Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 14 - Chapter SS

Extra Story: Events on the Outside

This happened after Majima Takahiro’s party went missing. The dragons of Draconia and Aker’s delegation were spending the hours in the room that’d been prepared for them. A melancholic mood enveloped them all. Quite a lot of time had passed since the incident. The sun was setting outside the window. Everyone was pale, especially the eldest sister of the dragons, Ella, who almost looked like a corpse.

“What should we do...?”

“It’ll be all right, Ella. Let’s believe in Takahiro.”

Ella had taken part in the investigation as the representative of Draconia, but after it’d concluded for the time being, she’d returned to the room with nothing to show for it. As the one responsible for her family, she was at a complete loss, anxious about the dark future that awaited them if Majima Takahiro didn’t return and about the safety of her youngest sister, Lobivia. There was a pained air to Philip’s voice as he tried to comfort her. That was when Kei quietly left the room.

“Wait.”

“Kath?”

One of the dragons came after her.

“You’re going to look for Lord Takahiro and the others, right? I’ll come with you,” Kath said.

The section Majima Takahiro’s group had been using was still being inspected by the Holy Order. Several of the exploration team members had also made an appearance. This was because Gordon Cavill—the vice marshal of the Holy Order—a few of his knights, and the exploration team’s Iino Yuna had gone missing too. Still, the investigation wasn’t looking good. No matter how long they waited, no useful information was being passed along. As such, Kei had reached her limit and was leaving the room.

Fortunately, she’d made a contract with a spirit the other day, so it was possible for her to search a wide area. Maybe she could find clues using a different approach from the Holy Order. She did know the probability of that was almost zero, though.

“Are you sure?” Kei asked. “It’s not like I have any real leads.”

“I know we might not find anything, but the same goes for holing up in this room,” Kath replied.

Moving about was likely to be futile, but nothing could be gained by staying still. Kei couldn’t stand staying put any longer than this, anyway, and it seemed Kath felt the same way.

“Understood. Let’s go.”

Kei summoned her spirit and started walking. She prayed from the bottom of her heart that she could find those dear to her that’d gone missing. She couldn’t possibly have imagined that they’d been whisked away to another world.

◆ ◆ ◆

By the time the exploration team’s Stalwart Snow White Mitarai Aoi woke up, the sun had already set. She was staying at an inn in the imperial capital. The exploration team members had rooms arranged for them in the castle, but she wanted to be alone right now, so she had sneaked into town and booked an inn room.

Her eyes were puffy and her body felt heavy. She knew exactly why this was. She’d had a quarrel with her friend Katou Mana. Just remembering filled her with utter despondency. She’d never seen her act like that before. It was a facet of her friend that she’d never touched. The shock had blanked out her mind. She didn’t even remember what had happened afterward. That was how strongly she’d been rejected. That was how angry she’d made Katou Mana.

“Why...?”

Her quiet voice resounded in her empty room. Even now, she didn’t understand what’d angered her friend so badly. Regardless, there was room for sympathy here. After all, she still had no idea that Katou Mana had changed completely due to her experiences in this world.

She’d never been given the opportunity to learn that. It was far too cruel to criticize Mitarai Aoi for her ignorance. So, without knowing who Katou Mana was now, there was no way of understanding her behavior. Mitarai Aoi had simply tried to correct her friend’s mistake. She’d had no ill will. She’d acted with good intentions. Nevertheless, her friend had been indignant. That was all Mitarai Aoi recognized about the situation. That didn’t justify what she’d done, though.

“It was my fault, right...?”

To her, Katou Mana was a smart, caring, kind, and reliable friend. Mitarai Aoi trusted her enough that if they were ever at odds, she would believe she was in the wrong. That was why, even if she didn’t understand why she was wrong, she knew she’d done something. She didn’t know what to feel remorse over, but blamed herself for it anyway. She knew she had to apologize. She wanted to. However, she was scared to do so, even helplessly frightened.

Mitarai Aoi was one of the exploration team’s upper brass, the Stalwart Snow White. She was the strongest when it came to knocking everything in her path down with her fists. She’d made significant contributions during the early days when weapons were in short supply, but even after weapons became easily obtainable, she’d maintained her position in the highest class of combatants. However, her power served no purpose whatsoever when the situation couldn’t be solved with a punch.

When she thought of being faced with such a chilly reception from Katou once more, she found herself frozen in fear. In that sense, she was still no more than a little girl in her tender years. Being a nicknamed cheater didn’t help at all. To add to this, Katou Mana had overdone it at the time. Perhaps that was to be expected. She wasn’t consciously feared by Gerbera and Iino Yuna for nothing.

So, at a total loss, Mitarai Aoi didn’t return to the castle, and had instead gone into town. She cradled her knees, the windows shut and the room engulfed in darkness. That was when she suddenly remembered the past.

Some time after coming to this world, she’d cradled her knees like this on her bed. At the time, many had cried at the thought of being unable to see their families or go home. Even if they’d acquired tremendous power, it hadn’t elevated their strength of heart. Overwhelmed by the sudden anxiety, Mitarai Aoi had cried, and the one who’d appeared before her had been her childhood friend, Ishida Tetsuo.

He’d comforted her then, but he wasn’t going to show up now. She’d left without telling the exploration team where she was. She hadn’t been paying attention to the small details at the time, but even if she had, she probably wouldn’t have told him. She thought it was cowardly to rely on her childhood friend when she was at fault here. That said, the same thought process was also why she was stuck here unable to move.

“I can’t stand this...”

Sick of how pathetic she was, she tumbled back onto the bed.

“What should I do...?”

As she mumbled pitifully to herself, a memory bubbled up in her mind.

“I think people really do need to talk to each other.”

This had happened right after arriving at their destination, one month after departing as the first expeditionary force.

“What’re you saying, Watanabe-senpai? Being a narcissist again?”

“Who’re you calling a narcissist?”

This was before Iino Yuna left for Fort Tilia. Mitarai Aoi had had the opportunity to speak with Watanabe Yoshiki, who’d also been selected to go to Fort Tilia. Mitarai Aoi was very attached to Iino Yuna, so she’d also come across Watanabe Yoshiki, who’d had a crush on Iino Yuna, quite a few times. The two had formed a casual friendship. During one of their chats, Watanabe Yoshiki had brought this topic up out of nowhere.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about Juumonji. I feel like he’s acting weird.”

“That so? Doesn’t seem like it to me. Maybe it’s your imagination? You being you and all.”

“You have no faith in me... Well, whatever. I’m telling you he’s acting weird. He’s trying to keep it hidden, but I can tell.”

At the time, Mitarai Aoi had considered him overly self-conscious. However, thinking back on it now, maybe Watanabe Yoshiki had been the only person to notice the darkness that’d taken shape in Juumonji Tatsuya’s heart, having worked with him as a team many times.

“Oh. Speak of the devil. Hey, Juumonji. You got a sec...? Huh? What’s up? You got a headache? You look pale. Aah, going back to your room? Okay. Got it.”

In the end, right after trying to strike up a conversation with him, Juumonji Tatsuya had left with a hand pressed against his head. His timing had been horrible. Juumonji Tatsuya had made an annoyed look as if someone out of sight had suddenly started talking to him.

“Off he goes, huh?”

“Oh well. I’ll talk to him after we get back from Fort Tilia.”

Watanabe Yoshiki had departed for Fort Tilia the next day. Would something have changed had he managed to talk to Juumonji Tatusya back then? Or would things have gone the same? Mitarai Aoi didn’t know. Perhaps it was precisely because she didn’t know that she sat up. She left the room and dragged her feet out of the inn.

She made her way to the Holy Church’s headquarters, the grand cathedral. There was someone there she had to talk to. Even if she wasn’t going to be forgiven, she had to at least apologize. She had no way of knowing that such feelings would go unfulfilled.

◆ ◆ ◆

Kei summoned her spirit and started searching the area. Much like she’d told Kath, she didn’t have any leads. She did nothing more than walk around the vast grounds of the world’s largest structure, the Holy Church’s grand cathedral. There were of course areas that were off limits to outsiders, but using the unique senses of a spirit, it was possible to scan those areas from a distance. If she only needed to tell whether the person she was looking for was there, it was entirely possible.

Kei was a squire and Kath was a dragon. They were both confident in their stamina, so they quickly made their way across the grounds. Regardless, they didn’t find anything. How could they? Majima Takahiro’s group was in another world.

The sun had long set. Despite her fatigue, Kei pressed on optimistically.

“Maybe they aren’t in the cathedral?” she mused.

“What shall we do?” Kath asked.

“At this rate, we can go out into town and... Hm?”

Kei suddenly spotted something. Farther down the corridor, she saw a familiar face. It was Mitarai Aoi. Despite traveling from Aker to the imperial capital together, Kei had never spoken with her. The same went for Kath. What’s more, not all that much time had passed since the quarrel during the meeting with the exploration team.

Kei figured she should at least give a greeting in passing, but before she could, someone else spoke to Mitarai Aoi. It was a young man she didn’t recognize who looked like he was part of the exploration team. After a quick conversation, a look of surprise crossed his features. Then he walked away, giving Kei and Kath a greeting. Kei was about to do the same, but came to a stop. Mitarai Aoi was acting strange.

“Um, are you okay?” Kei asked.

Mitarai Aoi was at the edge of the corridor, a dark expression on her face as she stood stock-still in a daze. Kei figured this was why the man had looked shocked. One beat later, Mitarai Aoi sluggishly turned toward Kei.

“Aah... Majima-senpai’s... You two are fine, I see.”

She’d apparently just noticed that they were part of Majima Takahiro’s group. By the sound of things, she already knew about the incident.

“We just happened to be away from the room at the time,” Kei said.

“I see. I heard Mana went missing. Have you found her?”

“No.”

“I see. So she’s still missing...” Mitarai Aoi clenched her fist. “If I were with her too... Why did I get ahead of myself like that?”

There was a deep air of regret behind her voice. It was clear she was talking about the quarrel she’d started during the meeting between Majima Takahiro and the exploration team. Kei hadn’t been able to do anything except watch at the time, but Mitarai Aoi had apparently done that for her friend’s sake. It’d ended with Katou Mana breaking relations with her in response, yet Kei couldn’t help but see this as Mitarai Aoi getting what she deserved. As such, Kei had been under the impression that Mitarai Aoi was egotistical. Now she had a slightly different impression.

“I made her so angry and couldn’t even apologize... Now things are beyond the point of taking things back... What should I do...?”

Kei knew of the Stalwart Snow White. If this was a problem she could’ve punched away, Mitarai Aoi surely would’ve done so without hesitation. However, the problem she was agonizing over now couldn’t be solved with sheer power. She had no way of finding a missing person and her physical strength served no purpose in reconciling with a friend.

“If Mana doesn’t come back...”

Their sense of values was so different that Kei couldn’t think of anything to say to her. Even during the meeting with the exploration team, Kei had no idea what problem had driven Mitarai Aoi to do such a thing. As such, she couldn’t say anything regarding that matter. However, this matter was different.

“They’ll come back,” she said with conviction. “They’ll definitely come back. I’m sure they’re doing their best to do so right now.”

That was how it’d always gone. She’d witnessed it for herself. That was why she was able to declare this with such conviction.

“So when they come back, please apologize properly. Mana was really hurt, after all.”

Mitarai Aoi remained dumbfounded as Kei excused herself.

“Kei, how do I put this?” Kath muttered, following her.

“What is it?”

“You’re pretty amazing.”

Kei had no idea what she was talking about and cocked her head.

“More importantly, we’ve gone around pretty much this entire area,” Kei said. “ I think we should widen our search range a bit more.”

They hadn’t found the smallest hint yet, but Kei wasn’t discouraged. Much like she’d told Mitarai Aoi, she believed they were going to come back. As such, she was going to look around to see if there was any way to help them, even if her efforts ended in vain. She’d made up her mind already.

In truth, there was no meaning behind her actions. She wasn’t omniscient, so she had no way of knowing the people she was looking for had been sent to another world. No matter how far she widened her search, her spirit wouldn’t be able to find something that didn’t exist. No matter how much she combed the capital with an indomitable will, she would never be able to reach them.

“Huh...?”

Kei suddenly raised her voice and came to a stop. Kath stared at her curiously, but Kei didn’t even notice. Kei opened her eyes wide and stared up at empty space. Her spirit was floating in the air there, visible only to her, and dancing about cutely using the short limbs growing from its round body. It was telling its contractor that it’d found something.

“It can’t be...!”

“H-Hey, Kei?!”

Kei suddenly started running and Kath followed in a fluster. The spirit continued dancing in the air. It was as if it was giving her hope its blessing.

And as the two of them ran off, a girl stared at their backs. Her vacant expression of regret was a little better now. She clenched her fist and put a hand to her heart. It was as if she was verifying the emotion within. A short time later, nobody was left in the corridor.

Around the time the boy woke up after collapsing from his wound, something was happening outside the fabricated world too.