Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 14 - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Kaneki Mikihiko’s Battle

“Okay, Commander. That’s it for today.”

Alone inside a vast, faintly lit corridor, Kaneki Mikihiko talked to the pendant in his palm.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s already time.”

“Very well...Mikihiko,” a woman’s voice replied from the pendant. “Until next time.”

This was a long-range communication-magic tool he was borrowing from the Holy Church. Naturally, he needed permission to use it and everything he said through it could be overheard. That meant he was only allowed to have innocuous conversations while using it. Regardless, just being able to hear her voice was priceless to Kaneki Mikihiko. This was a thread that connected him to her...and at the same time, it was a well-made tool to ensure he was aware of the chain and collar around his neck.

“Take good care of yourself,” she said.

“Ha ha ha. Of course.”

“Seriously... Cherish yourself.”

Her repeated words of consideration had an air of anxiety to them. Getting a sense of how timid she’d gotten, Kaneki Mikihiko’s heart ached. It reminded him of the day when everything had been decided. The day he’d tasted how powerless he was when he saw her cry. Until that day, he’d wanted to become a knight who could protect her. Even though he believed he wasn’t suited for it, he’d put his whole heart into pursuing it.

However, his wish had been thoroughly and utterly destroyed. All that remained in the wreckage was despair at his own weakness. Kaneki Mikihiko was scum who couldn’t even protect the woman he’d fallen for. From the beginning, the path of the knight was beyond him. He’d been forced to reckon with that.

Even so... After this humbling revelation, there were still things he couldn’t give up on. That was the reason Kaneki Mikihiko was here now. After finishing his short conversation over the magic tool, he clenched the pendant.

“Commander... I’ll protect you. I’ll protect what’s important to me to the very end. Because this is all for your sake, none of it hurts.”

It was no exaggeration to say that every day of these last few months had been for that purpose. Ever since arriving in the imperial capital and having his beloved taken hostage, Kaneki Mikihiko had done nothing but serve the Holy Church. This naturally included going out to suppress dangerous monsters, and occasionally being rounded up for incidents like the fake savior turmoil.

He’d proactively contributed in every case. Anybody watching would’ve interpreted this as his desperately trying to curry favor with the people in power. The truth was, he’d been acting to cultivate such an innocuous illusion.

The only reason he did all of this was so that he could protect what was important to him. Just as he’d told his best friend, Majima Takahiro, he had no intention of mistaking his priorities. That was exactly how Kaneki Mikihiko had passed these last few months.

To put it another way, to protect what was important to him, he’d continuously cast away things that were low on his priority list. He’d been forced to consciously make cruel decisions, telling himself it was fine to abandon such things. The biggest among these was Majima Takahiro. After the woman who was both his benefactor and sweetheart was taken hostage, he was ordered to kill his best friend. He had no other path before him. It’d been decided for him. This was a determined future.

It wasn’t funny. How could they mess with him like that? How could he accept such a thing? Kaneki Mikihiko was in fact a pathetic man who couldn’t even protect the woman who was dear to him. He was scum without worth. However, he wasn’t the type of scum to betray his best friend.

Kaneki Mikihiko would never betray Majima Takahiro—never in a million years. As such, this was a matter of priorities. To stop himself from casting away something he could never abandon, he decided to throw away something else.

By all rights, it was something he should never discard. To him, it was nothing more than a worthless cause for despair. It was the broken remnants of his wish that had concluded there was no worth in living. In other words, he was throwing away absolutely everything that defined the man known as Kaneki Mikihiko.

◆ ◆ ◆

With the woman dear to him taken hostage, Kaneki Mikihiko was unable to refuse the plan targeting his best friend’s life. However, from another perspective, it could be said that he was in a perfect position to obstruct the plan from the inside. He was a treacherous fiend who, while participating in the plan without holding anything back, put even more effort into getting in its way.

This was of course much easier said than done. Pulling it off was a Herculean task, and if he was discovered, it wouldn’t end well. Regardless, he didn’t hesitate. He’d discarded his own life from the very beginning. Thus, Kaneki Mikihiko’s battle began.

To be able to obstruct the plan, he had to be in a position where they didn’t suspect him. It didn’t matter how that was accomplished. He’d thrown away his pride, playing the part of the cowardly traitor who flattered those in power. If it was asked of him, he risked his life suppressing monsters. He’d nearly died many times, but he’d secured the position he needed. He’d even degraded himself to a pathetic man who made the woman he loved cry. This was the most painful part. Tearing all his dignity to shreds, he wagged his tail as they collared him.

“Mister Kaneki, how can you smile all the time?”

Elena, who’d been assigned to keep an eye on him, had once asked him this. Honestly, it’d been a while since he’d lost his sense of time.

He hid all the humiliation, regret, and fury beneath a frivolous smile. He endured everything. It was like spending every day buried in filth. Today, that would all come to an end.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I did everything I could...”

He muttered to himself quietly. He’d taken many measures just for this day, and several had gone well. Majima Takahiro and his companions were frantically resisting the enemies swooping down on them, and were being assisted by several others like Iino Yuna, Gordon Cavill, and, unmistakably, Kaneki Mikihiko himself.

“I messed up too, though...”

He was referring to the surprise attack on Majima Takahiro. So long as he was complicit in this plan, Kaneki Mikihiko absolutely had to perform the surprise attack as instructed. In truth, he hadn’t expected to inflict a wound. Instead, he’d meant to use an opening to abduct Katou Mana—ensuring her safety, of course—to finish the surprise attack without being suspected by the Holy Church. To that end, he’d properly measured his best friend’s combat strength just the other day. He’d launched the surprise attack at a distance Majima Takahiro should’ve been able to react to.

However, contrary to expectations, the attack had succeeded. It was a tremendous failure. It had simply been that unexpected.

“Man... Why didn’t you suspect me? It’s way too suspicious for me to show up so conveniently, right?”

He hadn’t been teleported with the group. It was clearly strange for him to appear there. If only Majima Takahiro had put himself the slightest bit on guard. If he’d been the least bit wary, he would’ve been able to deal with that attack easily. And yet, the surprise attack had succeeded. There was no misunderstanding why. Majima Takahiro hadn’t doubted Kaneki Mikihiko for a second. He truly hadn’t suspected him the slightest bit.

“What an idiot...”

This had been Kaneki Mikihiko’s one big miscalculation.

“You’re such an idiot, Takahiro...”

Majima Takahiro believed in Kaneki Mikihiko even more than he’d expected. He’d learned this in a way he couldn’t have dreamed of. It made him believe that all these days spent smearing himself in mud hadn’t been a mistake. That in itself was more than enough recompense. As such, he didn’t hesitate for a second.

“Okay, it’s about time.”

He started moving. He’d already gotten his orders. Kaneki Mikihiko had to attack Majima Takahiro. So long as they had a hostage, even if he could sneakily obstruct them behind the scenes, he couldn’t refuse any orders. It was pretty much guaranteed that Majima Takahiro would come to get Katou Mana back. A fight to the death was inevitable. One of them had to die. But that was fine. That was the way it should be. After all...

“I believe in you too.”

Yes. He believed in him. He believed Majima Takahiro would never lose to the likes of Kaneki Mikihiko. That was why this was the end.

“Okay, let’s get going.”

Muttering casually, as if he were merely performing some mundane errand, the boy started walking toward his own demise.