’d had a lot of time to talk since things had settled down, so the two of us had discussed the Maclaurin Provincial Army at length many times. We shared the same outlook in this regard.

“Even if they launch an attack, our forces are at full strength this time,” he remarked. “We don’t have a train of elves to protect either. What’s more, the Holy Order is in the capital, so...” He paused and turned to Gordon. “I don’t think they have enough to break through. Are we reading this wrong?”

“N-No. It’s just as you say, sir,” Gordon said, nodding in a bit of a fluster.

We’d made it clear that we weren’t going to lose our temper over this, so he looked somewhat relieved. That only lasted for a moment, though. His expression turned somber soon after.

“We have already run these talks by the imperial household. Neither the church nor the Empire have given permission for such a large army to enter the capital. Even if they charge and try to force their way through, soldiers are stationed in the capital, and the church has forces to put into action too. If my subordinates in the Holy Order’s Second Company serve as the core of the defense, even an army five times that large wouldn’t be able to take a single step into the city. There wouldn’t even be a need to bother you with it, Mister Majima.”

Gordon wasn’t boasting; they actually had that much strength at their disposal. They had a reason to, after all. Just as we’d requested, news of these peace talks had been spread far and wide. The Holy Church’s authority and trust, the linchpin that kept the world stable, was at stake, depending on Majima-senpai’s safety. If the margrave resorted to force, the Holy Order would have no choice but to respond with everything they had. Even if the margrave broke through, his numbers would be depleted, making it impossible for him to take on Senpai’s servants. That was why this made no sense.

“In that case, Sir Gordon, what do you think the margrave’s intentions are?” I asked. “It would be a different matter if he was prone to such lapses in judgment. Is he, in your opinion?”

“Well... He has led an army since a young age,” Gordon said. “He is well versed in military affairs too. I don’t believe that to be the case.”

“Meaning he knows what he’s doing.”

It made even less sense, then. He’d gone out of his way to lead such a large force, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough. He wasn’t the type to make that kind of miscalculation. Also, I doubted he’d brought his army out here just to do nothing. That would be nonsensical. Besides, with only that many— With only that many?

“Oh...”

If that was his goal, even those numbers were enough.

“Is it possible the margrave’s goal is to take an aggressive stance, but nothing else?” I said.

“To demonstrate his hostility?” Majima-senpai said with a dubious look. “Just out of disdain?”

“No. In this case, it’s more direct.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll be holding peace talks, but what if right before those talks begin, one side displays hostile behavior? What will everyone else think of it?”

Majima-senpai narrowed his eyes. “I get it... The margrave can’t reject these peace talks, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with them. That’s why he’s putting on a show to his surroundings that he doesn’t consent to this.”

He paused for a moment and sank into thought.

“But in that case, it would mean opposing the Holy Church. Can the margrave afford to do that in his position?”

“A reasonable point,” I said, nodding. “However, if all he does is ‘bring an army,’ can’t he make any excuse he wants?”

“What?”

“I mean, he’s not going to attack or anything. No matter how many guards he brings along, that’s up to him. Besides, he can keep insisting they’re just an escort.” I turned to look at Gordon. “Am I wrong?”

“You certainly have a point, madam,” Gordon said. “So long as he doesn’t actually attack, there won’t be an investigation. The margrave is, after all, responding to our request. No matter what the world thinks, he won’t be held responsible. On the contrary, we would be the ones falsely accusing him.”

A deep crease formed amid Gordon’s brow as he groaned.

“That may in fact be his goal,” he added. “If we demand he be held responsible, we would be the ones spreading unrest.”

“What a pain,” Gerbera joined in, dejected by the prospect. “Meaning we can’t go on the offensive? We just have to sit here and let him be?”

“That’s not necessarily true,” I said. I agreed that it sounded like a pain, but as long as we knew his intentions, we didn’t have to be so pessimistic about this. “He’s done as he pleased until now, so this is all the margrave can do. This is the biggest blow he can deal to us.”

“Looking at it from another perspective, that does sound right,” Majima-senpai said. “I don’t know what the Holy Church did exactly, but the margrave can’t take any direct action. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t put a damper on these peace talks in such a roundabout way.”

He stopped to think again, then continued.

“But it’s still a pain in the ass. What should we do about it?”

“Let’s see... I’m not entirely devoid of ideas...” I started, but shook my head. “No. It’ll work out one way or another. It’s not my place to say anything.”

“What do you mean?” Majima-senpai asked curiously.

“The important thing is how the people perceive the Maclaurin Provincial Army,” I answered. “For the margrave, it’s more about how to get people to view the force as he wants. I’m sure he can think up a more assertive way of accomplishing this.”

“How to get people to view them... Meaning he’ll proactively manipulate information?” Senpai sighed. “I see. The impression people have of current events changes depending on how they’re conveyed. Still, if that’s the case, this is pretty bad for us, isn’t it?”

“It is,” I agreed, “but doesn’t the Holy Church specialize in this kind of battle? They’ve maintained public order in this world for so long and all.”

Majima-senpai turned to Gordon, who nodded with a slightly troubled look.

“I won’t deny it,” he said. “The church’s true duty is maintaining the stability of the human spirit.”

That meant that guiding public opinion was their forte. One method for accomplishing this was manipulating information. In fact, the church had cleverly used the rumors of the “fake savior” to cover up the failures of real saviors. They were sure to possess methods that I couldn’t even consider.

“If we know what he’s up to, then it shouldn’t be all that hard to prevent him from succeeding,” Gordon added. “I’m sure the church has already realized what the margrave’s intentions are.”

“Yes. Even I realized, so the sly old church definitely has too,” I said. “Nevertheless, I’d like some positive proof that they’re taking action.”

“Once we arrive in the capital, I’ll go get confirmation,” Gordon said.

“Thank you.”

Now that we knew we could deal with this, the tension in the room finally faded.

“In that case, we just have to deal with it calmly,” Majima-senpai said, smiling.

“You’re right. Getting angry will just play into the margrave’s hands,” I said.

The worst thing we could do at this stage would be to lose our cool. By talking things out like this, we’d managed to evade that outcome.

“I thank you for your consideration. We will absolutely contain the margrave’s scheming,” Gordon said reassuringly.

With that, we left this town behind.

◆ ◆ ◆

“You sure are amazing, Mana.”

“Hm?”

After finishing all our jumps by Fairy Ring for the day, we had dinner, and on the way back to my room with Rose, Aoi spoke to me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“About when you guys were going over the margrave’s army,” Aoi said. “You were so rational. I always knew you were smart, but it really surprised me.”

“Aah...”

I figured it out the moment she mentioned our discussion about the Maclaurin Provincial Army.

“Also, you were totally in sync with Majima-senpai,” she added, giving me an extremely cheerful smile.

During our school days, I’d liked this adorable side of her. That thought felt so nostalgic now. In other words, the time we’d spent in our world felt so far away now that it could feel nostalgic. A year hadn’t even passed yet, but it had been no simple year for me.

The experiences I’d had since coming to this world had greatly changed the kind of person I was. It would be no exaggeration to say that there was a clear distinction between the me now and the me before. Everything in that world was now completely in the past. It was neither good nor bad; it was all just different.

Honestly, my impression of Aoi was that she was someone I’d gotten along with in the past, but that didn’t mean I was looking down on her or anything. I was happy to talk with her like this and renew our old friendship. In addition, our friendship could help improve Senpai’s relations with the exploration team.

“Senpai has always come to me for advice on an array of things,” I replied. “That makes it easy for us to converse with each other.”

“Mm. You were so in tune. What’s the saying? Ummm... Oh, right.” Aoi’s expression suddenly brightened. “A supportive wife! That’s totally what you seem like with Majima-senpai!”

“Hwuh?”

I unintentionally made an odd noise. Aoi obviously meant that in the sense that we were very much on the same page. Looking at her innocent smile, it was clear that she hadn’t meant anything weird by it. But even though I knew that, that phrase had a particularly strong impact on me. It was enough to make me silently panic for a while.

◆ ◆ ◆

Before leaving Aker, Rose had given me a push on the back, and I’d decided that I wanted to give my own love everything I had. Looking back on it, perhaps unconsciously driven by that desire, it seemed that I’d had more opportunities to step closer to Majima-senpai and make physical contact with him. It was as if the brakes I’d put on every action I’d been indecisive about were broken now, which made it a little embarrassing.

That said, I was still scared of consciously stepping closer. On one hand, I’d had more opportunities to unconsciously move within a heart-pounding distance. On the other, I couldn’t consciously take that same action myself. It was horribly vexing.

There were even times these half-hearted feelings weighed heavily on my chest, keeping me from sleeping at night. My cowardice wasn’t the only reason I couldn’t step forward either. We were going to be meeting with the exploration team soon.

We’d experienced the Colony’s destruction, and living in this world had changed our values. Unlike us, many of the exploration team’s members maintained the values they’d had from our old world. Additionally, with the majority of them having awakened to power through unconscious aspirations of becoming a hero, many were virtuous. On the flip side, however, they were shallow and frail at heart while filled with self-righteousness.

I’d spoken of this with the others already. To these members of the exploration team, Majima-senpai’s relationship with Lily and the other girls posed a serious risk. If I gave my heart to him too, then as a fellow visitor, it was extremely likely we would provoke their animosity.

Even if Senpai had yet to make a decision, it was better to avoid doing anything that would quash his choice of whether to join the exploration team. At the very least, until this journey was over and we returned to Aker, it wasn’t the time to take any decisive action.

With that thought in mind, I stopped my accelerating feelings. In a sense, it was like pressing the accelerator and brakes at the same time. That was the reason I’d made an odd noise when I heard Aoi’s unexpected statement. It was because I was a little sensitive about it now.

Seeing me like this, Aoi looked satisfied. Just maybe, she’d sensed something before this.

“Mana, do you like Majima-senpai?” she asked plainly.

This was typical talk between close friends, but to me as I was now, it was a surprise attack.

“Ah, uh...”

If only I could have casually said, “That’s not true.” My mind knew that, but my body and heart refused to keep pace. Because of recent events, I’d lost control of my feelings. Or rather, being unable to process my love for Majima-senpai had been an ongoing problem for a while.

My embarrassment flared up in an instant, and my face got so hot so fast it felt as if I would catch fire. This was different from when Rose and Gerbera had confronted me about it, though. I’d formed special bonds with those two by spending time with them in this world. They truly understood my relationship with Majima-senpai. Having a good friend from the past discover my hopelessly heartfelt love came with a special kind of—or perhaps an obvious kind of—embarrassment.

I covered my face immediately, but it was too late. She was sure to have seen my bright-red cheeks already, so there was no point in trying to hide it.

“Wow. Looks serious,” she said in a relatively sincere tone.

“A-Aoi...” I couldn’t look her in the eyes. Nevertheless, I somehow said what I had to. “U-Um, about this...”

“Mm. I know. It’s fine.”

Fortunately, Aoi answered right away. She wasn’t the type to go spreading other people’s secrets, which I knew from our friendship before coming to this world.

“You know, I asked to come along so that I could protect you, Mana,” she said to me as I kept my gaze fixed on the floor. “So you don’t need to worry about anything.”

I looked up and was faced with her innocent smile.

“Aoi...”

My feelings naturally resembled how I’d felt when we chatted in the classroom. I was back to my usual self—before I knew of how weak people were and how cruel the world was. Even if it was just a hallucination, it didn’t feel bad.

“Thanks,” I said, speaking honestly. And just then...

“Mana,” Rose, who’d been silent all this time, called out to me.

I started, and before I could ask what was going on, another voice called to me from down the hallway.

“Aah, Katou. This is where you were.”

It was Majima-senpai. This startled me a little because of what I’d just been talking about with Aoi. I was a little worried he’d heard us, but everything seemed fine. He hadn’t come alone either; Lily and Shimazu were accompanying him.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “Do you have a minute? Shimazu has something to talk about.”

“Sorry for interrupting you,” Shimazu said.

“No worries, but whatcha talking about?” Aoi asked curiously. “Can I hear it too?”

“Sure. Actually, this concerns you too, Aoi,” Shimazu answered, then turned my way. “I’d like to talk about my previous proposal. About whether you’ll join the exploration team, that is.”

“Oh, that?” I said, not particularly surprised by this.

I’d figured this would be the topic if Shimazu had something to speak with me about. Aoi, on the other hand, looked like she hadn’t heard anything about this. She was quite surprised, but not because of us “joining the exploration team.”

“Huh? Mana, you’re not coming with us?” Aoi asked.

This was a little unexpected. It seemed Aoi had assumed that I was going to stay with the exploration team. Shimazu apparently hadn’t told her about it.

“Why?” Aoi asked, blinking in confusion.

“Umm...”

Her question was a little troublesome. To me, I needed a reason to join them, but I didn’t need one not to. Aoi, however, saw it the other way around. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that I wouldn’t be joining them.

Still, she was an old friend. I was the one who’d changed since back then, so feeling a little apologetic for that, I hesitated to say something that would sound like I was spurning her.

“Hey now, Aoi, don’t bother her like that,” Shimazu cut in quickly, perhaps noticing my bewilderment. “Everyone has their own circumstances.”

“B-But...”

“Besides, I’m working on it so that they’ll join us. It hasn’t been decided yet that they’ll refuse.”

With that, Shimazu pulled out a rolled-up paper from her leather bag.

“What’s that?” Majima-senpai asked.

“I went back to the capital while everyone was having dinner,” Shimazu said, looking proud. “I had a little business to take care of.”

“That’s a pretty crazy feat to describe so casually...”

“You’ve seen my ability plenty of times by now, haven’t you? It’s not much of a burden for me to travel alone. Well, even on my own, it’d be hard to make a two-way trip this quickly unless I was this close to begin with.” Shimazu then handed the paper to Majima-senpai. “That’s a list of exploration team members who approve of you joining us.”

Majima-senpai accepted the paper and froze on the spot.

“I regard you highly, and I’d like for you to be one of us,” Shimazu stated. “I’m not the only one who thinks that either. Didn’t I tell you before? I was going to prove it to you in an easy-to-see way. This list is my proof.”

“Is it okay if a take a second to look at the names?” Majima-senpai asked after a pause.

“Of course.”

Majima-senpai exchanged looks with us, so Lily and I looked down at the paper in his hands. Rows of names were present, each in different handwriting. There were about forty of them. The exploration team had sixty or so members now, so this meant at least sixty percent of them were listed here. Among them were nicknamed cheaters like the Multiplex Kubota Yousuke, the Almighty Vessel Okazaki Takuma, and even their leader, the Sword of Light Nakajima Kojirou. It was quite the spectacle.

“So how about it, Majima?” Shimazu said. “With all those names listed before you, do you get a real sense of their approval?”

“Yeah... It’s more than I thought.”

“I must admit, I did lay some groundwork beforehand to convince the neutral and pessimistic parties. I also had people convincing them while I was away. Well, this is still more than I expected too, so it was a bit of a shock.”

Shimazu shrugged casually, but her eyes were serious.

“If you do join us, I think this list will help you,” she continued. “Even those who disapprove somewhat are mostly just worried about the future, so they’re not opposed to it because they have any animosity toward you or anything. If the large majority supports you, the others won’t really complain.”

Shimazu had prepared for everything far more diligently than expected. Maybe her main goal on this trip was to get Majima-senpai to understand that the exploration team approved of him.

“Things are currently unstable, and the future remains obscure,” Shimazu said. “It’s better that we visitors stick together. For you, and for us, I think it’s best that you join. I hope this list can convince you of that.”

Her tone was sincere as she took the list back from Majima-senpai.

We were getting closer to the Holy Church and the exploration team. Tomorrow, we were going to arrive in the imperial capital.