Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 2 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Journey North

Our journey north was going smoothly. With Gerbera, our strongest fighter, Lily, our enemy detector with a firefang’s sense of smell, and Rose, our sturdy defender guarding the weak humans, no handful of monsters that chanced upon us could break our formation.

I wanted to somehow or other add our newcomers Ayame and Asarina to our forces, but we hadn’t come across a situation which required their skills yet. This was of course a good thing, but our current situation did demand otherwise. It was better to expand our forces in case push came to shove.

Today’s journey ended uneventfully as every other day. After having dinner, I went on to perform combat tests with Asarina.

“...Gah.”

“Hang on. I’ll heal you right away.”

I let out a groan and crouched down as Lily came running over with a healing glyph deployed in her palm. She treated my left arm where Asarina lived. A warm light enveloped my joints and relieved my pain. However, the crease in my brows remained where it was.

“This is problematic...”

My mouth tasted strangely bitter. My voice came out like a groan. Three days had passed since we left the arachne nest. I spent every night training for combat with Asarina. It was still difficult to pass her instructions, but I could now give simple commands using only our mental path. That part had gone smoother than I thought it would. But a different problem from what I originally hypothesized had begun to surface.

“I knew I was really, really weak. But I didn’t think it’d haunt me like this.”

I opened and clenched my fist a few times to check the state of my now healed arm. My hand was boorishly covered in burn marks and small scars after spending so much time living outdoors in another world. It was the weak hand of a normal human.

And that weakness had become a problem. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This physical law was no different here in a world where the mystical force of magic existed. An untrained human hand recklessly trying to punch something resulted in pain and potentially a twisted wrist.

That was exactly what happened to my body. In short, my arm was unable to withstand the recoil of Asarina’s attack. This wasn’t even worth considering if her full power couldn’t be brought out at the critical moment. However, as a result of Asarina launching an attack at full force, the pain running from my wrist up to my elbow had me writhing in agony.

“Mass...ter...” Asarina feebly murmured.

“It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it.”

I gently brushed her with my finger as she lay there curled up just about a centimeter out of the back of my hand. Just doing so was enough to heal my heart, but I still felt the onset of a headache. I wouldn’t be able to properly use Asarina’s strength like this.

“What to do...?”

I sat down and racked my brain, but I couldn’t think of anything. I ruffled my hair and let out a sigh, then I looked over to Lily, who was sitting by my side. She had her finger to her lip and looked to be deep in thought herself.

“Lily, do you have any good ideas?”

“Hmm. There is one thing that may be worth trying,” she said as she looked back at me with her big black eyes.

“Really?”

“I don’t know whether it’ll actually work, though. I just think it’s worth trying.”

The reason she was still pondering over this was likely because she hadn’t worked out all of the details herself yet. Although, even the smallest possibility was worth considering at this point.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“Of course. But we’ll need some cooperation.”

“Cooperation...?”

“We need Gerbera’s help. No need to repeat ourselves, so let’s go talk about it with her.”

With that, we moved over to the bonfire where the others were. We sat in a circle around the open flame. I had Lily and Gerbera at my sides, while Rose and Katou sat across from us. Ayame was already fast asleep and snoring atop Gerbera’s spider abdomen.

“So, what did you need with me?” Gerbera asked straight off the bat.

Lily went on to explain the problem I was currently facing.

“Hmm. Understood. Not that I think I can be of any help...” Gerbera said with a complicated look. “Do you have some manner of plan, Lily?”

“Mm. There’s something I’d like your help with,” Lily replied with a nod. “Actually, I’d like you to take over our master’s magic training.”

“His magic training?” Gerbera’s red eyes shot open. This was apparently a completely unexpected request. “But are you not the one serving as his teacher for this?”

Because Gerbera had supplied me with mana, my own mana had recently been amplified, so I had begun taking basic lessons in magic from Lily. This took place after my training with Asarina. Tonight’s plan was no different. And now, Lily was asking Gerbera to take over that role.

“Are you not better at magic than I am? Are you unable to continue teaching our lord?”

“I’m probably best when it comes to teaching him basic elemental magic.”

Lily stretched her hand across my waist and gripped Gerbera’s wrist.

“Hmm?”

“Come on, you too Master.”

“...Hm? S-Sure.”

I was as equally confused as Gerbera and cocked my head as I held out my hand.

“There we go.”

Lily pulled our hands together and lined up our forearms. I could feel Gerbera’s slightly lower body temperature from my elbow up to my wrist, making me somewhat embarrassed. The feeling seemed mutual, seeing that her cheeks turned a little red.

“You have such pretty arms, Gerbera. There’s not a single scar, and they’re so smooth and soft and slender.”

“Are you not the same, Lily? Your arms are even more slender than mine.”

“Mine are just a mimicry. Besides, when compared to you...” Lily trailed off with a bitter smile.

Her features were an imitation of Mizushima Miho, who was indisputably a beauty in life. Lily did “upgrade” some portions of the back and front, but everything else was a spitting image of Mizushima Miho, making her a sweet and beautiful girl. However, she was still at a bit of a disadvantage when compared to Gerbera.

Gerbera’s beauty was on a different level. It was like she was a goddess, far away from Lily who was simply imitating a human. This was, of course, not something meant to be compared like this. In fact, even if one were to compare them, people more familiar with Japanese aesthetics would likely prefer Lily. Such things were completely up to personal taste. In any case, setting that aside...

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“Oh, right.” Lily poked out her tongue and got back on track. “I’d like you to compare your arm with Gerbera’s, Master.”

“Our arms?”

I did as I was told and looked at Gerbera’s arm. It was a girl’s arm. It was supple and beautiful in a way that couldn’t even be compared to mine, which was covered in small burn marks and scars.

“Gerbera’s arm is really thin, right? It’s way daintier than yours, which can’t withstand the recoil from Asarina’s attack.”

That only made sense. I was a boy. And despite being a monster, Gerbera was a girl. Regardless of what lay within, it was obvious mine would look rougher on the outside.

“But you’d never be able to beat her at arm wrestling, right?”

“Well, yeah.” I easily nodded. “Forget losing, wouldn’t my whole arm just tear off?”

“I would never do such a thing!”

Gerbera immediately objected, but that probably wasn’t the point Lily was trying to make. The image of Gerbera’s gallant figure came to mind. She had pulled up an army of bullet creepers, trees and all, right into the air. It was a ferocious yet beautiful scene. It was absolutely impossible for me no matter how much I trained... Or was it? I more or less began to understand what Lily was getting at.

“Even considering the difference in muscle composition between monsters and humans, it doesn’t balance out Gerbera’s thin arms with her terrifying strength, right? That’s because there’s a phenomenon peculiar to this world at work.”

“Mana, huh?”

Even if it was physically impossible, this world had laws which were special to it. So, if I were able to make use of such laws, then it would be possible for me to manifest these common-sense-defying phenomena too.

“Exactly,” Lily replied with a nod as she let go of our hands and sat back up in her seat. “As a mimic slime, I’m maintaining my own form with mana. Rose uses mana to move her body. The same goes for Asarina. Ayame can use it to create fire. And Gerbera also uses mana.”

“Indeed. I use mana to amplify my strength to abnormal levels. Having said that, every monster does so unconsciously without exception, do they not?”

Her wording immediately reminded me of the scene I saw upon coming to this world, of a student killing a dragon with his bare hands. This meant such cheats were born of a combination of a preposterous amount of mana and the ability to make use of it as physical strength. Also, from what I’d heard so far, it didn’t require any manner of special disposition to use. It was the same as magic in this sense. There was a difference in skill and efficiency, but as long as they possessed mana, anyone could learn how to do it.

In which case, so could I. Even if I wasn’t capable of much, strengthening my body even just a little would improve our situation considerably. At a minimum, I wanted my weak body to be able to withstand Asarina’s attacks. The problem was how much trouble reaching such a level would be.

“So, you want me to teach our lord how to use mana to strengthen his body. But...” Gerbera looked somewhat bewildered. “If so, I still believe you would be better suited to the task, Lily. This is not a technique only I possess. There’s no need to try and imitate my way of doing so.”

She did have a point. It felt like any of my servants could teach me this, in a sense.

“I am of course not opposed to teaching our lord. But was it not the original plan to have you teach him everything...? Is it really fine with you to so easily hand over such an opportunity?”

“I’m not really fine with it...” Lily said with another bitter smile, not denying what her little sister said.

Lily seemed to enjoy our magic lessons, so that question made her somewhat uncomfortable. Meaning she judged it would be better for Gerbera to teach me how to strengthen my body, even if it meant yielding such an enjoyable time to someone else.

“I think it’ll probably be more efficient for you to teach him, Gerbera.”

“Hmm. Is there a reason you believe so?”

“Mhm. I mean, most of the mana in our master’s body belongs to you, doesn’t it? So, it should be fastest to do it the same way you do.”

The amount of mana in my body multiplied greatly when Gerbera became my servant. This was due to a portion of Gerbera’s mana flowing into me through our mental path. I didn’t have much in me before that, so most of the mana in my body currently belonged to her. Lily’s claim was that it was more effective to have the original owner of the mana teach me how to use it.

“I see. That does make sense. But there is one thing I’d like to ask,” Gerbera said. “Our lord has begun learning elemental magic from you already, right? What shall we do about those lessons? Are we to teach him in parallel? Or are we giving up on elemental magic and switching to strengthening his body?”

“I guess that’s up to him. I’m only explaining my idea for how to withstand the recoil from Asarina’s attack.” The two girls then turned to me in unison. “So, what’ll you do, Master?”

“Hmmm.” I gave the matter some thought. Elemental magic, physical strengthening, or both. I considered the merits of each choice using Lily and Gerbera’s conversation as reference. “...I think I’ll have Gerbera teach me physical strengthening.” It didn’t take me all that long to decide. “I have Asarina in my left hand now. I’ll probably be able to provide fire support by learning elemental magic, but I still feel like my defenses would be lacking. In contrast, by strengthening myself, I should be able to better deal with attacks against me. If I want to fight by keeping some distance, I can just leave things to Asarina.”

I couldn’t get my priorities out of order. I didn’t need to be useful in battle. My job was to survive, no matter what. It was important for me not to drag my companions down. I learned that more than I wanted to after nearly dying from the blowfoxes’ trap.

“Most of my mana comes from Gerbera, so we should be able to anticipate results from using it to strengthen my athleticism, just like Lily said. To an extent, it’ll be faster to just leave the attacking to Asarina. Elemental magic can probably wait until later.” After speaking my thoughts aloud, I turned to Lily with an apologetic gaze. “Sorry, even though you’ve been teaching me magic...”

“Don’t be. I’m the one who brought it up. No need to worry about it.”

Lily smiled sweetly at me without showing any signs of taking offense. I returned her smile and then turned to Gerbera.

“You too, Gerbera, sorry for taking up your time.”

“There is absolutely no need to concern yourself so, My Lord. Being able to teach you something will truly be a pleasure.”

Gerbera’s practically transparent cheeks turned red as she smiled happily. This childish facet of her really did give her a cute impression. This was obviously not a bad thing.

“Thank you.” I gave her my gratitude while feeling somewhat charmed. Then I put my hands to my knees and pushed myself up. “Now then, we’re done talking, so how about...”

“Um, Majima-senpai?”

I was cut off just as I was about to suggest we get started right away. It was the voice of a girl who had been listening to our conversation from the side this entire time.

“Pardon me, but could I have a little of your time?”

She was sitting on the other side of the bonfire. The flickering orange light illuminated Katou as she looked right at me.

◆ ◆ ◆

I felt indebted to this girl named Katou Mana, who was a year younger than me. Even though she saved me from the absolute despair of being abducted on that evening the white arachne attacked, I had nothing to pay her back with. The obligation I felt toward her weighed heavily on my shoulders. I was still unable to resolve this matter.

“...What is it, Katou?”

Thinking back on it, it had been a while since I had a conversation with her. The only time we really spoke lately was when she picked out Ayame and Asarina’s names. There was a proper topic to discuss that time, and we were going over it as a group, so it didn’t really feel like a conversation with Katou. It felt like it had been a long time since she addressed me directly like this. I only just realized it now, but I was apparently unconsciously avoiding her.

“Sorry for stopping you when you were about to start training,” she said.

“I don’t really mind.”

“Thank you. There’s something I’d like to talk about.”

With that, Katou unwrapped herself from the slightly dirty sheets she always had and corrected her posture. It seemed she had something serious to discuss.

“Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask of you, Majima-senpai.” And her request was something I hadn’t anticipated at all. “If Lily is available, then could she use that time to teach me magic?”

“...Magic?”

“Yes. Given enough time, even I should be able to learn magic.”

This was in all likelihood possible from an objective standpoint. It was an established theory back in the Colony that one could learn magic without cheats, after all. It was possible, but I was unable to give her an agreeable response right away.

“Could I ask this of you?” she repeated.

“...”

Having yet to awaken to any cheat, Katou was no different from a completely regular civilian. It was clear to me what kind of magic she could actually learn. It would likely be difficult for her to learn anything she could use in combat to defend herself against monsters. There was no meaning for her to spend the time to learn magic, much like it was for me before. The only scenario where magic would be useful for her was if her opponent was human and if she were to launch a surprise attack. Like shooting me in the back, for example. It didn’t have much use beyond that.

I felt like punching myself for considering the thought. How could I possibly harbor such suspicions toward someone who risked her life to save me? However, it was true this was about the only use Katou could get out of learning magic. As such, it was difficult for me to cast away such suspicions. Her request to learn magic was the same as her asking for a weapon. If I could grant this, I wouldn’t be worrying about my relationship with her.

“...”

As a result, I could only sit there with my lips sealed.

Watching me sit there in silence, Katou quietly opened her mouth. “...Healing magic.”

“Huh?”

“I want to learn healing magic.”

This statement wiped away my worries.

“I can’t?”

“That’s...”

Allowing her to learn healing magic wouldn’t be the same as giving her a weapon. I could feel my wariness toward her dropping a level.

So... It shouldn’t be a problem to let her learn magic? I wonder about that...

At the very least, it was worth considering. I was able to rethink the problem, but my thoughts didn’t get any further than that.

“Could you perhaps wait a little regarding this matter?” Gerbera said, putting a stop to our conversation. Her red eyes looked somewhat apologetic as she looked at Katou through the bonfire. “This is only if Lily has the availability, correct? Sorry, but I’d like Lily to help me when I’m teaching our lord to use his mana.”

“Help? What kind of help?” Katou asked.

Gerbera’s expression was somewhat stiff, seeing how she was still poor at handling this girl, but she responded nonetheless. “I’m a monster. I don’t know much about humans. I’m honestly not very confident I can properly teach such skills. Lily’s assistance would be quite reassuring considering she’s a monster with the memories of a human.”

“You’re right. At the very least, I think it’d be best for me to come along at first, just in case,” Lily said in agreement.

“Are you unable to teach both of us at once?” Katou asked.

Lily shook her head. “I think it’d be hard. We’d have to start by getting you to grasp the feeling of mana if you’d like to learn magic.”

Nobody was capable of using something they couldn’t see or feel. It was out of the question to use magic without first being able to sense mana.

“This will take a fair bit of time. It’d be hard to do it in parallel to advancing our master’s training.”

Katou listened to Lily’s explanation with a puzzled frown. “I understand the need to train my senses for mana before being able to use magic. But isn’t that the same for Majima-senpai? In that case, we could learn together...”

“Unfortunately, our master is special in this case.”

“Special?”

“Mm,” Lily affirmed with a nod. “You can call him an exception.”

Katou looked somewhat daunted by this. “Meaning... How he can see mana by eye?”

“That’s definitely an advantage compared to you, but it’s not what makes him an exception.”

Anybody was capable of seeing mana given a certain level of it within their body. Lily wouldn’t use the words “special” or “exception” because of this. My groundings for magic weren’t anything to talk about either. What she was describing were my circumstances built upon a string of coincidences.

“Just recently, our master nearly died from a deficiency of mana, right? We barely managed to save his life by Gerbera sharing her mana with him. And when she did, by pure coincidence, he gained the ability to sense mana.”

Lily’s explanation brought those memories back to my mind. The sensation of mana pouring through those spider threads into my body was vividly clear, even though it happened right before I lost consciousness.

Perhaps it would be accurate to describe it as the feeling of my very being filling up. I gained the ability to sense what was filling me precisely because I was bled dry. It was an experience difficult to substitute with anything else and extremely hard to share with another.

“It would normally be pretty much impossible to transfer mana to another. Even if we tried it with our master again, I’m not sure we could succeed. It was an extremely exceptional case built on a string of coincidences and the situation of him being on the verge of death from mana deprivation.”

Katou could catch up with me if she took the same shortcut. But she couldn’t copy what I did.

“Meaning unlike Senpai, I’d have to honestly learn things from square one.”

“Exactly. Setting aside the fact that you can’t see mana... You’d have to start by first touching someone as they manipulate mana and somehow grasp the flow, I guess? But our master is trying to learn physical strengthening, so I think his training is going to involve moving his body at the same time.”

“So, that makes it harder and harder for me to learn in parallel.”

“It’s not very efficient to teach two people of different proficiencies at the same time. It’s not like this is a school where we’re packing people into a classroom.”

“That’s true. How unfortunate.”

No matter how we looked at it, we didn’t have the leisure to accommodate her. Katou understood this as well, having accompanied us all this time. She quickly drew back her request.

“Is that okay with you?” Lily asked.

“I don’t want to learn magic so much that I’m willing to cause all of you trouble,” she replied without any reluctance. “Sorry for being a bother.”

Katou lowered her head to us.

“...”

I felt my heart tightening as I looked at the top of her head.

Is this really okay?

I owed a debt to Katou. I was obliged to her. Didn’t I have to somehow at least grant such a small request? I was able to think such things but unable to speak them.

“...Crap,” Lily muttered as she shot up to her feet and turned around.

“Hrm?”

At the same time, Gerbera unfolded her legs. Ayame leaped off her spider abdomen, landed behind me, and growled while staring deep into the forest. Rose immediately picked up the axe she had laying nearby and stood postured for battle. And finally, both Katou and I reacted. Following their gazes, I turned around and saw what looked like normal human figures coming toward us from the darkness of the forest.