Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 15 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Truth of the World

“Have you never found it strange?” Harrison asked, his mouth stained in blood. “How you visitors are able to acquire special powers, I mean.”

With Katou still in my arms, I exchanged glances with her. I had of course questioned this before. It’d be far stranger not to question it after obtaining such mysterious powers. It’d been a common topic when we first arrived in this world without knowing left from right. That said, we already had the answer to that question.

“Isn’t it a law of this world?” I answered.

“They’re the words left behind by the first savior. ‘This is the world where wishes come true,’” Katou added.

Those words spoke of the law of this world. Visitors who came here had their wishes manifested into abilities.

“So long as it’s a law, there’s not much room to debate why that is,” Katou said. I was in agreement with her.

“You’re wrong,” Harrison said.

“Are you saying the first savior was wrong?” I said, unintentionally scowling.

“No, not that. The esteemed first savior discovered the truth of this world,” Harrison answered. “Their words aren’t in error. However, you’re misinterpreting them.”

“How so...?” I asked.

“Why are visitors the only exception?” Harrison asked in turn.

“What...?”

“So long as it’s a law, there’s no room to debate why it is,” he continued. “You certainly have a point. However, if that truly is a law of this world, shouldn’t it apply to all people? Why would a law only apply to visitors? Is such a thing possible?”

“That’s...”

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem unnatural. The first savior had only said, “This is the world where wishes come true,” not, “This is the world where visitors’ wishes come true.” Still, it was a fact that visitors possessed powers that manifested from their wishes. In contrast, the people of this world had no such powers. The only exceptions were those who’d inherited the blood of visitors. Regardless of how unnatural it seemed, fact was fact.

However, after hearing this, Katou seemed to have gone down a different branch of thought.

“You can’t mean...” she said, gulping.

This wasn’t only a matter of her being caught off guard by this information. It was like she was shocked after figuring out what she’d been searching for all this time.

Seeing her reaction, I remembered one other thing. Now that I thought of it, she’d also questioned the abilities we visitors possessed. I’d seen this in the notes Kudou had picked up.

“There’s still a lot we don’t understand about this power to begin with.

“In this world, strong wishes come true.

“If that’s how it works, there’s no point arguing about it.

“However, even if the law itself has no room for doubt, there’s something about the reality I find myself in that feels out of place.

“To put it briefly, it feels like reality doesn’t match this law.

“In all likelihood, there is significance behind this.

“Something feels weird about this world.”

After reading that, Kudou had said, “If such laws exist, then why do they only apply to visitors?”

We hadn’t had any time when he mentioned it, so I hadn’t given it much thought. However, Harrison referenced that point again here. Katou hadn’t been with us when Kudou mentioned it, but maybe this was the piece of the puzzle she’d been missing all this time.

“Why are visitors an exception...? But in truth, visitors have their wishes turned into abilities... It’s not only visitors? In that case... No, that can’t be... But that’s...?” Reaching some manner of conclusion, she covered her mouth with both hands. “Then what exactly...?”

“Katou?” I said.

She turned to look at me, and from her eyes she was clearly shaken. It was as if all common sense had been flipped upside down on her.

“Majima-senpai, just maybe, the law that wishes come true in this world might apply equally to all people.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she was saying. Her statement was simply too wild.

“All people... You mean even the residents of this world?” I asked.

In truth, visitors didn’t possess any kind of mysterious powers. There was no such thing as a cheat here. Everyone was equal. We all followed the same laws. In that case, Harrison would be making sense. Still...

“Katou, isn’t that impossible?” I said. “Only visitors have ever manifested abilities based on a wish.”

Reality defied the possibility. She didn’t refute that.

“You’re right,” Katou said. “That’s how it looks to me too... How it looked. However, wishes that can manifest an ability contend with each other. If two abilities are to manifest at the same time, neither of the contending abilities will manifest at all. That’s how it was for me. That’s how I passed my days until now without realizing it.”

“So you’re saying...the same thing applies to the residents of this world?” I asked. After she spelled it out so thoroughly, I understood what she was getting at. “It’s not that their wishes can’t manifest, it’s that they’ve already manifested...? Without them realizing it?”

“I believe it’s possible.” Katou nodded. “Naturally, it’s not like everyone has such strong wishes. However, we know of exceptions who have manifested power without having any definite wish.”

That immediately struck home.

“You mean the warriors,” I said.

“That’s right,” Katou affirmed. “Based on their unconscious cognition that, as visitors, they had to possess some kind of amazing powers, their abilities manifested. In that case...”

“The people of this world have also manifested some kind of power due to an unconscious cognition?”

This wasn’t a matter of impossible or possible. At the very least, Harrison implied it could happen. Even as we continued our conjecture, he didn’t deny anything we said.

Thinking of it like that, it would be more unnatural to believe that this was a world where only visitors had their wishes granted. Even the first savior hadn’t said anything of the like. And so, by recognizing the possibility, I reached the same conclusion as Katou.

“But if that’s true... What exactly did they unconsciously manifest?” I said, repeating her earlier mumblings.

If this hypothesis was correct, then the people of this world had manifested some kind of ability—turning an unconscious thought into reality. But nothing of the like came to mind. At the very least, I didn’t remember ever seeing anything to suggest it. Had I really never witnessed it? Or had it been so obvious that I hadn’t seen it as a result of some power?

“Say, my dear...” Salvia, who’d been keeping quiet behind me all this time, spoke up.

She often took a step back in cases like this, so it was a little unexpected. However, looking back at this later, it was inevitable that she joined the conversation. There was something she’d realized from the very beginning, after all.

“My Misty Lodge is a world that grants wishes. Also, in this world created by the Dimensional Cornerstone, the monsters are reflections of the unconscious cognition of the capital’s residents.”

Salvia and I had taken control of this world. We knew of its nature to a certain extent. That was why we were able to realize something.

“Both worlds share a commonality in that they are based on people’s emotions, be they wishes or cognition,” she continued. “And this is the world where wishes come true. Do you think these commonalities are really a coincidence?”

“That’s...”

“I also think it’s pretty unlikely. But you know, I have a sudden question to ask.” Salvia’s voice was hoarse with tension. “My dear, what exactly is this fabricated world?”

It was a strange question. Salvia herself was magic that created other worlds, after all. Still, there was no helping the fact that she had suspicions about such a fundamental matter. Her next words were the definitive blow.

“Just maybe, this fabricated world and the real world differ only in scale, but are essentially the same thing.”

“The same thing...?” I repeated.

“At the very least, they have commonalities. What’s more... Yes, now that I think of it, the Holy Church has gathered all the Dimensional Cornerstones, which possess powers much like mine. Why? Why did the church gather them? Do they really only ‘create worlds’? Perhaps they actually...”

“Correct,” a grave voice confirmed. Harrison had once more opened his mouth. “You’ve already been given these clues. Even if I didn’t say anything, I’m sure you would’ve eventually reached the truth. That’s why I spoke.”

In truth, Kudou was of a mind with Harrison where these suspicions were concerned. It would’ve happened sooner or later.

“So it really is...” I said, my throat dry.

The knight among knights then revealed the true nature of the world he was meant to protect.

“That’s right. This world is composed of the cognition of practically all the humans who live in it. The unconscious cognition that ‘this world must exist’ is what makes it a reality. What maintains and controls reality are the Dimensional Cornerstones—the magic tools created by the first savior, ones that gave birth to the world itself.”

◆ ◆ ◆

It wasn’t that this world existed and was hence recognized as such. Rather, it was recognized as existing and hence it did. That very recognition was what made up this world. Harrison’s almost indifferent tone simply conveyed the truth. Despite his tenor, I felt sheer dread at his words.

“Senpai...”

Still in my arms, Katou strengthened her grip on my chest. She was likely feeling the same thing. It was as if everything we saw or felt was so chilling and faint that it could vanish at any moment. If things only existed because they were perceived as such, then that meant nothing existed to begin with. Had the world always appeared like that to the man before us? Seeing that we understood the severity of what he’d told us, Harrison spoke once more.

“This world is unstable. After all, it is a materialization of the people’s subconscious. It is naturally influenced by it as well. An insecurity in human nature is enough for monsters to become more active and for the Woodlands’ encroachment to accelerate.”

“Monsters and the Woodlands...? How are they related?” I asked.

“I told you this world exists based on the people’s cognition,” Harrison said. “What we know as the Woodlands and monsters are embodiments of the people’s fears and anxieties.”

“Embodiments of the people’s fears and anxieties...?” I repeated in shock.

“That’s right. Lately, monsters have become far more active. My ignorant subordinates lament the fact that monsters have gotten active right when society is getting unstable, but the root cause of both is the same.”

This revelation sparked a memory, the sight I’d witnessed when Fort Tilia fell. In this world, abandoned settlements and fortresses were immediately swallowed by the trees of the Woodlands. When we left Fort Tilia, I remembered seeing the trees encroaching upon the fortress with terrifying vigor, as if the Woodlands were a living creature.

In a world of magic, I’d figured that manner of phenomenon was normal, so I hadn’t really paid it any attention. However, in all likelihood, that was a reflection of the garrisoned knights no longer recognizing the fortress as human territory.

There was one other thing too. If human cognition gave birth to monsters, then that explained something I’d found strange for a while now. Why did monsters like Lily possess the potential for a humanlike heart?

Rose wasn’t a biological being, and Salvia didn’t even physically exist, so it was hard to imagine monsters like them evolving the same way we did. However, if human cognition gave birth to monsters, then it was actually a natural development for them to have budding human hearts within.

“The reason visitors manifest abilities is that, as people from the outside, they do not take part in forming this world,” Harrison said. “As their descendants, the same applies to us of blessed blood.”

“So that’s why you’re able to manifest abilities too?” I asked.

“Exactly. In the end, we of blessed blood are not members of this world.”

“Not members of this world.” These words weren’t meant to remind him that his ancestor was a foreigner from another world. They were meant to be taken literally. I remembered hearing the same phrase from Gordon before. This was likely because a select few who knew the truth had concealed these words within the consciousness of the Holy Order. These same words were one facet of what had hardened Harrison’s determination to such an extent.

“In a certain sense, while being born to this world, we possess a duty we must fulfill,” Harrison continued. “As such, we must at least protect this world. It is far too fragile and easy to destabilize. That is why we’ve safeguarded it for all this time.”

“If that’s the case, the reason you’re trying to kill us is that the discord between me and Maclaurin is destabilizing human society?”

Now that we knew the truth, we could finally return to our original question. Why was Harrison going to such an unnatural extent to kill me? In truth, current world affairs were unstable like never before. I didn’t deny that my existence played a factor in that.

“You’re wrong,” Harrison said, denying my train of thought. “If that were the problem, we could simply put all our efforts into mediating between you. We have no qualms about going to the trouble to do so, and we could manage to somehow, even if we had to be heavy-handed.”

I didn’t sense any falsehoods in his words. His objective was to keep the world stable. In that sense, doing it that way would’ve been less risky.

“So why?” I asked again. This was making less and less sense.

“Because you and your servants cannot be allowed to exist,” he answered, his expression stiff.

If I didn’t know better, this could come across as no more than, “We can’t allow the Wicked Monster Tamer to live.” However, I already knew that he wasn’t driven by such motives. What’s more, there was the slightest bitterness in Harrison’s tone. I sensed something like regret in it.

Just maybe, he felt guilty about this. Perhaps his indifferent tone was a deliberate method of keeping it from showing. If my impression of him was correct...this was actually terrifying. He knew what he was doing was unreasonable. He even had a proper sense of morals. The fact that he was doing it regardless meant that he had to have a reason to do this, no matter the cost. Still, after coming this far, I couldn’t possibly be seized by fear.

“We can’t be allowed to exist?” I asked.

Even now, Harrison didn’t hold his tongue.

“The Great Cataclysm,” he said, an ominous ring to his words. “It isn’t spoken of in the savior legends, so you may not know about it. To those who do, it is an event referred to only with the deepest dread. It is spoken of as the worst event to ever happen since the formation of the Holy Church. At the time, humanity lost seventy percent of its populace, the Alliance Knights were annihilated, two saviors died, and many of blessed blood were lost. It is a calamity that is forbidden from remaining in any records. If things had taken a turn for the worst, human society would’ve been destroyed.”

The Great Cataclysm. As he said, I’d never heard of it. To continue living here, I’d spent time learning about this world. I’d studied historical events too, but at the very least, the name had never come up.

So I thought, but something about it bothered me. Wondering what it was, I searched my memories and came to a sudden understanding. During our stay in the Akerian palace, Lily had taken daily trips to the archives. I recalled a conversation I’d had with her regarding this.

“Elves show up every now and then in Aker’s history books, but no matter the book, there is no mention of them further than eight hundred years back. Actually, there aren’t that many books touching on anything before that in the first place. It’s like information from that age is just cut out.

“Seems like there was a global calamity—an explosive outbreak of monsters accompanied by a natural disaster or something.

“It’s not touched upon in the savior legends. They might’ve deemed it as damaging to the saviors’ absolute reputation or something. Still, it definitely had an impact. The legends from before that time are really vague.”

“The gap in all information eight hundred years ago...” I said. “A huge outbreak of monsters coinciding with a natural disaster... You don’t mean...”

“You know about it?” Harrison said, looking slightly surprised. “Yes, exactly that. Setting aside the gap in information, I didn’t think you’d know any concrete details... No, I see now. You settled down in Aker, didn’t you? That nation is out of the central government’s reach, so it wouldn’t be strange for fragments of records to escape erasure.”

“One of my companions investigated it enthusiastically. Seems she was looking into the history of elves at the time, though.”

“Elves, you say?” Harrison said, a bitter expression on his face.

“What about them?” I asked. I hadn’t expected such an expression from him. I didn’t think he was the type of man to discriminate against elves. “Do you have a problem with elves?”

“Not at all. Not regarding the currently living elves.”

In truth, he didn’t discriminate. In that case, what was with his reaction? Wait... Not regarding the currently living elves?

“Elves were the cause of the Great Cataclysm,” he said, his serious expression unwavering.

“What...?”

“The Great Cataclysm was caused by the race known as elves. That said, they didn’t proactively do anything.”

“What are you saying? What does that mean?”

“Elves are monsters.”

This time, I was at a loss for words. For an instant, I had no idea what he was saying.

“To be precise,” he continued, “about a hundred years before the Great Cataclysm, a certain visitor absconded from humanity. The monsters under their command at the time became the elves and spirits of today.”

Harrison kept the conversation going without any concern for my reaction. Still somewhat confused, I somehow managed to open my mouth.

“You mean...someone like me existed in the past?”

And elves and spirits were the servants who’d followed them? It was really out there, but I had no evidence to deny it. Elves stood out in this world. They were the only subrace of humanity. They had features like long ears that differentiated them from others and had longer natural life spans.

Also, there were no documents whatsoever describing them beyond eight hundred years ago. Harrison was telling me that this wasn’t because of the Great Cataclysm, but because elves didn’t even exist before that. This didn’t contradict anything I knew.

“The Holy Church at the time had no knowledge of a being capable of turning monsters into servants,” Harrison said. “As such, the savior and the first elf held their tongues about their origins. The fact that the savior was involved in such a way was only discovered in records far after the fact. At the time, with nobody knowing who they were, they were simply deemed as another race humans hadn’t yet met. Troubles came up every now and then, but they set up a foundation in the borderlands and multiplied over a hundred years.”

Harrison’s story gave me an enormous shock. It wasn’t entirely in a bad sense, though. After all, someone before us had made a place for themselves in this world alongside their servants. Naturally, there was a big difference between this story and our current situation. Elves didn’t look all that different from humans, which made them easier to accept, but this still showed that they’d accomplished our dream. The existence of a pioneer granted us hope. However, Harrison’s story took a turn.

“Elves merged into human society. As a result, they guided the world to calamity.”

“That doesn’t make sense... Why did it end up like that?” I asked. “Even if I accept that elves are monsters, that doesn’t lead to the Great Cataclysm. I mean, how can a single race cause such a huge disaster?”

“Normally, it would be impossible. As I said, they didn’t proactively do anything to cause the cataclysm,” Harrison agreed, before immediately shaking his head. “They didn’t try to destroy the world or anything. Their very existence ran counter to the way of the world.”

This made the least sense out of everything, but a single look at Harrison’s face told me that he wasn’t spouting random nonsense. His severely tense expression even looked chilled by the thought.

“This world has a predetermined way it ought to be,” Harrison said. “In other words, a World View that is set in stone. This was the method the esteemed first savior took to stabilize this fragile world and to allow its continued existence.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Just as I’ve been telling you, this world is formed by cognition. By all rights, it is extremely fragile. For that reason, the first savior used the Dimensional Cornerstones to define the World View as, ‘Saviors from other worlds appear and save the people.’”

Harrison maintained his chilled expression as he continued talking.

“You can think of the World View as a shared cognition. So long as reality is made up of the cognition of countless humans, having that cognition all over the place would be inconvenient. By sharing the same World View, reality can function as a single entity.”

In other words...the first savior prepared a template for how the world should be interpreted? And that was by setting the World View that saviors appeared from other worlds to save the people.

This world was at such a disadvantage against monsters—at least in the past—that it couldn’t have continued existing without saviors. This cognition conformed with reality. And with everyone viewing the world the same way, their shared cognition became stronger, stabilizing the world in the process.

What’s more, by believing saviors would save them, the populace gained hope. In turn, this suppressed monster activity, which was a manifestation of the people’s anxieties. Everything clicked together. It was pretty well thought out.

“Thanks to the first savior’s countermeasures, the world stabilized,” Harrison continued. “So long as the people conform to the World View, even with a fair amount of discord, the world itself won’t waver beyond the point of recovery.”

Now that he mentioned it, despite the entirety of human society being shaken due to my conflict with Margrave Maclaurin, the consequence had been nothing more than monsters becoming more active. Naturally, if things remained as they were or got worse, it could lead to a more horrible outcome. Still, even with the world thrown into chaos, it wasn’t going to end in an instant.

That meant that even if the world was trembling, it was relatively stable. This was thanks to the system left behind by the first savior—the Dimensional Cornerstones.

“The Holy Church works so that the entire world conforms to the World View,” Harrison said. “Naturally, the Holy Order plays a role in this as well. However, since we have to conform, our duties are fixed. We can’t do anything to contradict it.”

“Is that why saviors are still so highly regarded?” I asked.

“That’s right. Only a visitor can carry the burden of being a savior. That is how it’s made to be,” Harrison answered, nodding.

His power surpassed that of the average visitor. Nevertheless, the Holy Church continued to rely on saviors. They had no other choice but to do so. Even if the people of this world acquired power that no average visitor could contend with, they couldn’t become the saviors that carried the hopes of the people. On the contrary, according to what he was telling me, if they tried, it would destabilize the world.

“No matter how good your intentions, no matter how much effort you put into it, there are things that cannot be accomplished without the right qualifications,” Harrison went on. “The people of this world cannot substitute for visitors. That is how this world is set up.”

As he spoke of this, the man’s stern expression, one that could be likened to a steel sword, showed a hint of pain. This one fact hurt him far more than his severe wounds. However, he immediately shook off that emotion and continued speaking.

“The elves’ existence wasn’t recorded in the World View defined in the Dimensional Cornerstones at the time. There was no proper way of interpreting their existence. In regions where people were able to come in contact with elves, some accepted them and some rejected them. In regions where elves hadn’t propagated yet, some doubted their existence, and some didn’t even know about them. A portion of the common cognition of how the world was supposed to be was falling apart.”

In other words, a disparity had taken shape in the common sense the Holy Church had been maintaining for ages. The church hadn’t taught the people about their existence, so the people had lacked a framework for interpreting the elves. With everyone making their own interpretations, common cognition had fallen apart. And as elves became more widely known, they’d given birth to a serious issue.

“When few people knew about elves, it only resulted in small cracks in the seams. However, once the majority knew about elves, the situation reached a breaking point. Elves didn’t exist in the World View where saviors from other worlds save the people. Regardless of whether people accepted or rejected them, the moment the majority of the populace saw the existence of elves as a matter of fact, the inconsistency with the World View became fatal. As a result, the world was profoundly destabilized.”

“And that was the Great Cataclysm?” I asked.

“That’s right. And once more, the world faces danger.” Harrison paused and stared at me. “Answer me, Majima Takahiro. Between what is dear to you and this world, which will you choose?”