Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 14 - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Those Who Reunited

It was like all warmth had vanished from the world. Ever since waking up, Katou Mana did nothing but tremble in fear, curled up into a ball. She shivered as though suffering from a horrible illness, her wrists bound together by rope. Her hands were so deprived of blood they looked to be as cold as ice.

“Senpai... Rose... Senpai... Rose...”

She hyperventilated, her consciousness drifting in and out over and over. Her violet-tinged lips endlessly called for help.

“Senpai... Rose... S-Senpai... Ro...se...”

Her tangled tongue continued calling their names like a broken record.

“Save me... Save me...”

She’d thought she’d be able to handle this better. In truth, even if she’d never been completely alone during their journey, she’d been in situations where neither Majima Takahiro nor Rose were present. However, right now, she was beyond recovery.

The only knight she could see in her vicinity was the woman called Elena, but that didn’t comfort her at all. Thinking back on it, even during the period he’d been tormented by despair and disappointment in humanity, the boy she yearned for had never forgotten to be considerate of her. It could be said that she’d become best friends with Rose thanks to such consideration.

After recognizing her as a companion, he’d always treated her dearly. He’d always been gentle, as if handling a precious piece of glasswork. The unconscious sense that he was protecting her at all times was what had given her the strength to finally stand on her own feet.

And now that he’d been forcibly torn away from her, in an instant, her heart had reverted to that time in that dreadful mountain hut. She was scared. It was so frightening to be alone. She couldn’t stop shivering, fainting, and waking up in fear for the umpteenth time. How many times was her world going to flicker in and out like this?

“Mister Kaneki?”

Hearing Elena’s voice, Katou Mana snapped awake.

“You’ve returned?”

“Yeah. I just got a li’l something to do.”

Kaneki Mikihiko had vanished for a while, but was now standing in the corridor. His eyes turned to her through his glasses, and...

“How’s Katou do—”

“Eep?!”

Katou Mana reflexively sat upright and retreated to the wall.

“N-No...”

The reason she didn’t run away in fear was because she couldn’t even stand up properly. Her throat dried up in an instant. She turned deathly pale and quickly lost control of her breathing. She’d spoken with Kaneki Mikihiko many times before. For a time, he’d helped her try and conquer her androphobia. However, he was the one who’d stabbed the boy she loved and abducted her. Seeing her like this, Kaneki Mikihiko stiffened up.

“That’s...worse than expected, huh?” he said.

“Yes. But I do believe it’s unreasonable to ask her to calm down.”

“I suppose so... Just be careful so that she doesn’t get hurt.”

“Understood. As a hostage, correct?”

“Yeah. She’s a precious hostage.”

The two continued talking, but Katou Mana didn’t have the capacity to listen to them. Everything went in one ear and out the other. Her endlessly swelling fear was like a snowball tumbling down into the darkness.

Tumbling, tumbling, tumbling, and tumbling.

Falling, falling, falling, and falling.

The further it went, the bigger it got, crashing down on her consciousness. She felt her mind fading away again. However, just before it did...

“Okay, I’m off then. It’s time.”

“You’re truly going through with this...with fighting Majima Takahiro.”

She heard the name of the boy she yearned for and the context in which it was mentioned. That was all it took to reach her fading consciousness. It was impossible for her to let that slide. Her dazed mind snapped awake in an instant.

All her senses suddenly came back. Her consciousness remained cloudy from dizziness and an urge to vomit. The back of her throat tasted bitter and sour. There was even a hint of blood in there from calling for help until her throat was dry. Nevertheless, as a black-and-white mosaic wormed its way from the edges of her vision, she somehow succeeded in capturing a man and woman facing each other in her sight.

“...ease...ait...”

She opened her mouth with astounding force of will. Kaneki Mikihiko and Elena turned to her in shock. That was how badly her body was shaking. It was as if she’d caught a horrible cold. However, this impulse was far stronger than that, forcing her to open her mouth.

“Please...wait...”

She pleaded desperately. She was reminded of the scene of the boy she loved being stabbed. The sight of him keeling over in shock was burned into her mind. She knew very well how much he’d trusted his best friend Kaneki Mikihiko. And that same friend had stabbed him. Just thinking of how painful that was for him was heart-wrenching, even in such a dire situation. Crossing swords with him meant he would have to go through that experience again. She couldn’t stand the thought.

“Stop... Please... Stop...”

She forcibly repressed her fear and pleaded with him. That was the only thing she could do. The calm analytical mind and resolve she’d used to help her companions many times before was long gone. All that was left was her emotions.

“I don’t care...what happens to me... I’ll do...anything... So please... Please...”

All she could do was implore him. She was desperate, but his response was ruthless.

“No can do.”

He casually kicked aside all her wishes. She sat there in a daze as the boy who’d been collared by the church spoke to her.

“I’m going. I have no other choice.”

There was no hesitation in his voice.

◆ ◆ ◆

“We must hurry.”

Jinguuji Tomoya and the masked group had left. Moments away from having their lives stolen, Rose and Lobivia had somehow managed to endure the crisis. However, this had been accomplished because Iino Yuna had shielded them. The enemy had simply let them off temporarily. When they had enough strength gathered to suppress her, Jinguuji Tomoya was sure to return. The girls had to quickly rendezvous with their companions, so they were back on the move.

“Hey... You okay?” Lobivia asked.

“Yes. Of course,” Iino answered, smiling back at her.

She was currently being carried on Rose’s back. A bandage was wrapped around her injured leg. Because of the ominous black fluid smeared on the knife that’d stabbed her, Rose had cleaned the wound thoroughly and treated it. That said, she couldn’t use magic, so this was no more than a stopgap treatment. Even if she could use healing magic, the wound looked like it would take days to recover from. Iino Yuna had lost the speed of the Skanda. However, she had yet to lose her fighting spirit.

“Relax. It’s troublesome not being able to run around, but I can still fight.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Lobivia asked.

“Not at all. I’m fine.”

Iino Yuna smiled, but there was no way she was telling the truth. Even the untrained eye could see the area around her wound was swelling in an unpleasant color. It was clearly painful, enough that her resistance to the pain and her ability to fight earlier could only be seen as abnormal. Rose sensed that Iino Yuna was maintaining a stout smile so as to not worry them. What’s more, the damage to her body wasn’t the only wound she’d suffered.

When Jinguuji Tomoya revealed himself, even from behind, Rose could tell how much of a shock it’d been for her. An enormous fissure definitely ran through her heart. When she thought of that, Rose couldn’t help but worry. On the other hand, she also had no choice but to rely on Iino Yuna’s stouthearted nature. The situation was simply that grim.

“We don’t have the time to rest right now,” Iino said, her tone firm. “We have to get to Majima... Jinguuji said the sector he’s in is sealed, but I don’t think we should give up until we see it with our own eyes. Jinguuji wanted me to surrender. We can’t be sure he’s telling the truth about the area being sealed... And even if it is, there might be a hidden path or something.”

She seemed to be trying to persuade herself too. Of course, turning that around, it was proof she didn’t actually believe what she was saying. Jinguuji Tomoya was sincere. At the very least, he was to Iino Yuna. Even Rose, despite knowing nothing of the man, hadn’t sensed any falsehood in his words. On the contrary, they’d sounded to her like words spoken out of consideration for a comrade in arms.

If it was in fact true that it was impossible for Rose to reunite with her beloved master... If “the most loyal among them” that Jinguuji Tomoya had mentioned was truly closing in on him... When those thoughts came to mind, the air felt so oppressive.

“Oh yeah,” Lobivia said, perhaps unable to endure the heavy atmosphere. “Those guys just now, they didn’t look like the Dragon’s friends, right?”

“Indeed,” Rose agreed. “The masked group is a part of our enemy, yet Jinguuji Tomoya seems to only be lending a hand. I didn’t think they’d be such powerful foes. I suppose they must be visitors?”

“I understand where you’re coming from, but I didn’t know them,” Iino cut in. “I mean, there were a lot of girls in the exploration team, but boys were still in the majority. Especially in the expeditionary force, where we had no idea what could happen.”

The current surviving exploration team members, with rare exceptions like Aketora Fukatsu whom they’d met in Aker, had taken part in the first expeditionary force. The male-to-female ratio was very one-sided.

“During the expedition, the girls stuck together quite a lot, so I’m pretty sure I’d recognize any of them by voice.”

“Is that really true?”

“I get a little uneasy when you ask...but probably.”

If they were to believe her, then those weren’t exploration team members. However, Rose was caught up on a certain detail.

“In that case, what about the men?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“One of the men other than Jinguuji Tomoya spoke, remember? He said, ‘Don’t go blabbing about stuff you don’t need to mention.’”

Right before the masked group left, one had rebuked Jinguuji Tomoya for being too talkative toward Iino Yuna.

“That one had a modified voice,” Rose continued. “If you weren’t acquainted with him, there’d’ve been no need to do that, correct?”

“Well...”

Iino Yuna made a face that said, “Now that you mention it...” There was of course also the possibility that Rose or Lobivia was acquainted with him, but the two of them mostly only knew people in Aker. They had very few acquaintances who were powerful fighters, so it made more sense to consider him one of Iino Yuna’s acquaintances.

The reason she hadn’t considered that possibility was that she hadn’t recognized the masked woman’s voice. She’d deemed that the woman’s comrade was also someone she didn’t know. Or perhaps her emotions had unconsciously eliminated the possibility from her mind.

However, just because the woman wasn’t someone she knew didn’t mean the same went for all of them. Rose’s suspicion made sense—it opened the door to the truth...or perhaps a cruel reality. After sinking into thought, Iino Yuna’s eyes suddenly shot open.

“It can’t be...”

She spoke in a daze. There was a sense of despair in her voice that was very similar to when Jinguuji Tomoya had revealed himself.

“Iino...?”

Rose came to a stop. Iino Yuna had turned abnormally pale and didn’t say another word. Rose and Lobivia couldn’t figure out what to say in this strange atmosphere. An ominous silence filled the corridor for a few seconds.

What broke the silence was the sudden sound of footsteps. Jolting back to their senses, the girls detected two presences approaching them. Expecting them to be enemies, they readied themselves. However, in this one instance, that wasn’t what was happening. On the contrary, this could be said to be a reward these girls had finally grasped after surviving this long.

One of the sets of footsteps was that of a person. The other had the complex peculiarity of a spider’s footsteps.

“Rose! Lobivia!”

The voice that called out to them was filled with irrepressible joy. The unexpected voice was that of the reunion they’d so desired.

“Lily! And Gerbera too!” Rose yelled.

The two running toward them were fellow servants. The reason Rose and Lobivia hadn’t sensed them over the mental path was that they’d lost all composure due to the recent battle.

“Lily! Gerbera!” Lobivia shouted, running toward them.

Lily caught the little dragon in a hug. Rose followed her, still carrying Iino Yuna on her back.

“We’ve finally reunited,” Gerbera said.

“Yes. I’m a little surprised,” Rose replied.

“We’re also surprised. We never thought Iino would be with you too.”

There was an air of delight to their casual exchange. Majima Takahiro’s servants, even if only a few of them, had finally found each other. Discounting the aura of fatigue around her, Gerbera was pretty much the same as when they’d last seen her. Even Lily only looked slightly exhausted, her equipment and clothes somewhat damaged. As for Rose’s group, aside from Rose herself who could simply exchange parts, Lobivia was a tattered mess covered in wounds, and Iino Yuna was suffering from a major injury. Compared to them, Lily and Gerbera were doing pretty well.

“As I’d expect of you two,” Rose said. “I’m glad to see you’re both doing well.”

“Not at all,” Gerbera replied, waving her hand. “We actually had a hard time. We bumped into Ottmar, you see. The masked man with him was a formidable enemy.”

“A masked man?”

“That’s right. He used a terrifying weapon. Lily even got split in two as if it were nothing. After that, they chased us for a long while. Before we knew it, we managed to lose them, though.”

“You also encountered a masked man?”

“Hrm? Also?”

Rose and Gerbera stared at each other when Lily, who was still hugging Lobivia, narrowed her eyes.

“Looks like we need to share what we know,” she said, then suddenly blinked curiously. “What’s wrong, Iino?”

She was looking at Iino Yuna, who was still deathly pale on Rose’s back.

“Lily!” Iino suddenly screamed.

She shook Rose’s hands away and got off her back, stumbling forward on her horribly injured leg and practically collapsing as she clung to Lily.

“Kouzu was here!”

“Kouzu...?”

Iino screamed in desperation, but it was far too sudden to get across to Lily right away. Lily knit her brow for a while, then seemed to remember something.

“By that, do you mean the exploration team’s Kouzu Asahi? The one who messed up big time and the source behind the fake savior rumors?”

After saying that much, the others at last gleaned some understanding. Kouzu Asahi was a former exploration team member who, at the request of some villagers in a small eastern province of the Empire, had taken up his sword with good intentions to conquer a nearby Dark Woods. As a result, not only had he been beaten back, but the monsters had come swarming out of the forest, exposing the villagers to great danger. Rose had heard about this great failure before.

“Was the masked man we saw just now Kouzu Asahi?” Rose asked.

If so, it made sense that he’d falsified his voice. Iino Yuna nodded, still ghostly pale. This time, she looked as though she was moments away from breaking down. From her perspective, another person she’d been close to had become an enemy. It was only natural for her to be so dismayed. Compounding the shock of the revelation, she couldn’t help but realize another truth.

“After that incident, Kouzu was moved to the capital... He’s supposed to be living in the care of the Holy Church.”

The air froze. Everyone here realized what she was trying to say.

“If one of the masked men who attacked us was Kouzu...then the others are also...”

All strength left Iino Yuna. She slid down Lily’s body. Rose supported her in a fluster.

“I-Iino, are you all right?” she asked.

“Yes... I’m fine. I’m fine... More importantly—”

She didn’t look fine at all, but she kept telling herself she was.

“—Remember how I left Fort Tilia with the Imperial Knights to rescue the survivors in the Colony? The ones we found were taken by the knights to the capital too. They’re currently being taken care of by the Holy Church, and some of them are sympathizers now... Yes. That’s it. Allies who aren’t in it out of personal interest. There shouldn’t be many people out there aside from visitors with that much strength. If that masked woman whose voice I don’t recognize is someone who awakened to her ability after coming to the capital...”

Her trembling lips then uttered the dreadful truth.

“Then the Holy Church itself is our enemy...?”

After coming this far, they’d all had an inkling that the Holy Church was involved. Of course, from their perspective, this was still no more than conjecture. However, they couldn’t shut their eyes to the possibility.

“Iino,” Lily said, grabbing Iino Yuna’s shoulders. “Calm down. We still don’t have a grasp of the situation. There’s a lot we don’t know. I want you to tell me what happened, and keep it brief.”

“R-Right. Of course.”

Iino Yuna was so meek after being brought this low. She did as she was told and spoke of everything she’d seen.

About being called by the Fairy Ring Shimazu Yui, and on the way to her room, how she’d been obstructed by a hooded man.

About how she’d barely made it back in time to get caught in the teleportation, and how she’d protected Rose and Lobivia while they tried to reach the others.

About the five masked enemies who’d attacked them, and how one among them, the Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya, was trying to get everyone back to their own world.

And finally, about how Majima Takahiro was currently isolated.

It had only taken a few minutes. Lily listened in silence to the end. In her stead, Gerbera was the one to speak up first.

“I see. I’m convinced now.”

“Gerbera?” Iino said in confusion.

“About the masked man we’ve been running away from,” Gerbera continued, lowering her voice. “We were trying to make our way to our lord, but we couldn’t. We simply couldn’t find a path there.”

“Ah...”

This statement contradicted Iino Yuna’s earlier optimistic opinion. As expected, Jinguuji Tomoya hadn’t been lying.

“No matter how much we searched and searched, we couldn’t find any way to reach our lord,” Gerbera added. “And while we were on the move, we noticed we were closer to Rose and decided to link up with you first.”

“S-So what Jinguuji said is...?”

“I’m sure it’s true.”

“N-No way... So Majima is really isolated from everyone? Even though the enemy might be the entire Holy Church?”

Iino Yuna trembled unsteadily. That stood to reason. In other words, this was a battle they’d had no chance of winning from the very beginning. All they had to do was give it some thought. The Holy Church was, without a doubt, the organization that possessed the most authority and power in this world. Its martial forces were without equal. The knights of the Holy Order had inherited the blood of saviors and were great in both number and individual strength. Several of their greatest knights even possessed power that approached that of the original saviors.

The Holy Church possessed the weight and advantage of history. They had a great accumulation of resources built up over a long period of time that no savior possessed. They’d continued stockpiling weapons, tools, and personnel over their long existence. It wasn’t clear what the situation was, but just by the fact that the Holy Church was an enemy, Majima Takahiro had no chance of winning. He would be crushed all too quickly and everything would end. No matter how much he resisted, the end was predetermined. That was the reality they found themselves in.

In the end, the truth these girls had reached after finally reuniting was that their resistance had been futile from the very start. It was only natural for them to collapse to their knees in despair. This was why Iino Yuna was in shock. As for Majima Takahiro’s servants, it didn’t even need to be said—

“The Holy Church, huh? What a pain.”

They weren’t dispirited in the least. Gerbera sounded awfully annoyed as she spat those words, but there was no despair in her voice. None had fallen to their knees, let alone thrown away their will to resist.

“Y-You’re all...” Seeing them, Iino Yuna was shaken. Her voice trembled as she questioned them. “Do you really understand? The enemy is that Holy Church, you know?”

“Of course we understand,” Gerbera answered, nodding.

“No, you don’t,” Iino said, grimacing. “How can we possibly resist...?”

That was undoubtedly the truth. Gerbera didn’t deny it either. However, perhaps it was better to say that it had been the truth. Gerbera shook her head and made a brief observation.

“But we actually put up some resistance already, didn’t we? Am I wrong?”

“Ah...”

That was also the unmistakable truth.

“For some reason, we managed to resist,” Gerbera said. “One of the biggest reasons for that...mm...would be your presence. It looks like Rose and Lobivia owe you greatly.”

Jinguuji Tomoya had actually mentioned this too.

“Ever since the failed teleportation, there’s been too many irregularities to this plan. The fact that Iino ended up here is the most extreme case. We were supposed to be the ace in the hole here, but we’ve been totally shut down. She was the one person who wasn’t supposed to be here. That’s the kind of opponent she is.”

Even if Majima Takahiro and his servants weren’t able to resist, it was entirely possible to put up a fight if they joined forces with others. This was also the reality they found themselves in.

“No. Maybe it isn’t just you either,” Gerbera went on. “Just maybe, there are others lending us their aid.”

Gerbera didn’t know about it, but she was entirely right.

Majima Takahiro had Kudou Riku and Dora.

Shiran had Gordon Cavill and his subordinates.

Ayame had Berta and Shimazu Yui.

Each had their own allies who were doing what they could to help.

“Mm. You’re right,” Lily said.

“Lily...?” Iino said.

After hearing Iino Yuna’s story, she’d fallen silent. Now, she looked lively. It was as if she’d found the answer.

“It’s just as Gerbera says. Because we have people helping us, not a single one of us has fallen yet.”

She looked straight into Iino Yuna’s eyes. Her expression was reassuring. It was as if she’d realized something important.

“Hey, Iino? About what you just told us... Isn’t there something a little weird about it?” she said with conviction.

◆ ◆ ◆

Her words shook up their understanding of the situation greatly. By reuniting with Rose’s group, Lily had been given the opportunity to point this out. And she wasn’t the only one who was in such a situation.

“What’s going on...?”

At the same time, in a different place, someone else raised the same question.