Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 15 - Chapter 17.2

Extra Story: A Dreamlike Moment ~Katou Mana’s POV~

After surviving the life-or-death struggle inside a fabricated world, we’d safely managed to reunite everyone.

The truth of the world had been revealed to us. Majima-senpai’s status threatened the world, and the Holy Church considered it their greatest duty to protect the world. When I thought of what we had to do next, my head hurt.

That said, it wasn’t something that could be done in the brief span of a day. There was no way I was going to come up with any great ideas with both my body and mind exhausted from the day’s trials. So for now, recovering was more important.

Thus, after taking a short rest, I became Rose’s puppet.

“Ummm...?”

I was seated atop her lap, being carried like a little doll. The arms she had around my waist were firm and refused to let go.

“Rose?”

“What is it, Mana?”

“I can’t move.”

She’d detained me the moment Majima-senpai went to talk to Kaneki-senpai. I was petite even for a girl, and Rose was about as tall as the average man. There wasn’t much that could be done about how I was seated from a height perspective, but it was still embarrassing. Shiran and Gerbera, who were in the same tent as us, gave me painful looks. They didn’t look at me like they were observing an odd scene. Their eyes were filled with kindness. I was glad both Lobivia and Kei were already asleep.

“I heard you were rather reckless this time around, Mana,” Rose said, her voice a little stiff.

Uncharacteristically, there was a hint of obstinacy in her tone. That was enough for me to understand.

“Did I make you worry?” I asked.

Rose silently strengthened her hold on me.

“Sorry,” I said, placing my hand atop hers.

Now that I thought of it, back when Rose had done something really reckless, I’d lost all composure. Rose was very in control of herself, seeing that she wasn’t crying and bawling, so I didn’t really have the right to say anything here.

It seemed I had no choice but to let her do as she pleased. Resigned to my fate, I let the tension out of my body. I was usually the one hugging her, so this was somewhat refreshing.

Judging that things had reached a good stopping point, Shiran and Gerbera joined the conversation.

“In any case, I’m glad everyone is safe,” Shiran said.

“Indeed,” Gerbera agreed.

“Are you all right, Gerbera?” Shiran asked. “Your complexion is a little poor.”

“Hm? Is that so? I wasn’t aware. I might in fact be rather tired.”

“You should get some proper rest today. My undead body doesn’t need sleep, so please leave watch duty to me.”

“I’ll also keep watch over the night,” Rose added. “Mana, make sure you get some good and proper rest too.” Pausing there, Rose suddenly cocked her head. “Aah, let’s have you share my master’s tent tonight.”

I felt my cheeks heating up. We’d already informed everyone of the situation, but having it said to my face like this made me very conscious of it.

“Things are going to get busy,” Rose continued. “Your feelings have finally been answered. We should at least make time for the two of you to be alone today.”

“R-Right...”

I’d lost all composure at this point and was still unable to move within Rose’s arms.

“Truly, congratulations,” Rose added with a smile. “I’m looking forward to the baby you two have.”

“Hwah?!”

My face felt like burning iron. She was jumping the gun. She was skipping far too many steps. Much like his other servants, Rose’s sensibilities were different from those of a human. These things had to be taken step by step. But even as I tried to protest, my words spun in circles with nowhere to go inside my head, and my usually fluent tongue refused to move.

“You’re capable of bearing my master’s child, after all,” Rose added happily.

“Rose...?”

“As a puppet, it’s something I cannot do.”

My mind cooled down in an instant. This felt like a prick to my heart. I didn’t know that my best friend thought that way. Although, it would actually be unnatural not to think of such things when she had someone she loved who also loved her back. I’d been at a standstill at the very first step for so long, so Rose had reached this stage first.

I never thought I’d be the trigger for us to talk about this. I had no idea what to say.

“No, that’s not necessarily true, Rose,” Shiran said.

“Shiran?” I called, exchanging looks with her.

“Magical puppets reproduce by creating a new puppet, correct?” Shiran continued. “Monsters segment a part of their mana off and grant it to their child. In that sense, magical puppets are no different from any other race.”

“Yes, that is true,” Rose confirmed. “However, unlike other races, the child will be exactly the same as the parent who made it.”

“Yes. If the mana were the same, that would be the case. But what if the mana is mixed? Wouldn’t it be a different story?”

“Forgive me, I don’t really understand,” Rose said.

“I’m saying you should ask for mana from Takahiro. If you pour mana from the two of you into a child, what else would you call it but a baby the two of you made together?”

Rose started and stiffened behind me. She hadn’t thought about that, so this was quite a shock. I hadn’t realized it either. I found it unexpected that Shiran had come up with this idea so quickly.

“In my case...” Shiran continued shyly, “I receive mana from, um...Takahiro’s fluids, but magical puppets can get mana from the atmosphere, right? In other words, you can absorb mana from the air you touch. The mana in the air is very sparse, so you should be able to gain much more by touching a living body.”

The idea had apparently come from her own experiences. Now that I thought of it, what about Shiran herself? Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for her to have a child, but she was already completely different from a regular undead monster. So just maybe, there was a possibility for her too.

“Naturally, when it comes to making a child, you’ll need to absorb mana for a significant amount of time, and you’ll probably need to be deeply in contact with him,” Shiran said. “As lovers, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so.”

“I see... I see, you’re right,” Rose said. “In that case, it will be possible for me to receive my master’s mana.” Rose nodded repeatedly, deep in admiration. “Actually, I’ve received a significant amount until now without even noticing it. This function is more like breathing to me than eating, after all. I do it unconsciously, so if I focus on it...”

Rose looked over my shoulder at her hand, gripping and opening it repeatedly.

“I can...have my master’s child?”

Rose trembled and squeezed me tight in her arms. I knew this was an expression of her irrepressible happiness, so I was delighted too.

“Isn’t that great, Rose?” I said.

“Yes.” Rose nodded, then turned a serious look at me. “But now that I think of it, a little of your mana is mixed in too. It’s not as much as I received from my master, though. We don’t share the deep contact of lovers, but we do touch pretty often.”

“Huh?”

“In that case, wouldn’t that make it a child between the three of us? Aah, that sounds even better.”

“Waaah?!”

Rose was so innocently happy. I had no idea how to react to this normally impossible situation. And as this happened, Majima-senpai came back, my eyes shooting open as he entered the tent.

“Ah, but first, we should start with Mana’s ba—”

“Wait, Rose! Majima-senpai is back already!”

◆ ◆ ◆

Immediately after that, it was time to rest for the day. I moved to another tent to get some sleep. Just as Rose suggested, I was in the same tent as Majima-senpai.

I was extremely nervous. Majima-senpai took a seat, and I sat down next to him. I was sitting on my heels with my hands on my knees, my body naturally curling up a little.

The tent wasn’t all that large. Still, there was more than enough space for both of us to sleep in it. Yes. Just the two of us.

My face turned red with enough vigor that I thought I could hear a kettle steaming. Rose’s words twirled around in my head nonstop. A baby. There was a necessary act to creating one.

No. No. No. That was impossible. But if he asked me... No, no, no.

“Katou.”

“Yesh?!”

He called out to me, and I made a weird noise. I wanted to bury my head into the ground.

“Is your body all right?” he asked, smiling wryly and restoring a little of my composure.

“Oh, that. Yes. Thanks to you.”

My power as a visitor, the Abomination, was under control. Rather than saying I’d returned to human form, it was more accurate to say I’d turned into human form. By being connected to Majima-senpai’s heart, I had settled into human shape. If he wasn’t here, there was still a risk I’d lose control.

“If only I healed you better,” he said bitterly.

“That isn’t something for you to fret over, Senpai,” I said, suddenly grabbing his sleeve. “This is my problem.”

“Katou...”

“Besides, this is another connection between us,” I said with a teasing smile. “It might sound imprudent, but I’m just a little happy about that.”

“You got me there,” he said, smiling.

He probably thought it was a joke. I was half-serious, though. He continued staring at me, a trace of a smile still remaining on his gentle face.

“Got it. I’ll stop worrying about this for nothing,” he said. “But can I say one more thing?”

“What is it?”

“Katou, you said it’s your own problem, but that’s where you’re wrong. It’s our problem.”

“Yes...”

Unable to stand it any longer, I placed my head on his shoulder. A gentle warmth—something I’d once given up on but had wanted so much.

I recalled the days ever since I was in that mountain hut. After so much help and kindness, I’d finally grasped his hand. I was so happy now.

If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up. If this was reality, I wanted someone to make me feel like it was real.

I looked up at him with those thoughts in mind, and he reached out to touch my cheek. He lifted my jaw just a little, and without resisting it, I closed my eyes in a dreamy state.

The sweet sensation against my lips told me that this wasn’t a dream.