Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 15 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Once More to the Capital

After linking back up and sharing all the important information we had—leaving out the truth of this world to the Akerians with us, of course—we rested for the day. My companions and I healed ourselves of the exhaustion of having overcome death.

The same went for everyone else who’d escaped from that fabricated world. Mikihiko and the commander were talking about something among themselves. I was sure they had plenty to say to each other, so I let them be. Partway through, I heard something like a screaming apology, which had me a little curious. Well, they had their own relationship going, so maybe this was proof that they got along. Drawing undue attention to it would be insensitive.

In contrast, I was worried that Iino was talking a lot less. Her expression was constantly stiff, and her eyes looked as though she was tormenting herself over something. Because of the battle in the fabricated world, she’d taken a severe wound to her greatest weapon—her leg. But that probably wasn’t the reason behind her turmoil. I’d already heard of what she’d gone through inside the fabricated world.

The Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya, a former member of the exploration team, had believed he could go back to our world and had sided with our enemy to achieve that goal. Someone Iino believed to be Kouzu Asahi, the failed visitor who was being sheltered in the capital, had also been present. Both had been her comrades in the exploration team. This was definitely a shock to her. She was so depressed that I felt a little worried about her.

At any rate, after a night’s rest, Shimazu would be able to recover somewhat and use Fairy Ring again. So, we got some well-needed sleep.

The next day...

“I’m thinking of returning to the capital,” Gordon said.

He and his subordinates had fought by Shiran’s side during this incident. However, as Harrison’s subordinates, they could be enemies. Because of that, we’d had them disarm themselves and they were now being treated somewhat like prisoners of war. To be more precise, Gordon had requested he be treated this way. He was as honest as ever.

Considering the importance of the information and the confidentiality required, Gordon was the only one among the knights that I’d informed of what we’d learned from Harrison. This wasn’t a situation he could come to grips with without knowing about it, and he’d strongly wished for me to tell him. I wasn’t sure whether it had been the right thing to do, though.

“For Sir Harrison to do such a thing...”

When I told him about it, Gordon had seemed considerably distraught.

“But that makes sense to me. That’s the sort of thing he couldn’t tell me about. Or I suppose there was no purpose in telling me. I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to cut down the innocent...”

I was sure that, when it came to simply protecting humanity from the threat of monsters, Gordon would fight with more courage and a greater sense of responsibility than any other. However, that wasn’t enough for this situation.

“If protecting the world is the true duty of a knight of the Holy Order, then that is a duty I cannot fulfill...”

He wasn’t capable of killing a person. He wasn’t going to become my enemy. I knew this, which was why I’d told him about the truth of this world. The more people I could trust to be tight-lipped about it, the better. However, I had fears about how Harrison would treat him now that he knew about the truth he wasn’t supposed to know.

“Do you have to go back?” I asked.

“I must,” Gordon answered.

I was planning on asking Gordon whether he would come back with us to Aker, but his will was strong.

“Understood. I’ll try asking Shimazu,” I said.

“Thank you very much.”

As a result, choosing to respect his will, I sent him and his subordinates to the capital using Fairy Ring. Iino accompanied Shimazu as an escort alongside me, Lily, and a few others.

Naturally, we saw them to the capital, but not to the Holy Church’s headquarters. We kept a respectful distance from the grand cathedral, just in case. With so much power gathered together, we weren’t in any danger this way. Besides, we were planning on using Shimazu’s ability to return right away.

Our one other objective was, if possible, to contact the exploration team’s leader, Nakajima. If we could talk to him, we could make sure the church didn’t plant any strange ideas into his head. This part of the plan depended on how things went, though.

Incidentally, we still hadn’t fully discussed this, nor had we made a proper decision, but in the event that we couldn’t contact the exploration team, we were planning to return to Aker right away.

This wasn’t simply to put some distance between us and the Holy Church’s headquarters. This was a move toward a new stage. One of my objectives now that I knew the truth of the world was to come in contact with a Dimensional Cornerstone.

In order to modify the World View, to make this world a place that would accept us, it was absolutely necessary for us to acquire a Dimensional Cornerstone, one of the magic tools that maintained and controlled the world itself.

However, the Holy Church managed the Dimensional Cornerstones, so it wouldn’t be that easy to get one. So long as Harrison, the man who prioritized the world’s protection above all else, declared us enemies, it would be impossible for us to simply borrow one.

If we wanted to get one by force, the only option would be to attack the church. If we did that, the entire Holy Order would be against us. If handled poorly, it was possible the exploration team would be our enemy too. That option was obviously off the table.

That would leave us in a stalemate, but that wasn’t really the case. We did have one other idea. The Holy Church had assembled all the Dimensional Cornerstones, but there was one exception. In fact, that was the one we’d learned of first.

For a long time, Draconia had been protected by the Mist Barrier, which had been maintained by the Dimensional Cornerstone that the Misty Lodge Salvia had given them. Unfortunately, Draconia had been destroyed by visitors. After returning to investigate, Ella had reported to me that they hadn’t been able to locate the settlement’s Dimensional Cornerstone. However, we still had one other lead.

The settlement had been given two Dimensional Cornerstones. I’d even seen the other one before. It was in the possession of the settlement’s explorer, Thaddeus. The young man who’d led us to the settlement had the duty of locating another spot where their world of mist could be deployed. He was supposed to be traveling in the vicinity of Aker right now. If we could get in touch with him, we’d have access to a Dimensional Cornerstone. We’d also be able to research how to overwrite the World View.

With the Fairy Ring and the Skanda on our side, we could return to Aker right away, but the church couldn’t. Normally, it would take four months to cover that distance. Now that Harrison’s special forces were annihilated, he would need time to reform them, giving us plenty of time to conduct our research.

Also, regarding how we would get in touch with Thaddeus, he’d given us a means to do so when we parted ways. It would take time for any messages to reach him, though. In truth, we’d yet to receive any contact from him in the month or so after informing him about Draconia’s destruction.

That said, a fair amount of time had passed, so it was about time for the message to reach him. More than half of Draconia’s residents had stayed behind in Aker’s palace, so he was sure to be getting in touch with them soon.

If things went well, by the time we returned to Aker, we would already be able to acquire a Dimensional Cornerstone.

That was our plan.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Everyone ready? Then let’s get going.”

The teleportation succeeded without a problem. We were in the room Shimazu had been using in the capital, located inside the palace. A fair amount of time had passed since she started staying here, so she had a lot of personal effects. It was all very neat and tidy, giving off the impression of a girl’s room.

In any case, we were in the imperial capital now. Someone sensitive might’ve noticed the mana used for the Fairy Ring’s teleportation. We predicted that some of the exploration team members would notice and come by to check.

We had two of their upper brass with us, Shimazu and Iino. By talking with them, the members who dropped by could go get Nakajima for us. If that was out of the question, we would withdraw immediately. And as our plans ran through my head, Lily raised her voice.

“Huh? I-Isn’t that...?”

She sounded shocked. She stared out the window, so naturally, everyone followed her eyes. As a member of the exploration team, Shimazu had been assigned a nice room. The large window looked down over the beautiful townscape of the capital.

Looking out of it now, we could see a building even more splendid than the imperial palace towering over its surroundings. It was a solemn white structure—the Holy Church’s grand cathedral. Its main temple was an enormous dome in the center, and it was connected to six gigantic steeples that shot off into the heavens. That was supposed to be the case, but the scenery I saw before my eyes was different.

“It’s missing steeples...?”

I noticed the abnormality right away. What was supposed to be six steeples was now four. One of the missing steeples was broken right down the middle, exposing its cross section. The other one we couldn’t see any hint of from our position. It might have collapsed entirely.

And that wasn’t all. Taking a closer look, the other four towers showed signs of damage. The delicate sculptures were broken, and pieces of the pure-white wall had crumbled here and there.

We’d only spent one day away from the imperial capital. However, in that short time, the greatest authority in this world—the one equipped with the strongest military force, the Holy Church that governed over the peace of the world—had now had their very symbol, the grand cathedral, exposed in such a miserable state.

“What on earth...?”

Someone’s muttering rang ominously in my ear.

This incident wasn’t over yet.

The world was approaching its destruction.