Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 14 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: An Encounter Right Before Teleporting

After finishing her conversation with Berta, Iino Yuna left Majima Takahiro’s room. Outside, she came across a large bald knight.

“Hello, Sir Gordon. I’m heading out, so I’ll leave things here in your hands.”

“Understood.”

Gordon Cavill responded with a reliable smile on his grim face. He was the vice marshal of the Holy Order and the commander of its Second Company. When Iino Yuna had spoken of needing to step away for a moment, he’d gone out of his way to make some time and accept her guard duty in her stead.

“I’ll be off then,” Iino said.

She’d been informed through the Holy Church that Shimazu Yui wanted to speak with her. She’d designated a spot that would take the Skanda less than a minute to return from, a choice meant to ensure she could respond quickly to any abnormal events.

As she walked down the hallway, Iino Yuna racked her brain over what she could say to comfort the girl she was going to see. Iino knew very well how hard she’d worked to get Majima Takahiro to join the exploration team. For all that effort to go to waste must’ve been a great shock.

In truth, after talks of his joining had tragically ended, Mitarai Aoi had turned pale and speechless, and Okazaki Takuma had gone on and on trying to make excuses. Shimazu Yui, meanwhile, had immediately withdrawn to her room. Seeing her like that, Iino Yuna had tried to say something, but she’d had no clue what to say. In the end, she hadn’t been able to do anything but watch her walk away.

Remembering that, she couldn’t help but feel depressed. She hadn’t been able to do anything for her. Well, when put like that, things had always been that way.

By the time she’d returned to Fort Tilia, it had already collapsed.

During the fake savior incident, tragedy had already occurred by the time she’d discovered the truth.

When she’d gone to stop the margrave, she hadn’t been able to persuade him.

She hadn’t meant to cut any corners. She’d meant to do her best at all times. Despite everything, no matter how hard she tried, she’d never been able to do anything. The more she took action, the more powerless she felt. This stabbing sensation in her chest wouldn’t vanish.

The powerlessness rooted in her heart reached out with arms like black tentacles crawling throughout her body. It went through her muscles and weakened her limbs. In the event the horrid sensation reached her extremities, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to move a single step. That premonition haunted her.

“I can’t be like this...”

She swallowed the sigh she was about to let out. She couldn’t immerse herself in such pessimistic thoughts. Berta had just cheered her up. Fretting about everything like this would put her efforts to waste. With that in mind, she banished all those absurd notions from her mind. And just then...

“Huh?”

A figure peeked out of one of the rooms down the hallway. Iino Yuna was still in the section of the cathedral that had been locked down for the sake of Majima Takahiro’s stay. As such, there was pretty much nobody here. At most, only the knights who were part of the security detail should’ve been around. However, the figure was wearing a suspicious-looking hood. Clearly, they couldn’t be a knight. Furthermore, she recalled seeing this person before.

“You’re...”

During her investigation of the rumors of a fake savior, Iino Yuna had encountered an unidentifiable man in a certain village. He’d informed her that Margrave Maclaurin had dispatched an army to subjugate Majima Takahiro. That man had been dressed exactly like the figure standing before her.

“Long time no see.”

Just as expected, this man’s voice was as unnaturally deep as that of the one back then.

“Why are you here...?” Iino asked.

“Follow me.”

The man ignored her question and immediately withdrew into the room.

“Meaning he has no intention of listening to me...”

She felt her cheek twitch a little. The man had been like this last time too. Iino Yuna looked at the room the man had vanished into. She hesitated a little. He had a habit of acting suspicious. By all rights, she should’ve been yelling for the knights to come. On the other hand, she owed him for the information he’d given her. If not for him, she wouldn’t have known about the crisis that had been closing in on Majima Takahiro, preventing the peace talks they were working toward now from happening at all.

“It might be related to him again...”

After thinking about it a little, she entered the room. This entire section had been cleared of people, so nobody was using these rooms. Iino Yuna stood face to face with the man waiting inside on his own. She knit her brow. Something felt off, but she couldn’t tell what.

“So? What is it?” she asked, setting that unease aside.

The man hesitated to answer for a moment because of her hostile attitude.

“I want to know the current state of Majima Takahiro and his surroundings. So, I decided to call on you.”

“You waited here just for that?”

There was an air of exasperation in her voice. It was just a coincidence that she’d gone out for a walk on her own like this. If Shimazu Yui hadn’t called for her, she’d probably still be talking to Berta. It seemed rather presumptuous to wait without knowing whether she would coincidentally walk by.

“Well, whatever. I do owe you one,” she said.

“My thanks.”

She did of course consider the risks of talking about this, but the members of the exploration team and a portion of the knights all knew about Majima Takahiro’s current situation. There wasn’t anything to hide. This mysterious man had acted to save Majima Takahiro before too. Deciding that there wasn’t a problem here, Iino briefly went over the details. The man threw in a question here and there, and their conversation ended in about five minutes.

“That’s about everything. That enough for you?” Iino said.

“Yeah,” the man said, nodding. “Thanks for sparing me the time.”

“What is it exactly that you want?” Iino asked, not hiding her puzzlement. This man’s behavior just seemed so strange. “I owe you for the information you gave me last time, so I don’t care if you keep your identity hidden. However, can you at least tell me what you’re trying to accomplish?”

She had once considered him a bona fide third party who didn’t want to be known, but things were a little different if he’d come all the way here.

“What are you to Majima?” she asked.

The man paused before replying, a little too long to be thinking about it. Just around the time Iino Yuna started getting irritated, the man finally opened his mouth.

“Nothing really. Not me.”

Despite the long consideration, his words came across as cold. Regardless, there was a certain nuance to them that bothered Iino.

“I’m...”

He was about to say something else, but a shrill noise cut him off.

“Wh-What?!”

Iino stiffened at the sudden disturbance. The sound had come through the open window. It was from a nearby room.

“It’s starting...” the man said. In contrast to her shock, he remained calm. “That’s enough stalling.”

“It can’t be, you’re...” Iino was confused, but her well-honed instincts forced her to prioritize the current situation. “Out of the way!”

She thrust the man aside and leaned out the open window. She checked on the windows of the nearby rooms. Only one among them was broken. Judging by its position, it was definitely the room Majima Takahiro’s group was staying in. This was an attack.

“Why?!”

Iino Yuna screamed. The mysterious man had obviously known that this was going to happen. He had to be connected to the attack in some way. After having saved Majima Takahiro once before, why would he do such a thing? The thought came to mind, but Iino had no time to question him about it.

“Ugh.”

She left the man behind, kicked the door open, and flew out of the room. She went at full speed back down the path she’d taken. However, in that instant, she sensed an accumulation of mana. It was intense enough that she felt threatened by it.

“You’re kidding me...!”

The outrageous development was far too sudden. There was no way to try and react on the spot. That even applied to cheaters who possessed multiple times the physical capabilities of a normal person. However, there was one exception to that.

“Aaaah!”

Her nickname was the Skanda. In terms of speed, she could beat anyone in the world. Fortunately, she wasn’t all that far away. It was about a three-minute walk at two hundred meters. It wouldn’t even take her five seconds at her maximum speed. The door to the room she arrived at was already open. The knight on guard duty had definitely noticed the abnormality and gone inside. Iino Yuna charged into the room without slowing down. In that instant, the power of teleportation engulfed her.

◆ ◆ ◆

She couldn’t have possibly imagined being suddenly teleported upon arriving at her destination. Not even the Skanda could deal with everything around her suddenly shifting.

“Wah?!”

Because of her momentum, she tumbled in grand fashion, rolling across the floor with tremendous force. It was made of hard stone. A normal person would’ve been horribly injured by this, but she was the Skanda. She immediately got to her feet, drew the sword at her waist, and took a look around her.

First, she had to guard herself against any potential attacks. At the same time, she tried to get a grip on the situation. She hadn’t expected this kind of development, but considering how it had all played out, her ability to immediately deal with it in a precise manner was worthy of praise. However, even though she was well accustomed to hectic battles, this was far too much for her to digest.

“Where am I...?”

Her dumbfounded voice echoed through the vast space. She stood all alone in a dimly lit stone passageway.