Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 14 - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Fragments of the Truth

“Wh-Why are you here...?!”

Berta’s tail straightened to a point in shock. An impossible chance meeting awaited her at the destination she’d finally reached after running for so long.

“My king...”

“Berta?” Kudou responded. He also looked surprised by this. “You managed to link up, I see.”

“Y-Yes. Because Ayame is with me, it was possible to use the mental path to make our way toward Majima Takahiro.”

Berta hadn’t known that her master had come to this place. She hadn’t even been informed that he was in the capital. That was why she’d never expected this encounter to happen. This was also unexpected for Kudou Riku. After all, he was supposed to be isolated from the world with Majima Takahiro. So how had Berta gotten here? Recovering from her shock, Berta unveiled the details behind this.

“Aah, no. Now’s not the time to be discussing that. There are other things I must tell you.”

“Things to tell me? What do you mean?”

“Yes. My king, please listen to me carefully. This is urgent. Currently, this space is sealed off from all outside contact. It’s hard to believe, but the path I came down shut behind me. I saw it with my own eyes. It was incomprehensible, however there’s no mistaking it. If I was only a little slower, I would’ve been shut out too. I barely made it.”

“I see. So that’s what those tremors were...” Kudou said, narrowing his eyes. “Just like when Kaneki Mikihiko ran away, the layout was modified. Our forces have been divided.”

He grasped the situation right away, having put some thought into what the continuous tremors were after what’d happened.

“No, in that sense, maybe your meeting up with us is beyond the enemy’s expectations...” he added.

“My king. Kaneki Mikihiko is here too?” Berta asked.

She wasn’t supposed to know that Kaneki Mikihiko was in this place as an enemy, but she didn’t sound confused. On the contrary, there was an air of understanding in her voice.

“In truth, I got this far by following Kaneki Mikihiko’s scent. I questioned why he’d be here, but...it was in the same direction, so I figured there was a chance. Thanks to that, I managed to get all the way here using an optimal path without any dead ends.”

“Aah. That’s how...” Kudou said. “By following Kaneki Mikihiko’s scent, you managed to find the shortest path here. Because of that, you arrived faster than expected and the enemy couldn’t seal the route in time. How ironic. They inflicted a severe wound on Majima-senpai by using Kaneki Mikihiko, but also allowed an intruder in because of that.”

“Huh...? Please wait a moment. Majima Takahiro is severely wounded?”

“Kuu?!”

Hearing Kudou Riku talk to himself, Berta raised her voice in astonishment, while the fox on her head let out a troubled yelp. Ayame had just been informed that her precious master had been stabbed, so her concern was to be expected. She jumped down Berta’s back in a panic and ran off toward her master.

“Now that you mention it, I don’t see Majima Takahiro anywhere. You don’t mean...” Berta said, watching the little fox’s back.

“No. His life isn’t in danger. He’s resting nearby. I discovered monsters in the distance, so I came out to intercept them. Dora is currently by his side guarding him.”

“Is that so? That’s reassuring to hear, given the situation...”

Just then, a groan came from behind Berta. Berta froze, and Kudou Riku raised his voice in suspicion. Shortly after, a girl sat up on Berta’s back.

“Berta...? Is someone there?”

It was Shimazu Yui, waking up with a hand pressed against her head. She was so exhausted she’d practically fainted and had fallen asleep, but was woken up when Ayame jumped on her head to get to the ground. Upon spotting Kudou Riku, she started.

“Wh-Who are you?”

“That’s my line.”

Faced with both their gazes, Berta awkwardly lowered her snout to the ground.

“Forgive me, my king. I should have informed you of this first.”

She couldn’t really be blamed for this. Because of the totally unexpected chance meeting with her master, she’d completely forgotten about the girl on her back.

“This is Shimazu Yui,” Berta said, “the exploration team’s Fairy Ring. I picked her up on the way.”

“The Fairy Ring...?”

“My king...? Meaning that’s Kudou Riku?! You’re kidding!”

Both of them sounded surprised. Shimazu Yui’s tired face was tense with shock, while Kudou Riku scowled. Seeing her master’s displeasure, Berta quickly followed up in a panic.

“Please forgive me for stating my opinion. She is not involved with the teleportation that brought us here. She’s here because she was lured into it.”

“Give me the details...” Kudou ordered stiffly.

Naturally, Berta obeyed without question.

“She was called to our room by someone impersonating Majima Takahiro and was then caught in the teleportation. She isn’t our enemy, though. On the contrary, she ensured the trap couldn’t be sprung properly. Because of that, she even suffered enough damage that she still can’t move around.”

Her master’s brow remained furrowed as she carefully conveyed the truth to him. The reason she came off as trying to cover for the girl was because she sensed danger.

“I am of course keeping a watchful eye on her so that she cannot cause you any harm. So please show mercy.”

Hearing that, Shimazu Yui turned pale. Kudou Riku was the Demon King who threatened the populace. He’d already killed several visitors. And as she was now, she had no strength to oppose him. Berta had also never imagined that she would bump into her master here, so she was extremely tense as well. However, Kudou Riku had his mind on a different point entirely.

“She was lured here by the enemy?” he asked in bafflement. “She’s not here because she’s the true culprit behind the teleportation?”

“Wha...?! Wh-Why would I ever do something like that?!” Shimazu yelled, forgetting her fear at the sudden unjustified accusation. “I ran over because of a fake invitation and got caught in the teleportation the moment I arrived. Your servant Berta witnessed that herself.”

“Is that true?” Kudou asked.

“Yes,” Berta answered. “Everything she’s saying is true. Just as I mentioned earlier, she even resisted the teleportation.”

With that, he judged they weren’t lying, but he wasn’t entirely convinced.

“What’s going on...?”

Putting a hand to his mouth, Kudou Riku narrowed his eyes. Strangely enough, his words shook up their understanding of the current situation much like Lily’s had.

“My king. Is there something strange about what we said?” Berta asked in confusion.

“It’s impossible,” he replied with conviction. “There’s no way the Fairy Ring can be here after being tricked by the enemy.”

“Wh-What are you saying? I’m right here, aren’t I?” Shimazu protested in bewilderment. “Okazaki is probably trying to lay the blame on me. I don’t think it’s all that strange.”

“Yes, if that was all, it wouldn’t be,” Kudou said, nodding before shaking his head. “But I’ve already encountered the enemy. At the time, this is what Kaneki Mikihiko told us—we have no way of escaping this place.”

This was his answer when asked why he’d turned on his best friend.

“It’s not all that weird, right? Takahiro, you have no way outta this place. It’s useless. It’s over for you. Choosing your side at this point would be stupid, don’t you think?”

“And what does that mean?” Shimazu asked in irritation.

“You can’t tell?” Kudou said. “So long as you’re here, he would never have said that. After all, there’s a way out of here. Am I wrong, Fairy Ring?”

“Oh...”

Her inherent ability was that of long-distance teleportation. What had brought Majima Takahiro’s group here to begin with was an inferior copy of her ability used by the Almighty Vessel. The original could obviously replicate that feat in reverse.

“If he knew about the Fairy Ring, he wouldn’t have said that. Before all that, if the enemy were aware of you, it’d make far more sense to go after you as their first priority. But here you are, saying you were caught in the teleportation because of the enemy’s fake invitation. In that case, the enemy would’ve known about your presence.”

“H-Hang on...”

Shimazu Yui was in dismay. She finally understood what Kudou Riku was getting at.

“It’s impossible. There’s no way the Fairy Ring can be here after being tricked by the enemy.”

It was in fact impossible that the enemy had tricked her. If so, they would have known that she was here. In that case, it made more sense for the Fairy Ring to be part of the enemy’s forces. However, Shimazu Yui knew that she had no part in this. As such, her next words were only natural.

“Then who called me to come over...?”

Her question echoed down the hallway—

◆ ◆ ◆

“Something weird...? About what I said earlier?” Iino asked, bewilderment clear in her eyes.

Lily nodded. “Yup. Regarding the details of how you got here. It’s a little weird, right?”

“How I got here...?” Iino repeated, knitting her well-shaped brow. Nothing came to mind. “Umm, what about it? I was called out by Yui-senpai, entrusted things to Sir Gordon, and left the room... Judging by the timing, Yui-senpai wasn’t actually the one who called me out, though... I then met a hooded man on the way.”

She recalled what she’d told them, repeating it aloud bit by bit, retracing her steps until the teleportation.

“He said he had something to tell me... It was careless of me now that I think about it. However, he’d told me about Majima before, so I thought maybe it was related to Majima again... In the end, I was the one to tell him stuff, but he was acting strange... And then I heard a loud noise... The window to Majima’s room was broken and I realized he was under attack... Even though he’d given me information to save Majima before, this time he was an enemy...”

“Mm. That’s it,” Lily said, interrupting her recollection.

“How so?” Iino said, looking even more confused. “He clearly knew about the attack. He even said, ‘That’s enough stalling.’”

“That’s my point,” Lily said. “Think about what would’ve happened had he not stalled you.”

“What would’ve happened...?”

“You don’t get it? Iino, you were on your way elsewhere, right? If nothing happened, you would’ve reached your destination. In that case, you might not have even noticed the attack, let alone made it in time for the teleportation.”

“Oh...”

She was dumbfounded. What had he been stalling for? The meaning behind that took a 180-degree turn.

“I made it in time...because he stalled me?” Iino said.

“That’s the gist of it.”

“No way... I didn’t notice at all.”

“It was an emergency, so there wasn’t really time to give it a lot of thought. The guy was hiding his face and acting suspicious, and then there’s the timing to consider. What’s more, he knew about the teleportation, so you were convinced he was an enemy. If I saw it for myself, I would probably misunderstand too. But that’s impossible.”

Lily demonstrated understanding of Iino Yuna’s misinterpretation of events, but she clearly denied the possibility.

“Iino, the enemy should’ve been extremely wary of you,” she continued. “I mean, they went out of their way to call you out with a fake invitation to get you away from us. It’d be contradictory to get in the way of that.”

“That’s true...”

Iino Yuna admitted that Lily’s opinion had merit. Despite being shaken by her perception of the situation being flipped upside down, she now harbored an obvious doubt.

“So who’s the guy who stopped me from getting too far away...?”

And once more, a girl’s question echoed down the corridor.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I don’t know who called you,” Kudou Riku said to the bewildered Shimazu Yui. “The one thing we know for certain is that by being called, an escape route that should never have existed was created in the form of the Fairy Ring.”

“You’re saying someone knew of the attack and made that possible?”

“I don’t know how much of this was calculated. It wasn’t guaranteed you’d come to begin with. Thinking of it like that, it’s possible others who were liable to help were also caught in this—”

◆ ◆ ◆

“I don’t know who stopped you from getting too far,” Lily said to the shaken Iino Yuna. “But there’s no mistaking that he knew about the attack and sent you here. He made sure the Skanda, a threat so big they plotted to tear you away from us, made it here.”

“Now that you mention it, Jinguuji also said this incident is full of irregularities...and that I was the most extreme case.”

“Meaning there are other cases too. It sounds awfully roundabout. Oh, but maybe this was the only way he could do things, so he did everything he was capable of? If so—”

◆ ◆ ◆

At the same time, in different places, everyone was reaching the truth. Around then, Katou Mana sat with her back against the wall in a daze. The only one nearby was Elena, who was here to watch her.

“Kaneki-senpai...”

In the end, she hadn’t been able to prevent the battle. The cowardly traitor had left without listening to her pleas.

“I’m going. I have no other choice.”

There hadn’t been the slightest hint of hesitation in his voice. His answer had been enough for her to know that he was determined to face everything that was going to happen.

However, those weren’t his last words. He’d said more. That was what had her in a daze now. Wondering why he’d said such a thing, the words repeated in her mind once more.

“Katou, you just sit tight right here and believe in him.”

It was as if the cowardly traitor believed in Majima Takahiro more than anyone else. This was the last fragment of the truth.